Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 17/764,428

TERMINAL AND COMMUNICATION METHOD

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Mar 28, 2022
Priority
Oct 04, 2019 — nonprovisional of PCTJP2019039408
Examiner
NGUYEN, THUONG
Art Unit
2416
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
OA Round
6 (Non-Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
6-7
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allowance Rate
452 granted / 663 resolved
+10.2% vs TC avg
Strong +32% interview lift
Without
With
+32.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
4y 0m
Avg Prosecution
41 currently pending
Career history
724
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.3%
-33.7% vs TC avg
§103
84.8%
+44.8% vs TC avg
§102
6.7%
-33.3% vs TC avg
§112
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 663 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . 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 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. This action is responsive to the RCE filed on 4/17/26. Claim(s) 7-9, 11-13 is/are presented for examination. 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 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 of this title, 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. Claim(s) 7-9, 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2014/0369324 A1 in view of Xu, US 2021/0195623 A1. As to claim 7, Lin teaches a terminal comprising: a transceiver that performs: uplink transmission (Lin, page 6, paragraph 131; i.e., [0131] Preferably, when the PUSCHs on more than two different carriers and the SRSs on more than two different carriers have symbols to be overlapped in the time domain, after processing all the overlapped SRSs and PUSCHs according to the method); and transmission/reception in communication between terminals (Lin, page 6, paragraph 131; i.e., [0131] Preferably, when the PUSCHs on more than two different carriers and the SRSs on more than two different carriers have symbols to be overlapped in the time domain, after processing all the overlapped SRSs and PUSCHs according to the method); and a processor that performs, if a resource of a channel for the communication between terminals overlaps with a resource of an uplink channel for the uplink transmission, prioritization between the uplink transmission and the transmission/reception in the communication between terminals (Lin, page 4, paragraph 68; page 6, paragraph 131; i.e., [0068] in the case that the PUSCHs with the same priority having symbols to be overlapped in the time domain, said UE simultaneously sends the PUSCHs with the same priority; [0131] when the PUSCHs on more than two different carriers and the SRSs on more than two different carriers have symbols to be overlapped in the time domain, after processing all the overlapped SRSs and PUSCHs there are still symbols to be overlapped in the time domain in said more than two PUSCHs), wherein the another uplink channel is an uplink shared channel (Lin, page 1, paragraph 2; i.e., [0002] Physical Random Access Channel (referred to as PARCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (referred to as PUSCH), and Physical Uplink Control Channel (referred to as PUCCH)); wherein each of an uplink for the uplink transmission and a link for the communication between terminals has a priority (Lin, page 10, paragraph 218 & 237; page 11, paragraph 248-249; i.e., [0218] the UE can reduce the transmission power of all the uplink channels by the same ratio; or, can also reduce the power according to the priorities of the uplink channels, first reduce the transmission power of the uplink channels with lower priority, only reduce the power of the symbols that are overlapped on different channels; [0249] the UE reduces the power in accordance with the priority rule, ensures the transmission power of one or more uplink channels with higher priority, and reduces the transmission power of one or more uplink channels with lower priority), and wherein if the resource of the channel for the communication between terminals overlaps with the resource of the uplink channel, the processor reduces transmission power for a link having a lower priority between the uplink and the link for the communication between terminals ((Lin, page 10, paragraph 218 & 237; page 11, paragraph 248-249; i.e., [0218] the UE can reduce the transmission power of all the uplink channels by the same ratio; or, can also reduce the power according to the priorities of the uplink channels, first reduce the transmission power of the uplink channels with lower priority, only reduce the power of the symbols that are overlapped on different channels; [0249] the UE reduces the power in accordance with the priority rule, ensures the transmission power of one or more uplink channels with higher priority, and reduces the transmission power of one or more uplink channels with lower priority). But Lin failed to teach the claim limitation wherein if the resource of the uplink channel overlaps with a resource of another uplink channel, the processor performs the prioritization after performing a collision procedure for the overlapping between the resource of the uplink channel and the resource of the another uplink channel; wherein the uplink channel is an uplink control channel for a scheduling request used to request the resource of the channel for the communication between terminals; wherein if the resource of the uplink shared channel overlaps with the resource of the uplink control channel, the processor performs, based on a priority of the uplink shared channel and a priority of the scheduling request, prioritization between the uplink shared channel and the scheduling request. However, Xu teaches the limitation wherein if the resource of the uplink channel overlaps with a resource of another uplink channel, the processor performs the prioritization after performing a collision procedure for the overlapping between the resource of the uplink channel and the resource of the another uplink channel (enhanced Mobile Broadband) or URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications) (Xu, page 1, paragraph 3; , page 4, paragraph 92-96; i.e., [0003] uplink control information (UCI) of the two types of services overlaps in the time domain and/or a case where UCI of the same type of services overlaps in the time domain; [0093] an identifier/a priority of a service to be transmitted, an identifier/a priority of a service/data/a MAC CE/a logical channel carried by a PUSCH". [0096] that an uplink control channel resource transmitting the first scheduling request overlaps with an uplink control channel resource transmitting a second scheduling request, and a priority of a logical channel and/or logical channel group for the first scheduling request is higher than a priority of a logical channel and/or logical channel group for the second scheduling request); the uplink channel is an uplink control channel for a scheduling request used to request the resource of the channel for the communication between terminals (Xu, page 4, paragraph 92-96; i.e., [0096] that an uplink control channel resource transmitting the first scheduling request overlaps with an uplink control channel resource transmitting a second scheduling request, and a priority of a logical channel and/or logical channel group for the first scheduling request is higher than a priority of a logical channel and/or logical channel group for the second scheduling request, the first scheduling request and the second scheduling request being pending scheduling requests); wherein if the resource of the uplink shared channel overlaps with the resource of the uplink control channel, the processor performs, based on a priority of the uplink shared channel and a priority of the scheduling request, prioritization between the uplink shared channel and the scheduling request (Xu, page 4, paragraph 92-96; i.e., [0093] Optionally, for "a priority of a logical channel to be transmitted, an identifier of a logical channel to be transmitted, an identifier/a priority of a service to be transmitted, an identifier/a priority of a service/data/a MAC CE/a logical channel carried by a PUSCH"; [0096] that an uplink control channel resource transmitting the first scheduling request overlaps with an uplink control channel resource transmitting a second scheduling request, and a priority of a logical channel and/or logical channel group for the first scheduling request is higher than a priority of a logical channel and/or logical channel group for the second scheduling request, the first scheduling request and the second scheduling request being pending scheduling requests). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Lin to substitute QoS requirement from Xu to meet the requirement on high reliability and low latency needs to be ensured for the URLLC services (Lee, page 1, paragraph 3). As to claim 8, Lin-Xu teaches the terminal as recited in claim 7, wherein each of an uplink for the uplink transmission and a link for the communication between terminals has a priority (Lin, page 4, paragraph 68; page 6, paragraph 131; i.e., [0068] b) said UE discards the PUSCHs with lower priority according to certain priorities, and sends the PUSCH with higher priority; [0131] Preferably, when the PUSCHs on more than two different carriers and the SRSs on more than two different carriers have symbols to be overlapped in the time domain, after processing all the overlapped SRSs and PUSCHs), and wherein if the resource of the channel for the communication between terminals overlaps with the resource of the uplink channel, the transceiver transmits on a link having a higher priority between the uplink and the link for the communication between terminals (Lin, page 4, paragraph 68; page 6, paragraph 131; i.e., [0068] b) said UE discards the PUSCHs with lower priority according to certain priorities, and sends the PUSCH with higher priority. In the case that the PUSCHs with the same priority having symbols to be overlapped in the time domain, said UE simultaneously sends the PUSCHs with the same priority; [0131] Preferably, when the PUSCHs on more than two different carriers and the SRSs on more than two different carriers have symbols to be overlapped in the time domain, after processing all the overlapped SRSs and PUSCHs). As to claim 9, Lin-Xu teaches the terminal as recited in claim 7, wherein each of an uplink for the uplink transmission and a link for the communication between terminals has a priority (Lin, page 4, paragraph 68; page 6, paragraph 131; i.e., [0068] b) said UE discards the PUSCHs with lower priority according to certain priorities, and sends the PUSCH with higher priority. In the case that the PUSCHs with the same priority having symbols to be overlapped in the time domain, said UE simultaneously sends the PUSCHs with the same priority), and wherein if the resource of the channel for the communication between terminals overlaps with the resource of the uplink channel, the processor reduces transmission power for a link having a lower priority between the uplink and the link for the communication between terminals (Lin, page 9, paragraph 208; i.e., [0208] the power reduction method specified by the evolved NodeB may be: reduce the transmission power of the uplink channels on different carriers by a same ratio). As to claim 11, Lin-Xu teaches the terminal as recited in claim 7, wherein if the resource of the uplink shared channel overlaps with the resource of the uplink control channel, the transceiver does not transmit the uplink shared channel (Lin, page 3, paragraph 61; i.e., [0061] discarding is particularly: discard the specific uplink channels and/or uplink signals in which symbols are to be overlapped in the time domain, and not send the discarded uplink channels and/or uplink signals). Claim(s) 12 & 13 is/are directed to a method claims and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 7. Therefore, claim(s) 12 & 13 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 1. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 7-9, 11-13 has/have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Applicant’s arguments include the failure of previously applied art to expressly disclose “wherein if the resource of the channel for the communication between terminals overlaps with the resource of the uplink channel, the processor reduces transmission power for a link having a lower priority between the uplink and the link for the communication between terminals” (see Applicant’s response, 4/17/26, page 9). It is evident from the detailed mappings found in the above rejection(s) that Lin disclosed this functionality (see Lin, page 10, paragraph 218 & 237; page 11, paragraph 248-249). Further, it is clear from the numerous teachings (previously and currently cited) that the provision for “wherein if the resource of the channel for the communication between terminals overlaps with the resource of the uplink channel, the processor reduces transmission power for a link having a lower priority between the uplink and the link for the communication between terminals” was widely implemented in the networking art. Thus, Applicant’s arguments drawn toward distinction of the claimed invention and the prior art teachings on this point are not considered persuasive. Listing of Relevant Arts Takeda, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20170086149 A1 discloses PUSCH, priority level threshold, priority. Li, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20220225341 A1 discloses terminal reduce power. Contact Information The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions. THUONG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3864. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:00-6:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached on 571-270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /THUONG NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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Prosecution Timeline

Show 7 earlier events
May 29, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 08, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Oct 07, 2025
Response Filed
Dec 19, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Mar 19, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 17, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Apr 29, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 11, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

6-7
Expected OA Rounds
68%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+32.1%)
4y 0m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 663 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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