Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/886,107

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONFIGURING MINIMIZATION OF DRIVE-TESTS MDT

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Aug 11, 2022
Examiner
BUKHARI, SIBTE H
Art Unit
2449
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 2m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allow Rate
336 granted / 428 resolved
+20.5% vs TC avg
Strong +37% interview lift
Without
With
+37.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
447
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.5%
-29.5% vs TC avg
§103
61.9%
+21.9% vs TC avg
§102
9.1%
-30.9% vs TC avg
§112
11.0%
-29.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 428 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . DETAILED ACTION The instant Office action is responsive to the election of claims received 12/23/2025. Claims 1-8 & 12-20 have been examined and are pending with this action. Oath/Declaration The Oath/Declaration is missing. Claim Objection Examiner suggest Applicant to cancel the non-elected claims which are 9-11. Arguments Applicant arguments are not persuasive based on the following arguments. Applicant: Applicant argues that PA doesn’t disclose wherein the first indication information comprises a first value indicating that the type of the first MDT is signaling based MDT. Examiner: Examiner cites LIU that discloses the amended limitation, wherein the first indication information comprises a first value indicating that the type of the first MDT is signaling based MDT (LIU: [0042, 0280 & Fig 12 “ FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a representative signaling based MDT QoS architecture & The measurement period may be configured by the MME for signal based MDT and by OAM for Management based MDT.”). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Limba in view of LIU to figure out signaling based MDT. One would be motivated to do so because this may be used to enhance measurement objects for QoS verification MDT sessions. (LIU: [0102]). Based on above explanation arguments made by applicant are not persuasive. 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 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 1-4, 12-15 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beg (WO 2019101125) in view of LIU (US PUB # 2013/0114446). As per claim 1, Kimba discloses a communication apparatus (Kimba: [ABS]: “provides a minimization of drive test (MDT) configuration method and device, and an MDT measurement method and device. The MDT configuration method is applied in a base station in a first network.”), comprising: at least one processor (Kimba: “an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a base station, including a processor); and one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing program instructions for execution by the at least one processor (Kimba: “an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a base station, including a processor, a memory, and a program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, where the program is implemented by the processor The steps of minimizing the drive test configuration method described on the one hand”), to perform the following: receiving first minimization of drive-tests (MDT) measurement configuration information and first indication information from a first network device (Kimba: “Step 41: Receive configuration related information that is sent by the base station of the first network and activates the user terminal to perform MDT measurement of the second network.”), wherein the first indication information indicates that a type of first MDT (Kimba: “ the user terminal sends an indication of the MDT measurement data of the second network to the base station of the first network and/or the base station of the second network;.”), and the first MDT measurement configuration information comprises configuration information required by a terminal device to perform first MDT measurement, and wherein the communication apparatus is the terminal device or a chipset for the terminal device (Kimba: “Step 42: Perform MDT measurement of the second network according to the configuration related information that activates the user terminal to perform MDT measurement of the second network, to obtain MDT measurement data of the second network..”), ; and sending second indication information to a second network device, (Kimba: “Step 43: Report MDT measurement data of the second network..”), wherein the second indication information indicates the type of the first MDT, and the second network device is the same as or different from the first network device (Kimba: “ MDT measurement configuration information and indication information for activating MDT measurement, where the MDT measurement configuration information is used”), Kimba does not explicitly discloses signaling based MDT. LIU however discloses signaling based MDT (LIU: [0042 & Fig 12 “ FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a representative signaling based MDT QoS architecture;”). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Limba in view of LIU to figure out signaling based MDT. One would be motivated to do so because this may be used to enhance measurement objects for QoS verification MDT sessions. (LIU: [0102]). Claim 12 is rejected based on rationale provided for claim 1. As per claim 2, Kimba/LIU discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second indication information is sent to the second network device by sending a first radio resource control (RRC) message to the second network device, wherein the first RRC message comprises the second indication information, and the first RRC message (Kimba: “In the embodiment of the disclosure, the base station of the LTE or eLTE network may deliver the RRC reconfiguration message, the RRC recovery message, the RRC suspension message, the RRC release message, and the RRC connection setup message to the selected user terminal.”). comprises any one of the following messages: an RRC reconfiguration complete message, an RRC reestablishment complete message, or an RRC resume complete message (Kimba: “a radio resource control RRC connection state, an RRC inactive state, an initiation RRC restoration request state, an initiation service request state, an initiation access notification region update state, and an initiation tracking region update state.”). As per claim 3, Kimba/LIU discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory is further configured to store a computer program, which, when executed by one or moreprocessors, causes the communication apparatus one or more memories store the program instructions for execution by the at least one processor to perform the following: sending the second indication information to a core network device (Kimba: “Other processing devices for the modem. The wireless terminal can communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (RAN), which can be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a mobile terminal..”). As per claim 4, Kimba/LIU discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory is further configured to store a computer program, which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the communication apparatus one or more memories store the program instructions for execution by the at least one processor to perform the following: performing MDT measurement based on the first MDT measurement configuration information to obtain a first measurement result (Kimba: “Step 33: The base station of the NR network selects a user terminal that performs MDT measurement of the LTE or eLTE network according to the MDT tracking report information and whether the saved user terminal supports information of MDT measurement of the LTE or eLTE network; and selects the user The terminal sends configuration related information that activates the MDT measurement of the LTE or eLTE network by the user terminal.”) ; and sending the first measurement result and the second indication information to the second network device (Kimba: “Step 43: Report MDT measurement data of the second network..”). As per claim 19, Kimba/LIU discloses the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first indication information comprises a first value indicating that the type of the first MDT is signaling based MDT (LIU: [0042, 0280 & Fig 12 “ FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a representative signaling based MDT QoS architecture & The measurement period may be configured by the MME for signal based MDT and by OAM for Management based MDT.”). Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Limba in view of LIU to figure out signaling based MDT. One would be motivated to do so because this may be used to enhance measurement objects for QoS verification MDT sessions. (LIU: [0102]). Claims 13-15 and 20 are rejected based on rationale provided for claims 2-4. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-8 & 16-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sibte Bukhari whose telephone number is (571) 270-7122(571)270-7122. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:00 - 6:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Srivastava Vivek can be reached on 571-272-7304. 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. /SIBTE H BUKHARI/Examiner, Art Unit 2449
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 11, 2022
Application Filed
Sep 22, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Dec 23, 2025
Response Filed
Feb 21, 2026
Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+37.0%)
3y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 428 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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