Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/595,941

Methods for Transmitting and Receiving Pilot and Device

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Mar 05, 2024
Examiner
BHATTI, HASHIM S
Art Unit
2475
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Vivo Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allow Rate
340 granted / 396 resolved
+27.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
27 currently pending
Career history
423
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.7%
-36.3% vs TC avg
§103
46.2%
+6.2% vs TC avg
§102
28.0%
-12.0% vs TC avg
§112
18.1%
-21.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 396 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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)(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. Claim(s) 1, 2, 9, 15, 16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Matsumoto et al. US 2009/0104908 A1. Claim 1: Matsumoto discloses a method for transmitting a pilot, comprising: determining, by a transmit end, a transmitting parameter of the pilot, wherein the transmitting parameter comprises at least one of transmitting power or a guard interval (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, calculating transmission power value for the pilot signal based on the received quality), the transmitting parameter is determined based on first parameters, and the first parameters comprise a delay, Doppler, and channel quality (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, calculating transmission power value for the pilot signal based on the received quality); and transmitting, by the transmit end, the pilot based on the transmitting parameter (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, transmission power for the pilot signal based on the received quality. Also see para 38, pilot signal transmission). Claim 2: Matsumoto discloses that the first parameters comprise the channel quality (See para 38, CSI, SNR); and the determining, by a transmit end, a transmitting parameter of the pilot (See para 38, Pilot signal) comprises: performing, by the transmit end based on indication information, at least one of: increasing the transmitting power of the pilot, or increasing the guard interval of the pilot (See para 74, increasing the transmission power for the pilot), wherein the indication information is sent by a receive end when measured channel quality is greater than a first threshold (See para 88, threshold value#1); or the indication information is sent by a receive end when a measured second parameter is greater than or equal to a second threshold, and the second parameter is related to the channel quality (See para 88, threshold value#2). Claim 16: Matsumoto discloses that the first parameters comprise the channel quality (See para 38, CSI, SNR); and before the receiving, by a receive end, the pilot (See para 38, Pilot signal), the method further comprises: transmitting, by the receive end, indication information when measured channel quality is greater than a first threshold (See para 88, threshold value#1); or transmitting, by the receive end, indication information when a measured second parameter is greater than or equal to a second threshold (See para 88, threshold value#2), wherein the second parameter is related to the channel quality; and the indication information is used by the transmit end to perform at least one of: increasing the transmitting power of the pilot, or increasing the guard interval of the pilot (See para 74, increasing the transmission power for the pilot). Claim 9: Matsumoto discloses that the determining, by a transmit end, a transmitting parameter of the pilot comprises: increasing, by the transmit end, the transmitting power of the pilot; or reducing, by the transmit end, the transmitting power of the pilot (See para 74, increasing the transmission power for the pilot. Also see para 43, increasing/decreasing the transmission power). Claim 15: Matsumoto discloses a method for receiving a pilot, comprising: receiving, by a receive end, the pilot (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, transmission power for the pilot signal based on the received quality. Also see para 38, pilot signal transmission), wherein the pilot is sent by a transmit end based on a transmitting parameter, the transmitting parameter comprises at least one of transmitting power or a guard interval (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, calculating transmission power value for the pilot signal based on the received quality), the transmitting parameter is determined based on first parameters, and the first parameters comprise a delay, Doppler, and channel quality (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, calculating transmission power value for the pilot signal based on the received quality). Claim 20: Matsumoto discloses a terminal, comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or an instruction that is stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or the instruction, when executed by the processor, causes the terminal to perform: determining a transmitting parameter of a pilot (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, transmission power for the pilot signal based on the received quality. Also see para 38, pilot signal transmission), wherein the transmitting parameter comprises at least one of transmitting power or a guard interval (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, calculating transmission power value for the pilot signal based on the received quality), the transmitting parameter is determined based on first parameters, and the first parameters comprise a delay, Doppler, and channel quality (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, calculating transmission power value for the pilot signal based on the received quality); and transmitting the pilot based on the transmitting parameter (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, calculating transmission power value for the pilot signal based on the received quality); or the program or the instruction, when executed by the processor, causes the terminal to perform: receiving a pilot (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, transmission power for the pilot signal based on the received quality. Also see para 38, pilot signal transmission), wherein the pilot is sent by a transmit end based on a transmitting parameter, the transmitting parameter comprises at least one of transmitting power or a guard interval (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, calculating transmission power value for the pilot signal based on the received quality)., the transmitting parameter is determined based on first parameters, and the first parameters comprise a delay, Doppler, and channel quality (See paras 40, 41 and 73-74, calculating transmission power value for the pilot signal based on the received quality). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 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) 3 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto et al. in view of Liu US 2022/0329104 A1 Claims 3 and 17: Matsumoto doesn’t disclose that the indication information comprises a power amplification multiple of the pilot. Liu discloses that the indication information comprises a power amplification multiple of the pilot (See para 137, “a power amplification multiple of the transmit end device is A”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matsumoto with the teachings of Volkswagen to improve the method disclosed by Matsumoto by including the feature of power amplification multiple. The motivation would have been to reduce or avoid path loss. Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto et al. in view of Volkswagen EP 3826254 A1. Claim 5: Matsumoto doesn’t disclose that the determining, by a transmit end, a transmitting parameter of the pilot comprises: determining, by the transmit end, the transmitting parameter of the pilot based on a first transmitting period, wherein a length of the first transmitting period is greater than a length of a second transmitting period, and the second transmitting period is a period for determining the transmitting parameter of the pilot. Volkswagen discloses that the determining, by a transmit end, a transmitting parameter of the pilot comprises: determining, by the transmit end, the transmitting parameter of the pilot based on a first transmitting period, wherein a length of the first transmitting period is greater than a length of a second transmitting period, and the second transmitting period is a period for determining the transmitting parameter of the pilot (See paras 11, 17-18, once interfering pilot is detected and it can be communicated to the transmitter end which increases the guard interval to keep the error bit rate low). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matsumoto with the teachings of Volkswagen to improve the method disclosed by Matsumoto by including the feature of determining parameter for the pilot based on first period which is greater than the second period. The motivation to combine would have been to avoid high bit error rate and improve quality. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4, 6-7, 10-14, 18 & 19 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HASHIM S BHATTI whose telephone number is (571)270-7748. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00am-5:30pm. 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, Khaled Kassim can be reached at 571-270-3770. 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. HASHIM S. BHATTI Primary Examiner Art Unit 2472 /HASHIM S BHATTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2475
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 05, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (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
86%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+6.3%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 396 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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