Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/275,936

SERVER, REQUESTING ENTITY, AND METHODS THEREFOR

Non-Final OA §102
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)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allowance Rate
359 granted / 504 resolved
+9.2% vs TC avg
Strong +29% interview lift
Without
With
+29.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
527
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.3%
-35.7% vs TC avg
§103
48.7%
+8.7% vs TC avg
§102
28.5%
-11.5% vs TC avg
§112
11.7%
-28.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 504 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 Response to Amendment Acknowledgement is made of the amendment filed on January 12, 2026, in which: Claims 57 and 59 are currently amended, and Claims 58 and 60 are cancelled. Claims 57 and 59 are currently pending and an Office action on the merits follows. Response to Arguments On pages 4-5 of the applicant’s remarks, the applicant argues that Tang fails to teach “determine or identify an Edge Enabler Server (EES) using Geographical Service Area information and based on service continuity support information. The examiner respectfully disagrees. Tang Fig. 7 and paragraph [0063] explain the EEC sends a service provisioning request to the ECS. The service provisioning request may include the UE identifier such as GPSI, UE location, and Application Client (AC) profile information. The AC profile may include the Expected Application Client Geographical Service Area (The expected location(s) (e.g. route) of the hosting Geographical Service Area UE during the Application Client's operation schedule. This geographic information can express a geographic point, polygon, route, signaling map, or waypoint set) and Service Continuity Support (Indicates if service continuity support is required or not for the application). Tang Fig. 7 and paragraph [0065] explain that upon reception of the service provisioning request the ECS determines the EES information. Thus, the EES is determined based on the service provisioning request including the AC profile including the Geographical Service Area and the Service Continuity Support which read on the broadest reasonable interpretation of “using” and “based on.” The claims as currently presented fail to provide any further detail as to how the Geographical Service Area information is used and service continuity support information provides a basis to determine or identify the EES. Therefore, the examiner respectfully maintains the rejection of claims 57 and 59 as further explained below. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 57 and 59 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pub No.: US-20240056415-A1 (herein “Tang”). 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 including 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); determine or identify an Edge Enabler Server (EES) using Geographical Service Area information and based on service continuity support information (see Tang Fig. 7, [0063]-[0065], Table 1 determining the EES information based on the received service provisioning request including the AC profile with information elements for Expected Application Client Geographical Service Area and Service Continuity Support); and respond, to the EEC, with a service provisioning response including EES information (see Tang Fig. 7, [0075]-[0077] note ECS sends service provisioning response including the required information for establishing connection to the EES). Claim(s) 59 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 57. Conclusion THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. 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 — §102
Jan 12, 2026
Response Filed
Apr 07, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102
Aug 06, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Aug 07, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Aug 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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Patent 12684466
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3y 9m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12677173
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY CALL VALIDATION
3y 4m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12666271
SPECTRUM SHARING BETWEEN TERRESTRIAL NETWORK AND NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORK WITH INTERFERENCE CONTROL
3y 1m to grant Granted Jun 23, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+29.4%)
3y 3m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 504 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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