Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 30, 2026
Application No. 18/796,705

REALIZING MOBILE RELAYS FOR DEVICE-TO-DEVICE (D2D) COMMUNICATIONS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 07, 2024
Priority
Apr 08, 2015 — provisional 62/144,667 +7 more
Examiner
LEE, CHI HO A
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
InterDigital Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
92%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 92% — above average
92%
Career Allowance Rate
1270 granted / 1379 resolved
+32.1% vs TC avg
Minimal +5% lift
Without
With
+4.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
37 currently pending
Career history
1409
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.5%
-35.5% vs TC avg
§103
43.9%
+3.9% vs TC avg
§102
21.9%
-18.1% vs TC avg
§112
14.4%
-25.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1379 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 § 103 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. Claims 21, 23, 25-27, 29, 31-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LUO et al PG PUB 2018/0054804 in view of BAGHZL et al PG PUB 2016/0286374. Re Claims 21, 27, LUO et al teaches a remote UE (comprising circuitry) receiving information (an indication) from a relay (a first relay) indicating the relay is undergoing an RLF [0155]; figure 12, S1302 teaches the remote UE searching for a relay (a second relay WTRU) by transmitting a discovery signal (relay reselection) ; based on the discovery signal, at least one relay (one or more candidate relay WTRUs) within a vicinity of the remote UE transmits a discovery response message [0100] for a discovery procedure. LUO et al fails to explicitly teach “based on measurements associated with the discovery message, selecting one or the one or more candidate relay WTRUs as the second relay WTRU.”. However, BAGHZL et al teaches UE performs relay UE selection based on respective measurements of each relay UE candidates and selecting the relay UE with the best radio link quality [0055 0056]. By combining the teachings, the remote UE in LUO et al can measure the candidate relay UEs to select the relay UE with best channel quality. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to have selected relay UE with the best channel quality for connection reliability. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled to have combined the teachings. Re Claims 23, 29, LUO et al teaches the relay transmit data to a base station via a Uu Interface/link wherein relay undergoing RLF comprise a RLF of the Uu link [0112]. Re Claims 25, 31, BAGHZL et al teaches UE performs relay UE selection based on respective measurements (a link quality) of each relay UE candidates and selecting the relay UE with the best radio link quality [0055 0056]. Re Claims 26, 32, LUO et al teaches receiving a connection reestablishment message/RRC via the selected relay (the second relay WTRU) [0155]. Re Claims 33, 34, LUO et al teaches releasing a connection with the failed relay [0153] and initiate RRC procedure to initiate re-establishment with selected relay UE. Claims 22, 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LUO et al PG PUB 2018/0054804 in view of BAGHZL et al PG PUB 2016/0286374 as applied to Claims 21, 27 above and further in view of SOMASUNDARAM et al PG PUB 2013/0223324. Re Claims 22, 28, LUO et al in view of BAGHZI et al teaches selecting the best relay UE based on the channel quality but fails to explicitly teach “having measurements exceeding a configure threshold.”. However, SOMASUNDARAM et al teaches selecting a relay associated with a threshold quality to minimize interference with other relays [0037]. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to have associated the selected relay with the threshold quality to minimize interference with other relays. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled to have combined the teachings. Claims 24, 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LUO et al PG PUB 2018/0054804 in view of BAGHZL et al PG PUB 2016/0286374 as applied to Claims 23, 29 above and further in view of AGIWAL et al PG PUB 2017/0208636. Re Claims 24, 30, LUO et al in view of BAGHZL et al teaches the relay undergoing RLF comprises a RLF on the Uu link but fails to explicitly teach “where the indication of the RLF is received based on a quality associated with the Uu link failing below a configured threshold.”. However, AGIWAL et al in figure 2, 201-203, determining a Uu link quality threshold failing below the configured threshold [0040]. By combining the teachings, the Uu link in LUO et al can be monitored to enable discover UE-to-Network Relay. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to have measured the Uu link quality threshold to enable RLF recovery between the BS and relay UE. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled to have combined the teachings. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-3130. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30AM-5PM ET. 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, KASSIM KHALAD can be reached at 5712703770. 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. /ANDREW LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2475
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 07, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 22, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 27, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
May 12, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 13, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 26, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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TRANSMIT DIVERSITY FOR SIDELINK COMMUNICATIONS IN UNLICENSED SPECTRUM
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2y 2m to grant Granted Aug 25, 2026
Patent 12706726
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3y 0m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
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Patent 12690019
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3y 3m to grant Granted Jul 21, 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
92%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+4.6%)
2y 3m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1379 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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