Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/502,665

TERMINAL, BASE STATION, AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHOD

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Nov 06, 2023
Priority
May 07, 2021 — JP 2021-079340 +2 more
Examiner
MADANI, FARIDEH
Art Unit
2643
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Toyota Motor Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allowance Rate
307 granted / 395 resolved
+15.7% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+19.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
419
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.5%
-36.5% vs TC avg
§103
65.8%
+25.8% vs TC avg
§102
12.5%
-27.5% vs TC avg
§112
6.2%
-33.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 395 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Response to Arguments 2. Applicant’s arguments with respect to 102/103 rejection and in view of the current amendment to claims have been considered but are moot, please refer to rejection below for details. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 3. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. A) Claims 1, 5, 8, 11, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI (US 2023/0397159 A1) in view of Basu Mallick (US 2020/0107358 A1). As per claim 1, LI teaches a terminal (Fig.9, UE/terminal) comprising: a memory storing instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions (¶0229, storage or memory and processor configured to execute) to: receive, from a base station, system information including information for indicating a total number of subgroups of a paging occasion and information for indicating a number of paging occasions, and which receives, from the base station, first downlink control information (DCI) including a field for indicating a subgroup of the paging occasion (Fig.7 and ¶0187, receiving from base station number of POs in a paging frame (PE) is configurable via system information and PO consist of multiple time slots (e.g., subframe or OFDM symbol) where the paging DCI (i.e. first DCI) can be sent. One PF is one radio frame and may contain one or multiple PO(s) or starting point of a PO). However, LI does not explicitly teach determine a number of bits of the field included in the first DCI based on the information for indicating the total number of subgroups and the information for indicating the number of paging occasions; and monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for second DCI in the paging occasion based on a value of a bit of the field, the bit of the field corresponding to a subgroup of a paging occasion to which the terminal belongs. In the same field of endeavor, Basu Mallick teaches determine a number of bits of the field included in the first DCI based on the information for indicating the total number of subgroups and the information for indicating the number of paging occasions (¶0077-79 and ¶0089, determine number of bits included in first DCI based on the information for total number of subframes and information of POs); and monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for second DCI in the paging occasion based on a value of a bit of the field, the bit of the field corresponding to a subgroup of a paging occasion to which the terminal belongs (¶0077-79 and ¶0089, and monitoring PDCCH for second DCI in PO based on a value of bit of the field corresponding to a subframe of PO to which the UE is associated). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of Basu Mallick into invention of LI in order to transmit a physical downlink shared channel after losing uplink synchronization for allocating resources to wireless devices. As per claim 5 as applied to claim 1 above, LI does not explicitly teach monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion in a case where the value of the bit of the field indicates the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion. In the same field of endeavor, Basu Mallick teaches monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion in a case where the value of the bit of the field indicates the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion (¶0077-79 and ¶0089, and monitoring PDCCH for second DCI in PO based on a value of bit of the field corresponding to monitoring of PDCCH for second DCI in PO). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of Basu Mallick into invention of LI in order to transmit a physical downlink shared channel after losing uplink synchronization for allocating resources to wireless devices. As per claim 8, LI discloses a base station (Fig.11, base station) comprising: a memory storing instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions (Fig.11, memory and processor for base station) to: determine a total number of subgroups of a paging occasion and a number of paging occasions, and determine a subgroup of the paging occasion for a terminal (¶0258-260, determining number of paging sub-group(s) of paging occasion and first paging occasion of paging occasions); transmit, to the terminal, system information including information for indicating the total number of subgroups of the paging occasion and information for indicating the number of paging occasions, and which transmits, to the terminal, first downlink control information including a field for indicating the subgroup of the paging occasion (Fig.7 and ¶0187, transmit to the UE the number of POs in a paging frame (PE) is configurable via system information and PO consist of multiple time slots (e.g., subframe or OFDM symbol) where the paging DCI can be sent. One PF is one radio frame and may contain one or multiple PO(s) or starting point of a PO). However, LI does not explicitly teach wherein a number of bits for the field included in the first DCI is determined based on the information for indicating the total number of subgroups and the information for indicating the number of paging occasions, and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for second DCI in the paging occasion is monitored by the terminal, based on a value of a bit of the field, the bit of the field corresponding to a subgroup of a paging occasion to which the terminal belongs. In the same field of endeavor, Basu Mallick teaches wherein a number of bits for the field included in the first DCI is determined based on the information for indicating the total number of subgroups and the information for indicating the number of paging occasions (¶0077-79 and ¶0089, determine number of bits included in first DCI based on the information for total number of subframes and information of Pos), and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for second DCI in the paging occasion is monitored by the terminal, based on a value of a bit of the field, the bit of the field corresponding to a subgroup of a paging occasion to which the terminal belongs (¶0077-79 and ¶0089, and monitoring PDCCH for second DCI in PO based on a value of bit of the field corresponding to a subframe of PO to which the UE is associated). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of Basu Mallick into invention of LI in order to transmit a physical downlink shared channel after losing uplink synchronization for allocating resources to wireless devices. As per claim 11, LI teaches a wireless communication method of a terminal (Fig.9, UE/terminal) comprising: receiving, from a base station, system information including information for indicating a total number of subgroups of a paging occasion and information for indicating a number of paging occasions, receiving, from the base station, first downlink control information (DCI) including a field for indicating a subgroup of the paging occasion (Fig.7 and ¶0187, receiving from base station number of POs in a paging frame (PE) is configurable via system information and PO consist of multiple time slots (e.g., subframe or OFDM symbol) where the paging DCI can be sent. One PF is one radio frame and may contain one or multiple PO(s) or starting point of a PO). However, LI does not explicitly teach determining a number of bits of the field included in the first DCI based on the information for indicating the total number of subgroups and the information for indicating the number of paging occasions; controlling monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for DCI in the paging occasion based on a value of a bit of the field, the bit of the field corresponding to a subgroup of a paging occasion to which the terminal belongs. In the same field of endeavor, Basu Mallick teaches determining a number of bits of the field included in the first DCI based on the information for indicating the total number of subgroups and the information for indicating the number of paging occasions (¶0077-79 and ¶0089, determine number of bits included in first DCI based on the information for total number of subframes and information of Pos); controlling monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for DCI in the paging occasion based on a value of a bit of the field, the bit of the field corresponding to a subgroup of a paging occasion to which the terminal belongs (¶0077-79 and ¶0089, and controlling by monitoring PDCCH for second DCI in PO based on a value of bit of the field corresponding to a subframe of PO to which the UE is associated). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of Basu Mallick into invention of LI in order to transmit a physical downlink shared channel after losing uplink synchronization for allocating resources to wireless devices. As per claim 15 as applied to claim 11 above, LI does not explicitly teach, monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion in a case where the value of the bit of the field indicates the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion. In the same field of endeavor, Basu Mallick teaches monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion in a case where the value of the bit of the field indicates the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion (¶0077-79 and ¶0089, and monitoring PDCCH for second DCI in PO based on a value of bit of the field corresponding to monitoring of PDCCH for second DCI in PO). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of Basu Mallick into invention of LI in order to transmit a physical downlink shared channel after losing uplink synchronization for allocating resources to wireless devices. B) Claims 2-4, 6-7, 9-10, 12-14, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI (US 2023/0397159 A1) in view of Basu Mallick (US 2020/0107358 A1) and further in view of MODERATOR (MEDIATEK): "Summary of Paging Enhancements" 3GPP DRAFT; R1- 2103848, vol. RAN WG1, 23 April 2021, pp. 1-61 hereinafter MEDIATEK. As per claim 2 as applied to claim 1 above, LI in view of Basu Mallick does not explicitly teach wherein the number of bits of field is equal to a value obtained by multiplying the total number of subgroups by the number of paging occasions. In the same field of endeavor, MEDIATEK teaches wherein the number of bits of field is equal to a value obtained by multiplying the total number of subgroups by the number of paging occasions (section 3, table 8, number of bits equal to total of 12 sub-groups which are obtained by multiplying of four PO and 3 subgroups; therefore 3x4=12). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of MEDIATEK into invention of LI and Basu Mallick in order to use DCI payload for PDCCH-based PEI to convey the sub-group indication and PEI indication bits for multiple paging occasions. As per claim 3 as applied to claim 2 above, LI further teaches wherein respective bits of the field from a most significant bit to a least significant bit correspond to respective subgroups of the paging occasions, firstly in ascending order of index values of the paging occasions and secondly in ascending order of index values of the subgroups (¶0260 and ¶0264 and ¶0319, subset of bits could be, e.g., a number of the most-significant bits of the value or a number of the least-significant bits of the value and subset of bits of a value derived from the UE identification is the same as, or larger than, or smaller than bits representing the paging sub-group index and index values of the paging occasions). As per claim 4 as applied to claim 1 above, LI in view of Basu Mallick does not explicitly teach, skip the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second downlink control information in the paging occasion in a case where the first downlink control information is not detected or the value of the bit of the field does not indicate the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second downlink control information in the paging occasion. In the same field of endeavor, MEDIATEK teaches skip the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second downlink control information in the paging occasion in a case where the first downlink control information is not detected or the value of the bit of the field does not indicate the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second downlink control information in the paging occasion (section 2.6, table 6, not require to continue monitoring paging PDCCH in the PO when UE does not detect PEI/DCI). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of MEDIATEK into invention of LI and Basu Mallick in order to use DCI payload for PDCCH-based PEI to convey the sub-group indication and PEI indication bits for multiple paging occasions. As per claim 6 as applied to claim 4 above, LI in view of Basu Mallick teaches derive an index value of the subgroup of the paging occasion to which the terminal belongs based on an identifier of the terminal and the total number of subgroups (Basu Mallick, ¶0077-79, value of the subframe/subgroup of the PO to which the UE associated with based on UE ID and total number of subframes). As per claim 7 as applied to claim 4 above, LI in view of Basu Mallick teaches, receive, from a network, information for indicating the subgroup of the paging occasion to which the terminal belongs (Basu Mallick, ¶0077-79, receiving from the network information for paging frames/paging occasions that UE is associated with). As per claim 9 as applied to claim 8 above, LI in view of Basu Mallick does not explicitly teach wherein the number of bits of field is equal to a value obtained by multiplying the total number of subgroups by the number of paging occasions. In the same field of endeavor, MEDIATEK teaches wherein the number of bits of field is equal to a value obtained by multiplying the total number of subgroups by the number of paging occasions (section 3, table 8, number of bits equal to total of 12 sub-groups which are obtained by multiplying of four PO and 3 subgroups; therefore 3x4=12). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of MEDIATEK into invention of LI and Basu Mallick in order to use DCI payload for PDCCH-based PEI to convey the sub-group indication and PEI indication bits for multiple paging occasions. As per claim 10 as applied to claim 9 above, LI further teaches wherein respective bits of the field from a most significant bit to a least significant bit correspond to respective subgroups of the paging occasions, firstly in ascending order of index values of the paging occasions and secondly in ascending order of index values of the subgroups (¶0260 and ¶0264 and ¶0319, subset of bits could be, e.g., a number of the most-significant bits of the value or a number of the least-significant bits of the value and subset of bits of a value derived from the UE identification is the same as, or larger than, or smaller than bits representing the paging sub-group index and index values of the paging occasions). As per claim 12 as applied to claim 11 above, LI in view of Basu Mallick does not explicitly teach wherein the number of bits of the field is equal to a value obtained by multiplying the total number of subgroups by the number of paging occasions. In the same field of endeavor, MEDIATEK teaches wherein the number of bits of the field is equal to a value obtained by multiplying the total number of subgroups by the number of paging occasions (section 3, table 8, bits equal to total of 12 sub-groups which obtained by multiplying of four PO and 3 subgroups; therefore 3x4=12). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of MEDIATEK into invention of LI and Basu Mallick in order to use DCI payload for PDCCH-based PEI to convey the sub-group indication and PEI indication bits for multiple paging occasions. As per claim 13 as applied to claim 12 above, LI further teaches wherein respective bits of the field from a most significant bit to a least significant bit correspond to respective subgroups of the paging occasions, firstly in ascending order of index values of the paging occasions and secondly in ascending order of index values of the subgroups (¶0260 and ¶0264 and ¶0319, subset of bits could be, e.g., a number of the most-significant bits of the value or a number of the least-significant bits of the value and subset of bits of a value derived from the UE identification is the same as, or larger than, or smaller than bits representing the paging sub-group index and index values of the paging occasions). As per claim 14 as applied to claim 11 above, LI in view of Basu Mallick does not explicitly teach, skipping the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion in a case where the first DCI is not detected or the value of the field does not the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion. In the same field of endeavor, MEDIATEK teaches skipping the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion in a case where the first DCI is not detected or the value of the field does not the monitoring of the PDCCH for the second DCI in the paging occasion (section 2.6, table 6, not require to continue monitoring paging PDCCH in the PO when UE does not detect PEI/DCI). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teaching of MEDIATEK into invention of LI and Basu Mallick in order to use DCI payload for PDCCH-based PEI to convey the sub-group indication and PEI indication bits for multiple paging occasions. As per claim 16 as applied to claim 14 above, LI in view of Basu Mallick teaches deriving an index value of the subgroup of the paging occasion to which the terminal belongs based on an identifier of the terminal and the total number of subgroups (Basu Mallick, ¶0077-79, value of the subframe/subgroup of the PO to which the UE associated with based on UE ID and total number of subframes). As per claim 17 as applied to claim 15 above, LI in view of Basu Mallick teaches, receiving, from a network, information for indicating the subgroup of the paging occasion to which the terminal belongs (Basu Mallick, ¶0077-79, receiving from the network information for paging frames/paging occasions that UE is associated with). Conclusion 4. 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 FARIDEH MADANI whose telephone number is (571)272-1249. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday; 9 AM to 5 PM 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, JINSONG HU can be reached at 5712723965. 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. /FARIDEH MADANI/Examiner, Art Unit 2643 /JINSONG HU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2643
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 06, 2023
Application Filed
Apr 17, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 14, 2026
Response Filed
Sep 22, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12745185
UPLINK POWER CONTROL PARAMETER CONFIGURATION METHOD, TERMINAL AND NETWORK DEVICE
3y 4m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12745155
AI/ML MODEL FUNCTIONALITY IN HANDOVER SCENARIOS
2y 10m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12712955
HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH MAIN DISPLAY REGION AND SUPPLEMENTAL DISPLAY REGION
3y 11m to grant Granted Aug 18, 2026
Patent 12707263
METHOD OF USER EQUIPMENT RELATED TO AUTHENTICATION AND KEY AGREEMENT PROCEDURE, AND USER EQUIPMENT
3y 4m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12689688
ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR MOVING POSITION OF VISUAL OBJECT LOCATED IN FOLDING AREA AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SAME
3y 9m to grant Granted Jul 21, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+19.3%)
2y 6m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 395 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month