Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/333,143

METHOD FOR INFORMATION PROCESSING, TERMINAL DEVICE, AND NETWORK DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jun 12, 2023
Examiner
IM, THEODORE
Art Unit
2413
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
40%
Grant Probability
Moderate
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 11m
To Grant
57%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 40% of resolved cases
40%
Career Allow Rate
2 granted / 5 resolved
-18.0% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+16.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
48 currently pending
Career history
53
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
67.1%
+27.1% vs TC avg
§102
27.9%
-12.1% vs TC avg
§112
3.9%
-36.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 5 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/03/2026 has been entered. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-2,7-9,14-17 and 20 have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection. 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. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Claims 1-2,7-9,14-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HONG (US 2023/0199542 A1), in view of Hu (US 2023/0379743 A1). Regarding claim 1, HONG teaches a method for information processing (FIG. 2), comprising: sending, by a terminal device ([0051] FIG. 2 UE), information on minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration to a network device ([0080] sending the first signaling information indicating that the first camping information has been measured to the base station through the first radio resource control (RRC) signaling, [0081] it indicates to the base station through RRC signaling MDT information in the idle state); wherein the information on MDT configuration indicates whether the terminal device has a first type of MDT configuration ([0052] the first camping information) ([0052] a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) configuration configure a measurement behavior in the idle state, so that when the UE is in the idle state, the corresponding camping information (that is, the first camping information) can be measured, [0082] the UE in the idle state indicates to the base station that it has the camping information in the idle state by adding the first RRC signaling); wherein on condition that the information on MDT configuration indicates that the terminal device has the first type of MDT configuration ([0052] the first camping information including Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) information; [0059]), ([0081] it indicates to the base station through first RRC signaling that it already has first camping information in the idle state (for example, MDT information in the idle state) during the process of re-establishing the connection with the base station and changing to the connected state), the information on MDT configuration is used to instruct the network device not to regard the terminal device as a candidate terminal device for receiving and/or applying a second type of MDT configuration ([0084] the second camping information) ([0082] the UE in the idle state indicates that it has the camping information in the idle state by adding the first RRC signaling to the RRC connection complete signaling, [0084] after the second camping information is sent to the base station, the idle state camping configuration information configured by the base station based on the second camping information also be received). However, HONG does not teach wherein the first type of MDT configuration is a signal-based MDT configuration specific to an individual terminal device, and the second type of MDT configuration is a management-based MDT configuration applicable to a plurality of terminal devices; and wherein when both the first type of MDT configuration and the second type of MDT configuration are applicable to the terminal device, the first type of MDT configuration instead of the second type of MDT configuration is applied to the terminal device. In an analogous art, Hu teaches wherein the first type of MDT configuration is ([0142] One is to initiate signaling based MDT) a signal-based MDT configuration specific to an individual terminal device ([0142] The signaling based MDT refers to the MDT for a specific terminal device), and the second type of MDT configuration ([0142] the other is management-based MDT) is a management-based MDT configuration applicable to a plurality of terminal devices ([0142] for a management-based MDT, selects a terminal device from terminal devices under the access network device); and wherein when both the first type of MDT configuration and the second type of MDT configuration are applicable to the terminal device ([0303] a terminal device is configured with a management-based measurement configuration while the network provides a signaling-based measurement configuration that device, thereby showing that both configuration types may be applicable to the terminal device, [0448] the measurement type includes both management-based application layer measurement and signaling-based application layer measurement within the same framework), the first type of MDT configuration instead of the second type of MDT configuration is applied to the terminal device ([0303] the signaling-based QoE measurement configuration has a higher priority than the management-based QoE measurement configuration). Therefore, 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 measurement type as taught by Hu within the parameter HONG. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce mutual impact on QoE measurement for an optimized network and improved quality of experience (Hu [0003]). Regarding claim 2, the combination of HONG and Hu, specifically HONG teaches storing, by the terminal device (FIG. 7 a memory 703), the information on the MDT configuration ([0053] After measuring the first camping information, the UE stores the measured first camping information, that is, save the measured camping information in the UE, [0059] the camping information includes Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) information). Regarding claim 7, the combination of HONG and Hu, specifically HONG teaches wherein the information on the MDT configuration is carried through radio resource control (RRC) signaling ([0061] the UE receiving the idle state measurement configuration information through a third RRC signaling, and the third RRC signaling includes logged measurement configuration (LoggedMeasurementConfiguration) signaling). Regarding claim 8, the combination of HONG and Hu, specifically HONG teaches wherein the RRC signaling comprises at least one of: RRCResumeComplete ([0083] the UE in the idle state indicates to the base station that it has the camping information in the idle state by adding the first RRC signaling in the RRC setup complete (RRCSetupComplete) signaling). Regarding claim 9, HONG teaches a method for information processing (FIG. 2), comprising: receiving, by a network device (FIG. 2 base station), information on a minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration sent by a terminal device ([0080] sending the first signaling information indicating that the first camping information has been measured to the base station through the first radio resource control (RRC) signaling, [0081] it indicates to the base station through RRC signaling MDT information in the idle state); wherein the information on the MDT configuration indicates whether the terminal device has a first type of MDT configuration ([0052] the first camping information) ([0052] a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) configuration configure a measurement behavior in the idle state, so that when the UE is in the idle state, the corresponding camping information (that is, the first camping information) can be measured, [0082] the UE in the idle state indicates to the base station that it has the camping information in the idle state by adding the first RRC signaling); wherein the method further comprising: skipping regarding, by the network device, the terminal device as a candidate terminal device for receiving and/or applying a second type of MDT configuration ([0084] the second camping information) ([0082] the UE in the idle state indicates to the base station that it has the camping information by adding the first RRC signaling to the RRC connection complete signaling, [0052] when the base station stores a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) configuration for the UE in the connected state, it configures a measurement behavior in the idle state for the UE; see also [0084]), on condition that the information on the MDT configuration indicates that the terminal device has the first type of MDT configuration ([0052] the first camping information including Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) information; [0059]), ([0081] it indicates to the base station through first RRC signaling that it already has first camping information in the idle state (for example, MDT information in the idle state) during the process of re-establishing the connection with the base station and changing to the connected state). However, HONG does not teach wherein the first type of MDT configuration is a signal-based MDT configuration specific to an individual terminal device, and the second type of MDT configuration is a management-based MDT configuration applicable to a plurality of terminal devices; and wherein when both the first type of MDT configuration and the second type of MDT configuration are applicable to the terminal device, the first type of MDT configuration instead of the second type of MDT configuration is applied to the terminal device. In an analogous art, Hu teaches wherein the first type of MDT configuration is ([0142] One is to initiate signaling based MDT) a signal-based MDT configuration specific to an individual terminal device ([0142] The signaling based MDT refers to the MDT for a specific terminal device), and the second type of MDT configuration ([0142] the other is management-based MDT) is a management-based MDT configuration applicable to a plurality of terminal devices ([0142] for a management-based MDT, selects a terminal device from terminal devices under the access network device); and wherein when both the first type of MDT configuration and the second type of MDT configuration are applicable to the terminal device ([0303] a terminal device is configured with a management-based measurement configuration while the network provides a signaling-based measurement configuration that device, thereby showing that both configuration types may be applicable to the terminal device, [0448] the measurement type includes both management-based application layer measurement and signaling-based application layer measurement within the same framework), the first type of MDT configuration instead of the second type of MDT configuration is applied to the terminal device ([0303] the signaling-based QoE measurement configuration has a higher priority than the management-based QoE measurement configuration). Therefore, 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 measurement type as taught by Hu within the parameter HONG. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce mutual impact on QoE measurement for an optimized network and improved quality of experience (Hu [0003]). Regarding claim 14, the combination of HONG and Hu, specifically HONG teaches wherein the information on the MDT configuration is carried through radio resource control (RRC) signaling ([0061] the UE receiving the idle state measurement configuration information through a third RRC signaling, and the third RRC signaling includes logged measurement configuration (LoggedMeasurementConfiguration) signaling). Regarding claim 15, the combination of HONG and Hu, specifically HONG teaches wherein the RRC signaling comprises at least one of: RRCSetupComplete ([0083] the UE in the idle state indicates to the base station that it has the camping information in the idle state by adding the first RRC signaling in the RRC setup complete (RRCSetupComplete) signaling). Regarding claim 16, HONG teaches a terminal device (FIG. 7 the electronic device 700), comprising: a transceiver (FIG. 7 a transceiver 704); a processor (FIG. 7 a processor 701) coupled with the transceiver; and a memory (FIG. 7 a memory 703) storing a computer program which, when executed by the processor ([0154] The memory 703 is used for storing application program codes for executing the solutions of the present disclosure, and the execution is controlled by the processor 701), causes the terminal device to: send information on a minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration to a network device ([0080] sending the first signaling information indicating that the first camping information has been measured to the base station through the first radio resource control (RRC) signaling, [0081] it indicates to the base station through RRC signaling MDT information in the idle state); wherein the information on the MDT configuration indicates whether the terminal device has a first type of MDT configuration ([0052] the first camping information) ([0052] a Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) configuration configure a measurement behavior in the idle state, so that when the UE is in the idle state, the corresponding camping information (that is, the first camping information) can be measured, [0082] the UE in the idle state indicates to the base station that it has the camping information in the idle state by adding the first RRC signaling); wherein on condition that the information on the MDT configuration indicates that the terminal device has the first type of MDT configuration ([0052] the first camping information including Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) information; [0059]), ([0081] it indicates to the base station through first RRC signaling that it already has first camping information in the idle state (for example, MDT information in the idle state) during the process of re-establishing the connection with the base station and changing to the connected state), the information on the MDT configuration is used to instruct the network device not to regard the terminal device as a candidate terminal device for receiving and/or applying a second type of MDT configuration ([0084] the second camping information) ([0082] the UE in the idle state indicates that it has the camping information in the idle state by adding the first RRC signaling to the RRC connection complete signaling, [0084] after the second camping information is sent to the base station, the idle state camping configuration information configured by the base station based on the second camping information also be received). However, HONG does not teach wherein the first type of MDT configuration is a signal-based MDT configuration specific to an individual terminal device, and the second type of MDT configuration is a management-based MDT configuration applicable to a plurality of terminal devices; and wherein when both the first type of MDT configuration and the second type of MDT configuration are applicable to the terminal device, the first type of MDT configuration instead of the second type of MDT configuration is applied to the terminal device. In an analogous art, Hu teaches wherein the first type of MDT configuration is ([0142] One is to initiate signaling based MDT) a signal-based MDT configuration specific to an individual terminal device ([0142] The signaling based MDT refers to the MDT for a specific terminal device), and the second type of MDT configuration ([0142] the other is management-based MDT) is a management-based MDT configuration applicable to a plurality of terminal devices ([0142] for a management-based MDT, selects a terminal device from terminal devices under the access network device); and wherein when both the first type of MDT configuration and the second type of MDT configuration are applicable to the terminal device ([0303] a terminal device is configured with a management-based measurement configuration while the network provides a signaling-based measurement configuration that device, thereby showing that both configuration types may be applicable to the terminal device, [0448] the measurement type includes both management-based application layer measurement and signaling-based application layer measurement within the same framework), the first type of MDT configuration instead of the second type of MDT configuration is applied to the terminal device ([0303] the signaling-based QoE measurement configuration has a higher priority than the management-based QoE measurement configuration). Therefore, 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 measurement type as taught by Hu within the parameter HONG. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce mutual impact on QoE measurement for an optimized network and improved quality of experience (Hu [0003]). Regarding claim 17, the combination of HONG and Hu, specifically HONG teaches wherein the computer program is further executed by the processor to cause the terminal device to ([0154] The memory 703 is used for storing application program codes for executing the solutions of the present disclosure, and the execution is controlled by the processor 701): store the information on the MDT configuration ([0053] After measuring the first camping information, the UE stores the measured first camping information, that is, save the measured camping information in the UE, [0059] the camping information includes Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) information). Regarding claim 20, the combination of HONG and Hu, specifically HONG teaches a network device ([0154] FIG. 7 700 implement the actions of the base station device), comprising: a transceiver (FIG. 7 a transceiver 704); a processor (FIG. 7 a processor 701) coupled with the transceiver; and a memory storing a computer program which, when executed by the processor ([0154] The memory 703 is used for storing application program codes for executing the solutions of the present disclosure, and the execution is controlled by the processor 701), causes the network device to perform the method of claim 9. Conclusion The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US 2017/0347279 A1 (Bejerano et al.) discloses dynamic monitoring and management capabilities for use in wireless communication systems. US 2022/0030454 A1 (WANG et al.) discloses a reporting method of minimization of drive tests (MDT) measurement and an access network device. US 2025/0133620 A1 (LIU et al.) discloses minimization of drive test (MDT) for multi radio access technology (RAT) dual connectivity. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THEODORE IM whose telephone number is (571)270-1955. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-5PM ET. 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, UN C CHO can be reached on 571-272-7919. 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. /T.I./ Examiner, Art Unit 2413 /UN C CHO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 12, 2023
Application Filed
Aug 01, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Oct 15, 2025
Response Filed
Nov 04, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Nov 25, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 03, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Feb 13, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 2 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
40%
Grant Probability
57%
With Interview (+16.7%)
2y 11m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 5 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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