Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/848,939

USER EQUIPMENT, ELECTRONIC DEVICE, WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Sep 20, 2024
Priority
Apr 01, 2022 — CN 202210339010.2 +1 more
Examiner
NDIAYE, CHEIKH T
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Sony Group Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allowance Rate
585 granted / 739 resolved
+19.2% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+18.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
751
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
13.8%
-26.2% vs TC avg
§103
38.6%
-1.4% vs TC avg
§102
29.6%
-10.4% vs TC avg
§112
8.4%
-31.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 739 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Applicant amended claims 1, 4, 6-10, 12, 15, 17-20 and canceled claims 11, 21-22, and 24-45 in the preliminary amendment filed on 09/20/2024. The claims 1-10, 12-20, and 23 are pending. 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. Claim(s) 1-3, 10, 12-14, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Guan et al (US Patent Publication No. 2025/0097955 A1). With respect to claim 1, Guan teaches a user equipment (terminal device 220, Fig. 15) comprising at least one processor (processor 1510); and at least one memory (memory 1520) including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the user equipment to at least: generate panel information comprising a user capability value set of each of a plurality of panels of the user equipment (paragraph 0114, 0161-0165 disclose the terminal device 220 transmits capability value sets as transmission capability information to the network device 210), wherein user capability values in user capability value sets of different panels are the same or different (paragraph 0094; 0164-0165; 0172 disclose the panels 225-1 and 225-2 may correspond to different sets of capability parameters or repeated capability value sets); and send the panel information to network side apparatus (paragraph 0165 disclose the terminal device 220 transmits capability value sets as transmission capability information to the network device 210). With respect to claim 2, Guan teaches wherein the user capability value comprises an intra-panel coherence type, the intra-panel coherence type represents a coherence situation among a plurality of ports of a panel, the coherence situation among the plurality of ports of the panel comprises full coherence, partial coherence, and incoherence (paragraph 0051; 0165 disclose the UE capability is the coherent type(s) supported by the terminal device, where the coherent type may be one of full coherent (fullCoherent), partial coherent (partialCoherent) and Non-coherent (nonCoherent); coherence type indicating a port-level coherence capability within a panel). With respect to claim 3, Guan teaches wherein in a case where the plurality of ports of the panel are partially coherent, the coherence situation among the plurality of ports of the panel further comprises partially coherent ports (paragraph 0051; 0165 disclose the UE capability is the coherent type(s) supported by the terminal device, where the coherent type may be one of full coherent (fullCoherent), partial coherent (partialCoherent) and Non-coherent (nonCoherent); coherence type indicating a port-level coherence capability within a panel). With respect to claim 10, Guan teaches wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the user equipment to: receive uplink scheduling information from the network side apparatus, the uplink scheduling information comprising one or more detection reference signal SRS resource indicators SRIs (paragraph 0181 discloses the terminal device 220 may perform 330 an SRS transmission to the network device 210. By measuring the SRS transmission, the network device 210 may generate and transmit 340 an uplink grant (i.e., a DCI message) to the terminal device 220 for scheduling an uplink transmission over at least two of the plurality of sets of antenna ports (i.e., a STxMP PUSCH); and determine a plurality of panels for uplink transmission based on the one or more SRIs(paragraph 0181; 0191 disclose the terminal device 220 may perform 330 an SRS transmission to the network device 210. By measuring the SRS transmission, the network device 210 may generate and transmit 340 an uplink grant (i.e., a DCI message) to the terminal device 220 for scheduling an uplink transmission over at least two of the plurality of sets of antenna ports (i.e., a STxMP PUSCH). With respect to claim 12, Guan teaches an electronic apparatus (network device 210) comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured (Fig. 15), with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to at least: receive panel information from user equipment (paragraph 0114, 0161-0165 disclose the terminal device 220 transmits capability value sets as transmission capability information to the network device 210); and determine a user capability value set of each of a plurality of panels of the user equipment according to the panel information (paragraph 0094; 0164-0165; 0172 disclose the panels 225-1 and 225-2 may correspond to different sets of capability parameters or repeated capability value sets), wherein user capability values in user capability value sets of different panels are the same or different (paragraph 0094; 0164-0165; 0172 disclose the panels 225-1 and 225-2 may correspond to different sets of capability parameters or repeated capability value sets). With respect to claim 13, Guan teaches wherein the user capability value comprises an intra-panel coherence type, the intra-panel coherence type represents a coherence situation among a plurality of ports of a panel, the coherence situation among the plurality of ports of the panel comprises full coherence, partial coherence, and incoherence (paragraph 0051; 0165 disclose the UE capability is the coherent type(s) supported by the terminal device, where the coherent type may be one of full coherent (fullCoherent), partial coherent (partialCoherent) and Non-coherent (nonCoherent); coherence type indicating a port-level coherence capability within a panel). With respect to claim 14, Guan teaches wherein in a case where the plurality of ports of the panel are partially coherent, the coherence situation among the plurality of ports of the panel further comprises partially coherent ports (paragraph 0051; 0165 disclose the UE capability is the coherent type(s) supported by the terminal device, where the coherent type may be one of full coherent (fullCoherent), partial coherent (partialCoherent) and Non-coherent (nonCoherent); coherence type indicating a port-level coherence capability within a panel). The limitations of claim 23 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4-9 and 15-20 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 The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHEIKH T NDIAYE whose telephone number is (571)270-3914. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:30pm. 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, JOON H HWANG can be reached at 571-272-4036. 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. /CHEIKH T NDIAYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447 9/16/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 20, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (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
79%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+18.6%)
2y 9m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 739 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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