Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/915,007

SIDELINK DISCOVERY TRANSMISSION PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND TERMINAL

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Oct 14, 2024
Priority
Apr 15, 2022 — CN 202210400221.2 +1 more
Examiner
KELLER, MICHAEL A
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Vivo Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allowance Rate
608 granted / 703 resolved
+26.5% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+15.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
30 currently pending
Career history
725
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.0%
-30.0% vs TC avg
§103
61.5%
+21.5% vs TC avg
§102
10.4%
-29.6% vs TC avg
§112
7.2%
-32.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 703 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This action is in response to the communication filed on 10/14/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending. Examiner Note The examiner is here to serve, to assist, and to help applicant to the very best of his ability. The Primary Patent Examiner position is a position of serving and it is an honor to externally serve the applicant and attorney and to internally serve junior examiners and supervisors. The goal of the examiner is to work with and assist applicant to move cases along as efficiently as possible. Applicant is encouraged to call examiner to schedule an interview if applicant has any questions about this action, wants to discuss any possible paths forward, has proposed amendments to the claims to run by the examiner, or for any other issues that applicant would like to discuss. Examiner can normally be reached at (571) 270-3863 or michael.keller@uspto.gov, Monday-Friday, from about 6 AM - 10 PM EST and if your call is missed examiner will try to return call quickly, thank you. Priority This application claims priority of CN202210400221.2, filed 4/15/2022. The assignee of record is VIVO MOBILE COMMUNICATION CO., LTD. The listed inventor(s) is/are: ZHENG, Qian; BAO, Wei. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 1/30/2026 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS(s) is/are being considered by the examiner. Claim Objections Claims 1, 12, 19 objected to because of the following informalities: The abbreviation is CBR which should be first introduced as “channel busy ratio (CBR).” Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. (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. Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipate by Lee et al. (US 10856176 B2, published 12/1/2020). For Claim 1, Lee teaches a sidelink discovery transmission processing method, comprising: determining, by a terminal, whether to perform a first operation, wherein the first operation comprises: performing CBR measurement for a sidelink discovery transmission (Lee Col 12 Lines 39-56 In case of the UE of a mode 4, the CBR measurement can be performed in a resource pool specific manner. The UE may perform CBR measurements on at least the current transmission resource pool, i.e., the transmission resource pool used to perform the current V2X sidelink communication). For Claim 2, Lee teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by a terminal, whether to perform a first operation comprises: determining, by the terminal based on at least one of a first preset rule or a first indication, whether to perform CBR measurement for the sidelink discovery transmission, wherein the first indication comprises: a network configuration indication (Lee Col 12 Lines 39-56). For Claim 3, Lee teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein in a case that the terminal meets a first condition, the terminal determines a value or a value range of a sidelink discovery transmission parameter based on a default CBR value, wherein the first condition comprises at least one of the following: the terminal is configured by an upper layer of the terminal to transmit a sidelink discovery message; the terminal determines, based on at least one of the first preset rule or the first indication, not to perform CBR measurement for the sidelink discovery transmission; or a resource pool selected by the terminal is a normal communication resource pool or an exceptional resource pool (Lee Col 14 Lines 8-14). For Claim 4, Lee teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein in a case that the terminal determines, based on at least one of the first preset rule or the first indication, not to perform CBR measurement for the sidelink discovery transmission, the terminal does not perform CBR measurement on a first target resource pool, wherein the first target resource pool is any resource pool in a resource pool set; and the resource pool set comprises at least one of a normal communication resource pool, an exceptional resource pool, or a discovery dedicated resource pool (Lee Col 13 Lines 55-56). For Claim 5, Lee teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises: in a case that the terminal determines, based on at least one of the first preset rule or the first indication, to perform CBR measurement for the sidelink discovery transmission, performing, by the terminal, CBR measurement on a second target resource pool, wherein the second target resource pool is part of resource pools in a resource pool set; and the resource pool set comprises at least one of a normal communication resource pool, an exceptional resource pool, or a discovery dedicated resource pool (Lee Col 8 Lines 36-38). For Claim 6, Lee teaches the method according to claim 5, wherein the performing, by the terminal, CBR measurement on a second target resource pool comprises: in a case that the terminal meets a second condition, determining, by the terminal, the resource pool set based on a resource pool configuration of a first system information block (SIB), and performing CBR measurement on the second target resource pool in the determined resource pool set, wherein the second condition comprises any one of the following: the terminal is in radio resource control (RRC) inactive state or RRC idle state, and the first SIB sent by a network side device and received by the terminal carries the resource pool configuration of a frequency used for the sidelink discovery transmission; or the terminal is in RRC connected state, an RRC reconfiguration message sent by a network side device and received by the terminal does not carry the resource pool configuration of a frequency used for the sidelink discovery transmission, and the first SIB sent by the network side device and received by the terminal carries the resource pool configuration of the frequency used for the sidelink discovery transmission (Lee Col 8 Lines 8-16). For Claim 7, Lee teaches the method according to claim 5, wherein the performing, by the terminal, CBR measurement on a second target resource pool comprises: in a case that the terminal is in RRC connected state, and an RRC reconfiguration message sent by a network side device and received by the terminal carries the resource pool configuration of a frequency used for the sidelink discovery transmission, determining, by the terminal, the resource pool set based on an RRC reconfiguration message configuration, and performing CBR measurement on the second target resource pool in the determined resource pool set (Lee Col 9 Lines 11-13). For Claim 8, Lee teaches the method according to claim 5, wherein the performing, by the terminal, CBR measurement on a second target resource pool comprises: in a case that the terminal is out-of-coverage at frequency used for the sidelink discovery transmission, determining, by the terminal, the resource pool set based on a sidelink preconfiguration, and performing CBR measurement on the second target resource pool in the determined resource pool set (Lee Col 8 Lines 50-59). For Claim 9, Lee teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein in a case that the resource pool set does not comprise the discovery dedicated resource pool, the second target resource pool comprises the normal communication resource pool; or in a case that the resource pool set comprises the discovery dedicated resource pool, the second target resource pool comprises the discovery dedicated resource pool (Lee Col 8 Lines 8-10). For Claim 10, Lee teaches the method according to claim 9, wherein the second target resource pool further comprises the exceptional resource pool (Lee Col 7 Line 66 through Col 8 Line 12). For Claim 11, Lee teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the network configuration indication is sent via at least one of the following: an RRC reconfiguration message; or a SIB message (Lee Col 9 Lines 11-13). For Claim(s) 12, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 1 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above. For Claim(s) 13, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 2 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above. For Claim(s) 14, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 4 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above. For Claim 15, Lee teaches the terminal according to claim 14, wherein when performing CBR measurement on a second target resource pool, the program or the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal to perform: in a case that the terminal meets a second condition, determining the resource pool set based on a resource pool configuration of a first system information block (SIB), and performing CBR measurement on the second target resource pool in the determined resource pool set, wherein the second condition comprises any one of the following: the terminal is in radio resource control (RRC) inactive state or RRC idle state, and the first SIB sent by a network side device and received by the terminal carries the resource pool configuration of a frequency used for the sidelink discovery transmission; or the terminal is in RRC connected state, an RRC reconfiguration message sent by a network side device and received by the terminal does not carry the resource pool configuration of a frequency used for the sidelink discovery transmission, and the first SIB sent by the network side device and received by the terminal carries the resource pool configuration of the frequency used for the sidelink discovery transmission (Lee Col 11 Lines 8-10). For Claim(s) 16, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 7 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above. For Claim(s) 17, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 8 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above. For Claim(s) 18, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 9 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above. For Claim(s) 19, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 1 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above. For Claim(s) 20, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 1 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above. Citation of Pertinent Prior Art The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is listed below, thank you: i. US 20220103997 A1, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RELAY DISCOVERY ON SIDELINK IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM Please see PTO-892 for additional listing of relevant prior art made of record but not relied upon, thank you. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Keller at (571)270-3863 or michael.keller@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Moo Jeong can be reached on 571-272-9617. 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. /MICHAEL A KELLER/ Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 14, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 22, 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
86%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+15.9%)
2y 5m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 703 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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