Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/580,266

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR RESOURCE AVAILABILITY DETERMINATION

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jan 18, 2024
Examiner
MOUTAOUAKIL, MOUNIR
Art Unit
2476
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Lenovo (Beijing) Limited
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 0m
To Grant
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allow Rate
505 granted / 625 resolved
+22.8% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+16.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
656
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.2%
-33.8% vs TC avg
§103
51.6%
+11.6% vs TC avg
§102
22.0%
-18.0% vs TC avg
§112
12.7%
-27.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 625 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Specification The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1, 8, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Intel Corporation (In-device coexistence mechanisms for eV2X services). Hereinafter referred to as Intel. Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15. Intel discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (see at least figure 2), comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (it is implies all devices in the LTE network comprise a processor and a memory to operate autonomously) and configured to cause the UE to: determine availability of one or more resources for a first sidelink transmission associated with a first radio access technology (RAT) (see at least sections 4-5 and proposal 10) based on at least one of: first information on one or more reserved resources for one or more second sidelink transmissions associated with a second RAT; second information on one or more physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resources corresponding to the one or more resources; a priority level of the first sidelink transmission (see at least section 4.2); a first sub-carrier spacing of the first RAT; or a first frame structure for the first RAT in one or more slots where the one or more resources are located ; and not perform the first sidelink transmission based on at least one resource determined as unavailable for the first sidelink transmission (see at least proposal 10 and sections 4-5). 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 1-2, 4-9, 11-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wang et al (US 2023/0008396). Hereinafter referred to as Wang. Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15. Wang discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (see at least figure 11), comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (see at least figure 11) and configured to cause the UE to: determine availability of one or more resources for a first sidelink transmission associated with a first radio access technology (RAT) (see at least paragraphs [0004] and [0053]) based on at least one of: first information on one or more reserved resources for one or more second sidelink transmissions associated with a second RAT; second information on one or more physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resources corresponding to the one or more resources; a priority level of the first sidelink transmission (see at least section 4.2); a first sub-carrier spacing of the first RAT; or a first frame structure for the first RAT in one or more slots where the one or more resources are located ; and not perform the first sidelink transmission based on at least one resource determined as unavailable for the first sidelink transmission (see at least paragraphs [0004] and [0053]). Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Wang discloses a UE wherein, to determine the availability of the one or more resources, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: determine a first resource of the one or more resources as unavailable for the first sidelink transmission when the first resource at least partially overlaps with any of the one or more reserved resources associated with the second RAT in both time domain and frequency domain, or a PSFCH resource corresponding to the first resource at least partially overlaps with any of the one or more reserved resources associated with the second RAT in both the time domain and the frequency domain (see at least paragraph [0033]). Regarding claims 4, 11, and 18. Wang discloses a UE wherein, to determine the availability of the one or more resources, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: determine a first resource of the one or more resources as unavailable for the first sidelink transmission when any resource in a slot in which the first resource is located or a PSFCH resource corresponding to any resource in the slot in which the first resource is located is reserved for the one or more second sidelink transmissions associated with the second RAT (see at least paragraph [0053]). Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19. Wang discloses a UE wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: select a resource from the one or more resources determined as available for the first sidelink transmission; determine whether the selected resource is available based on information on the one or more reserved resources for the one or more second sidelink transmissions associated with the second RAT; and perform resource reselection when the selected resource is determined as unavailable (see at least paragraph [0021], [0056]). Regarding claims 6, 13, and 20. Wang discloses a UE wherein the selected resource is determined as unavailable if at least one of the selected resource at least partially overlaps with any of the one or more reserved resources in both time domain and frequency domain, or a PSFCH resource corresponding to the selected resource at least partially overlaps with any of the one or more reserved resources in both the time domain and the frequency domain (see at least paragraph [0033]). Regarding claims 7 and 14. Wang discloses a UE wherein the selected resource is determined as unavailable when any resource in a slot in which the selected resource is located or a PSFCH resource corresponding to any resource in the slot in which the selected resource is located is reserved for the one or more second sidelink transmissions associated with the second RAT (see at least paragraph [0033]). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3, 10 and 17 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. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO_892. In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention. When responding to this office action, applicants are advised to clearly point out the patentable novelty which they think the claims present in view of the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. Applicants must also show how the amendments avoid such references or objections. See 37C.F.R 1.111(c). In addition, applicants are advised to provide the examiner with the line numbers and pages numbers in the application and/or references cited to assist examiner in locating the appropriate paragraphs. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOUNIR MOUTAOUAKIL whose telephone number is (571)270-1416. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10AM-4PM 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, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at 571-272-3795. 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. /MOUNIR MOUTAOUAKIL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 18, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

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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
81%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+16.8%)
3y 0m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 625 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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