Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/729,402

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BEAM INFORMATION REPORTING

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jul 16, 2024
Priority
Jan 18, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022072617
Examiner
AJIBADE AKONAI, OLUMIDE
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Nokia Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 1m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allowance Rate
999 granted / 1182 resolved
+24.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+9.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
1210
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.1%
-36.9% vs TC avg
§103
69.8%
+29.8% vs TC avg
§102
15.8%
-24.2% vs TC avg
§112
5.7%
-34.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1182 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 § 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)(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. Claims 21-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yuan et al US 20230422185 (hereinafter Yuan). Regarding claim 21, Yuan discloses a method, comprising: obtaining, by a user device (UE, see figs. 1 and 3, [0058]), beam information via measurement (determining MPE event, see [0048], [0076], [0079], [0090]-[0091]); and sending, by a user device, a power headroom report (see [0073]-[0075], [0079]-[0083], [0094]), to a network node (base station, see figs. 1, 3, and 9, [0058], [0071], [0097]), wherein the power headroom report comprises a bitmap indicating whether beam information for a plurality of serving cells is present (see [0073]-[0075], [0079]-[0083], [0094]). Regarding claim 27, Yuan discloses an apparatus (base station, see fig. 3, [0058]) comprising: at least one processor (see fig. 3, [0058]); and at least one memory including computer program code (see fig. 3, [0065]); the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive a power headroom report (see [0073]-[0075], [0079]-[0083], [0094]) from a user device (UE, see figs. 1 and 3, [0058]), wherein the power headroom report comprises a bitmap indicating whether beam information for a plurality of serving cells is present (see [0073]-[0075], [0079]-[0083], [0094]); and obtain beam information for the plurality of serving cells based on the power headroom report (see [0073]-[0075], [0079]-[0083], [0094]). Regarding claim 33, Yuan discloses an apparatus (UE, see figs. 1 and 3, [0058]), comprising: at least one processor (see fig. 3, [0060]); and at least one memory including computer program code (see fig. 3, [0061]); the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: obtain beam information via measurement (determining MPE event, see [0048], [0076], [0079], [0090]-[0091]); and send a power headroom report (see [0073]-[0075], [0079]-[0083], [0094]) to a network node (base station, see figs. 1, 3, and 9, [0058], [0071], [0097]), wherein the power headroom report comprises a bitmap indicating whether beam information for a plurality of serving cells is present (see [0073]-[0075], [0079]-[0083], [0094]). Regarding claims 22, 28, and 34 as applied to claims 21, 27, and 33, Yuan further discloses when a bit in the bitmap indicates that beam information is present for a first serving cell of the plurality of serving cells (see figs. 4, 6, and 7, [0081]-[0083]), the power headroom report further comprises first beam information of the first serving cell, wherein the first beam information comprises an extension bit indicating whether second beam information is present for the serving cell (see [0082]-[0083]). Regarding claim 23, 29, and 35 as applied to claims 21, 27, and 33, Yuan further discloses when a bit in the bitmap indicates that beam information is present for a first serving cell of the plurality of serving cells (see figs. 4, 6, and 7, [0081]-[0083]), the beam information of the first serving cell further comprises a bit indicating whether and/or how much power management maximum power reduction is required by the user device when using a beam of the first serving cell (see P-MPR, [0072]). Regarding claims 24, 30, and 36 as applied to claims 21, 27, and 33, Yuan further discloses receiving, by the user device and from the network node, a configuration of the beam information reporting, wherein the configuration comprises a maximum number of beams to be reported (configuring UE, see [0048]-[0049]). Regarding claims 25, 31, and 37 as applied to claims 21, 27, and 33, Yuan further discloses wherein sending the power headroom report to the network device comprises: triggering, by the user device, the sending of the power headroom report when: maximum permission exposure for a beam is lower than a threshold amount or better than maximum permission exposure for a serving beam, and/or quality of a beam is higher than threshold quality or better than quality of the serving beam (see [0068], [0085, [0094], [0096]). Regarding claims 26, 32, and 38 as applied to claims 21, 27, and 33, Yuan further discloses using, by the user device, a logical channel identity for sending the power headroom report when beam information is present for at least one of the plurality of serving cells (see [0058], [0062], [0065], [0110]). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chen et al US 20210144654 discloses a method by a base station for receiving power headroom reporting from a user equipment (UE) in a Multi-Radio Access Technology (RAT)-Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) scenario, the method comprising: receiving a DC Power Headroom Report (PHR) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) from the UE, the DC PHR MAC CE having a fixed number of octets with cell index fields for indicating whether a power headroom (PH) for a serving cell with a corresponding cell index is reported. Iwai et al US 20200245264 discloses calculating one or more power headrooms, each of which being calculated for each beam; and transmitting the one or more power headrooms for a number of beams, the number being determined in accordance with a type of power headroom, or a trigger condition serving as a trigger for power headroom reporting. Cheng et al US 20200084735 discloses new radio (NR) power headroom report (PHR) design for millimeter save deployment. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLUMIDE T AJIBADE AKONAI whose telephone number is (571)272-6496. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM. 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, CHARLES N APPIAH can be reached at 571-272-7904. 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. /OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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Prosecution Timeline

Jul 16, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 24, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (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
84%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+9.3%)
3y 1m (~1y 1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1182 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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