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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 12-17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 12-17 are replete with capitalized nouns, which is not in accordance with standard claim drafting practice. The only words that should be capitalized in a claim are:
the first word of a claim
a mark or trade name
acronyms that have a defined meaning (for example, claiming “network attached storage (NAS)” and subsequently claiming “NAS” is permissible in a claim.)
In claim 12, for example, none of the nouns “Neighboring Area Server” or “Connecting Area Server” should be capitalized because these are not marks or trade names or acronyms. Similar instances of unnecessarily capitalized nouns exist throughout claims 13-17. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 13-17 are replete with reference characters enclosed in parentheses. The only usage case for parentheses in a claim is to enclose a reference number from a figure, and in that case, it is understood that the reference numbers are to have no effect on the scope of the claim. Refer to MPEP § 608.01(m), Form of Claims, in the third paragraph where it is stated that:
Reference characters corresponding to elements recited in the detailed description and the drawings may be used in conjunction with the recitation of the same element or group of elements in the claims. The reference characters, however, should be enclosed within parentheses so as to avoid confusion with other numbers or characters which may appear in the claims. Generally, the presence or absence of such reference characters does not affect the scope of a claim.
In the pending claims, the numbers enclosed in parentheses appear to designate port numbers and it is unclear whether Applicant intends for these port numbers to affect the scope of the claim. It is recommended to remove the parentheses and include some definition of port numbers in the claims to provide antecedent basis for any subsequent reference to such port numbers.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the connectivity status" in line 12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because there is no prior recitation of a connectivity status. Claim 6 repeats the limitation “the connectivity status” lacks antecedent basis for the same reason.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the corresponding axis integer length" and "the width of the network coordinate address". There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitation in the claim because there are no prior recitations of any axis integer length(s) or of a width of a network coordinate address.
Claim 13 recites “said tracker communicating its IP Port to a Connecting Area Server (S1:2)”. It is not stated that S1:2 is a port or whether it is a port of the tracker or a port of the Connecting Area Server. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “the position in the Neighboring Server’s internal socket table”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because there is no prior recitation of a position(s) in a neighboring server’s internal socket table.
Claim 14 also recites the limitation “the Neighboring Server’s internal socket table (S1:5) in lines 6-7 which renders the claim indefinite. It is unclear whether S1:5 is intended to be a port number or a table cell location. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 17 similarly recites certain reference numbers (S2:2), (S2:3), (S2:4) and (S2:5) without any context as to whether these are port numbers or reference numbers assigned to step limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN J HYLINSKI whose telephone number is (571)270-1995. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10-530.
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, Dmitry Suhol can be reached at (571) 272-4430. 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.
/STEVEN J HYLINSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
Prosecution Insights