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 .
Status of Claims
In response to communications filed on 02 June 2026, claims 1-20 are presently pending in the application, of which, claims 1, 13, and 20 are presented in independent form. The Examiner acknowledges amended claims 1, 13, and 20. No claims were cancelled or newly added.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02 June 2026 has been entered.
Response to Remarks/Arguments
All objections and/or rejections issued in the previous Office Action, mailed 02 March 2026, have been withdrawn, unless otherwise noted in this Office Action.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are not persuasive. Applicant’s arguments are directed to amended features and have been incorporated into the rejection below.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 10 December 2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. 12,169,439 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Beedu, Bharat Kumar, et al (U.S. 2022/0350492 and known hereinafter as Schuette) in view of Tanwer, Ashish, et al (U.S. 2020/0341855 and known hereinafter as Tanwer)(previously presented).
As per claim 1, Beedu teaches a method comprising:
generating, by a data backup and restore system, a snapshot of an object located in a source entity space of a cluster of a client compute environment, the snapshot including volume data and content data (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0041-0042], which discloses a container cluster within a source system and a backup storage system of a target system, where a first set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of events that take place at the application layer and the second set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of the HCL layer, where the first set of backup snapshots are generated.);
copying, by the data backup and restore system, the volume data to a target entity space of the cluster, wherein the volume data includes first metadata associated with the source entity space and second metadata associated with content of the volume data (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0072-0075], which discloses HCI storage cluster data replication mechanism might be configured to copy data and metadata from a plurality of storage devices that constitutes the storage pool of a source HCI cluster by copying data and metadata and where organizing data times that are used to relate multiple instances of container cluster snapshot data to corresponding instance of HCI cluster storage volume snapshots, as further disclosed in paragraphs [0100-0105].); and
wherein restoration of the object is independent of a presence of the source entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0050, 0056, 0082-0085, which discloses the bundler can be configured to relate the various snapshots in an application-consistent manner so as to facilitate a recovery of an application and its data at a restore location, where the bundler detects the snapshot may have been deleted or corrupted.).
Although Beedu discloses restoring the snapshot, however it does not explicitly disclose restoring, by the data backup and restore system, the object to a point-in-time version associated with the snapshot using the volume data copied to the target entity space and the content data of the snapshot, wherein restoration of the object is based at least in part on a detection that the source entity space has been deleted, and wherein restoration of the object is independent of a presence of the source entity space.
Tanwer teaches wherein the source entity space and the target entity space are both located within a same cluster (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraphs [0037-0039, 0053, 0067-0069], which discloses other chunks are compared to the stored copy and whenever a match occurs, the redundant chunk is replaced with a small reference that points to the stored chunk. During backup, the data cluster or metadata cluster is the source and the backup cluster is the target, where both are clustered in the cloud.);
restoring, by the data backup and restore system (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraph [0066], which discloses after a crash the data cluster is reverted back to the desired point in time and cluster is put in the maintenance mode and traffic is stopped.), the object to a point-in-time version associated with the snapshot using the volume data copied to the target entity space and the content data of the snapshot (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraphs [0066-0068], which discloses once the desired point-in-time is selected to recover to, the nearest past snapshot point is identified in the backup cluster. In the case of delta backup, the snapshot image is combined with all delta backup images till the last full backup image and the last full backup image to create a current full backup image. The restore system is required to have the same number of data nodes or metadata nodes as the number of nodes when the snapshot was taken.), wherein restoration of the object is triggered by deletion of the source entity space (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraph [0068-0070], which discloses the differentiation rebuilder is used to restore the original number of files that was reduced by data differentiator after data is copied to data nodes in data cluster. After that, data deduplicator recovery deduplication restores to remove the deduplication done by data deduplicator.).
Beedu is directed to moving a container-based application from a source HCI cluster to a target HCI cluster. Tanwer is directed to object store specialized backup and point-in-time recovery architecture. Both are analogous art because they are directed to data backup and therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the teachings of Beedu with the teachings of Tanwer to include the claimed features with the motivation to improve data recovery and backup restoration process.
As per claim 13, Beedu teaches a system comprising:
a memory storing instructions (Beedu, see Figure 7C, which discloses a memory coupled to CPU); and
one or more hardware processors communicatively coupled to the memory and configured by the instructions (Beedu, see Figure 7C, which discloses a memory coupled to CPU) to perform operations comprising:
generating, by a data backup and restore system, a snapshot of an object located in a source entity space of a cluster of a client compute environment, the snapshot including volume data and content data (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0041-0042], which discloses a container cluster within a source system and a backup storage system of a target system, where a first set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of events that take place at the application layer and the second set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of the HCL layer, where the first set of backup snapshots are generated.);
copying, by the data backup and restore system, the volume data to a target entity space of the cluster, wherein the volume data includes first metadata associated with the source entity space and second metadata associated with content of the volume data (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0072-0075], which discloses HCI storage cluster data replication mechanism might be configured to copy data and metadata from a plurality of storage devices that constitutes the storage pool of a source HCI cluster by copying data and metadata and where organizing data times that are used to relate multiple instances of container cluster snapshot data to corresponding instance of HCI cluster storage volume snapshots, as further disclosed in paragraphs [0100-0105].); and
wherein restoration of the object is independent of a presence of the source entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0050, 0056, 0082-0085, which discloses the bundler can be configured to relate the various snapshots in an application-consistent manner so as to facilitate a recovery of an application and its data at a restore location, where the bundler detects the snapshot may have been deleted or corrupted.).
Although Beedu discloses restoring the snapshot, however it does not explicitly disclose restoring, by the data backup and restore system, the object to a point-in-time version associated with the snapshot using the volume data copied to the target entity space and the content data of the snapshot, wherein restoration of the object is based at least in part on a detection that the source entity space has been deleted, and wherein restoration of the object is independent of a presence of the source entity space.
Tanwer teaches wherein the source entity space and the target entity space are both located within a same cluster (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraphs [0037-0039, 0053, 0067-0069], which discloses other chunks are compared to the stored copy and whenever a match occurs, the redundant chunk is replaced with a small reference that points to the stored chunk. During backup, the data cluster or metadata cluster is the source and the backup cluster is the target, where both are clustered in the cloud.);
restoring, by the data backup and restore system (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraph [0066], which discloses after a crash the data cluster is reverted back to the desired point in time and cluster is put in the maintenance mode and traffic is stopped.), the object to a point-in-time version associated with the snapshot using the volume data copied to the target entity space and the content data of the snapshot (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraphs [0066-0068], which discloses once the desired point-in-time is selected to recover to, the nearest past snapshot point is identified in the backup cluster. In the case of delta backup, the snapshot image is combined with all delta backup images till the last full backup image and the last full backup image to create a current full backup image. The restore system is required to have the same number of data nodes or metadata nodes as the number of nodes when the snapshot was taken.), wherein restoration of the object is triggered by deletion of the source entity space (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraph [0068-0070], which discloses the differentiation rebuilder is used to restore the original number of files that was reduced by data differentiator after data is copied to data nodes in data cluster. After that, data deduplicator recovery deduplication restores to remove the deduplication done by data deduplicator.).
Beedu is directed to moving a container-based application from a source HCI cluster to a target HCI cluster. Tanwer is directed to object store specialized backup and point-in-time recovery architecture. Both are analogous art because they are directed to data backup and therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the teachings of Beedu with the teachings of Tanwer to include the claimed features with the motivation to improve data recovery and backup restoration process.
As per claim 20, Beedu teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processing device, cause the at least one processing device to perform operations comprising:
generating, by a data backup and restore system, a snapshot of an object located in a source entity space of a cluster of a client compute environment, the snapshot including volume data and content data (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0041-0042], which discloses a container cluster within a source system and a backup storage system of a target system, where a first set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of events that take place at the application layer and the second set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of the HCL layer, where the first set of backup snapshots are generated.);
copying, by the data backup and restore system, the volume data to a target entity space of the cluster, wherein the volume data includes first metadata associated with the source entity space and second metadata associated with content of the volume data (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0072-0075], which discloses HCI storage cluster data replication mechanism might be configured to copy data and metadata from a plurality of storage devices that constitutes the storage pool of a source HCI cluster by copying data and metadata and where organizing data times that are used to relate multiple instances of container cluster snapshot data to corresponding instance of HCI cluster storage volume snapshots, as further disclosed in paragraphs [0100-0105].); and
wherein restoration of the object is independent of a presence of the source entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0050, 0056, 0082-0085, which discloses the bundler can be configured to relate the various snapshots in an application-consistent manner so as to facilitate a recovery of an application and its data at a restore location, where the bundler detects the snapshot may have been deleted or corrupted.).
Although Beedu discloses restoring the snapshot, however it does not explicitly disclose restoring, by the data backup and restore system, the object to a point-in-time version associated with the snapshot using the volume data copied to the target entity space and the content data of the snapshot, wherein restoration of the object is based at least in part on a detection that the source entity space has been deleted, and wherein restoration of the object is independent of a presence of the source entity space.
Tanwer teaches wherein the source entity space and the target entity space are both located within a same cluster (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraphs [0037-0039, 0053, 0067-0069], which discloses other chunks are compared to the stored copy and whenever a match occurs, the redundant chunk is replaced with a small reference that points to the stored chunk. During backup, the data cluster or metadata cluster is the source and the backup cluster is the target, where both are clustered in the cloud.);
restoring, by the data backup and restore system (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraph [0066], which discloses after a crash the data cluster is reverted back to the desired point in time and cluster is put in the maintenance mode and traffic is stopped.), the object to a point-in-time version associated with the snapshot using the volume data copied to the target entity space and the content data of the snapshot (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraphs [0066-0068], which discloses once the desired point-in-time is selected to recover to, the nearest past snapshot point is identified in the backup cluster. In the case of delta backup, the snapshot image is combined with all delta backup images till the last full backup image and the last full backup image to create a current full backup image. The restore system is required to have the same number of data nodes or metadata nodes as the number of nodes when the snapshot was taken.), wherein restoration of the object is triggered by deletion of the source entity space (e.g. Tanwer, see paragraph [0068-0070], which discloses the differentiation rebuilder is used to restore the original number of files that was reduced by data differentiator after data is copied to data nodes in data cluster. After that, data deduplicator recovery deduplication restores to remove the deduplication done by data deduplicator.).
Beedu is directed to moving a container-based application from a source HCI cluster to a target HCI cluster. Tanwer is directed to object store specialized backup and point-in-time recovery architecture. Both are analogous art because they are directed to data backup and therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the teachings of Beedu with the teachings of Tanwer to include the claimed features with the motivation to improve data recovery and backup restoration process.
As per claims 2 and 14, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1 and the system of claim 13, respectively, wherein generating the snapshot comprises:
receiving instructions from the data backup and restore system to generate the snapshot (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0041-0042], which discloses a container cluster within a source system and a backup storage system of a target system, where a first set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of events that take place at the application layer and the second set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of the HCL layer.); and
generating the snapshot of the object using a snapshot tool, wherein the snapshot tool generates the volume data together with the content data responsive to the instructions (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0041-0042], which discloses a container cluster within a source system and a backup storage system of a target system, where a first set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of events that take place at the application layer and the second set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of the HCL layer, where the first set of backup snapshots are generated.).
As per claims 3 and 15, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1 and the system of claim 13, respectively, wherein the target entity space is independent from the source entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0042], which discloses as the first set of backup snapshots include application metadata snapshots and application data snapshots.).
As per claims 4 and 16, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1 and the system of claim 13, respectively, wherein restoring the object comprises:
restoring the object after deletion of the source entity space, wherein restoration of the object is independent of the presence of the source entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0055], which discloses application metadata snapshots and application data snapshots can be stored in a first backup storage system and HCI can be stored in a second backup storage system, where the bundler can reconstitute (e.g. restore) the application metadata snapshots and the application data snapshots into a running application in a container cluster.).
As per claims 5 and 17, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1 and the system of claim 13, respectively, wherein the volume data is backup data of metadata associated with the content data of the snapshot (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0042], which discloses as the first set of backup snapshots include application metadata snapshots and application data snapshots.).
As per claims 6 and 18, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1 and the system of claim 13, respectively, wherein the first metadata includes reference data pointing to the second metadata and the content data (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0041-0042], which discloses container cluster within a source system and backup storage system of a target system, where a first set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of events that take place at the application layer and the second set of backup snapshots arise as consequence of the HCL layer.).
As per claims 7 and 19, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 6 and the system of claim 18, respectively, wherein copying the volume data to the second entity space comprises:
copying the first metadata to the target entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0072-0075], which discloses HCI storage cluster data replication mechanism might be configured to copy data and metadata from a plurality of storage devices that constitutes the storage pool of a source HCI cluster by copying data and metadata and where organizing data times that are used to relate multiple instances of container cluster snapshot data to corresponding instance of HCI cluster storage volume snapshots, as further disclosed in paragraphs [0100-0105].);
copying the second metadata to the target entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0072-0075], which discloses HCI storage cluster data replication mechanism might be configured to copy data and metadata from a plurality of storage devices that constitutes the storage pool of a source HCI cluster by copying data and metadata and where organizing data times that are used to relate multiple instances of container cluster snapshot data to corresponding instance of HCI cluster storage volume snapshots, as further disclosed in paragraphs [0100-0105].); and
associating the second metadata with the first metadata and the content data in the target entity space based on the reference data (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0072-0075], which discloses HCI storage cluster data replication mechanism might be configured to copy data and metadata from a plurality of storage devices that constitutes the storage pool of a source HCI cluster by copying data and metadata and where organizing data times that are used to relate multiple instances of container cluster snapshot data to corresponding instance of HCI cluster storage volume snapshots, as further disclosed in paragraphs [0100-0105].).
As per claim 8, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the object corresponds to a request to consume a storage resource in the source entity space in the cluster of the client compute environment (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0055], which discloses application metadata snapshots and application data snapshots can be stored in a first backup storage system and HCI can be stored in a second backup storage system, where the bundler can reconstitute (e.g. restore) the application metadata snapshots and the application data snapshots into a running application in a container cluster.).
As per claim 9, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a query to backup the object in the source entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraphs [0041-0042], which discloses a container cluster within a source system and a backup storage system of a target system, where a first set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of events that take place at the application layer and the second set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of the HCL layer.);
scanning, via a snapshot tool, all objects in the source entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0055], which discloses application metadata snapshots and application data snapshots can be stored in a first backup storage system and HCI can be stored in a second backup storage system, where the bundler can reconstitute (e.g. restore) the application metadata snapshots and the application data snapshots into a running application in a container cluster.); and
based on the scanning, identify the object in the source entity space (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0041-0042], which discloses container cluster within a source system and backup storage system of a target system, where a first set of backup snapshots arise as a consequence of events that take place at the application layer and the second set of backup snapshots arise as consequence of the HCL layer.).
As per claim 10, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first entity space and the target entity space are associated with a subcluster in a cluster, and wherein the object is a persistent volume claim (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0055], which discloses application metadata snapshots and application data snapshots can be stored in a first backup storage system and HCI can be stored in a second backup storage system, where the bundler can reconstitute (e.g. restore) the application metadata snapshots and the application data snapshots into a running application in a container cluster.).
As per claim 11, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the source entity space is associated with an entity identifier of a user, and wherein the target entity space is associated with a snapshot tool (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0055], which discloses application metadata snapshots and application data snapshots can be stored in a first backup storage system and HCI can be stored in a second backup storage system, where the bundler can reconstitute (e.g. restore) the application metadata snapshots and the application data snapshots into a running application in a container cluster.).
As per claim 12, the modified teachings of Beedu and Tanwer teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the content data of the snapshot is stored in a storage appliance external to a client compute environment, and wherein the object is a persistent volume claim, and wherein the first metadata corresponds to a volume snapshot and the second metadata corresponds to volume snapshot content (e.g. Beedu, see paragraph [0055], which discloses application metadata snapshots and application data snapshots can be stored in a first backup storage system and HCI can be stored in a second backup storage system, where the bundler can reconstitute (e.g. restore) the application metadata snapshots and the application data snapshots into a running application in a container cluster.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. See attached PTO-892 that includes additional prior art of record describing the general state of the art in which the invention is directed to.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARHAN M SYED whose telephone number is (571)272-7191. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30AM-5:30PM.
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/FARHAN M SYED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2161 June 13, 2026
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