Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/247,528

USER EQUIPMENT AND METHOD FOR SIDELINK COMMUNICATION

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Mar 31, 2023
Examiner
CHOUDHURY, FAISAL
Art Unit
2478
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
MediaTek Inc.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allow Rate
666 granted / 784 resolved
+26.9% vs TC avg
Strong +15% interview lift
Without
With
+15.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
38 currently pending
Career history
822
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.4%
-35.6% vs TC avg
§103
51.6%
+11.6% vs TC avg
§102
19.0%
-21.0% vs TC avg
§112
14.1%
-25.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 784 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/3/2026 has been entered. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1, 3-10 and 12-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Last limitation of claims 1 and 10 recite “wherein the trigger condition comprises: in the one or more time slots allocated for the one or more second SCIs, at least one SCI is successfully decoded, and the successfully decoded SCI does not belong to the belongs to another peer-Tx UE”. From the above claim language, it is not clear if the successfully decoded SCI does not belong to the peer-Tx UE or the successfully decoded SCI belongs to another peer-Tx UE and therefore scope of the claim is unclear. Claims 3-9 and 12-18 are rejected since these claims are dependent on claims 1 and 10. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FAISAL CHOUDHURY whose telephone number is (571)270-3001. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8AM-6P.M. 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, Joseph Avellino can be reached at 5712723905. 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. /FAISAL CHOUDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 31, 2023
Application Filed
Jun 27, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Sep 30, 2025
Response Filed
Nov 04, 2025
Final Rejection — §112
Feb 03, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Feb 10, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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TERMINAL DEVICE, BASE STATION DEVICE, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING TERMINAL DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING BASE STATION DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12598599
METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SEMI-PERSISTENT SCHEDULING (SPS) DOWNLINK TRANSMISSION
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12592768
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING AND PREVENTING MALFEASANT ACTIVITY VIA USE OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12592874
Validation of Time Synchronization
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12574068
GENERATING A COMPOSITE SIGNAL WITH CODE DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (CDM) AND TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (TDM) PILOTS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
85%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+15.4%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 784 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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