Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/444,612

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR NETWORK ENERGY SAVING

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Feb 16, 2024
Examiner
KHAN, SUHAIL
Art Unit
2642
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 6m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allow Rate
447 granted / 561 resolved
+17.7% vs TC avg
Strong +28% interview lift
Without
With
+28.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
585
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.2%
-35.8% vs TC avg
§103
44.5%
+4.5% vs TC avg
§102
38.7%
-1.3% vs TC avg
§112
7.7%
-32.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 561 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 5/24/2024 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 § 102 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (WO 2024/172474, using EP 4668607 as translation, both attached to this Office Action) Referring to Claim 1, Kim et al. disclose a method performed by a user equipment (UE) (par 109, UE configured), the method comprising: receiving, from a base station (BS) (pars 108 and 109, from base station), a first configuration of a cell-discontinuous transmission (cell-DTX) mechanism (pars 108 and 109, cell DTX configuration/parameters for UE); receiving, from the BS (par 109, from base station), a second configuration of a cell-discontinuous reception (cell-DRX) mechanism (par 109, cell DRX configuration/parameters for UE); monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the BS based on the first configuration (par 109, receive PDCCH); and performing an uplink transmission to the BS based on the second configuration (par 109, transmit SR/CG). Referring to Claim 2 as applied to Claim 1 above, Kim et al. disclose the method, wherein the first configuration comprises a first discontinuous pattern and a second discontinuous pattern (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns), and the method further comprises: receiving, from the BS, an indication (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns/activation); selecting, based on the indication, one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern (par 109, DTX/DRX activated); and monitoring the PDCCH using the selected one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern (par 109, PDCCH). Referring to Claim 3 as applied to Claim 1 above, Kim et al. disclose the method, wherein the second configuration comprises a first discontinuous pattern and a second discontinuous pattern (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns), and the method further comprises: receiving, from the BS, an indication (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns/activation); selecting, based on the indication, one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern (par 109, DTX/DRX activated); and performing the uplink transmission using the selected one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern (par 109, transmit). Referring to Claim 4 as applied to Claim 1 above, Kim et al. disclose the method, further comprising: receiving, from the BS, information related to whether the BS is configured with at least one of the cell-DTX mechanism and the cell-DRX mechanism (par 109, DTX/DRX, activation). Referring to Claim 5 as applied to Claim 4 above, Kim et al. disclose the method, wherein the information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) parameter (par 109, RRC). Referring to Claim 6 as applied to Claim 1 above, Kim et al. disclose the method, further comprising: sending a scheduling request (SR) to the BS in an active time of the cell-DRX mechanism according to the second configuration (par 109, SR) Referring to Claim 7, Kim et al. disclose a user equipment (UE) (par 109, UE), comprising: one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing one or more computer-executable instructions (par 109 and par 47, UE, memory); and at least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (par 109 and par 47, UE, processor), the at least one processor configured to execute the one or more computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to: receive, from a base station (BS) (pars 108 and 109, from base station), a first configuration of a cell-discontinuous transmission (cell-DTX) mechanism (par 109, cell DTX configuration/parameters for UE); receive, from the BS (pars 108 and 109, from base station), a second configuration of a cell-discontinuous reception (cell-DRX) mechanism (par 109, cell DRX configuration/parameters for UE); monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the BS based on the first configuration (par 109, receive PDCCH); and perform an uplink transmission to the BS based on the second configuration (par 109, transmit SR/CG). Referring to Claim 8 as applied to Claim 7 above, Kim et al. disclose the UE, wherein the first configuration comprises a first discontinuous pattern and a second discontinuous pattern (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns), and the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the UE to: receive, from the BS, an indication (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns/activation); select, based on the indication, one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern (par 109, DTX/DRX activated); and monitor the PDCCH using the selected one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern (par 109, PDCCH). Referring to Claim 9 as applied to Claim 7 above, Kim et al. disclose the UE, wherein the second configuration comprises a first discontinuous pattern and a second discontinuous pattern (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns), and the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the UE to: receive, from the BS, an indication (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns/activation); select, based on the indication, one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern (par 109, DTX/DRX activated); and perform the uplink transmission using the selected one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern (par 109, transmit). Referring to Claim 10 as applied to Claim 7 above, Kim et al. disclose the UE, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the UE to: receive, from the BS, information related to whether the BS is configured with at least one of the cell-DTX mechanism and the cell-DRX mechanism (par 109, DTX/DRX, activation). Referring to Claim 11 as applied to Claim 10 above, Kim et al. disclose the UE, wherein the information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) parameter (par 109, RRC). Referring to Claim 12 as applied to Claim 7 above, Kim et al. disclose the UE, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the UE to: send a scheduling request (SR) to the BS in an active time of the cell-DRX mechanism according to the second configuration (par 109, SR). Referring to Claim 13, Kim et al. disclose a base station (BS) (par 109, base station), comprising: one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing one or more computer-executable instructions (par 109 and par 47, base station, memory); and at least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (par 109 and par 47, cell/base station, processor), the at least one processor configured to execute the one or more computer-executable instructions to cause the BS to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE) (pars 108 and 109, from base station to UE), a first configuration of a cell-discontinuous transmission (cell-DTX) mechanism (par 109, cell DTX configuration/parameters for UE); transmit, to the UE (pars 108 and 109, from base station to UE), a second configuration of a cell-discontinuous reception (cell-DRX) mechanism (par 109, cell DRX configuration/parameters for UE); transmit a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), to the UE (par 109, PDCCH), based on the first configuration; and receive an uplink transmission, from the UE, based on the second configuration (par 109, SR/CG). Referring to Claim 14 as applied to Claim 13 above, Kim et al. disclose the BS, wherein the first configuration comprises a first discontinuous pattern and a second discontinuous pattern (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns), and the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the BS to: transmit, to the UE, an indication (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns/activation), wherein the indication indicates one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern for the UE to monitor the PDCCH (par 109, PDCCH). Referring to Claim 15 as applied to Claim 13 above, Kim et al. disclose the BS, wherein the second configuration comprises a first discontinuous pattern and a second discontinuous pattern (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns), and the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the BS to: transmit, to the UE, an indication (par 109, two cell DTX/DRX patterns/activation), wherein the indication indicates one of the first discontinuous pattern and the second discontinuous pattern for the UE to perform the uplink transmission (par 109, transmit). Referring to Claim 16 as applied to Claim 13 above, Kim et al. disclose the BS, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the BS to: transmit, to the UE, information related to whether the BS is configured with at least one of the cell-DTX mechanism and the cell-DRX mechanism (par 109, DTX/DRX, activation). Referring to Claim 17 as applied to Claim 13 above, Kim et al. disclose the BS, wherein the information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) parameter (par 109, RRC). Referring to Claim 18 as applied to Claim 13 above, Kim et al. disclose the BS, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to further cause the BS to: receive, from the UE, a scheduling request (SR) in an active time of the cell-DRX mechanism according to the second configuration (par 109, SR). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUHAIL KHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7187. The examiner can normally be reached on M-TH 8:30am-6:30pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on 5712727915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Suhail Khan/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 16, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (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
80%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+28.2%)
2y 6m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 561 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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