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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 follows.
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. Independent claims 1, 8, and 15 recite computing respective cumulative data carrying capacities, computing a cumulative capacity comparison value, comparing the cumulative capacity comparison value with at least a subset of the cumulative data carrying capacities, and selecting a specific network path.
Other than reciting a system, computing devices, computer readable media, first and second network nodes, and hardware logic, nothing in the claims precludes the steps from practically being performed in the mind or using mathematics or both.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claims recite the aforementioned elements at a high-level of generality, amounting to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. “[O]ver which to forward the received network packet from the first network node towards the second network node” is merely an intended use.
Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Therefore, the claims are directed towards an abstract idea.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As aforementioned regarding the failure to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. Mere instructions to apply an exception using generic computer components cannot provide an inventive concept.
The dependent claims merely set forth additional details of the abstract idea and also fail to recite additional elements sufficient to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amounting to significantly more than the judicial exception. Therefore, claims 1-21 are patent ineligible.
N.B. As suggested during the interview on February 12, 2026, adding the operation of using the selected network path to forward the received network packet from the first network node towards the second network node as in step 414 of Figure 4Awould integrate the abstract idea into a practical application and overcome the aforementioned rejection.
Other Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the instant disclosure. For example, US 20190028382 optimizes packet flow among virtualized servers (¶ 0001).
Conclusion
Any response to this Office action containing amended or newly presented claims should specifically point out support in the original disclosure for the new or amended claims. See MPEP § 714.02 and § 2163.06 (“Applicant should specifically point out the support for any amendments made to the disclosure.”).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lance Leonard Barry whose telephone number is (571) 272-5856. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 730-1630.
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/LANCE LEONARD BARRY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2457
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