Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/291,634

NETWORK NODE, USER EQUIPMENT, AND METHODS PERFORMED THEREIN

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jan 24, 2024
Examiner
LIU, SIMING
Art Unit
2411
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 11m
To Grant
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allow Rate
462 granted / 563 resolved
+24.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+10.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
582
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.2%
-33.8% vs TC avg
§103
48.1%
+8.1% vs TC avg
§102
19.0%
-21.0% vs TC avg
§112
19.1%
-20.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 563 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-7, 10-16, 19-21, 26-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhou et al (US 2021/0219329 A1). Regarding claim 1, 19, Zhou teaches a method/device performed by a User Equipment (UE) for communicating with a network node in a wireless communications network, the method comprising: receiving a downlink control information(DCI) from the network node ([0187], “receiving DCI (Downlink Control Information) for scheduling multiple transport blocks”, also see Fig. 2a, “DCI”), the DCI comprising information for generating a first number of first communications over a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ([0187], “receiving the multiple transport block based on scheduling information included in the DCI”, [0273], also see Fig. 2a, DL DATA A via PDSCH) and a second number of second communications over a physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH) ([0273], multiple UL data transmission are transmitted via PUSCH based on DCI; also see Fig. 2a) wherein a sum of the first and second numbers is greater than two (see Fig. 2a, UL/DL DATA A, UL/DL DATA B, UL/DL DATA C); and using the information in the DCI to communicate with the network node in the wireless communications network ([0650], “the UE transmits the PUSCH according to the scheduling information carried in the DCI”, [0651]). Regarding claim 10, 26, Zhou teaches a method/device performed by a network node for communicating with a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communications network, the method comprising: transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) to the UE, the DCI comprising information for generating a first number of first communications over a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and a second number of second communications over a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ([0273], Fig. 2a, multiple UL/DL Data transmission scheduled by DCI), wherein a sum of the first and second numbers is greater than two (see Fig. 2a, UL/DL DATA A, UL/DL DATA B, UL/DL DATA C); and using the information in the DCI to communicate with the UE in the wireless communications network ([0650], “the UE transmits the PUSCH according to the scheduling information carried in the DCI”, [0651]). Regarding claim 2, 11, 20 and 27, Zhou further teaches that any one or more out of: a first communication from the first number of the first communications comprises at least two repetitions ([0555], a value of the number of repetitions is indicated in the DCI, and all the PDSCHs scheduled by the DCI use the same number of repetitions”); a second communication from the second number of the second communications comprises at least two repetitions ([0456], “The number of repetitions of the uplink PUSCH transmission scheduled by the base station for the UE is a set of given values”). Regarding claim 3, 12, 21 and 28, Zhou further teaches that the information in the DCI specifies that a time gap is included between any one or more out of: different communications from the first number of the first communications; different communications from the second number of the second communications; at least one communication from the first number of the first communications and at least one communication from the second number of the second communications (page 26, see Table 2, “Time Domain Resource/Scheduling Delay: Time Domain The time domain resources are indicated Resource/ by a scheduling delay field. Scheduling Delay Scheduling Field 1, indicating a scheduling delay/gap/time Delay interval between DCI and the first PDSCH/PUSCH Scheduling Delay Field 2, indicating a scheduling delay/gap/time interval between every two PDSCHs/PUSCHs Scheduling Delay Field 3, indicating a scheduling delay/gap/time interval between each PDSCH/PUSCH and corresponding HARQ- ACK feedback). Regarding claim 4, 13, Zhou further teaches that the information in the DCI specifies that any one out of the first number of the first communications, the first number of repetitions of the first number of the first communications, the second number of the second communications, and the second number of repetitions of the second number of the second communications overlap in any one or more out of: a time domain but not in a frequency domain; the frequency domain but not in the time domain; partly in the time domain and partly in the frequency domain ([0067], “resources used by the full duplex UE for transmitting and/or receiving the multiple transport blocks are overlapped or partially overlapped or non-overlapped in the time domain in a frequency division duplex scenario”). Regarding claim 5, 14, Zhou further teaches that the information in the DCI specifies different parameters for allocating the first number of the first communications over the PDSCH and the second number of the second communications over the PUSCH ([0516], page 26, see Table 2). Regarding claim 6, 15, Zhou further teaches that the information in the DCI specifies that a communication from any one out of the first number of the first communications and the second number of the second communications is allocated using any one or more out of: a same Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) identifier (ID) (page 26, see table 2, HARQ ID – “When the number of HARQ processes is N and N = 1, this field indicates an ID of this HARQ process”); a same Modulation and Coding Scheme(MCS) (see table 2, “Frequency Domain Reusing the indication method in the Resources/MCS/ existing mechanism, and all of the transport Repetitions blocks using the same frequency domain resource/MCS/repetition times”). Regarding claim 7, 16, Zhou further teaches that the information in the DCI specifies any one or more out of: a HARQ Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) of a communication from the first number of the first communications is to be sent in a corresponding communication from the second number of the second communications; and a HARQ-ACK of a communication from the second number of the second communications is to be sent in a corresponding communication from the first number of the first communications ([0099]-[0106], “the information indicated in the DCI dedicated to indicating the ACK/NACK feedback for the one or more UEs”, [0185], [0399], [0452]-[0453], [0406], [0407]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIMING LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-3859. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30am-5:00pm. 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, Derrick Ferris can be reached at 571-272-3123. 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. /SIMING LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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Prosecution Timeline

Jan 24, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 30, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+10.6%)
2y 11m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 563 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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