DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Arguments
Following response to arguments is based on Applicant’s arguments filed on 05 December 2025.
Regarding Previous Rejection Under 35 USC § 103
Applicant’s arguments [Pages 9-10] with respect to rejection of claims 1 and 11 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
Claim Status
Claims 1, 6-7, 9, 11, 16-17, 19 have been amended. Claims 8, 10, 18, 20 have been canceled. Claim 21 has been added. Thus, claims 1-7, 9, 11-17, 19, 21 are presented for examination.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
For claim 1:
At line 33, expand acronym “QoS” and enclose the acronym by parenthesis.
For claim 11:
This claim is objected as applied to claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 – Second Paragraph
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.
Claims 1-7, 9, 11-17, 19, 21 are 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
For claim 1:
At line 32, “score of the NF based” lacks of antecedent basis. There are several types of “NF” previously introduced, but none of them are “NF” alone.
At lines 32-33, “on the second information” lacks of antecedent basis.
At line 33, hence, it is unclear which “NF” they are referring to at “bandwidth of the NF”, “level of the NF”, and “location of the NF”.
At line 35, “the priority scores” lacks of antecedent basis, as it was previously introduced “a priority score”, not several of them.
For claim 11:
This claim is rejected as applied to claim 1.
For claims 2-7, 9, 12-17, 19, 21:
These claims are also rejected as they depend upon a rejected claim.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FABRICIO R MURILLO GARCIA whose telephone number is (571)270-5708. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sam K Ahn can be reached at 5712723044. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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March 20, 2026
/FABRICIO R MURILLO GARCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633
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