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
This final action is in response to amendment filed on 01/21/2026. In this amendment, claims 1, 12 and 20 are amended, claims 3 and 14 are canceled and claims 21-22 are added. Claims 1-2, 4-13 and 15-22 are pending, with claims 1, 12 and 20 being independent.
Priority
This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 17/172,820, filed on February 10, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Response to Arguments
Double Patenting
The rejections are withdrawn in view of e-Terminal Disclaimed filed on 02/12/2026.
Claim Rejections Under 35 U.S.C. § 103
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 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.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-2 are objected to because the underlined terms or phrases below do not have proper antecedent basic:
Claims 1, 12 and 20: wherein the sensor application;
Claim 2, 13 and 21: a sensor application;
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-2, 4-7, 11-13, 15-17 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hugard, IV et al. (US 2016/0057101, Pub. Date Feb. 25, 2016, hereinafter “Hugard”), in view of Bangma et al. (US 2017/0222973, Pub. Date: Aug. 3, 2017), in view of Ott et al. (US 2019/0394116, Pub. Date: Dec. 26, 2019), in view of Telljohann et al. (US 2015/0127120, Pub. Date: May 7, 2015).
As per claim 1, Hugard discloses a method (Hugard Para. [0011], one aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods) comprising:
receiving, at a service executed by one or more devices (Hugard Fig. 2, asset management system 205), telemetry data collected passively regarding a particular node in a network (Hugard Para. [0064], as each sensor on asset detection engine 210 identified device address data for a network, the results can be passed through asset detection engine 210 for processing by asset management system 205 [service]; Hugard Fig. 7C and Para. [0087], An IPv6 address [telemetry data] of a particular computing device in the network can be identified 740 using a passive discovery sensor);
requesting, by the service and after receiving the telemetry data, active discovery of nodes in the network (Hugard Fig. 7C and Para. [0087], An IPv6 address [telemetry data] of a particular computing device in the network can be identified 740 using a passive discovery sensor … A second discovery task can be caused to be performed 745 using the identified IPv6 address. The second discovery task can be performed by the same passive discovery sensor, another passive discovery sensor, such as an address-mapping sensor, or an active discovery sensor; Hugard Para. [0066], Devices and address data (such as discovered IPv6 addresses) can be used by the asset management system 205 (or in some implementations the asset detection engine 210 itself) to trigger additional probes and sensor activities using asset detection engine sensors (e.g., 210));
receiving, at the service, active discovery data collected via active discovery of nodes in the network (Hugard Para. [0084], one or more active discovery sensors of asset detection engine 210 can use discovered address information (e.g., “Addresses 1-10”) to perform additional discovery tasks (e.g., 660, 665, 670, 675) and obtain additional address information and/or attributes of the corresponding devices 610, 615, 620, 625);
identifying, by the service, configuration data associated with the particular node (Hugard Para. [0084], one or more active discovery sensors of asset detection engine 210 can use discovered address information (e.g., “Addresses 1-10”) to perform additional discovery tasks (e.g., 660, 665, 670, 675) and obtain additional address information and/or attributes [configuration data] of the corresponding devices 610, 615, 620, 625 … Active discovery sensors can identify devices 610, 615, 620, 625 from previously-collected address information and send packets to the devices 610, 615, 620, 625 and probe the device's respective responses to the packets in order to identify such information as the ports [configuration data] active on the device, …, protocols [configuration data] used by the device, services offered by the device, and so on; Hugard Para. [0019], asset management system 105 can further manage discovery techniques allowing for the discovery of additional attribute information, such as … ports used by the devices, protocols employed by the devices, and so on); and
generating, by the service, an identity profile for the particular node based on the telemetry data, the active discovery data, and the configuration data (Hugard Fig. 7C and Para. [0087], The IPv6 address and additional attribute can be added to the asset repository; Hugard Fig. 2, asset management system 205 includes asset repository 250; Hugard Para. [0027], an asset repository 250 including records [identity profile] describing system entities discovered within the computing environment; Hugard Para. [0019], asset management system 105 can further manage discovery techniques allowing for the discovery of additional attribute information, such as the operating system of the devices, ports used by the devices, protocols employed by the devices, and so on).
Hugard does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the sensor application passively collects the telemetry data by performing deep packet inspection (DPI) on traffic flowing through networking equipment located on a different side of a Network Address Translation (NAT) boundary defined by a NAT layer in the network than that of the asset inventory service;
wherein the configuration data comprises a configuration file formatted in accordance with a communications standard used in industrial automation systems, the configuration data being retrieved from the node via an industrial protocol and used to determine an operational role or function of the node within an industrial process control system.
Bangma teaches:
the sensor application passively collects the telemetry data by performing deep packet inspection (DPI) on traffic flowing through networking equipment (Bangma Para. [0044], Another possibility is passive listening, using TCP/IP fingerprinting to analyse network behaviour or using DPI in combination with browser identification algorithms as are known, to identify certain characteristics of devices and thus possibly also identifying device type, brand and model; Bangma Para. [0042], This method can be used actively, for example the home gateway [networking equipment], HG, sending out 'who is there?' requests, or passively, for example the HG listening to other devices sending messages; Bangma fig. 1 and Para. [0065], A group of devices 101 are collected into a local network 102 which is connected by a home gateway, or gateway device, HG, 103 to an edge node 105 via an access link 104).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Hugard in view of Bangma for the sensor application passively collects the telemetry data by performing deep packet inspection (DPI) on traffic flowing through networking equipment.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of identifying certain characteristics of devices (Bangma Para. [0044]).
Hugard-Bangma does not explicitly disclose:
networking equipment located on a different side of a Network Address Translation (NAT) boundary defined by a NAT layer in the network than that of the asset inventory service;
wherein the configuration data comprises a configuration file formatted in accordance with a communications standard used in industrial automation systems, the configuration data being retrieved from the node via an industrial protocol and used to determine an operational role or function of the node within an industrial process control system.
Ott teaches:
networking equipment located on a different side of a Network Address Translation (NAT) boundary defined by a NAT layer in the network than that of the asset inventory service (Ott Fig. 2 and Para. [0069], the communications system 1 also has an operator NAT entity CGN5 situated at the interface between the network R1 and the network R2. The operator NAT CNG5 is an intermediate device in the meaning of the invention that is placed at the entry to the network R2, i.e. in series between the home router CPE4 [networking equipment] and its management device ACS4 [asset inventory service]; Ott para. [0065], router is also known as a gateway giving access to the network R1 or as a home gateway).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Hugard in view of Ott for networking equipment located on a different side of a Network Address Translation (NAT) boundary defined by a NAT layer in the network than that of the asset inventory service.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of implementing stricter security rules (Ott Para. [0033]).
Hugard-Bangma-Ott does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the configuration data comprises a configuration file formatted in accordance with a communications standard used in industrial automation systems, the configuration data being retrieved from the node via an industrial protocol and used to determine an operational role or function of the node within an industrial process control system.
Telljohann teaches:
the configuration data comprises a configuration file formatted in accordance with a communications standard used in industrial automation systems ([Page 3 of Remark indicates that industrial communications standards (such as PROFINET, EtherNet/lP, or IEC 61850)]. Telljohann para. [0019], The memory device 47 may be configured to store configuration data for the industrial control system such as electronic data sheets (EDSs) 100; Telljohann para. [0021], The EDS may define the communication card as an option 140 with EtherNet/IP, DeviceNet, or ControlNet each defined as a choice 150), the configuration data being retrieved from the node via an industrial protocol (Telljohann fig. 1 and para. [0032], The programmer interface 40 retrieves the EDS 100, ODS 200, and identity from the device 50; Telljohann fig. 1 and para. [0017], a programmer interface 40, and multiple devices 50 connected via an industrial network 30 … A Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) is defined providing a uniform, high level definition of data messages transmitted via the network 30. The CIP may further be adapted such that the data messages may be transmitted via various network specific protocols such as EtherNet/IP, DeviceNet, or ControlNet) and used to determine an operational role or function of the node within an industrial process control system (Telljohann para. [0022-0023], The EDS 100 may also include an options section 130, defining options 140 available on the device 50… an ODS 200 is provided for each choice 150 available for each option 140… The ODS 200 may also include one or more variable sections 230, defining variables 240 corresponding to the choice 150… The variables may be, but are not limited to, connection data for one or more input and/or output points contained on the device 50 or configuration parameters defining, for example, the type of data or the size of data transmitted between the device 50 and another device 50 or the industrial controller 24 via the network 30. [In other words, EDS 100 and ODS 200 are used to determine a function of the device/node to transmit certain type/ size of data to another device or to controller]).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention modify Hugard in view of Telljohann for the configuration data comprises a configuration file formatted in accordance with a communications standard used in industrial automation systems, the configuration data being retrieved from the node via an industrial protocol and used to determine an operational role or function of the node within an industrial process control system.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of allowing device to operate in industrial environment.
As per claim 2, Hugard-Bangma-Ott-Telljohann discloses the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, Hugard also discloses wherein the telemetry data is collected passively by a sensor application (Hugard Para. [0064], as each sensor on asset detection engine 210 [sensor application] identified device address data for a network, the results can be passed through asset detection engine 210 for processing by asset management system 205 [asset inventory service]; Hugard Fig. 7C and Para. [0087], An IPv6 address [telemetry data] of a particular computing device in the network can be identified 740 using a passive discovery sensor) and wherein requesting active discovery of nodes in the network comprises requesting that the sensor application perform active discovery of nodes in the network (Hugard Fig. 7C and Para. [0087], An IPv6 address [telemetry data] of a particular computing device in the network can be identified 740 using a passive discovery sensor … A second discovery task can be caused to be performed 745 using the identified IPv6 address. The second discovery task can be performed by … an active discovery sensor; Hugard Para. [0066], Devices and address data (such as discovered IPv6 addresses) can be used by the asset management system 205 (or in some implementations the asset detection engine 210 itself) to trigger additional probes and sensor activities using asset detection engine sensors (e.g., 210)).
As per claim 4, Hugard-Bangma-Ott-Telljohann discloses the method according to claim 2, as set forth above, Hugard-Bangma also discloses wherein the sensor application is hosted by networking equipment (Hugard Para. [0042], an asset detection engine 210 can be a network-attached device or software system deployed to automatically discover live network devices using one or more of a plurality of discovery technique; Hugard Para. [0044], an example asset detection engine 210 can be deployed, at least in part, as a hardware device that plugs into the network in-line (e.g., at a switch or router), in parallel (e.g., off a router span port), or, at least in part, as software that can be deployed throughout a subnet, such as on particular or arbitrary hosts within the network), comprising at least one of: a switch, a router, or a gateway (Bangma Para. [0042], This method can be used actively, for example the home gateway [networking equipment], HG, sending out 'who is there?' requests, or passively, for example the HG listening to other devices sending messages).
Similar rationale in claim 1 is applied.
As per claim 5, Hugard-Bangma-Ott-Telljohann discloses the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, Hugard also discloses wherein the telemetry data is indicative of a communication protocol used by the particular node (Hugard Para. [0087], An IPv6 address of a particular computing device in the network can be identified 740 using a passive discovery sensor).
As per claim 6, Hugard-Bangma-Ott-Telljohann discloses the method according to claim 5, as set forth above, Hugard also discloses wherein a sensor application performs active discovery by sending a discovery message to the particular node using the communication protocol (Hugard Para. [0066], Devices and address data (such as discovered IPv6 addresses) can be used by the asset management system 205 (or in some implementations the asset detection engine 210 itself) to trigger additional probes and sensor activities using asset detection engine sensors (e.g., 210); Hugard Fig. 7C and Para. [0087], A second discovery task can be caused to be performed 7 45 using the identified IPv6 address. The second discovery task can be performed by the same passive discovery sensor, another passive discovery sensor, such as an address-mapping sensor, or an active discovery sensor).
As per claim 7, Hugard-Bangma-Ott-Telljohann discloses the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, Telljohann also discloses wherein the configuration data associated with the particular node comprises at least one of: a General Station Description (GSD) file, an Electronic Data Sheet (EDS) file (Telljohann para. [0019], The memory device 47 may be configured to store configuration data for the industrial control system such as electronic data sheets (EDSs) 100), or a Substation Configuration Language (SCL) file.
Similar rationales in claim 1 is applied.
As per claim 11, Hugard-Bangma-Ott-Telljohann discloses the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, Hugard also discloses further comprising: assigning a policy to the particular node, based on the identity profile (Hugard Para. [0084], device information, including address information retrieved from the probing can then be retrieved and communicated to the asset management system to further supplement and improve its asset repository, allowing persons and applications of the probed devices to be identified, devices (and other system entities) to be tagged or otherwise grouped, have security policies assigned to them; Hugard Para. [0013], A security policy can be assigned to the particular computing device based on the identified attributes identified using pluggable discovery sensors in the set of discovery sensors; Hugard Para. [0027], an asset repository 250 including records [identity profile] describing system entities discovered within the computing environment).
Per claims 12-13 and 15-17, they do not teach or further define over the limitations in claims 1-2 and 5-7 respectively. As such, claims 12-13 and 15-17 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 1-2 and 5-7 respectively. Hugard also discloses an apparatus (Hugard Fig. 2, Asset Management System 205), comprising: one or more network interfaces (see Hugard Fig. 2, Asset Management System 205 implicitly has one or more network interfaces to communicate with Asset Detection Engine 210); a processor coupled to the one or more network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes (Hugard Fig. 2, Processor 245); and a memory configured to store a process that is executable by the processor (Hugard Fig. 2, Memory 248).
Per claim 20-21, they do not teach or further define over the limitations in claim 1-2 respectively. As such, claims 20-21 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 1-2 respectively. Hugard also discloses a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program instructions that cause an asset inventory service executed by one or more devices to perform a process (Hugard Para. [0092], a computer program may include computer-readable instructions, firmware, wired or programmed hardware, or any combination thereof on a tangible medium operable when executed to perform at least the processes and operations described herein).
Claims 8, 18 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hugard, IV et al. (US 2016/0057101, Pub. Date Feb. 25, 2016, hereinafter “Hugard”), in view of Bangma et al. (US 2017 /0222973, Pub. Date: Aug. 3, 2017), in view of Ott et al. (US 2019/0394116, Pub. Date: Dec. 26, 2019), in view of Telljohann et al. (US 2015/0127120, Pub. Date: May 7, 2015), in view of Osadchyy (US 2016/0283828, Pub. Date Sep. 29, 2016).
As per claim 8, Hugard-Bangma-Ott-Telljohan discloses the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, Hugard also discloses wherein the telemetry data and the active discovery data indicate two or more different IP addresses or two or more different MAC addresses for the particular node (Hugard Para. [0066], Devices and address data (such as discovered IPv6 addresses) can be used by the asset management system 205 (or in some implementations the asset detection engine 210 itself) to trigger additional probes and sensor activities using asset detection engine sensors (e.g., 210). For instance, an asset management system 205, upon identifying new IP addresses can cause address mapping sensors to perform address mapping queries to identify additional IP addresses and/or MAC addresses for the device corresponding to the newly-discovered IP address).
Hugard does not explicitly disclose wherein generating the identity profile for the particular node comprises:
associating two or more unique IP address-MAC address pairs with the particular node that are different from the two or more different IP addresses or two or more different MAC addresses for the particular node.
Osadchyy teaches:
associating two or more unique IP address-MAC address pairs with the particular node that are different from the two or more different IP addresses or two or more different MAC addresses for the particular node (Osadchyy Para. [0065], Particularly, by way of the bridge MIB or other MIBs, each of switches 302, 308, and 312 may support a database containing pairs of MAC addresses and IP address of devices with which the respective switch has communicated; Osadchyy Para. [0057], any device may be configured with more than one network interface (e.g., an Ethernet interface and a Wifi interface) and therefore may simultaneously use multiple MAC and IP address pairs, typically one per interface).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Hugard in view of Osadchyy for generating the identity profile for the particular node comprises: associating two or more unique IP address-MAC address pairs with the particular node that are different from the two or more different IP addresses or two or more different MAC addresses for the particular node.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of allowing simultaneously use multiple MAC and IP address pairs for communication (see Osadchyy Para. [0057]).
Per claims 18 and 22, they do not teach or further define over the limitations in claim 8. As such, claims 18 and 22 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 8.
Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hugard, IV et al. (US 2016/0057101, Pub. Date Feb. 25, 2016, hereinafter “Hugard”), in view of Bangma et al. (US 2017 /0222973, Pub. Date: Aug. 3, 2017), in view of Ott et al. (US 2019/0394116, Pub. Date: Dec. 26, 2019), in view of Telljohann et al. (US 2015/0127120, Pub. Date: May 7, 2015), in view of Osadchyy (US 2016/0283828, Pub. Date Sep. 29, 2016), in view of Chau (US 2017/0272373, Pub. Date: Sep. 21, 2017).
As per claim 9, Hugard-Bangma-Ott-Telljohann-Osadchyy discloses the method according to claim 8, as set forth above, Hugard also discloses at least one of the two or more different IP addresses or two or more different MAC addresses for the particular node (Hugard Para. [0066], Devices and address data (such as discovered IPv6 addresses) can be used by the asset management system 205 (or in some implementations the asset detection engine 210 itself) to trigger additional probes and sensor activities using asset detection engine sensors (e.g., 210). For instance, an asset management system 205, upon identifying new IP addresses can cause address mapping sensors to perform address mapping queries to identify additional IP addresses and/or MAC addresses for the device corresponding to the newly-discovered IP address).
Hugard does not explicitly disclose:
wherein at least one of the two or more different IP addresses or two or more different MAC addresses is reused elsewhere in the network.
Chau teaches:
at least one of the two or more different IP addresses or two or more different MAC addresses is reused elsewhere in the network (Chau para. [0019], Methods and network devices are disclosed that support the re-use of network addresses in network devices; Chau para. [0020], a network address and network sub-addresses can be re-used, as between the multiple computing and/or network devices in the one network segment, such that when one such computing and/or network device is finished using the network address/sub-address, another of the computing and/or network devices in the one network can use that network address/sub-address; Chau para. [0062], internal client 202(1) (192.168.1.1) is connected to external server 206 (172.230.210.155). If internal client 202(1) relinquishes 63.37.49.3:8001 as the result of some unforeseen event (e.g., internal client 202(1) crashes), re-use of63.37.49.3:8001 by, for example, internal client 202(4) (192.168.1.4) is possible).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Hugard in view of Chau for at least one of the two or more different IP addresses or two or more different MAC addresses is reused elsewhere in the network.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of supporting the re-use of network addresses in network devices that perform network address translation (Chau Para. [0019]).
Per claim 19, it does not teach or further define over the limitations in claim 9. As such, claim 19 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 9.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hugard, IV et al. (US 2016/0057101, Pub. Date Feb. 25, 2016, hereinafter “Hugard”), in view of Bangma et al. (US 2017 /0222973, Pub. Date: Aug. 3, 2017), in view of Ott et al. (US 2019/0394116, Pub. Date: Dec. 26, 2019), in view of Telljohann et al. (US 2015/0127120, Pub. Date: May 7, 2015), in view of Sivanthi et al. (US 2016/0373274, Pub. Dec. 22, 2016).
As per claim 10, Hugard-Bangma-Ott-Telljohann discloses the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, Hugard does not explicitly disclose wherein the particular node comprises a remote terminal unit, programmable logic controller, or a substation intelligent electronic device.
Sivanthi teaches:
the particular node comprises a remote terminal unit, programmable logic controller, or a substation intelligent electronic device (Sivanthi Fig.3, Substation 1-2 including intelligent electronic devices (IEDs)).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Hugard in view of Sivanthi for the particular node comprises a substation intelligent electronic device.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of allowing the system to generate asset repository for an intelligent electronic device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ding et al. (US 20240089317) Method And Electronic Device For Accessing Service Device In Local Area Network;
Tang et al. (US 20220046033) Industrial Control System Monitoring Method, Device And System, And Computer-Readable Medium;
Raju (US 20210014710) WiFi Network Monitoring Smart Sensor And Network Early Warning Platform.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINH NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4487. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM.
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/VINH NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2453
/KAMAL B DIVECHA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2453