Ex Parte Eggers et alDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardFeb 28, 201311111028 (P.T.A.B. Feb. 28, 2013) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________ Ex parte ROBERT J. EGGERS and DARREN C. DOUGLAS ____________ Appeal 2010-010382 Application 11/111,0281 Technology Center 2400 ____________ Before MARC S. HOFF, CAROLYN D. THOMAS, and STANLEY M. WEINBERG, Administrative Patent Judges. THOMAS, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL 1 The real party in interest is IBM Corporation. Appeal 2010-010382 Application 11/111,028 2 STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellants seek our review under 35 U.S.C. § 134 of the Examiner’s final decision rejecting claims 1-7, 13, 25-28, and 30-33, which are all the claims remaining in the application. Claims 8-12, 14-24, 29, and 34 are cancelled. We have jurisdiction over the appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We REVERSE. The present invention relates generally to temporary transformation of a conventional client-server environment into a grid computing environment. See Spec. ¶ [0001]. Claim 1 is illustrative: 1. A computer network having a client-server mode and a grid mode, comprising: a plurality of client devices, each operating under a respective local operating system in the client-server mode and each comprising: a memory for storing computer-executable instructions; a processor for executing instructions stored in the memory; a communications protocol stored in the memory; and boot instructions stored in the memory directing the client device to attempt to boot first from the network and from a local device if the network boot is not successful; a server device to which the client devices are coupled, the server operable to: direct that each client device initiate a boot at a first predetermined time, whereupon each client device attempts to perform a network boot; upon a successful network boot by each client device, transmit a thin-client image and a grid application to each Appeal 2010-010382 Application 11/111,028 3 client device, whereupon each network device boots the thin-client image; direct that each client device launch the grid application, whereby each client device operates in a grid mode with substantially all resources of the processor and memory of each client device being available for use by the grid application; and at a second predetermined time, direct that each client device attempt a re-boot without providing a thin-client image, whereupon a network boot fails and each client-device boots from a local device into its respective local operating system, whereby the client devices operate in a client-server mode. Appellants appeal the following rejections: R1. Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention2; R2. Claims 1, 4-6, 25-28, and 30-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being anticipated by Paul (US Patent Pub. 2003/0074549 A1, Apr. 17, 2003); R3. Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being anticipated by Paul or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious over Paul; R4. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Paul and Brady (US Patent Pub. 2003/0208579 A1, Nov. 6, 2003); and 2 The Examiner’s Answer fails to address the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph. Therefore, we shall treat this rejection as being withdrawn. Appeal 2010-010382 Application 11/111,028 4 R5. Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Paul, Brady, and Boyle (US Patent Pub. 2003/0070063 A1, Apr. 10, 2003). ANALYSIS Our representative claim, claim 1, recites, inter alia, “each client device launch the grid application, whereby each client device operates in a grid mode” (emphasis added). Independent claims 13, 25, and 30 recite commensurate limitations. Thus, the scope of each of the independent claims includes grid processing. Issue: Did the Examiner err in finding that Paul discloses a grid mode? Appellants contend that “a computing grid is one in which a central server pools and ‘uses’ the computing resources of other computers (the clients). . . . Nothing in Paul suggests anything even comparable to grid computing” (App. Br. 16). The Examiner found that “Paul teaches the grid application to be the diagnostic or maintenance application included in the specific boot image” (Ans. 19). Based upon our review of the record, we conclude that the Examiner’s broad construction is inconsistent with the usage of the claim term “grid mode” as that term is recited throughout the claim. We note that claim terms are not interpreted in a vacuum, devoid of the context of the claim as a whole. See Hockerson-Halberstadt, Inc. v. Converse Inc., 183 F.3d 1369, 1374 (Fed. Cir. 1999) (“Proper claim construction . . . demands Appeal 2010-010382 Application 11/111,028 5 interpretation of the entire claim in context, not a single element in isolation.”); ACTV, Inc. v. Walt Disney Co., 346 F.3d 1082, 1088 (Fed. Cir. 2003) (“While certain terms may be at the center of the claim construction debate, the context of the surrounding words of the claim also must be considered . . . .”). Here, Appellants’ Specification describes a grid mode and “the concept of ‘grid computing’ in which computing resources are pooled or shared for the purpose of running a particular application (or set of applications)” (see ¶ [0002]; Fig. 5). Specifically, in Figure 5, “[t]he server 130 operates now as a master node 530 and is able to acquire the use of substantially all of the computing resources (memory and processor) of each client 110” (Spec. ¶ [0017]). We find this to be consistent with the ordinary and usual meaning of “grid computing” which is the process of solving computationally complicated problems by distributing parts of the problem to unused capacity on a widely dispersed set of machines that are connected on a network. DICTIONARY OF COMPUTER AND INTERNET TERMS 228 (9th ed. 2003). Therefore, we find that the claimed “grid mode” requires “grid computing” as the context of the claim as a whole looks at each client device in the network. In representative claim 1, a server transmits a “grid application” to each client device whereby each client device operates in a grid mode (see claim 1). The Examiner found that “Paul teaches the grid application to be the diagnostic or maintenance application included in the specific boot image” (Ans. 19). We disagree. As the Examiner relies upon Paul to teach the above-noted limitation, our discussion shall be limited thereto. Specifically, Paul discloses initiating Appeal 2010-010382 Application 11/111,028 6 specific maintenance and diagnostic boot images on remote computers (see Abstract). However, the Examiner has not established how Paul discloses a “grid mode” whereby dispersed set of machines are running the same application, as required in grid computing. Instead, Paul has a target device that performs functions through a new boot image (¶ [0027]). In other words, in Paul, “[t]he specific boot image is delivered to the target machine via network interaction, and the target is then rebooted” (¶ [0030]). However, we find that dispersing an application to a single target machine and rebooting that machine (as done in Paul) is distinguishable from dispersing a grid application to each client device whereby each client device operates in a grid mode, i.e., a dispersed set of machines running the same application. At best, we find that the Examiner has merely identified a client-server mode in Paul, as opposed to a “grid mode.” Appellants’ independent claims 13, 25, and 30 include limitations similar in scope to the limitations of claim 1 (supra). We are therefore constrained by the record before us to find that the Examiner erred in rejecting representative claim 1 and claims 2-7, 13, 25-28, and 30-33 for similar reasons. Since we agree with at least one of the arguments advanced by Appellants, we need not reach the merits of Appellants’ other arguments. It follows that Appellants have shown that the Examiner erred in finding that Paul discloses “grid computing.” Accordingly, we reverse the rejections of claims 1-7, 13, 25-28, and 30-33. Appeal 2010-010382 Application 11/111,028 7 DECISION We reverse the Examiner’s § 102 and § 103 rejections. REVERSED babc Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation