Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/988,789

DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD AND DATA TRANSMISSION APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 19, 2024
Priority
Apr 25, 2021 — CN 202110449956.X +2 more
Examiner
CADORNA, CHRISTOPHER PALACA
Art Unit
2444
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Guangzhou Shirui Electronics Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
67%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 8m
Est. Remaining
86%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 67% — above average
67%
Career Allowance Rate
155 granted / 232 resolved
+8.8% vs TC avg
Strong +20% interview lift
Without
With
+19.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
266
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.7%
-39.3% vs TC avg
§103
90.0%
+50.0% vs TC avg
§102
6.8%
-33.2% vs TC avg
§112
1.8%
-38.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 232 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 . Double Patenting The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969). A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13. The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer. Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over Claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 17/977,142. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because using either an Ethernet communication protocol or a Wi-Fi communication protocol are obvious Application No. 18/988,789 Application No. 17/977,142 A data transmission method, performed by a data transmission apparatus, wherein the method comprises: A data transmission method, performed by a data transmission apparatus, wherein the method comprises: receiving, by a first communication unit of the data transmission apparatus, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) request from an electronic apparatus; receiving, by a first communication unit of the data transmission apparatus, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) request from an electronic apparatus; sending the DHCP request to an interactive white board; sending the DHCP request to an interactive white board; receiving, from the interactive white board, an Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to the electronic apparatus by the interactive white board; receiving, from the interactive white board, an Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to the electronic apparatus by the interactive white board; sending the IP address to the electronic apparatus; sending the IP address to the electronic apparatus; acquiring media data from the electronic apparatus to the first communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol; acquiring media data from the electronic apparatus to the first communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol; establishing a communication connection relationship of Network Address Translation (NAT) between a first network port of the first communication unit and a second network port of a second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus; establishing a communication connection relationship of Network Address Translation (NAT) between a first network port of the first communication unit and a second network port of a second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus; sending the media data from the first communication unit to the second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using an Ethernet communication protocol; and sending the media data from the first communication unit to the second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using an Ethernet communication protocol; and sending the media data from the second communication unit to the interactive white board using the Ethernet communication protocol or a Wi-Fi communication protocol. sending the media data from the second communication unit to the interactive white board. 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 1-4, 7-9, 11-12, and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (US 20160112371 A1) in view of Venkataraman (US 20170031947 A1) and Fan et al. (US 20130058319 A1). Claim 1 Zhou teaches a data transmission method, performed by a data transmission apparatus, wherein the method comprises: receiving, by a first communication unit of the data transmission apparatus, a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) request from an electronic apparatus; (¶0051, receiving, by a forwarder or the data transmission apparatus, DHCP request for a user equipment) sending the DHCP request to an electronic device; (¶0056, sending by the forwarder the DHCP request to a DHCP service network element) receiving an Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to the electronic apparatus; (¶0056, and receiving a DHCP request response that includes an IP address allocated to the UE) sending the IP address to the electronic apparatus; (FIG. 3, ¶0060, sending an new IP address to the user equipment) However, Zhou does not explicitly teach an interactive white board; acquiring media data from the electronic apparatus to the first communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol; establishing a communication connection relationship of Network Address Translation (NAT) between a first network port of the first communication unit and a second network port of a second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus; sending the media data from the first communication unit to the second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using an Ethernet communication protocol; and sending the media data from the second communication unit to the interactive white board using the Ethernet communication protocol or a Wi-Fi communication protocol. From a related technology, Venkataraman teaches acquiring media data from an electronic apparatus to a first communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol; (FIG. 4, step 405, ¶0039, receiving media data by a first network communication device from a first remote computing device using a USB connection; FIG. 1B, multi-network communication box 162 being a first communication unit and remote computing device 164 being an electronic apparatus) and sending the media data from a first communication to an interactive white board (FIG. 4, step 415, ¶0045, sending the media data from the multi-network communication box 162 to an interactive white board 166, FIG. 1B) using the Ethernet communication protocol or (FIG. 6, ¶0058, connecting the multi-network communication box 608 to network 610, and therein Interactive Display 605, using Ethernet protocol) a Wi-Fi communication protocol. It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to at the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zhou with the teachings of Venkataraman in order to more effectively incorporate Zhou’s teachings into well known embodiments such as interactive network elements, such as an interactive white board. However, Venkataraman does not explicitly teach establishing a communication connection relationship of Network Address Translation (NAT) between a first network port of the first communication unit and a second network port of the second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus; sending the media data from the first communication unit to a second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using the Ethernet communication protocol. Fan teaches establishing a communication connection relationship of Network Address Translation (NAT) between a first network port of the first communication unit and a second network port of the second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus; (FIG. 6-7, establishing a communication relationship of NAT 114 between a communication unit USB host 110 and a second communication unit Ethernet 106; wherein the NAT relationship between them incorporates their respective network ports from data paths P5 and P6) and sending the media data from the first communication unit to a second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using the Ethernet communication protocol. (FIG. 7, Data Path 6, ¶0024, transmitting data from the USB host 110 to Ethernet 106) It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to at the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zhou in view of Venkataraman to incorporate the teachings of Fan wherein different communication units utilized well-known communications protocols and further establish connection between port of communication units using differing protocols in order to handle more and more networking applications that reduce power consumption and reserve computing power. (Fan, ¶0002-¶0003) Claim 2 Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan teach Claim 1, and further teach wherein the sending the media data from the second communication unit to the interactive white board using the Ethernet communication protocol is via an Ethernet router of the data transmission apparatus. (Fan, FIG. 7, Data Path 6, ¶0024, transmitting data from the USB host 110 to Ethernet 106, i.e. using Ethernet protocol and router apparatus) Claim 3 Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan teach Claim 1, and further teach wherein the first communication unit comprises a USB network card, the USB network card being connected to the electronic apparatus via a USB connection line. (Venkataraman, ¶0035, the multi-network communication box 300 comprising a USB port, FIG. 1A, ¶0022, the USB port being connected to wired home network 118) Claim 4 Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan teach Claim 3, and further teach wherein acquiring the media data from the electronic apparatus to the first communication unit of the data transmission apparatus comprises: receiving the media data sent by the electronic apparatus to the USB network card via the USB connection line. (Venkataraman, ¶0039, ¶0022, receiving the data via USB) Claims 7-9 are taught by Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan as described for Claims 1-3. Claim 11 Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan teach Claim 9, and further teach wherein before controlling the first communication unit to send the media data to the second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using the Ethernet communication protocol, the method further comprises: sending the media data from the electronic apparatus to the first communication unit via the USB connection line. (Venkataraman, ¶0039, ¶0022, receiving the data via USB) Claim 12 Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan teach Claim 7, and further teach further comprising: controlling the first communication unit to transmit data to the second communication unit of the data transmission apparatus using the Ethernet communication protocol by using the IP address. (Venkataraman, FIG. 7, Data Path 6, ¶0024, transmitting data from the USB host 110 to Ethernet 106 using the IP address) Claims 15-18 are taught by Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan as described for Claims 1-4. Claims 5-6, 13-14, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (US 20160112371 A1) in view of Venkataraman (US 20170031947 A1) and Fan et al. (US 20130058319 A1) and in further view of Grosskopf et al. (US 20150312275 A1). Claim 5 Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan teach Claim 1, and but does not explicitly teach wherein the second communication unit comprises a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication unit. From a related technology, Grosskopf teaches a communication unit comprises a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication unit. (¶0023, wherein the device is includes wi-fi) It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan to incorporate well-known networking techniques as described in Grosskopf in order to more efficiently utilize network resources. Claim 6 Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan teach Claim 1, and but does not explicitly teach wherein sending the DHCP request to the interactive white board comprises: sending the DHCP request to the interactive white board through a bridged Wi-Fi communication module. From a related technology, Grosskopf teaches sending request through a bridged Wi-Fi communication module.(¶0023, wherein the connection is via wi-fi; ¶0027 and ¶0055, using a DHCP to boot the interactive white board on connection) It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan to incorporate well-known networking techniques as described in Grosskopf in order to more efficiently utilize network resources. Claims 13-14 are taught by Zhou in view of Venkataraman, Fan, and Grosskopf as described for Claims 5-6 respectively. Claims 19-20 are taught by Zhou in view of Venkataraman, Fan, and Grosskopf as described for Claims 5-6 respectively. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (US 20160112371 A1) in view of Venkataraman (US 20170031947 A1) and Fan et al. (US 20130058319 A1) and in further view of Yu (US 20150339250 A1). Claim 10 Zhou in view of Venkataraman and Fan teach Claim 9, but does not explicitly teach wherein determining that the electronic apparatus is connected to the first communication unit of the data transmission apparatus comprises: detecting, through USB enumeration, that the electronic apparatus is connected to the USB network card of the data transmission apparatus via the USB connection line. From a related technology, Yu teaches detecting, through USB enumeration, that the electronic apparatus is connected to the USB network card of the data transmission apparatus via the USB connection line. (Yu, FIG. 2, ¶0041, detection circuit 270 determining the electronic apparatus being connected to the first communication unit, USB port 260) It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate connection detection technology utilized by Yu in order to more efficiently utilize network resources. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER PALACA CADORNA whose telephone number is (571)270-0584. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00-7:00. 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, John Follansbee can be reached at (571) 272-3964. 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. /CHRISTOPHER P CADORNA/Examiner, Art Unit 2444 /JOHN A FOLLANSBEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2444
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 19, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 17, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
67%
Grant Probability
86%
With Interview (+19.7%)
3y 3m (~1y 8m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 232 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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