Obviousness

Obviousness Analysis of US10057322 under 35 U.S.C. § 103

This analysis identifies combinations of prior art references that would render the claims of US patent 10057322 obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (POSITA) at the time of the invention (priority date: 2014-12-31). The core inventive concept of US10057322 relates to an origin system dynamically resolving embedded resources within a content resource by using a tag to trigger an API call to a separate Content Delivery Network (CDN) with delivery parameters (e.g., client IP, popularity), receiving a modified embedded resource with a direct link to an optimal CDN node, and then delivering this modified content to the client.

Identified Prior Art References:

1. US6185598B1 (Digital Island, Inc.) - "Optimized network resource location" (Filed 1998, granted 2001). This patent describes a system for offloading requests from origin servers to "repeaters" (functionally equivalent to CDN nodes) by dynamically selecting a "best repeater." Crucially, it teaches that if a requested resource contains references to other resources, these references can be replaced by modified resource identifiers designating repeaters, and this modified resource is provided to the client.
2. US10810279B2 (Akamai Technologies, Inc.) - "Content delivery network (CDN) providing accelerated delivery of embedded resources from CDN and third party domains" (Application filed 2018, priority date likely earlier as Akamai is a long-standing CDN). Akamai is a prominent CDN provider that "optimizes web content delivery by distributing resources across a global network of servers". It uses an "Akamai Intelligent Platform" to "dynamically maps" user requests to the "closest available edge server". Akamai also provides "several APIs" for managing how edge servers respond to user requests. The title itself explicitly mentions "accelerated delivery of embedded resources."
3. US20140280479A1 (Edgecast Networks, Inc.) - "Dynamic Tag Management for Optimizing Content Delivery" (Filed 2013, published 2014). This patent describes Dynamic Tag Management (DTM) systems that allow users to control and deploy website "tags" for "optimizing content delivery". DTM enables gathering "user context identification" including "location".
4. US8463877B1 (Amazon Technologies, Inc.) - "Dynamically translating resource identifiers for request routing using popularity information" (Filed 2009, granted 2013). This patent, and related US8756341B1, explicitly teach using "popularity information" for request routing to optimize content delivery.

Obviousness Combination for Claim 1

Combination: US6185598B1 in view of US10810279B2, US20140280479A1, and US8463877B1.

Rationale:

• "receiving, by an origin system, a request from a client device for a content resource, the content resource including at least one embedded resource with a tag;"

  • US6185598B1 teaches an origin server receiving requests for a resource that "contains references to other resources." These "references" are effectively embedded resources within the content. A "tag" is a well-known and conventional mechanism to specifically identify or mark such embedded resources for particular processing. US20140280479A1 (Edgecast/Adobe DTM) explicitly teaches the use of "tags" for "optimizing content delivery" and managing content on web properties. A POSITA would find it obvious to use such a tag to clearly indicate which embedded resources require dynamic resolution for CDN delivery.

• "upon identification of the tag, using at least one delivery parameter to obtain, by the origin system, a modified embedded resource from a content delivery network that is separate from the origin system;"

  • US6185598B1 describes "reflector mechanisms" that intercept requests to origin servers and "select a best repeater" (CDN node). It further states that "the resource is possibly rewritten to replace at least some of the resource identifiers contained therein with modified resource identifiers designating the repeater". This "rewriting" by reflectors (which can be understood as part of or acting on behalf of the origin system) to designate a repeater effectively describes obtaining a modified embedded resource from a CDN.
  • While US6185598B1 doesn't explicitly mention an API, US10810279B2 (Akamai) teaches a CDN that offers "several APIs" for managing how edge servers respond and dynamically maps requests to the "closest available edge server". A POSITA, seeking to enhance the dynamic selection process of US6185598B1, would be motivated to leverage the sophisticated intelligence and distributed infrastructure of a dedicated CDN like Akamai through its readily available APIs.
  • The "at least one delivery parameter" would be obvious to incorporate. US10810279B2's dynamic mapping based on the "closest available edge server" inherently relies on client location. US20140280479A1 gathers "user context identification" including "location". Furthermore, US8463877B1 explicitly teaches "dynamically translating resource identifiers for request routing using popularity information." It would be obvious for a POSITA to pass these relevant parameters (e.g., client location, popularity) via an API call to the CDN's compute engine to ensure optimal node selection, as improving delivery efficiency and user experience is a constant objective in content delivery.

• "and delivering, by the origin system, the content resource to the client device with the modified embedded resource, wherein the modified embedded resource includes a direct link to a node within the content delivery network that can deliver content associated with the embedded resource."

  • US6185598B1 explicitly teaches that the "modified resource identifier is a URL designating the repeater" and that this modified identifier "is provided to the client". A URL that designates a specific repeater (CDN node) constitutes a "direct link to a node within the content delivery network."

Obviousness for Dependent Claims (Claims 2-10)

• Claim 2 (HTTP, client IP, passing to API, identifying location): The use of HTTP for client requests is fundamental to web communication and known in US10057322. The client IP address is routinely available to an origin server on an HTTP connection. Passing this information to an API of a CDN to determine location is obvious given US10810279B2's APIs and dynamic mapping to the "closest available edge server", which is typically derived from client IP. US20140280479A1 also gathers "location" as user context.
• Claim 3 (popularity parameter): Explicitly taught by US8463877B1 for request routing.
• Claim 4 (delivery protocol parameter): Selecting a delivery protocol (e.g., HTTP, HTTPS) is a routine consideration in network communication and would be an obvious parameter to consider in a dynamic routing system.
• Claim 5 (information is IP address): Directly follows from the common practice of using client IP for location-based services, as supported by US10810279B2 and US20140280479A1.
• Claim 6 (information is geographic information): Directly supported by US10810279B2's "closest available edge server" and US20140280479A1's "location" context, often derived from IP.
• Claim 7 (IP address, VIP, URL as location information): US6185598B1 teaches a "URL designating the repeater". IP addresses and Virtual IP addresses (VIPs) are standard network identifiers for directing traffic to servers or clusters of servers within a CDN. The patent US10057322 itself explicitly notes that the API "may return one or more virtual IP addresses (VIPs) for one or more clustered edge servers." (Description)
• Claim 8 (unique tag): A unique tag is an obvious design choice for any tagging system to ensure distinct identification and processing.
• Claim 9 (location identifier to API): Covered by the same reasoning for Claim 2, drawing on US10810279B2 and US20140280479A1.
• Claim 10 (HTML document, link): HTML documents and embedded links are ubiquitous in web content, as acknowledged in US10057322, and are the precise targets for modification in US6185598B1.

Obviousness for System Claims (Claims 11-14) and Method Claim 15

Claims 11 and 15 describe a content delivery network comprising/performing instructions for the actions already discussed in the context of the method claims. If the method is obvious, the system configured to perform that method is likewise obvious.

• Claim 11 & 15 (CDN providing API, receiving embedded resource & parameter from origin, generating modified embedded resource with direct link, delivering to origin, receiving request at node, providing content): This entire sequence is taught by the combination. US10810279B2 provides the CDN with an API and dynamic routing intelligence. US6185598B1 teaches the dynamic selection and rewriting of embedded resources by a mechanism associated with the origin. A POSITA would recognize that the CDN would be responsible for generating the "modified embedded resource" (the direct link) and delivering it back to the origin, which then provides it to the client. This interaction leverages the CDN's specialized capability.
• Claim 12 & 13 (replacing embedded resource in HTML document with a link): Directly covered by US6185598B1's teaching of replacing references within a resource, and the common knowledge of HTML documents and embedded links.
• Claim 14 (modified embedded resource includes IP/VIP/URL): Covered by US6185598B1's teaching of a URL designating the repeater and the common knowledge of network addressing.

Conclusion of Obviousness

A POSITA, motivated by the desire to continuously improve the efficiency and user experience of content delivery, would have found it obvious to combine the teachings of US6185598B1, US10810279B2, US20140280479A1, and US8463877B1. The combination would yield the claimed invention because:

1. The use of a tag (from US20140280479A1) on an embedded resource provides a clear and flexible mechanism for the origin server (from US6185598B1) to identify content requiring dynamic CDN resolution.
2. Leveraging a CDN's API (from US10810279B2) for dynamic selection of an optimal node, rather than relying solely on the origin's logic, is a natural progression to exploit specialized CDN intelligence for optimized routing, consistent with the existing "reflector" functionality of US6185598B1. APIs are standard for inter-system communication.
3. Incorporating delivery parameters such as client location (from US10810279B2 and US20140280479A1) and content popularity (from US8463877B1) into the CDN's node selection algorithm would lead to demonstrably better performance and user experience, which are primary goals in content delivery.
4. The output of this dynamic resolution, a direct link (e.g., URL, IP, VIP) to the optimal CDN node, and its subsequent delivery by the origin server to the client, is directly taught by US6185598B1.

Therefore, all elements of the independent claims (1, 11, and 15) and their dependent claims are taught or suggested by the combination of these prior art references, and a POSITA would have a clear motivation to combine them to achieve improved content delivery performance.