Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/504,340

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MULTI-LINK OPERATION

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Nov 08, 2023
Examiner
HAQUE, ABUSAYEED M
Art Unit
2466
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
MediaTek Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
92%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 5m
To Grant
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 92% — above average
92%
Career Allow Rate
581 granted / 634 resolved
+33.6% vs TC avg
Minimal -3% lift
Without
With
+-2.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
660
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.6%
-36.4% vs TC avg
§103
44.0%
+4.0% vs TC avg
§102
29.8%
-10.2% vs TC avg
§112
9.9%
-30.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 634 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
DETAILED ACTION This office action is a response to an application field on 11/08/2023, in which claims 1-20 are pending and ready for examination. Priority Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. 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. As for claims 1-20, Claims 1, 9 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as failing to set forth 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. Evidence that claims 1 and 17 fail to correspond in scope with that which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA applications the applicant regards as the invention can be found filed on 11/08/2023. These claims are drawn to claimed limitation “determining, using each of the chips, whether transmission of the assigned data has failed; and transmitting, by a first chip of the plurality of chips, the assigned data to an access point (AP) in response to the first chip determining that the transmission of the assigned data has not failed.” The scope of claimed limitations are have failed to set forth the subject matter which the inventor regards as the invention. It is not clear from a person of ordinary skill in the art to determine by a chip whether a transmitted data has failed, and transmitting again the assign data by a first chip based on whether the data has not failed. For the purpose of examination, examiner assumes based on paragraph 59 (figure 5, step 505) that data transmission is performed by a chip to a access point(AP) and a HARQ/ACK or HARQ/NACK message has been received from the access point, not from a chip of plurality of chips. Dependent claims 2-8, 10-16 and 18-20 are rejected because these claims depend on claims 1, 9 and 17. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. 20230275700…………….paragraphs 48-49 and 54. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABUSAYEED HAQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-7252. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am -7:30 pm. 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, Faruk Hamza can be reached at 571-272-7969. 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. /ABUSAYEED M HAQUE/ Examiner, Art Unit 2466 /CHRISTOPHER M CRUTCHFIELD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 08, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12598044
PDCCH MONITORING METHOD, PDCCH SENDING METHOD, AND RELATED DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12598026
SENSING METHOD AND COMMUNICATION APPARATUS
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12592805
COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12588033
RESOURCE TRANSMISSION METHOD, RESOURCE TRANSMISSION APPARATUS, AND COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
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
92%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (-2.7%)
2y 5m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 634 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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