Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This office action replaces the Final Office Action mailed 14 May 2026 and is in response to applicant’s amendment filed, 26 February 2026, of application filed, with the above serial number, on 12 December 2023 in which claims 1, 8, 15 have been amended. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application. The Final Office Action mailed 14 May 2026 contained an incorrect 103 Rejection heading and is corrected as below.
Claim Objections
Claim 1, 8, 15 is/are objected to because of the following informalities: The claim is amended to recite “receiving, a cloud-based…” in line 2. Appropriate correction is required; the 2nd line of the providing step recites ‘provided to from the user device’.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The independent claims are amended to recite “the user device initiates a second communication channel”, however, it is not clear how a device initiates a channel. It will be interpreted that the user device initiates communication with a second communication channel and/or the user device establishes a second communication channel as typically termed and used in the specification par. 64-65 for example.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rahn et al (hereinafter “Rahn”, 2021/0297503) in view of Verma et al (hereinafter “Verma”, 2023/0112606), further in view of Kulkarni et al (hereinafter “Kulkarni”, 2019/0387492).
As per Claim 1, Rahn discloses a method, comprising:
receiving a cloud-based multi-domain management platform, a connection request from a user device over a first communication channel, the connection request from the user device containing identification information that identifies a network device (at least paragraph 24-26; the device is identified and mapped with the tenant network by way of transmitting its identification parameter to the multi-tenant through its connection. The multi-tenant system may perform identification by accessing the database in which the identification parameter and tenant information was stored);
mapping, by the cloud-based multi-domain management platform, the identification information with identifiers stored in a database (at least paragraph 24-26; the device is identified and mapped with the tenant network by way of transmitting its identification parameter to the multi-tenant through its connection. The multi-tenant system may perform identification by accessing the database in which the identification parameter and tenant information was stored);
determining, by the cloud-based multi-domain management platform, whether a matching identifier is found (at least paragraph 24-26; the device is identified and mapped with the tenant network by way of transmitting its identification parameter to the multi-tenant through its connection. The multi-tenant system may perform identification by accessing the database in which the identification parameter and tenant information was stored; …After identifying the device and mapping the device to a particular tenant…);
responsive to the matching identifier being found in the database, identifying, by the cloud-based multi-domain management platform, an owner of the network device from the database using the matching identifier (at least paragraph 23-26; looking up order information for purchaser, mapping to tenant of owner);
determining, by the cloud-based multi-domain management platform, a tenant or suborganization of the owner (at least paragraph 24-26; looking up order information for owner, mapping to tenant of owner);
providing, by the cloud-based multi-domain management platform, configuration information to the user device, wherein the configuration information is provided to from the user device to the network device over the second communication channel, and the configuration information is adapted to configure the network device to access a network and establish a third communication channel with the cloud-based multi-domain management platform (at least paragraph 26; After identifying the device and mapping the device to a particular tenant, the multi-tenant system may distribute network services at block 440 to the network device based upon the identification. For example, the network device may be automatically provisioned with particular software and a configuration for operating the network device on the tenant's network. In some embodiments, the network device is a newly installed network switch and an automatic provisioning process (e.g., zero touch provisioning (ZTP)) may include first resetting the device to a default configuration, obtaining a topology of a LAN in which the switch is connected, installing updated and/or custom software on the device such as software that was purchased/selected by the tenant, and configuring the device); and
directing, by the cloud-based multi-domain management platform using the third communication channel, the network device to a configuration file or script residing at a resource location corresponding to the tenant or suborganization for zero touch provisioning of the network device (at least paragraph 24-26, 28; the network device is a newly installed network switch and an automatic provisioning process (e.g., zero touch provisioning (ZTP)) may include first resetting the device to a default configuration, obtaining a topology of a LAN in which the switch is connected, installing updated and/or custom software on the device such as software that was purchased/selected by the tenant, and configuring the device with forwarding and security parameters previously established for the particular tenant and its network; particular tenant may utilize an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) system including a remotely managed cloud-based data center that can include multiple storage network elements dedicated for different network users, user groups, and with different levels of network security. The remote management server may include provisioning and configuring different network elements of the tenant's own network).
Rahn does not explicitly disclose the resource location being external to the cloud-based multi-domain management platform. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Verma. Verma discloses, in an analogous art, devices in an enterprise that upon initial booting for the first time are preconfigured with a URL that allows the device to download and install configuration from a closed internal network ZTP service within the enterprise (at least Verma paragraph 20, 25-26).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Verma’s closed network ZTP with Rahn as Verma discloses a need existing for devices on closed enterprise networks that cannot access open networks (such as the Internet or WANs) to be able to initialize the device with configuration data before they are potentially exposed to open network vulnerabilities, ensuring a more secure ZTP of the device (at least Verma paragraph 1-4, 15).
Rahn and Verma fail to explicitly disclose the connection request from the user device containing … a geographic location; verifying, by the cloud-based multi-domain management platform, that the network device is at a correct location based on the geographic location received in the connection request from the user device;
in response to verifying the network device is at the correct location, providing a location verification to the user device from the cloud-based multi-domain management platform, wherein the user device initiates a second communication channel with the network device based on the location verification.
However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Kulkarni. Kulkarni discloses, in an analogous art, a network device having a geographical location associated with it, whereby a user mobile device provides an identifier of a device to be installed and location associated with the device to a server over a first channel, if the location matches, the mobile device receiving installation configuration from the server which provides it to the network device over a second channel, the network device is successfully installed and connected to the server and network over a third channel (at least paragraph 32, 40-46).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Kulkarni’s location matching with Rahn and Verma, as Rahn discloses in par. 25-26 that connecting to a remote system when the device is deployed within a tenant network and thus knowing the network the device is located on, thus, with Kulkarni’s clearly adding location information being used to configure the device, Kulkarni’s system would allow the device to be ensured to be configured only when installed at the matching site it was ordered for installation.
As per Claim 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the database stores historical transaction data that includes entries corresponding to sales records of network devices, each of the entries containing an identifier identifying a respective network device of the network devices and owner data listing a corresponding owner of the respective network device (at least paragraph 23-24; After receiving the order, a database (e.g., product/tenant database 15) is updated with the order information (e.g., purchaser/client/tenant) and a unique identification parameter (e.g., a device serial number)).
As per Claim 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resource location comprises a designated universal resource location that belongs to the tenant or suborganization (at least Verma paragraph 20, 25-26; enterprise endpoint URL).
As per Claim 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resource location is on a zero touch provisioning server operating on premises of the owner (at least Verma paragraph 20, 25-26; a ZTP service on the closed network).
As per Claim 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tenant or suborganization is determined by searching the database or another database provided by the owner of the network device for information that identifies the tenant or suborganization (at least paragraph 23-26).
As per Claim 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tenant or suborganization is determined by:
determining whether the network device is connected to any neighboring network device in a local network by performing a directory lookup; and responsive to the network device being connected to one or more neighboring network devices, using tenant information provided by the one or more neighboring network devices to determine the tenant or suborganization for the network device (at least paragraph 24-26; mapping the device to a particular tenant, the multi-tenant system may distribute network services at block 440 to the network device based upon the identification. For example, the network device may be automatically provisioned with particular software and a configuration for operating the network device on the tenant's network. In some embodiments, the network device is a newly installed network switch and an automatic provisioning process (e.g., zero touch provisioning (ZTP)) may include first resetting the device to a default configuration, obtaining a topology of a LAN in which the switch is connected, installing updated and/or custom software on the device such as software that was purchased/selected by the tenant, and configuring the device with forwarding and security parameters previously established for the particular tenant and its network).
As per Claim 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the network device comprises a router, a switch, an access point, a firewall, a gateway, or a networking appliance (at least paragraph 14; orders management/network services system 10 is arranged and configured to process purchase orders and product procurement of network of network devices (e.g., switches, routers, hubs) and network services (e.g., provisioning,…).
Claims 8-20 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 1-7 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant has not addressed any particular claim in the arguments, the arguments are assumed to be with reference to claim 1. Applicant argues that Varma discloses a URL may be preconfigured with a URL. It is assumed the argument is Verma having the user device be preconfigured. However, Verma discloses “one example” being preconfigured, the main and other embodiments are the device retrieving and obtaining the URL. Applicant also argues the management application not being the same as actual configuration. However, while Rahn is relied on for the configuration being retrieved, Verma discloses the ZTP to be receiving enrollment configuration data which is actual configuration for configuring the device.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is indicated in PTO form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY TODD whose telephone number is (303)297-4763. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5 MST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Nicholas Taylor can be reached on 571-272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY TODD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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