Prosecution Insights
Last updated: September 01, 2026
Application No. 18/850,423

PROXIMITY SERVICES EMERGENCY CALL

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Sep 24, 2024
Priority
Mar 28, 2022 — provisional 63/324,488 +1 more
Examiner
AJAYI, JOEL
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Nokia Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
502 granted / 650 resolved
+17.2% vs TC avg
Strong +47% interview lift
Without
With
+46.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
39 currently pending
Career history
680
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.3%
-36.7% vs TC avg
§103
54.5%
+14.5% vs TC avg
§102
38.7%
-1.3% vs TC avg
§112
2.0%
-38.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 650 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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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. 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, 16, 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable by Wu et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2022/0303749). Consider claim 1; Wu discloses a method, comprising: indicating, in a relay discovery procedure [“…the discovery message may indicate a level of service that may be provided such as the bandwidth the relay UE 112 is offering the remote UE…whether emergency calls may be established on the currently camped cell…” (par. 64, lines 5-12)], a capability of a relay user equipment to support an emergency call [“…the discovery message may indicate a level of service that may be provided such as the bandwidth the relay UE 112 is offering the remote UE…whether emergency calls may be established on the currently camped cell…” (par. 64, lines 5-12)]; or receiving, in the relay discovery procedure, an indication of a need of a remote user equipment to conduct an emergency call. Consider claim 16; Wu discloses an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor [“The UE 110 may include a processor 205…” (par. 31, line 4)]; and at least one memory comprising computer program instructions [“The UE 110 may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210…” (par. 31, lines 4-5)], wherein the at least one memory and the computer program instructions are configured to [“The UE 110 may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210…” (par. 31, lines 4-5)], with the at least one processor [“The UE 110 may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210…” (par. 31, lines 4-5)], cause the apparatus at least to perform: indicating [“…the discovery message may indicate a level of service that may be provided such as the bandwidth the relay UE 112 is offering the remote UE…whether emergency calls may be established on the currently camped cell…” (par. 64, lines 5-12)], in a relay discovery procedure [“…the discovery message may indicate a level of service that may be provided such as the bandwidth the relay UE 112 is offering the remote UE…whether emergency calls may be established on the currently camped cell…” (par. 64, lines 5-12)], a capability of a relay user equipment to support an emergency call [“…the discovery message may indicate a level of service that may be provided such as the bandwidth the relay UE 112 is offering the remote UE…whether emergency calls may be established on the currently camped cell…” (par. 64, lines 5-12)]; or receiving, in the relay discovery procedure, an indication of a need of a remote user equipment to conduct an emergency call. Consider claim 22; Wu discloses an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor [“The UE 110 may include a processor 205…” (par. 31, line 4)]; and at least one memory comprising computer program instructions [“The UE 110 may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210…” (par. 31, lines 4-5)], wherein the at least one memory and the computer program instructions are configured to [“The UE 110 may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210…” (par. 31, lines 4-5)], with the at least one processor [“The UE 110 may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210…” (par. 31, lines 4-5)], cause the apparatus at least to perform: indicating, in a relay discovery procedure, a need of a remote user equipment to conduct an emergency call; or receiving [“…the discovery message may indicate a level of service that may be provided such as the bandwidth the relay UE 112 is offering the remote UE…whether emergency calls may be established on the currently camped cell…” (par. 64, lines 5-12)], in the relay discovery procedure [“…the discovery message may indicate a level of service that may be provided such as the bandwidth the relay UE 112 is offering the remote UE…whether emergency calls may be established on the currently camped cell…” (par. 64, lines 5-12)], an indication of a capability of a relay user equipment to support an emergency call [“…the discovery message may indicate a level of service that may be provided such as the bandwidth the relay UE 112 is offering the remote UE…whether emergency calls may be established on the currently camped cell…” (par. 64, lines 5-12)]. Ross and Gaines are references that also disclose the inventive concept. Allowable Subject Matter The dependent claims contain patentable subject matter. However, it would need to be clear how the emergency call is conducted in a novel and different way by the relay UE keeping in mind the limitations allowed in the child application 18/960,523. Conclusion Any response to this Office Action should be faxed to (571) 273-8300 or mailed to: Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 Hand-delivered responses should be brought to Customer Service Window Randolph Building 401 Dulany Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Joel Ajayi whose telephone number is (571) 270-1091. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7:30am to 5:00pm. If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Jeanette Parker can be reached on (571) 270-3647. 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 http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free) or 703-305-3028. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist/customer service whose telephone number is (571) 272-2600. /JOEL AJAYI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 24, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 12, 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
77%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+46.6%)
2y 10m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 650 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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