Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/373,635

SIDELINK RESOURCE PROCESSING AND INDICATION METHOD, APPARATUS, TERMINAL, AND NETWORK-SIDE DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 27, 2023
Examiner
JAHANGIR, KABIR U
Art Unit
2464
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Vivo Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
394 granted / 450 resolved
+29.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+8.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
21 currently pending
Career history
471
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.8%
-36.2% vs TC avg
§103
46.8%
+6.8% vs TC avg
§102
26.0%
-14.0% vs TC avg
§112
9.2%
-30.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 450 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Claims 1-20 are pending. 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/27/2023 and 06/12/2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Specification The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification. Claim Objections Claims 4, 11 and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities: “the first moment” in line 4 of claims 4 and 11 and line 5 of claim 18 should be “a first moment”. Appropriate correction is required. 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 of this title, 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. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasukawa et al. (US 20190208504, Yasukawa hereinafter) in view of Aktas (US 20220132486, Aktas hereinafter). As to claim 1: Yasukawa discloses a sidelink resource processing method, comprising: obtaining, by a terminal, a sensing window or a sensing resource, wherein first information about the sensing window or the sensing resource meets a first condition (see at least paragraphs [0087]-[0095] and Figs. 11-13, resources A2 to A10 (sensing window of Fig. 11) are resources with which a D2D signal is transmitted from another user equipment UE. sensing window where the user equipment UE determines whether or not a measurement result of reception power of the resource A10 (interpreted as first information) that is one transmission interval before (that is, 100 ms before) the resource B1 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value (sensing resource meets a condition).); and performing, by the terminal, resource sensing on the sensing window or the sensing resource (see at least paragraphs [0087]-[0095] and Figs. 11-13, the user equipment UE detects (interpreted as perform sensing) a resource B1 as resource (unoccupied resource) that can be selected in the selection window.); wherein the first information comprises an end location of the sensing window or the sensing resource (see at least paragraphs [0087]-[0095] and Figs. 11-13, the resource A10 (interpreted as first information) is the end location of sensing window). Yasukawa does not explicitly discloses the first condition comprises that: a duration between a start location of a second resource and an end location of a first resource is not less than a preset processing duration, the first resource comprises the sensing window and/or the sensing resource, and the second resource comprises a selection window and/or a candidate resource, the preset processing duration is not less than one of following or a sum of at least two of following: time required for decoding sidelink control information (SCI); time required for resource selection and/or resource re-selection; congestion control processing time; physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) data transmission preparation time; or preparation time for reporting on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). However Aktas discloses the first condition comprises that: a duration between a start location of a second resource and an end location of a first resource is not less than a preset processing duration (see at least paragraphs [0214]-[0218], Tproc,0 + T1 which is duration between a start location of a second resource and an end location of a first resource is not less than Tproc,0 (interpreted as preset processing duration).), the first resource comprises the sensing window and/or the sensing resource (see at least Fig. 8, sensing window), and the second resource comprises a selection window and/or a candidate resource (see at least Fig. 8, resource selection window), the preset processing duration is not less than one of following or a sum of at least two of following: time required for decoding sidelink control information (SCI); time required for resource selection and/or resource re-selection (see at least paragraph [0215], to determine whether a particular resource in the resource selection window has been reserved, UE B can receive an SCI, decode the SCI, and determine which resource(s) are reserved by the SCI.). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement duration between sensing window and selection window which is not less than processing time, as taught by Yasukawa, into the invention of Aktas in order to improve spectral efficiency (see Aktas, paragraph [0042]). As to claim 2: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 1. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the first information is configured by a network-side device, or defined by a protocol, or pre-configured, or supported by the terminal, or determined based on a preset parameter (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-14, first information i.e. A10 supported by the terminal.). As to claim 3: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 2. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the preset parameter adopts at least one of following: determined based on a geographic location (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-13, the user equipment UE determines whether or not a measurement result of reception power of the resource A10 that is one transmission interval (interpreted as geographic location) before (that is, 100 ms before) the resource B1 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value). As to claim 4: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 1. Yasukawa further discloses further comprising: in a case that at least part of the first resource do not meet at least one of following conditions, dropping the at least part of the first resource; the duration between the start location of the first resource and the first moment is not less than the first preset processing duration (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-13, In a case where the measurement result of the reception power of the resource A10 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the user equipment UE excludes the resource B1 from the subset of the resources which become the final resource selection candidate.). As to claim 5: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 4. Yasukawa does not explicitly disclose wherein the first moment adopts at least one of following: a moment when resource selection is triggered. However Aktas discloses a moment when resource selection is triggered (see at least Fig. 8, resource selection trigger.). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement duration between sensing window and selection window which is not less than processing time, as taught by Yasukawa, into the invention of Aktas in order to improve spectral efficiency (see Aktas, paragraph [0042]). As to claim 6: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 1. Yasukawa further discloses further comprising: in a case that at least part of the second resource do not meet at least one of following conditions, dropping the at least part of the second resource; the duration between the start location of the second resource and the second moment is not less than the second preset processing duration (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-13, In a case where the measurement result of the reception power of the resource A10 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the user equipment UE excludes the resource B1 from the subset of the resources which become the final resource selection candidate.). As to claim 7: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 6. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the second moment or the fourth moment is moment information corresponding to the first resource, and the moment information comprises one of following: a start location, an earliest resource, an earliest moment, an end location, a latest resource, a the latest moment (see at least paragraph [0088] and Fig. 11, In this case, the resource B1 is not included in the subset of the resources which become the final resource selection candidate, and thus the user equipment UE selects a resource other than the resource B1 (interpreted as a latest resource) as a resource that is actually used in data transmission.). As to claim 8: Yasukawa discloses a sidelink resource processing method, comprising: obtaining, by a terminal, a selection window or a candidate resource, wherein first information about the selection window or the candidate resource meets a first condition (see at least paragraphs [0087]-[0095] and Figs. 11-13, resources B1 to B11 (selection window of Fig. 11) are resources with which a D2D signal is transmitted from another user equipment UE. The resource B1 (interpreted as first information) set as a starting point is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.); and performing, by the terminal, resource selection on the selection window or the candidate resource (see at least paragraphs [0087]-[0095] and Figs. 11-13, the user equipment UE detects (interpreted as perform resource selection) a resource B1 as resource (unoccupied resource) that can be selected in the selection window.); wherein the first information comprises a start location of the selection window or the candidate resource (see at least paragraphs [0087]-[0095] and Figs. 11-13, The resource B1 (interpreted as first information) set as a starting point for the selection window.). Yasukawa does not explicitly discloses the first condition comprises that: a duration between a start location of a second resource and an end location of a first resource is not less than a preset processing duration, the first resource comprises the sensing window and/or the sensing resource, and the second resource comprises a selection window and/or a candidate resource, the preset processing duration is not less than one of following or a sum of at least two of following: time required for decoding sidelink control information (SCI); time required for resource selection and/or resource re-selection; congestion control processing time; physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) data transmission preparation time; or preparation time for reporting on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). However Aktas discloses the first condition comprises that: a duration between a start location of a second resource and an end location of a first resource is not less than a preset processing duration (see at least paragraphs [0214]-[0218], Tproc,0 + T1 which is duration between a start location of a second resource and an end location of a first resource is not less than Tproc,0 (interpreted as preset processing duration).), the first resource comprises the sensing window and/or the sensing resource (see at least Fig. 8, sensing window), and the second resource comprises a selection window and/or a candidate resource (see at least Fig. 8, resource selection window), the preset processing duration is not less than one of following or a sum of at least two of following: time required for decoding sidelink control information (SCI); time required for resource selection and/or resource re-selection (see at least paragraph [0215], to determine whether a particular resource in the resource selection window has been reserved, UE B can receive an SCI, decode the SCI, and determine which resource(s) are reserved by the SCI.). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement duration between sensing window and selection window which is not less than processing time, as taught by Yasukawa, into the invention of Aktas in order to improve spectral efficiency (see Aktas, paragraph [0042]). As to claim 9: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 8. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the first information is configured by a network-side device, or defined by a protocol, or pre-configured, or supported by the terminal, or determined based on a preset parameter (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-14, first information i.e. B1 supported by the terminal.). As to claim 10: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 9. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the preset parameter adopts at least one of following: determined based on a geographic location (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-13, the user equipment UE determines whether or not a measurement result of reception power of the resource A10 that is one transmission interval before (that is, 100 ms before) the resource B1 (interpreted as geographic location) is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value). As to claim 11: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 8. Yasukawa further discloses further comprising: in a case that at least part of the first resource do not meet at least one of following conditions, dropping the at least part of the first resource: the duration between the start location of the first resource and the first moment is not less than the first preset processing duration (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-13, In a case where the measurement result of the reception power of the resource A10 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the user equipment UE excludes the resource B1 from the subset of the resources which become the final resource selection candidate.). As to claim 12: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 11. Yasukawa does not explicitly disclose wherein the first moment adopts at least one of following: a moment when resource selection is triggered. However Aktas discloses a moment when resource selection is triggered (see at least Fig. 8, resource selection trigger.). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement duration between sensing window and selection window which is not less than processing time, as taught by Yasukawa, into the invention of Aktas in order to improve spectral efficiency (see Aktas, paragraph [0042]). As to claim 13: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 8. Yasukawa further discloses further comprising: in a case that at least part of the second resource do not meet at least one of following conditions, dropping the at least part of the second resource: the duration between the start location of the second resource and the second moment is not less than the second preset processing duration (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-13, In a case where the average value of the reception power of the resources A1 to A10 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the user equipment UE excludes the resource B1 from the subset of the resources which become the final resource selection candidate.). As to claim 14: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 13. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the second moment or the fourth moment is moment information corresponding to the first resource, and the moment information comprises one of following: a start location, an earliest resource, an earliest moment, an end location, a latest resource, a the latest moment (see at least paragraph [0088] and Fig. 11, In this case, the resource B1 is not included in the subset of the resources which become the final resource selection candidate, and thus the user equipment UE selects a resource other than the resource B1 (interpreted as a latest resource) as a resource that is actually used in data transmission.). As to claim 15: Yasukawa discloses a terminal, comprising a processor (see at least paragraph [0133], processor), a memory (see at least paragraph [0133], memory), and a program or instructions stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the program or the instructions, when executed by the processor, causes the terminal to perform: obtaining a sensing window or a sensing resource, wherein first information about the sensing window or the sensing resource meets a first condition (see at least paragraphs [0087]-[0095] and Figs. 11-13, resources A2 to A10 (sensing window of Fig. 11) are resources with which a D2D signal is transmitted from another user equipment UE. sensing window where the user equipment UE determines whether or not a measurement result of reception power of the resource A10 (interpreted as first information) that is one transmission interval before (that is, 100 ms before) the resource B1 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value (sensing resource meets a condition).); and performing resource sensing on the sensing window or the sensing resource (see at least paragraphs [0087]-[0095] and Figs. 11-13, the user equipment UE detects (interpreted as perform sensing) a resource B1 as resource (unoccupied resource) that can be selected in the selection window.); wherein the first information comprises an end location of the sensing window or the sensing resource (see at least paragraphs [0087]-[0095] and Figs. 11-13, the resource A10 (interpreted as first information) is the end location of sensing window). Yasukawa does not explicitly discloses the first condition comprises that: a duration between a start location of a second resource and an end location of a first resource is not less than a preset processing duration, the first resource comprises the sensing window and/or the sensing resource, and the second resource comprises a selection window and/or a candidate resource, the preset processing duration is not less than one of following or a sum of at least two of following: time required for decoding sidelink control information (SCI); time required for resource selection and/or resource re-selection; congestion control processing time; physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) data transmission preparation time; or preparation time for reporting on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). However Aktas discloses the first condition comprises that: a duration between a start location of a second resource and an end location of a first resource is not less than a preset processing duration (see at least paragraphs [0214]-[0218], Tproc,0 + T1 which is duration between a start location of a second resource and an end location of a first resource is not less than Tproc,0 (interpreted as preset processing duration).), the first resource comprises the sensing window and/or the sensing resource (see at least Fig. 8, sensing window), and the second resource comprises a selection window and/or a candidate resource (see at least Fig. 8, resource selection window), the preset processing duration is not less than one of following or a sum of at least two of following: time required for decoding sidelink control information (SCI); time required for resource selection and/or resource re-selection(see at least paragraph [0215], to determine whether a particular resource in the resource selection window has been reserved, UE B can receive an SCI, decode the SCI, and determine which resource(s) are reserved by the SCI.). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement duration between sensing window and selection window which is not less than processing time, as taught by Yasukawa, into the invention of Aktas in order to improve spectral efficiency (see Aktas, paragraph [0042]). As to claim 16: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the terminal according to claim 15. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the first information is configured by a network-side device, or defined by a protocol, or pre-configured, or supported by the terminal, or determined based on a preset parameter (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-14, first information i.e. A10 supported by the terminal.). As to claim 17: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the terminal according to claim 16. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the preset parameter adopts at least one of following: determined based on a geographic location(see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-13, the user equipment UE determines whether or not a measurement result of reception power of the resource A10 that is one transmission interval (interpreted as geographic location) before (that is, 100 ms before) the resource B1 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value). As to claim 18: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 1. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the program or the instructions, when executed by the processor, causes the terminal to further perform: in a case that at least part of the first resource do not meet at least one of following conditions, dropping the at least part of the first resource: the duration between the start location of the first resource and the first moment is not less than the first preset processing duration (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-13, In a case where the measurement result of the reception power of the resource A10 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the user equipment UE excludes the resource B1 from the subset of the resources which become the final resource selection candidate.). As to claim 19: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the terminal according to claim 18. Yasukawa does not explicitly disclose wherein the first moment adopts at least one of following: a moment when resource selection is triggered. However Aktas discloses a moment when resource selection is triggered (see at least Fig. 8, resource selection trigger.). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement duration between sensing window and selection window which is not less than processing time, as taught by Yasukawa, into the invention of Aktas in order to improve spectral efficiency (see Aktas, paragraph [0042]). As to claim 20: Yasukawa and Aktas disclose the sidelink resource processing method according to claim 15. Yasukawa further discloses wherein the program or the instructions, when executed by the processor, causes the terminal to further perform: in a case that at least part of the second resource do not meet at least one of following conditions, dropping the at least part of the second resource: the duration between the start location of the second resource and the second moment is not less than the second preset processing duration (see at least paragraph [0088] and Figs. 10-13, In a case where the measurement result of the reception power of the resource A10 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the user equipment UE excludes the resource B1 from the subset of the resources which become the final resource selection candidate.). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. SHIN et al. (US 20200314804) discloses Method And Device Of Resource Allocation For Sidelink Transmission In Wireless Communication System. Yu et al. (US 20240195561) discloses Methods And Apparatuses For A Sensing-Based Transmission. SUN et al. (US 20230269704) discloses Method And Apparatus For Determining Resource Availability. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KABIR U JAHANGIR whose telephone number is (571)272-0796. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10am to 6:30pm. 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, Ricky Ngo can be reached at (571)272-3139. 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. /K. J./ Examiner, Art Unit 2464 /RICKY Q NGO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 27, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+8.9%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 450 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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