DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
1. Claims 1-20 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2005/0143907), “Kim”, in view of Reckless et al. (US 2007/0079050), “Reckless”.
2. As per claim 1, Kim discloses receiving an indication that a target device [Target System 200, figure 2] is communicatively coupled to an operational technology (OT) network [a computing network, figure 2]; identifying a driver based on the target device [Device Driver 250, figure 2], wherein the driver enables an endpoint management agent running on a host device [Driver Agent 300, figure 2] communicatively coupled to the OT network [a computing network, figure 2]; transmitting the driver to the endpoint management agent running on the host device [transmitting the device driver 250 to the driver agent 300, figures 2 & figure 6]; and transmitting a command to the endpoint management agent running on the host device, wherein the command is for the endpoint management agent [transmitting the driver command to the Device Agent 300, figures 2 & 6].
Kim does not disclose expressly performing operational monitoring of a target device via a driver; receiving data collected during the operational monitoring of the target device; and updating a record associated with the target device based on the received data.
Reckless discloses performing operational monitoring of a target device via a driver [monitoring of a computer readable medium via a device driver, abstract]; receiving data collected during the operational monitoring of the target device [receiving CP signature, step 602, figure 6]; and updating a record associated with the target device based on the received data [updating based on the check result, steps 606 & 608, figure 6].
Kim and Reckless are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of driver management.
Before the effective filing date of the application, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kim by including the storage medium monitoring system as taught by Reckless in the abstract.
The motivation for doing so would have been device protection as expressly taught by Reckless in paragraph 7.
3. As per claim 2, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the operations comprise processing the received data collected during the operational monitoring of the target device [updating based on the check result, steps 606 & 608, figure 6, Reckless].
4. As per claim 3, the cited prior arts disclose wherein processing the received data collected during the operational monitoring of the target device comprises comparing the received data to expected values [step 604, figure 6, Reckless], comparing the received data to expected states, comparing the received data to thresholds, performing feature extraction, comparing the received data to baseline values, generating new baseline values, or any combination thereof.
5. As per claim 4, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the operational monitoring comprises monitoring throughput, utilization, cycle time, response time, availability, uptime, downtime, temperature, vibration levels, noise levels, pressure, voltage, current, error codes, alarms, error rates, power supply levels, battery levels, firmware health, software health, flow rates, pressures, fluid levels, rotations per minute, speed, position, position accuracy, torque, force, cycle counts, wear, load levels, fuel consumption, energy consumption, latency, bandwidth, connectivity status, data integrity, data loss, access control [step 604, figure 6, Reckless], intrusion detection, firmware versions, firmware updates, software versions, software updates, humidity, air quality, historical performance data, event logs, or alarm logs, or any combination thereof.
6. As per claim 5, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the target device comprises a programmable logic controller, a high-level controller [figure 3, Kim], a programmable automation controller, a motor, a contactor, a motor starter, a drive, a relay, switchgear, or any combination thereof.
7. As per claim 6, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the operations comprise: identifying an additional driver based on an additional target device, wherein the additional driver enables the endpoint management agent running on the host device to perform operational monitoring of the additional target device; transmitting the additional driver to the endpoint management agent running on the host device; transmitting an additional command to the endpoint management agent running on the host device, wherein the additional command is for the endpoint management agent to perform the operational monitoring of the additional target device via the additional driver; receiving, from the endpoint management agent running on the host device, additional data collected during the operational monitoring of the additional target device; and updating an additional record associated with the additional target device based on the additional received data [The claim merely duplicates the feature(s) recited in claim 1, and is rejected for the same reason(s)].
8. As per claim 7, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the operations comprise deploying the endpoint management agent to the host device [figure 4, Kim].
9. As per claim 8, the examiner directs the applicant’s attention to claim 1 rejection above.
10. As per claim 9, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the operational monitoring comprises monitoring throughput, utilization, cycle time, response time, availability [step 604, figure 6, Reckless], uptime, downtime, temperature, vibration levels, noise levels, pressure, voltage, current, error codes, alarms, error rates, power supply levels, battery levels, firmware health, software health, flow rates, pressures, fluid levels, rotations per minute, speed, position, position accuracy, torque, force, cycle counts, wear, load levels, or any combination thereof.
11. As per claim 10, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the operational monitoring comprises monitoring fuel consumption, energy consumption, latency, bandwidth, connectivity status, data integrity, data loss, access control [step 604, figure 6, Reckless], intrusion detection, firmware versions, firmware updates, software versions, software updates, humidity, air quality, historical performance data, event logs, or alarm logs, or any combination thereof.
12. As per claim 11, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the operations comprise processing the data collected during the operational monitoring of the target device, wherein processing the received data collected during the operational monitoring of the target device comprises comparing the received data to expected values [step 604, figure 6, Reckless], comparing the received data to expected states, comparing the received data to thresholds, performing feature extraction, comparing the received data to baseline values, generating new baseline values, or any combination thereof.
13. As per claim 12, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the target device comprises a programmable logic controller, a high-level controller [figure 3, Kim], a programmable automation controller, a motor, a contactor, a motor starter, a drive, a relay, switchgear, or any combination thereof.
14. As per claim 13, the cited prior arts disclose wherein the endpoint management agent runs in a container that runs on the processing circuitry [figure 4, Kim].
15. As per claims 14-17, 19, and 20, the examiner directs the applicant’s attention to claim rejections above.
16. As per claim 18, the cited prior arts disclose generating one or more visualization based on the data collected during the operational monitoring of the target device [a display, paragraph 38, Reckless].
Conclusion
A. Claims Rejected
Claims 1-20 are rejected.
B. Direction for Future Remarks
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAE UN YU whose telephone number is (571)272-1133. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Tim Vo can be reached on (571)272-3642. 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.
/JAE U YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2138
Prosecution Insights