Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/291,100

METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING SIGNAL IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS SUPPORTING SAME

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 22, 2024
Examiner
ACOLATSE, KODZOVI
Art Unit
2478
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
LG Electronics Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allow Rate
761 granted / 913 resolved
+25.4% vs TC avg
Strong +22% interview lift
Without
With
+22.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
63 currently pending
Career history
976
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.0%
-35.0% vs TC avg
§103
52.7%
+12.7% vs TC avg
§102
25.0%
-15.0% vs TC avg
§112
8.5%
-31.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 913 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 is responsive to Application 18/291,100 filed in which claims 1-11 and 13 are presented for examination. 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 1-3, 7-9, 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 2024/0323894 A1) in view of Zhou et al (US 2023/0198597 A1). Regarding claim 1, Li teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) configuration information related to a plurality of periodically configured PUSCH resources (Li: Fig. 4; [0084]-[0089], UE configured via second RRC and first DCI with periodic PUSCH resources); receiving one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs), wherein the one or more PRSs are received on at least one of one or more PRS resources or one or more PRS resource sets including the one or more PRS resources (Li: Fig. 4; [0095]-[0098] UE configured with PRS resources in a measurement gap via the first DCI); and transmitting information on one or more measurement reports obtained from the one or more PRSs (Li: Fig. 4; [0099]-[0100]), wherein the information on the one or more measurement reports is transmitted on one or more PUSCH resources among the plurality of PUSCH resources (Li: Fig. 4; [0099]-[0100]), and wherein before transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports, identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports (Li: Fig. 4; [0094]-[0098], [0135] PUSCH resources are activated and indicated). Li does not explicitly disclose the UE transmits activation information for identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports. Zhou teaches a UE transmits activation information for identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports (Zhou: [0069]-[0070] UE activates PUSCH resources via UCI bits). It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Li wherein the UE transmits activation information for identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports as disclosed by Zhou to provide a system for activation predetermined PUSCH resource (Zhou: Abstract). Regarding claim 7, Li teaches a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver; and at least one processor connected to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) configuration information related to a plurality of periodically configured PUSCH resources (Li: Fig. 4; [0084]-[0089], UE configured via second RRC and first DCI with periodic PUSCH resources); receive one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs), wherein the one or more PRSs are received on at least one of one or more PRS resources or one or more PRS resource sets including the one or more PRS resources (Li: Fig. 4; [0095]-[0098] UE configured with PRS resources in a measurement gap via the first DCI); and transmit information on one or more measurement reports obtained from the one or more PRSs (Li: Fig. 4; [0099]-[0100]), wherein the information on the one or more measurement reports is transmitted on one or more PUSCH resources among the plurality of PUSCH resources (Li: Fig. 4; [0099]-[0100]), and wherein before transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports, identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports (Li: Fig. 4; [0094]-[0098], [0135] PUSCH resources are activated and indicated). Li does not explicitly disclose the UE transmits activation information for identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports. Zhou teaches a UE transmits activation information for identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports (Zhou: [0069]-[0070] UE activates PUSCH resources via UCI bits). It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Li wherein the UE transmits activation information for identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports as disclosed by Zhou to provide a system for activation predetermined PUSCH resource (Zhou: Abstract). Regarding claim 13, Li teaches a base station (BS) configured to operate in a wireless communication system (Li: Fig. 13; [0086], network device/base station), the BS comprising: a transceiver; and at least one processor connected to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) configuration information related to a plurality of periodically configured PUSCH resources (Li: Fig. 4; [0084]-[0089], UE configured via second RRC and first DCI with periodic PUSCH resources); transmit one or more positioning reference signals (PRSs), wherein the one or more PRSs are transmitted on at least one of one or more PRS resources or one or more PRS resource sets including the one or more PRS resources (Li: Fig. 4; [0095]-[0098] UE configured with PRS resources in a measurement gap via the first DCI); and receive information on one or more measurement reports in response to the one or more PRSs, wherein the information on the one or more measurement reports is received on one or more PUSCH resources among the plurality of PUSCH resources (Li: Fig. 4; [0099]-[0100]), and wherein before receiving the information on the one or more measurement reports, identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for receiving the information on the one or more measurement reports is received (Li: Fig. 4; [0094]-[0098], [0135] PUSCH resources are activated and indicated). Li does not explicitly disclose the UE transmits activation information for identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports. Zhou teaches a UE transmits activation information for identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports (Zhou: [0069]-[0070] UE activates PUSCH resources via UCI bits). It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Li wherein the UE transmits activation information for identifying the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports as disclosed by Zhou to provide a system for activation predetermined PUSCH resource (Zhou: Abstract). Regarding claims 2 and 8, Li in view of Zhou teaches wherein the activation information includes information indicating that among multiple PUSCH resources after a time at which the activation information is transmitted among the plurality of PUSCH resources, an N-th PUSCH resource or resources from the N-th PUSCH resource to an M-th PUSCH resource are the one or more PUSCH resources, where N is a natural number, and M is a natural number (Zhou: [0069]-[0072], UCI bits/activation indicate the PUSCH resources). Regarding claims 3 and 9, Li in view of Zhou teaches wherein based on the UE being in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, the activation information is transmitted in at least one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or uplink control information (UCI) (Zhou: [0069]-[0070], UCI bits used), and wherein based on the UE being in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state, the activation information is transmitted on a physical random access channel (PRACH) (Zhou: [0072]). Regarding claim 11, Li in view of Zhou teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to communicate with at least one of a mobile terminal, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other than a vehicle including the UE (Li: Figs. 12-13; [0086], network device/base station and UE/mobile terminal). Claims 4-6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 2024/0323894 A1) in view of Zhou et al (US 2023/0198597 A1) in further view of Berggren et al (US 2023/0276398 A1). Regarding claim 4 and 10, Li in view of Zhou teaches wherein based on a measurement gap (MG) being not configured, the activation information is transmitted by the UE (Zhou: [0069]-[0070] no measurement gap configured and UCI bits transmitted). Li in view of Zhou does not explicitly disclose but Berggren teaches wherein based on the MG being configured: the one or more PRSs are received within the MG; the activation information is not transmitted; and the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports are one or more PUSCH resources included after the MG and closest to an end point of the MG among the plurality of PUSCH resources (Berggren: Fig. 2; [0049] measurement gap 210 is configured; UL/PUSCH in close proximity to the last PRS). It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Li wherein based on the MG being configured: the one or more PRSs are received within the MG; the activation information is not transmitted; and the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports are one or more PUSCH resources included after the MG and closest to an end point of the MG among the plurality of PUSCH resources as disclosed by Berggren to provide a system for control channel for positioning related data (Berggren: Abstract). Regarding claim 5, Li in view of Zhou and Berggren teaches wherein based on a measurement gap (MG) being configured; the one or more PRSs are received within the MG; and the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports are one or more PUSCH resources included after the MG and indicated as activated based on a bitmap included in the activation information among the plurality of PUSCH resources (Berggren: Fig. 2; [0049] measurement gap 210 is configured and comprises PRS resources; UL/PUSCH in close proximity to the last PRS; Zhou: [0069]-[0070] activation using UCI bits). Regarding claim 6, Li in view of Zhou and Berggren teaches wherein based on a measurement gap (MG) being configured; the one or more PRSs are received within the MG; and the one or more PUSCH resources for transmitting the information on the one or more measurement reports are one or more PUSCH resources included after the MG and included within a predetermined time duration among the plurality of PUSCH resources (Berggren: Fig. 2; [0049] measurement gap 210 is configured and comprises PRS resources; UL/PUSCH in close proximity to the last PRS). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KODZOVI ACOLATSE whose telephone number is (571)270-1999. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 10 am to 6pm. 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, Avellino Joseph can be reached at (571) 272-3905. 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. /KODZOVI ACOLATSE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 22, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 08, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12604218
PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION HANDLING BETWEEN RADIO ACCESS NETWORK NODES
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12604166
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC APN SELECTION
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12598028
COMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND COMMUNICATION METHOD
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12598620
TERMINAL, RADIO COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND BASE STATION
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12593341
METHOD FOR CARRIER DETERMINATION, TERMINAL DEVICE, AND NETWORK DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 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
83%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+22.3%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 913 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