Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 19/006,604

CACHE FOR IDENTIFIERS REPRESENTING MERGED ACCESS CONTROL INFORMATION

Non-Final OA §DP
Filed
Dec 31, 2024
Examiner
BATAILLE, PIERRE MICHE
Art Unit
2138
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
93%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 93% — above average
93%
Career Allow Rate
1100 granted / 1186 resolved
+37.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
1212
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.4%
-34.6% vs TC avg
§103
38.3%
-1.7% vs TC avg
§102
31.1%
-8.9% vs TC avg
§112
7.5%
-32.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1186 resolved cases

Office Action

§DP
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 . Claims 21-40 are now pending in the application under prosecution and have been examined. Claims 1-20 have been canceled. The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. The specification should be amended to reflect the status of all related application, whether patented or abandoned. Therefore, applications noted by their serial number and/or attorney docket number should be updated with correct serial number and patent number if patented. The first instance of all acronyms or abbreviation should be spelled out for clarity, whether or not considered well known in the art. In the response to this Office action, the Examiner respectfully requests that support be shown for language added to any original claims on amendment and any new claims. That is, indicate support for newly added claim language by specifically pointing to page(s) and line numbers in the specification and/or drawing figure(s). This will assist the Examiner in prosecuting this application. Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. 37 C.F.R. § 1.83(a) requires the Drawings to illustrate or show all claimed features. Applicant must clearly point out the patentable novelty that they think the claims present, in view of the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made, and must also explain how the amendments avoid the references or objections. See 37 C.F.R. § 1.111(c). Double Patenting The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969). A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp. Claims 21-40 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,222,865. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because: Claim 29 (Application) Claim 10 (US Patent 12,222,865) A method to avoid redundant merges of different types of access control information in a file system, the method comprising: receiving a request to store an object in a directory, wherein the object is associated with a first identifier representing first access control information and a second identifier representing second access control information; creating, for the object, a merged identifier based on the first identifier and the second identifier; determining that entries in a cache do not include the merged identifier; in response to determining that the entries in the cache do not include the merged identifier: creating merged access control information for the object by merging the first access control information and the second access control information; adding the merged identifier and the merged access control information to an entry in the cache; and storing the object in the directory with a pointer to the entry in the cache to which the merged identifier and the merged access control information have been added. A method to avoid redundant merges of different types of access control information in a file system, comprising: receiving, from an application, a request to store an object in a directory, wherein the object is associated with a first identifier representing first access control information and a second identifier representing second access control information; creating, for the object, a first merged identifier based on the first identifier and the second identifier; determining that an entry in a cache includes a second merged identifier that matches the first merged identifier; in response to determining that the entry in the cache includes the second merged identifier, associating the object with merged access control information in the entry in the cache using a pointer, wherein: the merged access control information is based on the first access control information and the second access control information; and the merged access control information is associated with another object; and storing the object in the directory with the pointer Claim 21 (Application) Claim 10 (US Patent 12,222,865) A method to avoid redundant merges of different types of access control information in a file system, the method comprising: determining that an entry in a cache includes a first merged identifier that matches a second merged identifier associated with an object, wherein the first merged identifier and the second merged identifier are based on a first identifier representing first access control information and a second identifier representing second access control information; in response to determining that the entry in the cache includes the first merged identifier that matches the second merged identifier, associating the object with merged access control information in the entry in the cache using a pointer, wherein the merged access control information is based on the first access control information and the second access control information; and storing the object in the directory with the pointer. A method to avoid redundant merges of different types of access control information in a file system, comprising: receiving, from an application, a request to store an object in a directory, wherein the object is associated with a first identifier representing first access control information and a second identifier representing second access control information; creating, for the object, a first merged identifier based on the first identifier and the second identifier; determining that an entry in a cache includes a second merged identifier that matches the first merged identifier; in response to determining that the entry in the cache includes the second merged identifier, associating the object with merged access control information in the entry in the cache using a pointer, wherein: the merged access control information is based on the first access control information and the second access control information; and the merged access control information is associated with another object; and storing the object in the directory with the pointer. Claim 21 and claim 29 of the instant invention has been rearranged to recite feature similar Claim 1 of US Patent 12,222,865 with the difference that the patent further recites: “determining that an entry in a cache includes a second merged identifier that matches the first merged identifier;” … “wherein: the merged access control information is based on the first access control information and the second access control information”. However, the difference in wording does not recite distinctive feature further limiting to the recited feature or, at least, anticipates (claim 21 or claim 29 of the instant application) reciting: “determining that an entry in a cache includes a first merged identifier that matches a second merged identifier associated with an object, wherein the first merged identifier and the second merged identifier are based on a first identifier representing first access control information and a second identifier representing second access control information”. The system of claim 1 of the Patent encompasses, in scope, to the system recited in claim 37 of the instant application, therefore anticipates claim 1 of the instant application. Dependent 2-9 and 11-18 of US Patent 12,222,865 recite features either verbatim or in obvious variation in wording corresponding to Claims 22-28, 30-36 and 38-40 of the instant application. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 6591341 B1 (SHARMA) teaching multilevel cache system and method with a first data array and a second data array coupled to a merged tag array, the merged tag array storing tags for both the first data array and second data array.. US 20240370266 A1 (SHULYAK et al) teaching apparatus comprising: pointer storage to store pointer values for a plurality of pointers; tracker circuitry to maintain a plurality of tracker entries, each tracker entry to identify a control flow instruction and a current active pointer to be associated with that control flow instruction. US 20240037036 A1 (DECHENE et al) teaching techniques for scheduling merged store operations in an apparatus including a data cache; a fill buffer; a store buffer to store first information associated with a first retired store operation and second information associated with a second retired store operation; a store coalescing buffer (SCB) to receive the first information from the store buffer, to store the first information in an SCB entry, to merge the second information from the store buffer into the entry. Chao Xie, H. Jin, Song Wu, Shengli Li and Zhiping Wang, "Access control of global distributed storage system," The Fourth International Conference on Computer and Information Technology, 2004. CIT '04., Wuhan, China, 2004, pp. 369-374. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PIERRE MICHEL BATAILLE whose telephone number is (571)272-4178. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7-6 ET. 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 at (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. /PIERRE MICHEL BATAILLE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2138
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 31, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §DP (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
93%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+6.2%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1186 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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