Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/419,810

SYSTEM AND METHOD TO DISCOVER CANDIDATE PTP CLOCK SOURCE(S) OVER IP/MPLS NETWORK

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 23, 2024
Priority
Nov 30, 2023 — IN 202311081663
Examiner
ALI, SYED
Art Unit
2463
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Ciena Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
6m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allowance Rate
436 granted / 529 resolved
+24.4% vs TC avg
Strong +59% interview lift
Without
With
+59.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
556
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
§103
71.2%
+31.2% vs TC avg
§102
26.1%
-13.9% vs TC avg
§112
1.0%
-39.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 529 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . This action is in response to the application filed on January 23, 2024 Claims 1-20 are under examination. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/05/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Claims 1 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GARG et al (US 2016/0277138 A1) in view of SUH et al. (US 2022/0321524 A1). As per Claim 1 GARG teaches a device, comprising: a processing system including a processor (Paragraph 0019 device generally includes a processor); a clock (Paragraph 0005 a master clock); and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising (Paragraph 0019 The network device also generally includes a memory coupled to the processor): advertising a capability as a precision timing protocol (PTP) master clock through an Internet Protocol (IP) network, (Paragraph 0004, 0036, 0050, 0064 capability to synchronize to a master clock and act as a master clock to one or more slave clocks. For example, For example, in one implementation, the PTP node may receive announce messages from the current master PTP node and PTP may be implemented over various packet transports, for example, such as internet protocol (IP) version 4 (IPv4), IPv6, multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), etc.); receiving a unicast signaling mechanism from a PTP client node in the network (Paragraph 0005, 0018, 0020 where the PTP node participates in an exchange of one or more messages with a current master node ); and sending clock messages to the PTP client node responsive to accepting the PTP client node (Paragraph 0020 For example, a PTP slave and PTP master may exchange various signaling messages (e.g., announce-request, announce-grant, sync-request, sync-grant, etc.) that may allow for a PTP session to be established between the PTP slave and master ). However GARG does not explicitly disclose wherein the advertising includes an IP address of the device Suh disclose wherein the advertising includes an IP address of the device (Paragraph 0006, 0035, 0071, 0103, 0177 a router advertisement including information related to generation of the IP address to the external electronic device. The multicast responder 545 may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing the IP address to the first external electronic device 330, and may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing the IP address to the second external electronic device 340 in operation 411. The electronic device 320 may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing an IP address to the first external electronic device 330, and in operation 411, may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing an IP address to the second external electronic. The communication module 190 may include a wireless communication module 192 (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). For example, according to an embodiment, the module may be implemented in a form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify GARG with the teachings of SUH in order to the make the system more efficient so transmitting a router advertisement including information related to generation of the IP address to the external electronic device.. (see Suh Paragraph 0165). As per Claim 2 GARG-SUH teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the device further comprises a receiver configured to receive time information from a time source and wherein the operations further comprise synchronizing the clock to the time source (Paragraph 0005, 0018, 0020 For example, the PTP node may perform clock synchronization based on a timestamp received from a current master PTP node and also serves as a master node to at least one connected PTP node that performs clock synchronization based on a timestamp received from the PTP node. ). As per Claim 3 GARG-SUH teaches the device of claim 2, receiver However GARG does not explicitly disclose wherein the receiver is a Global Navigation Satellite Service. Suh disclose wherein the receiver is a Global Navigation Satellite Service (Paragraph 0006, 0035, 0071, 0103, 0177 a router advertisement including information related to generation of the IP address to the external electronic device. The multicast responder 545 may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing the IP address to the first external electronic device 330, and may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing the IP address to the second external electronic device 340 in operation 411. The electronic device 320 may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing an IP address to the first external electronic device 330, and in operation 411, may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing an IP address to the second external electronic. The communication module 190 may include a wireless communication module 192 (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). For example, according to an embodiment, the module may be implemented in a form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify GARG with the teachings of SUH in order to the make the system more efficient so transmitting a router advertisement including information related to generation of the IP address to the external electronic device.. (see Suh Paragraph 0165). As per Claim 4 GARG-SUH teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the advertising is performed via an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) (Paragraph 0030 For example, as shown, the one or more protocols may include label distribution protocol (LDP), and one or more gateway protocols, such as interior gateway protocol (IGP) and labeled border gateway protocol (BGP). LDP, in general, may be used for the exchange of label mapping information (between the CSGs 212) associated with MPLS. IGP, in general, may be used for the exchange of routing information between the CSGs 212. Some examples of IGP protocols include Open Shortest Path First (OSPF). ). As per Claim 5 GARG-SUH teaches the device of claim 4, wherein the IGP is an Intermediate System to Intermediate System (ISIS) (Paragraph 0026, 0030, For example, as shown, the one or more protocols may include label distribution protocol (LDP), and one or more gateway protocols, such as interior gateway protocol (IGP) and labeled border gateway protocol (BGP). LDP, in general, may be used for the exchange of label mapping information (between the CSGs 212) associated with MPLS. Each of these networks may include a plurality of intermediate network devices (e.g., switches, routers, etc.) that may be used for forwarding and routing traffic in and/or between the networks.). As per Claim 6 GARG-SUH teaches the device of claim 5, However GARG does not explicitly disclose wherein the advertising uses a new link state protocol (LSP) data unit Suh disclose wherein the advertising uses a new link state protocol (LSP) data unit (Paragraph 0006, 0035, 0071, 0103, 0177 a router advertisement including information related to generation of the IP address to the external electronic device. The multicast responder 545 may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing the IP address to the first external electronic device 330, and may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing the IP address to the second external electronic device 340 in operation 411. The electronic device 320 may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing an IP address to the first external electronic device 330, and in operation 411, may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing an IP address to the second external electronic. The communication module 190 may include a wireless communication module 192 (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). For example, according to an embodiment, the module may be implemented in a form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify GARG with the teachings of SUH in order to the make the system more efficient so transmitting a router advertisement including information related to generation of the IP address to the external electronic device.. (see Suh Paragraph 0165). As per Claim 7 GARG-SUH teaches the device of claim 4, wherein the IGP is an Open Shortest Path First (Paragraph 0030 For example, as shown, the one or more protocols may include label distribution protocol (LDP), and one or more gateway protocols, such as interior gateway protocol (IGP) and labeled border gateway protocol (BGP). LDP, in general, may be used for the exchange of label mapping information (between the CSGs 212) associated with MPLS. IGP, in general, may be used for the exchange of routing information between the CSGs 212. Some examples of IGP protocols include Open Shortest Path First (OSPF). As per Claim 8 GARG-SUH teaches the device of claim 7, However GARG does not explicitly disclose wherein the advertising message uses an opaque Link State Advertisement (LSA) Suh disclose wherein the advertising message uses an opaque Link State Advertisement (LSA) (Paragraph 0006, 0035, 0071, 0103, 0177 a router advertisement including information related to generation of the IP address to the external electronic device. The multicast responder 545 may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing the IP address to the first external electronic device 330, and may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing the IP address to the second external electronic device 340 in operation 411. The electronic device 320 may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing an IP address to the first external electronic device 330, and in operation 411, may transmit a router advertisement including information for renewing an IP address to the second external electronic. The communication module 190 may include a wireless communication module 192 (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). For example, according to an embodiment, the module may be implemented in a form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify GARG with the teachings of SUH in order to the make the system more efficient so transmitting a router advertisement including information related to generation of the IP address to the external electronic device.. (see Suh Paragraph 0165). As per Claim 9 GARG-SUH teaches the device of claim 8, wherein the advertising stays within an OSPF area of the device (Paragraph 0030 For example, as shown, the one or more protocols may include label distribution protocol (LDP), and one or more gateway protocols, such as interior gateway protocol (IGP) and labeled border gateway protocol (BGP). LDP, in general, may be used for the exchange of label mapping information (between the CSGs 212) associated with MPLS. IGP, in general, may be used for the exchange of routing information between the CSGs 212. Some examples of IGP protocols include Open Shortest Path First (OSPF). Claims 10-20 are the device and apparatus claims corresponding to the device claims 1-9 that have been rejected above. Applicant attention is directed to the rejection of claims 1-9. Claims 10-20 are rejected under the same rational as claims 1-9. Examiner’s Note Examiner is open for discussion if the applicant’s representative need further clarifications. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (See form 892). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SYED ALI whose telephone number is (571)270-3681. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am to 2pm. 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, ASAD NAWAZ can be reached on (571) 272-3988. 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. /SYED ALI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 23, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 03, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
May 13, 2026
Response Filed

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12641440
RESOLUTION METHOD FOR INTENT-BASED WIRELESS NETWORK RESOURCE CONFLICTS AND APPARATUS THEREOF
2y 4m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12634753
TRANSPORT BLOCK SIZE DETERMINATION IN SUBBAND FULL DUPLEX SLOTS
3y 2m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12634957
Methods And Apparatus For Message 4 Transmission
2y 4m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12628046
PRIORITIZATION OF ISOCHRONOUS STREAMS IN MULTI-PROTOCOL SYSTEM
3y 2m to grant Granted May 12, 2026
Patent 12627415
METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING NUMBER OF HARQ PROCESS IDS AND TRANSMITTING HARQ-ACK IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
2y 5m to grant Granted May 12, 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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+59.4%)
2y 11m (~6m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 529 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