Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because 1) multiple drawings have text that is fuzzy and/or small and therefore unclear and 2) multiple drawings have gray lines and/or gray backgrounds which make them hard to read. See MPEP 608.01 and 37 CFR 1.71 which states “Gray lines and/or a gray background sharply reduce photo reproduction quality and if present in application papers, will likely result in a notification (e.g. Notice to File Corrected Application Papers) that the papers are not in compliance with 37 CFR 1.52. In order to enhance readability of electronic submissions, the USPTO strongly recommends use of a black colored font for text on a white background.”
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: There needs to be a period at the of paragraph 000122 of the specification.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Per claim 19, the limitation “in response to an indication of completing execution of the plurality of tasks, releasing the association of the directing context with the network context while maintaining the assignment of the network context until the certain network connection is terminated” is not required because claim 19 is a method claim and releasing the association of the directing context with the network context while maintaining the assignment of the network context until the certain network connection is terminated is contingent upon the condition precedent of an indication of completing execution of the plurality of tasks. However, claim 19 does not positively recite the condition precedent of an indication of completing execution of the plurality of tasks actually occurs. Therefore, the entire limitation is not required to occur. See MPEP 2111.04(II) CONTINGENT LIMITATIONS.
In order to positively recite the condition precedent and make the claim limitation required, the Examiner suggests the following amendment at the end of claim 19:
“receiving an indication of completing execution of the plurality of tasks; and
in response to receiving [[an]] the indication of completing execution of the plurality of tasks, releasing the association of the directing context with the network context while maintaining the assignment of the network context until the certain network connection is terminated.”
Support for this amendment can be found in paragraph 000122 of Applicant’s specification.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-18 and 20 are allowed for the reasons discussed in Office action dated 6/16/2025.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Arpan P. Savla whose telephone number is (571)272-1077. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 10AM-6PM ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Cottingham can be reached at 571-272-1400. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Arpan P. Savla/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2137
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