Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/897,973

WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Sep 26, 2024
Priority
Mar 28, 2022 — CN 202210315238.8 +1 more
Examiner
VO, DON NGUYEN
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
90%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1m
Est. Remaining
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 90% — above average
90%
Career Allowance Rate
866 granted / 958 resolved
+30.4% vs TC avg
Minimal +1% lift
Without
With
+0.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 0m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
972
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.7%
-32.3% vs TC avg
§103
32.6%
-7.4% vs TC avg
§102
29.5%
-10.5% vs TC avg
§112
16.6%
-23.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 958 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Acknowledgment The Preliminary Amendment filed on 11/04/2024 has been received and placed of record. Accordingly, claims 1-20 are pending in the instant application. 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)(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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jiang (US 2024/0295626). Regarding independent claim 1, Jiang teaches a wireless communication method, wherein the method comprises: determining, by a first device, a positioning manner based on a positioning requirement on a first terminal device and a second terminal device, wherein the positioning manner comprises at least one of the following manners: performing positioning through a first interface between the first terminal device and a corresponding access network device; performing positioning through a second interface between the second terminal device and a corresponding access network device or performing positioning through a third interface between the first terminal device and the second terminal device ([0029]: “Referring to FIG. 1, communication can be carried out between the positioning server and the target device based on the LPP protocol to achieve the positioning of the target device. The positioning server can send a RequestCapabilities (capability request) message to the target device, and the target device can return a ProvideCapabilities (capability provision) message to the positioning server after receiving the RequestCapabilities message. The target device sends a RequestAssistanceData (positioning assistance information request) message to the positioning server, and the positioning server sends a ProvideAssistanceData (positioning assistance information provision) message to the target device after receiving the RequestAssistanceData message” and [0032]: “It should be noted that in this disclosure, positioning the terminal on the sidelink includes absolute positioning and relative positioning of the terminal. The absolute positioning can obtain the absolute position information of the terminal, including but not limited to the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) coordinates of the terminal. Relative positioning can obtain the relative position information of the terminal relative to a reference point, which may be another terminal on the sidelink. The relative position information includes but is not limited to one or more combinations of relative coordinate position information, relative distance information, and relative angle information.”); and sending, by the first device, first information according to the positioning manner, wherein the first information is used to perform positioning in the positioning manner ([0029]: “Furthermore, the positioning server can send a RequestLocationInformation (position information request) message to the target device, and the target device returns a ProvideLocationInformation (position information provision) message to the positioning server after receiving the RequestLocationInformation message.”). Regarding independent claims 12 and 20, the claims correspond to apparatus claims and recite similar subject matter as in claim 1. Therefore, similar rationale are applied as for claim 1. Regarding dependent claims 2 and 13, Jiang further teaches wherein the positioning requirement comprises obtaining at least one of the following position information: first position information of the first terminal device, second position information of the second terminal device, relative position information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, relative distance information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, or relative angle information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. See fig. 5. Regarding dependent claims 3 and 14, Jiang further teaches wherein the determining, by a first device, a positioning manner based on a positioning requirement comprises: determining, by the first device, the positioning manner based on first capability information, second capability information, and the location positioning requirement, the first capability information indicates at least one of the following information: at least one positioning manner supported by the first terminal device, location precision corresponding to each of the at least one positioning manner supported by the first terminal device, a location algorithm corresponding to each of the at least one positioning manner supported by the first terminal device, a latency corresponding to each of the at least one positioning manner supported by the first terminal device, a type of an interface between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, a discovery mode supported by the first terminal device, or a communication capability of the interface between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; and the second capability information indicates at least one of the following information: at least one positioning manner supported by the second terminal device, location precision corresponding to each of the at least one positioning manner supported by the second terminal device, a location algorithm corresponding to each of the at least one positioning manner supported by the second terminal device, a latency corresponding to each of the at least one positioning manner supported by the second terminal device, the type of the interface between the second terminal device and the first terminal device, a discovery mode supported by the second terminal device, or the communication capability of the interface between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. See fig. 1 and [0029] - [0033]. Regarding dependent claims 4 and 15, Jiang further teaches wherein before the determining, by a first device, a positioning manner, the method further comprises: sending, by the first device, a query message, wherein the query message is used to request at least one of the first capability information [[and/]]or the second capability information; and receiving, by the first device, the at least one of the first capability information or the second capability information in response to the query message. See fig. 2. Regarding dependent claims 5 and 16, Jiang further teaches wherein the positioning manner is performing positioning through the third interface, the positioning requirement comprises at least one of the following: the relative position information, the relative distance information, [[and]]r the relative angle information, and the method further comprises: when the positioning performed through the third interface fails, determining, by the first device, that the positioning manner is performing positioning through the first interface and performing, by the first device, positioning through the second interface. See fig. 2. Regarding dependent claims 6 and 17, Jiang further teaches wherein the positioning requirement further comprises at least one of the following information: a precision requirement, a latency requirement, or a quality of service (QoS) level requirement, and the method further comprises: receiving, by the first device, a location request message from a second device, wherein the location request message comprises at least one of the following information: the positioning requirement, identification information of the first terminal device, identification information of the second terminal device, the first capability information, the second capability information, a location service identifier, trigger condition information, or action information, wherein the location service identifier indicates a service that requests the position information, wherein the trigger condition information indicates at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device to perform a first action when the position information meets a first condition, and wherein the action information indicates the first action. See fig. 5. Regarding dependent claims 7 and 18, Jiang further teaches wherein the first device is a third terminal device, and the sending, by the first device, first information according to the positioning manner comprises: sending, by the first device, the first information to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device according to the positioning manner; or sending, by the first device, the first information to a location management network element according to the positioning manner. See fig. 1 and [0029] - [0033]. Regarding dependent claims 8 and 19, Jiang further teaches wherein the first device is a location management network element, and the sending, by the first device, first information according to the positioning manner comprises: sending, by the first device, the first information to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device according to the positioning manner. See fig. 1 and [0029] - [0033]. Regarding dependent claim 9, Jiang further teaches wherein the first device is the first terminal device, and the sending, by the first device, first information according to the positioning manner comprises: sending, by the first device, the first information to the second terminal device; or sending, by the first device, the first information to a location management network element. See fig. 2. Regarding dependent claim 10, Jiang further teaches wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the first device, the position information; receiving, by the first device, measurement information corresponding to the position information; or receiving, by the first device, measurement information corresponding to the position information, and determining, by the first device, the position information based on the measurement information. See fig. 2. Regarding dependent claim 11, Jiang further teaches wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the first device, the measurement information or the position information. See fig. 2. Conclusion Examiner's note: Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. References Edge et al (US 2019/0268725), Miao et al (US 2023/0194648) and Sun et al (US 2024/0373400) are cited because they are pertinent to the method and apparatus for positioning wireless device. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DON NGUYEN VO whose telephone number is (571) 272-3018. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 6:30PM. 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) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated-interview-request-air-form. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth N Vanderpuye, can be reached on 571-272-3078. 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. /DON N VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2634
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 26, 2024
Application Filed
Nov 04, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 30, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (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
91%
With Interview (+0.7%)
2y 0m (~1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 958 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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