DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Oath/Declaration
Applicant is reminded that an inventor's oath or declaration in compliance with 37 CFR 1.63 or 1.64 executed by or with respect to each inventor must be submitted no later than the date on which the issue fee is paid in response to a notice requiring such fee.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8 January, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 8 January, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-7 and 11-20 remain pending in the application. Examiner acknowledges amendments to the claims which have been rejected under 35 USC § 103 upon further search and consideration.
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 35 U.S.C. 103 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 4, 6-7, 11, 14, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maeda (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2009/0180209) in view of Oukid et al (U.S. Patent No. 10,152,258), hereinafter referred to as Oukid, and Chien (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2014/0365713).
In regard to claim 1, Maeda teaches a method for allocating memory to applications, comprising: in response to an allocation request for a hard disk memory sent from a target application, reading free memory information of the hard disk memory directly from a system memory (Paragraph 0120, lines 1-6 include application control for recording AV data; Paragraph 0189 hard disk may be used; Paragraph 0131 area management block information includes free area size and is recorded in RAM; Paragraph 0142, lines 2-5 information is used to allocate space for recorded data); determining, based on the free memory information of the hard disk memory directly read from the system memory, a first storage space from the hard disk memory (Paragraph 0142, lines 2-5 management information is used to allocate space for recorded data; ); and writing size information of the first storage space into a second storage space of the hard disk memory (Paragraph 0022, lines 6-8 directory entry includes file size); and sending initial address information corresponding to the first storage space to the target application, wherein the target application accesses the second storage space based on the initial address information (Paragraph 0123, lines 7-11 RDE (including directory entries which include size and initial address info) is stored as file system management information; Paragraph 0127 and 0129 file system management information is used for accessing data on memory device 2 e.g. initial address info in directory entry (second storage space) is accessed when files are accessed).
Maeda does not teach the remaining limitations of claim 1, however Oukid discloses reading, by a memory allocator, free memory information (Column 2, lines 64-65 disclosed allocator includes sub-allocators; Column 3, line 67 to Column 4, line 2, free segment info may be read by sub-allocators; while this is read from persistent memory, a person of ordinary skill could implement this technique with that of Maeda to read free info from RAM). Oukid also discloses that the memory allocator is in the system memory, and the system memory communicates directly with a central processing unit (CPU) (see Fig. 1, main memory 108 includes allocator 112, connected through comm infrastructure (i.e. bus) to CPU); allocating, by the memory allocator, the first storage space of the hard disk memory to the target application (Fig. 2 and related description in Column 4, line 58 to Column 5, line 45 disclose allocation process which returns a persistent pointer): sending, by the memory allocator, initial address information (Column 5, lines 46-48) wherein the first storage space of the hard disk memory conforms to requirement information carried in the allocation request sent from the target application (Column 4, lines 60-63 disclose that size information in the request is used to determine allocation size e.g. as a requirement for the allocation); and that the target application uses the first storage space based on the size information written into the second storage space of the hard disk memory and the initial address information of the first storage space (Column 3, lines 29-44, virtual segment info includes size and is used to determine persistent pointers (e.g. application accesses must be based on the information); Column 5, lines 46-48 a persistent pointer to an initial address is returned after allocation for use by a requesting program; a combination with Maeda would result in utilization based on size information in a filesystem management area of the hard disk (i.e. second storage space)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the disclosure of Oukid in order to benefit from a plurality of customizable memory allocators for allocating application memory as well as manage allocation of SCM in a single level architecture (Column 1, lines 26-28) by utilizing the sub-allocators which have block size ranges for allocation (Column 3, lines 11-16) which has the expected result of reducing complexity compared to a multiple-level management of SCM e.g. using blocks grouped at one or more translation layers.
The previously cited references do not explicitly teach pre-storing free memory information of a hard disk, however Chien ¶ 0006 discloses a host detecting and retrieving parameter information from a hard disk on boot, wherein the information includes data concerning capacity and block size (¶ 0013). When combined with the functioning of previously cited references where free block information is stored in system memory, hard disk free memory information would be automatically detected and pre-loaded into system memory on boot, achieving the claimed limitation. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the disclosure of Chien in order to load free block information pre-emptively and access drives more immediately by retrieving parameter data while they are still initializing (¶ 0020).
As for claim 4, Maeda Paragraph 0131 teaches that generating area management information e.g. free memory information includes listing FAT blocks (which are lists of information on data clusters e.g. storage spaces; Paragraph 0133) and their related free space located in the continuous user data area shown in Fig. 10.
As for claim 6, the previously cited references teach the method of claim 1. Additionally, Maeda Paragraph 0131 discloses detecting free memory and generating information on it to store in RAM, which must take place before the allocation of memory for recording described at Paragraph 0142, achieving the claimed limitation.
As for claim 7, Maeda teaches sending an allocation request for a hard disk memory to a memory allocator and operating a memory allocation method using the allocator (Paragraphs 0122 and 0123 disclose a host interface 21 for receiving commands and a CPU 22 to execute control programs for the memory device (e.g. hard disk) which would functionally include allocating memory). As for the remaining limitations of claim 7, applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 1, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
As for claim 11, Maeda teaches sending an allocation request for a hard disk memory to a CPU and operating a memory allocation method using the CPU (Paragraphs 0122 and 0123 disclose a host interface 21 for receiving commands and a CPU 22 to execute control programs included on ROM 24 for the memory device (e.g. hard disk) which would functionally include allocating memory). As for the remaining limitations of claim 11, applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 1, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
As for claim 14, the previously cited references teach the device of claim 11. Applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 4, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
As for claim 16, the previously cited references teach the device of claim 11. Applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 6, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
As for claim 17, applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 11, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
As for claim 18, applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 11 (which includes disclosure of a ROM storing programs), as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
As for claim 19, the previously cited references teach the device of claim 18. Applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 6, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
As for claim 20, Applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 11, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
Claims 2-3, 5, 12-13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maeda in view of Oukid, Chien, and Lai et al (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2004/0202073), hereinafter referred to as Lai.
As for claim 2, the previously cited references teach the method according to claim 1. They do not teach the remaining limitations of claim 2. However, Lai teaches read/write buffers stored on a hard disk drive (Paragraph 0058, lines 1-6; Paragraph 0079, lines 1-4), achieving the claimed limitation. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the disclosure of Lai to benefit from the advantage of allocating larger memory blocks to cache (Paragraph 0058, lines 7-11).
As for claim 3, the previously cited references teach the method of claim 2. Additionally, Lai teaches read/write buffers stored on a hard disk drive (Paragraph 0058, lines 1-6; Paragraph 0079, lines 1-4) wherein portions of the buffer may be persisted (e.g. buffers may include a PMR; Paragraph 0079, lines 7-10), achieving the claimed limitation.
As for claim 5, the previously cited references teach the method of claim 4. Additionally, Maeda teaches traversing the list of FAT blocks to locate a free area (Paragraph 0143), which includes checking free FAT blocks (blocks marked VALID; Paragraph 0138; Paragraph 0147) and searching their memory locations for free space (Paragraph 0148). Maeda does not teach screening out free space based on requirement information indicated by the allocation request, but Lai teaches prioritizing write requests based on proximity (i.e. free locations not sharing locality of requests would be screened out; Paragraph 0108, lines 8-10), achieving the claimed limitation. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the disclosure of Lai in order to reduce the number of head seeks and read or write access times when accessing a hard disk drive (Paragraph 0108).
As for claim 12, the previously cited references teach the device of claim 11. Applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 2, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
As for claim 13, the previously cited references teach the device of claim 12. Applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 3, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
As for claim 15, the previously cited references teach the device of claim 14. Applicant is directed to the rejection of claim 5, as the claims include the same limitations and are therefore rejected on the same rationale.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments (see page 7 of response filed 8 January, 2026) with respect to the rejections of amended claims 1-7 and 11-20 under 35 USC § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further search and consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of Chien, which teaches loading detected hard disk information onto a system on boot (e.g. preloading data), as detailed in the modified rejection of claim 1. Additionally, in response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). Remarks regarding Oukid are partially directed to limitations seen to be taught by the combination of Maeda and Oukid (see pages 9-10 of response; for example the argument concerning Oukid storing management information in persistent memory, which was addressed in the rejection of claim 1: “free segment info may be read by sub-allocators; while this is read from persistent memory, a person of ordinary skill could implement this technique with that of Maeda to read free info from RAM”). Oukid’s incorporation was seen to teach the additional behavior and structure of the memory allocator as claimed. Certain basic or functionally necessary limitations relating to a memory allocator were seen to already be taught by Maeda, as Maeda functionally contains a form of memory allocator for carrying out mentioned methods (¶ 0129-¶ 0133 area management block control part 18 and file system control part 16 seen in Fig. 10). As known in the art, allocating memory must be done by some “memory allocator” which is not a rigidly defined term and can constitute any part seen to allocate memory, such as the elements described in the rejection of independent claim 1. A person of ordinary skill in the art would view the area management block control part disclosed in Maeda as a memory allocator, just not in system memory (stored in ROM instead). Additionally, amendments and remarks mentioning direct connections between the CPU and system memory were considered but found unpersuasive as the cited references connect components via buses or communication fabric, which already results in a direct connection between components as no intermediate device for conveying data is mentioned.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZAKARIA MOHAMMED BELKHAYAT whose telephone number is (571)270-0472. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 8:30AM-5PM EST.
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/ZAKARIA MOHAMMED BELKHAYAT/Examiner, Art Unit 2139
/REGINALD G BRAGDON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2139