Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/462,168

EDGE-ANCHORED INDICATIONS FOR USER EQUIPMENT (UE) COMMUNICATIONS

Final Rejection §103§112
Filed
Sep 06, 2023
Priority
Sep 28, 2022 — provisional 63/411,014
Examiner
MURILLO GARCIA, FABRICIO R
Art Unit
2633
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
2 (Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allowance Rate
514 granted / 605 resolved
+23.0% vs TC avg
Strong +57% interview lift
Without
With
+57.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 0m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
620
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.2%
-35.8% vs TC avg
§103
51.3%
+11.3% vs TC avg
§102
8.6%
-31.4% vs TC avg
§112
29.4%
-10.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 605 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §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 . Specification Amendment to the Specification, filed on 29 April 2026, has been acknowledged and is acceptable. Response to Arguments Following response to arguments is based on Applicant’s arguments filed on 29 April 2026. Regarding Previous Rejection Under 35 USC § 103 Applicant’s arguments [Pages 8-9] with respect to rejection of claims 1-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. Claim Status Claims 1, 3, 6-7, 10, 19-20 have been amended. Thus, claims 1-20 are presented for examination. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 – Second Paragraph 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 1-20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. For claim 1: At line 6, with the incorporation of newly incorporated limitation “to indicate that traffic associated with an edge entity cannot be switched”, the claim’s scope is unclear. Basically, the claim is now making a network to receive from a UE a request to establish a PDU session, because the rest of the claim is just determining an authorization to receive an indication. Furthermore, it is unclear the relevancy of the indication of not switching from one network to another. That is, the claim is not detailing or indicating, for example, whether, despite the network and the UE were expecting a switching, this switching cannot take place. By solo introducing that a switching cannot take place, any reference being silent about a switching is applicable to be used to reject the claim. For claim 7: This claim is rejected as applied to claim 1. For claim 19: This claim is rejected as applied to claim 1. For claims 2-6, 8-18, 20: These claims are also rejected as they depend upon a rejected claim. Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FABRICIO R MURILLO GARCIA whose telephone number is (571)270-5708. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5pm. 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, Sam K Ahn can be reached at 5712723044. 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. July 10, 2026 /FABRICIO R MURILLO GARCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 06, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112
Apr 29, 2026
Response Filed
Jul 14, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12707277
TERRESTRIAL NETWORK COVERAGE ASSISTED BY NON-TERRESTRIAL COVERAGE
2y 7m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12701637
COMMUNICATION METHOD AND COMMUNICATION APPARATUS
2y 9m to grant Granted Aug 04, 2026
Patent 12696073
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING DATA MEASURED BY USER PLANE FUNCTION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
3y 5m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12696082
KEY GENERATION METHOD AND APPARATUS
3y 2m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12696091
SECURITY METHODS FOR PROTECTING DISCOVERY PROCEDURES IN WIRELESS NETWORKS
2y 11m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
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
85%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+57.1%)
2y 0m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 605 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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