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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on 23 December 2024. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the Japanese application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 6 recite “identifies at least one journal volume included in the identified consistency group” and “expanding a capacity of the at least one journal volume in bulk.” The claimed invention covers an embodiment where the identified consistency group includes journal volumes A, B, and C.
The disclosure describes a prior art where, when usage rate of a single journal volume is high, e.g., journal volume A, only that journal volume with high usage rate has a capacity expanded. Applicant’s invention, however, is that because the plurality of journal volumes are associated with a single copy task, that it is likely that journal volume B and C’s usage rates will also become high, and that rather by expanding them on a one-by-one basis once their rates do in fact become high, overall system operation may be maintained by expanding the capacity of all the journal volume, all at once, “in bulk.” Specification ¶¶ [0002]-[0009]. That is, when faced with the consistency group including journal volumes A, B, and C, where journal volume A’s usage rate is high, the prior art increases A’s capacity, while the instant invention increases A, B, and C’s capacity. Specification ¶ [0062] (“expands the capacities of all journal volumes in bulk”).
What is claimed, and is not described, is an embodiment where, when journal volume A’s usage rate is high, that journal volume A’s and B’s capacities are expanded, but journal volume C’s is not. There is nothing in the disclosure to suggest what effect there will be on the operation of the system, and given that the invention’s purpose is to “minimize adverse effects on operation,” Specification ¶ [0062], one of ordinary skill in the art would not have understood Applicant to have been in possession of this claimed embodiment.
Similar issues are presented with claims 5 and 10.
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 1-10 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. Claims 1 and 6 recite “identifies at least one journal volume included in the identified consistency group” and “expanding a capacity of the at least one journal volume in bulk.” There is no way to read “at least one journal volume” and “in bulk” together sensibly such that the metes and bounds of each term are unclear.
The specification describes the prior art wherein, when copying data from a data volume of a first storage system to storage nodes of a second storage system, capacity of a single journal volume within a journal group of a consistency group is expanded in keeping with operating status. Specification ¶¶ [0001]-[0007]. Applicant describes their invention as minimizing the downtime of sequentially expanding capacity of journal volumes within the journal group by expanding capacity in bulk. Specification ¶ [0062].
The claims cover an embodiment where the “the at least one journal volume” consists of a single journal volume. It is unclear what it means to expand a capacity of a single journal volume “in bulk.”
Similar issues are presented with claims 5 and 10.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
“In bulk” expansion of journal volumes is novel and non-obvious. Applicant’s invention is based on the observation that, when copies of data from the same database are transmitted to respective data volumes of respective nodes, a consistency group includes each of these nodes, such that each node requires a journal volume, and that when the usage rate of a single journal volume is high, they are all likely to be high, and that the “in bulk” expansion of journal volumes improves performance by avoiding the stop-and-start processing of copying. Specification ¶¶ [0004]-[0009]. However, this is achieved by identifying all the journal volumes included in the identified consistency group, and expanding the capacity of all of the journal volumes in bulk. Specification ¶ [0062]. Similarly, the advantages of reducing capacity of claims 5 and 10 is achieved by doing so for all volumes, not merely at least one volume.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM SPIELER whose telephone number is (571)270-3883. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 11-3.
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, Ann Lo can be reached at 571-272-9767. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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WILLIAM SPIELER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2159
/WILLIAM SPIELER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2159
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