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 .
Notice for all Patent Application as subject to AIA
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 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.
RESPONSE TO AMENDMENT
Amended claims 1-7, 9, 11-20 and new claims 21-21 are pending and remain for further examination.
The New Grounds of Rejection
Applicant’s amendments and arguments with respect to the claims 1-20 filed on April 13, 2026 have been fully considered. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of new references. Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new grounds of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of title AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being un-patentable over Menon et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0328917 A1) in view of Wu et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0344153 A1).
As to claim 1, Menon et al disclose a network device (figure 2) comprising: one or more memories configured to store instructions; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories and configured to execute the instructions, to cause the network device (figure 2, pars. 0104-0106, network device having a memory and a processor) to obtain a first Internet Protocol (IP) packet comprising a packet header, wherein the packet header comprises a tenant identifier of a tenant corresponding to the first IP packet (figure 1, par. 0049, figure 2, par. 0077, network device receiving an IP packet having a header including tenant ID); obtaining the first IP packet comprises:
receiving, from a control management device, the tenant identifier; storing the tenant identifier; receiving a second IP packet; and including the tenant identifier that is stored into the second IP packet to obtain the first IP packet (figure 2, pars. 0054-0060, 0081-0087, control unit using tenant identifier to obtaining IP packet); and send the first IP packet to a service device, for performing, based on the tenant identifier, a service corresponding to the tenant (figure 4, pars. 0100-0103, network device forwarding the IP packet to the service device).
However, Menon et al do not explicitly teach that send the first IP packet to a value-added service (VAS) device, for performing, based on the tenant identifier, a value- added service corresponding to the tenant.
Wu et al teach that send the first IP packet to a value-added service (VAS) server, for performing, based on the tenant identifier, a value- added service corresponding to the tenant (figures 9-10, pars. 0177, 0182-0183, 0191-0193, 0202-0203, controller sends an IP packet to a service routing trigger for performing a service at service node).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Wu et al as stated above with the network device of Menon et al for sending an IP packet to service routing trigger for performing a service at service node because it would have improved efficiency over network traffic and also improved throughput, bottlenecks, and system utilization by mapping tenant with proper service using the assigned identifiers.
As to claim 2, Menon et al disclose that the first IP packet is an IP version 6 (IPv6) packet comprising an IP extension header that carries the tenant identifier (figure 3, par. 0096, header has tenant ID).
As to claims 3-5, Menon et al disclose that the IP extension header comprises an added length-value (TLV) field that carries the tenant identifier, the IP extension header is a segment routing header (SRH), and the SRH comprises a tag field that carries the tenant identifier (figure 3, pars. 0096-0099, header have fields, and also has session ID and tenant ID).
As to claim 6, Menon et al disclose that the IP extension header is an application-aware networking (APN) extension (figure 3, pars. 0096-0099, header have fields, and also has session ID and tenant ID).
As to claim 7, Menon et al disclose that the first IP packet is an IP version 4 (IPv4) packet comprising, and the tenant identifier is carried in an option field of an IP basic header, wherein the IP basic header comprises an option field that carries the tenant identifier (figure 3, par. 0096, header has tenant ID).
As to claim 9, Menon et al disclose that obtain service data and the tenant identifier; and generate, based on the service data and the tenant identifier, the first IP packet, wherein the first IP packet further comprises the service data (figure 1, pars. 0049-0051, figure 2, pars. 0077-0080, network device receiving an IP packet having a header including tenant ID and service data).
As to claim 11, Menon et al disclose that receive, from the control management device, a virtual private network (VPN) instance of the tenant, wherein the VPN instance comprises the tenant identifier as a component of the tenant identifier, and wherein the tenant identifier is associated with and carried within the VPN instance; and store the VPN instance (pars. 0049, 0066, 0086, tenant using VPN for improving network traffic security).
As to claims 12-14, they are also rejected for the same reasons set forth to rejecting claims 1-2 and 7 above, since claims 12-14 do not teach or define any new limitations than above rejected claims 1-2 and 7.
As to claims 15-22, they are also rejected for the same reasons set forth to rejecting claims 1-3, 6-7, and 9 above, since claims 15-22 do not teach or define any new limitations than above rejected claims 1-3, 6-7, and 9.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments with respect to the claims 1-20 filed on April 13, 2026 have been fully considered but they are deemed to be moot in a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of new references. The examiner has attempted to answer (response) to the remarks (arguments) in the body of the Office Action (see new rejection of claims 1-7, 9, and 11).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Content Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bharat Barot whose telephone number is (571)272-3979. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:00AM-3:30PM.
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, Kamal B Divecha can be reached on (571)272-5863. 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.
/BHARAT BAROT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2453June 15, 2026
Prosecution Insights