Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/546,338

COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND COMMUNICATION METHOD

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 14, 2023
Examiner
TRAN, PHUC H
Art Unit
2471
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
NTT Docomo Inc.
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
92%
Grant Probability
Favorable
2-3
OA Rounds
3y 0m
To Grant
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 92% — above average
92%
Career Allow Rate
942 granted / 1028 resolved
+33.6% vs TC avg
Minimal +2% lift
Without
With
+1.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
40 currently pending
Career history
1068
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.4%
-35.6% vs TC avg
§103
37.8%
-2.2% vs TC avg
§102
24.7%
-15.3% vs TC avg
§112
18.7%
-21.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1028 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Response to Amendment Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. Claim(s) 1, 3-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kakani et al. (Pub. No. 20040240443) in view of Wang et al. (Pub. No. 20230011514). - With respect to claims 1, 6, Kakani teaches a communication device comprising: a control unit configured to determine a priority to apply to a data signal (e.g. step 312 in Fig. 3b that determining priority to packets); and a transmitting unit configured to transmit information that indicates the determined priority (e.g. steps sending packet after determining priority in Fig. 3B), and the data signal to which the determined priority is applied, in autonomously selected resources, to another communication device (e.g. based on the priority selection the resource selected as in Fig. 3B). Kakani fails to teach the information that indicates the priority varies depending on a signal type. Wang expressly discloses that the manner in which priority information is reported differs based on signal type (unicast, groupcast, broadcast); (see par.134, 147), therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to implement the method of indicates the priority depending on a signal type as unicast, groupcast or broadcast for transmitting information with priority based on signal type. - With respect to claim 3, Kakani teaches wherein the priority is also applied to a control signal that is associated with the data signal (e.g. the quality of service apply as in Fig. 3A). - With respect to claim 4, Kakani teaches wherein the transmitting unit transmits the information that indicates the priority, in a preamble or a dedicated signal, to the another communication device (see par. 41 discloses “When a new connection with priority packets is being set up, the data rate requirements for the priority packets are determined. These can be determined on the basis of a Quality of Service class of the connection and system settings of the network operator. The connection is allocated to dedicated resources such that the data rate requirements of the priority packets can be met. For the rest of the packets the connection uses shared resources or dedicated resources if there is capacity unused by the priority packets”). - With respect to claim 5, Kakani teaches the transmitting unit transmits a location of resources in which the dedicated signal is transmitted to the another communication device (e.g. Fig. 1 and 2 shows coverage areas of base station). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892. . Examiner's Note: Examiner has cited particular paragraphs or columns and line numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHUC H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3172. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 Flex. 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, Sujoy K. Kundu can be reached at 571-272-8586. 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. /PHUC H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 14, 2023
Application Filed
Sep 28, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Dec 31, 2025
Response Filed
Mar 14, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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INTELLIGENT POWER SAVING IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
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Patent 12598631
BEAM MANAGEMENT IN A WIRELESS NETWORK
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Patent 12593276
SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR INDICATING SERVICE PERIOD INFORMATION FOR RESTRICTED TARGET WAKE TIME
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12588021
CAPABILITY INFORMATION SIGNALING FOR DYNAMIC INDICATION OF SHARED CHANNEL OCCASION SKIPPING
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12580689
WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHOD, TERMINAL DEVICE AND NETWORK DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
92%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+1.8%)
3y 0m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1028 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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