Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/261,434

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MULTICAST AND BROADCAST SERVICES

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jul 13, 2023
Examiner
BUKHARI, SIBTE H
Art Unit
2449
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Lenovo (Beijing) Limited
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 2m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allow Rate
336 granted / 428 resolved
+20.5% vs TC avg
Strong +37% interview lift
Without
With
+37.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
447
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.5%
-29.5% vs TC avg
§103
61.9%
+21.9% vs TC avg
§102
9.1%
-30.9% vs TC avg
§112
11.0%
-29.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 428 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 This action is in response to application filed on 12/22/2025. Claims 1-8 & 16-23 filed on 12/22/2025 have been examined and are pending with this action. Claims 9-15 filed on 12/22/2025 have been cancelled. Drawings The drawings were received on 7/13/2023 and these drawings are accepted. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/13/2023, 8/20/2024 & 5/7/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Oath/Declaration The Oath/Declaration filed on 7/13/2023, is accepted by the examiner. 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 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. Claims 1, 5, 16 & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable of MA et al (CN 101207910) in view of WEI (CN 114390442). INDEPENDENT CLAIMS: As per claim 1, MA discloses an apparatus for performing a network function (MA: “Fig 1, wireless network controller sends relative message of MBMS service on MCCH”), the apparatus comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (MA: “ step S304, the user equipment ( the mobile terminal which has memory and processor) receives the relative message”), and configured to cause the apparatus to: determine whether to activate or deactivate a point-to-point (PTP) mode to provide a multicast and broadcast service (MBS) to a user equipment (UE) (MA: “MBMS service comprises: 4 MBS (Multicast Service) and broadcast service, broadcast-Multicast Service Centre) activates certain multicast service, and for each broadcast service, the UE only need local activation; on the configuration of the radio bearer, the multicast service can be P-T-M (point-to-point, but also shortening the PTM or microns) and P-T-P (point to point,)”); and Ma does not explicitly teach user plane protocol. WEI however discloses transmit a data transmission indication via a user plane protocol of a network interface (WEI: “the transmission process of the service, the MAC layer dynamically switching transmission mode of the service between the PTM and PTP & the RLC entity is used for receiving the received PDCPPDU, the notified RLC entity transmits the indication information”) in a wireless network to activate or deactivate the PTP mode (WEI: the PTP bearer is activated; when the MAC layer determines one or more RB transmitting the service through the PTP bearer of the UE”). Examiner Note: In 0019 of the spec the user protocol includes PDCP PDU. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma view of WEI to figure out the user plane protocol. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve the multicast service configuration (WEI). Claim 16 is rejected based on rationale provided for claim 1. As per claim 5, MA discloses an apparatus for performing a network function (MA: “Fig 1, wireless network controller sends relative message of MBMS service on MCCH”), the apparatus comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (MA: “ step S304, the user equipment ( the mobile terminal which has memory and processor) receives the relative message”), and configured to cause the apparatus to: a network interface in a wireless network to activate or deactivate a point-to-point (PTP) mode to provide a multicast and broadcast service (MBS) to a user equipment (UE) (MA: “MBMS service comprises: 4 MBS (Multicast Service) and broadcast service, broadcast-Multicast Service Centre) activates certain multicast service, and for each broadcast service, the UE only need local activation; on the configuration of the radio bearer, the multicast service can be P-T-M (point-to-point, but also shortening the PTM or microns) and P-T-P (point to point,)”); Ma does not explicitly teach user plane protocol. WEI however discloses receive a data transmission indication via a user plane protocol (WEI: “the transmission process of the service, the MAC layer dynamically switching transmission mode of the service between the PTM and PTP & the RLC entity is used for receiving the received PDCPPDU, the notified RLC entity transmits the indication information”). Examiner Note: In 0019 of the spec the user protocol includes PDCP PDU. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma view of WEI to figure out the user plane protocol. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve the multicast service configuration (WEI). Claim 20 is rejected based on rationale provided for claim 5. DEPENDENT CLAIMS: Claims 2-4, 6-8, 17-19 & 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable of MA et al (CN 101207910 A ) in view of WEI (CN 114390442 A) in further view of Griot et al (US Pat # 11722855 A). As per claim 2, Ma/Wei discloses the apparatus of claim 1 (MA: “Fig 1, wireless network controller sends relative message of MBMS service on MCCH”), Ma does not explicitly teach data transmission indication is transmitted via an individual tunnel for PTP transmission. Griot however discloses wherein the data transmission indication is transmitted via an individual tunnel for PTP transmission (Griot: [0085]: “ FIG. 4A illustrates that while two RAN nodes 141 (e.g., base station 110a-d) may both have an established N3 tunnel for a multicast session context including an MBS flow (labeled M flow Y in FIG. 4A), one RAN node 141 may select point-to-multipoint delivery (e.g., a 5GC shared MBS traffic delivery method) while the other RAN node 141 may select to use point-to-point delivery (e.g., a 5GC Individual MBS traffic delivery method).”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of modified Ma view of Griot to figure out user of tunnel for transmission. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in for enabling multicast service data transport for mobility between multicast/broadcast service (MBS) supporting and non-MBS supporting access nodes. (Griot). As per claim 3, Ma/Wei discloses the apparatus of claim 1 (MA: “Fig 1, wireless network controller sends relative message of MBMS service on MCCH”), Ma does not explicitly teach data transmission indication is transmitted via an individual tunnel for PTM transmission. Griot however discloses wherein the data transmission indication is transmitted via a shared tunnel for PTP transmission and point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission (Griot: [0061]: “The UPF computing device 145 may be configured to deliver a same flow as MBS flow in a certain area using point-to-multipoint tunnelling and as unicast flow to specific wireless devices (e.g., for legacy non-5G wireless devices).”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of modified Ma view of Griot to figure out user of tunnel for transmission. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in for enabling multicast service data transport for mobility between multicast/broadcast service (MBS) supporting and non-MBS supporting access nodes. (Griot). As per claim 4, Ma/Wei discloses the apparatus of claim 3, wherein the data transmission indication is transmitted in a frame via the user plane protocol (WEI: “the transmission process of the service, the MAC layer dynamically switching transmission mode of the service between the PTM and PTP & the RLC entity is used for receiving the received PDCPPDU, the notified RLC entity transmits the indication information”) and comprises an identity (ID) associated with the UE (WEI: “ the UE PTP carries the ID of the MBS dedicated BWP”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma view of WEI to figure out the user plane protocol. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve the multicast service configuration (WEI). Claims 17-19 are rejected based on rationale provided for claims 2-4 rejection. As per claim 6, Ma/Wei discloses the apparatus of claim 5 (MA: “Fig 1, wireless network controller sends relative message of MBMS service on MCCH”), Ma does not explicitly teach data transmission indication is received via an individual tunnel for PTP transmission. Griot however discloses wherein the data transmission indication is received via an individual tunnel for PTP transmission (Griot: [0085]: “ FIG. 4A illustrates that while two RAN nodes 141 (e.g., base station 110a-d) may both have an established N3 tunnel for a multicast session context including an MBS flow (labeled M flow Y in FIG. 4A), one RAN node 141 may select point-to-multipoint delivery (e.g., a 5GC shared MBS traffic delivery method) while the other RAN node 141 may select to use point-to-point delivery (e.g., a 5GC Individual MBS traffic delivery method).”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of modified Ma view of Griot to figure out user of tunnel for transmission. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in for enabling multicast service data transport for mobility between multicast/broadcast service (MBS) supporting and non-MBS supporting access nodes. (Griot). As per claim 7, Ma/Wei discloses the apparatus of claim 5 (MA: “Fig 1, wireless network controller sends relative message of MBMS service on MCCH”), Ma does not explicitly teach data transmission indication is received via an individual tunnel for PTM transmission. Griot however discloses wherein the data transmission indication is received via a shared tunnel for PTP transmission and point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission (Griot: [0061]: “The UPF computing device 145 may be configured to deliver a same flow as MBS flow in a certain area using point-to-multipoint tunnelling and as unicast flow to specific wireless devices (e.g., for legacy non-5G wireless devices).”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of modified Ma view of Griot to figure out user of tunnel for transmission. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in for enabling multicast service data transport for mobility between multicast/broadcast service (MBS) supporting and non-MBS supporting access nodes. (Griot). As per claim 8, Ma/Wei discloses the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the data transmission indication is received in a frame via the user plane protocol (WEI: “the transmission process of the service, the MAC layer dynamically switching transmission mode of the service between the PTM and PTP & the RLC entity is used for receiving the received PDCPPDU, the notified RLC entity transmits the indication information”) and comprises an identity (ID) associated with the UE (WEI: “ the UE PTP carries the ID of the MBS dedicated BWP”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma view of WEI to figure out the user plane protocol. One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in to improve the multicast service configuration (WEI). Claims 21-23 are rejected based on rationale provided for claims 6-8 rejection. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This includes: Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sibte Bukhari whose telephone number is (571) 270-7122. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:00 - 6:00. 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, Vivek Srivastava can be reached on (571) 272-7304. 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 the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SIBTE H BUKHARI/Examiner, Art Unit 2449
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 13, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Apr 06, 2026
Interview Requested

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12598666
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHO AND FAST MCG LINK RECOVERY
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12592844
OPTIMIZATION OF LINK BANDWIDTH CONSUMPTION IN A LAYER-2 MULTICAST NETWORK
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12587306
DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD AND APPARATUS, CIRCUIT BOARD, STORAGE MEDIUM AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12587415
LOCAL PORT GROUPING WITH RAILS OF NETWORK LINKS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12587499
HIGH-AVAILABILITY EGRESS ACCESS WITH CONSISTENT SOURCE IP ADDRESSES FOR WORKLOADS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+37.0%)
3y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 428 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow 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