Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/858,707

USER EQUIPMENT INITIATION OF RADIO SENSING OPERATION

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Oct 21, 2024
Priority
Apr 22, 2022 — provisional 63/333,972 +1 more
Examiner
TRAN, THINH D
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Lenovo (United States) Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
62%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 3m
Est. Remaining
82%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 62% of resolved cases
62%
Career Allowance Rate
339 granted / 543 resolved
+2.4% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+19.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
4y 2m
Avg Prosecution
38 currently pending
Career history
587
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.9%
-34.1% vs TC avg
§103
57.6%
+17.6% vs TC avg
§102
17.0%
-23.0% vs TC avg
§112
12.2%
-27.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 543 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 Objections Claim 1, 3 objected to because of the following informalities: In claim 1, it appears that the semicolon is missing after “one memory” in line 2. I claim 3, it appears that the “or” in the last line is misplaced that it should be at the end of line 7. Appropriate correction is required. 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DAI et al. (WO 2021243499A1 published on 12/09/2021). Regarding claim 1, 14, DAI teaches a network entity for wireless communication (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, 113, base station), comprising: at least one memory (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, 113, base station) at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the network entity (par. 98-99, "the base station 102, which may include the memory 376 and which may be the entire base station or a component of the base station, such as sensing management component 198, the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and/or the controller/processor 375; the base station 602) to: receive, from a user equipment (UE), a request message including a request for the network entity to perform a radio sensing operation and a type of radio sensing operation to be performed by the network entity (par. 100-105, "optionally include receiving, from the UE, a request for the sensing information.''); determine whether to perform the requested radio sensing operation (par. 72-75 and 102, "optionally include determining the sensing information based on a context identifier. For example, the sensing request 424 may include a context identifier indicating an application of the wireless sensing activity 418 (1) . Further, the interference management component 199 may determine an appropriate power value for the application); and transmit, to the UE, a response message that includes an indication of the determination by the network entity to perform the requested radio sensing operation (par. 72-75, 83 and 106," For example, the interference management component 199 may send the sensing information 422 to the UE 402). Regarding claim 2, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the request message includes one or more of: first information that identifies an object or area of interest targeted by the requested radio sensing operation; or second information that identifies an environment within which the requested radio sensing operation is to be performed by the network entity (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, motion detection, object identification, user interface applications, facial recognition, user activity detection, UE context detection, health monitoring, environment imaging, communication assistance, side-link based sensing, and Wi-Fi sensing). Regarding claim 3, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the network entity to transmit configuration information to the UE that includes one or more of: a set of time resources, frequency resources, or beam resources for transmission of the sensing request message; a set of criteria for transmission of the sensing request message; a message type for the sensing request message; or (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, sensing information to reduce, minimize, or prevent the interference…maximum power level…sensing event and a power level…a power level and resource information for performing the wireless sensing activity). Regarding claim 4, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the response message includes: an indication that the request is granted by the network entity and that the radio sensing operation to be performed by the network entity is different than a requested radio sensing operation by the UE; an indication that the request is granted by the network entity and the radio sensing operation is to be performed at a time period different than a requested time period; an indication that the request has been rejected by the network entity along with information identifying one or more factors for the rejection; an indication that the request is granted by the network entity, including a periodicity or time- pattern for performing the radio sensing operation; an indication the request is granted by the network entity including a granted radio sensing scenario for the UE; an indication of an object or area of interest to be sensed during the requested radio sensing operation; an indication of a quality of service (QoS) for sensing information that results from the radio sensing operation; or combinations thereof (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, sensing event and a power level…a power level and resource information for performing the wireless sensing activity). Regarding claim 5, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the response message, the at least one processor is configured to cause the network entity to: transmit a first message that indicates a decision of whether the requested radio sensing operation is to be performed by the network entity (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, send a sensing request to the base station requesting the sensing information; par. 71, 72, 75, 87); and transmit a second message that indicates information associated with the radio sensing operation (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 72, 90-92, 108, 109, send a sensing request to the base station requesting the sensing information…sending a request for the power level to the base station). Regarding claim 6, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the network entity to transmit sensing information to the UE based on the performed radio sensing operation (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, receiving sensing information from the base station, the sensing information including a power selected by the base station to limit interference during a wireless sensing event using the RAT…sensing event grant). Regarding claim 7, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the request message is received as an uplink control information element via a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), as a message via a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH); or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or a combination thereof (par. 30, 31, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, PUCCH, PUSCH, ). Regarding claim 8, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the response message is transmitted dynamically via a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or semi-persistently via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, PDCCH, RRC). Regarding claim 12, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the radio sensing operation is performed by the network entity to obtain information about a physical environment that includes the UE (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, motion detection, object identification, user interface applications, facial recognition, user activity detection, UE context detection, health monitoring, environment imaging, communication assistance, side-link based sensing, and Wi-Fi sensing). Regarding claim 13, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the radio sensing operation is performed by the network entity to obtain information about an object proximate to the UE (par. 113, the wireless sensing activity 330(2) may be used to determine the location of the UE 402, and the location may be used to establish or adjust the connection between the UE 402 and the base station 404). Regarding claims 16, 21, DAI teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, 113, UE), comprising: at least one memory (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, 113, base station); and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, 113, base station) to: identify a sensing scenario associated with the UE or an environment that includes the UE (par. 30, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, 113, motion detection, object identification, user interface applications, facial recognition, user activity detection, UE context detection, health monitoring, environment imaging, communication assistance, side-link based sensing, and Wi-Fi sensing); and transmit, to a network entity, a request message indicates a request for the network entity to perform a radio sensing operation on behalf of the UE and a type of radio sensing operation to be performed by the network entity (par. 100-105, "optionally include receiving, from the UE, a request for the sensing information.''). Regarding claim 17, DAI teaches the UE of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: receive a response message that includes a determination regarding the network entity performing the requested radio sensing operation (par. 72-75, 83 and 106," For example, the interference management component 199 may send the sensing information 422 to the UE 402). Regarding claim 18, DAI teaches the UE of claim 16, wherein the request message includes an indication of a requested sensing task periodicity, a requested time pattern, a requested validity period, or combinations thereof (par. 104, 105, the interference management component 199 may determine a power level for the wireless sensing activity 418(1) that may cause interference at the UE 406(1) below a threshold during a particular time associated with resources allocated to the UE 406(1). Additionally, the interference management component 199 may determine a period of time for performing the wireless sensing activity 418(1) based at least in part on identifying when one or more resources associated with performing wireless sensing activity 418(1) are not allocated to the UE 406(1)). Regarding claim 19, DAI teaches the UE of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: receive configuration information associated with the UE transmitting a report during a performed sensing operation (par. 105, send the UE 406( 1) a resource identifier identifying at least a frequency band or timing information); and transmit a sensing measurement report based on the configuration information during a subsequently performed radio sensing operation (par. 105, the UE 406(1) may determine measurement information 426 identifying a received power (e.g., RSSI) associated with use of the identified resource by the UE 402, and send the measurement information 426 to the base station 404.). Regarding claim 20, DAI teaches the user equipment of claim 16, wherein the UE transmits the sensing request message to the network entity as an uplink control information element via a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), as a message via a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or a combination thereof (par. 30, 31, 45-50, 65-70, 90-92, 108, 109, PUCCH, PUSCH, ). 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. The factual inquiries 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. Claim(s) 9, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DAI et al. (WO 2021243499A1 published on 12/09/2021) in view of MANDELLI et al. (US 20250168684). Regarding claim 9, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the response message includes one or more information elements (par. 93, 108, the sensing information 422 may include a sensing grant indicating a power level or scheduling resource for performing the wireless sensing activity 418.). However, DAI does not teach wherein the response message includes one or more information elements indicated by one or more indices of a codebook, and wherein the codebook identifies parameter combinations for the response message. But, MANDELLI et al. (US 20250168684) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the response message includes one or more information elements indicated by one or more indices of a codebook (par. 150, 256, 257), and wherein the codebook identifies parameter combinations for the response message (par. 150, 256, 257, current beam pattern loaded (e.g. represented by a codebook name) and its possibility on updating the codebook may be determined. If no updating of providing of updated sensing capability information is allowed, the update rate may be set to infinity. Otherwise, the respective update rate may be indicated accordingly… By such a TRP Information List, the NG-RAN node may be enabled to provide one or more of its sensing capability information, e.g. of its sensing capabilities (e.g. sensing hardware) e.g. by a list of: e.g. antenna panel ID, antenna panel position… the sensing capability information and/or sensing environment information.). Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by MANDELLI in the system of DAI to indicate capability. The motivation would have been to provide best signals/settings e.g. to minimize overhead is beneficial and allowing to optimize the mobile communication network by tuning a respective device configuration, e.g. based on directions where the communications and/or sensing should happen is beneficial, which allow the aggregation of the information from multiple SAPs (MANDELLI par. 8). Regarding claim 10, DAI teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the response message includes one or more information elements (par. 93, 108, the sensing information 422 may include a sensing grant indicating a power level or scheduling resource for performing the wireless sensing activity 418.). However, DAI does not teach wherein the response message includes one or more information elements indicated by one or more indices of a codebook of the network entity, and wherein the codebook identifies capability information of the network entity to perform the radio sensing operation. But, MANDELLI et al. (US 20250168684) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the response message includes one or more information elements indicated by one or more indices of a codebook of the network entity (par. 150, 256, 257), and wherein the codebook identifies capability information of the network entity to perform the radio sensing operation (par. 150, 256, 257, current beam pattern loaded (e.g. represented by a codebook name) and its possibility on updating the codebook may be determined. If no updating of providing of updated sensing capability information is allowed, the update rate may be set to infinity. Otherwise, the respective update rate may be indicated accordingly… By such a TRP Information List, the NG-RAN node may be enabled to provide one or more of its sensing capability information, e.g. of its sensing capabilities (e.g. sensing hardware) e.g. by a list of: e.g. antenna panel ID, antenna panel position… the sensing capability information and/or sensing environment information.). Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by MANDELLI in the system of DAI to indicate capability. The motivation would have been to provide best signals/settings e.g. to minimize overhead is beneficial and allowing to optimize the mobile communication network by tuning a respective device configuration, e.g. based on directions where the communications and/or sensing should happen is beneficial, which allow the aggregation of the information from multiple SAPs (MANDELLI par. 8). Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DAI et al. (WO 2021243499A1 published on 12/09/2021) in view of CHENG et al. (US 20230370820). Regarding claim 11, DAI does not teach the network entity of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the network entity to transmit capability information, which identifies capabilities of the network entity to perform the radio sensing operation, via a broadcast message or a multicast message. But, CHENG et al. (US 20230370820) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the network entity to transmit capability information, which identifies capabilities of the network entity to perform the radio sensing operation, via a broadcast message or a multicast message (par. 3, 136, 137, Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on…UE 405 may respond by transmitting or otherwise providing (and SnMF 420 may receive or otherwise obtain) a UE capability message indicating the capability of UE 410 to perform sensing of objects within a detectable range of UE 405. For example, UE 405 (and base station 410 in some examples) may indicate generically whether it supports RF sensing applications and/or may indicate particular sensing configurations/modes that are supported). Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by CHENG in the system of DAI to indicate capability. The motivation would have been to optimize the mobile communication network by tuning a respective device configuration, e.g. based on directions where the communications and/or sensing should happen is beneficial. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THINH D TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3934. The examiner can normally be reached mon-fri 9-6. 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, FARUK HAMZA can be reached at 5712727969. 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. /THINH D TRAN/for /Thinh Tran/, Patent Examiner of Art Unit 2466 09/05/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 21, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 10, 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
62%
Grant Probability
82%
With Interview (+19.4%)
4y 2m (~2y 3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 543 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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