Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/758,152

Configurable Realms To Support Multi-Tenancy For Storage Resources

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jun 28, 2024
Examiner
DINH, KHANH Q
Art Unit
2458
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Pure Storage Inc.
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
2-3
OA Rounds
1y 0m
Est. Remaining
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allowance Rate
608 granted / 727 resolved
+25.6% vs TC avg
Minimal +4% lift
Without
With
+4.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
13 currently pending
Career history
746
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.0%
-38.0% vs TC avg
§103
49.1%
+9.1% vs TC avg
§102
41.4%
+1.4% vs TC avg
§112
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 727 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
Notice of Pre-AlA or AIA Status The present application is being examined under the pre-AlA first to invent provisions. DETAILED ACTION This is in response to the Remarks filed on 1/2/2026. Claims 1-20 are presented for examination. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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-AlA) 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1, 8, 19 and 20 are rejected under pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hall, US Pub.20160299698. As to claim 1, Hall discloses a method, comprising: creating, in a storage array (40 fig.3), a plurality of realms (1-N of fgi.3), wherein each realm comprises a logical isolation of a corresponding one or more storage resources within the storage array and restricting access to each of the plurality of realms using one or more configurable realm- specific access controls (using a controller to dynamically designate physical regions to be one of an I-region or an E-region, for example, the physical regions may take on the attributes of an I-region, an E-region, or a spare physical region, fig.1, [0027[ to [0029]). As to claim 8, Moss discloses restricting access to each of the plurality of realms comprises restricting access to a particular realm via one or more defined networks (using a controller to dynamically designate physical regions to be one of an I-region or an E-region, for example, the physical regions may take on the attributes of an I-region, an E-region, or a spare physical region, fig.1, [0027[ to [0029]). Claims 19 and 20 are rejected for the same reasons set forth in claims 1 and 1 respectively. 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. Claim(s) 2-7, 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hall, US pub. No. 20160299698 in view of Moss at al., US Pub. No.20130145367. As to claim 2, Hall does not specifically disclose the corresponding one or more storage resources comprises at least one of: provisioned storage or one or more workloads. However, Moss discloses disclose the corresponding one or more storage resources comprises at least one of: provisioned storage or one or more workloads (The realm manager 28 handles the input, setup and configuration of any load and work product distribution logic, see [0041] to [0042]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to implement Moss’s teachings into the computer system of Hall to monitor data information because it would have enabled custom algorithms to be encapsulated and incorporated directly into the realm load management models (see Moss’ [0040]). As to claim 3, Moss discloses tracking, for a particular realm of the plurality of realms, one or more usage metrics (usage and distribution preferences aligned against cost of processing, see [0054]). As to claim 4, Moss discloses calculating a cost for one or more usage metrics (processing cost, see [0054] to [0055])). As to claim 5, Moss discloses presenting the one or more usage metrics to a user associated with the particular realm (usage, see [0054] to [0056)). As to claim 6, Moss discloses performing data reduction across the plurality of realms (usage and distribution preferences aligned against cost of processing, see [0055] to [0056]). As to claim 7, Moss discloses controlling resource consumption by one or more of the plurality of realms (see [0054] to [0056)). As to claim 9, Moss discloses wherein restricting access to each of the plurality of realms comprises restricting access to a particular realm using a realm access key (see [0028] and [0040]). As to claim 10, Moss discloses restricting access to each of the plurality of realms comprises applying an access policy associated with a user (configuring a realm manager with two or more client determined configuration policies; allowing input, setup and configuration of the two or more client determined configuration policies through the use of a design studio application program, see [0028] to [0030]). As to claim 11, Moss discloses the user is associated with a plurality of access policies and wherein applying the access policy associated with the user comprises determining a set of permissions for the user based on the plurality of access policies (configuring a realm manager with two or more client determined configuration policies; allowing input, setup and configuration of the two or more client determined configuration policies through the use of a design studio application program, see [0028] to [0032]). As to claim 12, Moss discloses copying a database to a particular realm from another storage location in the storage array (The automatic distributed net cloud node instance 40 creates nodes, which are an automatic replication of a pneuron and this process is established when volume creases., see [0047] to [0048]). Claims 19-20 are rejected for the same reasons set forth in claims 1 and 1 respectively. Claims 13-18 are rejected under pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hall and Moss as in above and in view of Darji et al., US Pub. No.20220365821. As to claims 13-18, neiwther Hall nor Moss specifically disclose copying the database comprises establishing a replication connection between the database and the particular realm, wherein migrating the realm preserves the replication connection, the plurality of realms is encrypted using a data encryption key different than the realm access key, performing a replication of a particular realm and a failover of the particular realm and using a data encryption key different than the realm access key. However, Darji discloses copying the database comprises establishing a replication connection between the database and the particular realm, wherein migrating the realm preserves the replication connection, the plurality of realms is encrypted using a data encryption key different than the realm access key, performing a replication of a particular realm and a failover of the particular realm and using a data encryption key different than the realm access key (two or more of the storage systems may synchronously replicate a dataset between each other, failover process and encryption technique, see [0128], [0241] to [0242]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to implement Darji’s teachings into the computer system of Hall to control data system because it would have created secure zones in data centers and cloud deployments that enables the isolation of workloads from one another (see [0128]). Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments, filed on 1/2/26 , with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 USC 102 and 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Moss, US Pub. No.20130145367 and Hall et al., US Pub. No.20130299698. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Khanh Dinh whose telephone number is (571) 272-3936. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.m. to 5:00 P.m. 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:/Awww.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Cheema Umar, can be reached on (571) 270-3037. 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: httos://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https:/Avww.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. /KHANH Q DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 28, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 23, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103
Dec 23, 2025
Response Filed
Apr 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §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

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
84%
Grant Probability
88%
With Interview (+4.3%)
2y 11m (~1y 0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 727 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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