Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/294,723

COMMUNICATION CONFIGURATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, COMMUNICATION DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Feb 02, 2024
Examiner
LO, DIANE LEE
Art Unit
2466
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
90%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 3m
To Grant
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 90% — above average
90%
Career Allow Rate
842 granted / 941 resolved
+31.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+8.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
966
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.7%
-36.3% vs TC avg
§103
50.4%
+10.4% vs TC avg
§102
32.8%
-7.2% vs TC avg
§112
3.0%
-37.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 941 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 is response to Application 18/294,723 filed on 02/02/2024 in which claims 1-3, 5, 7-9, 11-14, 18-20, 22, 24, and 49-52 are presented for examination. Claim Objections Claim 50 is objected to because there are two claim 50. Examiner assumes the second one is claim 52. Appropriate correction is required. 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. Claims 1-3, 5, 7-9, 11-14, 18-20, 22, 24, and 49-52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Di Girolamo et al. (US 2023/0014303 A1). 1. Regarding claim 1, Di Girolamo teaches a communication configuration method, performed by a first User Equipment (UE), comprising: determining that at least a part of sidelink (SL) configurations provided by a second UE are unusable (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration), and sending indication information to the second UE through the SL(Paragraph [0260] provide a cause value to UE 203 as to the reason for modification or rejection), wherein the indication information at least indicates: one or more sets of SL configurations not used by the first UE or one or more sets of SL configurations used by the first UE (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason). 2. Regarding claim 12, Di Girolamo teaches A communication configuration method, performed by a second user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving indication information sent by a first UE through a sidelink (SL), wherein the indication information at least indicates: one or more sets of SL configurations not used by the first UE or one or more sets of SL configurations used by the first UE (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason). 3. Regarding claims 2 and 13, Di Girolamo teaches wherein the SL configurations comprise at least one of: first configurations, the first configurations comprising one or more sets of Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configurations of the SL; or second configurations, the second configurations comprising configurations other than the DRX configurations of the SL (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason; may provide the SL DRX configuration chosen). 4. Regarding claims 3 and 14, Di Girolamo teaches, wherein sending the indication information to the second UE through the SL comprises at least one of: sending a first indication to the second UE through the SL, the first indication being configured to indicate that the one or more sets of DRX configurations in the first configurations are unusable (Paragraphs [0256] to [0258] indication of requested DRX parameters); sending a second indication to the second UE through the SL, the second indication being configured to indicate that the one or more sets of DRX configurations in the first configurations are usable (Paragraphs [0256] to [0258] indication of requested DRX parameters); sending a third indication to the second UE through the SL, the third indication being configured to indicate that one or more sets of SL configurations in the second configurations are usable (Paragraphs [0256] to [0258] indication of requested DRX parameters); or sending a fourth indication to the second UE through the SL, the fourth indication being configured to indicate that one or more sets of SL configurations in the second configurations are unusable (Paragraphs [0256] to [0258] indication of requested DRX parameters). 5. Regarding claim 5, Di Girolamo teaches wherein the second configuration comprises at least one of: a data transmission configuration; a SL bearer configuration; or a SL configuration other than the DRX configurations (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration). 6. Regarding claims 7 and 18, Di Girolamo teaches, wherein the first or third indication comprises: a first configuration request indication, wherein the first configuration request indication is configured to indicate a request to the second UE for sending a new DRX configuration of the SL (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason; may provide the SL DRX configuration chosen). 7. Regarding claims 8 and 19, Di Girolamo teaches wherein the second or fourth indication comprises: a second configuration request indication, wherein the second configuration request indication is configured to indicate a request to the second UE for sending a new configuration other than the DRX configurations of the SL (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason; may provide the SL DRX configuration chosen). 8. Regarding claim 9, Di Girolamo teaches, further comprising at least one of: determining that Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configurations in the SL configurations are unusable and using a first default configuration, wherein the first default configuration is a DRX configuration determined by the first UE based on a communication protocol, a current DRX configuration of the first UE, or a default DRX configuration of the first UE (Paragraph [0168] SL DRX configuration provided through pre-configuration); or determining that configurations in the SL configurations other than the DRX configurations are unusable and using a second default configuration, wherein the second default configuration is a configuration other than the DRX configurations in SL configurations determined by the first UE based on a communication protocol, a current configuration other than the DRX configurations in the SL configurations of the first UE, or a default configuration other than the DRX configurations in the SL configurations of the first UE (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason; may provide the SL DRX configuration chosen). 9. Regarding claims 11 and 24, Di Girolamo teaches wherein the SL configurations are sent by the second UE through a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration SL message (Paragraphs [0259] to [0264] RRC; reconfiguration). 10. Regarding claim 20, Di Girolamo teaches further comprising at least one of: determining that the indication information indicates that Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configurations in the SL configurations are unusable, and determining that the first UE uses a first default configuration, wherein the first default configuration is: a DRX configuration determined by the first UE based on a communication protocol, a current DRX configuration of the first UE, or a default DRX configuration of the first UE (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason; may provide the SL DRX configuration chosen); determining that the indication information indicates that the DRX configurations in the SL configurations are unusable, and stopping a timer on the SL; or determining that the indication information indicates that the DRX configurations in the SL configurations are unusable, and sending a [[third]] indication to a base station in response to the indication information indicating that DRX configurations in the SL configurations are unusable, wherein the [[third]] indication is configured to indicate that the DRX configurations in the SL configurations provided to the first UE are unusable (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason; may provide the SL DRX configuration chosen). 11. Regarding claim 22, Di Girolamo teaches further comprising at least one of: determining that the indication information indicates that configurations other than Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configurations in the SL configurations are unusable, and determining that the first UE uses a second default configuration, wherein the second default configuration is a configuration other than the DRX configurations in SL configurations determined by the first UE based on communication protocol, a current configuration other than the DRX configurations in the SL configurations of the first UE, or a default configuration other than the DRX configurations in the SL configurations of the first UE (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason; may provide the SL DRX configuration chosen); to determining that the indication information indicates that configurations other than DRX configurations in the SL configurations are unusable, and stopping a timer on the SL; or determining that the indication information indicating indicates that configurations other than the DRX configurations in the SL configurations are unusable, and sending an indication to the base station, wherein the fourth indication is configured to indicate a failure of configurations other than the DRX configurations of the SL configurations provided to the first UE. 12. Regarding claim 49, Di Girolamo teaches a communication device, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor; wherein the processor is configured to: determine that at least a part of sidelink (SL) configurations provided by a second UE are unusable (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration), and send indication information to the second UE through the SL(Paragraph [0260] provide a cause value to UE 203 as to the reason for modification or rejection), wherein the indication information at least indicates: one or more sets of SL configurations not used by the first UE or one or more sets of SL configurations used by the communication device (Fig. 19 Paragraphs [0255] to [0260] UE 201 may accept SL DRX configuration, modify or reject the SL DRX configuration; provide a cause value as to the reason). 13. Regarding claim 50, Di Girolamo teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Paragraph [0496] computer readable storage medium), having a computer executable program stored thereon, wherein when the executable program is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to perform the communication configuration method of claim 1 (See rejection of claim 1 with Di Girolamo). 14. Regarding claim 51, Di Girolamo teaches A communication device, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 12 (See rejection of claim 12 with Di Girolamo) 15. Regarding claim 50, Di Girolamo teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Paragraph [0496] computer readable storage medium), having a computer executable program stored thereon, wherein when the executable program is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to perform the communication configuration method of claim 12 (See rejection of claim 12 with Di Girolamo). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: Wu et al. (US 2021/0059004 A1) Paragraph [0111] Freda et al. (US 2023/0156858 A1) Paragraph [0137] Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm. 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, Faruk Hamza can be reached at (571)272-7969. 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. /DIANE L LO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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Prosecution Timeline

Feb 02, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 06, 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
90%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+8.5%)
2y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 941 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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