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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/17/2025 and 6/25/2026 was filed before the mailing date of the first office action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 8-10, 13, 15-17 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shakarian et al (US 2020/0327237).
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15, Shakarian et al discloses a method for utilizing a language model to mitigate a network vulnerability, a system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, and One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising [0041-0042, fig 1]:
deploying the language model that is configured to respond to inputs from network operators associated with a network [0164, fig 10] (large language processing is performed such that data is scanned to identify CPE identifiers and first and second data sets (i.e., input) is received and scanned);
receiving, by the language model, a first input from a network operator indicating a description of the network vulnerability [0161, 0164, fig 10] (a first data set defining vulnerabilities may be collected);
receiving, by the language model, a second input including information associated with a configuration of the network [0161, 0164, fig 10] (a second data set defining configuration information is accessed and received);
based at least in part on the description of the network vulnerability and the information associated with the configuration of the network, determining, by the language model, a series of actions to execute to mitigate the network vulnerability [0166, 0023] (selection of an optimal set of software changes is deployed to minimize risk);
outputting, by the language model, the series of actions to execute to the network operator [0129] ( a threat based triage is performed).
Regarding claims 2, 9, and 16, Shakarian et al discloses all the limitations of independent claims 1, 8 and 15. Shakarian et al further discloses wherein determining the series of actions to execute further comprises: determining network devices that are affected by the network vulnerability; and determining one or more actions to execute on each of the network devices to mitigate the network vulnerability [0110-0111, 0149-0156] (the system is configured to solve an optimization problem such that overall threat is decreased).
Regarding claims 3, 10, and 17, Shakarian et al discloses all the limitations of independent claims 1, 8 and 15. Shakarian et al further discloses wherein the language model is a first language model and wherein determining the series of executable actions further comprises: determining a high-level configuration change to the configuration of the network that will mitigate the network vulnerability; determining a natural language description of a series of subtasks for implementing the high-level configuration change; inputting the natural language description of each subtask into a second language model; and receiving from the second language model an action to execute for each subtask, wherein each action to execute includes a network device on which to execute the action [0110-0111, 0149-0156] (optimization logic is applied in a systematic matter such that changes can be applied given software constraints).
Regarding claims 6, 13, and 19, Shakarian et al discloses all the limitations of independent claims 1, 8 and 15. Shakarian et al further discloses wherein the network vulnerability is Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) report received from a CVE database [0025-0033].
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) 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shakarian et al (US 2020/0327237) in view of Lal et al (US 2024/0414190).
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18, Shakarian et al discloses all the limitations of independent claims 1, 8 and 15. Lal et al further discloses wherein the natural language description of a subtask is input into the second language model multiple times and further comprising: generating, by the second language model, multiple possible actions to execute to implement the subtask; inputting a description of each of the multiple possible actions to execute into a decision tree model; and receiving from the decision tree model an optimal action to execute for the subtask [0178-0181] (when the network is being protected by an appliance a decision tree may be implemented to help to decide the countermeasures to enforce).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at to create the invention as claimed for the following reasons. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Shakarian et al by utilizing decision trees for optimization, for the purpose of implementing optimization of the tasks, based upon the beneficial teachings provided by Lal et al, see for example [0178-0181]. These modifications would result in ease of use and increased security, both of which are obvious benefits to the skilled artisan. Additionally, the cited references are in the field of computer security, as is the current application, and thus, are in analogous arts.
Regarding claims 5 and 12, Shakarian et al discloses all the limitations of independent claims 1, 8 and 15. Lal et al further discloses wherein the series of actions to execute include a series of Command Line Interface (CLI) commands for input to one or more network devices [0032].
The motivation to combine is the same as disclosed in point (13) above.
Regarding claims 7, 14 and 20, Shakarian et al discloses all the limitations of independent claims 1, 8 and 15. Lal et al further discloses wherein the language model is a large language model (LLM) [0025].
The motivation to combine is the same as disclosed in point (13) above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Radford et al (US 12,682,079): discloses a system allows users to submit security vulnerabilities for systems associated with websites. The system receives, a request for submission of a security vulnerability associated with a website. The request is received via a widget displayed on a webpage of a website. A user interface is configured for receiving details of the security vulnerability. The user interface is sent for display in association with the website. Information describing the security vulnerability is received via the user interface. The information comprises a natural language description of the security vulnerability. A vulnerability tracking system is selected from a plurality of vulnerability tracking systems based on the details of the security vulnerability. The information describing the security vulnerability is routed via a secure channel to the vulnerability tracking system selected.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENDALL DOLLY whose telephone number is (571)270-1948. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-3pm (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, Shewaye Gelagay can be reached at (571)272-4219. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENDALL DOLLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2436
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