Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/659,103

TRACKING AREA UPDATE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR AERIAL USER EQUIPMENT OVER WIRELESS COMMUNCATION NETWORKS

Non-Final OA §101§112
Filed
May 09, 2024
Examiner
OHRI, ROMANI
Art Unit
2413
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
AT&T Technical Services Company, Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
4m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allowance Rate
404 granted / 473 resolved
+27.4% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+16.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
494
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.9%
-34.1% vs TC avg
§103
60.2%
+20.2% vs TC avg
§102
11.5%
-28.5% vs TC avg
§112
16.7%
-23.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 473 resolved cases

Office Action

§101 §112
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 . DETAILED ACTION Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 15-20 in the reply to restriction, filed on 07/30/2026 is acknowledged. Applicant canceled claims 1-14 in response to restriction. Claims 21-34 have been added, in light of cancellation of claims 1-14. No new matter is added because claims 21-34 recite subject matter consistent with and similar to elected claims 15-20. Claims 15-34 are currently pending. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/08/2025, 01/05/2026, 05/18/2026 and 07/30/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Objections Claim 27 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 27 recites “the TAU hold stage”, examiner suggests changing to “the TAU hold mode”. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows: Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. Claims 29-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim is NOT to a process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter. The claims does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claim is drawn to a “machine readable medium”. The specification of the instant application (US 2025/0350344 A1) discloses in para. 0080-0081 that gives example of the claimed computer-readable medium, and it includes transitory and non-transitory computer readable medium. The broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim in light of the specification concludes that the claim as a whole covers a transitory signal, which does not fall within the definition of a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Therefore, claims 29-34 do not fall within a statutory category (the rejection can be overcome by specifying the machine-readable medium as “non-transitory machine-readable medium”). An appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 15-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Regarding claims 15, 21 and 29, claims 15, 21 and 29 recites “transmitting, by the processing system, cell identifiers (cell IDs) of cells that the UAV has been connected in the hovering condition” is considered indefinite. As its not clear that cell ID is of aerial cells or terrestrial cells. Further limitation “blocking, by the processing system, a TAU message from being sent to the network counterpart during the TAU hold mode” is considered indefinite as blocking “a TAU message” is related to the earlier defined “a number of Tracking Area Update (TAU) messages” (claim 15, lines 4-5). An appropriate correction is required. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Vivanco (US 2025/0350344 A1) discloses tracking area update management systems and methods for aerial user equipment over wireless communication networks. Phuyal et al. (US 2024/0113773 A1) discloses UAV subscription information. Mangalvedhe et al. (US 2020/0107237 A1) discloses methods and apparatus for deploying a moving base station for internet of things application. Lee (US 2023/0069947) discloses determining a measurement gap for a UAV. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROMANI OHRI whose telephone number is (571)272-5420. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am-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. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, UN C CHO can be reached at 5712727919. 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. /ROMANI OHRI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 09, 2024
Application Filed
May 23, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Aug 11, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §101, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
85%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+16.6%)
2y 9m (~4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 473 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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