Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/411,672

WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHOD, TERMINAL DEVICE AND NETWORK DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 12, 2024
Priority
Jul 16, 2021 — continuation of PCT/CN2021/106822 +1 more
Examiner
MANOHARAN, MUTHUSWAMY GANAPATHY
Art Unit
2647
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
65%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
81%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 65% — above average
65%
Career Allowance Rate
416 granted / 638 resolved
+3.2% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 7m
Avg Prosecution
44 currently pending
Career history
690
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.1%
-37.9% vs TC avg
§103
68.7%
+28.7% vs TC avg
§102
18.3%
-21.7% vs TC avg
§112
5.6%
-34.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 638 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 . 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. Claim(s) 1-6, 8-16, 18-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahmed et al. (hereinafter Ahmed)(US 2023/0156434) in view of Xie et al. (hereinafter Xie)(US 2022/0322050). Regarding claim 1, Ahmed teaches a wireless communication method, comprising: receiving, by a network device, first information transmitted by a terminal device, the first information indicating a parameter the terminal device expects the network device to configure for a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) transmission(item 401 in Fig. 4; UE sends to the network device, an indication message with list of services, traffic types, reception mode, list of carrier frequencies of MBMS; P[0041]); the method further comprising: receiving, by the network device, a request message transmitted by the terminal device, the request message being used to request release of a target bearer and/or a target service(P[0041], NW receives the indication message which includes list of intended services which is a list of radio bearers; P[0041], the configuration includes radio resources for the intended services of MBMS only and therefore unicast resources are not configured). Ahmed did not teach specifically wherein the target bearer and/or the target service requested to be released is determined by the terminal device. However, Baek teaches in an analogous art wherein the target bearer and/or the target service requested to be released is determined by the terminal device(P[0194], the terminal initiates a PDU session release procedure to request to release the unicast link; P[0039], the terminal sends the multicast session establishment request to the network device). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have the target bearer and/or the target service requested to be released is determined by the terminal device.in order to have improved efficiency. Regarding claim 2, Ahmed teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first information comprises at least one list of MBMS frequency on which the terminal device expects to receive an MBMS service(item 401 in Fig. 4; UE sends to the network device, an indication message with list of carrier frequencies of MBMS; P[0041]). . Regarding claim 3, Ahmed teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one list of MBMS frequency comprises at least one of: a list of MBMS frequency corresponding to each terminal device; a list of MBMS frequency corresponding to each frequency range; a list of MBMS frequency corresponding to each band combination; or at least one list of MBMS frequency for an MBMS receive only mode(item 401 in Fig. 4; UE sends to the network device, an indication message with list of services, traffic types, reception mode, list of carrier frequencies of MBMS; P[0041]). Regarding claim 4, Ahmed teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first information comprises reception priority information of the MBMS service, wherein the reception priority information of the MBMS service comprises first reception priority order information indicating a reception priority order of MBMS services and unicast services(p[0042], MBMS priority; UE prioritizes reception all listed MBMS services). Regarding claim 5, Ahmed teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein the reception priority information of the MBMS service comprises third reception priority order information indicating a reception priority order of MBMS services and unicast services on a plurality of systems(P[0055], simultaneous representing reception mode of the UE in the field of reception-mode-r17). Regarding claim 6, Ahmed teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein the reception priority information of the MBMS service comprises fourth reception priority order information indicating a reception priority order of services on at least one list of MBMS frequency, wherein the fourth reception priority order information is determined according to at least one of: a service load on each list of MBMS frequency; a type of service on each list of MBMS frequency; or a Quality of Service (QoS) requirement for a service on each list of MBMS frequency(P[0041], mbms-priority-r11; P[0041], NW receives the indication message which includes list of intended services which is a list of radio bearers; P[0041], the configuration includes radio resources for the intended services of MBMS only and therefore unicast resources are not configured; P[0058], when intending to receive one or more of these service on multiple frequencies, the UE can send an indication message indicating these carrier frequencies and services to the NW). Regarding claim 8, Ahmed teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first information comprises a type of MBMS service the terminal device expects to receive(P[0041], indication message includes list of intended services). Regarding claim 9, Ahmed teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the network device, a request message transmitted by the terminal device, the request message being used to request release of a target bearer and/or a target service(P[0055, 0058], stop the MBMS services S1 and S2 on F1 and F2). Claims 10-16 and 18 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claims 1-6, 9 and 8 respectively. Regarding claim 21, Ahmed teaches the method according to claim 3, wherein the at least one list of MBMS frequency for the MBMS receive only mode comprises at least one of:a list of MBMS frequency corresponding to each terminal device for the MBMS receive only mode;a list of MBMS frequency corresponding to each frequency range for the MBMS receive only mode; or a list of MBMS frequency corresponding to each band combination for the MBMS receive only mode(P[0040-0041], The indication message includes a list of intended one or more services, a list of service carrier frequencies, and a reception mode of the UE; The current supported reception mode of the UE may include one of unicast only, MBMS only, and simultaneous MBMS and unicast reception modes). Claims 19-20, are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claims 1-2 respectively. Regarding claim 21, Ahmed teaches the method according to claim 3, wherein the at least one list of MBMS frequency for the MBMS receive only mode comprises at least one of:a list of MBMS frequency corresponding to each terminal device for the MBMS receive only mode;a list of MBMS frequency corresponding to each frequency range for the MBMS receive only mode; or a list of MBMS frequency corresponding to each band combination for the MBMS receive only mode(P[0042], IE, which includes a list of carrier frequencies on which UE is to or intends to receive MBMS service). Claim(s) 7, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahmed et al. (hereinafter Ahmed)(US 2023/0156434) in view of Xie et al. (hereinafter Xie)(US 2022/0322050) and Baek et al. (hereinafter Baek)(US 2023/0231692). Regarding claim 7, Ahmed in view of Xie teaches all the particulars of the claim except wherein the first information comprises at least one of: a center frequency, a Subcarrier Spacing (SCS), an operating bandwidth, or a parameter related to a Bandwidth Part (BWP). However, Baek teaches in an analogous art wherein the first information comprises at least one of: a center frequency, a Subcarrier Spacing (SCS), an operating bandwidth, or a parameter related to a Bandwidth Part (BWP)(abstract, transmitting to the base station a message including information about the MBS when the active BWP is different). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the first information comprises at least one of: a center frequency, a Subcarrier Spacing (SCS), an operating bandwidth, or a parameter related to a Bandwidth Part (BWP) in order to have improved efficiency. Claim 17, is rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 7. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUTHUSWAMY GANAPATHY MANOHARAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5515. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30am-3:00pm. 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, Alison T Slater can be reached at 571-270-0375. 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. /MUTHUSWAMY G MANOHARAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 1 earlier event
Jan 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Mar 16, 2026
Response Filed
Apr 21, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jun 08, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 15, 2026
Interview Requested
Jul 21, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jul 23, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Aug 19, 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

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
65%
Grant Probability
81%
With Interview (+16.0%)
3y 7m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 638 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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