Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/670,890

Performing Administrator Operations On Separate Namespaces

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
May 22, 2024
Examiner
PERUNGAVOOR, VENKATANARAY
Art Unit
2492
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Pure Storage Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 10m
To Grant
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
877 granted / 999 resolved
+29.8% vs TC avg
Minimal +4% lift
Without
With
+3.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
43 currently pending
Career history
1042
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
13.6%
-26.4% vs TC avg
§103
43.7%
+3.7% vs TC avg
§102
16.7%
-23.3% vs TC avg
§112
11.9%
-28.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 999 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 office action is in response to the application filed on or reply to the remarks of 5/22/2024. The instant application has claims 1-20 pending. The system, method and medium for creating an namespace of administrative operations for storage device. There a total of 20 claims. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Drawings The drawing filed on /2024 has been accepted and in compliance of 37 CFR 1.83 & 37 CFR 1.84. Specification The disclosure filed on /2024 is accepted. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub 2019/0114102 to Chen in view of US Patent Pub 2020/0067896 to Manu. Regarding claim 1, 9, 17, Chen discloses A storage system comprising: a plurality of storage devices; and a storage controller comprising a processing device operatively coupled to the plurality of storage devices, the processing device configured to: generate a first namespace on a particular storage device of the plurality of storage devices for performing one or more administrator operations on the particular storage device(Abstract & Fig. 3 & Fig. 5 & Par. 0029 , the configuration of the storage volumes is set for the newly provisioned storage device) ; transmit the one or more administrator operations for the particular storage device to the first namespace and one or more data storage operations for the particular storage device to the second namespace (Fig. 3 & Par. 0028-0029, the configuration setting for the volume is being set). Chen does not disclose generate a second namespace on the particular storage device for storing data at the particular storage device. In the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, Manu discloses generate a second namespace on the particular storage device for storing data at the particular storage device (Abstract & Par. 0043-0046, the data being stored in cloud storage after encryption) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify Chen invention to incorporate generate a second namespace on the particular storage device for storing data at the particular storage device for the advantage of providing an secure storage based on encryption as taught in Manu see Regarding claim 2, 10, 18, The combined method/system/medium of Chen and Manu, mutatis mutandis, Chen discloses the storage system of claim 1, wherein the particular storage device encrypts data stored at the particular storage device and wherein the first namespace disables the encryption of data stored in the first namespace(Par. 0016 & Par. 0029, the encryption setting being turned on). Regarding claim 3, 11, 19, The combined method/system/medium of Chen and Manu, mutatis mutandis, Manu discloses the storage system of claim 2, wherein the processing device is further configured to: store, in the first namespace, one or more shards of an encryption key used to decrypt the data stored in the second namespace, wherein remaining shards of the encryption key are stored at one or more of the plurality of storage devices(Par. 006-009 & Fig. 7 & Fig. 8& Fig. 4 & Fig. 5, the encryption key for decrypting the application data & Par. 0058-0060) Regarding claim 4, 12, 20, The combined method/system/medium of Chen and Manu, mutatis mutandis, Manu discloses the storage system of claim 3, wherein the processing device is further configured to: receive a request to access the data stored in the second namespace(Par. 006-009 & Fig. 7 & Fig. 8& Fig. 4 & Fig. 5, the encryption key for decrypting the application data); retrieve the one or more shards of the encryption key from the first namespace and the remaining shards of the encryption key from the one or more of the plurality of storage devices(Par. 006-009 & Fig. 7 & Fig. 8& Fig. 4 & Fig. 5, the encryption key for decrypting the application data); generate the encryption key using the one or more shards and the remaining shards; and decrypt the data stored in the second name space using the generated encryption key(Par. 006-009 & Fig. 7 & Fig. 8& Fig. 4 & Fig. 5, the encryption key for decrypting the application data). Regarding claim 5, 13, The combined method/system/medium of Chen and Manu, mutatis mutandis, Chen discloses the storage system of claim 1, wherein the one or more administrator operations comprise one or more reservation commands for storing data in the second namespace(Par. 0017, the instructions for creating memory devices provisioning). Regarding claim 6, 14, The combined method/system/medium of Chen and Manu, mutatis mutandis, Chen discloses the storage system of claim 1, wherein the one or more administrator operations comprise one or more status queries for information associated with the particular storage device(Par. 0039 & Par. 0035, the provision of the device and performance is determined) Regarding claim 7, 15, The combined method/system/medium of Chen and Manu, mutatis mutandis, Chen discloses the storage system of claim 1, wherein the one or more administrator operations comprise one or more security commands(par. 0039-0040, the encryption and compression turned on). Regarding claim 8, 16, The combined method/system/medium of Chen and Manu, mutatis mutandis, Chen discloses the storage system of claim 1, wherein the one or more administrator operations comprise one or more commands that impact performance of the particular storage device (Par. 0035, performance is determined). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Venkat Perungavoor whose telephone number is (571)272-7213. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5. 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, Rupal Dharia can be reached on 571-272-3880. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /VENKAT PERUNGAVOOR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2492 Email: venkatanarayan.perungavoor@uspto.gov
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 22, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 26, 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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+3.5%)
2y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 999 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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