CTNF 19/062,920 CTNF 86288 DETAILED ACTION 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 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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. 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15 AIA Claim (s) 1-3, 5, 9-12, 14, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2 ) as being anticipated by Lo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0092092, hereinafter “Lo”) . Claims 1, 10, and 19 : Lo discloses a computer system, comprising: a processing resource (§ 0059, Lines 1-3; Computing device 700 includes a bus 703 which is coupled to a microprocessor 705); a memory (§ 0059, Lines 1-5; Computing device 700 includes a bus 703 which is coupled to a microprocessor 705, a ROM 707, volatile RAM 709, and a non-volatile RAM 711); and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by the processing resource cause the computer system (§ 0059, Lines 5-8; Microprocessor 705 may retrieve the instructions from the memories 707, 709, and 711 and execute the instructions to perform operations described) to: join, from a network device operating as a tunnel endpoint (§ 0029, Lines 8-12; The overlay network 350 may be a virtual network that is built upon an underlying network infrastructure that may include switches, routers, bridges, gateways, and/or other types of network devices that are capable of forwarding data) and a gateway in an overlay network (§ 0030, Lines 1-3 and 6-7; Network devices 325, 330, and 335 may be physical devices (such as network switches, network routers, network gateways, network bridges, etc. Network device 325, 330, and 335 may be located at the edge of overlay network 350), a multicast group in an underlay network of the overlay network (§ 0057, Lines 6-9; The network device may determine that the network device should use the underlay multicast group when a join request is received) (§ 0035, Lines 9-11; Overlay multicast group A may use underlay multicast group A to multicast data through the underlay network 450), wherein a gateway IP address is allocated to a plurality of gateways of the overlay network (§ 0037, Lines 12-13; Overlay multicast group A includes network devices 325, 330, and 335), and wherein the multicast group is associated with a multicast IP address and includes the plurality of gateways (§ 0034, Lines 3-5; Network devices 325, 330, and 335 may also be located at the edge of underlay network 450); receive, from a client device coupled to the network device, a packet with the gateway IP address as a destination address (§ 0026, Lines 14-16; The packets transmitted by multicast sources 305 and 315 may be referred to as multicast packets, multicast traffic, multicast data, etc.); encapsulate the packet with an encapsulation header with the multicast IP address as a destination address (§ 0044, Lines 13-17; Network device 325 may include a multicast packet as the payload of an encapsulated packet. The encapsulated packet may include the underlay multicast group address as the destination address); and forward the encapsulated packet via a multicast tree in the underlay network (§ 0044, Lines 17-22; Network device 325 may forward the encapsulated packet to network device 425A (e.g., to the underlay multicast group A) which may multicast the encapsulated packet to the multicast receivers 306 via the network devices 425C, 425D, and 425E which are also part of the underlay multicast group A). The method of claim 1 is implemented by the system of claim 19 and is therefore rejected with the same rationale. Regarding the “non-transitory computer readable storage medium” of claim 10, Lo discloses the embodiments can be embodied as computer readable code on a tangible non-transitory computer readable medium (§ 0070, Lines 1-3). Claims 2 and 11 : Lo further discloses wherein forwarding the encapsulated packet further comprises: determining an interface associated with the multicast group (See citation below. An interface associated with the multicast group is determined in order to forward the multicast packet); and sending the encapsulated packet to the interface (§ 0023, Lines 5-6; Forwards the data out the proper outgoing interface, for example, one of interface devices 206A-C) (§ 0026, Lines 14-16; The packets transmitted by multicast sources 305 and 315 may be referred to as multicast packets, multicast traffic, multicast data, etc.). Claims 3 and 12 : Lo further discloses wherein the interface includes a multicast interface corresponding to the multicast tree (§ 0023, Lines 5-6; Forwards the data out the proper outgoing interface, for example, one of interface devices 206A-C) (§ 0026, Lines 14-16; The packets transmitted by multicast sources 305 and 315 may be referred to as multicast packets, multicast traffic, multicast data, etc.) in the underlay network (§ 0034, Lines 3-5; Network devices 325, 330, and 335 may also be located at the edge of underlay network 450), and wherein the encapsulated packet is distributed via the multicast tree to a respective other gateway of the plurality of gateways (§ 0035, Lines 6-8; Overlay multicast group A may be used to multicast data from multicast source 305 to multicast receiver 306). Claims 5, 14, and 20 : Lo further discloses wherein, in response to detecting the gateway IP address as the destination IP address in the packet, the method further comprises: determining whether the packet corresponds to a predetermined set of packet types (See citation below. Supporting various protocols for encapsulation involves determining the packet type); and in response to the packet corresponding to the predetermined set of packet types, encapsulating the packet with the encapsulation header (§ 0028, Lines 11-13; There are various other encapsulation mechanisms, protocols, technologies, etc., that may be used to encapsulate data). Claims 9 and 18 : Lo further discloses wherein joining the multicast group further comprises determining that the network device is configured to be in the multicast tree in the underlay network (§ 0034, Lines 3-5; Network devices 325, 330, and 335 may also be located at the edge of underlay network 450) (§ 0035, Lines 9-11; Overlay multicast group A may use underlay multicast group A to multicast data through the underlay network 450) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0092092, hereinafter “Lo”) in view of Wei (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0195363, hereinafter “Wei”) . Claims 4 and 13 : Lo discloses the method as recited in claim 1 and the medium as recited in claim 10. Lo does not appear to disclose: receiving, prior to receiving the packet by the network device, a request packet requesting a piece of information; forwarding the request packet to the client device; and receiving the packet comprising the piece of information as a response to the request packet. Wei discloses: receiving, prior to receiving the packet by the network device (§ 0043, Lines 1-2; Upon determining that the client station 109 3 is not represented in the forwarding table), a request packet requesting a piece of information (§ 0043, Lines 2-4; The routing device 107 1 transmits a multicast address resolution protocol (ARP) request); forwarding the request packet to the client device (§ 0044, Lines 3-5; The intermediate-remote function device 111 1 forwards the ARP request to the client station 109 3 ); and receiving the packet comprising the piece of information as a response to the request packet (§ 0044, Lines 8-11; Upon receipt of the ARP request, the client station 109 3 may respond to the ARP request. The ARP response may include various pieces of data). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Lo’s system by integrating features of Wei’s system in order to add client devices in the forwarding table . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0092092, hereinafter “Lo”) in view of Rajamanickam et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0205131, hereinafter “Rajamanickam”); further in view of Naik et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0146857, hereinafter “Naik”) . Claims 6 and 15 : Lo discloses the method as recited in claims 1 and 5 and the medium as recited in claims 10 and 14. Lo does not appear to disclose wherein the predetermined set of packet types comprises: an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) response; an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo or response; a Protocol-Independent Multicast (PIM) register request or response; a PIM candidate rendezvous point (RP) advertisement; a traceroute packet; and a path maximum transmission unit (MTU) discovery packet. Rajamanickam discloses wherein the predetermined set of packet types comprises: an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) response (§ 0053, Lines 4-14; Network control appliances 114 can establish secure connections to each edge network device 118 and distribute route and policy information via a control plane 112 protocol including Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)); an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo or response (§ 0053, Lines 4-14; Network control appliances 114 can establish secure connections to each edge network device 118 and distribute route and policy information via a control plane 112 protocol including Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)); a Protocol-Independent Multicast (PIM) register request or response (§ 0053, Lines 4-14; Network control appliances 114 can establish secure connections to each edge network device 118 and distribute route and policy information via a control plane 112 protocol including Protocol-Independent Multicast (PIM)); a traceroute packet (§ 0049, Lines 6-8; Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) processes such as Traceroute); and a path maximum transmission unit (MTU) discovery packet (§ 0046, Lines 1-8; Path MTU discovery offer remedies for path monitoring and network parameter evaluation). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Lo’s various supported protocols to include those disclosed by Rajamanickam in order to reap the benefits of said standards. Naik discloses wherein the predetermined set of packet types comprises: a PIM candidate rendezvous point (RP) advertisement (§ 0009, Lines 14-17; Examples of multicast routing protocols that use a rendezvous point include Protocol-Independent Multicast-Sparse mode (PIM-SM) and Bidirectional PIM (BIDIR-PIM) protocols). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Lo and Rajamanickam’s various supported protocols to include those disclosed by Naik in order to reap the benefits of said standard . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0092092, hereinafter “Lo”) in view of Rajamanickam et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0205131, hereinafter “Rajamanickam”); further in view of Naik et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0146857, hereinafter “Naik”); further in view of Cherian et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11108593, hereinafter “Cherian”) . Claim 7 : Lo in view of Rajamanickam and further in view of Naik discloses the method as recited in claims 1, 5, and 6, further comprising: receiving a second packet encapsulated in a second encapsulation header with the multicast IP address as a destination address (Lo, § 0026, Lines 14-16; The packets transmitted by multicast sources 305 and 315 may be referred to as multicast packets, multicast traffic, multicast data, etc.); and determining the multicast IP address as an address associated with the network device (Lo, § 0034, Lines 3-5; Network devices 325, 330, and 335 may also be located at the edge of underlay network 450). Lo in view of Rajamanickam and further in view of Naik does not appear to disclose decapsulating the second encapsulation header to obtain the second packet. Cherian discloses decapsulating the second encapsulation header to obtain the second packet (Column 6, Lines 9-12; When an overlay network encapsulated packet is received at the NIC, the NIC decapsulates the packet by stripping the outer encapsulation layer of the packet). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Lo, Rajamanickam, and Naik’s encapsulated packet by decapsulating it, as taught by Cherian, in order to properly forward the packet. Claim 8 : Lo in view of Rajamanickam and further in view of Naik and Cherian further discloses: determining whether the network device has been waiting for the second packet (Rajamanickam, § 0053, Lines 4-14; Network control appliances 114 can establish secure connections to each edge network device 118 and distribute route and policy information via a control plane 112 protocol including Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). A device issuing an ARP request will be waiting for an ARP response); and in response to the network device having been waiting for the second packet, forwarding the second packet to a corresponding application running on the network device (See citation above. The ARP response will be forwarded to the device that issued the ARP request) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0092092, hereinafter “Lo”) in view of Cherian et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11108593, hereinafter “Cherian”) . Claim 16 : Lo discloses the medium as recited in claim 10, further comprising: receiving a second packet encapsulated in a second encapsulation header with the multicast IP address as a destination address (§ 0026, Lines 14-16; The packets transmitted by multicast sources 305 and 315 may be referred to as multicast packets, multicast traffic, multicast data, etc.); determining the multicast IP address as an address associated with the network device (§ 0034, Lines 3-5; Network devices 325, 330, and 335 may also be located at the edge of underlay network 450); and Lo does not appear to disclose decapsulating the second encapsulation header to obtain the second packet. Cherian discloses decapsulating the second encapsulation header to obtain the second packet (Column 6, Lines 9-12; When an overlay network encapsulated packet is received at the NIC, the NIC decapsulates the packet by stripping the outer encapsulation layer of the packet). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Lo’s encapsulated packet by decapsulating it, as taught by Cherian, in order to properly forward the packet . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0092092, hereinafter “Lo”) in view of Cherian et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11108593, hereinafter “Cherian”); further in view of Rajamanickam et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0205131, hereinafter “Rajamanickam”) . Claim 17 : Lo in view of Cherian discloses the medium as recited in claims 10 and 16. Lo in view of Cherian does not appear to disclose: determining whether the network device has been waiting for the second packet; and in response to the network device having been waiting for the second packet, forwarding the second packet to a corresponding application running on the network device. Rajamanickam discloses: determining whether the network device has been waiting for the second packet (Rajamanickam, § 0053, Lines 4-14; Network control appliances 114 can establish secure connections to each edge network device 118 and distribute route and policy information via a control plane 112 protocol including Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). A device issuing an ARP request will be waiting for an ARP response); and in response to the network device having been waiting for the second packet, forwarding the second packet to a corresponding application running on the network device (See citation above. The ARP response will be forwarded to the device that issued the ARP request). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Lo and Cherian’s various supported protocols to include ARP as disclosed by Rajamanickam in order to reap the benefits of the ARP standard . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure : U.S. Patent No. 11206207 (Deb et al.) – Managed multicast communications across isolated networks using PIM. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0295093 (Moreno et al.) – Hybrid approaches to multi-destination traffic forwarding in overlay networks by using tunnel endpoints that are enhanced to receive multi-destination traffic with the encapsulation scheme they do not natively support. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0308389 (Moreno et al.) – Configure edge nodes of a virtual network overlay to continuously forward data plane traffic between client devices of a common subnet. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0373463 (Nandy et al.) – Support for a multicast source to send multicast data if the multicast source roams to a different network device. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /NAM T TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 2 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 3 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 4 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 5 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 6 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 7 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 8 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 10 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 11 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 12 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 14 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 15 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 16 Art Unit: 2455 Application/Control Number: 19/062,920 Page 17 Art Unit: 2455
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