Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/559,105

DETERMINISTIC NETWORK ENTITY FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS

Non-Final OA §101§102
Filed
Nov 06, 2023
Priority
May 06, 2021 — provisional 63/185,072 +1 more
Examiner
MEJIA, ANTHONY
Art Unit
2451
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
4m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allowance Rate
602 granted / 722 resolved
+25.4% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+19.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
8 currently pending
Career history
731
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.3%
-36.7% vs TC avg
§103
72.3%
+32.3% vs TC avg
§102
13.2%
-26.8% vs TC avg
§112
1.8%
-38.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 722 resolved cases

Office Action

§101 §102
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 Amendment Acknowledgement is made in that claims 1-19 have been canceled and claims 20-38 have been added in the instant application presented herein. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 20-33, 35 and 37-38 allowed. 4. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 20 currently recites: “…responsive to determining whether the configuration request conflicts with the routing of the communications network, transmitting a response to the DetNet controller indicating acceptance or denial of the configuration request...” which is not taught and/or suggested by the prior-art of record. 5. Claims 21-33, 35, and 37-38 depend on Claim 20. Thus, inherit the same reasons for allowance as those highlighted in Claim 20. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 6. 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows: Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. 7. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. Claim 36 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claim currently recites “A computer program comprising program code…” because the claimed invention seems to be directed to a "program" as not embodied in (or tied to) any sort of structural component which is software per se and non-statutory subject matter. Such that the "program" as claimed and discussed cannot reasonably in light of the written disclosure be considered/treated as a machine, and hence, does not fall under the eligible patentably category subject matters, i.e. process, machine, manufacturer, composition of matter or material and improvements thereof (see MPEP§ 2106). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 8. 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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. 9. 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 10. Claim 34 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Medagliani et al. (WO 2021/014180 A1) (hereinafter as Medagliani) (Note: cited in IDS dated 11/06/2023 and also included by Applicants). Regarding Claim 34, Medagliani teaches a method performed by a network node (node which communicated with the control device (DetNet/TSN Network Controller) of a communications network for enabling internet protocol, IP, based deterministic networking, comprising: receiving a request to establish a deterministic network, DetNet, flow in the communications network from a software-defined network, SDN, controller, the request to establish the DetNet flow including quality of service, QoS, requirements for the DetNet flow (the control device (DetNet/TSN Network Controller) collects traffic statistics from the network, page 22, determination is triggered by the reconfiguration trigger deciding whether configuration is needed and is performed periodically on the basis of statistics or triggered on specific events, a request coming from a node, page 23); determining whether the communications network is capable of meeting the QoS requirements (determination is triggered by the reconfiguration trigger deciding whether configuration is needed and is performed periodically on the basis of statistics or triggered on specific events, a bandwidth ratio may be determined according to a current and/or future demand for QoS, page 23); and responsive to determining that the communication network is capable of meeting the QoS requirements, establishing the DetNet flow (the DetNet node receives the new configurations, it adapts the resource distribution, page 22, the new configurations are transmitted to respective nodes, for instance, the control device sends to DetNet/TSN devices (switches and nodes) a series of one or more configurations for resources distribution and corresponding time instants in which they must be applied, page 24). Conclusion 11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY MEJIA whose telephone number is (571)270-3630. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10:30 AM-6:30 PM EST. 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, CHRISTOPHER PARRY can be reached on (571)272-8328. 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. /ANTHONY MEJIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2451
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 06, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 25, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §101, §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
83%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+19.0%)
2y 11m (~4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 722 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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