Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/862,804

DEMODULATION REFERENCE SIGNAL (DMRS) TRANSMISSION METHOD, AND APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Nov 04, 2024
Priority
May 05, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022091053
Examiner
HARPER, KEVIN C
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
862 granted / 980 resolved
+28.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
1003
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.7%
-33.3% vs TC avg
§103
55.0%
+15.0% vs TC avg
§102
20.8%
-19.2% vs TC avg
§112
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 980 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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. 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. (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 28 and 43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (2) as being anticipated by Seo et al. (US 2017/0141897). Regarding claim 28, Seo discloses a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) transmission method (figs. 21-22; paras. 120-122 and 127), performed by a terminal, comprising: determining that a conflict condition is satisfied; and receiving a first DMRS at a position of a shifted resource element (RE), wherein the position of the shifted RE is determined by means of shifting in frequency domain (paras. 120-122 and 127). Regarding claim 43, Seo discloses a communication apparatus (fig. 28) , comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a computer program; and the processor causes the communication apparatus to execute the method according to claim 28 by executing the computer program stored in the memory. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-3, 5-8, 18-20, 22-25, 39 and 41-42 allowed. Claim 29 is 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. Bendlin et al. (US 2021/0058953) discloses time shifting a DRMS when conflicting with a CRS (para. 47). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kevin Harper whose telephone number is 571-272-3166. The examiner can normally be reached weekdays from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM 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, 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. For non-official communications, the examiner’s e-mail address is kevin.harper@uspto.gov (MPEP 502.03 – A copy of all received emails relating to an application including proposed amendments and excluding scheduling information for interviews will be placed informally into the application file). 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. /Kevin C. Harper/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 04, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 26, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12745230
CARRIER AGGREGATION USING COMPONENT CARRIER GROUPS
3y 11m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12744653
TECHNIQUES FOR SERVING CELL ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION USING REFERENCE SIGNALS
3y 5m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12745297
Network Node and Methods for Handling X2-C Connection Setups in a Multi Operator Radio Access Network System
2y 1m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12719623
SLOT FORMAT SWITCHING FOR MULTIPLEXING REFERENCE SIGNALS AND DATA
2y 11m to grant Granted Aug 25, 2026
Patent 12713410
OPERATION WITH BANDWIDTH-LIMITED DEVICES IN A WIRELESS NETWORK
3y 6m to grant Granted Aug 18, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+6.3%)
2y 9m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 980 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month