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 . Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 08/07/2025 and 03/30/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 8 recites “send the first data”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation. Claims 9-12 are rejected for their dependency on claim 8.
Claim 12 recites “The system of claim 11, of claim wherein the secondary server comprises”. The emphasized portion appears to be a typographical error but makes it unclear if this is a multiple dependency claim. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter because the claims do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter.
System claim 1 recites “a front-end apparatus”, “a primary server”, and “a secondary server”. However, the claim does not recite hardware for these elements until individual claims discuss each in claims 2, 5 & 6, respectively. The processors recited in these claims should all be moved into claim 1. Claims 2-6 are rejected for their dependency.
System claim 7 recites “a front-end apparatus”, “a primary server”, and “a secondary server”. However, the claim does not recite hardware for these elements until individual claims discuss each in claims 8, 11 & 12, respectively. The processors recited in these claims should all be moved into claim 7. Claims 8-13 are rejected for their dependency.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to the judicial exception of an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1
The claims recite systems and a method (claims 1, 7 & 14). These claims fall within at least one of the four categories of patentable subject matter.
Step 2A Prong One
Independent claim 1 recites “return a write result in response to determining that the data is successfully written into the primary server; record the data as recorded data; and determine the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data.”
Independent claim 7 recites “return a write result in response to determining that the data is successfully stored; when a first preset transfer rule is met, determine first to-be-transferred data stored in the front-end apparatus; and when a preset synchronization rule is met, determine the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data”.
Independent claim 14 recites “returning, by the front-end apparatus, a write result after determining that data corresponding to the write request is successfully written into a primary server; recording, by the front-end apparatus, the data into the primary server as recorded data; and determining, by the front-end apparatus, to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data”.
These steps perform analysis on information which has been received, which are acts of evaluating information that can be practically performed in the human mind or by a human using pen and paper. Thus, these steps are an abstract idea in the “mental process” grouping.
Step 2A Prong Two
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the combination of additional elements includes only generic computer elements which do not add a meaningful limitation to the abstract idea because they amount to simply implementing the abstract idea on a computer.
These additional elements include: a front-end apparatus, a primary server configured to store data, a secondary server configured to store to-be-synchronized data, storage processor, first cache, first memory, first processor, second cache, second memory, second processor, and third cache.
Independent claim 1 recites: “wherein the front-end apparatus is configured to: receive a write request indicating the data; and send the to-be-synchronized data to the secondary server”.
Independent claim 7 recites: “wherein the front-end apparatus is configured to: receive a write request indicating the data; send the first to-be-transferred data to the primary server, and record the first to-be-transferred data as recorded data; and send the to-be-synchronized data to the secondary server.”
Independent claim 14 recites: “receiving, by a front-end apparatus, a write request; sending, by the front-end apparatus, the to-be-synchronized data to a secondary server; storing, by the primary server, the data; and storing, by the secondary server, the to-be-synchronized data.”
The claim recites limitations which amount to insignificant extra-solution activity of data gathering, such as receiving input, transmitting output, and updating/modifying data.
Claims 2-6, 8-13 & 15-20 recite limitations that are further extensions of the identified insignificant extra-solution activity.
Step 2B
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the recitations of generic computer components performing generic computer functions at a high level of generality do not meaningfully limit the claim. Further, the insignificant extra-solution activities of data gathering and presentation do not meaningfully limit the claim.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chaudhry & Yousaf’s “Architectural Assessment of NoSQL and NewSQL Systems” (published in 2020, hereinafter “Chaudhry”).
Chaudhry teaches:
1. A system, comprising:
a front-end apparatus [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
a primary server configured to store data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
a secondary server configured to store to-be-synchronized data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary],
wherein the front-end apparatus is configured to:
receive a write request indicating the data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
return a write result in response to determining that the data is successfully written into the primary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
record the data as recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
determine the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
send the to-be-synchronized data to the secondary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the front-end apparatus comprises a storage processor configured to:
receive the data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
record the data as recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
determine the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
send the to-be-synchronized data to the secondary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the storage processor is further configured to:
receive, after sending the to-be-synchronized data to the secondary server, a write success message from the secondary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary]; and
delete the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
4. The system of claim 2, wherein the front-end apparatus further comprises an application configured to:
receive the write request [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
send the data to the primary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
return the write result after receiving a first write success message from the primary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
send the data to the storage processor [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client].
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the primary server comprises:
a first cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
a first memory [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
a first processor configured to [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]:
send, after receiving the data that from the application and successfully storing the data in the first cache, the first write success message to the application [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client]; and
when a first preset transfer rule is met, obtain first to-be-transferred data from the first cache, and send the first to-be-transferred data to the first memory for storage [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary].
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the secondary server comprises:
a second cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary];
a second memory [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary]; and
a second processor configured to [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary]:
send, after receiving the to-be-synchronized data from the storage processor and successfully storing the to-be-synchronized data in the second cache, a second write success message to the storage processor [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary]; and
when a second preset transfer rule is met, obtain second to-be-transferred data from the second cache, and send the second to-be-transferred data to the second memory for storage [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
7. A system comprising:
a front-end apparatus [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
a primary server configured to store data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
a secondary server configured to store to-be-synchronized data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary],
wherein the front-end apparatus is configured to:
receive a write request indicating the data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
return a write result in response to determining that the data is successfully stored [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
when a first preset transfer rule is met, determine first to-be-transferred data stored in the front-end apparatus [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client], send the first to-be-transferred data to the primary server, and record the first to-be-transferred data as recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
when a preset synchronization rule is met, determine the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary], and send the to-be-synchronized data to the secondary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the front-end apparatus comprises:
a first cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
a storage processor [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client]; and
an application configured to [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client]:
receive the write request [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
send the first data to the first cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client]; and
return the write result after receiving a first write success message from the first cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client].
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first cache is configured to:
return, after successfully storing the data from the application, the first write success message to the application [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
when the first preset transfer rule is met, determine the first to-be-transferred data stored in the first cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client], and send the first to-be-transferred data to the primary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
send, after receiving a second write success message from the primary server, the first to-be-transferred data to the storage processor [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary].
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the storage processor is configured to:
receive and record the first to-be-transferred data to the primary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
determine, when the preset synchronization rule is met, the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary], and send the to-be-synchronized data to the secondary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the primary server comprises:
a second cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
a first memory [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
a first processor configured to:
send, after receiving the first to-be-transferred data and successfully storing the first to-be-transferred data in the second cache, a write success message to the first cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
when a second preset transfer rule is met, obtain second to-be-transferred data from the first to-be-transferred data stored in the second cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary], and send the second to-be-transferred data to the first memory for storage [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
12. The system of claim 11, of claim wherein the secondary server comprises:
a third cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary];
a second memory [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary]; and
a second processor configured to [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary]:
send, after receiving the to-be-synchronized data from the storage processor and successfully storing the to-be-synchronized data in the third cache, a write success message to the storage processor [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary]; and
when a third preset transfer rule is met, obtain third to-be-transferred data from the to-be-synchronized data stored in the third cache, and send the third to-be-transferred data to the second memory for storage [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
13. The system of claim 8, wherein the storage processor is configured to:
receive, after sending the to-be-synchronized data to the secondary server, a second write success message from the secondary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary]; and
delete the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
14. A method comprising:
receiving, by a front-end apparatus, a write request [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
returning, by the front-end apparatus, a write result after determining that data corresponding to the write request is successfully written into a primary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
recording, by the front-end apparatus, the data into the primary server as recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
determining, by the front-end apparatus, to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
sending, by the front-end apparatus, the to-be-synchronized data to a secondary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary];
storing, by the primary server, the data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
storing, by the secondary server, the to-be-synchronized data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
receiving, by an application of the front-end apparatus, the write request [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client];
sending, by the application, the data to the primary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
returning, by the application, the write result after receiving a write success message from the primary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
sending, by the application, the data to a storage processor of the front-end apparatus [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Application/Client].
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
receiving, by the storage processor, and record the data that is successfully written into the primary server each time [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
determining, by the storage processor, the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
sending, by the storage processor, the to-be-synchronized data to the secondary server the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:
sending, by a first processor of the primary server, a first write success message to the application after receiving the data from the application and successfully storing the data in a first cache of the primary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary];
obtaining, by the first processor, first to-be-transferred data from the first cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary]; and
sending, by the first processor, the first to-be-transferred data to a first memory of the primary server for storage [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Primary].
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising sending, by a second processor of the secondary server, a second write success message to the storage processor after receiving the to-be-synchronized data from the storage processor and successfully storing the to-be-synchronized data in a second cache of the secondary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising obtaining, by the second processor, second to-be-transferred data from the second cache [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary], and
sending, by the second processor, the second to-be-transferred data to a second memory of the secondary server for storage [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:
receiving, by the storage processor, the second write success message from the secondary server [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary]; and
deleting, by the storage processor, the to-be-synchronized data from the recorded data [Chaudhry, pages 906-907, Fig. 15, Secondary].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Scott A. Waldron whose telephone number is (571)272-5898. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/Scott A. Waldron/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2156
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