`
`UNITED S'l‘A’l"ES DEPARTMENT OF‘ COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`l’.0. B
`I450
`Alcxan '5, Virginia 223l3-I450
`www.usplo.gov
`
`90/010,416
`
`02/17/2009
`
`6108704
`
`2655-0 I 88
`
`I061
`
`42624
`
`7590
`
`05/ll/2010
`
`EXAMINER
`
`DAVIDSON BERQUIST JACKSON & GOWDEY LLP
`4300 WILSON BLVD., 7TH FLOOR
`ARLINGTON, VA 22203
`
`ART UN”
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`DATE MAILED: 05/l l/2010
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`PTO-90C (Rev. I0/03)
`
`Page 1 of 12
`
`Verizon Exhibit 1022
`
`
`
`; ‘ V UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`
`Commissioner for Patents
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria. VA 22313-1450
`wuwuusptugov
`
`DO NOT USE IN PALM PRINTER
`
`(THIRD PARTY REQUESTER'S CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS)
`
`Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafrnan LLP
`
`1279 Oakmead Parkway
`
`Sunnyvale. CA 940854040
`
`EX PARTE REEXAMINATION COMMUNICATION TRANSMITTAL FORM
`
`REEXAMINATION CONTROL NO. 90/010 416.
`
`PATENT NO. 6108704.
`
`ART UNIT 3992.
`
`Enclosed is a copy of the latest communication from the United States Patent and Trademark
`Office in the above identified ex parte reexamination proceeding (37 CFR 1.550(f)).
`
`Where this copy is supplied after the reply by requester, 37 CFR 1.535, or the time for filing a
`reply has passed, no submission on behalf of the ex panfe reexamination requester will be
`acknowledged or considered (37 CFR 1.550(9)).
`
`F’TOL—465 (Rev.O7-O4)
`
`Page 2 of 12
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Office Action in Ex Parte Reexamination
`
`Control No.
`90/010,416
`
`Examiner
`ALEXANDER J. KOSOWSKI
`
`Patent Under Reexamination
`6108704
`
`Art Unit
`8992
`
`
`
`
`
`
`-— The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
`
`bfi This action is made FINAL.
`afl Responsive to the communication(s) filed on 27 November 2009 .
`CE] A statement under 37 CFR 1530 has not been received from the patent owner.
`
`
`
`
`A shortened statutory period for response to this action is set to expire g month(s) from the mailing date of this letter.
`Failure to respond within the period for response will result in termination of the proceeding and issuance of an ex parte reexamination
`
`certificate in accordance with this action. 37 CFR 1.550(d). EXTENSIONS OF TIME ARE GOVERNED BY 37 CFR 1.550(c).
`If the period for response specified above is less than thirty (30) days. a response within the statutory minimum of thirty (30) days
`will be considered timely.
`
`
`
`
`
`Part I
`
`THE FOLLOWING ATTACHMENT(S) ARE PART OF THIS ACTION:
`
`
`
`3.
`
`I:]
`
`Interview Summary. PTO-474.
`
`4. E]
`
`.
`
`Claims 1-7 and 10-44 are subject to reexamination.
`
`Claims 8 and 9 are not subject to reexamination.
`
`.
`
`l:] The proposed drawing correction, filed on ____h_a_s been (7a)
`
`E] approved (7b)l:] disapproved.
`
`.
`
`I:I Acknowledgment is made of the priority claim under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).
`
`a)Cl All b)l:] Some’ c)E| None
`
`ofthe certified copies have
`
`1[] been received.
`
`2[:] not been received.
`
`SCI been filed in Application No. ________
`
`4[:] been filed in reexamination Control No. _________
`5[:] been received by the International Bureau in PCT application No. _
`' See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`9. El Since the proceeding appears to be in condition for issuance of an ex parte reexamination certificate except for formal
`matters, prosecution as to the merits is closed in accordance with the practice under Ex parte Quayle. 1935 CD.
`11, 453 DC. 213.
`
`
`
` 10. D Other:
`
` cc: Rcuester ifthird arty reuesler
`
`U 8. Patent and Trademark Office
`
`PTOL-466 (Rev. 08-06)
`
`Office Action in Ex Pane Reexamination
`
`Part of Paper No. 20100503
`
`Page 3 of 12
`
` 1. D Notice of References Cited by Examiner. PTO—892.
`
`IX]
`Information Disclosure Statement. PTO/SB/08.
` SUMMARY OF ACTION
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Claims 10 and 21 have been canceled in the present reexamination proceeding.
`
`Claims 1-7 11-20 22-42 are patentable and/or confirmed.
`
`
` Claims 43 and 44 are rejected.
`Claims
`are objected to.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Dlfliflfillflfigl The drawings, filed on
`
`are acceptable.
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 90/010,416
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 2
`
`DETAILED ACTION
`
`1)
`
`This Office action addresses claims 1-7 and 10-44 of United States Patent Number
`
`6,108,704 (Hutton et al), for which it has been determined in the Order Granting Ex Parte
`
`Reexamination (hereafter the “Order”) mailed 3/11/09 thata substantial new question of
`
`patentability was raised in the Request for Ex Parte reexamination filed on 2/17/09 (hereafter the
`
`“Request”). Claims 8-9 are not subject to reexamination. This is a final office action in response
`
`to the amendment filed 11/27/09. The rejection of claims 44-45 is maintained below. All other
`
`previously rejected claims are confirmed below.
`
`IDS
`
`2)
`
`With regard to the IDS’s filed 12/14/09, 12/21/09, 1/26/10, 2/24/10, 3/5/10, 5/6/10:
`
`Where the IDS citations are submitted but not described, the examiner is only responsible for
`cursorily reviewing the references. The initials of the examiner on the PTO-1449 indicate only
`that degree of review unless the reference is either applied against the claims, or discussed by the
`examiner as pertinent art of interest, in a subsequent office action. See Guidelines for
`Reexamination of Cases in View of In re Portola Packaging, Inc., 1 10 F.3d 786, 42 USPQ2d
`1295 (Fed. Cir. 1997), 64 FR at 15347, 1223 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office at 125 (response to comment
`6).
`
`Consideration by the examiner of the information submitted in an IDS means that the
`examiner will consider the documents in the same manner as other documents in Office search
`
`files are considered by the examiner while conducting a search of the prior art in a proper field of
`search. The initials of the examiner placed adjacent to the citations on the PTO-1449 or
`PTO/SB/08A and 08B or its equivalent mean that the information has been considered by the
`examiner to the extent noted above.
`
`Regarding IDS submissions MPEP 2256 recites the following: "Where patents,
`publications, and other such items of information are submitted by a party (patent owner or
`requester) in compliance with the requirements of the rules, the requisite degree of consideration
`to be given to such information will be normally limited by the degree to which the party filing
`the information citation has explained the content and relevance of the information."
`'
`Accordingly, the IDS submissions have been considered by the Examiner only with the
`scope required by MPEP 2256, unlessotherwise noted.
`
`In addition, that which are not either prior art patents or prior art printed publications
`have been crossed out so as not to appear reprinted on the front page of the patent.
`
`Page 4 of 12
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 90/010,416
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 3
`
`3)
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
`
`Claim Rejection Paragraphs
`
`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 —
`
`(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on
`sale in this country. more than one year prior to the date of application for patent in the United States.
`
`Issue 1
`
`4)
`
`Claims 43-44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. l02(b) as being unpatentable by NetBlOS
`
`(See claim mapping chart in Exhibit M, pages 36-40, incorporated by reference).
`
`Issue 2
`
`5)
`
`Examiner notes the following will represent the Etherphone references utilized for the
`
`rejection below (All considered a single reference as published together):
`
`“Zellweger ": An Overview of the Etherphone System and its Applications
`
`“Swirzehart”: Telephone Management in the Etherphone System
`
`“Terry Managing Stored Voice in the Etherphone System
`
`“Swineharl 2 System Support Requirements for Mu1ti—media Workstations
`
`"Zellweger 2 Active Paths through Multimedia Documents
`
`6)
`
`Claims 43-44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. l02(b) as being unpatentable by Etherphone
`
`(See claim mapping chart in Exhibit N, pages 33-35, incorporated by reference).
`
`Page 5 of 12
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 90/0| 0,416
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 4
`
`Response to Arguments
`
`7)
`
`In response to the amendment filed 1 1/27/09, some rejections are sustained as noted
`
`above, and others have been withdrawn. The following aspects of the current prosecution will be
`
`addressed as noted below:
`
`a)
`
`b)
`
`c)
`
`d)
`
`e)
`
`VocalChat are not printed publications.
`
`The 1.132 Declaration
`
`Objective evidence of non-obviousness
`
`Withdrawn rejections
`
`Maintained rejections
`
`a)
`
`The amendment submitted 1 1/27/09 includes arguments that the VocalChat references
`
`are not printed publications. The Patent Owner (PO) cites exhibit L of the Request (the
`
`‘
`
`declaration of Alon Cohen) as the only evidence provided by P0 that the VocalChat references ‘
`are printed publications. Examiner notes that the Alon Cohen declaration fails to comply with 37
`
`CFR. 1.68, including not setting forth in the body of the declaration that all statements made of
`
`the declarant's own knowledge are true and that all statements made on information and belief
`
`are believed to be true. Therefore, PO’s arguments questioning the declaration as well as
`
`whether printed publication status has been established as set forth under statute are found
`
`persuasive. Examiner therefore withdraws all rejections utilizing the VocalChat references.
`
`Page 6 of 12
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 90/010,416
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 5
`
`b)
`
`Examiner notes that all evidence presented has been considered in its entirety, including
`
`both PO’s arguments, including secondary considerations, as well as the 1.132 Declaration
`
`submitted by expert Ketan Mayer-Patel.
`
`c)
`
`Examiner notes that PO’s arguments regarding objective evidence of non-obviousness,
`
`including commercial success and failure of others have been considered, however no nexus has
`
`been provided between the claimed invention and the submitted evidence as required by at least
`
`MPEP 716.03. Therefore, this evidence is not found persuasive.
`
`d)
`
`In light of PO’s arguments and amendments filed 1 1/27/09, as well as the declaration of
`
`expert Mayer-Patel, examiner withdraws the rejections ofclairns 1-7 and 10-42. Examiner finds
`
`the presented arguments to be persuasive.
`
`With regard to the NetBios rejection, examiner agrees with declarant Mayer-Patel that
`
`bringing dynamic addressing into a NetBlOS type system would create anew set of obstacles
`
`that would need to be solved that are not obvious in view of the combination of references.
`
`In
`
`addition, examiner notes with regard to the rejection of claims 10-31 that NetBIOS does not
`
`necessarily inherently include a "user interface", and support for such inherency is not currently
`
`of record.
`
`In addition, amended claims 1 1 and 22 (previously 10 and 21) now require the
`
`dynamic addressing aspects of the other claims 1-7 and 10-42.
`
`With regard to the rejection under Etherphone, examiner agrees with declarant Mayer-
`
`Patel that the Etherphone system, which utilizes a datagram multicast, would not be obviously
`
`Page 7 of 12
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 90/010,416
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 6
`
`combinable with DHCP due to expiration of address leases.
`
`In addition, amended claims 11 and
`
`22 (previously 10 and 21) now require the dynamic aspects of the other claims 1-7 and 10-42.
`
`A reasons for confirmation for the claims discussed above will follow in a subsequent
`
`office action.
`
`e)
`
`The rejection of claims 43-44 are maintained in view of NetBIOS and Etherphone.
`
`With regard to the rejection under NetBIOS, maintained above:
`
`PO first argues with regard to claim 43 that NetBlOS does not teach that "the processes
`
`receive network protocol address ‘following connection to the computer network”. However,
`
`examiner notes that this limitation is not required by the current claim language. (ilaim 43
`
`recites "the network protocol address forwarded to the database following connection to the
`
`computer network". This claim language implies that the computer may already have an IP
`
`address before connecting to the server, Examiner notes, for example, that claim 1 requires
`
`receiving a network protocol address "following connection to the computer network“. Claim 43
`does not require this. Examiner notes that the original rejection was meant to be a rejection
`
`under 35 U.S.C. l02(b), despite PO attempting to argue a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which
`
`was not made. As claim 43 does not require the same DHCP aspects as other independent
`
`claims, the arguments are therefore not found persuasive in view of declarant Mayer-Patel.
`
`PO secondly argues with regard to claim 43 that NetBIOS does not teach a database
`
`“having a network protocol address for a selected plurality of processes having on-line status
`
`with respect to the computer network”. PO argues that having an “active name” is not
`
`synonymous with an “on-line status", and that an “active name" simply refers to "a name that has
`
`Page 8 of 12
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 90/010,416
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 7
`
`been registered and that has not yet been de-registered". However, examiner notes that PO's
`
`specification at col. 5 lines 39-44 teaches that the on-line status information may not always be
`
`current, and may be updated, for example, only every 24 hours based on operator configuration.
`
`Therefore, the database ofNetBIOS which contains active name information reads on claim 43,
`
`whether or not the user data is current.
`
`With regard to claim 44, PO argues similar to the dynamic addressing argument above
`
`with regard to claim 43. Claim 44 also recites “forwarding” rather than “receiving” an address.
`
`Therefore, referring to claim 44, see the response to arguments for claim 43 above.
`
`PO also argues with regard to claim 44 that NetBIOS does not teach that an "active
`
`name" is synonymous with "whether the second process is connected to the computer network".
`
`As noted by examiner above with regard to claim 43, NetBIOS teaches that a process has
`
`' connected and wasactive. There is no claim requirement that the database be current based on
`
`PO’s specification.
`
`With regard to the rejection under Etherphone, maintained above:
`
`PO argues with regard to claim 43 that Figure 3 of Zellewegerl “does not show that the
`
`cited database includes the claimed "network protocol address".
`
`In response, examiner notes that
`
`Figure 3 references a user interface aspect of Etherphone. This is separate from the hardware
`
`workings of the system. Swinehartl , page 4, clearly teaches that the “voice control server
`
`manages voice switching by sending to each Etherphone or service the network addresses of the
`
`other participants". Therefore, the database contains the required network protocol addresses.
`
`Page 9 of 12
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 90/010,416
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`4
`
`Page 8
`
`Next, PO argues that Etherphone does not disclose the required dynamic addressing. In
`
`response, examiner notes the response to NetB1OS above. Dynamic addressing is not required in
`
`the claim language of claim 43.
`
`With regard to claim 44, PO argues that no citation has been made regarding a query \
`
`being sent to an address server. Examiner notes that given a broadest reasonable interpretation,
`
`an address server is merely a server that can hold a database of addresses. The term does not
`
`specifically require the server to perform DHCP functionality. Zellewegerl, page 3, clearly
`
`teaches the use of remote procedure calls to a server for establishing connections between two
`
`parties, which reads on the claimed limitation.
`
`Therefore, the current arguments regarding claims 43-44 are not persuasive, and the
`
`rejections above are maintained.
`
`Page 10 of 12
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 90/010,416
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`v
`
`Page 9
`
`THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL.
`
`Conclusion
`
`Extensions of time under 37 CFR 1.l36(a) do not apply in reexamination
`proceedings. The provisions of 37 CFR l.l36 apply only to "an applicant" and not to parties in a
`
`reexamination proceeding. Further, in 35 U.S.C. 305 and in 37 CFR l.550(a), it is required that
`
`reexamination proceedings "will be conducted with special dispatch within the Office."
`
`Extensions of time in reexamination proceedings are provided for in 37 CFR
`
`l.550(c). A request for extension of time must be filed on or before the day on which a response
`
`to this action is due, and it must be accompanied by the petition fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(g).
`
`The mere filing of a request will not effect any extension of time. An extension of time will be
`
`granted only for sufficient cause, and for a reasonable time specified.
`
`The filing of a timely first response to this final rejections will be construed as including a
`request to extend the shortened statutory period for an additional month, which will be granted
`
`even if previous extensions have been granted.
`
`In no event however, will the statutory period for
`
`response expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of the final action. See MPEP §
`
`2265.
`
`All correspondence relating to this ex parte reexamination proceeding should be directed
`
`as follows:
`
`By U.S. Postal Service Mail to:
`
`Mail Stop Ex Parte Reexam
`
`Page 11 of 12
`
`
`
`Page 10
`
`Application/Control Number: 90/010,416
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`ATTN: Central Reexamination Unit
`Commissioner for Patents
`P.O. Box 1450
`
`Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
`
`By FAX to:
`
`(571)273-9900
`Central Reexamination Unit
`
`By hand to:
`
`Customer Service Window
`
`Randolph Building
`401 Dulany St.
`Alexandria, VA 22314
`
`By EFS-Web:
`
`Registered users of EFS-Web may alternatively submit such correspondence via the
`electronic filing system EFS-Web, at
`
`httpsz//sgortal.uspto.gov/authenticate/authenticateuserlocalepfhtml
`
`EFS-Web offers the benefit of quick submission to the particular area of the Office that
`needs to act on the correspondence. Also, EFS-Web submissions are “soft scanned” (i.e.,
`electronically uploaded) directly into the official file for the reexamination proceeding, which
`offers parties the opportunity to review the content of their submissions after the “soft scanning’
`process is complete.
`
`3
`
`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
`
`Reexamination Legal Advisor or Examiner, or as to the status of this proceeding, should be
`
`directed to the Central Reexamination Unit at telephone number (571) 272-7705.
`
`/AlexanderJ Kosowski/
`
`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992
`
`. £
`58 I(
`
`Page 12 of 12