Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/088,355

SENSING METHOD AND TERMINAL DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Dec 23, 2022
Examiner
PANCHOLI, RINA C
Art Unit
2477
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allow Rate
489 granted / 569 resolved
+27.9% vs TC avg
Strong +23% interview lift
Without
With
+22.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
29 currently pending
Career history
598
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.2%
-35.8% vs TC avg
§103
52.5%
+12.5% vs TC avg
§102
9.1%
-30.9% vs TC avg
§112
23.7%
-16.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 569 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 Claims 1, 3, 7-10, 17-19, 39, 44-53 received on 3/17/2023 have been examined, of which claims 1 and 39 are independent. Claim Objections Claims 39 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 39 recites “memory to: performing sensing”, which appears to be typographical error for “memory to: perform . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1, 17-19, 39, 44, 46, 51-53 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhao (US 2023/0164637). Regarding claim 1, Zhao teaches a sensing method (abstract: method for partial sensing is performed by a terminal device), comprising: obtaining, by a terminal device, configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises a set of periodicity values for periodic reservation allowed for a target resource pool (abstract: determining a sensing condition based on a first time unit and first information, wherein the first time unit is a time unit where a candidate time-frequency resource for resource selection for a first sidelink transmission is located, and the first information includes at least one of: an aperiodic resource reservation or a resource reservation with a period Ts as 0 for the first sidelink transmission; or a periodic resource reservation or a resource reservation with the period Ts not as 0 for the first sidelink transmission; step 410, fig 4) and a periodicity value for sensing by the terminal device (abstract: determining a second time unit to be sensed based on the sensing condition, step 420, fig 4, fig 5; para 45-47: the second time unit is a time unit that needs to be sensed in a resource sensing window when a transmission collision on the first time unit is determined, a second time unit is located in the resource sensing window. The resource sensing window is a time window from n−T.sub.0 to n−Tproc, the terminal device needs to determine, according to the determined sensing condition, the second time unit that needs to be sensed in the resource sensing window before the first time unit); and performing, by the terminal device, sensing based on the configuration information (abstract: a method for partial sensing is performed by a terminal device including determining sensing condition and second time unit; fig 7; para 75-84 describe the sensing condition and resource reservation set for the terminal to perform sensing operation). Regarding claim 39, Zhao teaches a terminal device (terminal device, fig 10), comprising a processor (processor 101, fig 10) and a memory (memory 104, fig 10), wherein the memory has a computer program stored thereon, and the processor is configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory (para 165: the memory 104 may be configured to store at least one instruction, and the processor 101 is configured to execute the at least one instruction to implement all blocks in the above embodiment) to: obtain configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises a set of periodicity values for periodic reservation allowed for a target resource pool (abstract: determining a sensing condition based on a first time unit and first information, wherein the first time unit is a time unit where a candidate time-frequency resource for resource selection for a first sidelink transmission is located, and the first information includes at least one of: an aperiodic resource reservation or a resource reservation with a period Ts as 0 for the first sidelink transmission; or a periodic resource reservation or a resource reservation with the period Ts not as 0 for the first sidelink transmission; step 410, fig 4) and a periodicity value for sensing by the terminal device (abstract: determining a second time unit to be sensed based on the sensing condition, step 420, fig 4, fig 5; para 45-47: the second time unit is a time unit that needs to be sensed in a resource sensing window when a transmission collision on the first time unit is determined, a second time unit is located in the resource sensing window. The resource sensing window is a time window from n−T.sub.0 to n−Tproc, the terminal device needs to determine, according to the determined sensing condition, the second time unit that needs to be sensed in the resource sensing window before the first time unit); and performing sensing based on the configuration information (abstract: a method for partial sensing is performed by a terminal device including determining sensing condition and second time unit; fig 7; para 75-84 describe the sensing condition and resource reservation set for the terminal to perform sensing operation). Regarding claim 17 and 51, Zhao further teaches wherein the set of periodicity values allowed for the target resource pool comprises at least one and up to sixteen periodicity values of: 0 ms, 1 ms, 2 ms, . . . , 99 ms, 100 ms, 200 ms, 300 ms, 400 ms, 500 ms, 600 ms, 700 ms, 800 ms, 900 ms, or 1000 ms (para 5: in 5G V2X, more flexible resource reservation period selection is provided, in addition to 10 possible resource reservation periods from 100 ms to 1000 ms, a possible value of the resource reservation period also includes any value from 1 ms to 99 ms; para 9, 41, 114). Regarding claim 18 and 52, Zhao further teaches wherein the target resource pool supports aperiodic service transmission when the set of periodicity values allowed for the target resource pool comprises 0 ms (para 7-9: determining a sensing condition based on a first time unit and first information, the first information includes: an aperiodic resource reservation or a resource reservation with a period Ts as 0 for the first sidelink transmission). Regarding claim 19 and 53, Zhao further teaches wherein different priorities correspond to different periodicity values for sensing by the terminal device (para 91: the first configuration information is configured based on priorities for the sidelink transmission, for different priorities for the sidelink transmission, the terminal device may be configured to use different sensing conditions; abstract: the sensing condition is determined based on first information, the first information includes at least one of: an aperiodic resource reservation or a periodic resource reservation). Regarding claim 44 and 46, Zhao further teaches wherein the periodicity value for sensing by the terminal device is used to indicate a periodicity value, based on which the terminal device performs the sensing (abstract: a method for partial sensing is performed by a terminal device including determining sensing condition and second time unit; fig 7; para 75-84 describe the sensing condition and resource reservation set for the terminal to perform sensing operation). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3, 7-10, 45, 47-50 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RINA C PANCHOLI whose telephone number is (571)272-2679. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-4pm. 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 on 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. /RINA C PANCHOLI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 3/4/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 23, 2022
Application Filed
Mar 04, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

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

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
86%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+22.9%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 569 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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