Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/649,186

MANAGING OPERATION OF AN ENDPOINT DEVICE USING OUT OF BAND METHODS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Apr 29, 2024
Examiner
NGUYEN, HAO HONG
Art Unit
2447
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
67%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 2m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 67% — above average
67%
Career Allow Rate
202 granted / 301 resolved
+9.1% vs TC avg
Strong +38% interview lift
Without
With
+37.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
333
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.7%
-31.3% vs TC avg
§103
62.9%
+22.9% vs TC avg
§102
17.4%
-22.6% vs TC avg
§112
3.1%
-36.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 301 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Applicant’s Amendment filed on December 23, 2025 has been reviewed. Claims 1, 6, 12 and 17 are amended in the amendment. Claims 1-20 have been examined. Continued Examination under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on December 23, 2025 has been entered. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on December 23, 2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michel (US 2022/0038659 A1) in view of Chen et al. (US 2022/0276931 A1), hereinafter referred to as Chen, further in view of Beyerlein et al. (US 2025/0138913 A1), hereinafter referred to as Beyerlein, and furthermore in view of Imbimbo et al. (WO 2024/058690 A1), hereinafter referred to as Imbimbo. With respect to claim 1, Michel teaches A method of managing operation of an endpoint device, the method comprising: identifying an occurrence of an update event for the endpoint device (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager; the SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214); based on the occurrence of the update event: identifying a goal operating state for the endpoint device (a device manager stores the state of all edge QAMs, and is thus able to manage the resources.; if the device manager 100 fails, a new or backup unit can be installed and the state of all edge QAMs restored from the in-stream data in accordance with the invention, para. 0290), obtaining an endpoint device profile for the endpoint device (several different profiles for the SM can be defined to further optimize for variety of applications; Interactive Session Profile can be used to manage interactive sessions such as those used in VOD; Broadcast Session Profile can be used to manage broadcast sessions such as those used in Switched Broadcast Video services, para. 0151-0153); obtaining, using the endpoint device profile, subscription information for the endpoint device (several different profiles for the SM can be defined to further optimize for variety of applications; Interactive Session Profile can be used to manage interactive sessions such as those used in VOD; Broadcast Session Profile can be used to manage broadcast sessions such as those used in Switched Broadcast Video services, para. 0151-0153; the Navigation Server presents a list of assets to the subscribers as part of the service offering, para. 0181); dynamically synthesizing an action set based on the goal operating state, the subscription information, and telemetry information for the endpoint device from the endpoint device profile (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager; the SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214; each resource manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the topology and resources of the devices it manages and allocating the resources for the session on behalf of the SM; the SM then collects the choices provided by each resource manager and selects an appropriate combination of resources to enable the session, para. 0154), and initiating updating of the endpoint device using the action set (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager; the SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214). Michel does not explicitly teach the goal operating state comprising a software installation that is incompatible with a hardware component of the endpoint device; wherein the software installation is excluded from the action set; However, Chen teaches the goal operating state comprising a software installation that is incompatible with a hardware component of the endpoint device (system failure instances due to unexpected hardware-software incompatibilities, para. 0033; driver update logic 110 and support assistance logic 108 proactively identify driver installations that are likely to cause a system failure and quarantine or remove those drivers from a recommended driver list once enough installations for each driver has been reached and the system failure probabilities are calculated and examined, para. 0035); wherein the software installation is excluded from the action set (system failure instances due to unexpected hardware-software incompatibilities, para. 0033; driver update logic 110 and support assistance logic 108 proactively identify driver installations that are likely to cause a system failure and quarantine or remove those drivers from a recommended driver list once enough installations for each driver has been reached and the system failure probabilities are calculated and examined, para. 0035) in order to ensuring that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035); Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Chen to the method of Michel in order to ensure that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035). Michel in view of Chen does not explicitly teach receiving an update event alert indicating a change in subscription by a user of the endpoint device, identifying, based on the update event alert, an occurrence of an update event for the endpoint device; However, Beyerlein teaches receiving an update event alert indicating a change in subscription by a user of the endpoint device (the notifications are in a form of an API call, transmitted as a packet, which includes updates and/or status reports regarding the resources, including subscription-based statuses of the consuming entities; the event notifications refer to subscription updates to subscription information; the event notifications indicate update types of the subscription information include subscriber identifiers, a tenant identifier, and subscription statuses of the subscription products, para. 0032), identifying, based on the update event alert, an occurrence of an update event for the endpoint device (receiving a notification of a pause and/or a resume notification ; retrieving a subscription associated with the notification, upon finding the subscription, creating an amendment to suspend the subscription, or creating a future dated amendment to resume the subscription, if the notification includes a resume notification, para. 0084) in order to prevent and or refrain from further processing on the message as taught by Beyerlein (para. 0067); Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Beyerlein to the method of Michel in view of Chen in order to prevent and or refrain from further processing on the message as taught by Beyerlein (para. 0067). Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein does not explicitly teach the update event alert comprising a timestamp of the change in subscription and an identifier of a user of the endpoint device; However, Imbimbo teaches the update event alert comprising a timestamp of the change in subscription and an identifier of a user of the endpoint device (event report for the detected event previously subscribed to by the AF device 101; information on subscription change related events; identity of an end-user; location information of an end-user; time-stamp related to the detected event, page 4, lines 5-15) in order to enable an efficient communication system as taught by Imbimbo (page 32, lines 20-25); Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, further in view of Beyerlein, and furthermore in view of Imbimbo, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Imbimbo to the method of Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein in order to enable an efficient communication system as taught by Imbimbo (page 32, lines 20-25). With respect to claim 2, Michel teaches The method of claim 1, wherein the action set is dynamically synthesized using the subscription information and the telemetry information to exclude a resource (the Navigation Server presents a list of assets to the subscribers as part of the service offering, para. 0181; dynamically add, delete, or modify the resources associated with the session to support integration of multiple on demand services, para. 0139; providing additional features such as query of the asset existence and deletion of the asset, para. 0222). Further, Chen teaches exclude as resource as exclude the software installation ((system failure instances due to unexpected hardware-software incompatibilities, para. 0033; driver update logic 110 and support assistance logic 108 proactively identify driver installations that are likely to cause a system failure and quarantine or remove those drivers from a recommended driver list once enough installations for each driver has been reached and the system failure probabilities are calculated and examined, para. 0035) in order to ensuring that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035). Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Chen to the method of Michel in order to ensure that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035). With respect to claim 3, Michel teaches The method of claim 2, wherein the action set is further dynamically synthesized using the goal operating state to identify all possible actions (a device manager stores the state of all edge QAMs, and is thus able to manage the resources; if the device manager 100 fails, a new or backup unit can be installed and the state of all edge QAMs restored from the in-stream data in accordance with the invention, para. 0290; the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager; the SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214; each resource manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the topology and resources of the devices it manages and allocating the resources for the session on behalf of the SM; the SM then collects the choices provided by each resource manager and selects an appropriate combination of resources to enable the session, para. 0154). With respect to claim 4, Michael teaches The method of claim 1, wherein the telemetry information indicates hardware components of the endpoint device (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214; each resource manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the topology and resources of the devices it manages and allocating the resources for the session on behalf of the SM. The SM then collects the choices provided by each resource manager and selects an appropriate combination of resources to enable the session, para. 0154). With respect to claim 5, Michel teaches The method of claim 1, wherein the subscription information indicates services that are to be provided to a user of the endpoint device (several different profiles for the SM can be defined to further optimize for variety of applications; Interactive Session Profile can be used to manage interactive sessions such as those used in VOD; Broadcast Session Profile can be used to manage broadcast sessions such as those used in Switched Broadcast Video services, para. 0151-0153; The Navigation Server presents a list of assets to the subscribers as part of the service offering, para. 0181). With respect to claim 6, Michel in view of Chen, further in view of Beyerlein, and furthermore in view of Imbimbo teaches The method of claim 1 as described above, Further, Beyerlein teaches wherein identifying the goal operating state for the endpoint device comprises: reading information in the update event alert (decoding one or more portions of a payload from a notification, recognizing incomplete or missing information, and requesting supplemental information, from a source at which the notification was received; the supplemental information include more detailed event information, initially, the notification indicate that an event is a change subscription event, but not indicate whether the change in subscription is an upgrade or a downgrade, para. 0062); and querying an entity for additional information (decoding one or more portions of a payload from a notification, recognizing incomplete or missing information, and requesting supplemental information, from a source at which the notification was received; the supplemental information include more detailed event information, initially, the notification indicate that an event is a change subscription event, but not indicate whether the change in subscription is an upgrade or a downgrade, para. 0062) in order to recognize incomplete or missing information and request supplemental information include more detailed event information as taught by Beyerlein (para. 0062). Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Beyerlein to the method of Michel in view of Chen in order to recognize incomplete or missing information and request supplemental information include more detailed event information as taught by Beyerlein (para. 0062). With respect to claim 7, Michel teaches The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the updating comprises: sending the action set to a management controller of the endpoint device via an out of band communication channel (EMMs can be transmitted to the digital set-top box via the out of band channels, para. 0160). With respect to claim 8, Michel teaches The method of claim 7, wherein the endpoint device comprises a network module adapted to separately advertise network endpoints for the management controller and hardware resources of the endpoint device (providing innovative interactive advertising offerings. For example, an advertisement can be inserted at the beginning of a VOD session. The advertisement can be either determined statically based on the asset metadata or dynamically targeted to a particular subscriber based on a set of business rules), the network endpoints being usable by a remote server to address communications to the hardware resources and the management controller (a device manager stores the state of all edge QAMs, and is thus able to manage the resources. If the device manager 100 fails, a new or backup unit can be installed and the state of all edge QAMs restored from the in-stream data, para. 0290; EMMs can be transmitted to the digital set-top box via the out of band channels, para. 0160). With respect to claim 9, Michel teaches The method of claim 8, wherein the management controller and the network module are on separate power domains from the hardware resources so that the management controller and the network module are operable while the hardware resources are inoperable (a device manager stores the state of all edge QAMs, and is thus able to manage the resources. If the device manager 100 fails, a new or backup unit can be installed and the state of all edge QAMs restored from the in-stream data, para. 0290). With respect to claim 10, Michel teaches The method of claim 8, wherein the out of band communication channel runs through the network module, and an in band communication channel that services the hardware resources also runs through the network module (two-way asset query via an out-of-band channel combined with an in-band downstream channel may also be used. For set-top boxes with a DOCSIS modem and more processor power and memory capacity, asset query via a DOCSIS channel is more feasible, para. 0124). With respect to claim 11, Michel teaches The method of claim 8, wherein the network module hosts a transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) stack to facilitate network communications via the out of band communication channel (RTSP is based on the format very similar to HTTP (which, of course, also runs over TCP/IP; The MPEG Digital Storage Media—Command and Control (DSM-CC) user to network protocols can be used for session setup, teardown, and other related session signaling messages. These protocols typically run over TCP/IP; The DSM-CC and RTSP approaches differ in industry acceptance, performance, and flexibility, para. 0232). With respect to claim 12, Michel teaches A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein (memory, para. 0124), which when executed by a processor (processor, para. 0124), cause the processor to perform operations for managing operation of an endpoint device, the operations comprising: identifying an occurrence of an update event for the endpoint device (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214), based on the occurrence of the update event: identifying a goal operating state for the endpoint device (a device manager stores the state of all edge QAMs, and is thus able to manage the resources. If the device manager 100 fails, a new or backup unit can be installed and the state of all edge QAMs restored from the in-stream data in accordance with the invention, para. 0290); obtaining an endpoint device profile for the endpoint device (several different profiles for the SM can be defined to further optimize for variety of applications; Interactive Session Profile can be used to manage interactive sessions such as those used in VOD; Broadcast Session Profile can be used to manage broadcast sessions such as those used in Switched Broadcast Video services, para. 0151-0153); obtaining, using the endpoint device profile, subscription information for the endpoint device (several different profiles for the SM can be defined to further optimize for variety of applications; Interactive Session Profile can be used to manage interactive sessions such as those used in VOD; Broadcast Session Profile can be used to manage broadcast sessions such as those used in Switched Broadcast Video services, para. 0151-0153; The Navigation Server presents a list of assets to the subscribers as part of the service offering, para. 0181); dynamically synthesizing an action set based on the goal operating state, the subscription information, and telemetry information for the endpoint device from the endpoint device profile (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214; each resource manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the topology and resources of the devices it manages and allocating the resources for the session on behalf of the SM. The SM then collects the choices provided by each resource manager and selects an appropriate combination of resources to enable the session, para. 0154), and initiating updating of the endpoint device using the action set (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214). Michel does not explicitly teach the goal operating state comprising a software installation that is incompatible with a hardware component of the endpoint device; wherein the software installation is excluded from the action set; However, Chen teaches the goal operating state comprising a software installation that is incompatible with a hardware component of the endpoint device (system failure instances due to unexpected hardware-software incompatibilities, para. 0033; driver update logic 110 and support assistance logic 108 proactively identify driver installations that are likely to cause a system failure and quarantine or remove those drivers from a recommended driver list once enough installations for each driver has been reached and the system failure probabilities are calculated and examined, para. 0035); wherein the software installation is excluded from the action set (system failure instances due to unexpected hardware-software incompatibilities, para. 0033; driver update logic 110 and support assistance logic 108 proactively identify driver installations that are likely to cause a system failure and quarantine or remove those drivers from a recommended driver list once enough installations for each driver has been reached and the system failure probabilities are calculated and examined, para. 0035) in order to ensuring that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035); Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Chen to the medium of Michel in order to ensure that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035). Michel in view of Chen does not explicitly teach receiving an update event alert indicating a change in subscription by a user of the endpoint device, identifying, based on the update event alert, an occurrence of an update event for the endpoint device; However, Beyerlein teaches receiving an update event alert indicating a change in subscription by a user of the endpoint device (the notifications are in a form of an API call, transmitted as a packet, which includes updates and/or status reports regarding the resources, including subscription-based statuses of the consuming entities; the event notifications refer to subscription updates to subscription information; the event notifications indicate update types of the subscription information include subscriber identifiers, a tenant identifier, and subscription statuses of the subscription products, para. 0032), identifying, based on the update event alert, an occurrence of an update event for the endpoint device (receiving a notification of a pause and/or a resume notification ; retrieving a subscription associated with the notification, upon finding the subscription, creating an amendment to suspend the subscription, or creating a future dated amendment to resume the subscription, if the notification includes a resume notification, para. 0084) in order to prevent and or refrain from further processing on the message as taught by Beyerlein (para. 0067); Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Beyerlein to the medium of Michel in view of Chen in order to prevent and or refrain from further processing on the message as taught by Beyerlein (para. 0067). Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein does not explicitly teach the update event alert comprising a timestamp of the change in subscription and an identifier of a user of the endpoint device; However, Imbimbo teaches the update event alert comprising a timestamp of the change in subscription and an identifier of a user of the endpoint device (event report for the detected event previously subscribed to by the AF device 101; information on subscription change related events; identity of an end-user; location information of an end-user; time-stamp related to the detected event, page 4, lines 5-15) in order to enable an efficient communication system as taught by Imbimbo (page 32, lines 20-25); Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, further in view of Beyerlein, and furthermore in view of Imbimbo, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Imbimbo to the medium of Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein in order to enable an efficient communication system as taught by Imbimbo (page 32, lines 20-25). With respect to claim 13, Michel teaches The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the action set is dynamically synthesized using the subscription information and the telemetry information to exclude a resource (the Navigation Server presents a list of assets to the subscribers as part of the service offering, para. 0181; dynamically add, delete, or modify the resources associated with the session to support integration of multiple on demand services, para. 0139; providing additional features such as query of the asset existence and deletion of the asset, para. 0222). Further, Chen teaches exclude as resource as exclude the software installation (system failure instances due to unexpected hardware-software incompatibilities, para. 0033; driver update logic 110 and support assistance logic 108 proactively identify driver installations that are likely to cause a system failure and quarantine or remove those drivers from a recommended driver list once enough installations for each driver has been reached and the system failure probabilities are calculated and examined, para. 0035) in order to ensuring that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035). Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Chen to the medium of Michel in order to ensure that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035). With respect to claim 14, Michel teaches The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the action set is further dynamically synthesized using the goal operating state to identify all possible actions (a device manager stores the state of all edge QAMs, and is thus able to manage the resources. If the device manager 100 fails, a new or backup unit can be installed and the state of all edge QAMs restored from the in-stream data in accordance with the invention, para. 0290; the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214; each resource manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the topology and resources of the devices it manages and allocating the resources for the session on behalf of the SM. The SM then collects the choices provided by each resource manager and selects an appropriate combination of resources to enable the session, para. 0154). With respect to claim 15, Michael teaches The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the telemetry information indicates hardware components of the endpoint device (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214; each resource manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the topology and resources of the devices it manages and allocating the resources for the session on behalf of the SM. The SM then collects the choices provided by each resource manager and selects an appropriate combination of resources to enable the session, para. 0154). With respect to claim 16, Michel teaches The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the subscription information indicates services that are to be provided to a user of the endpoint device (several different profiles for the SM can be defined to further optimize for variety of applications; Interactive Session Profile can be used to manage interactive sessions such as those used in VOD; Broadcast Session Profile can be used to manage broadcast sessions such as those used in Switched Broadcast Video services, para. 0151-0153; The Navigation Server presents a list of assets to the subscribers as part of the service offering, para. 0181). With respect to claim 17, Michel teaches A data processing system, comprising: a processor (processor, para. 0124); and a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions (memory, para. 0124), which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations for managing operation of an endpoint device (processor, para. 0124), the operations comprising: identifying an occurrence of an update event for the endpoint device (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214); based on the occurrence of the update event: identifying a goal operating state for the endpoint device (a device manager stores the state of all edge QAMs, and is thus able to manage the resources. If the device manager 100 fails, a new or backup unit can be installed and the state of all edge QAMs restored from the in-stream data in accordance with the invention, para. 0290), obtaining an endpoint device profile for the endpoint device (several different profiles for the SM can be defined to further optimize for variety of applications; Interactive Session Profile can be used to manage interactive sessions such as those used in VOD; Broadcast Session Profile can be used to manage broadcast sessions such as those used in Switched Broadcast Video services, para. 0151-0153); obtaining, using the endpoint device profile, subscription information for the endpoint device (several different profiles for the SM can be defined to further optimize for variety of applications; Interactive Session Profile can be used to manage interactive sessions such as those used in VOD; Broadcast Session Profile can be used to manage broadcast sessions such as those used in Switched Broadcast Video services, para. 0151-0153; The Navigation Server presents a list of assets to the subscribers as part of the service offering, para. 0181); dynamically synthesizing an action set based on the goal operating state, the subscription information, and telemetry information for the endpoint device from the endpoint device profile (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214; each resource manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the topology and resources of the devices it manages and allocating the resources for the session on behalf of the SM. The SM then collects the choices provided by each resource manager and selects an appropriate combination of resources to enable the session, para. 0154), and initiating updating of the endpoint device using the action set (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214). Michel does not explicitly teach the goal operating state comprising a software installation that is incompatible with a hardware component of the endpoint device; wherein the software installation is excluded from the action set; However, Chen teaches the goal operating state comprising a software installation that is incompatible with a hardware component of the endpoint device (system failure instances due to unexpected hardware-software incompatibilities, para. 0033; driver update logic 110 and support assistance logic 108 proactively identify driver installations that are likely to cause a system failure and quarantine or remove those drivers from a recommended driver list once enough installations for each driver has been reached and the system failure probabilities are calculated and examined, para. 0035); wherein the software installation is excluded from the action set (system failure instances due to unexpected hardware-software incompatibilities, para. 0033; driver update logic 110 and support assistance logic 108 proactively identify driver installations that are likely to cause a system failure and quarantine or remove those drivers from a recommended driver list once enough installations for each driver has been reached and the system failure probabilities are calculated and examined, para. 0035) in order to ensuring that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035); Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Chen to the system of Michel in order to ensure that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035). Michel in view of Chen does not explicitly teach receiving an update event alert indicating a change in subscription by a user of the endpoint device, identifying, based on the update event alert, an occurrence of an update event for the endpoint device; However, Beyerlein teaches receiving an update event alert indicating a change in subscription by a user of the endpoint device (the notifications are in a form of an API call, transmitted as a packet, which includes updates and/or status reports regarding the resources, including subscription-based statuses of the consuming entities; the event notifications refer to subscription updates to subscription information; the event notifications indicate update types of the subscription information include subscriber identifiers, a tenant identifier, and subscription statuses of the subscription products, para. 0032), identifying, based on the update event alert, an occurrence of an update event for the endpoint device (receiving a notification of a pause and/or a resume notification ; retrieving a subscription associated with the notification, upon finding the subscription, creating an amendment to suspend the subscription, or creating a future dated amendment to resume the subscription, if the notification includes a resume notification, para. 0084) in order to prevent and or refrain from further processing on the message as taught by Beyerlein (para. 0067); Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Beyerlein to the system of Michel in view of Chen in order to prevent and or refrain from further processing on the message as taught by Beyerlein (para. 0067). Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein does not explicitly teach the update event alert comprising a timestamp of the change in subscription and an identifier of a user of the endpoint device; However, Imbimbo teaches the update event alert comprising a timestamp of the change in subscription and an identifier of a user of the endpoint device (event report for the detected event previously subscribed to by the AF device 101; information on subscription change related events; identity of an end-user; location information of an end-user; time-stamp related to the detected event, page 4, lines 5-15) in order to enable an efficient communication system as taught by Imbimbo (page 32, lines 20-25); Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, further in view of Beyerlein, and furthermore in view of Imbimbo, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Imbimbo to the system of Michel in view of Chen, and further in view of Beyerlein in order to enable an efficient communication system as taught by Imbimbo (page 32, lines 20-25). With respect to claim 18, Michel teaches The data processing system of claim 17, wherein the action set is dynamically synthesized using the subscription information and the telemetry information to exclude a resource (the Navigation Server presents a list of assets to the subscribers as part of the service offering, para. 0181; dynamically add, delete, or modify the resources associated with the session to support integration of multiple on demand services, para. 0139; providing additional features such as query of the asset existence and deletion of the asset, para. 0222). Further, Chen teaches exclude as resource as exclude the software installation ((system failure instances due to unexpected hardware-software incompatibilities, para. 0033; driver update logic 110 and support assistance logic 108 proactively identify driver installations that are likely to cause a system failure and quarantine or remove those drivers from a recommended driver list once enough installations for each driver has been reached and the system failure probabilities are calculated and examined, para. 0035) in order to ensuring that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035). Therefore, based on Michel in view of Chen, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Chen to the system of Michel in order to ensure that drivers that are likely to cause a system failure are removed from circulation as soon as possible in an efficient manner that does not require user interaction as taught by Chen (para. 0035). With respect to claim 19, Michel teaches The data processing system of claim 18, wherein the action set is further dynamically synthesized using the goal operating state to identify all possible actions (a device manager stores the state of all edge QAMs, and is thus able to manage the resources. If the device manager 100 fails, a new or backup unit can be installed and the state of all edge QAMs restored from the in-stream data in accordance with the invention, para. 0290; the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214; each resource manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the topology and resources of the devices it manages and allocating the resources for the session on behalf of the SM. The SM then collects the choices provided by each resource manager and selects an appropriate combination of resources to enable the session, para. 0154). With respect to claim 20, Michael teaches The data processing system of claim 17, wherein the telemetry information indicates hardware components of the endpoint device (the SM retrieves and aggregates the topology and resource information from each resource manager. The SM will need to update this information as necessary, para. 0214; each resource manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the topology and resources of the devices it manages and allocating the resources for the session on behalf of the SM. The SM then collects the choices provided by each resource manager and selects an appropriate combination of resources to enable the session, para. 0154). Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAO HONG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2666. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8AM-4:30PM EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joon H. Hwang can be reached on (571)272-40364036. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /H.H.N/Examiner, Art Unit 2447 January 21, 2026 /JOON H HWANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2447
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 29, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 14, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Sep 18, 2025
Response Filed
Sep 28, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Dec 23, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 08, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
67%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+37.9%)
3y 2m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 301 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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