DETAILED ACTION
Responsive to the Applicant’s reply filed on 04/27/2026, Applicant’s amendments to claims have been entered and respective arguments carefully considered and responded in the following. Claims 1-20 are pending with claims 1, 9, and 17 being in independent form.
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 .
Examiner's Instructions for filing Response to this Office Action
When the Applicant submits amendments regarding to the claims in response the Office Action, the Examiner would like Applicant to provide a clean copy of the claims to facilitate the prosecution which otherwise requires extra time in editing the marked-up claims from OCR.
Please submit two sets of claims:
Set #1 as in a typical filing which includes indicators for the status of claim and all marked amendments to the claims; and
Set #2 as an appendix to the Arguments/Remarks for a clean version of the claims which has all the markups removed for entry by the Examiner.
Response to Arguments
The claim amendments and remarks filed by the Applicant on 04/27/2026, have been carefully considered and are responded in the following.
In response to the Applicant arguments, page(s) 10, regarding claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) because of each reciting a limitation that lacks sufficient antecedent basis, the amendments have resolved the issues. Therefore, the rejections are withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, page(s) 8-9 of the Remarks, with regards to claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been considered carefully.
First, Applicant argues the Cole reference with respect to claim 1 which recites the limitation “automatically disconnecting, by the switching application, a first virtual private network connection of a first virtual private network type when the connectable entity status indicates an active connectable entity which is listed in the switching application, the active connectable entity associated with a second virtual private network type that is different than the first virtual private network type.” Applicant argues Cole does not disclose this limitation entirely. By contrast, Applicant claims that if "the detected connectable entity is on the list and uses a different VPN than an existing VPN connection, the existing VPN is disconnected." ([0051]).
In response, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Regarding the list, the claim indicates an active connectable entity is listed in the switching application, as the connectable entity status shows. However, the claim does not present explicitly a list. The limitation broadly defines an active connectable entity may be registered or stored in the switching application as being listed can be reasonably interpreted as being stored or having an entry in the switching application. In Cole, the network connectivity manager 156 is the switching application and knows the virtual private network connection information because connectivity information is automatically collected from the LAN 340 and saved by the network connectivity manager. As such, the network connectivity manager 156 stores the active connectable entity and automatically discontinues connectivity. This is a common practice in the field of the art, for example, a switching application may compare a detected SSID against a list of SSIDs of known unsecure wireless networks and automatically disconnect a network connection of a particular network type; see also par. 0061 of PG-PUB US 20180213574 A1, for example.
It is noted that independent claim 17 does not have the wording “listed” there. This suggests the claimed invention may not necessary mean there is a list.
Regarding the argument about Hill, Applicant argument that the network changes described in Hill are not equivalent to disconnecting a VPN "when the connectable entity status indicates an active connectable entity which is listed in the switching application” is not persuasive. Hill discloses that a UE 402 terminates one or more VPN tunnels that were used by the UE 402 to access one or more network associated with another communication system; the one or more VPN tunnels are terminated automatically or without action from the UE 402; par. 0075 0118 for examples. Hill’s detected network change can be a change in SSID or a change in session ID, which causes an automatically closing a network connection. Therefore, Applicant arguments are not persuasive.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
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.
Claims 1-5, 8-13, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cole (US 7978691 B1) in view of Hill (US 20180014340 A1).
As per claim 1, Cole teaches a method for virtual private network switching, the method comprising:
receiving, by a switching application, a selection of a virtual private network type for each designated connectable entity in the switching application (Cole, col. 5, lines 3-41: a network connectivity manager 156 [receives] and manage the connectivity 200 of a mobile device 202 to a plurality of wireless networks 210, 216… comprising connectivity policies 160, network location and connectivity information 170, and user credentials 162. Note that the network type selection includes predetermined type of wireless network, e.g., IEEE 802.11 WLAN, EDGE WWAN, etc.);
automatically obtaining, by the switching application, connectable entity status for a user device (Cole, col. 5, lines 23-49: Network connectivity manager 156 monitors the operational status of each wireless modem to determine which type of network connectivity is available…for an optimal connection);
automatically disconnecting, by the switching application, a first virtual private network connection of a first virtual private network type when the connectable entity status indicates an active connectable entity which is listed in the switching application, [the active connectable entity associated with a second virtual private network type that is different than the first virtual private network type] (Cole, col. 9, lines 10-31: Comparison operations are then performed … If it is determined that connectivity to the LAN 340 does not comply with predetermined connectivity policies, then the network connectivity manager 156 discontinues connectivity efforts; the network connectivity manager 156 is the switching application; col. 11, lines 1-23: network connectivity that fails to comply with the current network connectivity policy is automatically discontinued and the network connection is dropped.); and
automatically establishing a virtual private network connection for the active connectable entity with a second virtual private network connection of the second virtual private network type upon acceptance of credentials provided by the switching application (Cole, col. 2, lines 44-54 and col. 11, lines 53-63: a second predetermined subset of the network connectivity management information is then used by the network connectivity manager to discover the presence of a second network, the network connectivity manager then manages the transfer of the mobile device's connectivity from the first network to the second network; col. 3, lines 50-53: transfer of connectivity from the first network to the second network is dependent upon successful submission and acceptance of predetermined user credentials and each network's compliance with predetermined connectivity policies. see also col. 12, lines 3-25).
However, Cole’s technique of automatically disconnecting from a first virtual private network does not determine whether the active connectable entity associated with a second virtual private network type. This aspect of the claim is identified as a difference.
In a related art, Hill teaches:
automatically disconnecting … a first virtual private network connection of a first virtual private network type, the active connectable entity associated with a second virtual private network type that is different than the first virtual private network type (Hill, par. 0068: a change in SSID, par. 0075-0077: detect a network change, and, in response, can terminate a VPN tunnel; the UE 402 terminates one or more VPN tunnels that were used by the UE 402 to access one or more network associated with another communication system; the one or more VPN tunnels are terminated automatically or without action from the UE 402; see also par. 0118 for examples. Hill further discloses an example wherein the UE 402 compares the received network parameter with the various network parameters stored thereon to identify a match, in response to a detected change such as a change in SSID; par. 0068).
Cole and Hill are analogous art, because they are in a similar field of endeavor in improving network accesses over virtual private network (VPN) tunnels. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Cole’s system with Hill’s teaching on network rollover techniques which enables automatically disconnecting the first virtual private network and switching to a VPN tunnel that is associated with. For this combination, the motivation would have been to improve the level of security with auto-disconnection of old/previous networks.
As per claim 2, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, wherein the automatically establishing further comprising:
automatically requesting, by the switching application, to open a virtual private network client associated with the second virtual private network type (Cole, col. 9, lines 55-65: the network connectivity manager 156 uses connectivity policies 160, user credentials 162, and location and connectivity information 170 to perform VPN; col. 2, lines 10-19: the user [requests] to manually enter network connectivity information; automatically update a master location database); and
automatically providing, by the switching application, credentials associated with the virtual private network client (Cole, col. 9, lines 61-67 and col. 10, lines 1-14: the network connectivity manager 156 using connectivity policies 160 automatically provides user credentials 162 stored in user credential repository 314).
As per claim 3, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, wherein the automatically establishing further comprising:
automatically sending, by the switching application to a task manager, a request to open a virtual private network client associated with the second virtual private network type (Cole, col. 9, lines 14-31: the network connectivity manager 156 [captures] location information and corresponding network connectivity information, i.e., the network type information, request to open a network connection with, predetermined network location and connectivity information automatically; col. 12, lines 58-67); and
automatically sending, by the switching application to the task manager, credentials associated with the virtual private network client (Cole, col. 9, lines 61-67 and col. 10, lines 1-14: the network connectivity manager 156 using connectivity policies 160 automatically provides user credentials 162 stored in user credential repository 314).
As per claim 4, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, wherein the receiving further comprising:
receiving, by the switching application, credentials for each virtual private network type for each designated connectable entity (Cole, col. 5, lines 32-41: the appropriate user credentials 162 [retrieved by] the network connectivity manager 156; col. 2, lines 44-54: the network connectivity manager uses a first predetermined subset of the network connectivity management information to discover the presence of a first network, the references as combined above teach the network connectivity manager then manages the transfer of the mobile device's connectivity from the first network to the second network; see the Abstract: a network connectivity manager accesses a repository of predetermined network connectivity management information stored on a network host).
As per claim 5, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, further comprising:
automatically disconnecting, by the switching application, a connected virtual private network when the connectable entity status for an associated connectable entity is inactive (Cole, col. 13, lines 60-64: Otherwise – meaning the associated connectable entity is inactive, it is determined in step 462 whether to discontinue network connectivity management. If it is…, network connectivity management is discontinued in step 494. See FIG. 4d, steps 462 ad 494).
As per claim 8, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, wherein the selection is received from a user (Cole, FIG. 4b, Steps 424 and 426: in step 424 it is to determine whether to manually select the wireless network connectivity option - the user manually enter network connectivity information and is responsible to manually connect to WWAN 216; col. 6, lines 1-4 and col. 7, lines 14-29).
Regarding base claims 9 and 17, they are similar to claim 1 in terms of recited features, and thus, are rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 1 above.
Regarding claims 10-13 and 16, they are similar to claims 2-5 and 8 in terms of respective features thereof, and thus are rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claims 18-20, they are similar to claims 2, 4, and 6 in terms of respective features thereof, and thus are rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 6-7 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cole and Hill, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Oakley (US 20220400100 A1).
As per claim 6, the references of Cole and Hill as combined above teach the method of claim 5, but do not explicitly disclose the automatically disconnecting a connected virtual private network comprising automatically closing the associated connectable entity. This aspect of the claim is identified as a further difference.
In a related art, Oakley teaches:
wherein the automatically disconnecting, by the switching application, the connected virtual private network when the connectable entity status for the associated connectable entity is inactive further comprising:
automatically closing, by the switching application, the associated connectable entity (Oakley, par. 0069 and 0080: automatically stop or terminate the VPN tunnel and/or the VPN application… when the UI transitions from the foreground 825 to the background 830 or after the user has locked his/her device or the device has been put to sleep).
Oakley is analogous art in a similar field of endeavor in improving network accesses over virtual private network (VPN) tunnels or reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor, which may be in a different field. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the Cole-Hill system with Oakley’s teaching on automatically the associated connectable entity. For this combination, the motivation would have been to improve the level of security with automated disconnection of old/previous VPN tunnels.
As per claim 7, the references as combined above teach the method of claim 1, but do not explicitly disclose the automatically disconnecting the first virtual private network type further comprising automatically closing, by the switching application, the connectable entity associated with the first virtual private network type. This aspect of the claim is identified as a further difference.
In a related art, Oakley teaches:
wherein the automatically disconnecting, by the switching application, the first virtual private network connection of the first virtual private network type further comprising:
automatically closing, by the switching application, a connectable entity associated with the first virtual private network type (Oakley, par. 0021 and 0069: automatically stop or terminate the VPN tunnel and/or the VPN application… when the UI transitions from the foreground 825 to the background 830 or after the user has locked his/her device or the device has been put to sleep; par. 0080-0083: causing the VPN application to terminate the VPN tunnel at some point in time … as a result of a determination that the MAM-controlled application has been closed).
Oakley is analogous art in a similar field of endeavor in improving network accesses over virtual private network (VPN) tunnels or reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor, which may be in a different field. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the Cole-Hill system with Oakley’s teaching on automatically the associated connectable entity. For this combination, the motivation would have been to improve the level of security with automated disconnection of old/previous VPN tunnels.
Regarding claims 14-15, the claims are similar to claims 6 and 7, respectively, and as such, claims 14-15 are rejected using a similar rationale aforementioned in claims 6 and 7.
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 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Don Zhao whose telephone number is (571)272-9953. The examiner can normally be reached on 9 am to 5 pm Monday thru Friday.
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/Don G Zhao/
Examiner, Art Unit 2493
5/22/2026
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