Obviousness

Obviousness Analysis of US Patent 7415530B2 under 35 U.S.C. § 103

This analysis identifies combinations of prior art references that would render the independent claims of US Patent 7415530B2 obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA). The primary basis for obviousness stems from the patent's explicit reliance on and incorporation of its own antecedent applications and a reference detailing the underlying compression technology.

Identified Prior Art References:

1. US6601104B2: Titled "System and methods for accelerated data storage and retrieval," filed March 11, 1999, and issued August 5, 2003. This patent is a direct parent application to US7415530B2.
2. US7130913B2: Titled "System and methods for accelerated data storage and retrieval," filed July 28, 2003, and issued October 31, 2006. This patent is an intermediate direct parent application to US7415530B2.
3. US6389451B1: Titled "Content independent data compression method and system," filed December 11, 1998, and issued May 14, 2002. This patent originated from U.S. Ser. No. 09/210,491, which US7415530B2 explicitly incorporates by reference as the source of its data compression/decompression techniques.

Primary Combination for Obviousness: US6601104B2 (or US7130913B2) in combination with US6389451B1.

Rationale and Motivation to Combine:

The fundamental concept of US7415530B2 is to achieve accelerated data storage and retrieval by utilizing lossless data compression and decompression. The patent itself provides a strong roadmap for obviousness by stating: "the present invention employs the data compression/decompression techniques disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 09/210,491 entitled “Content Independent Data Compression Method and System,” filed on Dec. 11, 1998, which is commonly assigned and which is fully incorporated herein by reference." (U.S. Ser. No. 09/210,491 matured into US6389451B1).

• Teaching of Parent Patents (US6601104B2 and US7130913B2): These patents, as direct parents of US7415530B2, broadly teach the system and methods for accelerated data storage and retrieval using lossless data compression and decompression. Their titles and lineage confirm their focus on this overarching problem and solution. A PHOSITA, seeking to implement the acceleration described in these parent patents, would understand the need for efficient and high-speed compression and decompression mechanisms.
• Teaching of US6389451B1: This patent, explicitly referenced and incorporated by US7415530B2, provides the specific "content independent" lossless data compression and decompression methods and systems. The detailed description of US7415530B2 for its data storage accelerator (FIG. 8) and data retrieval accelerator (FIG. 9) explicitly states that they employ compression/decompression systems "as disclosed in the above-incorporated U.S. Ser. No. 09/210,491." US6389451B1 describes components such as multiple encoders (E1...En), buffering and counting of encoded data blocks, a compression ratio module comparing ratios to a threshold, and a description module for appending a compression type descriptor. It also details the corresponding decompression system with an input buffer, descriptor extraction module, a decoder module (D1...Dn) using the descriptor, and an output buffer.
• Motivation to Combine: The motivation for a PHOSITA to combine these references is inherent in the patent's own disclosure. The patentee explicitly instructs that the present invention employs the compression/decompression techniques of US6389451B1 to achieve the accelerated data storage and retrieval described in the continuation applications. This is not a matter of inventive insight but a straightforward engineering decision to integrate a known, suitable, and explicitly identified component (the high-speed compression/decompression engine from US6389451B1) into a known system designed for data acceleration (from the parent patents). The common assignee (Realtime Data LLC) and inventor (James J Fallon) across these patents further reinforce the notion that these were components of a single, evolving technological effort, making their combination self-evident.

Obviousness of Independent Claims:

• Claim 1 (Method for accelerated data storage and retrieval) & Claim 7 (System for accelerated data storage and retrieval): These claims outline the general method and system. US6601104B2 (or US7130913B2) would provide the high-level concept of accelerating data storage and retrieval using compression/decompression. US6389451B1 would provide the specific, high-speed compression and decompression techniques necessary to achieve the "rates greater than" and "decompression ratios" recited in these claims. It would be obvious for a PHOSITA to implement the general acceleration principles taught in the parent patents using the specific, efficient compression methods described in US6389451B1.
• Claim 8 (Data storage accelerator) & Claim 10 (Data retrieval accelerator): These claims detail the internal components of the accelerators. US7415530B2 explicitly states that its preferred embodiments for these accelerators employ the compression/decompression systems described in US6389451B1. Therefore, the elements recited in these claims—such as a plurality of encoders, buffer/counter modules, compression ratio modules, descriptor modules, descriptor extraction modules, and decoder modules—are largely, if not entirely, directly disclosed in US6389451B1. Even if not literally anticipated, they would be rendered obvious given the explicit cross-reference and the natural expectation that an accelerator would comprise such functional blocks for high-speed, adaptive compression and decompression.
• Claims 12 (Method for accelerated video data storage), 13 (System for accelerated video data storage), 14 (Method for accelerating display data retrieval), 15 (System for accelerating display data retrieval), 16 (Method for accelerated storage of analog, parallel digital, and serial data), 17 (System for accelerated storage of analog, parallel digital, and serial data), 18 (Method for accelerated retrieval of analog, parallel digital, and serial data), & 19 (System for accelerated retrieval of analog, parallel digital, and serial data): These claims extend the core inventive concept to specific applications and data types. Given that the parent patents (US6601104B2/US7130913B2) already teach general accelerated data storage and retrieval, and US6389451B1 provides the high-speed compression/decompression tools, it would be obvious for a PHOSITA to apply these known acceleration techniques to various common data handling contexts. Video, display, and mixed analog/digital/serial data streams all present challenges regarding storage and retrieval bandwidth, and applying a proven compression-based acceleration solution to these predictable problems would be a routine design choice. The patent itself describes these applications as straightforward implementations of its core technology.

In summary, the combination of US6601104B2 (or US7130913B2) and US6389451B1 would render the independent claims of US7415530B2 obvious. The motivation to combine these references is directly supplied by the patent's own specification, which explicitly integrates the specific compression technology into the broader acceleration framework.