Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 17/593,717

Network Based Paging False Alarm Mitigation

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Sep 23, 2021
Priority
Jul 21, 2020 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2020103311
Examiner
MAPA, MICHAEL Y
Art Unit
2645
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
5 (Non-Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allowance Rate
521 granted / 732 resolved
+9.2% vs TC avg
Strong +28% interview lift
Without
With
+27.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
28 currently pending
Career history
773
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
§103
95.7%
+55.7% vs TC avg
§102
1.7%
-38.3% vs TC avg
§112
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 732 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/16/26 has been entered. Response to Amendment The applicant has amended the following: Claims: 14, 21 and 28 have been amended. Claims: 15-18, 22-25, 29-32 have not been amended. Claims: 1-13, 19-20, 26-27 and 33-35 have been cancelled. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a): (a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112: The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Claims 14-18, 21-25 and 28-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Independent claims 14, 21 and 28 has been amended to recite, inter alia, the limitations of “… wherein a default DRX paging cycle for each of the plurality of UEs in the paging area is configured by a radio resource control (RRC) process and a UE-specific DRX paging cycle for each of the plurality of UEs in the paging area, wherein the paging DRX cycle for each of the plurality of UEs is configured by access stratum (AS) signaling when a core network of the network initiates paging; …” which indicates that the “default DRX paging cycle” is configured utilizing two conditions being the recited “RRC process” and the recited “UE-specific DRX paging cycle”. However, a review of the applicant’s specification fails to show any teaching or disclosure of a default DRX paging cycle is configured utilizing a UE-specific DRX paging cycle. The closest teaching or disclosure in the applicant’s specification is found on paragraph [0052] that recites “In some embodiments, the network 100 may configure the UEs 110 such that different UEs use one of three different types of paging DRX cycles: 1.) a default DRX cycle configured by RRC; 2.) a UE-specific DRX cycle configured by the non-access stratum (NAS) signaling; or 3.) a RAN DRX cycle configured by RRC.” which at most only shows the configuration of the claimed “default DRX cycle” via “an RRC process” but does not disclose the “UE-specific DRX cycle” being utilized or involved in any way in the configuration of the “default DRX cycle” during the “RRC process” and as such, the applicant’s amended limitations are directed towards new matter and are therefore rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. Claims 15-18, 22-25 and 29-32 are dependent from Independent claim 14 and Independent claim 21 and Independent claim 28 and are therefore subject to the same rejection for the same reasons as indicated above. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 14-18, 21-25 and 28-32 are currently under a 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph rejection as indicated above, but would be allowable if applicant overcomes the 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph rejection by providing adequate support that the applicant’s original filed disclosure shows a “default DRX paging cycle” is configured utilizing two conditions being the recited “RRC process” and the recited “UE-specific DRX paging cycle”. Claims 14-18, 21-25 and 28-32 are found to be allowable because the closest prior art found of SAKHNINI et al. (US Patent Publication 2021/0392614) and Kilpatrick, ll et al. (US Patent Publication 2015/0163639) and Takahashi et al. (US Patent Publication 2021/0306986) fails to disclose, teach or suggest either alone or render obvious in a combined teachings of the prior art, the uniquely distinct features of “… wherein a default DRX paging cycle for each of the plurality of UEs in the paging area is configured by a radio resource control (RRC) process and a UE-specific DRX paging cycle for each of the plurality of UEs in the paging area, wherein the paging DRX cycle for each of the plurality of UEs is configured by access stratum (AS) signaling when a core network of the network initiates paging; …” in the specific order, structure and combination of limitations together as a whole as recited, inter alia, by the independent claim 14 and independent claim 21 and independent claim 28 of the claimed invention. The dependent claims are found to be allowable based on their dependency on the allowed independent claims and for the same reasons as indicated above. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL Y MAPA whose telephone number is (571)270-5540. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday: 10 AM - 8 PM EST. 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, Anthony Addy can be reached at (571) 272 - 7795. 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. /MICHAEL Y MAPA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 4 earlier events
Jan 17, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 21, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 11, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
May 12, 2025
Response Filed
Jul 17, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §112
Jan 16, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 30, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 04, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (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

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+27.5%)
2y 10m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 732 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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