Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/568,425

GEOGRAPHY BASED TRANSMIT POWER BACKOFF IN A CELLULAR VEHICLE-TO-EVERYTHING (CV2X) SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Dec 08, 2023
Examiner
ALAM, FAYYAZ
Art Unit
2646
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allow Rate
837 granted / 1006 resolved
+21.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
1023
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
§103
51.7%
+11.7% vs TC avg
§102
12.1%
-27.9% vs TC avg
§112
13.7%
-26.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1006 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement submitted has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file. Claim Objections Claims 16 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities: have no dependency. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1, 3-4, 6-7, 9-10, 12-13, 15-16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nguyen et al. USPN 10517050. Consider claim 1, Nguyen discloses a method of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising: identifying a region in which the UE is located (see col. 19, lines 25-31: “…signaling may be provided by global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning (e.g., for UEs 115 that have the capability to do so, such as UE 115-a). In such cases, an NS value may be determined through a detected location or region, and the location may be detected through GNSS positioning…”); selecting a first maximum power reduction value associated with the region (see col. 16, lines 24-27: “…an A-MPR allowance may be used by the UE 115 to satisfy the regional requirements, where NS may enable a UE 115 to identify an A-MPR once the UE 115 is located in the corresponding region (e.g., when connecting to a cell). The A-MPR may be utilized by the UE 115 to ensure an output power is maintained within a linear region of a power amplifier of the UE 115. Accordingly, the A-MPR may be used to lower the output power so that additional limits on any emissions (which may be expressed in terms of EIRP) are met by the UE…”); determining a transmit power for a signal based at least in part on the selected first maximum power reduction value (see col. 19, lines 41-51: “…UE 115-a may use that NS value and the antenna gain of UE 115-a to determine an A-MPR. In such cases, excess NS values may not be needed to indicate a large number of different groups of A-MPR allowances. In any event, UE 115-a may determine the A-MPR value from a combination of the received NS 210 and its configured antenna gain, and may subsequently adjust a maximum transmission output power in accordance with the A-MPR. UE 115-a may send any transmissions of data 215 to base station 105-a using a transmission power that does not exceed the adjusted maximum output power…”); and transmitting the signal at the transmit power (see fig. 15, 1525 “Transmit data using a maximum power output that is adjusted in accordance with the A-MPR”). Consider claim 3 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses the first maximum power reduction value includes a network signaling value and a region specific value (see col. 2, lines 8-25: “… UE may receive network signaling from a nearby cell or base station that indicates the additional requirements to be met. The UE may identify an antenna gain for its antenna and identify a set of emission requirements based on the identified antenna gain and the network signaling. Additionally, the UE may identify an A-MPR based on the set of emission requirements and the antenna gain and adjust a maximum output power in accordance with the identified A-MPR. Through the adjustment of the maximum output power, the UE may satisfy the additional requirements and regional regulatory requirements, where the emissions of the UE (e.g., maximum output power, spectrum emission mask, power spectral density, spurious emissions, receiver spurious emissions, etc.) do not exceed a threshold requirement…”). Consider claim 4 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses identifying the region comprises: receiving, from an access point, a signature associated with the access point (see col. 10, lines 4-6: “…P-GW may provide IP address allocation…”); mapping the signature to a location of the access point ( see col. 7, lines 62-67 “…Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographic coverage area 110 in which communications with various UEs 115 is supported. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110 via communication links 125…”); and identifying the region based at least in part on the location of the access point (see col. 19, lines 27-31: “…an NS value may be determined through a detected location or region, and the location may be detected through GNSS positioning signaling received at UE 115-a…”). Consider claim 6 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses identifying the region comprises: receiving signals from a global navigation satellite system; identifying a location of the UE based on the received signals; and identifying the region based on the location of the UE (see col. 19, lines 27-31: “…an NS value may be determined through a detected location or region, and the location may be detected through GNSS positioning signaling received at UE 115-a…”). Consider claim 7 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses generating a virtual network signaling value associated with the region (see col. 8, lines 28-31: “…term “cell” refers to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station 105 (e.g., over a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) operating via the same or a different carrier…”); and providing the virtual network signaling value to a transceiver, wherein selecting the first maximum power reduction value comprises selecting, with the transceiver, the first maximum power reduction value based on the virtual network signaling value (see figs. 14-15: when a VCID is used the method will remain the same). Consider claim 9 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses transmitting the signal comprises transmitting the signal to another UE using cellular vehicle-to-everything (CV2X) communications (see fig. 13, 1320 “V2X transmission”). Examiner Note: See detailed rejection analysis of independent claim 1 for any remaining independent claim rejections. Consider claim 10, Nguyen discloses an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors and the memory being configured to: identify a region in which the apparatus is located (see cols. 16 and 19; figs. 13-15), select a first maximum power reduction value associated with the region (see cols. 16 and 19; figs. 13-15), and determine a transmit power for a signal based at least in part on the selected first maximum power reduction value (see cols. 16 and 19; figs. 13-15); and a transceiver configured to transmit the signal at the transmit power (see cols. 16 and 19; figs. 13-15). Consider claim 12 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses the first maximum power reduction value includes a network signaling value and a region specific value (see col. 2, lines 8-25: “… UE may receive network signaling from a nearby cell or base station that indicates the additional requirements to be met. The UE may identify an antenna gain for its antenna and identify a set of emission requirements based on the identified antenna gain and the network signaling. Additionally, the UE may identify an A-MPR based on the set of emission requirements and the antenna gain and adjust a maximum output power in accordance with the identified A-MPR. Through the adjustment of the maximum output power, the UE may satisfy the additional requirements and regional regulatory requirements, where the emissions of the UE (e.g., maximum output power, spectrum emission mask, power spectral density, spurious emissions, receiver spurious emissions, etc.) do not exceed a threshold requirement…”). Consider claim 13 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses the transceiver is further configured to receive, from an access point, a signature associated with the access point; and the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to: map the signature to a location of the access point; and identify the region based at least in part on the location of the access point ( see col. 7, lines 62-67 “…Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographic coverage area 110 in which communications with various UEs 115 is supported. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110 via communication links 125…”). Consider claim 15 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses the transceiver is further configured to receive signals from a global navigation satellite system; and the one or more processors and the memory are further configured to: identify a location of the apparatus based on the received signals, and identify the region based on the location of the apparatus (see col. 19, lines 27-31: “…an NS value may be determined through a detected location or region, and the location may be detected through GNSS positioning signaling received at UE 115-a…”). Consider claim 16 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses generate a virtual network signaling value associated with the region, provide the virtual network signaling value to a transceiver, and select, with the transceiver, the first maximum power reduction value based on the virtual network signaling value (see col. 8, lines 28-31: “…term “cell” refers to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station 105 (e.g., over a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) operating via the same or a different carrier…”). Consider claim 18 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen discloses the transceiver is configured to transmit the signal to a user equipment using cellular vehicle-to-everything (CV2X) communications (see fig. 13, 1320 “V2X transmission”). 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. 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. Claims 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. USPN 10517050 in view of Official Notice. Consider claim 8 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen does not explicitly disclose updating the first maximum power reduction value in response to a change in a location of the UE; determining another transmit power for another signal based at least in part on the updated first maximum power reduction value; and transmitting the other signal at the other transmit power. Nevertheless, Examiner takes Official Notice that it is notoriously well-known in the art of wireless communication to change and update transmit power due to change in location. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine location based transmit power adjustment of Nguyen and add the update of transmit power of the Official Notice to arrive at the updated transmit power based on updated location in order use the invention of Nguyen as many times as needed once the location of UE changes. Consider claim 17 as applied to respective claim, Nguyen does not explicitly disclose update the first maximum power reduction value in response to a change in location of the UE, and determining another transmit power for another signal based at least in part on the updated additional maximum power reduction value; and transmitting the other signal at the other transmit power. Nevertheless, Examiner takes Official Notice that it is notoriously well-known in the art of wireless communication to change and update transmit power due to change in location. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine location based transmit power adjustment of Nguyen and add the update of transmit power of the Official Notice to arrive at the updated transmit power based on updated location in order use the invention of Nguyen as many times as needed once the location of UE changes. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2, 5, 11, and 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: claim language as respectively recited. Conclusion Any response to this Office Action should be faxed to (571) 273-8300 or mailed to: Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 Hand-delivered responses should be brought to Customer Service Window Randolph Building 401 Dulany Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Fayyaz Alam whose telephone number is (571) 270-1102. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 9:30am to 7:00pm. If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Oneal Mistry can be reached on (313) 446-4912. 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) or 703-305-3028. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist/customer service whose telephone number is (571) 272-2600. Fayyaz Alam November 27, 2025 /FAYYAZ ALAM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2674
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 08, 2023
Application Filed
Nov 28, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
83%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+11.3%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1006 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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