Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/621,105

METHOD AND DEVICE IN NODES USED FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 29, 2024
Examiner
PATEL, CHANDRAHAS B
Art Unit
2464
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Apogee Networks, LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
780 granted / 885 resolved
+30.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+7.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
33 currently pending
Career history
918
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.1%
-32.9% vs TC avg
§103
37.5%
-2.5% vs TC avg
§102
44.6%
+4.6% vs TC avg
§112
5.0%
-35.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 885 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION 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 Objections Claims 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 19 and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 7 and 20 use acronyms DCI, CRC, RNTI, and TC-RNTI for the first time in the claim set without expanding them at least once. Claims 8 and 14 use acronyms PDCCH, PUSCH and CCE for the first time in the claim set without expanding them at least once. Claims 10 and 16 use acronym CORESET for the first time in the claim set without expanding it at least once. Claims 13 and 19 use acronym RB for the first time in the claim set without expanding it at least once. Acronyms should be expanded at least once when first used in the claim set. 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, 2, 8, 9, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yoshimura et al. (USPN 11,997,694). Regarding claim 1, Yoshimura teaches a first node for wireless communications, comprising: a first receiver, receiving first information and a first signaling, the first information being used to determine that a first PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control CHannel) candidate and a second PDCCH candidate are associated with each other, and both the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate being used to carry the first signaling [Col. 23, lines 18-59]; and a first transmitter, transmitting a first PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and frequency-domain resources occupied by the first PUSCH belonging to a target frequency-domain resource pool [Col. 11, lines 12-28]; wherein the first signaling is used to determine the frequency-domain resources occupied by the first PUSCH from the target frequency-domain resource pool, the target frequency-domain resource pool is one of multiple frequency-domain resource pools, and there exist two orthogonal frequency-domain resource pools in the multiple frequency-domain resource pools that respectively overlap with a lowest-indexed CCE (Control Channel Element) occupied by the first PDCCH candidate and a lowest-indexed CCE occupied by the second PDCCH candidate [Col. 23, line 60 – Col. 24, line 2]; a reference PDCCH candidate is one of the first PDCCH candidate or the second PDCCH candidate, and the reference PDCCH candidate is used to determine the target frequency-domain resource pool from the multiple frequency-domain resource pools [Col. 23, lines 18-59]. Regarding claims 2, 9 and 15, Yoshimura teaches the target frequency-domain resource pool is a lowest-indexed frequency-domain resource pool among the multiple frequency-domain resource pools that intersects with a lowest-indexed CCE occupied by the reference PDCCH candidate [Col. 29, lines 31-56]. Regarding claim 8, Yoshimura teaches a second node for wireless communications, comprising: a second transmitter, transmitting first information and a first signaling, the first information being used to determine that a first PDCCH candidate and a second PDCCH candidate are associated with each other, and both the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate being used to carry the first signaling [Col. 23, lines 18-59]; and a second receiver, receiving a first PUSCH, and frequency-domain resources occupied by the first PUSCH belonging to a target frequency-domain resource pool [Col. 11, lines 12-28]; wherein the first signaling is used to determine the frequency-domain resources occupied by the first PUSCH from the target frequency-domain resource pool, the target frequency-domain resource pool is one of multiple frequency-domain resource pools, and there exist two orthogonal frequency-domain resource pools in the multiple frequency-domain resource pools that respectively overlap with a lowest-indexed CCE occupied by the first PDCCH candidate and a lowest-indexed CCE occupied by the second PDCCH candidate [Col. 23, line 60 – Col. 24, line 2]; a reference PDCCH candidate is one of the first PDCCH candidate or the second PDCCH candidate, and the reference PDCCH candidate is used to determine the target frequency-domain resource pool from the multiple frequency-domain resource pools [Col. 23, lines 18-59]. Regarding claim 14, Yoshimura teaches a method in a first node for wireless communications, comprising: receiving first information and a first signaling, the first information being used to determine that a first PDCCH candidate and a second PDCCH candidate are associated with each other, and both the first PDCCH candidate and the second PDCCH candidate being used to carry the first signaling [Col. 23, lines 18-59]; and transmitting a first PUSCH, and frequency-domain resources occupied by the first PUSCH belonging to a target frequency-domain resource pool [Col. 11, lines 12-28]; wherein the first signaling is used to determine the frequency-domain resources occupied by the first PUSCH from the target frequency-domain resource pool, the target frequency-domain resource pool is one of multiple frequency-domain resource pools, and there exist two orthogonal frequency-domain resource pools in the multiple frequency-domain resource pools that respectively overlap with a lowest-indexed CCE (Control Channel Element) occupied by the first PDCCH candidate and a lowest-indexed CCE occupied by the second PDCCH candidate [Col. 23, line 60 – Col. 24, line 2]; a reference PDCCH candidate is one of the first PDCCH candidate or the second PDCCH candidate, and the reference PDCCH candidate is used to determine the target frequency-domain resource pool from the multiple frequency-domain resource pools [Col. 23, lines 18-59]. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3-7, 10-13 and 16-20 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 is cited on the form PTO-892. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHANDRAHAS PATEL whose telephone number is (571)270-1211. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30 - 17:30. 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, Ricky Ngo can be reached at 571-272-3139. 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. /Chandrahas B Patel/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 29, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12598054
IN-VEHICLE DEVICE, TIME SYNCHRONIZATION METHOD, AND TIME SYNCHRONIZATION PROGRAM
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12598041
METHOD AND DEVICE IN A NODE USED FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12593317
BIT SELECTION FOR MULTI-SLOT UPLINK SHARED CHANNEL TRANSMISSION
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12593201
COMMUNICATION METHOD, COMMUNICATION APPARATUS, AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR UPDATING USER EQUIPMENT IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12581471
METHODS, APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS FOR PERFORMING MULTI-RADIO ACCESS TECHNOLOGY CARRIER AGGREGATION
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+7.3%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 885 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month