Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/922,311

USER EQUIPMENT BAND SELECTION FOR CELLULAR PERFORMANCE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Oct 21, 2024
Priority
Dec 28, 2023 — provisional 63/615,419
Examiner
TOKUTA, SHEAN S
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
8m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allowance Rate
413 granted / 518 resolved
+19.7% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
544
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.9%
-32.1% vs TC avg
§103
59.5%
+19.5% vs TC avg
§102
12.0%
-28.0% vs TC avg
§112
13.5%
-26.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 518 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION This action is responsive to the pending claims, 1-20, received 21 November 2024. Accordingly, the detailed action of claims 1-20 is as follows: 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 The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/21/2024; 05/06/2025; 03/12/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. 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)(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, 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fukumoto (US 20240426620 A1, hereafter referred to as Fukumoto). Regarding claim 1, Fukumoto teaches a user equipment (UE) comprising: a transceiver (Fukumoto [0071]); and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver (Fukumoto [0065]), the processor configured to: detect an occurrent of an event (Fukumoto [0116, 0111 and 0170-0171] teaches setting and determination of a set driving route and search condition [0116]); determine whether the event is a qualifying event (Fukumoto [0170-0171] teaches determining whether a self-driving function, or minimum communication band secured [0113, 0115], is executable over the driving route); and in response to a determination that the event is a qualifying event (Fukumoto [0115] teaches a determination the communication band is not secured or the band prediction value is less than a predetermined threshold [0171])): identify, based on a band map and a present location of the UE, an event improvement procedure (Fukumoto [0129] teaches controlling the vehicle behavior according to a communication quality based on a communication band map and position [0123-0127]); and perform the event improvement procedure (Fukumoto [0171] teaches executing a function). Regarding claim 2, Fukumoto teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above. Additionally, Fukumoto teaches the UE wherein: the processor is further configured to generate the band map (Fukumoto [0133] teaches generating and updating [0143] a communication band map); and to generate the band map, the processor is further configured to: determine whether a first measurement is available (Fukumoto [0144] teaches acquiring the actual measurement value); in response to a determination that the first measurement is available, determine whether the first measurement is useful for updating the band map (Fukumoto [0142 and 0145] teaches, for each time, estimating, generating and updating a communication band at each position); and in response to a determination that the first measurement is useful for updating the band map, update the band map based on the first measurement (Fukumoto [0142, 0145]). Regarding claim 3, Fukumoto teaches the limitations of claim 2, as rejected above. Additionally, Fukumoto teaches the UE wherein the processor is further configured to, after updating the band map with the first measurement: determine whether adaptive measurement is enabled (Fukumoto [0146] teaches determining whether sections, specific time zone and each weather are active); and in response to a determination that adaptive measurement is enabled: identify an opportunity for a second measurement; identify whether second measurement is useful for updating the band map (Fukumoto [0146] teaches setting a communication band map for a specific time zone, each time zone day of week and month and weather); and in response to a determination that the second measurement is useful for updating the band map, perform a procedure associated with updating the band map based on the second measurement (Fukumoto [0146] teaches setting a communication band map for a specific time zone, each time zone day of week and month and weather). Regarding claims 11-13, they do not teach or further limit over the limitations presented above with resp0ect to claims 1-3. Therefore, claims 11-13 are rejected for the same reasons set forth above regarding claims 1-3. Allowable Subject Matter Claim 4-10, 14-20 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lee (US 20230138398 A1); Fan (WO 2020192454 A1); Laroia et al (US 20090016225 A1); Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEAN TOKUTA whose telephone number is (571)272-5145. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 630-430. 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, Brian Gillis can be reached at 5712727952. 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. SHEAN TOKUTA Primary Examiner Art Unit 2446 /SHEAN TOKUTA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2419
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 21, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12744622
MSG3 REPETITION INDICATION VIA RANDOM ACCESS RESPONSE
4y 7m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12745272
ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR PERFORMING NETWORK REGISTRATION PROCEDURE AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF
2y 9m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12739839
CROSS SLOT SCHEDULING METHOD AND DEVICE IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
4y 5m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12725102
ATTACHMENT AND DETACHMENT OF COMPUTE INSTANCES OWNED BY DIFFERENT TENANCIES
2y 0m to grant Granted Sep 01, 2026
Patent 12719748
ENHANCING PERFORMANCE IN NETWORK-BASED SYSTEMS
2y 5m to grant Granted Aug 25, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
80%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+16.2%)
2y 8m (~8m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 518 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month