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
Drawings
The drawings filed 10/28/2025 have been entered.
Specification - Title
The amendments to the title filed 10/28/2025 have been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/28/2025 have been fully considered. As noted above, the amendments to the title and drawings have been considered and entered. The objections to the specification and drawings have responsively been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments filed 10/28/2025 are generally persuasive, as Applicant has incorporated objected-to subject matter into the pending independent claims. However, the amended language has also raised issues regarding claim scope and clarity, and thus have necessitated the presently presented rejections.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 8-11, 16-19, 21-23, and 27-31 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1 and 17, each of said claims has been amended to recite: “at least one back pressure field corresponding to the back pressure indication information, the at least one back pressure field comprises a processing manner field, a rate limit type field, and a back pressure object field”. Thus the claim langue recites “at least one” back pressure field, “at least one” encompassing embodiments with a single field and embodiments with multiple fields. However, the language also recites that the at least one back pressure field comprises “a processing manner field, a rate limit type field, and a back pressure object field”. The amended language thus includes an embodiment with a single field (“at least one”) but then also requires that there are multiple fields. These two recitations appear to conflict, and raise issues regarding the intended scope of the recitation of “one or more” as well as the recitation of a “field”. The “one or more” recitation conflicts with the subsequent recitation that requires exactly three fields, and thus the claim embodiments where there are one or two fields do not appear consistent or compatible with the subsequent requirement that there be three fields (“processing manner”, “rate limit type”, “back pressure object”). Regarding claims 2-3, 5, 8-11, 16, 18-19, 21-23, and 27-31, each of said claims depends on one of claims 1 or 17, and fails to clarify the issues noted above in their respective parent claim. These dependent claims thus inherit the issues in their respective parent claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This includes: Abraham (US-20110110232-A1), Pauwels (US-20220086542-A1), and Kawakami (US-20020136163-A1).
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 JOHN M MACILWINEN whose telephone number is (571)272-9686. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 - 5:00.
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, Glenton B Burgess can be reached at (571) 272 - 3949. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JOHN MACILWINEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2442
/JOHN M MACILWINEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2454
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