Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/833,429

BANDWIDTH CONTROL DEVICE, BANDWIDTH CONTROL METHOD, BANDWIDTH CONTROL PROGRAM, AND NETWORK SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jul 26, 2024
Examiner
SHELEHEDA, JAMES R
Art Unit
2424
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 11m
To Grant
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allow Rate
469 granted / 693 resolved
+9.7% vs TC avg
Strong +20% interview lift
Without
With
+19.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
43 currently pending
Career history
736
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.2%
-35.8% vs TC avg
§103
49.3%
+9.3% vs TC avg
§102
22.1%
-17.9% vs TC avg
§112
15.6%
-24.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 693 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 . 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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. Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gupta (US 2012/0163175). As to claim 1, Gupta discloses a bandwidth control device (Fig. 1-5, 7, controller) comprising one or more processors configured to execute instructions (Fig. 7, paragraph 37-38) that cause the bandwidth control device to perform operations comprising: for each pair of a source and a destination of communication through a predetermined network, acquiring and holding a measurement value of a transmission traffic volume to the predetermined network and a measurement value of a reception traffic volume in the destination (incoming data rates vs. rate thresholds for individual virtual machines/ports data flows; paragraph 14, 17-18, 24-25, 28-29, 32-34); and in a case where a difference obtained for the each pair by subtracting the measurement value of the reception traffic volume from the measurement value of the transmission traffic volume is equal to or larger than a threshold, setting the measurement value of the reception traffic volume as a limit value and performs limitation such that the limited transmission traffic volume falls within the limit value (signaling to adjust rate of incoming data to match threshold corresponding to maximum receiving data rate; paragraph 18, 23-26, 28-29, 32-35). As to claim 2, Gupta discloses the operations further comprising for the each pair in which the destination in the pair having the difference equal to or larger than the threshold is the destination of itself, setting the measurement value of the reception traffic volume as the limit value and performing limitation such that the limited transmission traffic volume falls within the limit value (signaling to reduce transmitted traffic to match maximum threshold of the receiving device; paragraph 18, 23-26, 28-29, 32-35). As to claim 3, Gupta discloses the operations further comprising in a case where the difference is less than the threshold, and the transmission traffic volume is less than the limit value, removing the limitation for the pair on which the limitation has been performed (repeated determinations and signaling over time as to whether the threshold is exceeded or not; paragraph 32-34). As to claim 4, Gupta discloses the operations further comprising for each pair of the source and the destination of the communication through a virtual network obtained by virtually separating the predetermined network (paragraph 12), acquiring and holding the measurement value of the transmission traffic volume to the virtual network and the measurement value of the reception traffic volume in the destination (controller within destination device tracking the traffic volumes; see Fig. 1, 7; paragraph 18, 23-26, 28-29, 32-35). As to claim 5, Gupta discloses a bandwidth control method (Fig. 6) comprising: for each pair of a source and a destination of communication through a predetermined network, acquiring and holding a measurement value of a transmission traffic volume to the predetermined network and a measurement value of a reception traffic volume in the destination (incoming data rates vs. rate thresholds for individual virtual machines/ports; paragraph 14, 17-18, 24-25, 28-29, 32-34); and in a case where a difference obtained for the each pair by subtracting the measurement value of the reception traffic volume from the measurement value of the transmission traffic volume is equal to or larger than a threshold, setting the measurement value of the reception traffic volume as a limit value and performs limitation such that the limited transmission traffic volume falls within the limit value (signaling to adjust rate of incoming data to match threshold corresponding to maximum receiving data rate; paragraph 18, 23-26, 28-29, 32-35). As to claim 6, Gupta a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions (Fig. 7, paragraph 37-39) that, upon such execution, cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising for each pair of a source and a destination of communication through a predetermined network, acquiring and holding a measurement value of a transmission traffic volume to the predetermined network and a measurement value of a reception traffic volume in the destination (incoming data rates vs. rate thresholds for individual virtual machines/ports; paragraph 14, 17-18, 24-25, 28-29, 32-34); and in a case where a difference obtained for the each pair by subtracting the measurement value of the reception traffic volume from the measurement value of the transmission traffic volume is equal to or larger than a threshold, setting the measurement value of the reception traffic volume as a limit value and performs limitation such that the limited transmission traffic volume falls within the limit value (signaling to adjust rate of incoming data to match threshold corresponding to maximum receiving data rate; paragraph 18, 23-26, 28-29, 32-35). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James R Sheleheda whose telephone number is (571)272-7357. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-5 pm CST. 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, Benjamin Bruckart can be reached at (571) 272-3982. 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. /James R Sheleheda/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424
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Prosecution Timeline

Jul 26, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 02, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §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
68%
Grant Probability
88%
With Interview (+19.9%)
2y 11m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 693 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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