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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is objected to because “ephemeral” is mis-spelled.
Correction is required.
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 conflicting claims 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); 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 nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) 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 www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over the claims of U.S. Patent No. 12,189,972. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the differences are not material to patentability. For example, the similarities between instant claim 10 and patented claim 8 are shown in the table below:
Instant claim 10
Patented claim 8
10. A storage system comprising: one or more processing resources;
8. A storage system comprising:
one or more processing resources;
and instructions that when executed by the one or more processing resources cause the storage system to:
and instructions that when executed by the one or more processing resources cause the storage system to:
share a plurality of namespaces of respective ephemeral storage devices among a plurality of consumers of a storage system by creating a plurality of partitions within each of the plurality of namespaces for use by respective consumers of the plurality of consumers,
share a plurality of namespaces of respective ephemeral storage devices among a plurality of consumers of a storage system by creating a plurality of partitions within each of the plurality of namespaces for use by respective consumers of the plurality of consumers,
wherein a first partition of the plurality of partitions within a first namespace of the plurality of namespaces and a second partition of the plurality of partitions within a second namespace of the plurality of namespaces are part of a first stripe set;
wherein a first partition of the plurality of partitions within a first namespace of the plurality of namespaces and a second partition of the plurality of partitions within a second namespace of the plurality of namespaces are part of a first stripe set;
and avoid processing latency associated with use of use of an operating system (OS)- provided stripe mechanism by bypassing the OS-provided stripe mechanism during performance of an input/output (I/O) operation on the first stripe set based on a request by a first consumer of the plurality of consumers.
and stripe data associated with an input/output (I/O) request by a first consumer of the plurality of consumers across one or more stripe units of one or more stripes within the first stripe set.
The claims are identical except for the last limitation. It is obvious to reword limitations of patented claims which is all that is done to get from the patented claim to the instant claim. The extra language of avoiding processing latency is merely an effect of the patented claim limitation of striping data.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this Office action should be directed to the Examiner by phone at (571) 272-4214.
Any response to this Office action should be labeled appropriately (including serial number, Art Unit 2132, and type of response) and mailed to Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450; hand-carried or delivered to the Customer Service Window at the Knox Building, 501 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA 22314; faxed to (571) 273-8300; or filed electronically using the Patent Center.
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/Kevin Verbrugge/
Kevin Verbrugge
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2132