Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/991,261

TIMEOUT PERIOD FOR REJECTED AUTHENTICATION REQUESTS

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Dec 20, 2024
Examiner
LIPMAN, JACOB
Art Unit
2434
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Charter Communications Operating LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 3m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allowance Rate
667 granted / 802 resolved
+25.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+12.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
824
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.2%
-38.8% vs TC avg
§103
67.2%
+27.2% vs TC avg
§102
19.6%
-20.4% vs TC avg
§112
2.4%
-37.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 802 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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. 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. Claims 1-4, 6, 8-11, 13, and 15-18, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Landais et al., USPN 2016/0323774. With regard to claims 1, 8, 15, and 17, Landais discloses a wireless network (0001) including a memory, and at least one processor, coupled to the memory (0171) and operative to cause the wireless network to receive at least one authentication request from a user equipment (UE) (0009, 0020, 0042), determine whether to accept or reject the at least one authentication request (0009, 0020, 0052-0054), and upon rejecting a specified number of authentication requests (0008, 0020, 0052-0054, 0110), at least one of (i) transmit a timeout message to the UE to instruct the UE to refrain from transmitting subsequent authentication requests for a timeout period corresponding to a specified timeout duration (0019, 0052-0055, 0082-0083) and (ii) establish a local timeout period corresponding to the specified timeout duration during which the local network drops the subsequent authentication requests received from the UE (0022, 0062, 0052-0055, 0110). With regard to claims 2 and 9, Landais discloses the network for claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the specified number is one (0009, 0020, 0052-0054, 0110). With regard to claims 3 and 10, Landais discloses the network for claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the wireless network is configured to transmit the timeout message to the UE to instruct the UE to refrain from transmitting the subsequent authentication requests for the timeout period corresponding to the specified timeout duration (0019, 0052-0055, 0082-0083). With regard to claims 4, 11, 16, and 18, Landais discloses the network for claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the timeout duration is explicitly specified in the timeout message (0019, 0052-0055, 0082-0083). With regard to claims 6 and 13, Landais discloses the network for claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the wireless network is configured to establish the local timeout period corresponding to the specified timeout duration during which the wireless network drops the subsequent authentication requests received from the UE (0022, 0062, 0052-0055, 0110). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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. 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 5, 7, 12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Landais in view of Milton, USPN 2024/0056806. With regard to claims 5, 7, 12, and 14, Landais discloses the network for claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the wireless network includes an entitlement server (TWAN, 0042-0044, 0050, 0011, Fig. 1), an Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) server (0042-0044, 0050), and a Home Subscriber Server / Unified Data Management (HSS/UDM) server (0042-0044, 0050), wherein the entitlement server is configured to receive and forward the authentication request from the UE to the AAA server (Fig. 1), the AAA server is configured to receive and forward the authentication request from the entitlement server to the HSS/UDM server (Fig. 1), the AAA server is configured generate and forward the timeout message to the entitlement server (0091), and the entitlement server is configured to transmit the timeout message to the UE (Fig. 1), and further discloses initiating a timeout when credential authentication fails to avoid congestion (0072-0074), but does not disclose the HSS/UDM server is configured to receive and determine whether to accept or reject the authentication request and, upon determining to reject the authentication request, forward an authentication rejection to the AAA server. Milton discloses a system of WLAN authenticating through an AAA (0025-0030), similar to that of Landais, and further discloses the HSS/UDM server is configured to receive and determine whether to accept or reject the authentication request and, upon determining to reject the authentication request, forward an authentication rejection to the AAA server (0059-0062). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the instant effective filing date, to implement the HSS authentication of Milton to perform UE authentication in the system of Landais, for the motivation of improved authentication, centralized authentication, and centralized control of the system. References Cited Jensen, USPN 2004/0230843, discloses a system of initiating a timeout after a failed authentication (0042). Bonn et al., USPN 11,576,048, discloses initiating a timeout when credentials fail in order to reduce network congestion (abstract). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB LIPMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3837. The examiner can normally be reached 5:30AM-6:00PM. 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, Ali Shayanfar can be reached at 571-270-1050. 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. /JACOB LIPMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2434
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 20, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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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
83%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+12.6%)
2y 10m (~1y 3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 802 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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