Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/412,631

METHOD AND DEVICE IN NODES USED FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jan 15, 2024
Priority
Jul 16, 2021 — CN 202110803860.9 +2 more
Examiner
COX, BRIAN P
Art Unit
2474
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Apogee Networks LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1m
Est. Remaining
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allowance Rate
409 granted / 486 resolved
+26.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
504
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
93.5%
+53.5% vs TC avg
§102
2.8%
-37.2% vs TC avg
§112
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 486 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/17/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the second receiver" in ln. 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 2-12 are rejected as being dependent on rejected claim 1. Applicant’s representative was contacted on 06/23/2026 in an attempt to resolve the above antecedent basis issue, however, no Examiner’s amendment has been approved. Relevant Prior Art The following references are considered relevant prior art with respect to Applicant’s claimed invention. Babaei (US 2021/0135946 A1; “Babaei”) Regarding claim 1, Babaei teaches first node for wireless communications, comprising: a first receiver, receiving a first signaling and a second signaling, the first signaling being used to indicate an SPS configuration, the second signaling being used to provide a downlink assignment for the SPS configuration [Babaei ¶ 0136: a wireless device may receive one or more RRC messages (i.e. first signaling) comprising configuration parameters of downlink semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) and may receive a DL assignment by PDCCH (i.e. second signaling)]; and the second receiver, receiving a first signal in a first time unit; wherein the first time unit is occupied by a Y-th downlink assignment after the downlink assignment is configured [Babaei ¶ 0138: after a downlink assignment is configured for SPS, the MAC entity may consider sequentially that the Nth downlink assignment occurs in the slot for which (numberOfSlotsPerFrame×SFN+slot number in the frame)=[(numberOfSlotsPerFrame×SFN(start time)+slot(start time))+N×periodicity×numberOfSlotsPerFrame/10] modulo(1024×numberOfSlotsPerFrame), where SFN(start time) and slot(start time) may be the SFN and slot, respectively, of the first transmission of PDSCH where the configured downlink assignment was (re-)initialized (i.e. here, the slot, i.e., time unit, of a Nth, i.e., Y-th, downlink assignment occurs which is used for a )]. However, Babaei does not explicitly disclose the first signal is obtained after a first bit block is subjected to at least channel coding and modulation; a number of bit(s) comprised in the first bit block is related to the Y. Kim et al. (US 2019/0116608 A1; “Kim”) Kim generally teaches using MCS that is mapped to an index of an SPS resource set [Kim ¶ 0492: UE may designate and/or map MCS to use, a size of resource, a period, an index of an SPS resource set (or SPS configuration) targeted]. However, Kim does not explicitly disclose the first signal is obtained after a first bit block is subjected to at least channel coding and modulation; a number of bit(s) comprised in the first bit block is related to the Y. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 13-20 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: With respect to claim 13, the limitations “the first signal is obtained after a first bit block is subjected to at least channel coding and modulation; a number of bit(s) comprised in the first bit block is related to the Y” in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim is not found in the prior art, therefore, claim 13 is allowed. Claim 20 recites similar limitations as those of claim 13, therefore, claim 20 is allowed. Claims 14-19 depend from an allowed base claim, therefore, claims 14-19 are allowed. Claim 1 recites similar limitations as those of claim 13 and 20, therefore, claim 1 and dependent claims 2-12 would be allowable upon resolution of the 35 U.S.C. 112b rejection above. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN P COX whose telephone number is (571)272-2728. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00AM-4PM EST. 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, Michael Thier can be reached at 5712722832. 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. /BRIAN P COX/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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Prosecution Timeline

Jan 15, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 26, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
84%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+6.8%)
2y 7m (~1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 486 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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