Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/244,132

Master-slave switching method and device

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Sep 08, 2023
Examiner
RIVAS, SALVADOR E
Art Unit
2413
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Zgmicro Wuxi Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
5m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allowance Rate
594 granted / 730 resolved
+23.4% vs TC avg
Strong +23% interview lift
Without
With
+22.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
762
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§103
91.0%
+51.0% vs TC avg
§102
2.2%
-37.8% vs TC avg
§112
1.4%
-38.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 730 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 . This Action is in response to Applicant’s remarks and amended claims filed on April 29, 2026. Claims 1-3, 9-10, 14-15, and 17-19 are now pending in the present application. This Action is made FINAL. Priority 2. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Response to Amendment 3. The outstanding rejections of Claims 1-3, 9-11, 14-15, and 17-19 under 35 U.S.C. 103 are withdrawn in light of Applicant's amendment to Claims 1, 9, and 17 filed on April 29, 2026. Specification 4. The amendments to the specification regarding the title received on April 29, 2026. These amendments to the title are accepted. 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 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 5. 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 of this title, 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. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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, 3, 9, 14-15, 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2002/0090914 A1), in view of Kaipu Narahari et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2020/0341529 A1), and Rune et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2004/0167988 A1). Regarding claim 1, Kang et al. teach a master-slave switching method (Fig(s).3 and 6) comprising: broadcasting a master-slave switching message (read as master-slave switch request (Fig(s).3 @ S302, 6 @ S602, and 7)) and waiting for a master-slave switching moment by a first device used as a master device in a broadcast isochronous group after determining that a master-slave switching with a target slave device in the broadcast isochronous group is required (Fig(s).1, 3 @ S304, 6 @ S604, and 7); and communicating with the master device in the broadcast isochronous group, by the first device switched to the slave device, based on a communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group before the master-slave switching. (Fig(s).1, 3 @ S306, S308, and S310) However, Kang et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the broadcast isochronous group is a communication system in which communication signals are transmitted unidirectionally from the master device to slave devices; switching an operating mode to a slave mode by the first device so that the first device becomes a slave device in the broadcast isochronous group when the master-slave switching moment arrives; Kaipu Narahari et al. teach a method wherein the broadcast isochronous group is a communication system in which communication signals are transmitted unidirectionally from the master device to slave devices (read as “During an isochronous event exchange between unconnected electronic devices 102, a broadcasting electronic device (“broadcaster”) 102 may use a connectionless logical transport called a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to broadcast isochronous data in a unidirectional, connectionless manner to multiple receiving electronic devices 102 referred to as scanning devices (“scanners”) forming a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG).”(Paragraph [0050])); Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function to generate and transmit a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to send data in a unidirectional manner to form a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) as taught by Kaipu Narahari et al. with the devices with capabilities for operating as a master/slave as taught by Kang et al. for the purpose of improving selection of devices that use isochronous packets in a piconet. However, Kang et al. and Kaipu Narahari et al. fail to explicitly teach switching an operating mode to a slave mode by the first device so that the first device becomes a slave device in the broadcast isochronous group when the master-slave switching moment arrives; Rune et al. teach a method wherein switching an operating mode to a slave mode by the first device so that the first device becomes a slave device in the broadcast isochronous group when the master-slave switching moment arrives (read as “the roles of master and slave can be switched using a master-slave switch mechanism in Bluetooth. (See, e.g., "Specification of the Bluetooth System," version 1.1, Bluetooth Special Interest Group.)”(Paragraph [0031])); Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the master-slave switching mechanism as taught by Rune et al. and a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to send data in a unidirectional manner to form a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) as taught by Kaipu Narahari et al. with the devices with capabilities for operating as a master/slave as taught by Kang et al. for the purpose of enhancing communication by devices in a piconet. Regarding claim 9, Kang et al. teach a master-slave switching method (Fig(s).3 and 6), comprising: receiving, by a second device (Fig(s).3 @ U20 and 6 @ U2) used as a slave device in a broadcast isochronous group, a master-slave switching message broadcasted by a master device in the broadcast isochronous group (read as master-slave switch request (Fig(s).3 @ S302, 6 @ S602, and 7)); waiting for a master-slave switching moment when it is confirmed that the second device is a target slave device requiring a master-slave switching based on the master-slave switching message (Fig(s).1, 3 @ S304, 6 @ S604, and 7); and communicating with the slave device in the broadcast isochronous group, after the second device is switched to the master device, based on a communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group before the master-slave switching. (Fig(s).1, 3 @ S312, S314, S316, S318, S320, and S322) However, Kang et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the broadcast isochronous group is a communication system in which communication signals are transmitted unidirectionally from the master device to slave devices; switching an operating mode to a master mode by the second device when the master-slave switching moment arrives; Kaipu Narahari et al. teach a method wherein the broadcast isochronous group is a communication system in which communication signals are transmitted unidirectionally from the master device to slave devices (read as “During an isochronous event exchange between unconnected electronic devices 102, a broadcasting electronic device (“broadcaster”) 102 may use a connectionless logical transport called a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to broadcast isochronous data in a unidirectional, connectionless manner to multiple receiving electronic devices 102 referred to as scanning devices (“scanners”) forming a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG).”(Paragraph [0050])); Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to send data in a unidirectional manner to form a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) as taught by Kaipu Narahari et al. with the devices with capabilities for operating as a master/slave as taught by Kang et al. for the purpose of improving selection of devices that use isochronous packets in a piconet. However, Kang et al. and Kaipu Narahari et al. fail to explicitly teach switching an operating mode to a master mode by the second device when the master-slave switching moment arrives; Rune et al. teach a method wherein switching an operating mode to a master mode by the second device when the master- slave switching moment arrives (read as “the roles of master and slave can be switched using a master-slave switch mechanism in Bluetooth. (See, e.g., "Specification of the Bluetooth System," version 1.1, Bluetooth Special Interest Group.)”(Paragraph [0031])); Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the master-slave switching mechanism as taught by Rune et al. and the function to generate and transmit a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to send data in a unidirectional manner to form a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) as taught by Kaipu Narahari et al. with the devices with capabilities for operating as a master/slave as taught by Kang et al. for the purpose of enhancing communication by devices in a piconet. Regarding claim 17, Kang et al. teach a first device (Fig(s).1 and 3-4, 5 @ 30, 6-7) comprising: a hardware processor (Fig.5 @ 23, 33) configured for broadcasting a master-slave switching message (read as master-slave switch request (Fig(s).3 @ S302, 6 @ S602, and 7)) and waiting for a master-slave switching moment when the first device is used as a master device in a broadcast isochronous group after determining that a master-slave switching with a target slave device in the broadcast isochronous group is required (Fig(s).1, 3 @ S304, 6 @ S604, and 7); and wherein the processor (Fig.5 @ 23, 33) is further configured for communicating with the master device in the broadcast isochronous group, after the first device is switched to the slave device, based on a communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group before the master-slave switching. (Fig(s).1, 3 @ S306, S308, and S310, and 5) However, Kang et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the broadcast isochronous group is a communication system in which communication signals are transmitted unidirectionally from the master device to slave devices; configured for switching an operating mode to a slave mode so that the first device becomes one slave device in the broadcast isochronous group when the master- slave switching moment arrives; Kaipu Narahari et al. teach a method wherein the broadcast isochronous group is a communication system in which communication signals are transmitted unidirectionally from the master device to slave devices (read as “During an isochronous event exchange between unconnected electronic devices 102, a broadcasting electronic device (“broadcaster”) 102 may use a connectionless logical transport called a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to broadcast isochronous data in a unidirectional, connectionless manner to multiple receiving electronic devices 102 referred to as scanning devices (“scanners”) forming a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG).”(Paragraph [0050])); Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to send data in a unidirectional manner to form a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) as taught by Kaipu Narahari et al. with the devices with capabilities for operating as a master/slave as taught by Kang et al. for the purpose of improving selection of devices that use isochronous packets in a piconet. However, Kang et al. and Kaipu Narahari et al. fail to explicitly teach the step configured for switching an operating mode to a slave mode so that the first device becomes one slave device in the broadcast isochronous group when the master- slave switching moment arrives; Rune et al. teach a switching module configured for switching an operating mode to a slave mode so that the first device becomes one slave device in the broadcast isochronous group when the master- slave switching moment arrives; (read as “the roles of master and slave can be switched using a master-slave switch mechanism in Bluetooth. (See, e.g., "Specification of the Bluetooth System," version 1.1, Bluetooth Special Interest Group.)”(Paragraph [0031])); Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the master-slave switching mechanism as taught by Rune et al. and a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to send data in a unidirectional manner to form a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) as taught by Kaipu Narahari et al. with the devices with capabilities for operating as a master/slave as taught by Kang et al. for the purpose of enhancing communication by devices in a piconet. Regarding claims 3 and 19, and as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, Kang et al., as modified by Kaipu Narahari et al. and Rune et al., teach a master-slave switching method and first device (Fig(s).1 and 3-4, 5 @ 30, 6-7) wherein the master-slave switching moment is a starting moment of nth communication event after the first device determines that the master-slave switching with the target slave device in the broadcast isochronous group is required, n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.(read as Time Alignment LMP packet (Fig(s).1, 3 @ S306, S312, S318)) Regarding claim 14, and as applied to claim 9 above, Kang et al., as modified by Kaipu Narahari et al. and Rune et al., teach a master-slave switching method wherein if it is confirmed based on the master-slave switching message that the second device is not the target slave device requiring the master-slave switching (read as a packet comprising of AM_ADDR (e.g.: Bluetooth device address (BD_ADDR)) (Fig.2; Paragraph(s) [0007], [0017]) and [0064])), the master-slave switching method comprises: communicating with the master device in the broadcast isochronous group continuously based on the communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group. (Fig(s).5 @ 21 and 31) Regarding claim 15, and as applied to claim 9 above, Kang et al., as modified by Kaipu Narahari et al. and Rune et al., teach a master-slave switching method wherein whether the present slave device is the target slave device designated by the master device is confirmed based on a Bluetooth address of the target slave device in the master-slave switching message (read as a packet comprising of AM_ADDR (e.g.: Bluetooth device address (BD_ADDR)) (Fig.2; Paragraph(s) [0007], [0017]) and [0064])); the master-slave switching moment is determined based on an indication for indicating the master-slave switching moment in the master-slave switching message. ( (Fig.5 @ 23, 33) Claims 2, 10-11, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2002/0090914 A1), in view of Kaipu Narahari et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2020/0341529 A1), Rune et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2004/0167988 A1), and Daoura et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0256833 A1). Regarding claims 2 and 18, and as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, Kang et al. teach “a wireless communication apparatus, a wireless communication method thereof, and a wireless communication system employing the same, for enabling peer-to-peer communication between slave devices through master-to-slave switching.”(Fig(s).3-7; Paragraph [0002]) Also, Kang et al. teach a master-slave switching method wherein a communication event of the BLE broadcast communication comprises an advertising time slot (read as master-to-slave slot (Paragraph [0016])), Kaipu Narahari et al. teach “During an isochronous event exchange between unconnected electronic devices 102, a broadcasting electronic device (“broadcaster”) 102 may use a connectionless logical transport called a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to broadcast isochronous data in a unidirectional, connectionless manner to multiple receiving electronic devices 102 referred to as scanning devices (“scanners”) forming a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG).”(Paragraph [0050]) Rune et al. teach “the roles of master and slave can be switched using a master-slave switch mechanism in Bluetooth. (See, e.g., "Specification of the Bluetooth System," version 1.1, Bluetooth Special Interest Group.)”(Paragraph [0031]) However, Kang et al., Kaipu Narahari et al. and Rune et al. fail to explicitly teach broadcasting an advertising message in the advertising time slot before the first device determines that the master-slave switching with the target slave device in the broadcast isochronous group is required, wherein the advertising message is configured for synchronizing the slave device with the master device and comprises a synchronization parameter for indicating the communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group; wherein said communicating with the master device in the broadcast isochronous group comprises: receiving a new advertising message broadcasted by the master device in the advertising time slot, wherein the new advertising message is generated based on the synchronization parameter for indicating the communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group. Daoura et al. teach a method broadcasting an advertising message in the advertising time slot before the first device determines that the master-slave switching with the target slave device in the broadcast isochronous group is required (read as BT advertising packet (Fig(s).6C, 8A, 17, 23, and 28)), wherein the advertising message is configured for synchronizing the slave device with the master device and comprises a synchronization parameter for indicating the communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group (read as SYNCH WORD (Fig(s).8A; 21, 23, and 24)); wherein said communicating with the master device in the broadcast isochronous group comprises: receiving a new advertising message broadcasted by the master device in the advertising time slot (read as BT advertising packet (Fig(s).6C, 8A, 17, 21, 23, 24, and 28)), wherein the new advertising message is generated based on the synchronization parameter for indicating the communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group. (read as SYNCH WORD (Fig(s).21,23, and 24)) Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for generating, formatting, and exchanging a BT advertising packet as taught by Daoura et al., the master-slave switching mechanism as taught by Rune et al., and a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to send data in a unidirectional manner to form a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) as taught by Kaipu Narahari et al. with the devices with capabilities for operating as a master/slave as taught by Kang et al. for the purpose of enhancing communication by devices in a piconet. Regarding claim 10, and as applied to claim 9 above, Kang et al. teach “a wireless communication apparatus, a wireless communication method thereof, and a wireless communication system employing the same, for enabling peer-to-peer communication between slave devices through master-to-slave switching.”(Fig(s).3-7; Paragraph [0002]) Kang et al. teach a method wherein a communication event of the BLE broadcast communication comprises an advertising time slot, before the second device is confirmed the target slave device requiring the master-slave switching based on the master-slave switching message (read as master-to-slave slot (Paragraph [0016])), Kaipu Narahari et al. teach “During an isochronous event exchange between unconnected electronic devices 102, a broadcasting electronic device (“broadcaster”) 102 may use a connectionless logical transport called a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to broadcast isochronous data in a unidirectional, connectionless manner to multiple receiving electronic devices 102 referred to as scanning devices (“scanners”) forming a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG).”(Paragraph [0050]) Rune et al. teach “the roles of master and slave can be switched using a master-slave switch mechanism in Bluetooth. (See, e.g., "Specification of the Bluetooth System," version 1.1, Bluetooth Special Interest Group.)”(Paragraph [0031]) However, Kang et al., Kaipu Narahari et al., and Rune et al. fail to explicitly teach receiving an advertising message broadcasted by the master device, obtaining a synchronization parameter based on the advertising message, synchronizing with the master device based on the synchronization parameter for indicating the communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group, by the second device, wherein said communicating with the slave device in the broadcast isochronous group comprises: generating a new advertising message based on the synchronization parameter, and broadcasting the new advertising message in the advertising time slot after the second device is switched to the master device. Daoura et al. teach a method for receiving an advertising message broadcasted by the master device (read as BT advertising packet (Fig(s).6C, 8A, 17, 23, and 28)), obtaining a synchronization parameter based on the advertising message, synchronizing with the master device based on the synchronization parameter for indicating the communication rule of the broadcast isochronous group, by the second device (read as SYNCH WORD (Fig(s).21,23, and 24)), wherein said communicating with the slave device in the broadcast isochronous group comprises: generating a new advertising message based on the synchronization parameter (read as BT advertising packet (Fig(s).6C, 8A, 17, 23, and 28)), and broadcasting the new advertising message in the advertising time slot after the second device is switched to the master device. (Fig(s).6C, 8A, 17, 23, and 28) Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for generating, formatting, and exchanging a BT advertising packet as taught by Daoura et al., the master-slave switching mechanism as taught by Rune et al., and a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to send data in a unidirectional manner to form a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) as taught by Kaipu Narahari et al. with the devices with capabilities for operating as a master/slave as taught by Kang et al. for the purpose of enhancing communication by devices in a piconet. Regarding claim 11, and as applied to claim 10 above, Kang et al. teach “a wireless communication apparatus, a wireless communication method thereof, and a wireless communication system employing the same, for enabling peer-to-peer communication between slave devices through master-to-slave switching.”(Fig(s).3-7; Paragraph [0002]) Kaipu Narahari et al. teach “During an isochronous event exchange between unconnected electronic devices 102, a broadcasting electronic device (“broadcaster”) 102 may use a connectionless logical transport called a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to broadcast isochronous data in a unidirectional, connectionless manner to multiple receiving electronic devices 102 referred to as scanning devices (“scanners”) forming a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG).”(Paragraph [0050]) Rune et al. teach “the roles of master and slave can be switched using a master-slave switch mechanism in Bluetooth. (See, e.g., "Specification of the Bluetooth System," version 1.1, Bluetooth Special Interest Group.)”(Paragraph [0031]) However, Kang et al., Kaipu Narahari et al., and Rune et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein said generating a new advertising message based on the synchronization parameter comprises: using a broadcast interval, an access code, a check code, a channel list, and a time slot allocation scheme as the synchronization parameter in the new advertising message. Daoura et al. teach a method wherein said generating a new advertising message (Fig.23) based on the synchronization parameter comprises: using a broadcast interval, an access code (Fig(s).21, 22A-22C, 23, and 24), a check code, a channel list, and a time slot allocation scheme as the synchronization parameter in the new advertising message. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for generating, formatting, and exchanging a BT advertising packet as taught by Daoura et al., the master-slave switching mechanism as taught by Rune et al., and a Broadcast Isochronous Stream (BIS) to send data in a unidirectional manner to form a Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) as taught by Kaipu Narahari et al. with the devices with capabilities for operating as a master/slave as taught by Kang et al. for the purpose of enhancing communication by devices in a piconet. Response to Arguments 6. Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-3, 9-11, 14-15, and 17-19 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Conclusion 7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure: Huang (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0069016 A1) teach “the mobile phone 130 may establish a connectionless isochronous channel with the left wireless earbud 110 and the right wireless earbud 120, and the channel uses two LE Broadcast Isochronous Stream (LE-BIS) logical transports and supports unidirectional communication. The two BISs form a broadcast isochronous group (BIG), and each BIS has multiple BIS instances.”(Paragraph [0039]) Sirur et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0064205 A1) teach “a co-existence of Connected Isochronous Group (CIG) and Broadcast Isochronous Group (BIG) at the electronic device to facilitate concurrent music broadcast and unicast call/voice audio.”(Paragraph [0051]) 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 response to this Office Action should be faxed to (571) 273-8300 or mailed to: Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 Any inquiry concerning this communication or early communications from the Examiner should be directed to Salvador E. Rivas whose telephone number is (571) 270-1784. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7:30AM to 5:00PM. If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Un C. Cho can be reached on (571) 272- 7919. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to the USPTO patent electronic filing system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist/customer service whose telephone number is (571) 272-2600. /SALVADOR E RIVAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413 May 16, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 08, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Apr 29, 2026
Response Filed
May 20, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12640849
METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PDSCH TRANSMISSION/RECEPTION IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
3y 7m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12628016
PARAMETER REPORTING TECHNIQUES FOR REDUCED CAPABILITY USER EQUIPMENT
4y 7m to grant Granted May 12, 2026
Patent 12628028
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING FOR REAL-TIME APPLICATIONS
3y 7m to grant Granted May 12, 2026
Patent 12621826
COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS
3y 10m to grant Granted May 05, 2026
Patent 12615624
TERMINAL
3y 2m to grant Granted Apr 28, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
81%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+22.9%)
3y 2m (~5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 730 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month