Office Action Predictor
Application No. 18/538,474

COMMUNICATION METHOD AND COMMUNICATION APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 13, 2023
Examiner
ZAIDI, IQBAL
Art Unit
2464
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp., LTD.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
90%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 6m
To Grant
65%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

90%
Career Allow Rate
1085 granted / 1202 resolved
Without
With
+-25.1%
Interview Lift
avg trend
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
37 pending
1239
Total Applications
career history

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.9%
-33.1% vs TC avg
§103
49.9%
+9.9% vs TC avg
§102
11.8%
-28.2% vs TC avg
§112
14.5%
-25.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION The instant application having application No 18/538,474 filed on 12/13/2023 is presented for examination by the examiner. Examiner Notice Claim 1 would be allowable if (i) claim 2 are incorporated into the independent claim 1. Claim 7 would be allowable if (i) claims 8 or 17 are incorporated into the independent claim 7. Claim 12 would be allowable if (i) claims 13 are incorporated into the independent claim 12. The claim 1, 7 and 12, have the limitation “a second condition”, please clarify the language features from the limitations of the claims. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: (a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. Claims 1, 7, 12, and 16 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over You et al. (U.S 20240015834, Jan. 11, 2024) in view of HE et al. (US 20230022523, Jan. 26, 2023). Regarding Claim 1, YANG discloses a communication method, comprising performing, by a terminal device, first Small Data Transmission (SDT) on a Configured Grant (CG) resource corresponding to a first Synchronization Signal Black (SSB) (page 16, par (0279), line 1-10, an SSB associated with the configured grant resource is used as the reference SSB, so that the terminal device learns whether TA is valid, to determine whether the configured grant resource indicated by the network device can be used. In addition, in a process of initiating small data transmission for a configured grant, the configured grant request initiated by the terminal may further request to configure the CG-SDT resource used in the RRC connected state), wherein the terminal device is in an inactive state (page 1, par (0010), line 1-5, the first SSB can be used by the terminal device to transmit small data in the inactive state). You disclose all aspects of the claimed invention, except determining, by a terminal device, a first resource according to a second condition; and performing, by a terminal device, second SDT on the first resource. He is the same field of invention teaches determining, by a terminal device, a first resource according to a second condition(page 8, par(0074), line 1-10, the UE identify SSB whose associated RSRP is greater than, or equal to, a threshold, the UE determine that the RSRP associated with SSB is greater than, or equal to, the threshold(wherein measured threshold is a second condition), the UE select an SSB from the identified SSB whose associated RSRP is greater than, or equal to, the threshold, the selected SSB serve as the basis for UE uplink communication); and performing, by a terminal device, second SDT on the first resource (page 8, par (0074), line 1-10, the UE transmit information to the base station during a PUR occasion associated with the selected SSB, the UE select SSB to serve as the basis for UE uplink communication). You and He are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of access to a service device. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify to determining, by a terminal device, a first resource according to a second condition; and performing, by a terminal device, second SDT on the first resource the teaching of YANG to include the UE transmit information to the base station during a PUR occasion associated with the selected SSB, the UE select SSB to serve as the basis for UE uplink communication teaching of Raghavan because it is providing an access point to the EPC or core network for a UE. Regarding Claim 7, YANG discloses a communication method, comprising receiving, by a network device, first Small Data Transmission (SDT) on a Configured Grant (CG) resource corresponding to a first Synchronization Signal Black (SSB) (page 16, par (0279), line 1-10, an SSB associated with the configured grant resource is used as the reference SSB, so that the terminal device learns whether TA is valid, to determine whether the configured grant resource indicated by the network device can be used. In addition, in a process of initiating small data transmission for a configured grant, the configured grant request initiated by the terminal may further request to configure the CG-SDT resource used in the RRC connected state) from a terminal device which is in an inactive state (page 1, par (0010), line 1-5, the first SSB can be used by the terminal device to transmit small data in the inactive state). You disclose all aspects of the claimed invention, except receiving, by the network device, second SDT on a first resource from the terminal device, wherein the first resource is determined according to a second condition. He is the same field of invention teaches receiving, by the network device, second SDT on a first resource from the terminal device(page 8, par (0074), line 1-10, the UE transmit information to the base station during a PUR occasion associated with the selected SSB, the UE select SSB to serve as the basis for UE uplink communication), wherein the first resource is determined according to a second condition(page 8, par(0074), line 1-10, the UE identify SSB whose associated RSRP is greater than, or equal to, a threshold, the UE determine that the RSRP associated with SSB is greater than, or equal to, the threshold(wherein measured threshold is a second condition), the UE select an SSB from the identified SSB whose associated RSRP is greater than, or equal to, the threshold, the selected SSB serve as the basis for UE uplink communication). You and He are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of access to a service device. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify to determining, by a terminal device, a first resource according to a second condition; and performing, by a terminal device, second SDT on the first resource the teaching of YANG to include the UE transmit information to the base station during a PUR occasion associated with the selected SSB, the UE select SSB to serve as the basis for UE uplink communication teaching of Raghavan because it is providing an access point to the EPC or core network for a UE. Regarding Claim 12, YANG discloses a communication apparatus, comprising a transceiver, configured to perform first Small Data Transmission (SDT) on a Configured Grant (CG) resource corresponding to a first Synchronization Signal Black (SSB) (page 16, par (0279), line 1-10, an SSB associated with the configured grant resource is used as the reference SSB, so that the terminal device learns whether TA is valid, to determine whether the configured grant resource indicated by the network device can be used. In addition, in a process of initiating small data transmission for a configured grant, the configured grant request initiated by the terminal may further request to configure the CG-SDT resource used in the RRC connected state), wherein the communication apparatus is in an inactive state (page 1, par (0010), line 1-5, the first SSB can be used by the terminal device to transmit small data in the inactive state). You disclose all aspects of the claimed invention, except a processor, connected to the transceiver and configured to determine a first resource according to a second condition, wherein the transceiver is configured to perform second SDT on the first resource. He is the same field of invention teaches a processor, connected to the transceiver and configured to determine a first resource according to a second condition(page 8, par(0074), line 1-10, the UE identify SSB whose associated RSRP is greater than, or equal to, a threshold, the UE determine that the RSRP associated with SSB is greater than, or equal to, the threshold(wherein measured threshold is a second condition), the UE select an SSB from the identified SSB whose associated RSRP is greater than, or equal to, the threshold, the selected SSB serve as the basis for UE uplink communication), wherein the transceiver is configured to perform second SDT on the first resource(page 8, par (0074), line 1-10, the UE transmit information to the base station during a PUR occasion associated with the selected SSB, the UE select SSB to serve as the basis for UE uplink communication). You and He are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of access to a service device. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify to determining, by a terminal device, a first resource according to a second condition; and performing, by a terminal device, second SDT on the first resource the teaching of YANG to include the UE transmit information to the base station during a PUR occasion associated with the selected SSB, the UE select SSB to serve as the basis for UE uplink communication teaching of Raghavan because it is providing an access point to the EPC or core network for a UE. Regarding Claim 16, YANG discloses communication apparatus, comprising a transceiver, configured to receive and send information; and a processor, connected to the transceiver and configured to implement operations of the method of claim 7(page 16, par (0279), line 1-10, an SSB associated with the configured grant resource is used as the reference SSB, so that the terminal device learns whether TA is valid, to determine whether the configured grant resource indicated by the network device can be used. In addition, in a process of initiating small data transmission for a configured grant, the configured grant request initiated by the terminal may further request to configure the CG-SDT resource used in the RRC connected state). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure are: Tseng et al. (US 20210136646) teaches Method and Apparatus for SL carrier Aggregation Enhancement. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IQBAL ZAIDI whose telephone number is (571)270-3943. The examiner can normally be reached on M to Thu 8.a.m to 6.p.m.. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, NGO RICKY can be reached on 571-272-3139. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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). /IQBAL ZAIDI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 13, 2023
Application Filed
Dec 27, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Mar 27, 2026
Response Filed

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
90%
Grant Probability
65%
With Interview (-25.1%)
2y 6m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1202 resolved cases by this examiner