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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to an application filed January 7, 2025. Claims 1-46 are pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
Several information disclosure statements filed January 7, 2025 fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. They have been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 1 is directed to a router device which comprise of software elements only. Claim 1 appears to be directed to a software router device such as a virtual router. Applicant(s)’ specification is also silent on the statutory status of the router device. For example, the specification discloses various types of routers, such as an onion router which appear to fall under software. Software based routers are not statutory, and therefore, not patent eligible. Claims 2-46 do not limit nor further define the patent eligibility of claim 1 and are therefore, also rejected for the same reasons as claim 1.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory obviousness 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 1-46 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-46 of patent application no. US 12,289,383 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims are directed to the same subject matter of identifying a first web-page by a first uniform resource locator (URL) stored on a web server and a second web-page identified by a second uniform resource locator (URL) stored in a web server. A side-by-side analysis of the first independent claim(s) of the instant application and the co-pending application(s) has been included below. The bolded portions are portions which are almost identical to one another. The non-bolded portions are related to subject matter which are obvious, and do not further define over the subject matter of one another. Therefore, the subject matter of both claim sets are not distinct from one another and yields an obviousness-type double patenting rejection.
Here is the following side-by-side analysis of the first independent claim in each application:
Instant Application ‘667
1. A router device that supports an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model Layer-3, for use with a first content that comprises a first web-page or a part thereof, that is identified by a first Uniform Resource Locator (URL), and that is stored in a web server, and for use with a second content that comprises a second web-page or a part thereof, that is identified by a second URL, and that is stored in the web server, the router device comprising:
a Wide Area Network (WAN) interface for connecting to the Internet; and
a Local Area Network (LAN) interface for connecting to a computer device, wherein the router device is addressable in the Internet using an Internet Protocol (IP) address, and wherein the device is configured to:
transport packets between the Internet via the WAN interface and the computer device via the LAN interface;
convert rates and protocols between the WAN and LAN interfaces when transporting packets therebetween;
receive, from a server device via the WAN interface over the Internet, the first URL;
send, to the web server via the WAN interface over the Internet, a first HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request that comprises the received first URL;
receive, from the web server via the WAN interface over the Internet, the first content, in response to the sending of the first HTTP request;
send, to the server device via the WAN interface over the Internet, the received first content;
receive, from the server device via the WAN interface over the Internet, the second URL;
send, to the web server via the WAN interface over the Internet, a second HTTP request that comprises the received second URL;
receive, from the web server via the WAN interface over the Internet, the second content, in response to the sending of the second HTTP request; and
send, to the server device via the WAN interface over the Internet, the received second content.
Patent Document No. ‘383
1. A method by a router device that is addressable in the Internet using an Internet Protocol (IP) address, and that comprises a Wide Area Network (WAN) interface that is connectable to the Internet and a Local Area Network (LAN) interface that is connectable to a computer device, for use with a first web-page that is identified by a first Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and that is stored in a web server, and for use with a second web-page that is identified by a second URL and that is stored in the web server, the method comprising:
receiving, by a router device via the WAN interface from a server device over the Internet, the first URL;
sending, by the router device via the WAN interface to the web server over the Internet, a first HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request that comprises the received first URL;
receiving, by the router device via the WAN interface from the web server over the Internet, the first web-page in response to the sending of the first HTTP request;
sending, by the router device via the WAN interface to the server device over the Internet, the received first web-page;
receiving, by the router device via the WAN interface from the server device over the Internet, the second URL;
sending, by the router device via the WAN interface to the web server over the Internet, a second HTTP request that comprises the received second URL;
receiving, by the router device via the WAN interface from the web server over the Internet, the second web-page in response to the sending of the second HTTP request;
sending, by the router device via the WAN interface to the server device over the Internet, the received second web-page;
transporting, by the router device, packets between the Internet connected to the WAN interface and the computer device connected to the LAN interface; and
converting, by the router device, rates and protocols between the WAN and LAN interfaces when transporting the packets therebetween.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-46 are allowed over available prior art references and any combination of prior art references but are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 and Double Patenting.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The closest prior art reference(s) found- Jeon, discloses the following features:
Jeon discloses a router device that supports an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model Layer-3, for use with a first content that comprises a first web-page or a part thereof, that is identified by a first Uniform Resource Locator (URL), and that is stored in a web server, and for use with a second content that comprises a second web-page or a part thereof, that is identified by a second URL, and that is stored in the web server (Abstract and Figure 4), the router device comprising:
a Wide Area Network (WAN) interface for connecting to the Internet ([0042]); and
a Local Area Network (LAN) interface for connecting to a computer device ([0042]),
wherein the router device is addressable in the Internet using an Internet Protocol (IP) address ([0007]), and
wherein the device is configured to:
transport packets between the Internet via the WAN interface and the computer device via the LAN interface ([0029]);
receive, from a server device via the WAN interface over the Internet, the first URL ([0046]-[0047], DNS server (first server) sends IP address of web server to client);
send, to the web server via the WAN interface over the Internet, a first HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request that comprises the received first URL ([0008], [0045], and Figure 4, client (first device) requests web server using the IP address provided);
receive, from the web server via the WAN interface over the Internet, the first content, in response to the sending of the first HTTP request ([0051]-[0052] and Figure 4, web server may directly transmit page to the client);
send, to the server device via the WAN interface over the Internet, the received first content ([0095] and Figure 4, client uses URL to communicate with DNS server and inquire about the IP address of the web server);
However, the Examiner has not found that the teachings of Jeon, nor any reasonable prior art(s) and/or combination of prior art(s) teach the feature of:
‘convert rates and protocols between the WAN and LAN interfaces when transporting packets therebetween;
receive, from the server device via the WAN interface over the Internet, the second URL;
send, to the web server via the WAN interface over the Internet, a second HTTP request that comprises the received second URL;
receive, from the web server via the WAN interface over the Internet, the second content, in response to the sending of the second HTTP request; and
send, to the server device via the WAN interface over the Internet, the received second content’.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ESTHER B. HENDERSON whose telephone number is (571)270-3807. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6a-2p ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Umar Cheema can be reached on 571-270-3037. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ESTHER B. HENDERSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458 June 12, 2026
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