Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/275,936

SERVER, REQUESTING ENTITY, AND METHODS THEREFOR

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 04, 2023
Priority
Feb 17, 2021 — JP 2021-023807 +1 more
Examiner
HAMMONDS, MARCUS C
Art Unit
2647
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
NEC Corporation
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
1m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allowance Rate
363 granted / 508 resolved
+9.5% vs TC avg
Strong +29% interview lift
Without
With
+29.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
531
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.2%
-35.8% vs TC avg
§103
48.6%
+8.6% vs TC avg
§102
28.9%
-11.1% vs TC avg
§112
11.5%
-28.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 508 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . DETAILED ACTION Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on August 6, 2026 has been entered. Claims 57 and 59 are currently pending and an Office action on the merits follows. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 57 and 59 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim(s) 57 and 59 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pub No.: US-20240056415-A1 (herein “Tang”), and further in view of Pub No.: US-20230013720-A1 (herein “Gupta”) Consider claim 57, Tang teaches an Edge Configuration Server (ECS) (see Tang Fig. 7, note ECS) comprising: at least one memory (see Tang Fig. 11, [0154] note memory); and at least one processor (see Tang Fig. 11, [0154] note processor) coupled to the at least one memory and configured to: receive, from an Edge Enabler Client (EEC), a service provisioning request comprising Application Client profile (AC profile) information (see Tang Fig. 7, [0063], Table 1 note 701 EEC sends provisioning request to ECS including the Application Client (AC) profile which includes the Expected Application Client Geographical Service Area and Service Continuity Support); perform processing for identifying an Edge Enabler Server (EES) based on the AC profile information (see Tang Fig. 7, [0063]-[0065], Table 1 determining the EES information based on the received service provisioning request including the AC profile). Tang fails to teach “in a case where the EES is not identified in the processing, send, to the EEC, a response comprising information indicating an alternative server. Gupta explains the ECS provisioning the EEC of the UE depending on the availability of the EES at the data edge network where the EEC can query the ECS for obtaining the information about the edge application server or to a dedicated server (see Gupta [0089]-[0094]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tang to include the recited teaching of Gupta. Such a modification would improve Tang by improving management of discovery of edge application servers (see Gupta [0014]-[0017]). Claim(s) 59 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 57. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM-6:00PM. 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, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 04, 2023
Application Filed
Oct 22, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Aug 12, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jan 12, 2026
Response Filed
Apr 07, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Aug 06, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Aug 07, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Aug 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12739605
Autonomous Vehicle Communication Gateway Architecture
3y 9m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12739770
NETWORK SELECTION METHOD, ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM
3y 8m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12739738
NETWORK SELECTION METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE AND STORAGE MEDIUM
3y 8m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12732903
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NETWORK SLICE AND SUBSCRIBER PROFILE MANAGEMENT FOR FLIGHT PATHS ACROSS MULTIPLE NETWORKS
3y 8m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12726944
PAGING METHOD, TERMINAL DEVICE, AND NETWORK DEVICE
3y 2m to grant Granted Sep 01, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
72%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+29.1%)
3y 3m (~1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 508 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month