Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/296,234

UPLINK CONTROL SIGNALING INDICATING CONFIGURED GRANT GROUP SWITCHING AND CONFIGURED GRANT SKIPPING

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Apr 05, 2023
Examiner
SHARMA, GAUTAM
Art Unit
2467
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
2-3
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
571 granted / 651 resolved
+29.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
672
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.7%
-32.3% vs TC avg
§103
59.9%
+19.9% vs TC avg
§102
16.7%
-23.3% vs TC avg
§112
3.7%
-36.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 651 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 . Claims 1-30 are pending. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claims 1-4, 10-15, 21-26 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wong et al, application no. 2024/0298320, hereinafter known as Wong in view of Babaei, Alireza, application no. 2024/0147478, hereinafter known as Babaei. As to claim 1, Wong discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to (Wong, figure 3, [0044]-[0047] wireless device (UE) and TRP with memory, processor (Controller) and instructions): transmit an uplink control message comprising an indicator corresponding to a plurality of behaviors associated with the uplink control message (Wong, [0100], [0110], UCI message used by UE with “one or more joint indicators” to provide control information on how UE will communicate), and wherein a second behavior of the plurality of behaviors comprises configured grant group switching corresponding to switching from a first configured grant group to a second configured grant group (Wong, [0106], CG index indicator for plurality (group) of uplink data transmission where the indicator provides information on plural possible CG indexes); and transmit uplink signaling via one or more configured grant occasions in accordance with the indicator (Wong, figure 18, step s4, transmitting uplink data according to indicated CG-UCI). Wong does not disclose however Babaei discloses wherein a first behavior of the plurality of behaviors comprises configured grant occasion skipping corresponding to skipping at least one configured grant occasion in at least one configured grant period (Babaei, [0174]-[0180], bit indicator for skipping a configured grant when resource is being unused). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Wong to include the limitations of wherein a first behavior of the plurality of behaviors comprises configured grant occasion skipping corresponding to skipping at least one configured grant occasion in at least one configured grant period as taught by Babaei. Using one indicator to send plural uplink data or control information provides a spectrally efficient method of sending communications that invariably could include plural types of data such skipping a configured grant occasion so the network and anticipate communications accordingly. As to claim 2, Wong discloses wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive radio resource control signaling enabling the configured grant occasion skipping, the configured grant group switching, or both, wherein the uplink control message comprising the indicator is transmitted based at least in part on receipt of the radio resource control signaling enabling the configured grant occasion skipping, the configured grant group switching, or both (Wong, figure 2, step 260, indication from by UE form network enabling skipping or switching of configured grant as indicated or requested by UE; [0044], [0063], configuration indication sent by network to UE via radio resource control signaling; [0063], RRC configuration message for configured grant indication). As to claim 3, Wong discloses wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to transmit the uplink signaling by being executable to cause the processor to: transmit the uplink signaling via the one or more configured grant occasions of the second configured grant group, wherein the indicator corresponds to the second behavior (Wong, [0106], CG index indicator for plurality (group) of uplink data transmission where the indicator provides information on plural possible CG indexes); figure 18, step s4, transmitting uplink data according to indicated CG-UCI). As to claim 4, Wong discloses the apparatus of claim 1. Wong does not disclose however Babaei discloses wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to transmit the uplink signaling by being executable to cause the processor to: transmit the uplink signaling via the one or more configured grant occasions after skipping one or more previous configured grant occasions of the first configured grant group, wherein the indicator corresponds to the first behavior Babaei, [0174]-[0180], bit indicator for skipping a configured grant when resource is being unused). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Wong to include the limitations of wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to transmit the uplink signaling by being executable to cause the processor to: transmit the uplink signaling via the one or more configured grant occasions after skipping one or more previous configured grant occasions of the first configured grant group, wherein the indicator corresponds to the first behavior as taught by Babaei. Using one indicator to send plural uplink data or control information provides a spectrally efficient method of sending communications that invariably could include plural types of data such skipping a configured grant occasion so the network and anticipate communications accordingly. As to claim 10, Wong discloses wherein the uplink control message comprises an uplink control information message (Wong, [0010], [0087], CG-UCI is specifically configured grant-uplink control information). As to claim 11, Wong discloses wherein the uplink control message comprises a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) or uplink control information (UCI) (Wong, [0010], [0087], CG-UCI is specifically configured grant-uplink control information). As to claims 12-15, 21 and 22 the claims are rejected as applied to claims 1-4, 10 and 11 above respectively by Wong in view of Babaei. As to claims 23-26, the claims are rejected as applied to claims 1-4 above respectively by Wong in view of Babaei. As to claim 30, the claim is rejected as applied to claim 1 above by Wong in view of Babaei. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 12 ,23 and 30 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-9, 16-20 and 27-29 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but and any intervening claims. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GAUTAM SHARMA whose telephone number is (571)270-7182. The examiner can normally be reached 11am-8pm. 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, Hassan Phillips can be reached at 571-272-3940. 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. /GAUTAM SHARMA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2467 /HASSAN A PHILLIPS/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 05, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Mar 27, 2026
Response Filed
Jul 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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

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Prosecution Projections

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+12.0%)
2y 6m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 651 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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