Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026
Application No. 18/928,415

POWER REDUCTION METHOD AND MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Oct 28, 2024
Priority
Nov 29, 2023 — provisional 63/603,753
Examiner
LAFONTANT, GARY
Art Unit
2646
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Nextpert Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
5m
Est. Remaining
75%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allowance Rate
353 granted / 479 resolved
+11.7% vs TC avg
Minimal +1% lift
Without
With
+1.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
512
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.2%
-35.8% vs TC avg
§103
55.9%
+15.9% vs TC avg
§102
27.5%
-12.5% vs TC avg
§112
10.5%
-29.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 479 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 . Receipt is acknowledged of claims filed on 10/28/24 Claims 1-20 are presented for examination Prosecution on the merits of this application is reopened on claim 1-10 considered unpatentable for the reasons indicated below: Claim Interpretation The examiner treats ‘if’ statements, in claims, like open ended ‘or’ statements for patentability. Examination needs to treat only one condition (true or false). So claiming a limitation to be conditional on the 'if being true' leaves open the possibility that it is instead false in which case when no additional limitation is present the conditional limitation would not be patentably limiting. Therefore it is considered that either an ‘if-then-else' format be used or a positive recitation of a limitation ‘when’ a condition exists be used to positively limit the claim with the recited limitation. For the sake of compact prosecution, the examiner address claim as written. (MPEP 2111.04) 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 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. Claim(s) 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Green (US 2005/0195777 A1). Regarding Claim 1, Green discloses a power reduction method for mobile communication device (See Fig.1(105);[0031-0032]; configured power setting as per area identification) comprising: obtaining region identification information (See Fig.1(103); [0029-0030]; [0043]; the WLAN device can perform the ACI recheck at regular intervals) after the mobile communication device is powered on (See Fig.1(101); [0029-0030]; after power up the WLAN device); setting a power status of the mobile communication device as a first power status (See Fig.1(105); [0031]; [0043]; the WLAN device can "lock" itself to the channel and power settings required by the country of operation) if first region identification information is obtained (See Fig.1(103); [0029-0030]; [0043]; the WLAN device can perform the ACI recheck at regular intervals); determining whether a hotspot of the mobile communication device is switched on if second region identification information, third region identification information, or fourth region identification information is obtained; (The above limitation does not carry any weight as the limitation is lacking a case of if the condition is not met. What will be the outcome? A performance is missing in case the contingent limitation is not met. Since all the following limitations depend on the “determination of hotspot”, all the subsequent limitation do not carry weight also. Applicant is advised to recite a case when the contingent is not met for all cases) setting the power status of the mobile communication device as a second power status if the hotspot of the mobile communication device is switched on; (The above limitation does not carry any weight as the limitation is lacking a case of if the condition is not met. What will be the outcome? A performance is missing in case the contingent limitation is not met. Since all the following limitations depend on the “determination of hotspot”, all the subsequent limitation do not carry weight also. Applicant is advised to recite a case when the contingent is not met for all cases) determining whether sensors of the mobile communication device are working if the hotspot of the mobile communication device is not switched on; (The above limitation does not carry any weight as the limitation is lacking a case of if the condition is not met. What will be the outcome? A performance is missing in case the contingent limitation is not met. Since all the following limitations depend on the “determination of hotspot”, all the subsequent limitation do not carry weight also. Applicant is advised to recite a case when the contingent is not met for all cases) setting the power status of the mobile communication device as a third power status if any one of the sensors of the mobile communication device is not working; (The above limitation does not carry any weight as the limitation is lacking a case of if the condition is not met. What will be the outcome? A performance is missing in case the contingent limitation is not met. Since all the following limitations depend on the “determination of hotspot”, all the subsequent limitation do not carry weight also. Applicant is advised to recite a case when the contingent is not met for all cases) determining whether the mobile communication device is in a talking mode if the sensors of the mobile communication device are working; (The above limitation does not carry any weight as the limitation is lacking a case of if the condition is not met. What will be the outcome? A performance is missing in case the contingent limitation is not met. Since all the following limitations depend on the “determination of hotspot”, all the subsequent limitation do not carry weight also. Applicant is advised to recite a case when the contingent is not met for all cases) setting the power status of the mobile communication device as a fourth power status if the mobile communication device is in the talking mode; (The above limitation does not carry any weight as the limitation is lacking a case of if the condition is not met. What will be the outcome? A performance is missing in case the contingent limitation is not met. Since all the following limitations depend on the “determination of hotspot”, all the subsequent limitation do not carry weight also. Applicant is advised to recite a case when the contingent is not met for all cases) determining whether the mobile communication device is operated by a user if the mobile communication device is not in the talking mode; (The above limitation does not carry any weight as the limitation is lacking a case of if the condition is not met. What will be the outcome? A performance is missing in case the contingent limitation is not met. Since all the following limitations depend on the “determination of hotspot”, all the subsequent limitation do not carry weight also. Applicant is advised to recite a case when the contingent is not met for all cases) setting the power status of the mobile communication device as the first power status if the mobile communication device is not operated by the user; (The above limitation does not carry any weight as the limitation is lacking a case of if the condition is not met. What will be the outcome? A performance is missing in case the contingent limitation is not met. Since all the following limitations depend on the “determination of hotspot”, all the subsequent limitation do not carry weight also. Applicant is advised to recite a case when the contingent is not met for all cases) and setting the power status of the mobile communication device as the third power status if the mobile communication device is operated by the user. (The above limitation does not carry any weight as the limitation is lacking a case of if the condition is not met. What will be the outcome? A performance is missing in case the contingent limitation is not met. Since all the following limitations depend on the “determination of hotspot”, all the subsequent limitation do not carry weight also. Applicant is advised to recite a case when the contingent is not met for all cases) (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Regarding Claim 2, The power reduction method of claim 1, wherein each of the second region identification information, the third region identification information, and the fourth region identification information indicates a country region, the first region identification information indicates a test status; each of the first power status, the second power status, the third power status, and the fourth power status comprises a plurality of power levels corresponding to the second region identification information, the third region identification information, and the fourth region identification information respectively. (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Regarding Claim 3, The power reduction method of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of power levels of the first power status, the second power status, the third power status, and the fourth power status is different from each other. (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Regarding Claim 4, The power reduction method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether sensors of the mobile communication device are working if the hotspot of the mobile communication device is not switched on, comprises: determining whether a first sensor and a second sensor are working, the first sensor is different from the second sensor, the first sensor is configured to detect a gravity variation of the mobile communication device, the second sensor is configured to detect a distance variation between any object and the mobile communication device. (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Regarding Claim 5, The power reduction method of claim 4, wherein when a predetermined signal of the first sensor and the second sensor are working within a first predetermined time period, the sensors of the mobile communication device are determined as working; when the predetermined signal of the first sensor and the second sensor are not working within the first predetermined time period, the sensors of the mobile communication device are determined as not working. (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Regarding Claim 6, The power reduction method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether the mobile communication device is in the talking mode if the sensors of the mobile communication device are determined as working, comprises: determining whether there is a call in the mobile communication device if the sensors of the mobile communication device are determined as working; determining the talking mode of the mobile communication device if there is a call in the mobile communication device; and determining the mobile communication device is not in the talking mode if there is no call in the mobile communication device. (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Regarding claim 7, The power reduction method of claim 6, wherein the step of determining the talking mode of the mobile communication device, comprises: setting the power status of the mobile communication device as the fourth power status if a receiver of the mobile communication device is turned on; and determining whether the mobile communication device is operated by the user if the receiver is not turned on. (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Regarding Claim 8, The power reduction method of claim 6, wherein the step of determining whether the mobile communication device is in the talking mode if there is no call in the mobile communication device, further comprises: determining the mobile communication device is in the talking mode if the call is an incoming call and the incoming call is answered or if the call is an outgoing call; determining the mobile communication device is not in the talking mode if the call is the incoming call and the incoming call is not answered. (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Regarding Claim 9, The power reduction method of claim 4, wherein the step of determining whether the mobile communication device is not operated by the user, comprises: determining whether the gravity variation of the mobile communication device is less than the gravity variation threshold value for a second predetermined time period by the first sensor or determining the distance variation of the mobile communication device is less than the distance variation threshold value by the second sensor. (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Regarding Claim 10, The power reduction method of claim 9, wherein the step of setting the power status of the mobile communication device as the third power status if the mobile communication device is operated by the user, comprises: determining the mobile communication device is operated by the user if determining a power key of the mobile communication device is pressed by the user to unlock an UI, determining the gravity variation of the mobile communication device is greater than or equal to the gravity variation threshold value, or determining the distance variation of the mobile communication device is greater than or equal to the distance variation threshold value. (All the dependent claims also do not carry any weight also as their limitations depend on the independent claim limitation that do not carry any weight) Allowable Subject Matter Claims 11-20 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Independent claims 11 are allowable in view of any of the references search below considered to be closest to the applicant subject matter and does not teach at least one of the following similar limitations of claim 11 nor the combination thereof. The prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Lee (US 2021/0321446 A1) Application teaches about a base station network setting different power status for a UE depending on the UE location and different operating status of the UE. The different operating status in combination with type of Location ID, including operation status such as hotspot turn on or not, sensors that are working or not, talking mode or node, each induce different power status from the base station. Lee teaches about similar features above such as gNB controlling the power status of UE in a network depending on different resources allocation needed for proper network communication operation. The difference between the two documents is that the application presented multiple power status associated with specific conditions related to area ID that are not taught by the Lee reference . Therefore, claims 11-20 are considered novel and non-obvious and are therefore allowed. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY LAFONTANT whose telephone number is (571)272-3037. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00AM -6:00PM. 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, Jeanette Parker can be reached at 571-2703647. 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. /GARY LAFONTANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 28, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 28, 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
74%
Grant Probability
75%
With Interview (+1.4%)
2y 5m (~5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 479 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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