Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/222,347

MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, ORIGINATING BASE STATION, CANDIDATE BASE STATION, AND MOBILE TERMINAL

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jul 14, 2023
Examiner
HAQUE, ABUSAYEED M
Art Unit
2466
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
OA Round
5 (Non-Final)
92%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
2y 5m
To Grant
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 92% — above average
92%
Career Allow Rate
581 granted / 634 resolved
+33.6% vs TC avg
Minimal -3% lift
Without
With
+-2.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
660
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.6%
-36.4% vs TC avg
§103
44.0%
+4.0% vs TC avg
§102
29.8%
-10.2% vs TC avg
§112
9.9%
-30.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 634 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Response to Amendment This office action is a response to an RCE filed on 01/20/2026. Claim 8 has been added. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed on have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant argues on pages 5-8 in the remarks with cited paragraphs form current prior arts that current prior arts in combination failed to teach claim 1. The applicant strongly believes that current prior arts have failed to teach claimed limitation “ the information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement”, therefore this claim should be allowed. In response, examiner disagrees with the applicant. The examiner’s interpretation of claim 1 is a serving base station sends a request message to different candidate base stations those are considered as potential destination base station for the serving base station, the serving base station receives a response message form the candidate base stations based on the transmitted request message, and the serving base station forward a message to a user equipment (UE) based on the received response message, the message includes a measurement configuration message for performing a measurement by the UE. Fang’s teaching on fig. 2 using a cell base station is equated to originating base station, Base station of neighbor cell A and B are equated to communication partner and destination base station, his teaching on column 8, lines 1-25, steps 206 and 208 about sending a response message a neighbor cell and expanding coverage area to compensate the coverage area of the cell that is sleeping explicitly teaches changing a communication partner of a mobile terminal from an originating base station to a destination base station, his teaching on fig. 2, cell base station is equated to originating base station, base station of neighbor cell A and B are equated to plurality of base stations which are potential destination base stations, his teaching on column 7, lines 35-67,steps 202 and 204 about sending sleeping entering request message to neighbor cells A and B is read as transmitting a request message to plurality of base stations to a become candidate, his teaching on column 8, lines 1-25, steps 206 and 208 about sending a response message a neighbor cell and expanding coverage area to compensate the coverage area of the cell that is sleeping explicitly teaches the neighbor cells are potential destination base stations from the originating base station, his teaching on column 8, line 1-25, steps 206 and 208 about sending sleeping entering permission is equated to response message responding to the request message, sending sleeping entering permission by cell A and B teaches a response message responding to the request message is transmitted from the plurality of candidate base stations to the originating base station. OLOFSSON’s teaching on page 5, step 201,(last paragraph on page 5 continued on page 6) about using a source base station is equated to originating base station, first target base station is equated to candidate base station, UE is equated to mobile terminal, CIO (cell individual offset) is equated to information of the candidate base station, sending an identification information (like CIO) with a handover command by the source base station to an UE explicitly teaches transmitting from the originating base station to the mobile terminal. Nishio’s teaching in paragraph 169 about using a base station is equated to original base station, RB (resource block) that are set as the target for measurement of the other cell is read as a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement, RRC is equated to information, notifying to each terminal by using the RRC message about , RB (resource block) that are set as the target for measurement of the other cell explicitly teaches using an information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement.The examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, Nishio in combination with OLOFSSON and Fang teaches claimed invention. The applicant also argues on page 8 in the remarks to allow newly added claim 8. This claim can not be allowed because it depends on claim 1 that does not overcome with current prior art rejection. The examiner’s interpretation of this claim is the serving base station sends a RRC message to the UE and the RRC message includes a list about neighbor base stations. He’s teaching in paragraph 31 about using information with frequencies, bandwidth and other information is equated to information, eNBs associate with neighboring cels are equated to candidate base station, neighbor cell list is equated to a neighbor cell list, UE is equated to a mobile terminal, sending a RRC message with neighbor cell list (with an information element as a MeansObjectEUTRA) by a base station from a serving case explicitly teaches the information of the candidate base stations is included in a neighbor cell list notified to the mobile terminal over radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, He in combination with Nishio, OLOFSSON and Fang teaches claimed invention. 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. Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 (a) as being unpatentable over Fang et al. (hereinafter, “Fang”; 8977325B2) in view of OLOFSSON et al.(hereinafter, “OLOFSSON”; WO2013071856) and in further view of Nishio et al. (hereinafter, “Nishio”; 20130155990).(For citation purpose, examiner has used English translation of WO2013071856. Publication date of WO 2013071856 is May/23/2013. Therefore, this foreign prior art qualifies as prior art under 35 U.S.C 103 (a)). In response to claim 1, Fang teaches a mobile communication system, which changes a communication partner of a mobile terminal from an originating base station to a destination base station (fig. 2, cell base station is equated to originating base station, Base station of neighbor cell A and B are equated to communication partner and destination base station, column 8, lines 1-25, steps 206 and 208, sending a response message a neighbor cell and expanding coverage area to compensate the coverage area of the cell that is sleeping explicitly teaches changing a communication partner of a mobile terminal from an originating base station to a destination base station), wherein a request message requesting to become a candidate is transmitted to a plurality of candidate base stations, which are potential destination base stations, from the originating base station (fig. 2, cell base station is equated to originating base station, base station of neighbor cell A and B are equated to plurality of base stations which are potential destination base stations, column 7, lines 35-67,steps 202 and 204, sending sleeping entering request message to neighbor cells A and B is read as transmitting a request message to plurality of base stations to a become candidate, column 8, lines 1-25, steps 206 and 208, sending a response message a neighbor cell and expanding coverage area to compensate the coverage area of the cell that is sleeping explicitly teaches the neighbor cells are potential destination base stations from the originating base station), a response message responding to the request message is transmitted from the plurality of candidate base stations to the originating base station (column 8, line 1-25, steps 206 and 208, sending sleeping entering permission is equated to response message responding to the request message, sending sleeping entering permission by cell A and B teaches this limitation), Fang does not teach explicitly about information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal. OLOFSSON in view of Fang teaches information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal (page 5, step 201,(last paragraph on page 5 continued on page 6), source base station is equated to originating base station, first target base station is equated to candidate base station, UE is equated to mobile terminal, CIO (cell individual offset) is equated to information of the candidate base station, sending an identification information (like CIO) with a handover command by the source base station to an UE explicitly teaches transmitting from the originating base station to the mobile terminal), and It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fang for using a information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal as taught by OLOFSSON because it would allow using an optimized algorithm to ensure correctness of an optimized result with a link failure statistic method for performing an abnormal switching of classified statistics by distinguishing a CIO (cell individual offset) configuration reason that cause a wireless link failure. Fang and OLOFSSON don’t teach explicitly about the information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement. Nishio in view of FANG and OLOFSSON teaches the information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement (paragraph 169, base station is equated to original base station, RB (resource block) that are set as the target for measurement of the other cell is read as a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement, RRC is equated to information, notifying to each terminal by using the RRC message about , RB (resource block) that are set as the target for measurement of the other cell explicitly teaches this limitation). It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fang and OLOFSSON for using information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement as taught by Nishio because it would allow allocating some resource for measurement purpose. In response to claim 2, Fang teaches wherein the originating base station is an energy saving base station capable of energy saving operation (fig. 2, cell base station is equated to originating base station, column 7, step 202 and 204, sending a sleeping entering request explicitly teaches the originating base station is an energy saving base station). In response to claim 3, Fang teaches wherein the destination base stations are compensating base stations compensating operation of the originating base station (fig. 2, Base station of neighbor cell A and B are equated to communication partner and destination base station, column 8, step 208, sending a message by a neighbor cell for a coverage compensation explicitly teaches destination base stations are compensating base stations compensating operation of the originating base station). In response to claim 4, Fang teaches an originating base station, which changes a communication partner of a mobile terminal from an originating base station to a destination base station, wherein a request message requesting to become a candidate is transmitted to a plurality of candidate base stations, which are potential destination base stations, a response message responding to the request message is received from the plurality of candidate base stations (these limitations are identical to claim 1, therefore, they are rejected as claim 1), Fang does not teach explicitly about information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal. OLOFSSON in view of Fang teaches information of the candidate base stations is transmitted to the mobile terminal(page 5, step 201,(last paragraph on page 5 continued on page 6), source base station is equated to originating base station, first target base station is equated to candidate base station, UE is equated to mobile terminal, page 6,paragraph 3, selecting a first target base station form multiple target cells and having multiple neighbor cells those can serve as target cells at the same time explicitly teaches using multiple candidate base stations by the system, page 5, step 201,(last paragraph on page 5 continued on page 6),CIO (cell individual offset) is equated to information of the candidate base station, sending an identification information (like CIO) with a handover command by the source base station to an UE explicitly teaches transmitting from the originating base station to the mobile terminal), and It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fang for using a information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal as taught by OLOFSSON because it would allow using an optimized algorithm to ensure correctness of an optimized result with a link failure statistic method for performing an abnormal switching of classified statistics by distinguishing a CIO (cell individual offset) configuration reason that cause a wireless link failure. Fang and OLOFSSON don’t teach explicitly about the information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement. Nishio in view of FANG and OLOFSSON teaches the information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement (paragraph 169, base station is equated to original base station, RB (resource block) that are set as the target for measurement of the other cell is read as a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement, RRC is equated to information, notifying to each terminal by using the RRC message about , RB (resource block) that are set as the target for measurement of the other cell explicitly teaches this limitation). It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fang and OLOFSSON for using information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement as taught by Nishio because it would allow allocating some resource for measurement purpose. In response to claim 5, Fang teaches a candidate base station, which is a potential destination base station, in a mobile communication system in which a communication partner of a mobile terminal is changed from an originating base station to the destination base station (fig. 2, cell base station is equated to originating base station, Base station of neighbor cell A and B are equated to communication partner and destination base station, column 8, line 1-25, steps 206 and 208,sending sleeping entering permission (based on the request message sent in step 204 and 206) and expanding a coverage area to compensate while the cell is sleeping explicitly teaches a communication partner of a mobile terminal is changed from an originating base station to the destination base station), wherein a request message requesting to become the candidate is received from the originating base station (column 7, lines 35-67,steps 202 and 204, sending sleeping entering request message to neighbor cells A and B is read as a request message requesting to become the candidate is received from the originating base station), a response message responding to the request message is transmitted to the originating base station (column 8, line 1-25, steps 206 and 208, sending sleeping entering permission is equated to response message responding to the request message is transmitted to the originating base station), and Fang does not teach explicitly about information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal. OLOFSSON in view of Fang teaches information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal (page 5, step 201,(last paragraph on page 5 continued on page 6), source base station is equated to originating base station, first target base station is equated to candidate base station, UE is equated to mobile terminal, CIO (cell individual offset) is equated to information of the candidate base station, sending an identification information (like CIO) with a handover command by the source base station to an UE explicitly teaches transmitting from the originating base station to the mobile terminal), and It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fang for using a information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal as taught by OLOFSSON because it would allow using an optimized algorithm to ensure correctness of an optimized result with a link failure statistic method for performing an abnormal switching of classified statistics by distinguishing a CIO (cell individual offset) configuration reason that cause a wireless link failure. Fang and OLOFSSON don’t teach explicitly about the information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement. Nishio in view of FANG and OLOFSSON teaches the information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement (paragraph 169, base station is equated to original base station, RB (resource block) that are set as the target for measurement of the other cell is read as a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement, RRC is equated to information, notifying to each terminal by using the RRC message about , RB (resource block) that are set as the target for measurement of the other cell explicitly teaches this limitation). It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fang and OLOFSSON for using information includes a measurement configuration message to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement as taught by Nishio because it would allow allocating some resource for measurement purpose. In response to claim 6, Fang teaches a mobile terminal in a mobile communication system in which a communication partner of a mobile terminal is changed from an originating base station to a destination base station (fig. 2, cell base station is equated to originating base station, Base station of neighbor cell A and B are equated to communication partner and destination base station, column 8, lines 1-25, steps 206 and 208, sending a response message a neighbor cell and expanding coverage area to compensate the coverage area of the cell that is sleeping explicitly teaches changing a communication partner of a mobile terminal from an originating base station to a destination base station), wherein to a plurality of candidate base stations, which are potential destination base stations, a request message requesting to become the candidate is transmitted from the originating base station (fig. 2, cell base station is equated to originating base station, base station of neighbor cell A and B are equated to plurality of base stations which are potential destination base stations, column 7, lines 35-67,steps 202 and 204, sending sleeping entering request message to neighbor cells A and B is read as transmitting a request message to plurality of base stations to a become candidate, column 8, lines 1-25, steps 206 and 208, sending a response message a neighbor cell and expanding coverage area to compensate the coverage area of the cell that is sleeping explicitly teaches the neighbor cells are potential destination base stations from the originating base station), a response message responding to the request message is transmitted from the plurality of candidate base stations to the originating base station (column 8, line 1-25, steps 206 and 208, sending sleeping entering permission is equated to response message responding to the request message, sending sleeping entering permission by cell A and B teaches this limitation), and Fang does not teach explicitly about information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal. OLOFSSON in view of Fang teaches information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal (page 5, step 201,(last paragraph on page 5 continued on page 6), source base station is equated to originating base station, first target base station is equated to candidate base station, UE is equated to mobile terminal, CIO (cell individual offset) is equated to information of the candidate base station, sending an identification information (like CIO) with a handover command by the source base station to an UE explicitly teaches transmitting from the originating base station to the mobile terminal). It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fang for using a information of the candidate base stations is transmitted from the originating base station to the mobile terminal as taught by OLOFSSON because it would allow using an optimized algorithm to ensure correctness of an optimized result with a link failure statistic method for performing an abnormal switching of classified statistics by distinguishing a CIO (cell individual offset) configuration reason that cause a wireless link failure. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 (a) as being unpatentable over Fang et al. (hereinafter, “Fang”; 8977325B2) in view of OLOFSSON et al.(hereinafter, “OLOFSSON”; WO2013071856) in view of Nishio et al. (hereinafter, “Nishio”; 20130155990) and in further view of Yu et al. (hereinafter, “Yu”; 20140029514). In response to claim 7, Fang, OLOFSSON and Nishio do not teach explicitly about claim 7. Yu in view of Fang OLOFSSON and Nishio teaches wherein information of the candidate base stations is transmitted to the mobile terminal to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement (paragraph 39, RRC message in step 501 is equated to an information of the candidate base station that is transmitted to a mobile station, performing measurement form a SCell (in step 512) explicitly teaches performing measurement of a secondary base station or a candidate base station located in the SCell). It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fang, OLOFSSON and Nishio for using an information of the candidate base stations is transmitted to the mobile terminal to cause the mobile terminal to perform measurement as taught by Yu because it would allow using a time efficient procedure for activating a secondary cell. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 (a) as being unpatentable over Fang et al. (hereinafter, “Fang”; 8977325B2) in view of OLOFSSON et al.(hereinafter, “OLOFSSON”; WO2013071856) in view of Nishio et al. (hereinafter, “Nishio”; 20130155990) and in further view of He et al. (hereinafter, “He”;20130288672). In response to claim 8, Fang, OLOFSSON and Nishio do not teach explicitly about claim 8. He in view of Fang OLOFSSON and Nishio teaches wherein the information of the candidate base stations is included in a neighbor cell list notified to the mobile terminal over radio resource control (RRC) signaling (paragraph 31, information with frequencies, bandwidth and other information is equated to information, eNBs associate with neighboring cels are equated to candidate base station, neighbor cell list is equated to a neighbor cell list, UE is equated to a mobile terminal, sending a RRC message with neighbor cell list (with an information element as a MeansObjectEUTRA) by a base station from a serving case explicitly teaches this limitation). It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fang, OLOFSSON and Nishio for using an i information of the candidate base stations is included in a neighbor cell list notified to the mobile terminal over radio resource control (RRC) signaling as taught by He because it would allow enhancing the existing wireless system by improving bandwidth utilization and efficiency. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. WO2011132721…………page 25, paragraph 2. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABUSAYEED HAQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-7252. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am -7:30 pm. 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, Faruk Hamza can be reached at 571-272-7969. 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. /ABUSAYEED M HAQUE/Examiner, Art Unit 2466 /CHRISTOPHER M CRUTCHFIELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 14, 2023
Application Filed
Jul 14, 2023
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 08, 2024
Non-Final Rejection — §103
May 07, 2024
Response Filed
May 17, 2024
Final Rejection — §103
Sep 19, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Nov 14, 2024
Request for Continued Examination
Nov 22, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Nov 27, 2024
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Feb 24, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Jun 13, 2025
Response Filed
Aug 23, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Nov 14, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 20, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 27, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
92%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (-2.7%)
2y 5m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 634 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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