Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 15, 2026
Application No. 18/884,260

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 13, 2024
Examiner
ABEDIN, NORMIN
Art Unit
2449
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Riso Kagaku Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allow Rate
359 granted / 426 resolved
+26.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
16 currently pending
Career history
442
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.7%
-32.3% vs TC avg
§103
61.6%
+21.6% vs TC avg
§102
10.1%
-29.9% vs TC avg
§112
11.6%
-28.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 426 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 Claims 1-4 are pending in Instant Application. Priority Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s claim to priority benefits of JP2023-166641 filed 09/28/2023. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 12/13/2024 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 1-2, 4 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALHARITH et al., “hereinafter BALHARITH” (U.S. Patent Application: 20180144423) in view of Gidugu et al., “hereinafter Gidugu” (U.S. Patent Application: 20140101068) and further in view of Zhao et al., “hereinafter Zhao”( U.S. Patent Application: 20150312362). As per Claim 1, BALHARITH discloses a communication system comprising: a first server device that accepts communication data sent from a first terminal device, transmits the communication data to a second terminal device, and accepts a second server device that accepts communication data sent from the first terminal device (BALHARITH, Para.70, the student may submit a reading/listening status via the student interface. The student submission may be validated by a guardian. For example, once the student submits the reading status, the guardian is notified. At this point, the server 102 may request from the guardian, via the school communication platform or by sending a wireless alert to the guardian (i.e., email, text, etc.), authentication before proceeding to update the reading status in the user log. The guardian can authenticate by entering a special pin code not known to the student to validate that the reading/listening status submitted by the student. Once the authentication information has been received by the server 102, the CPU 1500 proceeds to update the status of the reading/listening task based on what the student has entered or based on what information the guardian entered or a combination thereof. [the student device can be interpreted as first terminal device, the parent device can be interpreted as the second terminal device and the server can accept communication data from the student device and the parent device]); however BALHARITH does not disclose a second server device that accepts communication data sent from the first terminal, makes the communication data viewable from the second terminal device, but does not accept communication data from the second terminal device; and transmission of communication data from the first terminal device being switchable between transmission from the first terminal device to the first server device and transmission from the first terminal device to the second server device. Gidugu discloses a second server device that accepts communication data sent from the first terminal, makes the communication data viewable from the second terminal device, but does not accept communication data from the second terminal device (Gidugu, Para.45, the system 16 can enable parents to monitor their children's performance on assignments and assessments. Indeed, parents can also obtain a complete analysis of the time spent by their children in various activities such as reading materials, assessments, e-classroom, and chat sessions with other students and teachers, Para.123, techniques described herein also provide for a dashboard where the student awards and achievements, monthly progress reports may be updated. Such an approach provides good source for parents to see their children status and can also compare with others. Additionally, the system may provide an interface where students can be given information about artistic events held at school and competitions held at other campuses for the academic year. The system may also enable students, teachers and management were to add comments and update information to for viewing by a main administrator, as well as to update any other important information about the event. All these changes can be updated in the event calendar.[the students and the teacher transmit data while the parent device can only view the progress report]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in BALHARITH with the teachings as in Gidugu. The motivation for implementing a system which may include numerous features such as an easy-to-access course material interface, an informative reporting system, student-to-student and student-to-teacher communication tools, an e-classroom, assessment reminders and more. Additionally, the system can enable parents to monitor their children's performance on assignments and assessments. Indeed, parents can also obtain a complete analysis of the time spent by their children in various activities such as reading materials, assessments, e-classroom, and chat sessions with other students and teachers. (Gidugu, Para.45). However BALHARITH, Gidugu do not teach transmission of communication data from the first terminal device being switchable between transmission from the first terminal device to the first server device and transmission from the first terminal device to the second server device. (Zhao discloses transmission of communication data from the first terminal device being switchable between transmission from the first terminal device to the first server device and transmission from the first terminal device to the second server device (Zhao, Para.110, the method for switching a delivery server of an application according to quality of service information. Moreover, this embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a method for switching a proxy server according to a network connection failure rate, which may specifically be as follows: selecting an executing proxy server in advance from proxy servers; acquiring a network connection failure rate of the executing proxy server according to a predefined second detection period;). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in BALHARITH, Gidugu with the teachings as in Zhao. The motivation for judging, according to a predefined judging rule, whether the quality of service information meets a requirement; and if the requirement is met, retaining the delivery executing server unchanged; otherwise, setting another delivery server of the application as a delivery executing server; (Zhao, Para.08). As per Claim 2, the modified BALHARITH discloses the communication system as defined in Claim 1, wherein: However BALHARITH, Gidugu do not teach the transmission of communication data from the first terminal device to the first server device and the transmission of communication data from the first terminal device to the second server device is switched based on server selection information which is set in the first terminal device. Zhao teaches the transmission of communication data from the first terminal device to the first server device and the transmission of communication data from the first terminal device to the second server device is switched based on server selection information which is set in the first terminal device (Zhao, Para.110, the method for switching a delivery server of an application according to quality of service information. Moreover, this embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a method for switching a proxy server according to a network connection failure rate, which may specifically be as follows: selecting an executing proxy server in advance from proxy servers; acquiring a network connection failure rate of the executing proxy server according to a predefined second detection period;). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in BALHARITH, Gidugu with the teachings as in Zhao. The motivation for judging, according to a predefined judging rule, whether the quality of service information meets a requirement; and if the requirement is met, retaining the delivery executing server unchanged; otherwise, setting another delivery server of the application as a delivery executing server; (Zhao, Para.08). As per Claim 4, the modified BALHARITH discloses the communication system as defined in Claim 1, wherein: In case that the first server device accepts new communication data sent from the first terminal device, the first server device sends the new communication data to the second terminal device in response to accepting the new communication data (BALHARITH, Para.70, the student may submit a reading/listening status via the student interface. The student submission may be validated by a guardian. For example, once the student submits the reading status, the guardian is notified. At this point, the server 102 may request from the guardian, via the school communication platform or by sending a wireless alert to the guardian (i.e., email, text, etc.), authentication before proceeding to update the reading status in the user log. The guardian can authenticate by entering a special pin code not known to the student to validate that the reading/listening status submitted by the student. Once the authentication information has been received by the server 102, the CPU 1500 proceeds to update the status of the reading/listening task based on what the student has entered or based on what information the guardian entered or a combination thereof, Para.50, The student ranking generation may be triggered at step S406. The student ranking may be generated at predetermined times (e.g., each day, each month) or may be triggered based on an event (e.g., availability of new test scores, receiving a request from a guardian, teacher, or administrator).) and In case that the second server device accepts new communication data sent from the first terminal device, the second server device notifies the second terminal device of the new communication data in response to a request from the second terminal device (Gidugu, Para.45, the system 16 can enable parents to monitor their children's performance on assignments and assessments. Indeed, parents can also obtain a complete analysis of the time spent by their children in various activities such as reading materials, assessments, e-classroom, and chat sessions with other students and teachers, Para.123, techniques described herein also provide for a dashboard where the student awards and achievements, monthly progress reports may be updated. Such an approach provides good source for parents to see their children status and can also compare with others. Additionally, the system may provide an interface where students can be given information about artistic events held at school and competitions held at other campuses for the academic year. The system may also enable students, teachers and management were to add comments and update information to for viewing by a main administrator, as well as to update any other important information about the event. All these changes can be updated in the event calendar, Para.55, teachers are able to create a new course, which may involve providing basic information such as course name, class name, subject, academic year, completion date and description. Additionally, the teacher can edit, delete and define different marking periods for the course, wherein the marking period may indicate the time line defined based on an associated academic curriculum.). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in BALHARITH with the teachings as in Gidugu. The motivation for implementing a system which may include numerous features such as an easy-to-access course material interface, an informative reporting system, student-to-student and student-to-teacher communication tools, an e-classroom, assessment reminders and more. Additionally, the system can enable parents to monitor their children's performance on assignments and assessments. Indeed, parents can also obtain a complete analysis of the time spent by their children in various activities such as reading materials, assessments, e-classroom, and chat sessions with other students and teachers. (Gidugu, Para.45). Allowable Subject Matter Claim 3 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NORMIN ABEDIN whose telephone number is (571)270-5970. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm. 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, Vivek Srivastava can be reached at 5712727304. 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. /NORMIN ABEDIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2449
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 13, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 13, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Mar 02, 2026
Interview Requested
Mar 12, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Mar 19, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Mar 31, 2026
Response Filed

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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
84%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+10.2%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 426 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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