Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/576,318

COMMUNICATION DEVICE, AND COMMUNICATION METHOD

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jan 03, 2024
Examiner
DUFFY, JAMES P
Art Unit
2461
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 10m
To Grant
69%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allow Rate
454 granted / 594 resolved
+18.4% vs TC avg
Minimal -8% lift
Without
With
+-7.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
42 currently pending
Career history
636
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.6%
-35.4% vs TC avg
§103
56.3%
+16.3% vs TC avg
§102
22.8%
-17.2% vs TC avg
§112
8.3%
-31.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 594 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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 15-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dai et al. (US 2023/0328723, Dai hereafter). RE claims 15 and 22, Dai discloses a communication apparatus and method, comprising: circuitry (Figure 11), which, in operation, determines a starting position of coded data in a first section based on a second section which is a previous section to the first section, the first section and the second section being one of a plurality of sections within a time domain resource assigned for a transmission of a signal (Figures 5, 7 and 9-10; and paragraphs 59-61 and 74-92 teaches a circular buffer of coded data whereby a UE outputs the data from the buffer for transmission and repetition in a plurality of slots. The UE receives a redundancy version (RV) mapping of a PUSCH transmission. The UE then determines a transport block size of the PUSCH transmission on a set of resources corresponding to a set of PUYSCH repetitions over a repetition unit comprising plurality of slots. The UE then determines the starting bit location of the first and each subsequent slot. For RV mapping each starting bit location corresponds to a different RV); and a transmitter (Figure 11), which, in operation, transmits the signal based on the starting position of coded data, wherein the starting position of coded data in the first section is determined without depending on whether uplink control information (UCI) is multiplexed in the second section (Figures 5 and 9-10. The starting positions of each slot is based upon the received RV mapping. Paragraph 46 further discloses the UCI is carried by the PUCCH. Figure 10 and paragraphs 74-92 also disclose three options for handling UCI/PUCCH. Step 1010 states the UE refrains from multiplexing UCI and instead performs one of steps 1012, 1014 and 1016). RE claims 16 and 23, Dai discloses the apparatus or claim 15 and method of claim 22 as set forth above. Note that Dai further discloses wherein the starting position of coded data in the first section is determined based on the starting position of coded data in the second section and on a number of coded bits in the second section (Figures 5, 7 and 9-10; and paragraphs 59-61 and 74-92 teaches a circular buffer of coded data whereby a UE outputs the data from the buffer for transmission and repetition in a plurality of slots. The UE receives a redundancy version (RV) mapping of a PUSCH transmission. The UE then determines a transport block size of the PUSCH transmission on a set of resources corresponding to a set of PUYSCH repetitions over a repetition unit comprising plurality of slots. The UE then determines the starting bit location of the first and each subsequent slot. For RV mapping each starting bit location corresponds to a different RV. Starting bit position as shown is based on TBS and slot size, and thus the number of bits of each “section” as well as the start and end positions for data in each slot.). RE claims 17 and 24, Dai discloses the apparatus or claim 15 and method of claim 22 as set forth above. Note that Dai further discloses wherein the second section is a first slot of the plurality of sections, and the starting position of coded data in the second section is a position indicated by a redundancy version 0, 1, 2 or 3 (Paragraph 59 discloses RV0, RV1, RV2 and RV3. See further Figures 4 and 7). RE claims 18 and 25, Dai discloses the apparatus or claim 15 and method of claim 22 as set forth above. Note that Dai further discloses wherein a transport block size of the signal is calculated by multiplying an amount of resources of a slot assigned for the transmission of the signal with a scaling factor (Abstract discloses Paragraph 61 discloses PUSCH repetition with TBS scaling. Paragraph 67 and Table 3 shows multiplication of scaling factors B1 and B2 with an expression comprised of a lifting size of a LDPC code divided by the number of slots). RE claims 19 and 26, Dai in view of Hosseini discloses the apparatus or claim 18 and method of claim 25 as set forth above. Note that Dai further discloses wherein the amount of resources of the slot is determined based on information relating to a length of symbols, which is indicated by a base station (Figure 10 and paragraph 84-85 steps 1002 and 1004). RE claims 20 and 27, Dai discloses the apparatus or claim 15 and method of claim 22 as set forth above. Note that Dai further discloses wherein information relating to the plurality of sections is indicated from a base station (Figure 10 and paragraph 84-85 steps 1002 and 1004). RE claims 21 and 28, Dai discloses the apparatus or claim 15 and method of claim 22 as set forth above. Note that Dai further discloses wherein the signal is transmitted on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) (Figures 9 and 10, transmission is on PUSCH). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James P Duffy whose telephone number is (571)270-7516. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday-Friday, 9am-6pm 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, Huy D Vu can be reached at 571-272-3155. 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. /James P Duffy/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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Prosecution Timeline

Jan 03, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 20, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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MANAGED NETWORK SUPPORTING BACKSCATTERING COMMUNICATION DEVICES
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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
76%
Grant Probability
69%
With Interview (-7.6%)
2y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 594 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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