Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/895,956

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE MEASUREMENT USING AREA SCOPE INFORMATION IN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 25, 2024
Priority
Sep 27, 2023 — RE 10-2023-0131003
Examiner
NGUYEN, STEVEN H D
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 4m
Est. Remaining
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allowance Rate
776 granted / 971 resolved
+19.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 4m
Avg Prosecution
38 currently pending
Career history
1004
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.3%
-31.7% vs TC avg
§103
44.6%
+4.6% vs TC avg
§102
22.7%
-17.3% vs TC avg
§112
14.2%
-25.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 971 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 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. 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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumar [US 2022/0217560] in view of Kim [US 2026/0163825]. As claims 1 and 7, Kumar [US 2022/0217560] discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, the method comprising: receiving, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, an application layer measurement configuration [Fig 5. Ref 510]; obtaining radio access network (RAN) [Fig 5, Ref 515]; identifying whether a first signaling radio bearer (SRB) for transmission of the RAN [Fig 5, Ref 545 discloses determining if SRB4 is available or not, Par. 0092-0093]; and discarding the RAN [Fig 5, Ref 550, Par. 0092-0095 disclose discarding the report if SRB4 is unavailable]. However, Kumar fails to disclose RAN visible application layer measurement reports. In the same field of endeavor, Kim [US 2026/0163825] discloses RAN visible application layer measurement reports [Par. 0155, 0179 discloses RAN visible application layer measurement reports]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for reporting RAN visible application layer measurement reports as disclosed by Kim [US 2026/0163825] into the teaching of Kumar [US 2022/0217560]. The motivation would have been to improve the quality of signal. As claims 2 and 8, Kumar [US 2022/0217560] discloses the application layer measurement configuration includes a first configuration of the first SRB for the transmission of the RAN visible application layer measurement reports, and wherein the first configuration indicates one of an SRB4 or an SRB5 [Par. 0093, SRB4 is indicated in configuration for using to report and release SRB by RRC_release]. As claims 3 and 9, Kumar [US 2022/0217560] discloses transmitting the RAN visible application layer measurement reports based on the first SRB for the transmission of the RAN visible application layer measurement reports in case that the first SRB for the transmission of the RAN visible application layer measurement reports is available [Fig 5, Ref 525 for reporting QOE when SRB4 is available]. As claims 4 and 10, Kumar [US 2022/0217560] discloses obtaining [Fig 7, Ref 735 discloses APP of UE obtain container of reports after receiving configuration Ref 715]; identifying whether a second SRB for transmission of the [Fig 7, SRB is not available based on RRC_release]; and storing the [Fig 7, Ref 740 discloses UE AS store container of reports until SRB is available in case SRB is not available]. However, Kumar fails to disclose encapsulated application layer measurement reports. In the same field of endeavor, Kim [US 2026/0163825] discloses encapsulated application layer measurement reports [Par. 0155, 0179 discloses encapsulated application layer measurement reports]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for reporting encapsulated application layer measurement reports as disclosed by Kim [US 2026/0163825] into the teaching of Kumar [US 2022/0217560]. The motivation would have been to improve the quality of signal. As claims 5 and 11, Kumar [US 2022/0217560] discloses application layer measurement configuration includes a second configuration of the second SRB for the transmission of the encapsulated application layer measurement reports, and wherein the second configuration indicates one of an SRB4 or an SRB5 [Fig 5 and 7, Par. 0093, SRB4 is indicated in configuration for using to report and release SRB by RRC_release]. As claims 6 and 12, Kim [US 2026/0163825] discloses a first period for the RAN visible application layer measurement reports is shorter than a second period for the encapsulated application layer measurement reports [Par. 0156]. As claims 13 and 17, Kumar [US 2022/0217560] discloses a method performed by a base station in a communication system, the method comprising: transmitting a first radio resource control (RRC) message including an application layer measurement configuration [Fig 5, Ref 510]; receiving a second RRC message including radio access network (RAN) [Fig 5, Ref 525]; and obtaining the RAN [Fig 5, Ref 530], wherein, in case that the first SRB for a transmission of the RAN [Fig 5, Ref 550 because no SRB]. However, Kumar fails to disclose RAN visible application layer measurement reports. In the same field of endeavor, Kim [US 2026/0163825] discloses RAN visible application layer measurement reports [Par. 0155, 0179 discloses RAN visible application layer measurement reports]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for reporting RAN visible application layer measurement reports as disclosed by Kim [US 2026/0163825] into the teaching of Kumar [US 2022/0217560]. The motivation would have been to improve the quality of signal. As claims 14 and 18, Kumar [US 2022/0217560] discloses the application layer measurement configuration includes a first configuration of the first SRB for the transmission of the RAN visible application layer measurement reports, and wherein the first configuration indicates one of an SRB4 or an SRB5 [Par. 0093, SRB4 is indicated in configuration for using to report and release SRB by RRC_release]. As claims 15 and 19, Kumar [US 2022/0217560] discloses receiving a third RRC message including [Fig 6, Ref 660]. However, Kumar fails to disclose encapsulated application layer measurement reports. In the same field of endeavor, Kim [US 2026/0163825] discloses encapsulated application layer measurement reports [Par. 0155, 0179 discloses encapsulated application layer measurement reports]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for reporting encapsulated application layer measurement reports as disclosed by Kim [US 2026/0163825] into the teaching of Kumar [US 2022/0217560]. The motivation would have been to improve the quality of signal. As claims 16 and 20, Kumar [US 2022/0217560] discloses the application layer measurement configuration includes a second configuration of the second SRB for a transmission of the encapsulated application layer measurement reports, and wherein the second configuration indicates one of an SRB4 or an SRB5 [Par. 0093, SRB4 is indicated in configuration for using to report and release SRB by RRC_release]. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Aberg Larsson [US 2026/0189960] discloses a communication device can be in a communications network that includes a first network node and a second network node providing dual connectivity to the communication device. The communication device can determine a failure has occurred during transmission of a report to the first network node. The report can be a quality of experience, QoE, report and/or a radio access network visible QoE, RVQoE, report. The communication device can, responsive to determining that the failure has occurred, suspend transmission of the report to the first network node. The communication device can, responsive to determining that the failure has occurred, perform an action associated with the report. Dai [US 2026/0197731] discloses a method and apparatus of supporting quality of experience (QoE) measurement collection. An exemplary method, e.g., performed by UE may include: receiving QoE measurement configuration information for a QoE measurement, wherein, the QoE measurement is configured by a master node (MN) and a reporting leg for QoE measurement report of the QoE measurement is configured to be a secondary cell group (SCG), or the QoE measurement is configured by a secondary node (SN) and a reporting leg for QoE measurement report of the QoE measurement is configured to be a master cell group (MCG) or SCG; and determining operations on the QoE measurement in response to the SCG being determined to be unavailable. Rune [US 2024/0098532] discloses methods for managing quality-of-experience, QoE, measurements by a user equipment, UE. A first example method, carried out by a first radio access network, RAN, node, comprises transmitting (1010), to a second node in the RAN, configuration information for one or more RAN-visible QoE measurements configured for the UE by the first node. The second node may be associated with the first node with respect to at least one of: changing a configuration for the UE for multi-connectivity; mobility for the UE; RRC resume or RRC reestablishment for the UE; and switching transfer of data for the service from a path going to the UE via the first RAN node to a path going to the UE via the second RAN node. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3159. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5. 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, Edan Orgad can be reached at 571-272-7884. 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. /STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 25, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 17, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §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
80%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+12.2%)
3y 4m (~1y 4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 971 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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