Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/648,261

SYNCHRONIZATION SIGNAL BLOCKS FOR SUBBAND FULL DUPLEX RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Apr 26, 2024
Examiner
CHO, HONG SOL
Art Unit
2467
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
959 granted / 1092 resolved
+29.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
10 currently pending
Career history
1102
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.9%
-34.1% vs TC avg
§103
47.3%
+7.3% vs TC avg
§102
22.3%
-17.7% vs TC avg
§112
10.0%
-30.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1092 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
CTNF 18/648,261 CTNF 80364 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. DETAILED ACTION Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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 of this title, 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al (US 2024/0381444, “Han”) in view of Ko et al (US 2022/0095252, “Ko”) . Re claims 1, 8 and 15, Han discloses a UE receiving first indication of one or more transmitted synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in a synchronization signal (SS) burst from a network node (figure 8, step 801; paragraph [0007]); and transmitting, in accordance with the second indication, a RACH message in the at least one RO to the network node (figure 8, step 803; paragraph [0117]), but fails to disclose receiving/transmitting a second indication of at least one SSB, of the one or more transmitted SSBs, associated with an SSB to random access channel occasion (SSB-RO) mapping between the at least one SSB and at least one random access channel (RACH) occasion (RO) configured in one or more subband full duplex (SBFD) symbols. However, Ko discloses receiving/transmitting indication of actually transmitted SS/PBCH block (ATSS) to perform SSB to RACH Occasion (RO) mapping (paragraph [0244]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Han with Ko for the benefit of helping the UE with determining RO based on SSB (figure 8, step 802 of Han). Re claims 2, 9 and 16, the modified system of Han discloses the second indication comprises a bitmap that includes one or more bits indicating the at least one SSB that is associated with the SSB-RO mapping (paragraph [0244] of Ko). Re claims 4, 11 and 18, the modified system of Han discloses the bitmap has a bit length equal to a total quantity of the one or more transmitted SSBs (paragraph [0244] of Ko). Re claims 6, 13 and 20, the modified system of Han discloses the second indication is specific to ROs configured in SBFD slots (figure 2 of Han, full duplex slot and paragraph [0244] of Ko) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17 and 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 Hong Cho whose telephone number is 571-272-3087. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri during 8 am to 4 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Hassan Phillips can be reached on 571-272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /HONG S CHO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/648,261 Page 2 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/648,261 Page 3 Art Unit: 2467
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 26, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 24, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §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
88%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+6.9%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1092 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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