DETAILED ACTION
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 .
In response to the restriction requirement, Applicant elected claims 1, 6-8, 13-15, and 20 for further examination. Claims 2, 9, and 16 are also elected due their amendment. As a result, claims 3-5, 10-12, and 17-19 are withdrawn from further prosecution.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 8, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vardi et al. (US 2001/0044705).
Vardi et al. discloses a computing system comprising:
a processor; and a memory having a set of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the computing system to:
receive unstructured usage data from applications that execute on user devices;
store the unstructured usage data into a central database, wherein the unstructured usage data is in an unstructured data format; retrieve the unstructured usage data from the central database (FIG. 1 and paragraph [0090]: The software usage data in the raw data form (unstructured) is collected (12) and stored in the database (usage log) 14);
convert the unstructured usage data, that is retrieved from the central database, from the unstructured data format into a structured data format to generate structured usage data (FIG. 2, steps 56, 58, 60: The usage data in the raw form is retrieved from the usage log 14 and converted to the structured form by combing and normalizing process); store the structured usage data into a central repository (FIG. 1: Software usage log 18); and
generate a current usage measurement based on the structured usage data that is stored in the central repository (FIG. 1: REPORTER (20) generates SW usage reports).
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) 7 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vardi et al. (US 2001/0044705) in view of Borthakur et al. (CA 2990377).
Vardi et al. discloses the claimed invention as discussed above except wherein the instructions of the memory, when executed, cause the computing system to: predict future usage of the applications based on the current usage measurement; and identify hardware resources to support the applications based on the future usage measurement.
Borthakur et al., discloses a system/method for provisioning software computing networks comprising retrieving software usage data, determining software usage predictions, and allocating device/hardware entitlement accordingly (Abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vardi’s computing system to include retrieving software usage data and determining software usage predictions in order to efficiently allocate computing resources accordingly disclosed by Borthakur et al. (paragraph [0029]).
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 2, 6, 9, 13, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential structural cooperative relationships of elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the necessary structural connections. See MPEP § 2172.01.
The omitted structural cooperative relationships are: The claims recite the acts of retrieving a first usage data and bypassing a second usage data without a clear connection of how these acts link to the other acts in the claim body; particularly, how such retrieving a first usage data and bypassing a second usage data contribute to the current usage measurement in order to predict the future usage.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAM S NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2151.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ, can be reached on 571-431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAM S NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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