Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/764,746

Transmission Determining Method and Apparatus, Device, and Medium

Non-Final OA §102§112
Filed
Jul 05, 2024
Priority
Jan 06, 2022 — CN 202210010559.7 +1 more
Examiner
NGUYEN, BRIAN D
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Vivo Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
93%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 93% — above average
93%
Career Allowance Rate
1210 granted / 1307 resolved
+32.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+5.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
1326
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.5%
-36.5% vs TC avg
§103
46.8%
+6.8% vs TC avg
§102
14.3%
-25.7% vs TC avg
§112
18.0%
-22.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1307 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §112
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 § 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. Claims 3, 5, 14, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Claim 3 recites the limitation "the first frequency domain configuration" in line 3 and "the first time domain configuration" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 3 should depend on claim 2. Claim 14 recites the limitation "the first frequency domain configuration" in line 3 and "the first time domain configuration" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 14 should depend on claim 13. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 1-4 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bae et al (2023/0032475). Regarding claims 1 and 12, Bae discloses a transmission determining method and a user equipment, comprising: obtaining, by user equipment (UE), a target configuration (see the UE is provided with a configuration in paragraphs 0098, 0232); and performing, by the UE, a target operation based on the target configuration (see operation in paragraphs 0232, 0264), wherein the target configuration is used for configuring a frequency domain transmission direction and a time domain transmission direction of a first resource (see time-frequency resource in paragraph 0129; DL resource and UL resource in paragraph 0147). Regarding claims 2 and 13, Bae discloses wherein the target configuration comprises a first frequency domain configuration and a first time domain configuration; and the frequency domain transmission direction of the first resource configured in the first frequency domain configuration is different from the time domain transmission direction of the first resource configured in the first time domain configuration (see different configurations for UL, Dl, and flexible in figures 5 and 10-13; the UE may be configured with semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) per serving cell and per BWP by RRC signaling from the BS in paragraph 0169). Regarding claims 3 and 14, Bae discloses wherein the first resource comprises N frequency domain resources and M time domain resources; the first frequency domain configuration indicates transmission formats of the N frequency domain resources, wherein N is a positive integer; the first time domain configuration indicates transmission formats of the M time domain resources, wherein M is a positive integer; the N frequency domain resources are located on the M time domain resources; and the transmission format indicates a transmission direction (see Table 3 in paragraph 0099 where D denotes a DL symbol, U denotes a UL symbol, and F denotes a flexible symbol). Regarding claims 4 and 15, Bae discloses wherein the performing, by the UE, a target operation based on the target configuration comprises: performing, by the UE, transmission on the first resource based on the first frequency domain configuration (see the frequency domain in paragraphs 0086, 0147, 0162, 0198). Regarding claim 10, Bae discloses a transmission determining method, comprising: determining, by a network side device (see base station (BS) and configuration in paragraphs 0244-0246), a first frequency domain configuration according to a target configuration rule (see rule in paragraph 0153 and Table 3 in paragraph 0099); and sending, by the network side device, the first frequency domain configuration to user equipment (UE), wherein the target configuration rule comprises: only a flexible time domain resource with a time domain semi-persistent configuration is allowed to be updated, and a transmission direction of a downlink time domain resource or an uplink time domain resource with the time domain semi-persistent configuration cannot be updated (see In the table below, D denotes a DL symbol, U denotes a UL symbol, and F denotes a flexible symbol in paragraph 0099. Note that in Table 3, F symbol is flexible and can be updated for uplink or downlink transmission while D and U symbols are fixed (cannot be updated)). Regarding claim 11, Bae discloses wherein a time domain resource with the time domain semi-persistent configuration comprises a time domain resource configured through at least one of the following: a time domain semi-persistent time division duplex (TDD) uplink-downlink configuration; a semi-persistent downlink transmission configuration configured through higher layer or radio resource control (RRC) signaling; a semi-persistent uplink transmission configuration configured through higher layer or RRC signaling; a synchronization signal block (SSB) configured through higher layer signaling; or a control resource set configured by a system information block (SIB) in a master information block (MIB) and used for a Type0-physical downlink control channel common search space (PDCCH CSS) (see RRC in paragraphs 0086, 0100, 0200). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-9 and 16-20 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 BRIAN D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3084. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:30. 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, Khaled Kassim can be reached at 571-270-3770. 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. /BRIAN D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2475
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 05, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 24, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §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
93%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+5.7%)
2y 2m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1307 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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