CTNF 19/042,218 CTNF 84418 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-08-aia AIA (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15 AIA Claim (s) 1-7, 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by 20200213154 to Han . Regarding claim 1 , Han teaches a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that upon execution cause a border device of a computing environment to: receive, at the border device, a data packet from a switch in the computing environment, the data packet comprising a header containing a policy tag indicating a policy to apply to the data packet (¶ 72, 79-81, receiving packet with tag; see 71-79); store, in mapping information, the policy tag and routing information in the data packet (¶ 43-44, 59-60, 70-73, storing tag and routing information); send, from the border device to a target device outside the computing environment, a decapsulated packet produced by removing the header from the data packet (¶ 72, send decapsulated packet); receive, at the border device, a response packet sent by the target device (¶ 78, receipt of subsequent reply packets); generate an encapsulated data packet by adding a header to the response packet, the header added to the response packet comprising the policy tag retrieved from the mapping information based on routing information in the response packet (79-81, generation of encapsulated packet comprising tag);and transmit, from the border device, the encapsulated data packet to a destination entity (¶ 79-81, transmission of packet to destination). Regarding claim 2, Han teaches: wherein the header of the data packet and the header added to the response packet comprise virtual tunnel headers (¶ 71-81, VxLAN headers addition). Regarding claim 4, Han teaches: wherein the policy tag is included in the virtual tunnel header of the data packet, and the routing information is included in an inner header of the data packet (¶ 45, figs. 5-7, ¶ 24; ¶ 43-44, 59-60, 70-73). Regarding claim 5, Han teaches: wherein the inner header comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and the routing information in the IP header comprises a source IP address of a source entity that transmitted data encapsulated by the switch to form the data packet (¶ 28, 45, figs. 5-7, ¶ 24; ¶ 43-44, 59-60, 70-73). Regarding claim 6, Han teaches: wherein the switch is an access switch connected over a virtual tunnel to the border device, and the virtual tunnel header of the data packet from the access switch is associated with the virtual tunnel (¶ 28-30). Regarding claim 7, Han teaches: wherein the access switch comprises a first virtual tunnel endpoint (VTEP) of the virtual tunnel, and the border device comprises a second VTEP of the virtual tunnel (¶ 72, 83-84; see fig. 1-2). Regarding claim 8, Han teaches: wherein the target device includes a firewall system, and the response packet is the decapsulated packet returned by the firewall system to the border device (¶ 78-81). Regarding claim 9, Han teaches: wherein the target device includes a remote electronic device outside the computing environment, and the response packet is sent by the remote electronic device as a response to the decapsulated packet (¶ 78-81). Regarding claim 10, Han teaches: wherein the routing information in the data packet comprises a source network address of a source entity that transmitted data encapsulated by the switch to form the data packet, and wherein the instructions upon execution cause the border device to:add an entry to the mapping information, the entry correlating the policy tag to the source network address (¶ 28, 43-44, 59-60, 70-73; 79-81). Regarding claim 11, Han teaches: wherein the routing information in the data packet further comprises a source port number of a port of the source entity, and wherein the instructions upon execution cause the border device to: add an entry to the mapping information, the entry correlating the policy tag to the source network address and the source port number (¶ 20, 45, 69, 121. Regarding claim 12, Han teaches: wherein the instructions upon execution cause the border device to: extract routing information from the response packet; perform a lookup of the mapping information using the routing information extracted from the response packet; and include, in the header of the encapsulated data packet, the policy tag in an entry of the mapping information retrieved by the lookup (¶ 45, 69; see also 28 43-44, 59-60, 70-73). Regarding claim 13, Han teaches: wherein the routing information extracted from the response packet includes an Internet Protocol (IP) address from a source IP field of the response packet (¶ 28, 45, 69). Regarding claim 14, Han teaches: wherein the routing information extracted from the response packet includes an Internet Protocol (IP) address from a destination IP field of the response packet (¶ 28, 45). Regarding claim 15, Han teaches: wherein the policy tag in the encapsulated data packet sent to the destination entity is for use by a switch in applying the policy with respect to a communication including the encapsulated data packet (¶ 72-81; 43-44, 59-60). Regarding claim 16 , Han teaches a border device comprising: a hardware processor; and a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions executable on the hardware processor to (¶ 54-55): receive, at the border device, an encapsulated data packet from a switch in a computing environment, the encapsulated data packet comprising a virtual tunnel header containing a policy tag indicating a policy to apply to the encapsulated data packet (¶ 72, receiving packet encapsulated by switch; 79-81); extract, at the border device, the policy tag from the virtual tunnel header and routing information from an inner header of the encapsulated data packet (¶ 72, 77, extraction of routing information and tag; 79-81); add an entry to mapping information, the entry correlating the policy tag to the routing information (¶ 43-44, 59-60, 70-73, adding entry to routing information); send, from the border device to a target device outside the computing environment, a decapsulated packet produced by removing the virtual tunnel header from the encapsulated data packet (¶ 72, send decapsulated packet); receive, at the border device, a response packet sent by the target device (¶ 78, receipt of subsequent packets); generate an encapsulated response packet by adding a virtual tunnel header to the response packet, the virtual tunnel header added to the response packet comprising the policy tag retrieved from the entry of the mapping information based on routing information in the response packet (79-81, generation of encapsulated packet comprising tag); and transmit, from the border device, the encapsulated response packet to a destination entity (¶ 79-81, transmission of packet to destination). Regarding claim 17, Han teaches: wherein the routing information comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a source entity that sent a data packet encapsulated by the switch to produce the encapsulated data packet, and wherein the entry added to the mapping information comprises the IP address of the source entity (¶ 45, figs. 5-7, ¶ 24). Regarding claim 18, Han teaches: wherein the routing information further comprises a port number of a port of the source entity, and wherein the entry added to the mapping information comprises the IP address and the port number, and the entry correlates the policy tag to the IP address and the port number (¶ 45, figs. 5-7, ¶ 24; ¶ 43-44, 59-60, 70-73). Claim 19 is addressed by similar rationale as claim 16. Regarding claim 20, Han teaches: wherein the routing information extracted from the inner header of the encapsulated data packet comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a source entity that sent a data packet encapsulated by the switch to produce the encapsulated data packet, and the entry of the mapping information correlates the policy tag to the routing information comprising the IP address (¶ 45, figs. 5-7, ¶ 24; ¶ 43-44, 59-60, 70-73; 79-81) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20 AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: (a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. 07-23 AIA The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-20-02 AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). 07-21 AIA Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Han in view of US 20250219997 to Palanisamy . Regarding claim 3, Han teaches: wherein the virtual tunnel headers comprise Virtual eXtensible LAN (VXLAN) headers, (¶ 71-79, VxLAN headers). Han fails to teach but Palanisamy teaches: the policy tag comprises a group-based policy (GBP) tag (¶ 10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the teachings of Palanisamy. The motivation to do so is that the teachings of Palanisamy would have been advantageous in terms of facilitating separation and packet priority through a network (Palanisamy, ¶ 10). CONCLUSION Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN J JAKOVAC whose telephone number is (571)270-5003. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-4 PM EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Oscar A. Louie can be reached on 572-270-1684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /RYAN J JAKOVAC/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 2 Art Unit: 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 3 Art Unit: 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 4 Art Unit: 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 5 Art Unit: 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 6 Art Unit: 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 7 Art Unit: 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 8 Art Unit: 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 9 Art Unit: 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 10 Art Unit: 2445 Application/Control Number: 19/042,218 Page 11 Art Unit: 2445
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