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
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application and have been examined in response to application remarks filed on 06/22/2026.
CONTINUING DATA: This application has PRO 63/648,048 05/15/2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-7 and 9-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dubey et al (US 2016/0337204 A1) in view of Tachibana et al. (US 6,219,053 B1).
As to INDEPENDENT claim 1, Dubey discloses a computer system, comprising: one or more processors (fig.7; a processor “763” is disclosed); and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media (fig.8A; storage device “830”) storing programming for execution by the one or more processors, the programming comprising instructions to: receive a request for a visualization of a communication network, the communication network comprising a plurality of network devices in a hierarchical arrangement that comprises a plurality of hierarchical levels (fig.4B; [0099], [0103]; a user requests an updated network hierarchical arrangement displayed in multiple rings is disclosed);
access, in response to the request, network information for the plurality of network devices (fig.5, “500”; network information is accessed);
generate, according to the network information, a network visualization of the communication network for display, the network visualization comprising: a center region; and a plurality of rings arranged in a concentric manner and extending radially from the center region, each ring of the plurality of rings at least partially surrounding the center region and comprising one or more ring segments that each represent a respective network device of the plurality of network devices (fig.4B; [0094]-[0096]; a network hierarchical arrangement with inner and outer rings is displayed). Dubey does not expressly disclose the center region corresponding to a first hierarchical level of the plurality of hierarchical levels, the rings of the plurality of rings corresponding to respective hierarchical levels of the plurality of hierarchical levels, the respective hierarchical levels extending deeper into the hierarchical arrangement radially from the center region.
In the same field of endeavor, Tachibana discloses the center region corresponding to a first hierarchical level of the plurality of hierarchical levels, the rings of the plurality of rings corresponding to respective hierarchical levels of the plurality of hierarchical levels, the respective hierarchical levels extending deeper into the hierarchical arrangement radially from the center region (fig.4; a ring shaped hierarchical data structure is displayed).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teaching of Dubey and Tachibana before him prior to the effective filling date, to elaborate the networking visualization taught by Dubey to include a ring-shaped hierarchical data structure representation taught by Tachibana with the motivation being to yield predictable results.
As to claim 2, Dubey discloses wherein the network information comprises at least one of: information regarding the hierarchical arrangement of the plurality of network devices; information regarding an operational status of the plurality of network devices; or information regarding the communication network (Dubey, [0059]; device conditions are color coded).
As to claim 3, Dubey discloses wherein: the network information comprises information corresponding to a plurality of network information layers (Dubey, fig.4A; layer status is represented graphically); and
each ring of the plurality of rings comprises shading to indicate information about the communication network according to the network information corresponding to a first network information layer, the shading being particular to each ring segment of the one or more ring segments of each ring of the plurality of rings (Dubey, fig.4A; shadings are applied to rings and ring segments to communicate network statuses).
As to claim 4, Dubey discloses wherein the programming further comprises instructions to: receive a selection of a second network information layer of the plurality of network information layers; and regenerate, according to the network information corresponding to the second network information layer, the network visualization for display such that each ring of the plurality of rings comprises shading to indicate information about the communication network for the second network information layer (Dubey, fig.3D, fig.3F; [0077]; the view is regenerated to show only the selected segment(s) and its related sub-segment(s) that are shaded to show operating status).
As to claim 5, Dubey discloses wherein the center region and each ring of the plurality of rings correspond to a respective hierarchical level of the plurality of hierarchical levels (Dubey, fig.4B; [0094]-[0096]; hierarchical levels are organized outwardly).
As to claim 6, Dubey discloses wherein: adjacent rings of the plurality of rings represent adjacent hierarchical levels of the hierarchical arrangement and a first ring of the plurality of rings that is closer to the center region than a second ring of the plurality of rings corresponds to a hierarchical level of the hierarchical arrangement that is closer to a root of the hierarchical arrangement than a hierarchical level of the hierarchical arrangement to which the second ring corresponds (Dubey, fig.4B; [0094]-[0096]; the inner ring is the parent node(s) of the adjacent outer ring);.
As to claim 7, Dubey discloses wherein: the first ring is directly adjacent to the second ring; a particular ring segment of the first ring corresponds to a first network device that is associated with a first hierarchical level of the hierarchical arrangement; and the second ring comprises one or more ring segments that fall within an angular range of the particular ring segment of the first ring and correspond to respective network devices of the plurality of network devices that are children of the first network device in the hierarchical arrangement (Dubey, fig.4B; [0094]-[0096]; the node “478“ is a parent to nodes “450”).
As to claim 9, Dubey discloses wherein at least one ring of the plurality of rings is discontinuous (Dubey, fig.3A; an open-ended representation is illustrated).
As to claim 10, Dubey discloses wherein the network visualization comprises an opening extending from the center region through all of the rings surrounding the center region, a network connectivity path indicator being displayed in the opening (Dubey, fig.3A, “322”; a link is displayed to show the connectivity path status).
As to claim 11, Dubey discloses wherein the programming further comprises instructions to display the network visualization of the communication network (Dubey, fig.4B).
As to claim 12, Dubey discloses wherein the programming further comprises instructions to generate a network management graphical user interface (GUI), the network visualization being a part of the network management GUI (Dubey, fig.4B; [0054]).
INDEPENDENT claim 13 is a method variation of claim 1, claim 13 is therefore rejected under the same rational as claim 1.
Claim 14 is a method variation of claim 3, claim 14 is therefore rejected under the same rational as claim 3.
Claim 15 is a method variation of claim 4, claim 15 is therefore rejected under the same rational as claim 4.
Claim 16 is a method variation of claims 6-7, claim 16 is therefore rejected under the same rational as claims 6-7.
Claim 18 is a method variation of claim 9, claim 18 is therefore rejected under the same rational as claim 9.
Claim 19 is a method variation of claim 12, claim 19 is therefore rejected under the same rational as claim 12.
INDEPENDENT claim 20 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage media variation of claim 1, claim 20 is therefore rejected under the same rational as claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 13 and 20 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.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 HAOSHIAN SHIH whose telephone number is (571)270-1257. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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/HAOSHIAN SHIH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2179
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