Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/086,355

RELAY DETERMINING METHOD AND APPARATUS, RELAY CONFIGURATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, TERMINAL, AND NETWORK SIDE DEVICE

Final Rejection §102§103
Filed
Dec 21, 2022
Examiner
SHIVERS, ASHLEY L
Art Unit
2477
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Vivo Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Final)
87%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 10m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 87% — above average
87%
Career Allow Rate
527 granted / 607 resolved
+28.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +15% lift
Without
With
+14.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
625
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.5%
-32.5% vs TC avg
§103
48.7%
+8.7% vs TC avg
§102
26.2%
-13.8% vs TC avg
§112
8.1%
-31.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 607 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Response to Amendment Applicant’s amendment filed on February 17, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1,7, 11-12 and 18 have been amended. Claim 6 is canceled. No claims have been added. Claims 1-5 and 7-20 are still pending in this application, with claims 1, 12, 18 and 20 being independent. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-5, 7, 12-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tseng et al. (U.S. PGPub 2018/0054237), hereinafter referred to as Tseng. Regarding claim 1, Tseng discloses a relay determining method, performed by a remote terminal (remote UE; See Fig. 2, #206) and comprising: receiving relay configuration information (base station 202 delivers the corresponding Relay network slice configuration messages to relay UE 204 and remote UE 206. Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]), the relay configuration information comprising a configuration parameter for at least one relay operation (network function configuration and QoS control configuration; See [0042]); and determining, based on the relay configuration information, a relay operation to be used (For relay service type, the Relaying network slice configuration messages may indicate which type of relay network slice (e.g., Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying) is provided for relay UE 204 and remote UE 206, implying that the device is able to determine if Layer-2 or Layer-3 relaying is to take place based on the explicit indication in the configuration message. The Relay network slice configuration message may require remote UE 206 to configure the path selection mechanism in the relay network slice instance; See [0043] and [0048]). wherein when the relay configuration information comprises configuration parameters for two or more relay operations (Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration. In some implementations, there may be more than one relay network slice instance where the remote UE 206 requires different types of relay services. Under such condition, each relay network slice instance may also be further indexed in the Relay network slice configuration message (e.g., relay slice#1, relay slice#2, and etc.). The Relaying network slice configuration messages may indicate which type of relay network slice (e.g., Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying) is provided for relay UE 204 and remote UE 206; See [0042]-[0043]), the determining, based on the relay configuration information, a relay operation to be used comprises: determining, based on the configuration parameters for the two or more relay operations and a target parameter (Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration, wherein the target parameter is interpreted as the QoS control configuration; See [0042]-[0043]), one relay operation from the two or more relay operations as the relay operation to be used (the specific relay service type for the relay slice based on the configuration message and the QoS configuration; See [0042]-[0043]); wherein the relay operation comprises at least one of the following: an L2 relay operation (Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying; [0042]); or an L3 relay operation (Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying; See [0042]). Regarding claim 2, Tseng further discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining, based on the configuration parameter for the relay operation, that a network side device supports a relay operation type corresponding to the configuration parameter; or the relay configuration information further comprises a first indication field for indicating the relay operation type supported by the network side device (base station 202 delivers the corresponding Relay network slice configuration messages to relay UE 204 and remote UE 206. Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type; See [0042]). Regarding claim 3, Tseng further discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration parameter for the relay operation comprises at least one of the following: first condition information under which the remote terminal is allowed to use the relay operation; bearer configuration information with which the remote terminal uses the relay operation; or second condition information for selecting the relay operation when the remote terminal selects a relay operation for data transmission (end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]). Regarding claim 4, Tseng further discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein the second condition information comprises at least one of the following: service information (end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]); link information; association information of the remote terminal and a relay terminal; or relay operation selection policy. Regarding claim 5, Tseng further discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein the service information comprises at least one of the following: quality of service (QoS) requirement for a service (end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]); latency information of the service; block error rate of the service; duration of the service; security requirement for the service; or continuity requirement for the service; and/or wherein the link information comprises at least one of the following: link condition information of a Uu interface of the relay terminal; link condition information of a Uu interface of the remote terminal; or link condition information of a PC5 interface between the remote terminal and the relay terminal. Regarding claim 7, Tseng further discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the target parameter comprises at least one of the following: service information of the remote terminal (end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]); capability information of a relay terminal; or association information of the remote terminal and the relay terminal. Regarding claim 12, Tseng discloses a relay configuration method, performed by a network side device (base station; See Fig. 2, #202) and comprising: sending relay configuration information, the relay configuration information comprising a configuration parameter for at least one relay operation (base station 202 delivers the corresponding Relay network slice configuration messages to relay UE 204 and remote UE 206. Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]), so that when the relay configuration information comprises configuration parameters for two or more relay operations (Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration. In some implementations, there may be more than one relay network slice instance where the remote UE 206 requires different types of relay services. Under such condition, each relay network slice instance may also be further indexed in the Relay network slice configuration message (e.g., relay slice#1, relay slice#2, and etc.). The Relaying network slice configuration messages may indicate which type of relay network slice (e.g., Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying) is provided for relay UE 204 and remote UE 206; See [0042]-[0043]), a terminal determines, based on the configuration parameters for the two or more relay operations and a target parameter (Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration, wherein the target parameter is interpreted as the QoS control configuration; See [0042]-[0043]), one relay operation from the two or more relay operations as a relay operation to be used (the specific relay service type for the relay slice based on the configuration message and the QoS configuration; See [0042]-[0043]); wherein the relay operation comprises at least one of the following: an L2 relay operation (Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying; [0042]); or an L3 relay operation (Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying; See [0042]). Regarding claim 13, Tseng further discloses the method according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises: indicating, by using the configuration parameter for the relay operation, that the network side device supports a relay operation type corresponding to the configuration parameter; or the relay configuration information further comprises a first indication field for indicating the relay operation type supported by the network side device (base station 202 delivers the corresponding Relay network slice configuration messages to relay UE 204 and remote UE 206. Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type; See [0042]). Regarding claim 14, Tseng further discloses the method according to claim 12, wherein the configuration parameter for the relay operation comprises at least one of the following: first condition information under which a remote terminal is allowed to use the relay operation; bearer configuration information with which the remote terminal uses the relay operation; or second condition information for selecting a relay operation when the remote terminal selects a relay operation for data transmission (end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]). Regarding claim 15, Tseng further discloses the method according to claim 14, wherein the second condition information comprises at least one of the following: service information (end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]); link information; association information of the remote terminal and a relay terminal; or relay operation selection policy. Regarding claim 16, Tseng further discloses the method according to claim 15, wherein the service information comprises at least one of the following: quality of service (QoS) requirement for a service (end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]); latency information of the service; block error rate of the service; duration of the service; security requirement for the service; or continuity requirement for the service; and/or wherein the link information comprises at least one of the following: link condition information of a Uu interface of the relay terminal; link condition information of a Uu interface of the remote terminal; or link condition information of a PC5 interface between the remote terminal and the relay terminal. Regarding claim 18, Tseng discloses a terminal (remote UE; See Fig. 2, #206), comprising a processor (See Fig. 8, #826), a memory (See Fig. 8, #828), and instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, steps of a relay determining method are implemented, the steps comprises: receiving relay configuration information, the relay configuration information comprising a configuration parameter for at least one relay operation (base station 202 delivers the corresponding Relay network slice configuration messages to relay UE 204 and remote UE 206. Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration; See [0042]); and determining, based on the relay configuration information, a relay operation to be used (For relay service type, the Relaying network slice configuration messages may indicate which type of relay network slice (e.g., Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying) is provided for relay UE 204 and remote UE 206, implying that the device is able to determine if Layer-2 or Layer-3 relaying is to take place based on the explicit indication in the configuration message. The Relay network slice configuration message may require remote UE 206 to configure the path selection mechanism in the relay network slice instance; See [0043] and [0048]); wherein when the relay configuration information comprises configuration parameters for two or more relay operations (Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration. In some implementations, there may be more than one relay network slice instance where the remote UE 206 requires different types of relay services. Under such condition, each relay network slice instance may also be further indexed in the Relay network slice configuration message (e.g., relay slice#1, relay slice#2, and etc.). The Relaying network slice configuration messages may indicate which type of relay network slice (e.g., Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying) is provided for relay UE 204 and remote UE 206; See [0042]-[0043]), the determining, based on the relay configuration information, a relay operation to be used comprises: determining, based on the configuration parameters for the two or more relay operations and a target parameter (Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration, wherein the target parameter is interpreted as the QoS control configuration; See [0042]-[0043]), one relay operation from the two or more relay operations as the relay operation to be used (the specific relay service type for the relay slice based on the configuration message and the QoS configuration; See [0042]-[0043]); wherein the relay operation comprises at least one of the following: an L2 relay operation (Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying; [0042]); or an L3 relay operation (Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying; See [0042]). Regarding claim 19, Tseng further discloses the terminal according to claim 18, wherein the steps further comprises: determining, based on the configuration parameter for the relay operation, that a network side device supports a relay operation type corresponding to the configuration parameter; or the relay configuration information further comprises a first indication field for indicating the relay operation type supported by the network side device (base station 202 delivers the corresponding Relay network slice configuration messages to relay UE 204 and remote UE 206. Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type; See [0042]). Regarding claim 20, Tseng discloses a network side device (base station; See Fig. 2,#202), comprising a processor (See Fig. 8, #826), a memory (See Fig. 8, #828), and instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein when the instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the relay configuration method according to claim 12 are implemented (base station 202 delivers the corresponding Relay network slice configuration messages to relay UE 204 and remote UE 206. Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration. Each of the Relay network slice configuration messages may include information, such as relay service type, network function configuration for relay service, and end-to-end QoS control configuration, wherein the target parameter is interpreted as the QoS control configuration. In some implementations, there may be more than one relay network slice instance where the remote UE 206 requires different types of relay services. Under such condition, each relay network slice instance may also be further indexed in the Relay network slice configuration message (e.g., relay slice#1, relay slice#2, and etc.). The Relaying network slice configuration messages may indicate which type of relay network slice (e.g., Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying) is provided for relay UE 204 and remote UE 206, wherein the specific relay service type for the relay slice is based on the configuration message and the QoS configuration; See [0042]-[0043]). 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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. Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Shrivastava (U.S. PGPub 2021/0297842), hereinafter referred to as Shrivastava. Regarding claim 8, Tseng fails to teach the method according to claim 1, further comprising: broadcasting the relay operation to be used; and receiving a response message from a terminal that supports the relay operation, and determining the terminal that sends the response message as a relay terminal. Shrivastava teaches broadcasting the relay operation to be used (a Remote UE sends solicitation messages; See Fig. 2 and [0005]), receiving a response message from a terminal that supports the relay operation (the response message indicates the signal conditions of the respective relay; See [0005]); and determining the terminal that sends the response message as a relay terminal (a Remote UE sends a solicitation messages and based on response of the Relay UE gets associated with it after determining signal conditions are adequate; See [0005]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Tseng to include receiving second indication information broadcast by another terminal, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a relay operation type supported by the another terminal; and selecting, based on the second indication information, a terminal that supports the relay operation to be used as a relay termina taught by Shrivastava in order to manage the multi-hop relay chain. Regarding claim 9, Tseng fails to teach the method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving second indication information broadcast by another terminal, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a relay operation type supported by the another terminal; and selecting, based on the second indication information, a terminal that supports the relay operation to be used as a relay terminal. Shrivastava teaches receiving second indication information broadcast by another terminal (a Remote UE sends a solicitation messages and based on response of the Relay UE gets associated with it after determining signal conditions are adequate, wherein a plurality of responses are received; See Fig. 2 and [0005]), wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a relay operation type supported by the another terminal (the response message indicates the signal conditions of the respective relay; See [0005]); and selecting, based on the second indication information, a terminal that supports the relay operation to be used as a relay terminal (a Remote UE sends a solicitation messages and based on response of the Relay UE gets associated with it after determining signal conditions are adequate; See [0005]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Tseng to include receiving second indication information broadcast by another terminal, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a relay operation type supported by the another terminal; and selecting, based on the second indication information, a terminal that supports the relay operation to be used as a relay terminal taught by Shrivastava in order to manage the multi-hop relay chain. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng in view of Shrivastava as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Wang (U.S. PGPub 2022/0361267), hereinafter referred to as Wang. Regarding claim 10, Tseng still fails to teach the method according to claim 8, further comprising: sending a first message to a network side device, or sending, by the relay terminal, a second message to a network side device, wherein the first message or the second message carries request information for the relay operation to be used; receiving a reconfiguration message sent by the network side device or the relay terminal; and establishing a bearer corresponding to the requested relay operation based on the reconfiguration message. Wang teaches sending a first message to a network side device, or sending, by the relay terminal, a second message to a network side device (remote UE 501 sends the sidelink UE information (SUI) to the gNB 502 including remote UE ID, the discovered relay UE ID, and the request for relaying communication resource for both TX and RX; See [0034]), wherein the first message or the second message carries request information for a relay operation to be used (remote UE 501 sends the sidelink UE information (SUI) to the gNB 502 including remote UE ID, the discovered relay UE ID, and the request for relaying communication resource for both TX and RX; See [0034]); receiving a reconfiguration message sent by the network side device or the relay terminal (gNB 502 sends an RRC Reconfiguration message to relay UE 503 to configure the additional radio bearers to prepare the traffic relaying for remote UE 501; See [0035]); and establishing a bearer corresponding to the requested relay operation based on the reconfiguration message (gNB 502 sends an RRC Reconfiguration message to relay UE 503 to configure the additional radio bearers to prepare the traffic relaying for remote UE 501; See [0035]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Tseng to include sending a first message to a network side device, or sending, by the relay terminal, a second message to a network side device, wherein the first message or the second message carries request information for the relay operation to be used; receiving a reconfiguration message sent by the network side device or the relay terminal; and establishing a bearer corresponding to the requested relay operation based on the reconfiguration message taught by Wang in order to enhance sidelink relay operations by improving L2-based relay. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng in view of Shrivastava as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Pan et al. (U.S. PGPub 2021/0160939), hereinafter referred to as Pan. Regarding claim 11, Tseng in view of Shrivastava fails to teach the method according to claim 8, further comprising at least one of the following steps: sending a first PC5 Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to the relay terminal during establishment of a radio resource control RRC connection to the relay terminal, wherein the first PC5 RRC message explicitly or implicitly indicates the relay operation to be used, and the first PC5 RRC message further carries bearer configuration information of the relay operation; sending, by the relay terminal, a second PC5 RRC message to another remote terminal during establishment of an RRC connection between the relay terminal and the another remote terminal, wherein the second PC5 RRC message explicitly or implicitly indicates the relay operation to be used, and the second PC5 RRC message further carries bearer configuration information of the relay operation; or sending a third PC5 RRC message to another remote terminal during establishment of an RRC connection to the another remote terminal, wherein the third PC5 RRC message explicitly or implicitly indicates the relay operation to be used, and the third PC5 RRC message further carries bearer configuration information of the relay operation. Pan teaches sending a first PC5 Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to the relay terminal during establishment of a radio resource control RRC connection to the relay terminal (the first UE establishing a first sidelink Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) for PC5-S message transmission if a unicast link or a PC5-Radio Resource Control (PC5-RRC) connection establishment is initiated, wherein the first sidelink SRB is associated with a default Destination Layer-2 Identity (ID). The method also includes the first UE transmitting a first PC5-S message for the unicast link or the PC5-RRC connection establishment on the first sidelink SRB with a Source Layer-2 ID derived from a Layer-2 ID of the first UE and a Destination Layer-2 ID derived from the default Destination Layer-2 ID.; See [0005]), wherein the first PC5 RRC message explicitly or implicitly indicates the relay operation to be used (implicitly indicating layer-2 relay operation; See [0005]), and the first PC5 RRC message further carries bearer configuration information of the relay operation (Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) for PC5-S SRB; See [0005]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Tseng in view of Shrivastava to include sending a first PC5 RRC message to the relay terminal during establishment of a radio resource control (RRC) connection to the relay terminal, wherein the first PC5 RRC message explicitly or implicitly indicates the relay operation to be used, and the first PC5 RRC message further carries bearer configuration information of the relay operation taught by Pan in order for successful sidelink SRB establishment. Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Wang. Regarding claim 17, Tseng fails to teach the method according to claim 12, further comprising: receiving a first message sent by the remote terminal, or receiving a second message from the relay terminal selected by the remote terminal, wherein the first message or the second message carries request information for a relay operation to be used as determined by the remote terminal; and sending a reconfiguration message to the remote terminal or the relay terminal, wherein the reconfiguration message is used to instruct the remote terminal to establish a bearer corresponding to the requested relay operation. Wang teaches receiving a first message sent by the remote terminal, or receiving a second message from the relay terminal selected by the remote terminal (remote UE 501 sends the sidelink UE information (SUI) to the gNB 502 including remote UE ID, the discovered relay UE ID, and the request for relaying communication resource for both TX and RX; See [0034]), wherein the first message or the second message carries request information for a relay operation to be used as determined by the remote terminal (remote UE 501 sends the sidelink UE information (SUI) to the gNB 502 including remote UE ID, the discovered relay UE ID, and the request for relaying communication resource for both TX and RX; See [0034]); and sending a reconfiguration message to the remote terminal or the relay terminal (gNB 502 sends an RRC Reconfiguration message to relay UE 503 to configure the additional radio bearers to prepare the traffic relaying for remote UE 501; See [0035]), wherein the reconfiguration message is used to instruct the remote terminal to establish a bearer corresponding to the requested relay operation (gNB 502 sends an RRC Reconfiguration message to relay UE 503 to configure the additional radio bearers to prepare the traffic relaying for remote UE 501; See [0035]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Tseng to include receiving a first message sent by the remote terminal, or receiving a second message from the relay terminal selected by the remote terminal, wherein the first message or the second message carries request information for a relay operation to be used as determined by the remote terminal; and sending a reconfiguration message to the remote terminal or the relay terminal, wherein the reconfiguration message is used to instruct the remote terminal to establish a bearer corresponding to the requested relay operation taught by Wang in order to enhance sidelink relay operations by improving L2-based relay. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed February 17, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. On pages 9-12 of the Applicants’ Response, Applicants state that Tseng et al. (U.S. PGPub 2018/0054237) fails to teach the relay configuration information which includes configuration parameters for two or more relay operations, such as an L2 relay operation and an L3 relay operation. Examiner respectfully disagrees in that Tseng explicitly states that each relay network slice instance may also be further indexed in the Relay network slice configuration message (e.g., relay slice#1, relay slice#2, and etc.). The Relaying network slice configuration messages may indicate which type of relay network slice (e.g., Layer-3 relaying or Layer-2 relaying) is provided for relay UE 204 and remote UE 206 (See [0042]-[0043]). This indicates that there are multiple relay slices within the message and each corresponding relay slice has the type of relay service associated with it. [0042] indicates that the relay UE 204 and remote UE 206 may configure relay network slice instance upon receiving their corresponding Relay network slice configuration messages from base station 202. Therefore, when the remote UE receives the configuration information, it is able to determine which type of relay service by considering the particular network slice. 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. Conclusion Any response to this action should be mailed to: Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 Hand delivered responses should be brought to: Customer Service Window Randolph Building 401 Dulany Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ASHLEY L SHIVERS whose telephone number is (571)270-3523. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm. 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, Chirag Shah can be reached at 571-272-3144. 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. /ASHLEY SHIVERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 3/4/2026
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 21, 2022
Application Filed
Nov 11, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103
Feb 17, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 04, 2026
Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
87%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+14.7%)
2y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 607 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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