Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/723,626

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR HANDLING A RELAY LINK WITH TRACKING AREA UPDATE (TAU) AND RADIO ACCESS NETWORK BASED NOTIFICATION AREA UPDATE (RNAU) IN L2 U2N RELAY CASE

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jun 24, 2024
Priority
Feb 10, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022075816
Examiner
CATTUNGAL, AJAY P
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Lenovo (United States) Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
89%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 89% — above average
89%
Career Allowance Rate
810 granted / 911 resolved
+28.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
14 currently pending
Career history
922
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
64.9%
+24.9% vs TC avg
§102
17.2%
-22.8% vs TC avg
§112
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 911 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
CTNF 18/723,626 CTNF 86042 DETAILED ACTION 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. Specification 06-31 AIA The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification. 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, 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) 1-5, 12, 14, 16, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mattam et al. (US 2024/0089820 A1) in view of Cai et al. (US 2024/0237086 A1). Regarding claims 1, 16, 19, 20, Mattam et al. discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and, at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (See Fig 1 item 120 and 130) and configured to cause the UE to:; and receive a radio resource control (RRC) message from the serving cell, wherein the RRC message includes at least one of: a RRC reconfiguration message; or a RRC release message (Para 61 and Para 62 teaches of a UE the receive a measurement configuration message). Mattam et al. does not explicitly discloses a UE to access a serving cell via a relay UE. However Cai et al. discloses a UE to access a serving cell via a relay UE (See Fig 2). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the method of accessing the serving cell via a relay UE of Cai et al. with the system of Mattam et al. in order to provide a system of a improved SINR the ensures high speed, reliable connectivity that avoids severe path loss. Regarding claim 2, Mattam et al. discloses a UE, wherein, when the RRC message includes the RRC reconfiguration message, the RRC reconfiguration message includes a measurement configuration, and wherein the measurement configuration includes at least one of: a blacklist of cells, wherein each cell within the blacklist of cells is not applicable for an event evaluation or a measurement procedure; or a whitelist of cells, wherein each cell within the whitelist of cells is applicable for the event evaluation or the measurement procedure (Para 135-138 teaches of Whitelist cells that support a slices mapped to a frequency and blacklist cells that do not support slices mapped to a frequency.“). Regarding claim 3, Mattam et al. discloses a UE, wherein: when the serving cell of the relay UE belongs to the blacklist, the relay UE is not applicable for the event evaluation or the measurement procedure; or when the serving cell of the relay UE belongs to the whitelist, the relay UE is applicable for the event evaluation or the measurement procedure. (Para 135-138 teaches of Whitelist cells that support a slices mapped to a frequency and blacklist cells that do not support slices mapped to a frequency.“). Regarding claim 4, Mattam et al. discloses a UE, wherein, wherein, when the serving cell of the relay UE does not belong to the blacklist or the whitelist: the relay UE is not applicable for the event evaluation or the measurement procedure; or the relay UE is applicable for the event evaluation or the measurement procedure (Para 135 “ If the NSSAI mapping is shared for a frequency, all cells belonging to the frequency (if no whitelist/allowed list is provided) will support the slices represented by the mapping ”). Regarding claim 5, Mattam et al. discloses a UE, wherein the at least processor is further configured to cause the UE to report a measurement result once an event associated with the relay UE is fulfilled during performance of the event evaluation and in response to the relay UE being applicable for the event evaluation or the measurement procedure (Para 68 and Para 113-116 teaches of measurement reporting). Regarding claim 12, Cai et al. discloses a UE, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: initiate an RRC reestablishment procedure in response to: declaring a radio link failure (RLF) or receiving a notification message associated with at least one indication of: the relay UE handover, or an RLF on a Uu link of the relay UE (Para 81 teaches of link failure) ; transmit an RRC reestablishment request message; and start a timer associated with RRC reestablishment request (Para 111-113 teaches of reestablishment of connection and starting the timer) Regarding claim 14, Cai et al. discloses a UE, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: enter an RRC inactive state in response to the RRC message including the RRC release message and in response to the RRC release message including a suspend indication; transmit a RRC resume request message; and start a timer associated with the RRC resume request. (Para 111-113 teaches of reestablishment of connection and starting the timer) 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 7, 8, 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mattam et al. (US 2024/0089820 A1) in view of Cai et al. (US 2024/0237086 A1) as applied to claim 1, above in further view of Koskinen et al. (US 2024/0114585A1). Regarding claims 7, 17, Mattam et al. in view of Cai et al. discloses the claimed invention as set forth in claim 1 above. Mattam et al. in view of Cai et al. does not discloses an UE, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: enter an RRC idle state, in response to the RRC message including the RRC release message; initiate an RRC setup request procedure; and start a timer associated with an RRC setup request upon transmitting an RRC setup request message. However Koskinen et al. discloses an UE, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: enter an RRC idle state, in response to the RRC message including the RRC release message (Para 167 teaches of a RRC release message and UE entering an RRC IDEL state); initiate an RRC setup request procedure; and start a timer associated with an RRC setup request upon transmitting an RRC setup request message ( Para 185 teaches of initiating a RRC setup request message and setting a timer). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the method of using RRC release and RRC setup request message of Koskinen et al. with the system of Mattam et al. in view of Cai et al. in order to provide a system of an improved SINR the ensures high speed, reliable connectivity that avoids severe path loss. Regarding claims 8, 18, Koskinen et al. discloses an UE, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to perform a unified access control procedure in response to initiating the RRC setup request procedure (Para 126 teaches of sending a RRC setup complete message after setting up a unified access control) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 6, 9-11,13, and 15 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 AJAY P CATTUNGAL whose telephone number is (571)270-7525. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00 PM. 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, Hassan Phillips can be reached at 5712723940. 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. /AJAY CATTUNGAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/723,626 Page 2 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/723,626 Page 3 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/723,626 Page 4 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/723,626 Page 5 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/723,626 Page 6 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/723,626 Page 7 Art Unit: 2467
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 24, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 17, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12684555
OPTIMIZED SUBFRAME BLANKING FOR DUAL SIM DUAL ACTIVE
3y 4m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12684627
PRIORITY-BASED ACCESS FOR CHANNEL OCCUPANCY TIME
2y 8m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12672163
METHOD OF LOGICAL CHANNEL PRIORITIZATION AND DEVICE THEREOF
2y 8m to grant Granted Jun 30, 2026
Patent 12672205
RADIO BEARER RECONFIGURATION
2y 8m to grant Granted Jun 30, 2026
Patent 12647912
TIMING CONTROL METHOD, ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM
2y 4m to grant Granted Jun 02, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
89%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+6.7%)
2y 4m (~3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 911 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance 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