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
This action is in response to application filed 05/28/2026.
Claims 2-21 are pending in this application.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 05/28/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of US Patent Number 12,149,417 B2 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Double Patenting
The Double Patenting rejection presented on the previous office action is withdrawn in view of the Terminal Disclaimer filed and approved on 05/28/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 05/28/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 2-21 under 35 USC 103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 35 USC 112(b). The amended claim language for claim 2 recites, “a network” in lines 9-10. It is not clear as to whether “a network” is the same as “a communication network” recited in line 4. The same reason applies for claim 12.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation “…receiving, by the communication device, an idle period forecasting model from one or more computers over a communication network…” in lines 3-4. Claim 2 subsequently recites “…the one or more client devices send and receive network traffic over a network through the communication device" in lines 8-10. However, claim 2 further recites that “…the feature data indicates amounts of network traffic over the communication network over time for the one or more network connections provided by the communication device to the one or more client devices…” in lines 15-17.
It is unclear whether “the communication network” in lines 15-17 refers to the previously recited communication network over which the communication device receives the idle period forecasting model from the one or more computes, or whether “the communication network” is intendent to refer to the separately recited “a network” over which the client devices send and receive network traffic through the communication device. Therefore, claim 2 is indefinite because it is unclear whether the network over which the feature data indicates amounts of network traffic is the network used to receive idle period forecasting model, the network through which the client devices send and receive network traffic, or whether the two recited networks are intended to be the same network. Appropriate correction is required.
Regarding claim 12, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth with respect to claim 2.
Dependent claims 3-11 and 13-21 are rejected by their dependencies from claims 2 and 12, respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-21 are allowable over the prior art, but rejected under 35 USC 112 (b).
Additional References
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicants disclosure.
Paralikar, US 2021/0182046 A1: Systems and Methods for Machine Learning based Equipment Maintenance Scheduling.
Ukil et al., US 2024/0096492 A1: Method and System for Evaluating Clinical Efficacy of Multi-Label Multi-Class Computational Diagnostic Models.
Sethi et al., US 2022/0391722 A1: Reducing Impact of Collecting System State Information.
Penar et al., US 2019/0334785 A1: Forecasting Underutilization of a Computing Resource.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/J.C.T/Examiner, Art Unit 2454
/RACHEL J HACKENBERG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2454