DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This communication is in responsive to the Application filed on March 13, 2025, in which claims 1-20 have been presented for examination.
Status of Claims
3. Claims 1-20 are pending, of which claims 1-5, 7-10, 14-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1). Claims 15-20 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Priority
4. Acknowledgment is made of Applicants’ claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e). Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. The information disclosure statement, filed on April 15, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609. It has been placed in the application file, and the information referred to therein has been considered as to the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
6. 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.
7. Claims 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
“A claim whose BRI covers both statutory and non-statutory embodiments embraces subject matter that is not eligible for patent protection and therefore is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Such claims fail the first step (Step 1: NO) and should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101, for at least this reason” See MPEP 2106.03(II), [R-10.2019]
“A claim drawn to such a computer readable medium that covers both transitory and non-transitory embodiments may be amended to narrow the claim to cover only statutory embodiments to avoid a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101 by adding the limitation ‘non-transitory’ to the claim.” -1351 OG 212 (February 23, 2010)
While the modifier non-transitory added to a computer readable mediumis specifically mentioned in the OG notice, other language may be acceptable if it is supported by the original disclosure and its broadest reasonable interpretation excludes transitory propagating signals. Acceptable amendments would have to be determined on a case-by case basis.
As per claim 15, Applicant does not explicitly and deliberately define the terms “storage medium” but rather, at instant Specification, paragraph [0093], Applicant recites that “It should be noted that the above computer-readable medium described in the present disclosure may be a computer-readable signal medium, a computer-readable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The computer-readable storage medium may be, for example but not limited to, electric, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatuses, or devices, or any combination thereof. A more specific example of the computer-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to: an electric connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or a flash memory (FLASH), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any appropriate combination of the above. In the present disclosure, the computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program which may be used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In the present disclosure, the computer-readable signal medium may include a data signal propagated in a baseband or as a part of a carrier, the data signal carrying computer-readable program code. The propagated data signal may be in various forms, including but not limited to an electromagnetic signal, an optical signal, or any suitable combination thereof. The computer-readable signal medium may also be any computer-readable medium other than the computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable signal medium can send, propagate, or transmit a program used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The program code contained in the computer-readable medium may be transmitted by any suitable medium, including but not limited to: electric wires, optical cables, radio frequency (RF), etc., or any suitable combination thereof” (Recited from paragraph [0093] of instant Specification). The above cited paragraph fails to give an explicit and deliberate definition of the terms “storage medium,” but rather gives an open-ended description of various exemplary “computer-readable storage media,” and “computer-readable signal media,” and while it appears as though Applicant has attempted to distinguish between “computer-readable storage media” and “computer-readable signal media,” nevertheless, Applicant fails to limit the “computer readable storage medium” discussed above in paragraph [0093] to a device that excludes signals, as paragraph [0093] expressly recites that “the computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program which may be used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device” (Recited from paragraph [0093] of instant Specification, with added emphasis). Examiner notes that any tangible medium necessarily includes signals and propagating waves, as such signals and propagating waves are tangible (i.e., that which can be perceived) media. Examiner further notes Applicant’s express use of the terms “non-transitory computer-readable medium” at paragraph [0090], which recites, “According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the process described above with reference to the flowchart may be implemented as a computer software program. For example, this embodiment of the present disclosure includes a computer program product, which includes a computer program carried on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, where the computer program includes program code for performing the method shown in the flowchart. In such an embodiment, the computer program may be downloaded and installed from a network through the communication apparatus 709, or installed from the storage apparatus 708, or installed from the ROM 702. When the computer program is executed by the processing apparatus 701, the above functions defined in the data request method of the embodiment of the present disclosure are performed” (Recited from paragraph [0090] of instant Specification). Furthermore, as is readily known by the skilled artisan, at least any (being recited above in paragraph [0093]) such “tangible medium containing or storing a program which may be used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device”, given the broadest reasonable interpretation in the arts, will necessarily include transmission-type media, such as signals and propagating waves, (since at least computer programs can produce signals carrying instructions thereon) non-statutory subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Besides amending the claim by adding the terms “non-transitory” preceding the terms “computer readable storage medium,” Examiner urges that a rejection under § 101 can also be avoided by either amending the claimed terms to: “computer usable memory,” “computer usable storage memory,” “computer readable memory,” “computer readable device,” “computer recordable memory,” “computer recordable device,” (i.e. any variations thereof, where “media” or “medium” is replaced by “device” or “memory”) or adding “wherein the medium excludes signals”. Note, the term “tangible” does not suffice, as tangible is taken to mean, “that which is capable of being touched and/or perceived,” and therefore includes signals (e.g. sound). Dependent claims 16-19 fail to remedy the deficiencies of independent claim 15 and are likewise rejected. Similar reasoning applies to independent claim 20.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
8. 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.
9. 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 – (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.
10. Claims 1-5, 7-10, 14-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kevin C. Johns (United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2020/0236083), hereinafter “Johns”.
Regarding claim 1, Johns discloses a data request method, applied to a client, comprising: sending a data request to a business server, so that the business server determines, based on the data request, address description information of data to be requested (wherein a client device 104 (See FIG. 1A) is configured to request, receive, process, and present content. In one implementation, the client device 104 includes an Internet browser application with which a link (e.g., a hyperlink) to a content item may be selected or otherwise entered, causing a request to be sent to a directory server 110 in the CDN 102. The CDN 102 may include a directory or authoritative server 110 that responds to the request by providing a network address (e.g., an IP address) where the content associated with the selected link can be obtained. In one example, the client device 104 provides a link name (e.g., a hostname portion of a received URL or other identifier) associated with content provided by the CDN 102. For example, client device 104 may provide a link name to a DNS resolver 152 (See also FIG. 1B) associated with the access network 106) (Johns, FIGS. 1A and 1B, paragraphs [0025]-[0026]); receiving a first internet protocol address sent by the business server, wherein the first internet protocol address is obtained by performing network-side domain name resolution on the address description information by the business server (again, the directory server 110 resolves the link name (e.g., URL or other identifier) to an associated network address from which the client device 104 can retrieve the content. In some instances, the access network 106 may also include a DNS service. The directory server 110 may, in some instances, include several DNS servers arranged in a DNS architecture or system of servers to resolve domain names into IP addresses) (Johns, FIG. 1A, paragraph [0026]); and requesting, based on the first internet protocol address, data content of the data to be requested (again, the client device 104 may request content or a content file from the CDN 102. In one example, the client device 104 provides a link name (e.g., a hostname portion of the received URL or other identifier) associated with content provided by the CDN 102. For example, client device 104 may provide a link name to a DNS resolver 152 associated with the access network 106. The DNS resolver 152 associated with the access network 106 is sometimes known as the ISP resolver. In one example, the access network ISP resolver 152 has cached an IP address for the provided hostname at which the content available through that hostname may be obtained. In other words, the ISP resolver 152 may return an IP address of a device (such as a content server or other content-providing device of the CDN 102) to the client device 104 to which the computing device may follow to access the content of the hostname from the CDN) (Johns, FIG. 1B, paragraph [0027]).
As to claim 7, Johns discloses a data request method, applied to a server, comprising: receiving a data request sent by a client (again, client 104 selecting a hyperlink) (Johns, FIG. 1A, paragraph [0025]), and determining, based on the data request, address description information of data to be requested (again, DNS resolver 152 (See again, FIG. 1B) is able to determine the hostname portion of the hyperlink or URL) (Johns, FIG. 1B, paragraph [0027]); performing network-side domain name resolution on the address description information to obtain a first internet protocol address (again, resolving the domain name to an IP address) (Johns, paragraphs [0026] and [0027]); and sending the first internet protocol address to the client, so that the client requests, based on the first internet protocol address, data content of the data to be requested (again, the he ISP resolver 152 may return an IP address of a device (such as a content server or other content-providing device of the CDN 102) to the client device 104 to which the computing device may follow to access the content of the hostname from the CDN) (Johns, paragraph [0027]).
Claim 8 is directed to an electronic device, comprising: one or more processors; and a storage apparatus configured to store one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform limitations substantially as recited in independent claim 1, and does not appear to contain any additional features with regard to novelty and/or nonobviousness; therefore, as Johns discloses such an electronic device (again, client device 104) (Johns, FIG. 1A), comprising: one or more processors (at least impliedly, as client device 104 may be a personal computer) (Johns, FIG. 1A, paragraph [0025]); and a storage apparatus configured to store one or more programs (again impliedly, as client device 104 may be a personal computer) (Johns, paragraph [0025]), claim 8 is rejected for similar reasons.
As well, claim 14 is directed to an electronic device, comprising: one or more processors; and a storage apparatus configured to store one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform limitations substantially as recited in independent claim 7, and does not appear to contain any additional features with regard to novelty and/or nonobviousness; therefore, as Johns discloses such an electronic device (again, directory server 110 and/or ISP resolver 152, which may be implemented by computing device or computer system 500) (Johns, FIGS. 1A, 1B and 5), comprising: one or more processors (processors 502-506) (Johns, FIG. 5, paragraph [0061]); and a storage apparatus configured to store one or more programs (also including storage device, such as main memory 516) (Johns, FIG. 5, paragraph [0063]), claim 14 is rejected for similar reasons.
Claims 15 and 20 each include a storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a computer processor, are used to perform the data request method according to claim 1 and the data request method according to claim 7, respectively, and do not appear to contain any additional features with regard to novelty and/or nonobviousness; therefore, as Johns discloses such a storage medium (client device 104 necessarily includes a storage medium as provided with a personal computer, and non-volatile media and volatile media provided with directory server implemented by computer system 500) (Johns, FIGS. 1A, 1B and 5, paragraphs [0025] and [0065]), claims 15 and 20 are thus similarly rejected.
Regarding claim 2, Johns discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving the address description information sent by the business server (again, responding with either the IP address associated with the provided domain name or directing the requesting device 152 through the DNS architecture 154 (See again, FIG. 1B) to the corresponding or proper DNS resolver within the DNS architecture 154) (Johns, FIG. 1B, paragraph [0028]); wherein the requesting, based on the first internet protocol address, the data content of the data to be requested comprises: requesting, based on the first internet protocol address and the address description information, the data content of the data to be requested (wherein the ISP resolver 152 may cache the returned IP address for future requests received at the resolver and may provide the IP address to the client device 104 in response to the DNS request, or alternatively, receives the requested content from the CDN 102) (Johns, paragraphs [0028]-[0030]).
Regarding claim 3, Johns discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the requesting, based on the first internet protocol address and the address description information, the data content of the data to be requested comprises: establishing a first connection to a content server based on the first internet protocol address, and performing a local domain name resolution on the address description information (wherein again, the ISP resolver 152 may return an IP address of a device (such as a content server or other content-providing device of the CDN 102) to the client device 104 to which the computing device may follow to access the content of the hostname from the CDN. In particular, the ISP resolver 152 may continue sending DNS requests to the DNS architecture 154, working down the hierarchy of the DNS architecture 154 servers, until the DNS 164-170 corresponding to the received hostname is located. In this manner, the ISP resolver 152 is directed to, e.g., DNS server B 166 within the architecture 154 for the particular hostname and, once the IP address corresponding to the hostname is obtained, the ISP resolver 152 may cache and/or provide the IP address to the client device 104. With this information, the computing device 104 accesses a device within the CDN 102 at the provided IP address and receives the requested content from the CDN 102) (Johns, paragraphs [0027] and [0030]); and requesting, from the content server based on an establishment status of the first connection and a resolution status of the local domain name resolution, the data content of the data to be requested (again, the client 104 requests and receives the content from the content server based on the IP address) (Johns, paragraphs [0027] and [0030]).
Regarding claim 4, Johns discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein the requesting, from the content server based on the establishment status of the first connection and the resolution status of the local domain name resolution, the data content of the data to be requested comprises: in response to the establishment status being successful establishment and the resolution status being resolving, requesting the data content from the content server based on the first connection; in response to the establishment status being establishing and the resolution status being failed resolution, continuing to establish the first connection; in response to the establishment status being establishing and the resolution status being successful resolution, comparing a second internet protocol address obtained by resolution with the first internet protocol address, and requesting the data content from the content server based on a comparison result; and in response to the establishment status being failed establishment and the resolution status being resolving, continuing to perform the local domain name resolution. Examiner notes that claim 4 may not be performed, being drafted based on contingent limitations. That is, claim 4 does not provide for a response to the establishment status being failed establishment and the resolution status not being resolved. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. For example, assume a method claim requires step A if a first condition happens and step B if a second condition happens. If the claimed invention may be practiced without either the first or second condition happening, then neither step A or B is required by the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim. If the claimed invention requires the first condition to occur, then the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim requires step A. If the claimed invention requires both the first and second conditions to occur, then the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim requires both steps A and B. In this case, the claimed invention does not require any of the steps if the above conditions precedent are not met. See MPEP 2111.04
As to claim 5, Examiner notes that claim 5 may not be performed, being drafted based on contingent limitations, and also being dependent claim dependent claim 4.
Claims 9 and 10 include “electronic device” claims that perform limitations substantially as recited in “method” claims 2 and 3, respectively, and do not appear to contain any additional features with regard to novelty and/or nonobviousness; therefore, they are rejected under the same rationale.
In addition, claims 16 and 17 include “storage medium” claims that perform limitations substantially as recited in “method” claims 2 and 3, respectively, and do not appear to contain any additional features with regard to novelty and/or nonobviousness; therefore, they are rejected under the same rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
11. Claims 6 and 11-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
12. Further references of interest are cited on Form PTO-892, which is an attachment to this Office Action. For instance, Pezeshki (USPAT 11,558,344) discloses receiving a request to resolve a name of a domain of an identifier of web content. It is automatically determined that the name of the domain is to be resolved using a blockchain. A request is sent to a smart contract of the blockchain to obtain one or more resolution records for the domain. The one or more resolution records of the domain are received. The received one or more resolution records are utilized to resolve the name of the domain (See Abstract). Johns (USPGPUB 2014/0280906) discloses embodiments that provide a system and methods for dynamic re-localization and manifest chunking in a content delivery network. In one implementation, one or more stimuli corresponding to a connection to deliver content from a content source over a network to a user device along a network path are detected. The one or more stimuli indicate a connection issue. An optimized network path through which to deliver the content to the user device is determined based on current network conditions. The optimized network path responds to the connection issue. The user device is dynamically rerouted to the optimized path while providing a substantially continuous delivery of content to the user device (See Abstract). SU (CN 115361357 B) discloses a network scheduling system, method, device, electronic equipment and storage medium, comprising: an analysis server that obtains a domain name to be analyzed according to a preset period; performing a dial test on the IP address corresponding to the domain name to be analyzed to obtain first dial test data, determining a connection quality score and dial test survival time value of each IP address; determining a forced analysis address from the IP address corresponding to each domain name to be analyzed according to the connection quality score; sending the forced analysis address corresponding to each domain name to be analyzed and a call test survival time value to a cache server; the cache server determining a cache survival time value of the forced analysis address according to the call test survival time value and a preset optimization rule; the user terminal sending the access request aiming at the target domain name to the cache server; the cache server returning the target forced analysis address corresponding to the target domain name, the target forced analysis address being the forced analysis address whose any cache time length is less than the corresponding cache survival time value, so as to improve the use perception (See Abstract). ZHOU (CN 109586969 A) discloses a content distribution network disaster-tolerant method, device, computer device and storage medium. The method comprises: receiving a network request sent by a client end, and determining the client end and the network connection state between a first cache server, obtaining the network connection state as the number of times the abnormal state so as to obtain the abnormal times; judging whether the abnormal time is greater than a preset time threshold value; if the abnormal times is greater than the preset time threshold value, according to attribute parameter corresponding to the first cache server of a determined second cache server, and establishing a network connection of the client end with the second cache server. The embodiment of the invention further includes monitoring the network connection state based on the content distribution network (CDN) cache server so as to realize the replacement processing of the cache server is in an abnormal state, which can effectively improve disaster tolerance of content distribution network and is beneficial to improve the user experience (See Abstract).
13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KOSTAS J. KATSIKIS whose telephone number is (571)270-5434. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm. 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, Brian J. Gillis can be reached at 571-272-7952. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KOSTAS J KATSIKIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2446
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