Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/879,642

METHOD AND APPARATUS OF ORBITAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM (OAM) MODE INDICATION

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 27, 2024
Examiner
KASSA, ZEWDU A
Art Unit
2635
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 5m
To Grant
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
712 granted / 805 resolved
+26.4% vs TC avg
Moderate +5% lift
Without
With
+5.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
824
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.8%
-34.2% vs TC avg
§103
74.5%
+34.5% vs TC avg
§102
9.1%
-30.9% vs TC avg
§112
1.9%
-38.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 805 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 § 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. 1. Claims 1, 9, 12, 19 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 2023/0171056) in view of Choi (US 2022/0078780). 2. As per claim 1, Huang teaches a method of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes indication, performed by a first device and comprising: receiving first indication information reported by a second device (Huang, Fig. 5 item 510 and related text. Furthermore, it’s well known in the art to receive indication information to achieve optimum communication -see Choi US 2022/0078780 for example ¶0403-0406); and selecting, in response to the first indication information, an OAM mode as a target OAM mode for transmitting a-target signal or control signaling (Huang, Fig. 1 item 520 and related text). 3. Claim 12 is similarly analyzed as claim 1 for obviousness reason discussed above. 4. As per claim 9, Huang in view of Choi teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein in a case that respective OAM modes are mapped with corresponding antenna ports, the method further comprises: maintaining or adjusting mapping relationships between the respective OAM modes and the antenna ports, so that the target OAM mode is mapped to an antenna port (Choi, ¶0370-0373 “… OAM … antenna port…”). 5. Claim 19 is similarly analyzed as claim 9 for obviousness reason discussed above. 6. Claims 11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 2023/0171056) in view of Choi (US 2022/0078780). 7. As per claim 11, Huang in view of Choi teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the signal or control signaling comprises: radio resource control (RRC) signaling (Choi, ¶0194), an enhanced media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (Choi, ¶0362), and physical layer control information (Choi, ¶0159). While Huang in view of Choi teaches doesn’t teach, Horn teaches a phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) (Horn, ¶0071). Therefore, taking the combined teaching of Haung, Choi and Horn as a whole, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the instant limitation for the benefit of achieving optimum communication. 8. Claim 20 is similarly analyzed as claim 11 for obviousness reason discussed above. Allowable Subject Matter 9. Claims 2-4, 6-8, 10, 13-18 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZEWDU A KASSA whose telephone number is (571)270-5253. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30. 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, David Payne can be reached at 5712723024. 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. ZEWDU A. KASSA Examiner Art Unit 2637 /ZEWDU A KASSA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 27, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §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
88%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+5.2%)
2y 5m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 805 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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