Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Networking & Security
11 pending office actions • 8 art units • 10 examiners • 0 of 11 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 23 patents granted in the last 365 days
F5 Inc. has 11 pending office actions in the Networking & Security technology area. These cases are spread across 8 distinct art units, indicating a varied focus within the networking sector. The portfolio is managed by 10 distinct examiners, meaning that almost every pending action is being reviewed by a different individual. This high ratio of examiners to cases suggests a decentralized prosecution landscape.
Barker, Todd L is the busiest examiner with 2 pending office actions. This is the only instance of examiner overlap in the current portfolio of 11 pending office actions. With 10 distinct examiners and 8 distinct art units, the prosecution strategy must be highly individualized for each of the pending office actions. Practitioners should be prepared to navigate 8 different art unit environments, each with its own specific examination standards.
Based on the USPTO statutory response window for each pending office action. 5 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date; the rest are excluded from the tile counts.
Every pending office action with a known statutory deadline, placed on a days-until-due axis. Dots left of Today are overdue; the further right, the more runway. Cases that share a deadline window stack vertically. 5 of the docket's apps have a known mailing date.
Difficulty is derived from the rejection statutes on the most recent pending office action. §101-driven and multi-statute cases are graded Hard; §112-only and obviousness-type double-patenting cases are graded Easy; everything else is Medium. "Unknown" means we have not yet parsed a statute for that office action.
| Bucket | Cases |
|---|---|
| §101 + other | 1 (9%) |
| §103 only | 8 (73%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 2 (18%) |
How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.
Manual office-action response work runs about 10 hours per case. The time-saved bands below show what IP Author's prosecution pipeline typically delivers — a conservative 20% on the low end, 35% in the middle, 50% on the high end.
| Examiner | Apps on this docket | Allow rate | Interview lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| BARKER, TODD L | 2 | 75.7% | +23.1% |
| SHEPPERD, ERIC W | 1 | 77.8% | +34.4% |
| MCFARLAND-BARNES, KELAH JANAE | 1 | 80.0% | +8.3% |
| BECHTEL, KEVIN M | 1 | 70.5% | +61.3% |
| AHMED, MAHABUB S | 1 | 84.7% | +9.5% |
| TOLENTINO, RODERICK | 1 | 77.6% | +35.2% |
| FAAL, BABOUCARR | 1 | 80.6% | +14.3% |
| BROWN, CHRISTOPHER J | 1 | 75.6% | +12.6% |
| ASRES, HERMON | 1 | 80.7% | +18.3% |
| KONG, ALAN LINGQIAN | 1 | 80.4% | +34.3% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 5 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18146082 | METHODS FOR MIGRATING PRIVATE HARDWARE SECURITY KEYS AND DEVICES THEREOF | KONG, ALAN LINGQIAN | 28d overdue |
| 18375145 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK OPTIMIZATION BY EXTENDING NEAR-RT AND NON-RT RIC FUNCTIONALITY FOR O-CLOUD OPTIMIZATION AND MANAGEMENT | FAAL, BABOUCARR | 5d |
| 18895773 | PREVENTING AN UNAUTHORIZED VIRTUAL MACHINE FROM ACCESSING A VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK | MCFARLAND-BARNES, KELAH JANAE | — |
| 18758550 | METHODS AND DEVICES FOR ENHANCING SECURITY PROTECTION FOR A NETWORK SERVICE DEVICE | AHMED, MAHABUB S | — |
| 18374466 | METHODS FOR CONTROLLING NETWORK TRAFFIC WITH A SUBSCRIBER-AWARE DISAGGREGATOR AND METHODS THEREOF | ASRES, HERMON | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 3 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18887613 | METHODS FOR PROTECTING RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE TO A DEVICE CONNECTED VIA AN AUTHORIZED DEVICE OPERATING AS A HOTSPOT | BECHTEL, KEVIN M | 24d overdue |
| 19245145 | METHODS FOR ALLOCATING A TRAFFIC LOAD AND DEVICES THEREOF | BARKER, TODD L | — |
| 18614893 | METHODS FOR ALLOCATING A TRAFFIC LOAD AND DEVICES THEREOF | BARKER, TODD L | — |
Cases in front of an examiner whose interview lift is 10 percentage points or more — i.e. interviewed cases historically resolve more favorably than non-interviewed ones. The top 8 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18393294 | METHODS FOR CAPTURING RECONNAISSANCE TRAFFIC | TOLENTINO, RODERICK | 35d overdue |
| 18146082 | METHODS FOR MIGRATING PRIVATE HARDWARE SECURITY KEYS AND DEVICES THEREOF | KONG, ALAN LINGQIAN | 28d overdue |
| 18887613 | METHODS FOR PROTECTING RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE TO A DEVICE CONNECTED VIA AN AUTHORIZED DEVICE OPERATING AS A HOTSPOT | BECHTEL, KEVIN M | 24d overdue |
| 18375145 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK OPTIMIZATION BY EXTENDING NEAR-RT AND NON-RT RIC FUNCTIONALITY FOR O-CLOUD OPTIMIZATION AND MANAGEMENT | FAAL, BABOUCARR | 5d |
| 18375027 | METHODS FOR SECURITY CONTROL AND DEVICES THEREOF | BROWN, CHRISTOPHER J | 22d |
| 19245145 | METHODS FOR ALLOCATING A TRAFFIC LOAD AND DEVICES THEREOF | BARKER, TODD L | — |
| 19219987 | DETECTING MALICIOUS DNS REQUESTS USING MACHINE LEARNING | SHEPPERD, ERIC W | — |
| 18614893 | METHODS FOR ALLOCATING A TRAFFIC LOAD AND DEVICES THEREOF | BARKER, TODD L | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 2449 | 2 |
| 2439 | 2 |
| 2447 | 1 |
| 2431 | 1 |
| 2491 | 1 |
| 2434 | 1 |
| 2138 | 1 |
| 2494 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19245145 | METHODS FOR ALLOCATING A TRAFFIC LOAD AND DEVICES THEREOF | BARKER, TODD L | 2447 | §102§103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Jun 20, 2025 |
| 19219987 | DETECTING MALICIOUS DNS REQUESTS USING MACHINE LEARNING | SHEPPERD, ERIC W | — | §103Other | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 27, 2025 |
| 18895773 | PREVENTING AN UNAUTHORIZED VIRTUAL MACHINE FROM ACCESSING A VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK | MCFARLAND-BARNES, KELAH JANAE | 2431 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 25, 2024 |
| 18887613 | METHODS FOR PROTECTING RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE TO A DEVICE CONNECTED VIA AN AUTHORIZED DEVICE OPERATING AS A HOTSPOT | BECHTEL, KEVIN M | 2491 | §101§103§112 | Final Rejection | 24d overdue | Pending | Sep 17, 2024 |
| 18758550 | METHODS AND DEVICES FOR ENHANCING SECURITY PROTECTION FOR A NETWORK SERVICE DEVICE | AHMED, MAHABUB S | 2434 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Jun 28, 2024 |
| 18614893 | METHODS FOR ALLOCATING A TRAFFIC LOAD AND DEVICES THEREOF | BARKER, TODD L | 2449 | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Mar 25, 2024 |
| 18393294 | METHODS FOR CAPTURING RECONNAISSANCE TRAFFIC | TOLENTINO, RODERICK | 2439 | §103 | Non-Final OA | 35d overdue | Pending | Dec 21, 2023 |
| 18375145 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK OPTIMIZATION BY EXTENDING NEAR-RT AND NON-RT RIC FUNCTIONALITY FOR O-CLOUD OPTIMIZATION AND MANAGEMENT | FAAL, BABOUCARR | 2138 | §103 | Final Rejection | 5d | Pending | Sep 29, 2023 |
| 18375027 | METHODS FOR SECURITY CONTROL AND DEVICES THEREOF | BROWN, CHRISTOPHER J | 2439 | §103 | Final Rejection | 22d | Pending | Sep 29, 2023 |
| 18374466 | METHODS FOR CONTROLLING NETWORK TRAFFIC WITH A SUBSCRIBER-AWARE DISAGGREGATOR AND METHODS THEREOF | ASRES, HERMON | 2449 | §103 | Final Rejection | — | Pending | Sep 28, 2023 |
| 18146082 | METHODS FOR MIGRATING PRIVATE HARDWARE SECURITY KEYS AND DEVICES THEREOF | KONG, ALAN LINGQIAN | 2494 | §103 | Final Rejection | 28d overdue | Pending | Dec 23, 2022 |
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