`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
`www .uspto.gov
`
`APPLICATION NO.
`
`FILING DATE
`
`FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
`
`ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.
`
`CONFIRMATION NO.
`
`95/001,856
`
`12/16/2011
`
`7921211
`
`43614.102
`
`4051
`
`22852
`7590
`01/09/2015
`FINNEGAN, HENDERSON, FARABOW, GARRETT & DUNNER
`LLP
`901 NEW YORK A VENUE, NW
`WASHINGTON, DC 20001-4413
`
`EXAMINER
`
`FOSTER, ROLAND G
`
`ART UNIT
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`3992
`
`MAIL DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`01109/2015
`
`PAPER
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
`
`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`VirnetX Exhibit 2001
`Black Swamp IP, LLC v. VirnetX Inc.
`IPR2016-00957
`
`Page 1 of 74
`
`
`
`Transmittal of Communication to
`Third Party Requester
`Inter Partes Reexamination
`
`Control No.
`
`95/001,856
`Examiner
`
`Patent Under Reexamination
`
`7921211
`Art Unit
`
`3992
`-- The MAILING DATE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address. --
`
`ROLAND FOSTER
`
`'I --(THIRD PARTY REQUESTER'S CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS) ----,1
`
`HAYNES AND BOONE, LLP
`IP SECTION
`2323 VICTORY AVENUE, SUITE 700
`DALLAS, TX 75219
`
`Enclosed is a copy of the latest communication from the United States Patent and Trademark Office
`in the above-identified reexamination prceeding. 37 CFR 1.903.
`
`Prior to the filing of a Notice of Appeal, each time the patent owner responds to this communication,
`the third party requester of the inter partes reexamination may once file written comments within a
`period of 30 days from the date of service of the patent owner's response. This 30-day time period is
`statutory (35 U.S. C. 314(b)(2)), and, as such, it cannot be extended. See also 37 CFR 1.947.
`
`If an ex parte reexamination has been merged with the inter partes reexamination, no responsive
`submission by any ex parte third party requester is permitted.
`
`All correspondence relating to this inter partes reexamination proceeding should be directed to the
`Central Reexamination Unit at the mail, FAX, or hand-carry addresses given at the end of the
`communication enclosed with this transmittal.
`
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`PTOL-2070 (Rev. 07·04)
`
`Paper No. 20141231
`
`Page 2 of 74
`
`
`
`Right of Appeal Notice
`(37 CFR 1.953)
`
`Control No.
`
`95/001,856
`Examiner
`
`Patent Under Reexamination
`
`7921211
`Art Unit
`
`3992
`ROLAND FOSTER
`-- The MAILING DATE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address. --
`
`Responsive to the communication(s) filed by:
`Patent Owner on 30 July, 2014
`Third Party(ies) on 29 August, 2014
`
`Patent owner and/or third party requester(s) may file a notice of appeal with respect to any adverse decision
`with payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR 41.20(b)(1) within one-month or thirty-days (whichever is
`longer). See MPEP 2671. In addition, a party may file a notice of cross appeal and pay the 37 CFR
`41.20(b)(1) fee within fourteen days of service of an opposing party's timely filed notice of appeal. See
`MPEP 2672.
`
`All correspondence relating to this inter partes reexamination proceeding should be directed to the Central
`Reexamination Unit at the mail, FAX, or hand-carry addresses given at the end of this Office action.
`
`If no party timely files a notice of appeal, prosecution on the merits of this reexamination proceeding will be
`concluded, and the Director of the USPTO will proceed to issue and publish a certificate under 37 CFR 1.997 in
`accordance with this Office action.
`
`The proposed amendment filed __
`
`D will be entered D will not be entered*
`
`*Reasons for non-entry are given in the body of this notice.
`
`1 a. [8J Claims 36-50 are subject to reexamination.
`1 b. [8J Claims 1-35 are not subject to reexamination.
`2. D Claims __ have been cancelled.
`3. D Claims __ are confirmed. [Unamended patent claims].
`4. D Claims __ are patentable. [Amended or new claims].
`[8J Claims 36-50 are rejected.
`5.
`6. D Claims __ are objected to.
`7. D The drawings filed on __ D are acceptable. D are not acceptable.
`8. D The drawing correction request filed on
`is D approved. D disapproved.
`9. D Acknowledgment is made of the claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) or (f). The certified copy
`has:
`D been received. D not been received. D been filed in Application/Control No. __ .
`10. D Other __
`
`Attachments
`1. D Notice of References Cited by Examiner, PT0-892
`[8J Information Disclosure Citation, PTO/SB/08
`2.
`3. o __
`
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`PTOL-2066 (08·06)
`
`Right of Appeal Notice {37 CFR 1.953)
`
`Part of Paper No. 20141231
`
`Page 3 of 74
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 2
`
`RIGHT OF APPEAL NOTICE
`
`1.
`
`Procedural History
`
`Prosecution after the ACP
`
`This Office action addresses claims 36-60 of United States Patent No. 7,921,211 B2 (the
`
`"Larson" patent), for which reexamination was granted in the Order Granting Inter Partes
`
`Reexamination (hereafter the "Order"), mailed March 5, 2012, in response to a Request for Inter
`
`Partes Reexamination, filed December 16, 2011 (the "Request").
`
`An Action Closing Prosecution ("ACP") mailed May 30,2014, rejected original claims 1-
`
`10 and 12-16 of the Larson patent. Original claim 11 was found patentable. New claims 17-60
`
`were rejected. The patent owner also filed a supplemental declaration of Angelos D. Keromytis,
`
`Ph.D., on January 2, 2013 (the "Supplemental Keromytis Declaration"), which is entered into the
`
`record and considered in the ACP in accordance with the Petition Decision mailed December 12,
`
`2013.
`
`The patent owner responded by filing arguments and associated evidence on July 30,
`
`2014 (the "Response").
`
`The third party requester responded by filing Comments on the Patent Owner's Response
`
`on August 29, 2014 (the "Comments").
`
`Prosecution of Claims 1-35 Is Terminated.
`
`In the decision mailed September 17, 2014, the Office determined that the estoppel
`
`provisions of pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 317(b) apply to any rejection of claims 1-35 in this proceeding.
`
`Accordingly, the estoppel provisions ofpre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 317(b) apply to all rejections of
`
`Page 4 of 74
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`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 3
`
`claims 1-35 of the Larson patent which were applied in the May 30, 2014 Action Closing
`
`Prosecution. Pursuant to the September 17, 2014 decision, these rejections will not be further
`
`maintained by the Office, and have been withdrawn. No further rejection of claims 1-35 of the
`
`Larson patent will be made in the present reexamination proceeding.
`
`Because all rejections of claims 1-35 of the Larson patent have been withdrawn pursuant
`
`to the estoppel provisions of pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 317(b), the withdrawal of these rejections is not
`
`a "non-adoption of' or a "determination not to make" these rejections within the meaning of 37
`
`CPR 41.61. Any notice of appeal or cross-appeal of the present determination not to make or
`
`maintain a rejection of claims 1-35 of the Larson patent will be held to be defective.
`
`Prosecution ofthe Remaining Claims 36-60 Will Continue.
`
`The Larson patent under reexamination (the '211 patent) was the subject of a Federal
`
`Circuit decision holding the claims were not proved invalid. See Virnetx, Inc. v. Cisco Systems,
`
`Inc., 767 F.3d 1308 (Fed. Circ. 2014). The parties in that litigation are parties to this
`
`proceeding. However, the VimetX decision remanded the case back to the district court for
`
`further proceedings on other grounds. The patent owner has not provided any evidence that this
`
`decision is a final decision that the subject claims are not invalid. MPEP § 2686.04.IV.
`
`Prosecution of the remaining claims 36-60 will continue.
`
`Submissions of Evidence after the Action Closing Prosecution
`
`The patent owner also filed a declaration of Fabian Monrose, Ph.D., on July 30, 2014 (the
`
`"Monrose Declaration"). The Patent Owner asserts the ACP "advances new grounds of rejection
`
`Page 5 of 74
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 4
`
`and new positions," thus satisfying the 37 C.P.R.§ 1.116(e) requirement to make "a showing of
`
`good and sufficient reasons" why the Monrose Declaration is "necessary and was not earlier
`
`presented." (Response at 1). However, the ACP does not advance any new grounds of rejection
`
`nor adopt new positions, see the Petition Decision mailed September 26, 2014. Thus, the Patent
`
`Owner's asserted basis for the "showing of good and sufficient reasons" to enter the Monrose
`
`Declaration is incorrect. Accordingly, no showing has been made and the Monrose Declaration
`
`will not be entered.
`
`After an ACP in an inter partes reexamination, the patent owner may once file comments
`
`limited to the issues raised in the Office action closing prosecution. 37 CPR§ 1.951 (a). Thus,
`
`the patent owner may not file additional comments showing why the Monrose Declaration
`
`should be entered.
`
`The Monrose Declaration is not of record in this proceeding. However, the instant Patent
`
`Owner's arguments appear to mirror the position discussed in the Monrose Declaration. As
`
`discussed below, these Patent Owner's arguments do not persuade the Examiner to withdraw any
`
`rejection.
`
`Decisions Unfavorable to Patentability
`2.
`2.A. Prior Art
`
`A total of four principal references, in certain combinations, have been asserted in the
`
`Request as providing teachings relevant to the claims of the Larson patent.
`
`A total of four principal references, in certain combinations, have been asserted in the
`
`Request as providing teachings relevant to the claims of the Larson patent.
`
`Page 6 of 74
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 5
`
`Rolf Lendenmann, Understanding OSF DCE 1.1 for AIX and OS/2, IBM International Technical
`Support Organization (Oct. 1995) ("Lendenmann"), attached as Exhibit D-1 (parts 1 and 2) to
`the Request.
`
`U.S. Patent No. 6,119,234 ("Aziz"), attached as Exhibit D-2 to the Request.
`
`Takahiro Kiuchi and Shigekoto Kaihara, "C-HTTP-The Development of a Secure, Closed HTTP(cid:173)
`based Network on the Internet," Proceedings of the Symposium on Network and Distributed
`System Security, 1996 ("Kiuchi"), attached as Exhibit D-16 to the Request.
`
`Bryan Pfaffenberger, Netscape Navigator 3.0: Surfing the Web and Exploring the Internet,
`Academic Press (1996) ("Pfaffenberger"), attached as Exhibit D-17 to the Request.
`
`The request also asserts additional references to explain features in the principal
`
`references or as secondary teaching references.
`
`Information Sciences Institute, "Transmission Control Protocol," DARPA Internet Program
`Protocol Specification Request for Comments 793 (Sept. 1981) ("RFC 793"), attached as Exhibit
`D-3.
`
`D. Eastlake and C. Kaufman, Network Working Group, Information Sciences Institute, "Domain
`Name System Security Extensions," Request for Comments 2065 (Jan. 1997) ("RFC 2065"),
`attached as Exhibit D-4.
`
`U.S. Patent No. 5,898,830 ("Wesinger"), attached as Exhibit D-5 to the Request.
`
`U.S. Patent No. 5,689,641 ("Ludwig"), attached as Exhibit D-6 to the Request.
`
`David M. Martin, "A Framework for Local Anonymity in the Internet," Technical Report.
`Boston University, Boston, MA, USA (Feb. 21, 1998) ("Martin"), attached as Exhibit D-7.
`
`Bruce Schneier, Applied Cryptography (1996) ("Schneier"), attached as Exhibit D-8.
`
`Lawton, George, "New top-level domains promise descriptive names," Sunworld Online,
`September 1996 ("Lawton"), attached as Exhibit D-9.
`
`Gaspoz, Jean-Paul, "VPN on DCE: From Reference Configuration to Implementation," Bringing
`Telecommunication Services to the People- IS&N '95, Third International Conference on
`Intelligence in Broadband Services and Networks, October 1995 Proceedings ("Gaspoz"),
`attached as Exhibit D-10.
`
`U.S. Patent No. 6,269,099 ("Borella"), attached as Exhibit D-11 to the Request.
`
`Page 7 of 74
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 6
`
`U.S. Patent No. 6,560,634 ("Broadhurst"), attached as Exhibit D-12 to the Request.
`
`Mark Pallen, "The World Wide Web," British Medical Journal, vol. 311 at 1554 (Dec. 9, 1995)
`("Pallen"), attached as Exhibit D-13.
`
`R.L. Rivest et al., "A Method for Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public-Key Cryptosystems,"
`Communications of the ACM, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 120-126 (Feb. 1978) ("Rivest"), attached as
`Exhibit D-14.
`
`U.S. Patent No. 4,952,930 ("Franaszek"), attached as Exhibit D-15 to the Request.
`
`Frederic Gittler et al., "The DCE Security Service," Hewlett-Packard Journal, pp. 41-48, (Dec.
`1995) ("Gittler"), attached as Exhibit D-18 .
`
`2.B.
`
`Summary Regarding Those Proposed Rejections Adopted and Not Adopted
`by the Examiner
`
`As will be explained in Section 3 (Response to Arguments), the rejections identified in
`
`Issues 1, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 20 and 21 (Request, pp. 31-34) remain adopted in regard to claims 36-
`
`60. The remaining claim rejections are withdrawn. The withdraw of rejections related to claims
`
`1-35 is not a "non-adoption of' or a "determination not to make" these rejections within the
`
`meaning of 37 CPR 41.61. See Section 1 for further details.
`
`2.C.
`
`Entitlement to the Benefit of an Earlier Filing Date
`
`Requestor asserts that the instant claims are not entitled to the earliest filing date of
`
`October 30, 1998, the filing date of the oldest parent, provisional application. None of the
`
`principal references asserted by the third party requester appear to be intervening references nor
`
`does the statutory basis of rejections based upon the principal reference appear to be affected by
`
`the entitlement question. Nonetheless, the examiner agrees with the third party requester. Each
`
`of the independent claims recite a "domain name service" and a "domain name service system"
`
`Page 8 of 74
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 7
`
`limitation. A continuation-in-part application ("CIP") 09/558,210, filed April26, 2000, includes
`
`a section entitled "Continuation-in-Part Improvements" on page 56 specifically discussing secure
`
`domain name service queries on pages 81-88. The parent applications prior to this date do not
`
`appear to even be directed to services similar to domain name lookup. Thus, the applications
`
`filed prior to April 26, 2000 fail to provide written description support nor enable the subject
`
`matter recited in claims 1-60 of the Larson patent. Accordingly, the effective filing date for
`
`claims 36-60 is no earlier than the April26, 2000 filing date of CIP application 09/558,210.
`
`2.D.
`
`Rejections Based upon Lendenmann (Issues 1, 3-5, 7 and 8)
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
`
`The following is a quotation of pre-AlA U.S.C. 102 which forms the basis for all
`
`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) Claims 36-54 and 57-60 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being
`
`anticipated by Lendenmann.
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
`
`The following is a quotation of pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all
`
`obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
`
`(a) A patent may not be obtained through the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in
`section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are
`such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person
`
`Page 9 of 74
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`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 8
`
`having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the
`manner in which the invention was made.
`
`(Issue 8) Claims 55 and 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable
`
`over Lendenmann in view of Ludwig, as applied to the respective, parent claims above, and
`
`further in view of RFC 793.
`
`Independent claim 60 is representative of all independent claims. Independent claim 1
`
`Summary
`
`recites:
`
`60. A method of providing a domain name service for establishing a secure
`communication link, the method comprising:
`
`connecting a domain name service system to a communication network;
`
`storing a plurality of domain names and corresponding network addresses; and
`upon receiving a query for a network address for communication, indicating whether the
`domain name service system supports establishing a secure communication link.
`
`Regarding the specification of the Larson patent for which reexamination is requested,
`
`Fig. 25 (reproduced below) is labeled "prior art."
`
`Page 10 of 74
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 9
`
`Fig. 25 (prior art) discloses: (1) a domain name service system configured to be
`
`connected to a communication network, (2) storing a plurality of domain names and
`
`corresponding network addresses, and (3) receiving a query for a network address. Thus, all
`
`limitations in claim 1 are admitted prior art except the final limitation "to comprise an indication
`
`that the domain name service system supports establishing a secure communication link."
`
`Nonetheless Lendenmann teaches all the limitations in representative claim 1.
`
`Lendenmann describes a Distributed Computing Environment ("DCE") providing a directory
`
`service specifically including a Cell Directory Service (CDS). (P. 10, section 1.4.4 DCE
`
`Directory Service).
`
`Page 11 of 74
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 10
`
`Regarding the limitation "domain name service configured for connection to a
`
`communication network," Lendenmann teaches that the CDS (domain name service) is
`
`connected to a communication network, as illustrated in Fig. 15, which is reproduced below:
`
`Regarding the limitation "to store a plurality of domain names and corresponding
`
`network addresses" then "to receive a query for a network address," Lendenmann teaches
`
`regarding the CDS (domain name service) at p. 21, section 2.2:
`
`The directory service component that controls names inside a cell is called the Cell Directory
`Service (CDS). The CDS stores names of resources in that cell so that when given a name, CDS
`returns the network address of the named resource.
`
`See also the CDS lookup process described on pages 29-34.
`
`Page 12 of 74
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 11
`
`Regarding the limitation to provide an "indication that the domain name service supports
`
`establishing a secure communications link," a query from a client to a directory service (CDS)
`
`server via a network is made by a remote procedure call, as illustrated in Fig. 15, which is
`
`reproduced below. See also pp. 9 and 173.
`
`r1 , - - . -
`••
`:
`! nm ~~· ~~~ tr-\A,ll:(i>~
`
`IIi I~~~~~~~
`t//0
`
`Lendenmann further teaches that RCP calls relies upon well-known authentication
`
`algorithms, such as shared-secret key and public key (p. 192, section 10.4.1) including supplying
`
`the requesting client with a session key and a service ticket encrypted with server's session key
`
`(i.e., digitally signed certificate) (p. 194). The client encrypts the RPC call with the session key,
`
`which the "server immediately challenges ... by sending it a randomly generated number which
`
`Page 13 of 74
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 12
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`the client has to encrypt with the session key and return to the server." P. 194, section 10.4.4.
`
`The client transmits the encrypted response, which the server decrypts using the server's session
`
`key obtained from the decrypted service ticket. If the decrypted random number matches, then
`
`the "session key is used in further communication over the binding." !d. Thus, the sending of
`
`the "randomly generated number" is an indication that the domain name service (CDS reached
`
`via a RCP call via the network) supports the establishment of subsequent, secure communication
`
`link using a shared secret key (the session key) for encryption/decryption.
`
`By returning the network address corresponding to a secure domain name, the Cell
`
`Directory Service (CDS) also provides "an indication .... " as recited in the claim. Request,
`
`Exhibit F-1 (Claim Chart), p. 13. Similarly, by only performing operations for users authorized
`
`using access control lists (ACLs), the CDS provides an indication that supports establishing a
`
`secure communication link. (!d. at 14).
`
`Incorporation by Reference
`
`Thus, the third party requester proposed rejection of claims identified above as set forth
`
`on pages 11-17, 31, 32 and Exhibit F-1 (claim chart), are adopted and incorporated by reference.
`
`2.E.
`
`Rejections Based upon Aziz (Issues 9, 11-13, 15)
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
`
`A person shall be entitled to a patent unless -
`
`(e) the invention was described in (1) an application for patent, published under section 122(b), by another filed
`in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent or (2) a patent granted on an application for
`patent by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent, except that an
`international application filed under the treaty defined in section 351( a) shall have the effects for purposes of this
`subsection of an application filed in the United States only if the international application designated the United
`States and was published under Article 21(2) of such treaty in the English language.
`
`Page 14 of 74
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 13
`
`(Issue 9) Claims 36-49, 51, 52 and 57-60 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(e) as being
`
`anticipated by Aziz.
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
`
`(Issue 15) Claims 53-56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over
`
`Aziz, as applied to the respective, parent claims above, and further in view of Ludwig.
`
`Summary
`
`Independent claim 1 is representative of all independent claims, as discussed above.
`
`Similarly, the features of independent claim 1 have been discussed.
`
`Also as discussed, all limitations in claim 1 are admitted prior art except the final
`
`limitation "to comprise an indication that the domain name service system supports establishing
`
`a secure communication link."
`
`Nonetheless Aziz teaches all the limitations in representative claim 1. Aziz describes a
`
`"secure domain name server for a computer network," where the "domain name database stores
`
`secure computer network addresses for the computer network." (Abstract).
`
`Regarding the limitation "domain name service configured for connection to a
`
`communication network," see the Aziz abstract, as discussed above. See also Fig. 1, reproduced
`
`below, which illustrates the outside name server 120 (NDS) connected to public network 190.
`
`Page 15 of 74
`
`
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`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`
`Page 14
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`Art Unit: 3992
`
`~-~~-----~--------------------------------~
`(~~'\
`l®
`
`~
`
`Regarding the limitation "to store a plurality of domain names and corresponding
`
`network addresses" then "to receive a query for a network address," Aziz teaches at col. 1, 11. 26-
`
`38:
`
`In the Internet world, the names and addresses of hosts are stored in databases on computers
`located throughout the world. A computer that has one of these databases, and responds to
`queries for a host's address, is known by various names, including "Domain Name Server" or
`simply "name server." Because so many host computers have Internet addresses, it is not practical
`to maintain the name and address information for all hosts in one database. Instead, such
`information is distributed among the Internet Domain Name Servers throughout the world.
`
`Domain Name Servers and their associated name and address databases are just one system used
`to respond to address queries (also referred to as "resolving addresses").
`
`Page 16 of 74
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
`
`Page 15
`
`Regarding the limitation to provide an "indication that the domain name service supports
`
`establishing a secure communications link," Aziz describes configuring the DNS to respond to
`
`requests with a special record that includes information needed for secure communications:
`
`The registered name server for a domain is configured to return a new resource
`record type, herein called an SX record, in response to requests for information needed for secure
`communications with protected hosts in that domain. The resolver on (or otherwise associated
`with) the authorized client is configured to use the data in the SX record to dynamically update
`the information used by the client to handle secure communications.
`
`(Col. 4, 11. 8-16).
`
`Alternatively, a name server can be configured to return an SX record in the response that
`includes the answer to a query for some other record. For example, if the client queries for a host
`address, a name server might send a response with the host address in the answer section and the
`SX record in the additional section.
`
`(Col. 4, 11. 44-49).
`
`Thus, the presence of SX records in the response from the DNS (NS 120) provides an
`
`indication that the DNS establishing a secure communication link.
`
`Aziz describes automatically adding the KEY and SIG records, which also provides "an
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`indication .... " as recited in the claim. (Request at 19).
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`Incorporation by Reference
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`Thus, the third party requester proposed rejection of the claims identified above on pages
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`11, 12, 17-20, 32, 33 and Exhibit F-2 (claim chart), are adopted and incorporated by reference.
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`Page 17 of 74
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
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`Page 16
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`2.F. Rejections Based upon Kiuchi and Pfaffenberger (Issues 16, 17, 20, 21)
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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`(Issue 16) Claims 36-43, 46, 48-54 and 57-60 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as
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`being unpatentable over Kiuchi in view of Pfaffenberger.
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`(Issue 17) Claim 47 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over
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`Kiuchi in view of Pfaffenberger as applied to the respective, parent claims above and further in
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`view of Rivest.
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`(Issue 20) Claims 44 and 45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable
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`over Kiuchi in view of Pfaffenberger as applied to the respective, parent claims above and
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`further in view of Broadhurst.
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`(Issue 21) Claim 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over
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`Kiuchi in view of Pfaffenberger as applied to the respective, parent claims above and further in
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`view of Ludwig.
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`Summary
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`Independent claim 1 is representative of all independent claims, as discussed above.
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`Similarly, the features of independent claim 1 have been discussed.
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`Also as discussed, all limitations in claim 1 are admitted prior art except the final
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`limitation "to comprise an indication that the domain name service system supports establishing
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`a secure communication link."
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`Page 18 of 74
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
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`Page 17
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`Nonetheless, Kiuchi in view of Pfaffenberger teaches all the limitations in representative
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`claim 1. Kiuchi describes a "closed HTTP-based network" ("C-HTTP") on the Internet that
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`relies in part upon a "C-HTTP name server." Abstract.
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`Regarding the limitations directed to a domain name service configured for connection
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`to a communication network, storing a plurality of domain names and corresponding network
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`addresses, then receiving a query for a network address, Kiuchi states at p. 65, section 2.3,
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`subsections (2) and (3):
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`A client-side proxy asks the C-HTTP name server whether it can communicate with the host
`specified in a given URL. If the name server confirms that the query is legitimate, it examines
`whether the requested server-side proxy is registered in the closed network and is permitted to
`accept the connection form the client-side proxy. If the connection is permitted, the C-HTTP
`name server sends the IP address and public key of the server-side proxy and both request and
`response Nonce values. If it is not permitted, it sends a status code which indicates an
`error ... When the C-HTTP name server confirms that the specified server-side proxy is an
`appropriate closed network member, a client side proxy sends a request for connection to the
`server-side proxy, which is encrypted using the server-side proxy's public key ....
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`The same section of Kiuchi cited above also teaches providing an indication that the
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`domain name service supports establishing a secure communications link. Specifically, the
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`sending of the "public key" is an indication that the domain name service (C-HTTP name server)
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`supports the establishment of subsequent, secure communication link using a shared public key
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`for encryption/decryption.
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`Pfaffenberger also describes indicating support for a secure communication link by
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`providing a visible icon on an http browser (Request, pp. 22-24) and that the addition of an http
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`browser to the C-http system of Kiuchi would have been obvious (p. 22).
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`Page 19 of 74
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
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`Page 18
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`Incorporation by Reference
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`Thus, the third party requester proposed rejection of claims identified above on pages 11,
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`12, 20-24, 33, 34 and Exhibit F-3 (claim chart), are adopted and incorporated by reference.
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`3.
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`Response to Arguments
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`The examiner has considered the arguments and evidence of record provided in both the
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`patent owner's Response, the third party requester's Comments, and the Supplemental Keromytis
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`Declaration. Based on consideration of the entire record, the third party requester's arguments
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`and evidence are deemed more persuasive.
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`The patent owner appears to have presented new arguments in the Response while
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`dropping other arguments presented in the prior ACP(s) mailed May 30, 2014 and October 1,
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`2012 and the RAN mailed June 25, 2013. The reader of this RAN is requested to consult the
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`prosecution history, including prior Office actions, for rebuttals to "older" arguments should they
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`be re-presented upon appeal.
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`3.1.
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`Claim Interpretation
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`Claim 60, which is representative, broadly recites (emphasis added):
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`A method of providing a domain name service for establishing a secure
`communication link, the method comprising:
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`connecting a domain name service system to a communication network;
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`storing a plurality of domain names and corresponding network addresses; and
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`Page 20 of 74
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 95/001,856
`Art Unit: 3992
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`Page 19
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`upon receiving a query for a network address for communication, indicating whether the domain
`name service system supports establishing a secure communication link.
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`Domain Name Service (DNS) System
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`Thus, claim 1 recites a domain name service ("DNS") "system" and not a particular
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`computer device or structural configuration, such as a single secure DNS server. Such an
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`interpretation is consistent with the specification of the patent under reexamination, see, e.g., col.
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`40, 11. 18-31, where the DNS system is implemented using gatekeeper 2603, DNS proxy 2610
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`and DNS server 2609. The examiner agrees with the requester, who notes the "DNS system
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`according to the claims can be distributed across multiple computer systems .... " (Fratto
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`Declaration, filed June 25, 2012, <JI 30). Thus, the DNS system is reasonably interpreted as
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`comprising a single device or multiple devices.
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`The patent owner characterizes the invention as a special and separate DNS device that
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`traps DNS queries, determines whether the query is from a "special type of user," and then
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`actively assists in the creation of a virtual private network ("VPN") link. See the original
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`Declaration of Angelos D. Keromytis, Ph.D., filed on June 1, 2012 (the original "Keromytis"
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`declaration), <JI 17-19.
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`Regarding whether a DNS device or devices are separate, as discussed above, the claims
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`do not recite a particular special DNS device, much less a device physically separate from a
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`conventional DNS server, which is also consistent with the specification of the patent under
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`reexamination. Indeed in one embodiment, the patent owner states "It will be appreciated that
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`the functions of DNS proxy 2610 and DNS server 2609 can be combined into a single s