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 .
This Office action is in response to the amendments, arguments and remarks, filed on 6/30/2026, in which claim(s) 1-3 and 6-20 is/are presented for further examination.
Claim(s) 1-3, 11, 12, 14-18 and 20 has/have been amended.
Claim(s) 4 and 5 has/have been cancelled.
Response to Amendments
Applicant’s amendment(s) to claim(s) 1, 14 and 20 has/have been accepted. The rejection(s) of the claim(s), under 35 U.S.C. 101, as being directed to an abstract idea without significantly more, has/have been withdrawn. Consequently, the rejection(s) of claim(s) 2-13 and 15-19 and 20, which depend(s) from claim(s) 1 and 14, has/have also been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendment(s) to claim(s) 1-3, 11, 12, 14-18 and 20 has/have been accepted.
The examiner thanks applicant’s representative for pointing out where s/he believes there is support for the amendment(s).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-3 and 6-20, filed on 6/30/2026, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Accordingly, this action has been made FINAL.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20, under 35 U.S.C. 102, see the bottom of page 10 to the top of page 15 of applicant’s remarks, filed on 6/30/2026, have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS), submitted on 6/30/2026, is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6-14 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bedadala et al., US 2018/0329993 A1 (hereinafter “Bed”) in view of Laschet et al., US 2020/0104123 A1 (hereinafter “Laschet”).
Claims 1, 14 and 20
Bed discloses a computing system comprising:
one or more storage devices (Bed, [0067], see computer memory); and
processing circuitry having access to the one or more storage devices (Bed, [0067], see one or more processors) and configured to:
that describes a first action the first tool is capable of performing with respect to a first data source system (Bed, [0313], see action database 316 stores actions and required parameters to execute the actions and that the translator database 314, and the action database 316 can determine the intent and required instructions for responding to a query [i.e., actions needed to respond to a query and the database queried is the “first data source system”]);
process, by an artificial intelligence (Al) agent, the software interface specification to obtain the first action (Bed, [0316], see the translator and action database agent 308 (FIG. 3) executes the process 400, and in other implementations, the client computing devices 102 (FIG. 2A) using a local version of the translator and action database agent 308 perform the process 400. Also, the process 400 can be initiated if a user has opened an instance (e.g., mobile application, webpage, or program) for the database management system, and asked the system to a query [i.e., see the action database agent, which corresponds to the “AI agent”, calls the query, which corresponds to the “first action”]);
generate, with the AI agent, based on a query associated with a user and the first action obtained from the software interface specification, an execution plan for a task to satisfy the query, wherein the execution plan includes actions to be performed with respect to the first data source system and a second data source system (Bed, [0302], see the user/database technician can update or modify the rule database [i.e., “query associated with a user”] by using the voice recognition interface, a chatbot or administrative assistant. For example, she or he can instruct the chatbot to “from now on, when I say backup, please perform a snapshot and an archive operation.” Based on that request, the Translator and Action Database Agent 308 [i.e., “artificial intelligence agent”] can modify the rule database accordingly; Bed, Table 1, see “Backup: If a user asks to “perform a backup of file b on my computer,” [i.e., “query associated with a user”] the system will generate a copy of file B in secondary storage [i.e., “second data source system”] based on the primary copy [i.e., “first data source system”] and provide the user with audio or visual confirmation of this operation.”; Bed, [0313], see action database 316 stores actions and required parameters to execute the actions and that the translator database 314, and the action database 316 can determine the intent and required instructions for responding to a query [i.e., actions needed to respond to a query and the database queried is the “first data source system”]; Bed, [0303], see the rules in the rule database can also be automatically updated by the Translator and Action Database Agent 308 [i.e., “artificial intelligence agent”] using known machine learning methods. As the user makes queries over time, the Translator and Action Database Agent 308 can learn new actions and parameters and update the database accordingly. For example, Translator and Action Database Agent 308, over time, can learn what are the most common parameters used in performing a snapshot. Translator and Action Database Agent 308 can also train on historical data of tasks and jobs performed within the information management system or the database management system. Translator and Action Database Agent 308 can train using any of the known machine learning methods. Types of machine learning methods include supervised machine learning, unsupervised machine learning, and semi-supervised machine learning; Bed, [0328]-[0331] and Bed, Fig. 5: in analogy to Bed, Fig. 4, the query is translated to a domain language query which corresponds to the execution plan. According to Bed, Table 1, the domain language query has to include both data source systems), wherein the execution plan is generated to include invoking the first tool to perform the first action (Bed, [0313], see action database 316 stores actions and required parameters to execute the actions and that the translator database 314, and the action database 316 can determine the intent and required instructions for responding to a query [i.e., actions needed to respond to a query and the database queried is the “first data source system”, where this needs to be invoked to retrieve the data from the database]) and wherein the user has permission for each of the actions (Bed, [0298], see checks permissions for different actions, permissions are stored as metadata);
invoke, by the AI agent, according to the execution plan, the first tool to cause the first tool to perform the first action with respect to the first data source system (Bed, [0303], see the rules in the rules database updated the action database agent [i.e., corresponds to “AI agent”]; and Bed, Fig. 4, where the flow diagram corresponds to the “execution plan” and see 415 “Translate natural language query to domain language query”, 420 “Translate domain language query to database software query” and 435 “Determine response to database software query”, where the “first action” is querying the database, which is the “first data source”); and
invoke, by the AI agent according to the execution plan, a second tool to cause the second tool to perform a second action of the actions with respect to the second data source system (Bed, [0293] in combination with Bed, [0132]-[0134], see “The environment 301 also enables a user to [...] use an administrative assistant component to communicate with the database management system. … The database management system manages data operations for networked computer devices and media agents.”, where data agents and media agents of the primary and secondary storage systems are used to access data there, see also Bed, Fig. 1C; Bed, [0303], see the rules in the rules database updated the action database agent [i.e., corresponds to “AI agent”]; and Bed, Fig. 4, where the flow diagram corresponds to the “execution plan” and see 415 “Translate natural language query to domain language query”, 420 “Translate domain language query to database software query” and 435 “Determine response to database software query”, where the “second action” is querying the another different database, which is the “second data source”).
Bed does not appear to explicitly disclose obtain configuration information for a first tool, wherein the configuration information comprises a software interface specification.
Laschet discloses obtain configuration information for a first tool (Laschet, [0113], see the parsed configuration file and the generic building blocks may be used by the agent builder 170 via processes (C, D, E) to create a functional intelligent agent 200 [i.e., corresponds to an AI agent configured with the “first tool”] via process (F). The agent builder may be a software component, e.g. a build component, which may translate the parsed configuration to a set of software instructions, expressed by using the building blocks 120, 130, and thereby may construct an intelligent agent as specified by the IACF 100, see Laschet, [0042], where IACF stands for “intelligent agent configuration file”), wherein the configuration information comprises a software interface specification (Laschet, [0136], see data interface 410 may also be used to access other types of data, e.g., data containing a specification of an intelligent agent configuration language).
Bed and Laschet are analogous art because they are from the same problem-solving area of automating user actions.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, having the teachings of Bed and Laschet before him/her, to modify the querying of Bed to include the configuration information of Laschet because it would allow access to other data sources.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to easily adapt and transfer intelligent agents to perform actions, see Laschet, [0012].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Laschet with Bed to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim(s).
Claim(s) 14 and 20 recite(s) similar limitations to claim 1 and is/are rejected under the same rationale.
With respect to claim 20, Bed discloses non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions (Bed, [0067], see computer memory).
Claims 6 and 19
With respect to claims 6 and 19, the combination of Bed and Laschet discloses wherein the task comprises optimizing, on the second data source system, backups of data associated with the user and stored on the first data source system (Bed, [0035], see there is therefore a need for efficient, powerful, and user-friendly solutions for protecting and managing data and for smart and efficient management of data storage; Bed, Table 1, see “Backup: If a user asks to “perform a backup of file b on my computer,” [i.e., “backups of data associated with the user”] the system will generate a copy of file B in secondary storage [i.e., “second data source system”] based on the primary copy [i.e., “first data source system”] and provide the user with audio or visual confirmation of this operation.”; and Bed, [0198], see system may indicate that data from a primary copy 112 should be migrated to a secondary storage device 108 to free up space on primary storage device 104 [i.e., data is currently stored on the primary storage device/”first storage system”]).
Claim 7
With respect to claim 7, the combination of Bed and Laschet discloses wherein the task comprises modifying, on the second data source system, security data associated with the user and stored on the first data source system or the second data source system (Bed, Table 1, see “A user can ask, “modify my files to include password protection” [i.e., “credentials for the user”]; then, the system can prompt the user for a password to add to the files.”).
Claim 8
With respect to claim 8, the combination of Bed and Laschet discloses wherein the first action comprises obtaining dynamic data from the first data source system (Bed, [0205], see data associated with a storage policy can be logically organized into subclients, which may represent primary data 112 and/or secondary copies 116. A subclient may represent static or dynamic associations of portions of a data volume).
Claim 9
With respect to claim 9, the combination of Bed and Laschet discloses wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
authenticate, by a data access proxy layer, the first tool to the first data source system to enable the first tool to perform the first action (Bed, [0210], see an audit policy may further specify rules for handling sensitive objects. As an example, an audit policy may require that a reviewer approve the transfer of any sensitive objects to a cloud storage site, and that if approval is denied for a particular sensitive object, the sensitive object should be transferred to a local primary storage device 104 instead. To facilitate this approval, the audit policy may further specify how a secondary storage computing device 106 or other system component should notify a reviewer that a sensitive object is slated for transfer).
Claim 10
With respect to claim 10, the combination of Bed and Laschet discloses wherein to authenticate the first tool to the first data source system, the processing circuitry is configured to authenticate, based on credentials for the user, the first tool to the first data source system (Bed, Table 1, see “A user can ask, “modify my files to include password protection” [i.e., “credentials for the user”]; then, the system can prompt the user for a password to add to the files.”).
Claim 11
With respect to claim 11, the combination of Bed and Laschet discloses wherein the first action comprises sending an application programming interface (API) call to an API implemented by the first data source system and described by the software interface specification (Bed, [0124], see management agent 154 can provide storage manager 140 with the ability to communicate with other components within system 100 and/or with other information management cells via network protocols and application programming interfaces (APIs) including, e.g., HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, REST, virtualization software APIs, cloud service provider APIs, and hosted service provider APIs, without limitation; and Bed, [0316], see the translator and action database agent 308 (FIG. 3) executes the process 400, and in other implementations, the client computing devices 102 (FIG. 2A) using a local version of the translator and action database agent 308 perform the process 400. Also, the process 400 can be initiated if a user has opened an instance (e.g., mobile application, webpage, or program) for the database management system, and asked the system to a query [i.e., see the action database agent, which corresponds to the “AI agent”, calls the query, which corresponds to the “first action”]).
Claims 12 and 17
With respect to claims 12 and 17, the combination of Bed and Laschet discloses wherein to generate the execution plan, the processing circuitry is configured to:
select, by the AI agent, based on a determination the user has permission to perform the first action the first tool is capable of performing with respect to the first data source system, the actions of the execution plan to include the first action (Bed, [0298], see checks permissions for different actions, permissions are stored as metadata; and Bed, [0293] in combination with Bed, [0132]-[0134], see “The environment 301 also enables a user to [...] use an administrative assistant component to communicate with the database management system. … The database management system manages data operations for networked computer devices and media agents.”, where data agents and media agents of the primary and secondary storage systems are used to access data there, see also Bed, Fig. 1C; and Bed, [0316], see the translator and action database agent 308 (FIG. 3) executes the process 400, and in other implementations, the client computing devices 102 (FIG. 2A) using a local version of the translator and action database agent 308 perform the process 400. Also, the process 400 can be initiated if a user has opened an instance (e.g., mobile application, webpage, or program) for the database management system, and asked the system to a query [i.e., see the action database agent, which corresponds to the “AI agent”, calls the query, which corresponds to the “first action”]).
Claims 13 and 18
With respect to claims 13 and 18, the combination of Bed and Laschet discloses wherein the first data source system and the second data source system are diverse (Bed, [0069], see information management system 100 can also include electronic data storage devices, generally used for mass storage of data, including, e.g., primary storage devices 104 and secondary storage devices 108. Storage devices can generally be of any suitable type including, without limitation, disk drives, storage arrays (e.g., storage-area network (SAN) and/or network-attached storage (NAS) technology), semiconductor memory (e.g., solid state storage devices), network attached storage (NAS) devices, tape libraries, or other magnetic, non-tape storage devices, optical media storage devices, DNA/RNA-based memory technology, combinations of the same, etc. In some embodiments, storage devices form part of a distributed file system. In some cases, storage devices are provided in a cloud storage environment (e.g., a private cloud or one operated by a third-party vendor), whether for primary data or secondary copies or both [i.e., disclosing all of the different storage devices that the “first data source system” and the “second data source system” may be]).
Claim(s) 2, 3, 15 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bed in view of Laschet in further view of Ankrom et al., US 2024/0129313 A1 (hereinafter “Ankrom”).
Claims 2 and 15
Claims 2 and 15 incorporate all of the limitations above. The combination of Bed and Laschet does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the configuration information specifies a scope of calls to the first data source system, and
wherein to invoke the first tool to cause the first tool to perform the first action the processing circuitry is configured to invoke the first tool using one or more calls within the scope of calls.
Ankrom discloses wherein the configuration information specifies a scope of calls to the first data source system, and
wherein to invoke the first tool to cause the first tool to perform the first action the processing circuitry is configured to invoke the first tool using one or more calls within the scope of calls (Ankrom, [0040], see, in response to these API call(s), credential service 108 can authenticate that the provided credential(s) are: assigned to vetted entity 104; and correspond to defined scope permissions for user 102's secure information).
Bed, Laschet and Ankrom are analogous art because they are from the same problem-solving area of automating user actions.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, having the teachings of Bed, Laschet and Ankrom before him/her, to modify the querying with configuration information of the combination of Bed and Laschet to include the scope configuration of Ankrom because it would allow information protection.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to more quickly access data that have assigned privileges, see Ankrom, [0014].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Ankrom with the combination of Bed and Laschet to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim(s).
Claims 3 and 16
Claims 3 and 16 incorporate all of the limitations above. The combination of Bed and Laschet does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the configuration information specifies a manner in which the first tool is to access data from the first data source system, and
wherein to invoke the first tool to cause the first tool to perform the first action the processing circuitry is configured to invoke the first tool to cause the first tool to access the data from the first data source system.
Ankrom discloses wherein the configuration information specifies a manner in which the first tool is to access data from the first data source system, and
wherein to invoke the first tool to cause the first tool to perform the first action the processing circuitry is configured to invoke the first tool to cause the first tool to access the data from the first data source system (Ankrom, [0147], see the details of the request (e.g., user identifying information, credential type, defined scope secure user information privileges, etc.) can be provided by the user's portable access point, which permits the user to control how [i.e., “manner”] the user's secure information is shared with the requesting system).
See claims 2 and 15 above for the motivation to combine.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
– Aggarwal et al., 2017/0351502 for extending USB-C software support to non-USB-devices;
– Sawant et al., 2024/0004739 for microservice platform message management system;
– Jauhal et al., 10404705 for data transfer in a data protection system;
– Dettinger et al., 2008/0154975 for automated data model extension through data crawler approach; and
– Ankrom et al., 2024/0330508 for ingesting secure user information and permitting scope limited access.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Point of Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUBERT G CHEUNG whose telephone number is (571) 270-1396. The examiner can normally be reached M-R 8:00A-5:00P EST; alt. F 8:00A-4:00P EST.
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, Apu Mofiz can be reached at (571) 272-4080. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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HUBERT G. CHEUNG
Assistant Examiner
Art Unit 2161
Examiner: Hubert Cheung
/Hubert Cheung/Assistant Examiner, Art Unit 2161Date: July 30, 2026
/APU M MOFIZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2161
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