Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/697,225

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A MRO MECHANISM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Mar 29, 2024
Examiner
DEAN, RAYMOND S
Art Unit
2645
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Lenovo (Beijing) Limited
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
70%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
85%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 70% — above average
70%
Career Allow Rate
618 granted / 883 resolved
+8.0% vs TC avg
Strong +15% interview lift
Without
With
+15.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
48 currently pending
Career history
931
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.6%
-36.4% vs TC avg
§103
64.2%
+24.2% vs TC avg
§102
19.2%
-20.8% vs TC avg
§112
7.5%
-32.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 883 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION 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 § 103 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) 1, 3 – 5, 12 – 16, 18, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hahn et al. (US 2017/0265243) in view of Wegmann et al. (US 2023/0008394). Regarding Claim 1, Hahn teaches a user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (Figure 1, UE (10), typical UEs comprise processors and memory that stores code executed by said processors) and configured to cause the UE to: store first information, wherein the first information is at least one of radio link failure (RLF) related information, handover failure related information, or handover success related information (storing the RLF (Section 0183)); and transmit the first information to a network node (transmit RLF report to eNB (Section 0182)). Hahn does not teach first information including distance information associated with a distance between the UE and a reference location. Wegmann, which also teaches mobility robustness optimization (MRO), teaches information including distance information associated with a distance between the UE and a reference location (RLF to target cell (Section 0044) is related to distance between the UE and target cell)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hahn with the above features of Wegmann in order to help the network to determine if a failure belongs to mobility issues (being covered by MRO) or if it is, for instance, an LBT issue (e.g., covered by another LBT-specific SON method) as taught by Wegmann. Regarding Claim 13, Hahn teaches a network node, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (Figure 1, BS (20), typical base stations comprise processors and memory that stores code executed by said processors) and configured to cause the network node to: receive, from a user equipment (UE), an indicator indicating that first information is stored in the UE (indication to the cell that the RLF is stored (Section 0183)), wherein the first information is at least one of radio link failure (RLF) related information, handover failure related information, or handover success related information (Section 0183), and transmit, to the UE, a request for the first information; or receive the first information from the UE (transmit RLF report to eNB (Section 0182)). Hahn does not teach wherein the first information includes distance information associated with a distance between the UE and a reference location. Wegmann, which also teaches mobility robustness optimization (MRO), teaches information including distance information associated with a distance between the UE and a reference location (RLF to target cell (Section 0044) is related to distance between the UE and target cell)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hahn with the above features of Wegmann in order to help the network to determine if a failure belongs to mobility issues (being covered by MRO) or if it is, for instance, an LBT issue (e.g., covered by another LBT-specific SON method) as taught by Wegmann. Regarding Claim 15, Hahn teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: storing first information, wherein the first information is at least one of radio link failure (RLF) related information, handover failure related information, or handover success related information (storing the RLF (Section 0183)); and transmitting the first information to a network node (transmit RLF report to eNB (Section 0182)). Hahn does not teach first information including distance information associated with a distance between the UE and a reference location. Wegmann, which also teaches mobility robustness optimization (MRO), teaches information including distance information associated with a distance between the UE and a reference location (RLF to target cell (Section 0044) is related to distance between the UE and target cell)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hahn with the above features of Wegmann in order to help the network to determine if a failure belongs to mobility issues (being covered by MRO) or if it is, for instance, an LBT issue (e.g., covered by another LBT-specific SON method) as taught by Wegmann. Regarding Claim 16, Hahn teaches a processor for wireless communication, comprising: at least one controller coupled with the at least one memory (Figure 1, UE (10), typical UEs comprise processors and memory that stores code executed by said processors) and configured to cause the processor to: store first information, wherein the first information is at least one of radio link failure (RLF) related information, handover failure related information, or handover success related information (storing the RLF (Section 0183)); and transmit the first information to a network node (transmit RLF report to eNB (Section 0182)). Hahn does not teach first information including distance information associated with a distance between the UE and a reference location. Wegmann, which also teaches mobility robustness optimization (MRO), teaches information including distance information associated with a distance between the UE and a reference location (RLF to target cell (Section 0044) is related to distance between the UE and target cell)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hahn with the above features of Wegmann in order to help the network to determine if a failure belongs to mobility issues (being covered by MRO) or if it is, for instance, an LBT issue (e.g., covered by another LBT-specific SON method) as taught by Wegmann. Regarding Claims 3, 14, 18, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 13, 16. Hahn does not teach wherein the distance information includes at least one of: a first distance between the UE/processor and the reference location in a source cell of the UE/processor; a second distance between the UE/processor and the reference location in a target cell of the UE/processor; a third distance between the UE/processor and the reference location in a neighbor cell of the UE/processor; a fourth distance between the UE/processor and the reference location in a conditional handover (CHO) candidate cell of the UE/processor; a first distance difference between the first distance and the second distance; a second distance difference between the first distance and the third distance; or a third distance difference between the first distance and the fourth distance. Wegmann, which also teaches mobility robustness optimization (MRO), teaches wherein the distance information includes at least one of: a first distance between the UE/processor and the reference location in a source cell of the UE/processor; a second distance between the UE/processor and the reference location in a target cell of the UE/processor; a third distance between the UE/processor and the reference location in a neighbor cell of the UE/processor; a fourth distance between the UE/processor and the reference location in a conditional handover (CHO) candidate cell of the UE/processor; a first distance difference between the first distance and the second distance; a second distance difference between the first distance and the third distance; or a third distance difference between the first distance and the fourth distance (RLF to target cell (Section 0044) is related to distance between the UE and target cell)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hahn with the above features of Wegmann in order to help the network to determine if a failure belongs to mobility issues (being covered by MRO) or if it is, for instance, an LBT issue (e.g., covered by another LBT-specific SON method) as taught by Wegmann. Regarding Claim 4, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hahn does not teach wherein the reference location is a cell center. Wegmann, which also teaches mobility robustness optimization (MRO), teaches wherein the reference location is a cell center (RLF to target cell (Section 0044) is related to distance between the UE and target cell center)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hahn with the above features of Wegmann in order to help the network to determine if a failure belongs to mobility issues (being covered by MRO) or if it is, for instance, an LBT issue (e.g., covered by another LBT-specific SON method) as taught by Wegmann. Regarding Claims 5, 19, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 3, 18. Hahn further teaches wherein, in response to successfully completing a handover procedure of the UE, the distance information includes at least one of: the first distance when the handover procedure is successful; the second distance when the handover procedure is successful; the first distance difference when the handover procedure is successful; or the third distance difference when the handover procedure is successful (Section 0195, renders a scenario of successful handovers which further renders a scenario wherein the UE is at a distance from the center of a cell). Regarding Claim 12, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hahn further teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: transmit, to a network node, an indicator indicating that the first information is stored in the UE (Section 0183); and receive, from the network node, a request for the first information, wherein the first information is transmitted after receiving the request (Section 0183, can be requested by the network). Claim(s) 2, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hahn et al. (US 2017/0265243) in view of Wegmann et al. (US 2023/0008394), as applied to Claims 1, 16 set forth above, and further in view of Chen et al. (US 2024/0349145) Regarding Claims 2, 17, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 16. Hahn combination does not teach wherein, in response to an occurrence of at least one of an RLF of a serving cell of the UE or a handover failure, the distance information is derived based on a satellite ephemeris and a location of the UE when the at least one of the RLF or the handover failure occurs. Chen, which also teaches use of the RLF, teaches wherein, in response to an occurrence of at least one of an RLF of a serving cell of the UE or a handover failure, the distance information is derived based on a satellite ephemeris and a location of the UE when the at least one of the RLF or the handover failure occurs (Section 0102, UEs location and ephemeris data). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hahn combination with the above features of Chen for the purpose of avoiding inefficiencies associated with NB-IoT and MTC devices due to the intermittent availability of NTN cells as taught by Chen. Claim(s) 6, 7, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hahn et al. (US 2017/0265243) in view of Wegmann et al. (US 2023/0008394), as applied to Claims 1, 16 set forth above, and further in view of Chang et al. (US 2023/0262542) Regarding Claims 6, 20, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 16. Hahn combination does not teach wherein, in response to successfully completing a handover procedure of the UE/processor, the first information is the handover success related information, and the handover success related information is transmitted in a successful handover report (SHR). Chang, which also teaches handover, teaches wherein, in response to successfully completing a handover procedure of the UE/processor, the first information is the handover success related information, and the handover success related information is transmitted in a successful handover report (SHR) (Claim 13). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hahn combination with the above features Chang for the purpose of effectively reporting handover information in a NR system as taught by Chang. Regarding Claim 7, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 6. Hahn combination does not teach wherein the handover success related information further includes at least one of: an indication indicating which triggering condition for generating the SHR is fulfilled; time duration between the UE receiving CHO configuration information and the UE selecting a target cell; time duration between the UE receiving a handover command and the UE selecting the target cell; or time duration between the UE starting to evaluate a CHO execution condition and the UE selecting the target cell. Chang, which also teaches handover, teaches wherein the handover success related information further includes at least one of: an indication indicating which triggering condition for generating the SHR is fulfilled; time duration between the UE receiving CHO configuration information and the UE selecting a target cell; time duration between the UE receiving a handover command and the UE selecting the target cell; or time duration between the UE starting to evaluate a CHO execution condition and the UE selecting the target cell (Section 0052, triggering condition is the successful completion of handover). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hahn combination with the above features Chang for the purpose of effectively reporting handover information in a NR system as taught by Chang. Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hahn et al. (US 2017/0265243) in view of Wegmann et al. (US 2023/0008394) in view of Chang et al. (US 2023/0262542), as applied to Claim 6 set forth above, and further in view of Mok et al. (US 2019/0327641) Regarding Claim 8, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 6. Hahn combination does not teach, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: generate the SHR in response to meeting at least one triggering condition, wherein the at least one triggering condition includes: a first distance between the UE and the reference location in a source cell of the UE is shorter than a first threshold while the UE performing the handover procedure; a second distance between the UE and the reference location in a target cell of the UE is greater than a second threshold while the UE performing the handover procedure; a first distance difference between the first distance and the second distance is shorter than a third threshold while the UE performing the handover procedure; time duration between the UE receiving CHO configuration information and the UE selecting the target cell is greater than a fourth threshold; time duration between the UE receiving a handover command and the UE selecting the target cell is greater than a fifth threshold; or time duration between the UE starting to evaluate a CHO execution condition and the UE selecting the target cell is greater than a sixth threshold. Mok, which also teaches handover, teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: generate the SHR in response to meeting at least one triggering condition, wherein the at least one triggering condition includes: a first distance between the UE and the reference location in a source cell of the UE is shorter than a first threshold while the UE performing the handover procedure; a second distance between the UE and the reference location in a target cell of the UE is greater than a second threshold while the UE performing the handover procedure; a first distance difference between the first distance and the second distance is shorter than a third threshold while the UE performing the handover procedure; time duration between the UE receiving CHO configuration information and the UE selecting the target cell is greater than a fourth threshold; time duration between the UE receiving a handover command and the UE selecting the target cell is greater than a fifth threshold; or time duration between the UE starting to evaluate a CHO execution condition and the UE selecting the target cell is greater than a sixth threshold (Section 0299, timer expiration is the threshold). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Hahn combination with the above features of Mok for the purpose of obtaining an effect in that battery consumption of a UE is reduced because the time taken for UEs in an idle mode or connected mode (RRC-connected mode) to wait in order to obtain a resource due to resource busy or a resource collision is reduced through the adjustment of resource allocation being used in an idle mode (RRC-idle or RRC-inactive) as taught by Mok. Claim(s) 9, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hahn et al. (US 2017/0265243) in view of Wegmann et al. (US 2023/0008394) as applied to Claim 1 set forth above, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2020/0351173) Regarding Claim 9, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hahn combination does not teach wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: store status information of a distance based conditional handover (CHO) execution condition, in response to an occurrence of a RLF of a serving cell of the UE or a handover failure (Section 0054, at the time of RLF); and transmit the status information via the wireless transceiver to a network node (Section 0054, RRC message). Kim, which also teaches RLF, teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: store status information of a distance based conditional handover (CHO) execution condition, in response to an occurrence of a RLF of a serving cell of the UE or a handover failure; and transmit the status information via the wireless transceiver to a network node. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Hahn combination with the above features of Kim for the purpose of improving RLF reporting as taught by Kim. Regarding Claim 10, The above Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 9. The above Hahn combination does not teach wherein the status information includes one of: a first indication to indicate whether the distance based CHO execution condition is met when the RLF occurs; a second indication to indicate whether the distance based CHO execution condition is met when the handover failure occurs; a third indication to indicate whether the distance between the UE and the reference location of a source cell satisfy the distance based CHO execution condition when the RLF occurs; a fourth indication to indicate whether the distance between the UE and the reference location of a source cell satisfy the distance based CHO execution condition when the handover failure occurs; a fifth indication to indicate whether the distance between the UE and the reference location of the target cell or a CHO candidate cell satisfy the distance based CHO execution condition when the RLF occurs; or a sixth indication to indicate whether the distance between the UE and the reference location of the target cell or a CHO candidate cell satisfy the distance based CHO execution condition when the handover failure occurs. Kim, which also teaches RLF, teaches wherein the status information includes one of: a first indication to indicate whether the distance based CHO execution condition is met when the RLF occurs; a second indication to indicate whether the distance based CHO execution condition is met when the handover failure occurs; a third indication to indicate whether the distance between the UE and the reference location of a source cell satisfy the distance based CHO execution condition when the RLF occurs; a fourth indication to indicate whether the distance between the UE and the reference location of a source cell satisfy the distance based CHO execution condition when the handover failure occurs; a fifth indication to indicate whether the distance between the UE and the reference location of the target cell or a CHO candidate cell satisfy the distance based CHO execution condition when the RLF occurs; or a sixth indication to indicate whether the distance between the UE and the reference location of the target cell or a CHO candidate cell satisfy the distance based CHO execution condition when the handover failure occurs (Section 0054, time of RLF). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Hahn combination with the above features of Kim for the purpose of improving RLF reporting as taught by Kim. Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hahn et al. (US 2017/0265243) in view of Wegmann et al. (US 2023/0008394) as applied to Claim 1 set forth above, and further in view of Zhang (US 2021/0337616) Regarding Claim 11, Hahn combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hahn combination does not teach wherein the first information is the handover failure related information in response to an occurrence of a handover failure, and wherein the handover failure occurs during one of: a traditional handover procedure; a dual active protocol stack (DAPS) handover procedure; a CHO execution procedure; a first handover procedure to a first selected CHO candidate cell after occurring a RLF of a source cell of the UE; or a second handover procedure to a second selected CHO candidate cell after occurring a failure in the CHO execution procedure. Zhang, which also teaches handoff, teaches wherein the first information is the handover failure related information in response to an occurrence of a handover failure, and wherein the handover failure occurs during one of: a traditional handover procedure; a dual active protocol stack (DAPS) handover procedure; a CHO execution procedure; a first handover procedure to a first selected CHO candidate cell after occurring a RLF of a source cell of the UE; or a second handover procedure to a second selected CHO candidate cell after occurring a failure in the CHO execution procedure (Section 0137, DAPS handover failure). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Hahn combination with the above features Zhang for the purpose of enhancing MCG-RLF related reporting as taught by Zhang. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND S DEAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7877. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 6:00-2:30, EST. 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, Anthony S Addy can be reached at 571-272-7795. 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. /RAYMOND S DEAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean February 20, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 29, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 20, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12603701
Distributed Satellite Constellation Management and Control System
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12587977
Physical Channel Processing Capability for Multiple Transmission Reception Points
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12581419
Parameter resetting method and device, and parameter information receiving method and device
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Patent 12581427
SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF POWER STATE AWARE DYNAMIC SPECIFIC ABSORPTION RATE MANAGEMENT
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Patent 12574856
UPLINK POWER CONTROL FOR DATA AND CONTROL CHANNELS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 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
70%
Grant Probability
85%
With Interview (+15.3%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 883 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