Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/011,890

DOHERTY POWER AMPLIFIER AND POWER AMPLIFICATION METHOD

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 21, 2022
Examiner
CHOE, HENRY
Art Unit
2843
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
ZTE CORPORATION
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
92%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 1m
To Grant
65%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 92% — above average
92%
Career Allow Rate
1238 granted / 1339 resolved
+24.5% vs TC avg
Minimal -27% lift
Without
With
+-27.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
29 currently pending
Career history
1368
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
37.4%
-2.6% vs TC avg
§102
47.1%
+7.1% vs TC avg
§112
3.8%
-36.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1339 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 . Drawings The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the carrier power amplifier is a Class B power amplifier or a Class AB power amplifier and the peak power amplifier is a Class C power amplifier recited in claim 1, medium low power amplifier transistor recited in claim 1, power less than or equal to a preset threshold recited in claim 1, preset threshold is substantially equal to 100 W recited in claim 1, and reduce saturation power of each medium low power amplifier transistor recited in claim 17 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. 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. Claim(s) 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over [SCHMIDT (Fig. 2); 2013/0021104]. SCHMIDT discloses all the limitations in the claims as described in the previous office action dated 10/2/25 except for that the carrier power amplifier is a Class B power amplifier or a Class AB power amplifier, and the peak power amplifier is a Class C power amplifier. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have implemented the specific Classes of power amplifier for the carrier and peaking amplifiers, since implementing specific classes of power amplifiers are based on routine experimentations to obtain the optimum operating parameters for the carrier and peaking amplifiers in order to improve the operating performance of the bias voltages for the carrier and peaking amplifiers which is well known in the amplifier circuits. Regarding claim 2, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claim 12, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claim 15, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claim 18, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Claim(s) 3-10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over [SCHMIDT (Fig. 2); 2013/0021104] in view of [Tamanoi et al (Fig. 9); 8,890,620]. Regarding claim 3, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claim 4, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claim 5, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claim 6, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claim 7, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claims 8, 13 and 14, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claims 9, 16 and 17, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Regarding claims 10, 19 and 20, exactly same as the previous office action dated 10/2/25. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Henry Choe whose telephone number is (571)272-1760. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 6:00 AM- 6:00 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/interview practice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea J Lindgren Baltzell can be reached on (571)272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. /HENRY CHOE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 21, 2022
Application Filed
Jun 14, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Sep 18, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 01, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Jan 01, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 22, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 25, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12603612
POWER SUPPLY CONTROL SYSTEM
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12603625
STACKED DIGITAL CURRENT STEERING AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL ATTENUATOR
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12597890
OVER TEMPERATURE PROTECTION OF LDO CONTROLLING THE RF POWER AMPLIFIER COLLECTOR VOLTAGE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12597893
SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AND RADIO-FREQUENCY MODULE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12597888
ADAPTIVE STABILIZATION AND/OR PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION OF POWER AMPLIFIERS
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
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
92%
Grant Probability
65%
With Interview (-27.4%)
2y 1m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 1339 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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