Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/622,024

POWER CONTROL AND INDICATION FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 29, 2024
Examiner
PAN, YUWEN
Art Unit
2649
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
ZTE CORPORATION
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
49%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
4y 3m
To Grant
72%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 49% of resolved cases
49%
Career Allow Rate
116 granted / 235 resolved
-12.6% vs TC avg
Strong +22% interview lift
Without
With
+22.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
4y 3m
Avg Prosecution
7 currently pending
Career history
242
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.5%
-37.5% vs TC avg
§103
57.6%
+17.6% vs TC avg
§102
21.5%
-18.5% vs TC avg
§112
9.7%
-30.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 235 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/29/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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. (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. Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhang (US2020/0374807A1), hereafter Zhang. Per claim 17, 22 and 27, Zhang discloses a method/a wireless communications apparatus (see figures 4, 5, 6), a memory (see figure 6 and item 601) storing a plurality of instructions; and at least one processor (see figure 6 and item 602) configured to execute the plurality of instructions, wherein upon execution of the plurality of instructions (see para. 0150), the at least one processor is configured to cause the apparatus to: determine an uplink transmission power based on at least one uplink power control parameter of a plurality of uplink power control parameters, wherein each of the plurality of uplink power control parameters corresponds to a respective one of a plurality of resource types; and transmit an uplink signal or an uplink channel to a wireless access node according to the uplink transmission power (see figure 3 and corresponding paragraphs, shows A UE received at least one power control parameter from the network device to determine a resource type for uplink transmission). Per claims 18, 23 and 28, Zhang further teaches wherein at least one of the plurality uplink power control parameters comprises a receiving power target, a maximum output power, a cell- specific power component, a user equipment (UE)-specific power component, a coefficient of a pathloss, a pathloss reference signal, a loop index, a power control adjustment state, a plurality of transmission power command values, or a function of a bits per resource element (BPRE) (see figure 2 and para. 83-102). Per claim 19, Zhang further teaches that the plurality of resource types comprises: a first resource type for a first time unit (time slot) configured as an uplink time unit, wherein all frequency resources in a bandwidth part for, in, or corresponding to the first time unit are used for uplink transmissions, or for a first frequency resource for, in, or corresponding to the first time unit; a second resource type for a second time unit configured as an uplink time unit, wherein a bandwidth part for, in, or corresponding to the second time unit comprises a first part used for uplink transmissions and a second part used for downlink transmissions, or for a second frequency resource for, in, or corresponding to the second time unit; and a third resource type for a third time unit configured as a downlink time unit, wherein a bandwidth part for, in, or corresponding to the third time unit comprises a first part used for downlink transmissions and a second part used for uplink transmissions, or for a third frequency resource for, in, or corresponding to the third time unit (see Table 1 and 2, para. 75,76, and 115-122). Per claims 20, 25, and 30, Zhang further teaches that the first-time unit, the second time unit, and the third time unit each comprises a frame, a sub-frame, a slot, a sub-slot, or a symbol (see Table 1 and 2, para 75 and 76). Per claim 21, 26 and 31, Zhang further teaches that the uplink signal or the uplink channel is transmitted on a first resource having a first resource type of the plurality of resource types and a second resource having a second resource type of the plurality of resource types, wherein determining the uplink transmission power comprises: determining a first uplink transmission power for transmission on the first resource based on a first uplink power control parameter of the plurality of uplink power control parameters; and determining a second uplink transmission power for transmission on the second resource based on a second uplink power control parameter of the plurality of uplink power control parameters (see figures 2 and 3 and corresponding paragraphs). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YUWEN PAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7855. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-5:00pm. 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. 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. YUWEN . PAN Supervisory Patent Examiner Art Unit 2649 /YUWEN PAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 29, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 10, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 03, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12592473
COMMUNICATION APPARATUS AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12573961
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONSTANT MAGNITUDE OUTPUT VOLTAGE IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12567892
DATA TRANSMISSION IN A LINEAR TRANSPORT SYSTEM
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 03, 2026
Patent 12500453
RF SIGNAL CONVERSION DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Dec 16, 2025
Patent 12477596
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING DYNAMIC MODE SWITCHING IN SHORT RANGE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
2y 5m to grant Granted Nov 18, 2025
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
49%
Grant Probability
72%
With Interview (+22.4%)
4y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 235 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