LSM TREE-BASED DATA STORAGE METHOD AND RELATED DEVICE

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 . Response to Amendment The Amendment filed June 16, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-20 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have overcome each and every rejection previously set forth in the Office Action mailed March 16, 2026. Examiner further acknowledges amendments to the claims which have raised new issues under 35 USC § 112. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the plurality of second sub-files" in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 10 recites the limitation "the plurality of second sub-files" in line 12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 19 recites the limitation "the plurality of second sub-files" in line 12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 2-9, 11-18, and 20 depend from claims rejected under 35 USC § 112 and are seen to contain the same deficiencies. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-20 would be allowed if amended to address rejections under 35 USC § 112. Claim 1, 10, and 19 include the limitations of an LSM tree-based data storage method, applied to an LSM tree- based data storage system, wherein an LSM tree comprises a plurality of storage layers; at least one first file is stored at a first storage layer in the plurality of storage layers; and the method comprises: in response to determining that the first storage layer meets a merge condition for merging with a second storage layer in the plurality of storage layers, determining a first type of target data to be merged from the at least one first file; determining, from a plurality of second-files stored at the second storage layer, a target second sub-file comprising data of the first type, wherein a type of data in each of the plurality of second sub-files only corresponds to one of a plurality of types comprising the first type; and merging the target data to be merged from the at least one first file into the target second sub- file, wherein merging comprises reading the target second sub-file without reading other second sub-files at the second storage layer. Previously cited references were found to teach aspects of the claimed invention, but do not sufficiently teach merging sub-files of a certain type without reading other sub-files, and no reference has been found to sufficiently teach the entirety of the claimed limitations. Therefore, the claims would be allowable if amended to address other rejections. Claims 2-9 would be allowable by virtue of dependence on claim 1. Claims 11-18 would be allowable by virtue of dependence on claim 10. Claim 20 would be allowable by virtue of dependence on claim 19. 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 Thursday 7:30AM-5:30PM EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ZAKARIA MOHAMMED BELKHAYAT/Examiner, Art Unit 2139 /REGINALD G BRAGDON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2139