Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/902,144

COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Sep 30, 2024
Priority
Apr 02, 2022 — CN 202210351043.9 +1 more
Examiner
JAVAID, JAMAL
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
8m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
870 granted / 983 resolved
+28.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+5.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
37 currently pending
Career history
1024
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.6%
-32.4% vs TC avg
§103
61.3%
+21.3% vs TC avg
§102
11.9%
-28.1% vs TC avg
§112
13.5%
-26.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 983 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
DETAILED ACTION Status of Case The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This Office Action is in response to the claims filed on 10/8/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) filed on 10/23/2024 and 6/10/2025 have been considered by Examiner. 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, 3-4, 6, 8-9, 11, 13-14, 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kato (EP 2405691 A1). Consider claims 1, 6, and 11, Kato discloses a method (see figure 5, reproduced below for convenience, wherein disclosed is said method), and a corresponding apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor, and the at least one memory stores programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to perform operations (see figure 12, wherein disclosed is communication between a mobile station and a base station, and Examiner submits it is inherent they each comprise said processor and memory), and a corresponding non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform operations (see figure 12, wherein Examiner submits that is inherent that said devices comprise said computer readable medium), wherein the method is applied to a terminal (see paragraph 1: an intermittent reception method for a mobile station apparatus), and comprises: configuring a discontinuous reception (DRX) function based on DRX configuration information (see figures 15 and 16; also, see paragraph 28: DRX mode); receiving first indication information from a network device (see paragraphs 30, 39, and 42: the mobile station receives parameters from the base station); and deactivating the DRX function based on the first indication information (see paragraph 47: the base station sends a message that may be a message of a higher layer (RRC) or may be a flag that starts/terminates the intermittent reception operation). PNG media_image1.png 428 620 media_image1.png Greyscale Consider claims 3, 8, and 13, Kato discloses that the first indication information comprises duration indication information, and the duration indication information indicates duration of deactivating the DRX function; and the deactivating the DRX function based on the first indication information comprises: deactivating the DRX function within the duration indicated by the duration indication information, and activating the DRX function beyond the duration indicated by the duration indication information (see paragraph 47: the message that indicates when to start/terminate the DRX function (i.e., deactivate/active the DRX function) must comprise said duration information in order to indicate when to start and when to terminate the DRX function). Consider claims 4, 9, and 14, Kato discloses receiving second indication information from the network device; and activating the DRX function based on the second indication information (see paragraph 47: a message that starts/terminates the intermittent reception operation; thus, for example, receiving the message a first time would result in deactivating the DRX function and receiving the message a second time would result in activating the DRX function). Consider claims 17 and 19, Kato discloses that the first indication information comprises frequency band indication information, and the frequency band indication information indicates one or more communication frequency bands (see paragraphs 30-31, wherein the CC is equivalent to frequency band information); and the deactivating the DRX function based on the first indication information comprises: deactivating the DRX function on a communication frequency band indicated by the frequency band indication information (see paragraphs 30 and 47, wherein disclosed is deactivating the DRX function based on parameters including the frequency band). 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. Claims 2, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15-16, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato (EP 2405691 A1) in view of He (USPAN 2019/0254110). Consider claims 2, 7, and 12, although Kato discloses deactivating the DRX function based on the first indication information (see above), Kato does not specifically disclose that the first indication information comprises cell indication information and bandwidth part (BWP) indication information; the cell indication information indicates one or more serving cells or one or more serving cell sets; the BWP indication information indicates one or more BWP indexes. He discloses that the first indication information comprises cell indication information and bandwidth part (BWP) indication information; the cell indication information indicates one or more serving cells or one or more serving cell sets; the BWP indication information indicates one or more BWP indexes (see paragraph 271: a BWP control bitmap or a BWP group index for each serving cell can be included in the DCI format providing the WUS to indicate the BWPs and the corresponding serving cells where the UE wakes up (or remains inactive) in the following DRX cycle). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kato and combine it with the noted teachings of He. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for reducing power consumption at a user equipment and to enable power savings for a user equipment in new radio systems (see paragraph 7 of He). Consider claims 5, 10, and 15, Kato discloses receiving second indication information from the network device; and activating the DRX function based on the second indication information (see paragraph 47: a message that starts/terminates the intermittent reception operation; thus, for example, receiving the message a first time would result in deactivating the DRX function and receiving the message a second time would result in activating the DRX function). Although Kato discloses activating the DRX function based on the second indication information (see above), Kato does not specifically disclose that the second indication information comprises cell indication information and bandwidth part (BWP) indication information; the cell indication information indicates one or more serving cells or one or more serving cell sets; the BWP indication information indicates one or more BWP indexes. He discloses that the second indication information comprises cell indication information and bandwidth part (BWP) indication information; the cell indication information indicates one or more serving cells or one or more serving cell sets; the BWP indication information indicates one or more BWP indexes (see paragraph 271: a BWP control bitmap or a BWP group index for each serving cell can be included in the DCI format providing the WUS to indicate the BWPs and the corresponding serving cells where the UE wakes up (or remains inactive) in the following DRX cycle). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kato and combine it with the noted teachings of He. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for reducing power consumption at a user equipment and to enable power savings for a user equipment in new radio systems (see paragraph 7 of He). Consider claims 16, 18, and 20, Kato does not specifically disclose that the first indication information is carried in a media access control control element (MAC CE) or L1 signaling He discloses that the first indication information is carried in a media access control control element (MAC CE) or L1 signaling (see paragraphs 45 and 223: MAC CE provides the activation/deactivation command). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kato and combine it with the noted teachings of He. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for reducing power consumption at a user equipment and to enable power savings for a user equipment in new radio systems (see paragraph 7 of He). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jamal Javaid whose telephone number is 571-270-5137 and email address is Jamal.Javaid@uspto.gov. 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, Charles Jiang, can be reached on 571-270-7191. 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 the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /JAMAL JAVAID/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412 JAMAL JAVAID Primary Examiner Art Unit 2412
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 30, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 08, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §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 (+5.8%)
2y 7m (~8m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 983 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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