Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 15, 2026
Application No. 18/742,062

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-BASED DATA BY USING DISTRIBUTED NETWORK

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Jun 13, 2024
Examiner
EKPO, NNENNA NGOZI
Art Unit
2425
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Electronics And Telecommunications Research Institute
OA Round
2 (Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 2m
To Grant
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allow Rate
420 granted / 589 resolved
+13.3% vs TC avg
Strong +21% interview lift
Without
With
+20.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
613
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
9.7%
-30.3% vs TC avg
§103
48.2%
+8.2% vs TC avg
§102
18.0%
-22.0% vs TC avg
§112
14.8%
-25.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 589 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 . Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7+ of the Remarks, filed on 12/09/2025, with respect to the rejections of Claims 1-3, 5, 14-17 and 19 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Chuah (U.S. Patent No. 6,839,339). 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 (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. 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. Claims 1-3, 5, 14-17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0329306) in view of Chuah (U.S. Patent No. 6,839,339). Regarding claim 1, Liu et al. discloses an operating method of a first agent, the operating method comprising: transmitting a message including a key frame of an input video received from a first client corresponding to the first agent to a second agent (see paragraphs 0059-0061, figs. 1 and 7; a sender 102 selects a key image 110 for transmission to a receiver 116); and receiving, from the first client, key points extracted from the input video as features for every frame after the key frame and transmitting the received key points to the second agent (see paragraphs 0062-0063, 0068, 0070, 0130, figs. 1-3, fig. 7; Using additional video frames captured or otherwise generated by one or more video capture devices, in an embodiment, a sender generates keypoints 708 for one or more of said additional video frames. In at least one embodiment, a sender transfers or otherwise communicates, over a network, keypoints generated 708 by said sender, as described above in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3), wherein the first agent and the second agent communicate through a distributed network (see paragraph 0069 and fig. 1; a network 114 comprises any other hardware and/or software to facilitate exchange of data or other information between one or more senders 102 and one or more receivers 116); transmitting keyframes as transmitted data (see fig. 1; transmits key image). However, Liu et al. is silent as to wherein the message includes: a version field including information representing a version of a protocol for a distributed networking; a type field including information representing an encoding type of the message; a length field including length information of a header field; the header field including header information for classifying the message; an extension header field; and a payload field including the key frame. Chuah discloses wherein the message includes: a version field including information representing a version of a protocol for a distributed networking (see fig. 15 (“Vers” field), col. 9, lines 47-56; GTP header fields including version bits); a type field including information representing an encoding type of the message (see fig. 15 (“Msg Type” field), col. 9, lines 47-56; describing message type fields in GTP headers); a length field including length information of a header field (see fig. 15 (“Length (two bytes)” field), col. 9, lines 47-56; header length fields); the header field including header information for classifying the message (see fig. 15; describes classification via message type, TID, sequence number, extension type); an extension header field (see fig. 15 (“Ext. Type,” “Ext Length,” “Ext Content”) and payload fields for carrying data (see fig. 15). It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Liu et al.’s key image with the teachings of Chuah’s payload field, the motivation being to improve protocol interoperability and facilitate reliable distributed communication. Regarding claim 14, claim 14 is rejected for the same reason set forth in the rejection of claim 1. Regarding claim 15, claim 15 is rejected for the same reason set forth in the rejection of claim 1. Regarding claim 2 and 16, Liu et al. and Chuah discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claims 1 and 15). Liu et al. discloses wherein the key frame is a first frame when an angle and/or position of an object comprised in the input video changes (see paragraph 0093). Regarding claim 3 and 17, Liu et al. and Chuah discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claims 1 and 15). Liu et al. discloses wherein the key points comprise a coordinate value for at least one of an eye, nose, mouth, ear, or jawline of a face comprised in the input video see paragraphs 0064, 0097). Regarding claim 5 and 19, Liu et al. and Chuah discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claims 1 and 15). Liu et al. discloses wherein a second client corresponding to the second agent is configured to generate the input video based on the key frame and a frame generated from the key points received through the second agent (see abstract; a receiver reconstructs video data using said key frame and one or more received keypoints). 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 (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. 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. Claims 4 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. and Chuah as applied to claim1 and 15 above, and further in view of Hyun et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0099384). Regarding claim 4 and 18, Liu et al. and Chuah discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claims 1 and 15). However, Liu et al. and Chuah are silent as to opening a session for video transmission between the first client and a hybrid overlay management server (HOMS) configured to manage the first agent and the second agent, wherein a distributed network between the first agent and the second agent is generated in response to the second agent joining the session. Hyun et al. discloses opening a session for video transmission between the first client and a hybrid overlay management server (HOMS) configured to manage the first agent and the second agent (see abstract, paragraph 0004), wherein a distributed network between the first agent and the second agent is generated in response to the second agent joining the session (see paragraphs 0051, 0058, 0155-0157). It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu et al. and Chuah with the teachings of Hyun et al., the motivation being to secure a higher scalability. 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 NNENNA NGOZI EKPO whose telephone number is (571)270-1663. The examiner can normally be reached M-W 10:00am - 6:30pm, TH-F 8:00am - 4:30pm. 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, Brian Pendleton can be reached at 571-272-7527. 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. NNENNA EKPO Primary Examiner Art Unit 2425 /NNENNA N EKPO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2425 January 27, 2026.
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 13, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 08, 2025
Examiner Interview (Telephonic)
Sep 09, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Dec 09, 2025
Response Filed
Jan 27, 2026
Final Rejection — §103
Mar 27, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action

Precedent Cases

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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
92%
With Interview (+20.9%)
3y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 589 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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