Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/764,633

INFORMATION CONFIGURATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND RELATED DEVICE

Final Rejection §102§103
Filed
Jul 05, 2024
Priority
Jan 06, 2022 — CN 202210012904.0 +1 more
Examiner
CUNNINGHAM, KEVIN M
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
83%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allowance Rate
432 granted / 603 resolved
+11.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
45 currently pending
Career history
646
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.3%
-36.7% vs TC avg
§103
59.3%
+19.3% vs TC avg
§102
11.9%
-28.1% vs TC avg
§112
22.2%
-17.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 603 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
CTNF 18/764,633 CTNF 89587 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 1, 9 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Krishnan et al (US 2022/0046507, hereinafter Krishnan) . Regarding claim 1 , Krishnan discloses an information configuration method, comprising: sending a first message to a first access network device, wherein the first message indicates the first access network device to configure a handover trigger threshold change value of a first beam and/or a probability of handing over a terminal device to the first beam ( original base station sends mobility change request to another base station with updated parameters associated with conditional handover, Para [0006], determine thresholds for initiating handover, Para [0036], updating parameters to provide load balancing between one or more beams, Para [0005], updates to a handover trigger that corresponds to a threshold, updates are at a beam level, Para [0037], updates can be provided as a difference (delta) value, Para [0037], mobility change request indicates one or more beams, Para [0038] ); and receiving a second message from the first access network device, wherein the second message indicates whether the first access network device succeeds in configuration ( the other base station may transmit a mobility change acknowledge message to the original base station, when the updated parameters are compatible, Para [0093], or the parameters changes can be unsuitable and the base station will send a mobility change failure indication, Para [0085] ). Regarding claim 9 , Krishnan discloses a second access network device ( base station, Fig. 8 ), comprising: at least one processor and one or more memories ( processor and memory, Fig. 8 ) including computer instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second access network device to: send a first message to a first access network device, wherein the first message indicates the first access network device to configure a handover trigger threshold change value of a first beam and/or a probability of handing over a terminal device to the first beam ( original base station sends mobility change request to another base station with updated parameters associated with conditional handover, Para [0006], determine thresholds for initiating handover, Para [0036], updating parameters to provide load balancing between one or more beams, Para [0005], updates to a handover trigger that corresponds to a threshold, updates are at a beam level, Para [0037], updates can be provided as a difference (delta) value, Para [0037], mobility change request indicates one or more beams, Para [0038] ); and receive a second message from the first access network device, wherein the second message indicates whether the first access network device succeeds in configuration ( the other base station may transmit a mobility change acknowledge message to the original base station, when the updated parameters are compatible, Para [0093], or the parameters changes can be unsuitable and the base station will send a mobility change failure indication, Para [0085] ). Regarding claim 15 , Krishnan discloses a first access network device ( base station, Fig. 8 ), comprising: at least one processor and one or more memories ( processor and memory, Fig. 8 ) including computer instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first access network device to: send a third message to a second access network device, wherein the third message indicates the second access network device to configure a handover trigger threshold change value of a second beam ( original base station sends mobility change request to another base station with updated parameters associated with conditional handover, Para [0006], determine thresholds for initiating handover, Para [0036], updating parameters to provide load balancing between one or more beams, Para [0005], updates to a handover trigger that corresponds to a threshold, updates are at a beam level, Para [0037], updates can be provided as a difference (delta) value, Para [0037], mobility change request indicates one or more beams, Para [0038] ); and receive a fourth message from the second access network device, wherein the fourth message indicates whether the second access network device succeeds in configuration ( the other base station may transmit a mobility change acknowledge message to the original base station, when the updated parameters are compatible, Para [0093], or the parameters changes can be unsuitable and the base station will send a mobility change failure indication, Para [0085] ) . 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 2-7, 10-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan . Regarding claims 2, 10 and 16 , Krishnan discloses the method/device according to claim 1/9/15, wherein the first message includes handover trigger configuration information of the first beam, the handover trigger configuration information of the first beam includes beam indication information of the first beam and/or proposed mobility parameters information of the first beam, and the proposed mobility parameters information of the first beam includes a proposed handover trigger threshold change value of the first beam and/or a proposed handover trigger threshold of the first beam ( the mobility change request indicates the one or more beams of the first and second base station, Para [0084], load balancing parameters are determined at the beam level, Para [0088], load balancing adjustment applied to one or more beams, Para [0104], updated parameters are provided as actual values or provided as difference values, Para [0037] ). Regarding claims 3, 11 and 17 , Krishnan discloses the method/device according to claim 1/9/15, wherein the first message further includes handover trigger configuration information of a second beam of a second access network device, the handover trigger configuration information of the second beam includes beam indication information of the second beam and/or mobility parameters information of the second beam, and the mobility parameters information of the second beam includes a handover trigger threshold change value of the second beam and/or a handover trigger threshold of the second beam. ( the mobility change request indicates the one or more beams of the first and second base station, Para [0084], load balancing parameters are determined at the beam level, Para [0088], load balancing adjustment applied to one or more beams, Para [0104], updated parameters are provided as actual values or provided as difference values, Para [0037] ). Regarding claims 4, 12 and 18 , Krishnan discloses the method/device according to claim 1/9/15, wherein the first message includes cause information of sending the first message, and the cause information of the first message indicates a handover trigger configuration cause of the first beam and/or a handover trigger configuration cause of a second beam ( source cell informs the target cell about new mobility setting and provides a cause for the change, such as a load balancing request, Para [0037] ). Regarding claims 5, 13 and 19 , Krishnan discloses the method/device according to claim 1/9/15, wherein the second message comprises one or more of: beam indication information of the first beam, mobility change acknowledge criticality diagnostics information of the first beam, beam indication information of the second beam, and mobility change acknowledge criticality diagnostics information of the second beam, the mobility change acknowledge criticality diagnostics information of the first beam indicates that partial information of the first beam in the first message is incorrect, and the mobility change acknowledge criticality diagnostics information of the second beam indicates that partial information of the second beam in the first message is incorrect ( the base station can transmit a mobility change acknowledge to the original base station, Para [0093], obvious variation to one of ordinary skill in the art it can include beam information). Regarding claims 6, 14 and 20 , Krishnan discloses the method/device according to claim 1/9/15, wherein the second message comprises one or more of: beam indication information of the first beam, mobility change failure cause information of the first beam, mobility change failure criticality diagnostics information of the first beam, mobility parameters modification range information of the first beam, beam indication information of the second beam, and mobility change failure criticality diagnostics information of the second beam, the mobility change failure cause information of the first beam indicates a reason why the first access network device sends the second message for the first beam, and the second message indicates the first access network device fails in configuration, and the mobility parameters modification range information of the first beam indicates an allowed modification range of a handover trigger threshold change value of the first beam ( the base station can transmit a mobility change failure to the original base station, with indications providing a upper and lower limit for handover trigger parameters, information provided at the beam level, Para [0100] ). Regarding claim 7 , Krishnan discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first message includes conditional handover request information of the first beam, the conditional handover request information of the first beam includes beam indication information of the first beam and/or estimated arrival probability information of the first beam( the mobility change request indicates the one or more beams of the first and second base station, Para [0084], load balancing parameters are determined at the beam level, Para [0088], load balancing adjustment applied to one or more beams, Para [0104], updated parameters are provided as actual values or provided as difference values, Para [0037] ), and the estimated arrival probability information of the first beam indicates the probability of handing over the terminal device to the first beam . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan and in view of Hong (US 2024/0205783, hereinafter Hong) and in view of Balan et al (US 2022/0279382, hereinafter Balan) . Regarding claim 8 , Krishnan discloses the method according to claim 1, but not wherein the second message includes information about a maximum number of conditional handover preparations of the first beam, and the information about the maximum number of conditional handover preparations of the first beam indicates a maximum number of candidate first beams for conditional handover. Hong discloses the conditional handover information acknowledgement IE may include a maximum number of conditional handover preparations, Para [0154]. Balan discloses the mobility change acknowledgement can include acceptance of deactivation of at least one beam of respective candidate beams, Para [0019]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Hong and Balan in the system of Krishnan in order to more effectively control the mobility of a UE. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN CUNNINGHAM whose telephone number is (571) 272-1765. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday 7:30-18:00 (EST). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached on (571) 272-3155. The fax 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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /KEVIN M CUNNINGHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461 Application/Control Number: 18/764,633 Page 2 Art Unit: 2461 Application/Control Number: 18/764,633 Page 3 Art Unit: 2461 Application/Control Number: 18/764,633 Page 4 Art Unit: 2461 Application/Control Number: 18/764,633 Page 5 Art Unit: 2461 Application/Control Number: 18/764,633 Page 6 Art Unit: 2461
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Prosecution Timeline

Jul 05, 2024
Application Filed
May 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103
Jun 25, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 12, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
72%
Grant Probability
83%
With Interview (+11.2%)
2y 9m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 603 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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