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 .
1. This action is in response to the communication filed on March 6, 2025. Claims 1-19 were originally received for consideration. No preliminary amendments for the claims have been received.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. An initialed and dated copy of Applicant’s IDS (Form 1449), received on March 6, 2025, is attached to this Office Action.
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 1-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-27 of U.S. Patent No. 12,273,358. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the ‘358 Patent render obvious the claims of the present application as mapped below. The independent claims 1 and 11 are rendered obvious by claim 1 of the ‘358 Patent as mapped below. The dependent claims of the present application disclose querying an IAM service, generating an asset inventory representation which are not explicitly disclosed by the claims of the ‘358 Patent. However, querying an IAM service to detect the credential was a well-known method of identifying a credential associated with an identity, and generating an asset inventory representation is obvious in light of the other claims generating representation of multiple different entities in the security database. Therefore, the claims are rendered obvious in light of the ‘358 Patent and are subject to a nonstatutory double patenting rejection.
U.S. Patent 12,273,358
Present Application
1. A method for detecting impact of a potential lateral movement in a computing environment, comprising:
generating in a security database a representation of a computing environment, the computing environment including a plurality of entities;
detecting a first node in the security database, the first node representing a compromised entity of the plurality of entities;
detecting in the security database a credential node connected to the first node, wherein the credential node represents a credential utilized by the entity in the computing environment;
generating a potential lateral movement path including:
the first node, and a second node representing a second entity of the plurality of entities, wherein the second node is further connected to the credential node;
generating a lateral movement impact based on the potential lateral movement path; and
generating a visual graph based at least on the generated lateral movement impact.
15. A system for detecting impact of a potential lateral movement in a computing environment comprising:
a processing circuitry;
a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, configure the system to:
generate in a security database a representation of a computing environment, the computing environment including a plurality of entities;
detect a first node in the security database, the first node representing a compromised entity of the plurality of entities;
detect in the security database a credential node connected to the first node, wherein the credential node represents a credential utilized by the entity in the computing environment;
generate a potential lateral movement path including:
the first node, and a second node represent a second entity of the plurality of entities, wherein the second node is further connected to the credential node;
generate a lateral movement impact based on the potential lateral movement path; and
generate a visual graph based at least on the generated lateral movement impact.
1. A method for detecting a potential lateral movement in a computing environment, comprising:
generating in a security database a representation of a computing environment;
detecting a first node in a security database, the first node representing a compromised entity deployed in the computing environment;
detecting in the security database a credential node connected to the first node, wherein the credential node represents a credential utilized by the compromised entity in the computing environment;
generating a potential lateral movement path including:
the first node, and a second node representing a second entity of a plurality of entities, wherein the second node is further connected to the credential node; and
generating a visual graph based at least on the generated potential lateral movement path.
11. A system for detecting a potential lateral movement in a computing environment comprising:
a processing circuitry;
a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, configure the system to:
generate in a security database a representation of a computing environment;
detect a first node in a security database, the first node representing a compromised entity deployed in the computing environment;
detect in the security database a credential node connected to the first node, wherein the credential node represents a credential utilized by the compromised entity in the computing environment;
generate a potential lateral movement path including:
the first node, and a second node represent a second entity of a plurality of entities, wherein the second node is further connected to the credential node; and
generate a visual graph based at least on the generated potential lateral movement path.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAVEH ABRISHAMKAR whose telephone number is (571)272-3786. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jung Kim can be reached at 571-272-3804. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAVEH ABRISHAMKAR/
09/23/2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2494
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