Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/294,080

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ERROR CASE HANDLING DURING MULTICAST HARQ RETRANSMISSION

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jan 31, 2024
Examiner
ISLAM, ROWNAK
Art Unit
2474
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Lenovo (Beijing) Limited
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
385 granted / 435 resolved
+30.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+14.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
27 currently pending
Career history
462
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.1%
-36.9% vs TC avg
§103
65.4%
+25.4% vs TC avg
§102
10.3%
-29.7% vs TC avg
§112
8.0%
-32.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 435 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 office action is a response to application no. 18/294,080 filed on 01/31/2024. Claim 1 is amended. Claims 4 – 15 are cancelled. Claims 16 – 32 are added as new. Claims 1 – 3 and 16 – 32 are pending and ready for examination. Priority This application is a 371 of PCT Application no. PCT/CN2021/113282, filed on 08/18/2021. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/30/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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. 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. Claim 32 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by LEE et al. (LEE hereinafter referred to LEE) (US 2023/0049784 A1) (relied on filing date of PCT application no. PCT/KR2021/010213 that properly supports the citation). Regarding claim 32, LEE teaches (Title, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING WIRELESS SIGNALS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM) a base station for wireless communication (Fig. 12 and [0209], BS 200), comprising: at least one memory (Fig. 12 and [0211], one or more memories 204); and at least one processor (Fig. 12 and [0211], one or more processors 202) coupled with the at least one memory and configured to ([0211], The processor(s) 202 controls the memory(s) 204 and/or the transceiver(s) 206 and is configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and/or operational flowcharts) cause the base station to: transmit, to a group of user equipments (UEs), a second downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a second transmission (Fig.9, step 910. [0186], The BS transmits a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by first DCI to the UE-group. Here, the first DCI for scheduling a first PDSCH is a second DCI for scheduling a second transmission) using a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number (Fig.9, step 905. [0185], BS transmits, based on a first radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for a UE-group, first DCI including a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process ID field to the UE-group), a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the second DCI being scrambled by a second radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) ([0189], the first RNTI used for scrambling of a CRC of the first DCI) common to the group of UEs ([0191], The first RNTI is a group-RNTI (G-RNTI); [0192], The CRC of the first DCI is scrambled with the G-RNTI); determine that the second transmission is incorrectly decoded by a UE of the group of UEs ([0185], UE1 belonging to the UE-group receives the first DCI including the first HARQ process ID field based on the first RNTI for the UE-group; [0187], Based on the data block of the first PDSCH not being successfully decoded, UE1 receives the second DCI. Here, the first PDSCH not being successfully decoded means the second transmission is incorrectly decoded by the UE1 (i.e. a UE of the group of UEs)); transmit, to the UE, a third DCI for scheduling a third transmission (Fig.9, step 920. [0188], The BS transmits a second PDSCH scheduled by the second DCI to UE1. Here, the second DCI for scheduling the second PDSCH is a third DCI for scheduling a third transmission) using the HARQ process number ([0189], BS sets a second HARQ process ID field included in the second DCI to the same HARQ process as the first HARQ process ID field included in the first DCI), a CRC of the third DCI being scrambled by a third RNTI specific to the UE (Fig.9, step 915. [0187], Based on the data block of the first PDSCH not being successfully decoded, UE1 receives the second DCI based on the second RNTI dedicated to UE1. Here, the second RNTI dedicated to UE1 is a third RNTI specific to the UE; [0189], a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the second DCI is scrambled with the second RNTI different from the first RNTI used for scrambling of a CRC of the first DCI; [0191], the second RNTI is a cell-RNTI (C-RNTI) for uniquely identifying UE1 in a cell; [0192], the CRC of the second DCI is scrambled with the C-RNTI), the third transmission carrying a same transport block (TB) as the second transmission ([0189], the second PDSCH including retransmission for the data block of the first PDSCH; [0190], UE1 decodes a data block of the second PDSCH, by assuming that the second PDSCH includes retransmission for the data block of the first PDSCH that has not been successfully decoded; [0194], Each of the data blocks is a transport block (TB). Here, the data block of the second PDSCH is same as that of the first PDSCH, i.e. the third transmission carrying a same TB as the second transmission). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1 – 3 and 16 – 31 are allowed over prior arts. Conclusion The prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wu (Pub. No. US 2024/0187824 A1) – “Using Semi-Persistent And Dynamic Scheduling For Multicast And Broadcast Services” discloses a method in a base station for managing multicast and/or broadcast services (MBS) includes transmitting first data associated with a first MBS to a plurality of UEs, using semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) resources: scrambling a downlink control information (DCI) using a group RNTI (G-RNTI) shared by the plurality of UEs; transmitting the DCI to the plurality of UEs, to schedule transmitting of second data; and transmitting second data associated with the first MBS or a second MBS to at least one of the plurality of UEs, using dynamic scheduling. YOON et al. (Pub. No. KR 2022/0104544 A) – “A Method And Apparatus For Multicasting And Broadcasting In Communication System” discloses a method performed by a terminal in a communication system comprises the steps of: receiving configuration information for a group common resource from a base station; receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the base station on the basis of the configuration information; confirming whether a group-common radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) was used for scrambling a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attached to the DCI; and determining the encoding rate and a modulation order on the basis of group-common modulation and coding scheme (MCS)-related information, if the group-common RNTI was used. Therefore, the method can provide a configuration method for PDSCHs in case that data is transmitted to a plurality of terminals through a common PDSCH and a unicast PDSCH in the communication system, thereby performing more efficient data transmission and reception. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROWNAK ISLAM whose telephone number is (571)272-8009. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 6 pm (EST). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached on 571-272-2832. 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. /ROWNAK ISLAM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 31, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 07, 2026
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
88%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+14.4%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 435 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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