Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/887,034

LOW COMPLEXITY TRANSMITTER STRUCTURE FOR ACTIVE ANTENNA SYSTEMS

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Sep 16, 2024
Examiner
TIEU, JANICE N
Art Unit
2633
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
90%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 2m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 90% — above average
90%
Career Allow Rate
481 granted / 535 resolved
+27.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
558
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.5%
-34.5% vs TC avg
§103
52.4%
+12.4% vs TC avg
§102
17.3%
-22.7% vs TC avg
§112
12.7%
-27.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 535 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 . Information Disclosure Statement There is no information disclosure statement that is submitted by the applicant. Oath/Declaration The Oath or Declaration is being considered by examiner and complies with PTO requirements. Drawings The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the step of “receiving, by the processor, from a controller device, an indication determined by the controller device based on an analysis of the detected similarities” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). In additional, the step of “selecting, from the group of amplifier devices, a transmission group of amplifier devices usable to transmit signals concurrently with a selected interference level” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a): (a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112: The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Regarding claim 1, the limitation “receiving, by the processor, from a controller device, an indication determined by the controller device based on an analysis of the detected similarities; and based on the indication, grouping, by the processor, a selected subset of the respective antenna amplifiers into a group usable to transmit first signals simultaneously, or substantially simultaneously” is rejected as failing to comply with the written description requirement. In ¶ [0040] of the Specification, a similar non-linearity of power amplifiers is determined, in which being used to skip the need to computationally determine the DPD coefficients for other power amplifier. Also in ¶ [0045-0046], wherein the Specification discloses the threshold for grouping power amplifiers can be dynamically adjusted depending on various conditions. Further more in FIG. 6 and ¶ [0051-0052], the Specification discloses a grouping component 606 that groups the power amplifier based on their degrees of similarity. However, there is no further recitation in the Specification that discloses the rejected limitation as receiving an indication determined by the controller device based on an analysis of the detected similarities and based on that indication, grouping a selected subset of the respective antenna amplifiers into a group usable for transmit first signals simultaneously or substantially simultaneously. The Specification is insufficient for one of ordinary skilled in the art to understand the claimed limitation being performed. Therefore claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. Claims 2-7 are rejected under the same scope as being dependent in the rejected independent claim 1. Claim 8 is rejected on the same ground as for claim 1 because of similar scope. Claims 9-14 are rejected under the same scope as being dependent in the rejected independent claim 8. Regarding claim 15, the limitation “determining similarities of ones of a group of amplifier devices; and based on the similarities and an interference measurement, selecting, from the group of amplifier devices, a transmission group of amplifier devices usable to transmit signals concurrently with a selected interference level” is rejected as failing to comply with the written description requirement. According to the Specification in ¶ [0040], [0045-0046], and [0052], the similarities are determined for each of the power amplifiers, then based on the similarities, the grouping component 606 can group the power amplifiers together. This disclosure of the Specification is totally opposite of what is being claimed because the claim recites “determining similarities of ones of a group of amplifier devices”. The step of determination of similarities in the Specification is done to each power amplifier, not to one of a group of amplifier devices. Nevertheless, the grouping component 606 recites grouping amplifier devices, which is not the same as claimed limitation as “selecting, from the group of amplifier devices”. The Specification is insufficient for one of ordinary skilled in the art to understand the claimed limitation being performed. Therefore claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. Claims 16-17 are rejected under the same scope as being dependent in the rejected independent claim 15. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hachiya et al. US 2016/0278028. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANICE N TIEU whose telephone number is (571)270-1888. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-5:30. 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, Sam Ahn can be reached at (571) 272-3044. 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. /JANICE N TIEU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 16, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §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
90%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+11.1%)
2y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 535 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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