Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/786,178

MULTI-LINK DEVICE BASED RELAY

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jul 26, 2024
Priority
Dec 30, 2023 — provisional 63/616,546
Examiner
HO, DUC CHI
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Cisco Technology Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
93%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
4m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 93% — above average
93%
Career Allowance Rate
1124 granted / 1208 resolved
+33.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+7.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
1220
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.9%
-33.1% vs TC avg
§103
39.6%
-0.4% vs TC avg
§102
5.9%
-34.1% vs TC avg
§112
34.4%
-5.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1208 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 6-7, 13-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 re-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claim 6 recites the limitation “the transmission between the first link and the second link”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The same remark applies to claim 14. The same remark applies to claim 13 and 20 Claim 7 recites the limitation “splitting the MSDU TIDs”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The same remark applies to claims 14. Allowable subject matter Claims 1-5, 8-12 and 15-19 are allowed. 5. Claims 6-7, 13-14 and 20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Soriago et al. (US 2016/0044733); Patil et al. (US 20220124857); Yu et al. (US 2025/0150157) are cited, and considered pertinent to the instant specification. 6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC C HO whose telephone number is (571)272-3147. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 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, Gary Mui can be reached on 571-270-1420 (Gary.mui@uspto.gov). The fax phone 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 https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. 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. /DUC C HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 26, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 29, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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3y 7m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12683674
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Patent 12683735
TERMINAL, BASE STATION, AND RADIO COMMUNICATION METHOD
2y 11m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12676714
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Patent 12677298
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2y 9m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
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
99%
With Interview (+7.3%)
2y 4m (~4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1208 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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