Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 17/404,776

USER EQUIPMENT INVOLVED IN MEASUREMENT REPORTING AND HANDOVERS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 17, 2021
Priority
Feb 22, 2019 — EU 19158914.2 +1 more
Examiner
TORRES, MARCOS L
Art Unit
2647
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
OA Round
7 (Non-Final)
67%
Grant Probability
Favorable
7-8
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
79%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 67% — above average
67%
Career Allowance Rate
471 granted / 701 resolved
+5.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 4m
Avg Prosecution
35 currently pending
Career history
751
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
87.6%
+47.6% vs TC avg
§102
6.2%
-33.8% vs TC avg
§112
4.1%
-35.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 701 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 . Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on [ 1 ] has been entered. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed 8-14-2025 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. The rest of the augments they fall for the same reasons as shown above. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim(s) 1-3, 5-6, 13 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pu 20160381610 in view of Blasiak 6108538 further in view of Park 20180279193. As to claim 1, Pu discloses a terminal [102-106, 300], comprising: processing circuitry, which in operation, performs a power-related measurement on at least one radio cell and generates a measurement result based on the performed power-related measurement on at least one radio cell of a network, and generates a measurement results based on the performed power-related measurements [step 206] (see par. 0051-0053), a transmitter, which in operation, in response to at least one reporting trigger condition being fulfilled, reports measurement result generated by the processing circuitry (see par. 0021, 0036, 0039), wherein the processing circuitry, in operation, in response to a conditional handover command message received from a base station: determines whether a measurement-based conditional handover trigger condition is satisfied based on a first threshold and results of measurements performed by the processing circuitry (see par. 0036-0039, 0113), and performs a conditional handover based on at least one of the determination of whether the measurement-based conditional handover trigger condition is satisfied and the determination of whether the location-based conditional handover trigger condition is satisfied (see par. 0023, 0112-0119). Pu fails to disclose non-terrestrial radio carrier. In an analogous art, Blasiak discloses a non-terrestrial network (NTN) (see fig. 1), determines whether a location-based conditional handover trigger condition is satisfied based on position information [508] (see col. 8, lines 43-55). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to add a non-terrestrial radio carrier combine to Pu for the simple purpose of extending the coverage of the communications and avoid dead spots. Please note all handovers depend on conditions, and from a plurality of determinations made by the terminal base station. If the conditional handover command is going to be interpreted as a handover command that include conditions for execution for the UE to determine, then in an analogous art, Park discloses a conditional handover command message received from a base station: determines whether a measurement-based conditional handover trigger condition is satisfied based on a first threshold and results of measurements performed by the processing circuitry [a source base station may transmit a handover command, to a wireless device, indicating a handover execution condition for a handover] [1710] (see par. 0271, 0288); performs a conditional handover based on at least one of the determination of whether the measurement-based conditional handover trigger condition is satisfied and the determination of whether the location-based conditional handover trigger condition is satisfied [1720-1740] (see par. 0288-0290). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to combine the teachings for the simple purpose of assuring that the handoff met all the conditions; thereby, allowing a dependable smooth handoff between cells. As to claim 2, Pu discloses the terminal according to claim 1, the processing circuitry, in operation, applies at least one positive or negative power offset to the at least one reporting trigger condition, and wherein the processing circuitry, in operation, determines the offset from configuration information received from a serving base station to which the terminal is connected, or determines the offset based on the difference between the generated measurement result and a previously generated measurement result, or wherein one offset is determined for a serving radio cell and another offset is determined for a neighbor radio cell, or wherein one offset is determined for each of the at least one reporting trigger condition (see par. 0037-0040, 0054). As to claim 3, Pu discloses the terminal according to claim 1, the processing circuitry, in operation, determines a difference between the generated measurement result and a previously generated measurement result, and applies the determined difference to the generated measurement result to generate adjusted measurement result [determining such as increasing or decreasing, slope, etc.], wherein the processing circuitry determines whether or not to report the measurement result based on the at least one report trigger condition and the adjusted measurement results (see par. 0047-0048, 0050, 0133-0135). As to claim 5, Pu discloses the terminal according to claim 1, wherein the measurement results are usable [claiming the possibility not a requirement] by a serving base station, to which the terminal is connected, to determine whether to initiate the procedure to handover the terminal from its current serving radio cell, controlled by the serving base station, to another radio cell, and the at least one trigger condition is configured such that it is fulfilled when an initiation of a procedure to handover the terminal from the current serving radio cell to another cell could be [claiming the possibility not a requirement] decided by the serving base station (see par. 0030-0033). As to claim 6, Pu discloses the terminal according to claim 1, comprising a receiver [304] (see par. 0058-0060), which in operation, receives the conditional handover command message, wherein the conditional handover command message comprises at least one handover accept condition to be fulfilled for the terminal to perform the handover [a serving base station may render a decision to perform a handover] (see par. 0031-0032), and wherein the processing circuitry, in operation, determines whether the handover accept condition is fulfilled, and in case the handover accept condition is fulfilled, performs a handover according to the received conditional handover command message [handover complete] (see par. 0031, 0042). Regarding claim 13 is the corresponding method claim of device claim 1. Therefore, claim 13 is rejected for the same reason as shown above. Regarding claim 20 is the corresponding integrated circuit claim of device claim 1. Therefore, claim 20 is rejected for the same reason as shown above. Claim(s) 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pu in view of Blasiak and Park, further in view of Xu 20160205600. As to claim 21, the previous references disclose everything as explained above except for wherein the position information indicates a position of the terminal with respect to a cell edge. In an analogous art, Xu discloses wherein the position information indicates a position of the terminal with respect to a cell edge (see par. 0177). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to combine the teachings to have a reliable handover and avoiding service interruptions. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCOS L TORRES whose telephone number is (571)272-7926. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM M-F. 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, Alison Slater can be reached on (571)270-0375. 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. MARCOS L. TORRES Primary Examiner Art Unit 2647 /MARCOS L TORRES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 17 earlier events
Oct 27, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Dec 22, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 27, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 27, 2026
Notice of Allowance
Feb 19, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 26, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Mar 27, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 11, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §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

7-8
Expected OA Rounds
67%
Grant Probability
79%
With Interview (+11.4%)
3y 4m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 701 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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