Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/921,092

ENHANCED CONDITIONAL HANDOVER PROCEDURES IN IAB NETWORKS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Oct 24, 2022
Examiner
DONADO, FRANK E
Art Unit
2641
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
69%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 69% — above average
69%
Career Allow Rate
361 granted / 521 resolved
+7.3% vs TC avg
Strong +59% interview lift
Without
With
+59.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
21 currently pending
Career history
542
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.0%
-36.0% vs TC avg
§103
52.3%
+12.3% vs TC avg
§102
31.7%
-8.3% vs TC avg
§112
8.5%
-31.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 521 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/6/2026 has been entered. Response to Amendment This Action is in response to the amendment dated 3/6/2026, for which the amendment and corresponding arguments filed on the same date have been entered. Claims 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13 and 15 are currently pending in this application, with claims 1, 6 and 11 being independent. Claims 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 15 have been amended. Claims 2, 4, 7, 10, 12 and 14 have been cancelled. No claims have been added. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed 3/06/2026 have been fully considered, but are not persuasive. Applicant’s arguments have been considered, but are moot, because the new ground of rejection was caused by the amendment and does not rely on any reference applied in the aforementioned rejection for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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. Claims 1, 3, 6, 8, 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park, et al (US PG Publication 2021/0195675), hereafter Park, in view of Cheng (US PG Publication 2020/0077310). Regarding claim 1, Park teaches a wireless terminal that communicates with an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) donor via an IAB node ([0411] The first network node may comprise an integrated access and backhaul donor (IAB-donor) (Hereafter, first network node/IAB-donor). The second network node may comprise an integrated access and backhaul node (IAB-node) (Hereafter, second network node/IAB-node)) [0414] At least one RRC message may be transmitted by the first network node/IAB-donor to the second network node/IAB-node via the first radio link. The second network node/IAB-node may forward the at least one RRC message to the wireless device via the second radio link), the wireless terminal comprising: receiver circuitry configured to receive: node serving cell information including at least one identity of one or more cells served by the IAB node ([0426] The wireless device may receive, from the second network node/IAB-node, a backhaul link failure information [0428] The backhaul link failure information may comprise a cell identifier of a cell); a reconfiguration message comprising a conditional reconfiguration, the conditional reconfiguration comprising at least one identity of a target candidate cell ([0427] In an example, the wireless device may receive the backhaul link failure information via a RRC connection reconfiguration message [0428] The backhaul link failure information may comprise a cell identifier of a cell), and a backhaul (BH) radio link condition indication indicating radio link failure (RLF) between the IAB donor and the IAB node ([0426] The wireless device may receive, from the second network node/IAB-node, a backhaul link failure information indicating a failure of a first radio link established between the first network node/IAB-donor and the second network node/IAB-node); and processor circuitry configured to, upon receiving the BH radio link condition indication, determine whether to trigger a conditional handover, configured by the conditional reconfiguration, based on the node serving cell information ([0426] The wireless device may receive, from the second network node/IAB-node, a backhaul link failure information indicating a failure of a first radio link established between the first network node/IAB-donor and the second network node/IAB-node [0428] The backhaul link failure information may comprise a cell identifier of a cell (e.g. the a causing the failure of the first radio link) [0452] In response to determining the backhaul link failure the wireless device may select a second cell of the third network node for a radio resource control connection (e.g. RRC connection establishment and/or RRC connection reestablishment). In an example, the wireless device may select the second cell based on measurement results of one or more cells (The wireless device determines whether to select candidate second cell, based on the backhaul link failure information and cell identifier of cell of the first radio link that is of the second network node/IAB-node, the selection based on measurement result (condition))). Park does not teach wherein, the wireless terminal refrains from triggering the conditional handover to the target candidate cell, after receiving the BH radio link condition indication, in a case that the at least one identity of the target candidate cell is included in the node serving cell information. In the same field of endeavor, Cheng teaches wherein, the wireless terminal refrains from triggering the conditional handover to the target candidate cell, after receiving the BH radio link condition indication, in a case that the at least one identity of the target candidate cell is included in the node serving cell information ([0054] The pre-configured handover configuration could be generated by the gNB-head/CU and sent to the UE [0055] The pre-configured handover configuration may include at least one of: one or more candidate target cell(s) with each candidate target cell associated with a candidate target cell configuration including an associated identity that represent the candidate target cell. In step S802, the UE would store the received pre-configured handover configuration in a non-transitory storage medium (e.g. 503). The pre-configured handover configuration could be associated with a validity timer. In other words, the pre-configured handover configuration is considered valid for a predetermined time window which is tracked by the validity timer. After the expiration of the validity timer, the UE may not apply the pre-configured handover configuration to perform the subsequent handover as the pre-configured handover configuration is no longer considered valid [0056] In step S803, the gNB-remote/DU would determine whether a upstream backhaul connection failure along the gNB-head/CU and the gNB-remote/DU has occurred. In step S804, the gNB-remote/DU would transmit a network connection failure indication to the downstream nodes (including attached UEs and attached gNB-remote/DUs) in response to having determined that the backhaul connection failure has occurred (The UE, after receiving the backhaul connection failure information, does not perform the handover to cells included amongst the identified target cells that are invalid)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Park, which includes a mobile device that performs handover based on configuration conditions during communication with a backhaul and donor node, to include Cheng’s teaching of a mobile device that performs handover, based on RLF of an IAB node, including not performing handover after the RLF, for the benefit of a UE performing a handover procedure as the connection change procedure based on pre-configured handover configuration in response to having received network connection failure indication, based on valid pre-configured handover configuration (see [0032]). Regarding claim 3, Park, in view of Cheng, teaches the wireless terminal of claim 1. Cheng further teaches wherein, in a case that the at least one identity of the target candidate cell is not included in the node serving cell information, the BH radio link condition indication triggers the conditional handover ([0055] The pre-configured handover configuration may include at least one of: one or more candidate target cell(s) with each candidate target cell associated with a candidate target cell configuration including an associated identity that represent the candidate target cell. In step S802, the UE would store the received pre-configured handover configuration in a non-transitory storage medium (e.g. 503) [0057] In step S804, the downstream node UE 814 would perform a handover procedure in response to receiving the network connection failure indication from the serving gNB-remote/DU. UE may then apply the pre-configured handover configuration to perform the handover procedure in order to be handed over to a candidate target cell (e.g. eNB-remote 2/DU 2) assuming that the pre-configured handover configuration is valid (The UE performs the handover to cells not included amongst the identified target cells that are invalid)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Park, in view of Cheng, which includes a mobile device that performs handover based on configuration conditions during communication with a backhaul and donor node, to include Cheng’s teaching of a mobile device that performs handover, based on RLF of an IAB node, including not performing handover after the RLF, for the benefit of a UE performing a handover procedure as the connection change procedure based on pre-configured handover configuration in response to having received network connection failure indication, based on valid pre-configured handover configuration (see [0032]). Regarding claim 6, Park teaches an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node ([0411] The second network node may comprise an integrated access and backhaul node (IAB-node) (Hereafter, second network node/IAB-node)) that communicates over at least two radio interfaces including a first interface and a second interface, the first interface being configured to establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with an IAB donor, the second interface being configured to serve one or more cells to communicate with a wireless terminal ([0407] The second network node/IAB-node may provide a primary cell for the wireless device [0411] The first network node may comprise an integrated access and backhaul donor (IAB-donor) (Hereafter, first network node/IAB-donor) [0414] At least one RRC message may be transmitted by the first network node/IAB-donor to the second network node/IAB-node via the first radio link. The second network node/IAB-node may forward the at least one RRC message to the wireless device via the second radio link), the IAB node comprising: processor circuitry configured to detect a radio link condition on the first interface ([0357] IAB-node may support mechanisms for detecting backhaul link failure [0426] The wireless device may receive, from the second network node/IAB-node, information indicating a failure of a first radio link); and transmitter circuitry configured to transmit, based on the radio link condition, a backhaul (BH) radio link condition indication, via the one or more cells, indicating a radio link failure (RLF) between the IAB donor and the IAB node ([0426] The wireless device may receive, from the second network node/IAB-node, a backhaul link failure information indicating a failure of a first radio link established between the first network node/IAB-donor and the second network node/IAB-node), wherein the BH radio link condition indication is configured to be used in conjunction with node serving cell information by the wireless terminal to determine whether to trigger a conditional handover to a target candidate cell, the node serving cell information including at least one identity of the one or more cells ([0426] The wireless device may receive, from the second network node/IAB-node, a backhaul link failure information indicating a failure of a first radio link established between the first network node/IAB-donor and the second network node/IAB-node [0428] The backhaul link failure information may comprise a cell identifier of a cell (e.g. the a causing the failure of the first radio link) [0452] In response to determining the backhaul link failure the wireless device may select a second cell of the third network node for a radio resource control connection (e.g. RRC connection establishment and/or RRC connection reestablishment). In an example, the wireless device may select the second cell based on measurement results of one or more cells (The wireless device determines whether to select candidate second cell, based on the backhaul link failure information and cell identifier of cell of the first radio link that is of the second network node/IAB-node, the selection based on measurement result (condition))). Park does not teach the wireless terminal refrains from triggering the conditional handover to the target candidate cell, after receiving the BH radio link condition indication, in a case that the at least one identity of the target candidate cell is included in the node serving cell information. In the same field of endeavor, Cheng teaches the wireless terminal refrains from triggering the conditional handover to the target candidate cell, after receiving the BH radio link condition indication, in a case that the at least one identity of the target candidate cell is included in the node serving cell information ([0054] The pre-configured handover configuration could be generated by the gNB-head/CU and sent to the UE [0055] The pre-configured handover configuration may include at least one of: one or more candidate target cell(s) with each candidate target cell associated with a candidate target cell configuration including an associated identity that represent the candidate target cell. In step S802, the UE would store the received pre-configured handover configuration in a non-transitory storage medium (e.g. 503). The pre-configured handover configuration could be associated with a validity timer. In other words, the pre-configured handover configuration is considered valid for a predetermined time window which is tracked by the validity timer. After the expiration of the validity timer, the UE may not apply the pre-configured handover configuration to perform the subsequent handover as the pre-configured handover configuration is no longer considered valid [0056] In step S803, the gNB-remote/DU would determine whether a upstream backhaul connection failure along the gNB-head/CU and the gNB-remote/DU has occurred. In step S804, the gNB-remote/DU would transmit a network connection failure indication to the downstream nodes (including attached UEs and attached gNB-remote/DUs) in response to having determined that the backhaul connection failure has occurred (The UE, after receiving the backhaul connection failure information, does not perform the handover to cells included amongst the identified target cells that are invalid)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Park, which includes a mobile device that performs handover based on configuration conditions during communication with a backhaul and donor node, to include Cheng’s teaching of a mobile device that performs handover, based on RLF of an IAB node, including not performing handover after the RLF, for the benefit of a UE performing a handover procedure as the connection change procedure based on pre-configured handover configuration in response to having received network connection failure indication, based on valid pre-configured handover configuration (see [0032]). Regarding claim 8, Park, in view of Cheng, teaches the IAB node of claim 6. Cheng further teaches wherein, in a case that the at least one identity of the target candidate cell is not included in the node serving cell information, the BH radio link condition indication triggers the conditional handover ([0055] The pre-configured handover configuration may include at least one of: one or more candidate target cell(s) with each candidate target cell associated with a candidate target cell configuration including an associated identity that represent the candidate target cell. In step S802, the UE would store the received pre-configured handover configuration in a non-transitory storage medium (e.g. 503) [0057] In step S804, the downstream node UE 814 would perform a handover procedure in response to receiving the network connection failure indication from the serving gNB-remote/DU. UE may then apply the pre-configured handover configuration to perform the handover procedure in order to be handed over to a candidate target cell (e.g. eNB-remote 2/DU 2) assuming that the pre-configured handover configuration is valid (The UE performs the handover to cells not included amongst the identified target cells that are invalid)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Park, in view of Cheng, which includes a mobile device that performs handover based on configuration conditions during communication with a backhaul and donor node, to include Cheng’s teaching of a mobile device that performs handover, based on RLF of an IAB node, including not performing handover after the RLF, for the benefit of a UE performing a handover procedure as the connection change procedure based on pre-configured handover configuration in response to having received network connection failure indication, based on valid pre-configured handover configuration (see [0032]). Regarding claim 11, Park teaches an Integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor that communicates with a wireless terminal via an IAB node ([0411] The first network node may comprise an integrated access and backhaul donor (IAB-donor) (Hereafter, first network node/IAB-donor). The second network node may comprise an integrated access and backhaul node (IAB-node) (Hereafter, second network node/IAB-node)) [0414] At least one RRC message may be transmitted by the first network node/IAB-donor to the second network node/IAB-node via the first radio link. The second network node/IAB-node may forward the at least one RRC message to the wireless device via the second radio link), the IAB donor comprising: processor circuitry configured to generate a reconfiguration message comprising a conditional reconfiguration, the conditional reconfiguration comprising at least one identity of a target candidate cell ([0414] The at least one RRC message may be transmitted by the first network node/IAB-donor to the second network node/IAB-node and the second network node/IAB-node may forward/transmit the at least one RRC message to the wireless device [0427] In an example, the wireless device may receive the backhaul link failure information via a RRC connection reconfiguration message [0428] The backhaul link failure information may comprise a cell identifier of a cell); and transmitter circuitry configured to transmit the reconfiguration message to the wireless terminal ([0414] The at least one RRC message may be transmitted by the first network node/IAB-donor to the second network node/IAB-node and the second network node/IAB-node may forward/transmit the at least one RRC message to the wireless device [0427] In an example, the wireless device may receive the backhaul link failure information via a RRC connection reconfiguration message), wherein the conditional reconfiguration is configured to be used by the wireless terminal, in conjunction with node serving cell information, to determine, upon receiving a backhaul (BH) radio link condition indication, from the IAB node, indicating radio link failure (RLF) between the IAB donor and the IAB node, whether to trigger a conditional handover to the target candidate cell, the node serving cell information including at least one identity of one or more cells served by the IAB node ([0426] The wireless device may receive, from the second network node/IAB-node, a backhaul link failure information indicating a failure of a first radio link established between the first network node/IAB-donor and the second network node/IAB-node [0427] In an example, the wireless device may receive the backhaul link failure information via a RRC connection reconfiguration message [0428] The backhaul link failure information may comprise a cell identifier of a cell (e.g. the a causing the failure of the first radio link) [0452] In response to determining the backhaul link failure the wireless device may select a second cell of the third network node for a radio resource control connection (e.g. RRC connection establishment and/or RRC connection reestablishment). In an example, the wireless device may select the second cell based on measurement results of one or more cells (The wireless device determines whether to select candidate second cell, based on the backhaul link failure information received via a RRC connection reconfiguration message and cell identifier of cell of the first radio link that is of the second network node/IAB-node, the selection based on measurement result (condition))). Park does not teach the wireless terminal refrains from triggering the conditional handover to the target candidate cell, after receiving the BH radio link condition indication, in a case that the at least one identity of the target candidate cell is included in the node serving cell information. In the same field of endeavor, Cheng teaches the wireless terminal refrains from triggering the conditional handover to the target candidate cell, after receiving the BH radio link condition indication, in a case that the at least one identity of the target candidate cell is included in the node serving cell information ([0054] The pre-configured handover configuration could be generated by the gNB-head/CU and sent to the UE [0055] The pre-configured handover configuration may include at least one of: one or more candidate target cell(s) with each candidate target cell associated with a candidate target cell configuration including an associated identity that represent the candidate target cell. In step S802, the UE would store the received pre-configured handover configuration in a non-transitory storage medium (e.g. 503). The pre-configured handover configuration could be associated with a validity timer. In other words, the pre-configured handover configuration is considered valid for a predetermined time window which is tracked by the validity timer. After the expiration of the validity timer, the UE may not apply the pre-configured handover configuration to perform the subsequent handover as the pre-configured handover configuration is no longer considered valid [0056] In step S803, the gNB-remote/DU would determine whether a upstream backhaul connection failure along the gNB-head/CU and the gNB-remote/DU has occurred. In step S804, the gNB-remote/DU would transmit a network connection failure indication to the downstream nodes (including attached UEs and attached gNB-remote/DUs) in response to having determined that the backhaul connection failure has occurred (The UE, after receiving the backhaul connection failure information, does not perform the handover to cells included amongst the identified target cells that are invalid)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Park, which includes a mobile device that performs handover based on configuration conditions during communication with a backhaul and donor node, to include Cheng’s teaching of a mobile device that performs handover, based on RLF of an IAB node, including not performing handover after the RLF, for the benefit of a UE performing a handover procedure as the connection change procedure based on pre-configured handover configuration in response to having received network connection failure indication, based on valid pre-configured handover configuration (see [0032]). Regarding claim 13, Park, in view of Cheng, teaches the IAB donor of claim 11. Cheng further teaches wherein, in a case that the at least one identity of the target candidate cell is not included in the node serving cell information, the BH radio link condition indication triggers the conditional handover ([0055] The pre-configured handover configuration may include at least one of: one or more candidate target cell(s) with each candidate target cell associated with a candidate target cell configuration including an associated identity that represent the candidate target cell. In step S802, the UE would store the received pre-configured handover configuration in a non-transitory storage medium (e.g. 503) [0057] In step S804, the downstream node UE 814 would perform a handover procedure in response to receiving the network connection failure indication from the serving gNB-remote/DU. UE may then apply the pre-configured handover configuration to perform the handover procedure in order to be handed over to a candidate target cell (e.g. eNB-remote 2/DU 2) assuming that the pre-configured handover configuration is valid (The UE performs the handover to cells not included amongst the identified target cells that are invalid)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Park, in view of Cheng, which includes a mobile device that performs handover based on configuration conditions during communication with a backhaul and donor node, to include Cheng’s teaching of a mobile device that performs handover, based on RLF of an IAB node, including not performing handover after the RLF, for the benefit of a UE performing a handover procedure as the connection change procedure based on pre-configured handover configuration in response to having received network connection failure indication, based on valid pre-configured handover configuration (see [0032]). Claims 5, 9 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park, in view of Cheng, and further in view of Hwang (US PG Publication 2023/0124364). Regarding claim 5, Park, in view of Cheng, teaches the wireless terminal of claim 1. Park, in view of Cheng, does not teach wherein the BH radio link condition indication further indicates that a recovery procedure for the RLF detected on a radio link between the IAB donor and the IAB node has also failed. In the same field of endeavor, Hwang teaches wherein the BH radio link condition indication further indicates that a recovery procedure for the RLF detected on a radio link between the IAB donor and the IAB node has also failed ([0013] According to another embodiment of the disclosure, when a radio link failure occurs, when performing re-establishment, if information of cells connected to an old IAB donor is provided, a terminal re-accesses a cell connected to the old IAB donor, if possible, when accessing a network again later [0267] FIG. 14 is an operation for the MT not to perform cell selection to a cell of its own lower IAB node during re-establishment). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Park, in view of Cheng, which includes a mobile device that performs handover based on configuration conditions during communication with a backhaul and donor node, to include Hwang’s teaching of recovery failure of an IAB node, for the benefit of performing failure recovery through conditional handover in case of a failure of an IAB node in a wireless communication system (see [0002]). Regarding claim 9, Park, in view of Cheng, teaches the IAB node of claim 6. Park, in view of Cheng, does not teach wherein the BH radio link condition indication further indicates that a recovery procedure for the RLF detected on a radio link between the IAB donor and the IAB node has also failed. In the same field of endeavor, Hwang teaches wherein the BH radio link condition indication further indicates that a recovery procedure for the RLF detected on a radio link between the IAB donor and the IAB node has also failed ([0013] According to another embodiment of the disclosure, when a radio link failure occurs, when performing re-establishment, if information of cells connected to an old IAB donor is provided, a terminal re-accesses a cell connected to the old IAB donor, if possible, when accessing a network again later [0267] FIG. 14 is an operation for the MT not to perform cell selection to a cell of its own lower IAB node during re-establishment). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Park, in view of Cheng, which includes a mobile device that performs handover based on configuration conditions during communication with a backhaul and donor node, to include Hwang’s teaching of recovery failure of an IAB node, for the benefit of performing failure recovery through conditional handover in case of a failure of an IAB node in a wireless communication system (see [0002]). Regarding claim 15, Park, in view of Cheng, teaches the IAB donor of claim 11. Park, in view of Cheng, does not teach wherein the BH radio link condition indication further indicates that a recovery procedure for the RLF detected on a radio link between the IAB donor and the IAB node has also failed. In the same field of endeavor, Hwang teaches wherein the BH radio link condition indication further indicates that a recovery procedure for the RLF detected on a radio link between the IAB donor and the IAB node has also failed ([0013] According to another embodiment of the disclosure, when a radio link failure occurs, when performing re-establishment, if information of cells connected to an old IAB donor is provided, a terminal re-accesses a cell connected to the old IAB donor, if possible, when accessing a network again later [0267] FIG. 14 is an operation for the MT not to perform cell selection to a cell of its own lower IAB node during re-establishment). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Park, in view of Cheng, which includes a mobile device that performs handover based on configuration conditions during communication with a backhaul and donor node, to include Hwang’s teaching of recovery failure of an IAB node, for the benefit of performing failure recovery through conditional handover in case of a failure of an IAB node in a wireless communication system (see [0002]). Conclusion Citation of Pertinent Prior Art not Applied The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Mildh, et al (WO 2020027713 A1), hereafter Mildh, teaches the network sends rules or criteria or thresholds or blacklist/whitelist to the IAB node to assist or guide the selection in the IAB node. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Frank Donado whose telephone number is (571) 270-5361. The examiner can normally be reached Mondays through Fridays between 8 am and 4 pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone 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 Patent Examiner (SPE) Charles Appiah can be reached at 571-272-7904. 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. /FRANK E. DONADO/Examiner, Art Unit 2641 /Rafael Pérez-Gutiérrez/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2642
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 24, 2022
Application Filed
May 15, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Sep 15, 2025
Response Filed
Dec 29, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Mar 06, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Mar 10, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 19, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
69%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+59.3%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 521 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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