Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/940,668

JOINT CONFIGURATION OF TIME AND FREQUENCY RESOURCES FOR FULL DUPLEX

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Sep 08, 2022
Examiner
SHARMA, GAUTAM
Art Unit
2467
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
2 (Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
558 granted / 636 resolved
+29.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
658
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.5%
-33.5% vs TC avg
§103
56.0%
+16.0% vs TC avg
§102
19.8%
-20.2% vs TC avg
§112
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 636 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 . Claims 1, 3-15 and 17-30 are pending. 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. Claims 1, 15, 29 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rudolf, Marian application no. 2023/0199730, hereinafter known as Rudolf in view Guan et al, application no. 2020/0084009, hereinafter known as Guan. As to claim 1, Rudolf discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one a processor; at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor; and instructions stored in the at least one memory and executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to (Rudolf, figure 3, UE with processor and memory): receive, from a network entity, an indication of a time resource pattern comprising a sequence of types of a plurality of time resources (Rudolf, figure 8 and 9, [0102], time resource pattern provided to UE by the network via RRC signaling, including communication for plural slots and symbols), the sequence of types comprising a first type of a first time resource of the plurality of time resources (Rudolf, figure 7 and 8, time resources for plural types including Uplink, downlink or flexible), the first type indicating a split of a plurality of frequency resources in the first time resource into a plurality of portions of frequency resources, the plurality of portions of frequency resources comprising a first portion of frequency resources allocated for downlink and a second portion of frequency resources allocated for uplink (Rudolf, figure 7 and 8, [0086], Frequency used for uplink or downlink or XDD or flexible communication that can use different bandwidth or RB resources); receive downlink signals from the network entity on the first portion of frequency resources in the first time resource; and transmit uplink signals to the network entity on the second portion of frequency resources in the first time resource (Rudolf, Figure. 11, [0134]-[0135], UE determines configuration information for subband full duplex communication as provided by network and communicates in the uplink and downlink accordingly). Rudolf does not disclose however Guan discloses receive an indication of a configuration for the first type of the first time resource, the configuration for the first type comprising at least one of an identifier for the first type, the split of frequency resources in the first time resource, and an indication of frequency resources in each portion of the plurality of portions of frequency resources in the first time resource (Guan, [0022], [0031], figure 1a, 1b, [0205]-[0212], Time and frequency resource indication including with identifier). 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 teachings of Rudolf to include the limitations of receive an indication of a configuration for the first type of the first time resource, the configuration for the first type comprising at least one of an identifier for the first type, the split of frequency resources in the first time resource, and an indication of frequency resources in each portion of the plurality of portions of frequency resources in the first time resource as taught by Guan. Use of time and/or frequency resource identifier are well known in the art to allow device to process time and/or frequency resource from among plurality. As to claims 15, 29 and 30, the claims are each rejected as applied to claim 1 above by Rudolf in view of Guan. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3-14 and 17-28 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. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 15, 29 and 30 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 GAUTAM SHARMA whose telephone number is (571)270-7182. The examiner can normally be reached 11am-8pm. 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, Hassan Phillips can be reached at 571-272-3940. 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. /GAUTAM SHARMA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2467 /HASSAN A PHILLIPS/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 08, 2022
Application Filed
Nov 01, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Jan 22, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 02, 2026
Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+12.0%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 636 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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