Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/866,336

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR UWB COMMUNICATION

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Nov 15, 2024
Priority
May 18, 2022 — RE 10-2022-0061139 +1 more
Examiner
SERAYDARYAN, HELENA H
Art Unit
3646
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
69%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 7m
Est. Remaining
82%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 69% — above average
69%
Career Allowance Rate
212 granted / 307 resolved
+17.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+12.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 4m
Avg Prosecution
11 currently pending
Career history
321
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.3%
-34.7% vs TC avg
§103
46.9%
+6.9% vs TC avg
§102
20.9%
-19.1% vs TC avg
§112
24.5%
-15.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 307 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
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 § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 23 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Scope of the limitation “a single ranging round” in claims 23 and 30 is unclear. It is unclear if the whole period of operation of the devices can be considered “a single ranging round”. It is clear that D1 bellow teaches performs ranging and tracking using UWB Examiner interpretation is that from the moment the ranging is initiated till the ranging is finished/device is turned off it is “a single ranging round”. Claims 17-19, 22, 25-27, 31 recites the limitation "the second scheme" in multiple lines. Due to the fact that independent claims do not require “the second scheme”, in claims 17-19, 22, 25-27, 31 issue of antecedent basis is present. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. 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. Claim(s) 16-19, 21-22, 24-27, 29 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 KR 102284464 B1 in view of D2 US 20220385333 A1. Regarding claims 16 and 24 D1 teaches Based on UWB communication session with anchors (20) perform location tracking and motion estimation of the gesture using one way ranging or two way ranging(page 11, 12 see claims ) wherein the scheme for identifying the user gesture input includes a first scheme using the UWB OWR to identify the user gesture input or a second scheme using both the UWB OWR and UWB two-way ranging (TWR) with the third UWB device to identify the user gesture input. (page 11, 12 see claim 4 “Position using UWB and IMU sensor 121, characterized in that the distance value between the UWB tag 122 and the anchor 20 is calculated in a One-Way Ranging (OWR) or Two-Way Ranging (TWR) method. Wearable augmented reality device 100 having a tracking function” ) but does not explicitly teach while D2 teaches 16. (New) A method of a first ultra-wide band (UWB) device, comprising: receiving, from a second UWB device([0068] initiator 202), a first UWB advertisement message[0068](“ protocol may establish the transmission timings and roles”) for (intended use no patentable weight )measurement of an angle of arrival (AoA)([0070] Although D2 does not explicitly teach AOA D2 teaches obtaining angles between devices [0054] and hence obtaining angle of arrivals is obvious modification which could be done to obtain angles) with a third UWB device, (204) wherein the first UWB advertisement message is for(intended use no patentable weight ) UWB one-way ranging (OWR) and includes information about a transmission period of the first UWB advertisement message; [0068](“ protocol may establish the transmission timings and roles”, Although D2 does not explicitly teach OWR primary reference teaches positioning using OWR or TWR in UWB communications) and determining, based on the information about the transmission period, a scheme [0068](“ protocol may establish the transmission timings and roles”) for identifying position of first UWB device(101), It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the filing to modify invention by D1 with invention by D2 in order to initiate tracking and positioning of the user device. 21, 29. (New) The method of claim 16, wherein the first UWB advertisement message includes application data related to a service to be initiated by the first UWB advertisement message. [0068](roles) 18, 26. (New) The method of claim 16, further comprising: in case that the second scheme is determined for identifying the user gesture input, identifying the user gesture input, based on first AoA information for a plurality of received UWB advertisement messages, second AoA information for a plurality of UWB messages obtained through the TWR, and information about a distance to the third UWB device. (conditional claim in method claim does not have patentable weight as it may never happen. In Apparatus claims 24 only one scheme is required either first or second. As Examiner selected first scheme the claim 17 does not have patentable weight 1st never determinations performed , 2nd “the second scheme” is never performed.) Although D1 or D2 do not explicitly teach AoA information for a plurality of received UWB advertisement messages D2 teaches using TDOA for positioning using multiple anchors, One of ordinary skills in the art would recognize that TDOA and AOA are similar and well known techniques used in positioning and therefore for It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the filing to modify invention by D1 to use AOA in order to perform triangulation instead of trilateration. 19, 27. (New) The method of claim 16, further comprising: in case that the second scheme is determined for identifying the user gesture input, transmitting, to the third UWB device, a UWB TWR session start request. (conditional claim in method claim does not have patentable weight as it may never happen. In Apparatus claims 24 only one scheme is required either first or second. As Examiner selected first scheme the claim 17 does not have patentable weight 1st never determinations performed , 2nd “the second scheme” is never performed.)(D1 taches TWR session for positioning page 5) Claim(s) 20 and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 KR 102284464 B1 in view of D2 US 20220385333 A1 further in view of D3 US 20200106877 . Regarding claims 20 and 28 D1 and D2 teaches and wherein the second UWB device is a fixed device.D1(page 3 “plurality of anchors installed for UWB-based location tracking”) D2(Fig. 2) but does not teach while D3 teaches 20, 28. (New) The method of claim 16, wherein the first UWB advertisement message is broadcast periodically from the second UWB deviceD3[0082] It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the filing to modify invention by D1 with invention by D3 in order periodically perform handshaking protocol. D3[0082] Claim(s) 23 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 KR 102284464 B1 in view of D2 US 20220385333 A1. Combination of D1 and D2 teaches 23, 30. (New) The method of claim 16, wherein the first UWB advertisement message is transmitted within a single ranging round(D2 [0068] abstract) and teaches angle identification [0054] But does not explicitly teach configured for the AoA measurement with the third UWB device within a ranging block. Although D1 and D2 do not teach AOA identification it is one of the well known ways to position the object and therefore It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the filing to modify invention by D1/D2 to identify the AOA in order to perform positioning in 3D space. Claims 17, 22, 25 and 31 are not addressed in the Prior Art rejection as they contain conditional limitations which do not have patentable weight. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HELENA SERAYDARYAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0706. The examiner can normally be reached on M-T, 7:30-5pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Resha Desai can be reached on (571)270-7792. 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 Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /HELENA H SERAYDARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3648 /TIMOTHY A BRAINARD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 15, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 31, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112 (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
69%
Grant Probability
82%
With Interview (+12.7%)
3y 4m (~1y 7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 307 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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