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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s Application filed on 3/17/2025.
Claims 1-10 are pending for this examination.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's 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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/17/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 9-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 9, line 4, “devise” should be amended to read as --device--.
In claim 10, line 7, “devise” should be amended to read as --device--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 102
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.
Claims 1-6 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tada (US 2008/0140821), herein referred to as Tada ‘821.
Referring to claim 1, Tada ‘821 teaches an information processing apparatus (see Fig. 1, remote operation system 1000) comprising:
a memory (see Fig. 1, storage 153 (server-side storage)) that stores a correspondence relationship (see Fig 1, driver management table 164; see Fig. 3, see Paragraph 0112, where vendor ID, product ID, driver file names, remote utilization, etc. are information stored in driver management table) between identification information of a client device (see Fig. 1, client 101; see Fig. 7, steps 712 and 716 where active device and driver file and setting files are transmitted to information processing server 102) connected to the information processing apparatus (see Fig. 1, information processing server 102) through remote connection (see Fig. 7, step 708 where a remote connection start request is made) and identification information of a device server (see Paragraphs 0141-0144, where driver management table 164 is updated with all the information collected from the device information and drivers installed during remote connection) to which the information processing apparatus is connected (see Fig. 1, where client 101 connects to information processing server 102; see Paragraph 0085);
a processor (see Fig. 1, CPU 115) coupled to the memory (see Fig. 1, where CPU 115 is a part of information processing server 102 which connects to server side storage 153) and the processor configured to:
detect a disconnection of the remote connection (see Fig. 8, steps 806-807; also see Paragraph 0085, where remote connection state 501 is set to disconnected when remote connection is not made where the state is updated at the timing that the remote connection state of the client 101 is changed); and
disconnect a connection (see Fig. 8, steps 807-812, where a remote connection is session is disconnected / remoted / deleted) between the information processing apparatus connected through the remote connection from the client device (see Fig. 8, client 101; also see Fig. 1) that has requested the disconnection (see Fig. 8, step 807 where client 101 requests remote disconnection) and the device server (see Fig. 8, information processing server 102) based on the correspondence relationship when the disconnection is detected (see Fig. 8, steps 808-810, where driver information is saved, the driver state is reset to an introductory state, and the driver management table is updated to reflect the disconnection).
As to claim 2, Tada ‘821 teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor detects the disconnection based on any one of a log output by an operating system of the information processing apparatus, and an event notified by the operating system of the information processing apparatus (see Fig. 8, steps 806-807; also see Paragraph 0085, where remote connection state 501 is set to disconnected when remote connection is not made where the state is updated at the timing that the remote connection state of the client 101 is changed, i.e. an event of a disconnection request being made).
As to claim 3, Tada ‘821 teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor further configured to: detect a connection through the remote connection; and connect the information processing apparatus and the device server through the remote connection from the client device that has requested the connection based on the correspondence relationship when the connection is detected (see Fig. 7, steps 707-724, where client 101 makes a request to start remote connection with information processing server 102, installs drivers, updates management table, and starts sharing devices through remote connection).
As to claim 4, Tada ‘821 teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor regularly performs the detection of the disconnection (see Paragraph 0085, where remote connection state 501 is set to disconnected when remote connection is not made where the state is updated at the timing that the remote connection state of the client 101 is changed, i.e. the Tada ‘821 system is set to automatically detect the changes as they occur, which is a broader / more encompassing version of just regularly checking / polling which only occurs at set times).
As to claim 5, Tada ‘821 teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processor regularly performs the detection of the connection (see Paragraph 0085, where remote connection state 501 is set to disconnected when remote connection is not made where the state is updated at the timing that the remote connection state of the client 101 is changed, i.e. the Tada ‘821 system is set to automatically detect the changes as they occur, which is a broader / more encompassing version of just regularly checking / polling which only occurs at set times).
As to claim 6, Tada ‘821 teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory stores a correlation relationship between the device server and identification information of a device connected to the device server (see Fig 1, driver management table 164, and device B 154; see Fig. 3, see Paragraph 0112, where vendor ID, product ID, driver file names, remote utilization, etc. are information stored in driver management table for connected devices of the server 102).
As to claim 8, Tada ‘821 teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory stores a state indicating whether the information processing apparatus connected through the remote connection from the client device that has requested the connection and the device server have been disconnected (see Fig. 8, step 808), and the processor disconnects a connection between the information processing apparatus and the device server through the remote connection when the state indicates that the information processing apparatus connected through the remote connection from the client device that has requested the disconnection and the device server have not been disconnected (see Fig. 8, steps 806-812).
Referring to claim 9, Tada ‘821 teaches an information processing method (see Abstract) comprising:
detecting a disconnection of a remote connection (see Fig. 8, steps 806-807; also see Paragraph 0085, where remote connection state 501 is set to disconnected when remote connection is not made where the state is updated at the timing that the remote connection state of the client 101 is changed) which connects an information processing apparatus (see Fig. 1, information processing server 102) to a client devise (see Fig. 1, client 101); and
disconnecting a connection (see Fig. 8, steps 807-812, where a remote connection is session is disconnected / remoted / deleted) between the information processing apparatus that is connected through the remote connection from the client device (see Fig. 8, client 101; also see Fig. 1) that has requested the disconnection (see Fig. 8, step 807 where client 101 requests remote disconnection) and the device server (see Fig. 8, information processing server 102) based on a correspondence relationship (see Fig. 8, steps 808-810, where driver information is saved, the driver state is reset to an introductory state, and the driver management table is updated to reflect the disconnection; see Fig 1, driver management table 164; see Fig. 3, see Paragraph 0112), stored in a storage (see Fig. 1, storage 153 (server-side storage)), between identification information of the client device (see Fig. 1, client 101; see Fig. 7, steps 712 and 716 where active device and driver file and setting files are transmitted to information processing server 102) connected to the information processing apparatus (see Fig. 1, information processing server 102) through remote connection (see Fig. 7, step 708 where a remote connection start request is made) and identification information of a device server (see Paragraphs 0141-0144, where driver management table 164 is updated with all the information collected from the device information and drivers installed during remote connection) to which the information processing apparatus is connected (see Fig. 1, where client 101 connects to information processing server 102; see Paragraph 0085) when the disconnection is detected (see Fig. 8), by processing circuitry (see Fig. 1, CPU 115).
Referring to claim 10, Tada ‘821 teaches a non-transitory computer readable recording medium (see Fig. 1, memory 116 with information processing server control program 133, OS 131, device management agent program 144) having stored therein an information processing program that causes a processing circuitry (see Fig. 1, CPU 115) to execute a process (see Abstract), the process comprising:
detecting a disconnection of a remote connection (see Fig. 8, steps 806-807; also see Paragraph 0085, where remote connection state 501 is set to disconnected when remote connection is not made where the state is updated at the timing that the remote connection state of the client 101 is changed) which connects an information processing apparatus (see Fig. 1, information processing server 102) to a client devise (see Fig. 1, client 101); and
disconnecting a connection (see Fig. 8, steps 807-812, where a remote connection is session is disconnected / remoted / deleted) between the information processing apparatus connected through the remote connection from the client device (see Fig. 8, client 101; also see Fig. 1) that has requested the disconnection (see Fig. 8, step 807 where client 101 requests remote disconnection) and the device server (see Fig. 8, information processing server 102) based on a correspondence relationship (see Fig. 8, steps 808-810, where driver information is saved, the driver state is reset to an introductory state, and the driver management table is updated to reflect the disconnection; see Fig 1, driver management table 164; see Fig. 3, see Paragraph 0112), stored in a storage (see Fig. 1, storage 153 (server-side storage)), between identification information of the client device (see Fig. 1, client 101; see Fig. 7, steps 712 and 716 where active device and driver file and setting files are transmitted to information processing server 102) connected to the information processing apparatus (see Fig. 1, information processing server 102) through remote connection (see Fig. 7, step 708 where a remote connection start request is made) and identification information of a device server (see Paragraphs 0141-0144, where driver management table 164 is updated with all the information collected from the device information and drivers installed during remote connection) to which the information processing apparatus is connected (see Fig. 1, where client 101 connects to information processing server 102; see Paragraph 0085) when the disconnection is detected (see Fig. 8).
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tada ‘821 in view of Zawacki et al. (US 2011/0270991), herein referred to as Zawacki ‘991.
As to claim 7, Tada ‘821 does not specifically teach the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identification information of the client device and the identification information of the device server is an IP address.
Zawacki ‘991 teaches a method for establishing a remote connection / remote desktop (see Abstract) with an IP server (see Fig. 1, IP server 120) where an IP address is used to establish a remote desktop application with a server (see Paragraph 0015).
Tada ‘821 and Zawacki ‘991 apply as analogous prior arts as both pertain to the same field of endeavor of establishing remote connections between a computing device and a server / remote computing device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tada ‘821 system as set forth above to utilize an IP address as identification information used to establish a remote connection between a client device and a server, as taught by Zawacki ‘991, as IP addresses are unique identifiers used to determine and identify devices across a network connection, which is commonly used with Internet connections and network connections, hence a person of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to include IP addresses as one type of identifier used to identify and establish communications between two remote devices trying to form a remote connection.
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Snyder (US 9,735,859) teaches a system for establishing remote connection between communication devices across a network where databases are update with address and identifier information of devices within the network and detection of devices being disconnected is done.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL SUN whose telephone number is (571)270-1724. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-4pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jyoti Mehta can be reached on 571-270-3995. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL SUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2183
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