Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/834,569

PROCEDURE SELECTION FOR SMALL DATA TRANSMISSION

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jul 30, 2024
Priority
Feb 18, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022076766
Examiner
CHEN, PETER
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Nokia Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
8m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
406 granted / 464 resolved
+27.5% vs TC avg
Strong +22% interview lift
Without
With
+22.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
487
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
82.2%
+42.2% vs TC avg
§102
11.0%
-29.0% vs TC avg
§112
4.6%
-35.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 464 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
CTNF 18/834,569 CTNF 88806 DETAILED ACTION This Office action is a response to Preliminary Amendment made to an Application No. 18/834,569 filed on 07/30/2024 in which claims 11 and 21-38 have been canceled and no new claims have been added. Accordingly, Claims 1-10 and 12-20 are currently pending for examination. 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. 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 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. Drawings The Examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 07/30/2024 are acceptable for examination proceedings. Information Disclosure Statement The Examiner has considered the reference(s) listed on the Information Disclosure Statement submitted on 07/30/2024, 10/13/2025, and 10/23/2025. Claim Objections Claims 1, 5, 12, and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 1, 12, and 18 are objected to because they include reference characters (i.e., acronyms) are not enclosed within paratheses. See MPEP 608.01(m). In claim 5 , it is suggested to include a conjunction -- that -- after the word “determine” in line 4. Claim 18 is directed to a method claim but the body of the claim does not recite which device is performing the recited steps. It is suggested to amend which particular device is performing the method steps. Appropriate corrections are required. 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 1-6, 8-10, 12-13, and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by YUE et al. (US 2024/0430940 A1) hereinafter “Yue” . Regarding claims 1 and 18, Yue discloses Claim 1 of a first device (see FIG. 9; see ¶ [0108], a UE) and Claim 18 of a method comprising: at least one processor (see FIG. 9; see ¶ [0108], the UE include a processor) ; and at least one memory including computer program codes (see FIG. 9; see ¶ [0108] [0121], the UE includes a memory) : the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to: receive, from a second device, information for a Small Data Transmission, SDT, procedure initiation, the information at least indicating at least one criterion for initiating a mobile terminated type SDT procedure (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0005] [0058], the UE receives the paging MT SDT (e.g. DL MT SDT initiated for DL data transmission), and a RACH (i.e. RACH for MT SDT) procedure is initiated to respond to the DL MT SDT) ; and determine the initiation of the mobile terminated type SDT procedure based on the information (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0058], a RACH (i.e. RACH for MT SDT) procedure is initiated to respond to the DL MT SDT) . Regarding claims 2, 13, and 19, Yue discloses wherein the information indicates whether the at least one criterion is to be checked by the first device for initiating a mobile terminated type SDT procedure (see ¶ [0005], check criteria are met) . Regarding claims 3, 15, and 20, Yue discloses wherein the at least one criterion indicates at least one of: a reference signal received power threshold for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure (see ¶ [0005], check criteria are met if RSRP is greater than or equal to a configured threshold) . Regarding claims 4 and 16, Yue discloses wherein the information is received via at least one of: a paging message (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0058], the UE receives the paging MT SDT) . Regarding claim 5, Yue discloses wherein the first device is further caused to: in accordance with a determination that uplink data other than a common control channel message is to be transmitted in a random access procedure signaling, determine the at least one criterion is to be checked by the first device for initiating a mobile terminated type SDT procedure (see ¶ [0005], check criteria are met and see ¶ [0058-59], a RACH (i.e. RACH for MT SDT) procedure is initiated to respond to the DL MT SDT and a MO SDT is initiated for the UL SDT data) . Regarding claim 6, Yue discloses wherein the first device is further caused to: in accordance with a determination that uplink data is to be transmitted in a random access procedure signaling, determine that one or more criterion configured for a mobile originated type SDT procedure are to be adjusted for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure (see ¶ [0005], check criteria are met and see ¶ [0058-59], a RACH (i.e. RACH for MT SDT) procedure is initiated to respond to the DL MT SDT and a MO SDT is initiated for the UL SDT data) . Regarding claim 8, Yui discloses wherein the first device is caused to determine the initiation of the mobile terminated type SDT procedure by: in accordance with a determination that the at least one criterion for initiating the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is satisfied, determining that the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is to be initiated (see ¶ [0005], check criteria are met and see ¶ [0058-59], a RACH (i.e. RACH for MT SDT) procedure is initiated to respond to the DL MT SDT and a MO SDT is initiated for the UL SDT data) . Regarding claim 9, Yui discloses wherein the first device is caused to determine the initiation of the mobile terminated type SDT procedure by: in accordance with a determination that the at least one criterion for initiating the mobile terminated type SDT procedure fails to be satisfied, performing at least one of: an initiation of a non-SDT resume procedure, or an initiation of a radio resource control Setup Request procedure (see ¶ [0005], if the criteria are not met, UE initiates non-SDT procedure) . Regarding claim 10, Yui discloses wherein the first device is caused to determine the initiation of the mobile terminated type SDT procedure by: in accordance with a determination that the at least one criterion for initiating the mobile terminated type SDT procedure fails to be satisfied, entering a radio resource control idle mode or remaining in a radio resource control inactive mode (see ¶ [0005] [0049], if the criteria are not met, UE initiates non-SDT procedure and in RRC_INACTIVE) . Regarding claim 12, Yue discloses a second device (see FIG. 9; see ¶ [0113], a network device) comprising: at least one processor (see FIG. 9; see ¶ [0113], the network device include a processor) ; and at least one memory including computer program codes (see FIG. 9; see ¶ [0113] [0121], the network includes a memory) : the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to: determine information for a Small Data Transmission, SDT, procedure initiation, the information at least indicating at least one criterion for initiating a mobile terminated type SDT procedure (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0005] [0058], the UE receives the paging MT SDT (e.g. DL MT SDT initiated for DL data transmission), and a RACH (i.e. RACH for MT SDT) procedure is initiated to respond to the DL MT SDT) ; and transmit the information to a first device (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0058], the UE receives the paging MT SDT) . Regarding claim 17, Yue discloses wherein the first device comprises a terminal device (see FIG. 9; see ¶ [0108], a UE) and the second device comprises a network device (see FIG. 9; see ¶ [0113], a network device) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20 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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 7 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yui in view of Kim et al. (US 2023/0045501 A1) hereinafter “Kim” . Regarding claim 7, Yui does not explicitly disclose obtain respective offsets. However, Kim discloses obtain respective offsets associated with one or more criterion configured for the mobile originated type SDT procedure (see ¶ [0191], MT-EDT related configuration information, offsets) ; in accordance with a determination that the one or more criterion configured for the mobile originated type SDT procedure are to be adjusted for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure, determine the at least one criterion for initiating a mobile terminated type SDT procedure based on the one or more criterion configured for the mobile originated type SDT procedure and the respective offsets (Kim: see ¶ [0191-92] [0206], The UE may transmit an EDT-dedicated random access preamble to the base station and Yui: see ¶ [0005], check criteria are met and see ¶ [0058-59], a RACH (i.e. RACH for MT SDT) procedure is initiated to respond to the DL MT SDT and a MO SDT is initiated for the UL SDT data) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide obtain respective offsets as taught by Kim, in the system of Yui, so that it would provide data can be effectively transmitted using a control plane (CP) EDT when a terminal needs to transmit data of a small size through an uplink (Kim: see ¶ [0011]) . Regarding claim 14, Yui does not explicitly disclose respective offsets. However, Kim discloses wherein the information indicates respective offsets associated with one or more criterion configured for the mobile originated type SDT procedure (see ¶ [0191], MT-EDT related configuration information, offsets) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide obtain respective offsets as taught by Kim, in the system of Yui, so that it would provide data can be effectively transmitted using a control plane (CP) EDT when a terminal needs to transmit data of a small size through an uplink (Kim: see ¶ [0011]) . Conclusion The prior art made of record (see attached PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. WANG et al. (US 2025/0142527 A1) teaches first network device receives a first paging message from a second network device in a RAN, the first paging message comprising information on a MT-SDT for a terminal device, and determines, based on the information, whether the MT-SDT is performed for the terminal device (see Abstract) . Yue et al. (US 2025/0168918 A1) teaches a method for receiving a terminal device being in an Radio Resource Control (RRC) non-CONNECTED state with a network device, a message for Mobile Terminating (MT) Small Data Transmission (SDT) from the network device; and determine a DL data receiving procedure for MT SDT according to the message for MT SDT (see Abstract) . A shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of the action. An extension of time may be obtained under 37 CFR 1.136(a). However, in no event, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7241. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm. 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, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at (571) 272-3927. 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. /PETER CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/834,569 Page 2 Art Unit: 2462
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Prosecution Timeline

Jul 30, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 03, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (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
88%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+22.4%)
2y 7m (~8m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 464 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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