Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/931,334

Network Flow Service

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Oct 30, 2024
Examiner
HOANG, HIEU T
Art Unit
2449
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
ORACLE INTERNATIONAL Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 2m
Est. Remaining
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allowance Rate
524 granted / 648 resolved
+22.9% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
11 currently pending
Career history
663
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
11.0%
-29.0% vs TC avg
§103
48.2%
+8.2% vs TC avg
§102
11.4%
-28.6% vs TC avg
§112
18.6%
-21.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 648 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 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. This office action is in response to the communication filed on 5/21/2026. Claims 1-20 are pending. Election/Restrictions Claims 5-11, 14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 05/21/2026. Claims 1-4, 12, 13, 15-20 are examined. 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. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1-4, 12, 13, 15-20 is/are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aguayo et al. (US 2013/0182712, “Aguayo”). As to claim 1, Aguayo discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium ([0080]-[0081]) comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, causes performance of operations comprising: receiving a high-level connectivity description comprising a plurality of entities and a plurality of flows that each represent connectivity between two or more entities in the plurality of entities (fig. 4A, [0034], [0067], user input config information for a router participation in a VPN, or flows to/from the router to other VPN devices); based on the high-level connectivity description: deriving, by a system-executed process, a system-derived network configuration; applying the system-derived network configuration to configure a plurality of resources, corresponding to the plurality of entities, in a cloud network environment (fig. 4A, [0034], [0035], [0059], automatically calculated VPN config information, such as VPN ID for router, VPN IDs for VPN peers, addresses of IP registry servers, tunnel keys for each VPN peer pair, VPN peer subnet route table); after a modification, addition, or removal of a first resource in the cloud network environment (fig. 7B, [0067], [0068], new or modified VLAN settings including user-specified subnet), modifying the system-derived network configuration to (a) maintain consistency with the high-level connectivity description and (b) account for the modification, addition, or removal the first resource in the cloud network environment, wherein modifying the system-derived network configuration results in a generation of a modified system-derived network configuration (fig. 7B, [0068], check if the subnet is non-overlap by referencing a VPN peer subnet route table, and update resources (VPN peer subnet route table)); and applying the modified system-derived network configuration to at least a second resource in the cloud network environment (fig. 7B, [0068], check if the subnet is non-overlap, and update resources (VPN ID, VPN peer IDs, VPN peer subnet route table, peer pair keys). As to claim 2, Aguayo discloses modifying the system-derived network configuration to (a) maintain consistency with the high-level connectivity description and (b) account for the modification, addition, or removal the first resource in the cloud network environment comprises: identifying an addition of a new subnet to the first resource; determining that the second resource is associated with the first resource; updating a security list rule at the second resource to allow traffic from the new subnet; and modifying a route table at the second resource to include routes to the new subnet ([0067], [0068], after adding or modifying subnets from existing VPN, check if the subnet is non-overlap by referencing a VPN peer subnet route table, and update resources (VPN ID, VPN peer IDs, VPN peer subnet route table, peer pair keys). As to claim 3, Aguayo discloses modifying the system-derived network configuration to (a) maintain consistency with the high-level connectivity description and (b) account for the modification, addition, or removal the first resource in the cloud network environment comprises: identifying an addition of a new entity instance with a label matching an entity in the high-level connectivity description, wherein the modified system-derived network configuration includes security list rules (fig. 4A, tunnel keys for routers in the VPN) and route table entries to enable connectivity between the new entity instance and the second resource (fig. 4A, VPN peer subnet route table), and wherein applying the modified system-derived network configuration facilitates bidirectional communication between the second resource and the new entity instance (fig. 8D, VLAN ID, name for the subnet, fig. 4A, a label is an ID of the router being modified or added such as VPN ID, VPN IDs of peers, automatically configuration is generated including tunnel keys for peer pairs, VPN peer subnet route table, [0035], [0050], upstream, [0071], [0072], downstream). As to claim 4, Aguayo discloses the operations further comprise updating a gateway to accommodate traffic to the new entity instance ([0023], [0068], updating VPN peer subnet route table at each router/gateway). As to claim 12, Aguayo discloses the system-derived network configuration includes port numbers, security lists and route rules for the plurality of resources (fig. 4A, 4B). As to claim 13, Aguayo discloses the system-executed process comprises a deterministic process ([0059], a process of automatically calculating VPN configuration information that is based on user configuration information and current VPN information and is not random). Claims 15-17 recite a method performed by at least one device including a hardware processor, the method comprising steps in claims 1-3. The claims are therefore rejected for the same rationale in claims 1-3. Claims 18-20 recite a system comprising at least one device including a hardware processor ([0080]-[0081]), the system configured to perform operations in claims 1-3. The claims are therefore rejected for the same rationale in claims 1-3. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is included in form PTO 892. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIEU T HOANG whose telephone number is (571) 270-1253. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9 AM -5 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 on 571-272-7304. 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. /HIEU T HOANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2449
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 30, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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COMMUNICATION NETWORK SYSTEM
1y 6m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12732483
INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND SERVER
2y 0m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12719786
LAYER-2 NETWORKING SPAN PORT IN A VIRTUALIZED CLOUD ENVIRONMENT
3y 0m to grant Granted Aug 25, 2026
Patent 12706840
LAYER-2 NETWORKING INFORMATION IN A VIRTUALIZED CLOUD ENVIRONMENT
2y 2m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12695724
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FLOW CLASSIFICATION IN MULTITENANT VPN NETWORKS
3y 4m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
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
81%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+16.3%)
3y 1m (~1y 2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 648 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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