Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/979,000

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SUBBAND TIME-FREQUENCY CONFIGURATION

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Dec 12, 2024
Priority
Dec 13, 2023 — provisional 63/609,586
Examiner
ANSARI, NAJEEBUDDIN
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Lenovo (United States) Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
64%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 6m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 64% of resolved cases
64%
Career Allowance Rate
304 granted / 474 resolved
+4.1% vs TC avg
Strong +58% interview lift
Without
With
+57.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
4y 4m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
502
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.6%
-32.4% vs TC avg
§103
53.4%
+13.4% vs TC avg
§102
19.4%
-20.6% vs TC avg
§112
15.8%
-24.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 474 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION In response to communications filed 12/12/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending for examination. 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 . Claim Objections Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “SCS” in claim 16 (line 1) should be unabbreviated to “reference subcarrier spacing” or “subcarrier spacing” so as to define the term as it first appears in the claims. 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 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by You et al. (US 2026/0254602 A1) “You.” Regarding Claim 1, You teaches A user equipment (UE) (You: paragraph 0372, & Figs. 20-21, user equipment (UE)), comprising: at least one memory (You: paragraph 0388 & Fig. 21, memory); and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (You: paragraph 0388 & Fig. 21, processor coupled to memory) and configured to cause the UE to: receive a configuration message for a subband time-frequency configuration (You: paragraph 0372 & Fig. 20, receive TDD configuration message from base station), wherein the configuration message indicates frequency domain resources and time domain resources of at least one subband (You: paragraph 0373 & Fig. 20, type configuration information to the UE (i.e. FD type/HD type); see also paragraphs 0066, 0081, time domain resources and frequency domain resources); and determine a transmission direction of the at least one subband, wherein the transmission direction (You: paragraph 0374 & Fig. 20, UE determines the FD type/HD type based on the type configuration information for a specific slot containing symbols with different link directions) comprises downlink, uplink, guard-band, or a combination thereof (You: paragraphs 0320-0323 & Fig. 18, uplink or downlink direction type based on TDD configuration information). Regarding Claim 2, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the configuration message indicates the frequency domain resources using a first resource block (RB), or a number of RBs, or both (You: paragraph 0081 & Fig. 7, resource blocks in the frequency domain). Regarding Claim 3, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the number of RBs of the frequency domain resources is indicated as a percentage value of a reference number of RBs (You: paragraph 0185, i.e. second frequency resource may be configured to have fewer X physical resource blocks (PRBs) on one or both edges of the carrier than the first frequency resource). Regarding Claim 4, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the reference number of RBs comprises a preconfigured number of RBs, a total number of RBs within a bandwidth part, a total number of RBs within a cell bandwidth, or a combination thereof (You: paragraph 0185, i.e. second frequency resource may be configured to have fewer X physical resource blocks (PRBs) on one or both edges of the carrier than the first frequency resource). Regarding Claim 5, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein part of the percentage value is implicitly determined (You: paragraph 0185, i.e. second frequency resource may be configured to have fewer X physical resource blocks (PRBs) on one or both edges of the carrier than the first frequency resource). Regarding Claim 6, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the configuration message indicates the time domain resources using a slot index, a symbol index, a first slot, a first symbol, a number of slots, a number of symbols, or a combination thereof (You: paragraph 0341, the slot offset information relative to the first slot in the period may be indicated for indicating the starting slot location). Regarding Claim 7, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein: the number of slots is indicated as a percentage value of a reference number of slots, the number of symbols is indicated as a percentage value of a reference number of symbols, or a combination thereof (You: paragraphs 0342 & 0348, the slot offset information relative to the first slot containing the flexible resource in the period (i.e., slot #d.sub.slots) may be indicated to inform the starting slot location). Regarding Claim 8, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the time domain resources are implicitly indicated within the configuration message (You: paragraphs 0066, 0081, time domain resources and frequency domain resources). Regarding Claim 9, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the frequency domain resources are implicitly indicated within the configuration message (You: paragraphs 0066, 0081, time domain resources and frequency domain resources). Regarding Claim 10, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the configuration message comprises subband full duplex (SBFD) TDD uplink-downlink (UL-DL) patterns associated with corresponding TDD UL-DL patterns (You: paragraph 0223, FD time resource information may further include TDD pattern information). Regarding Claim 11, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the corresponding TDD UL-DL patterns are provided by a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon information element (IE), a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated IE, or a combination thereof (You: paragraph 0323, TDD configuration information, for example, tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and/or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated). Regarding Claim 12, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein an indicated SBFD TDD UL-DL pattern of the SBFD TDD UL-DL patterns is associated with one TDD UL-DL pattern of the TDD UL-DL patterns based on a one-to-one mapping rule (You: paragraph 0223 & Figs. 13-15 , the TDD pattern information may be information indicating where the FD time resource is located among the first downlink-uplink pattern and the second downlink-uplink pattern). Regarding Claim 13, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein an indicated SBFD TDD UL-DL pattern of the SBFD TDD UL-DL patterns is associated with at least two TDD UL-DL patterns of the TDD UL-DL patterns based on a one-to-many mapping rule (You: paragraph 0280 & Fig. 16, TDD pattern indicating the pattern in which SBFD symbol resources exist among pattern1 and pattern2). Regarding Claim 14, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the configuration message is provided by a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message (You: paragraph 0372 & Fig. 20, TDD configuration information provided through RRC message). Regarding Claim 15, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the configuration message is cell-based and carried by a system information block 1 (SIB1) message (You: paragraph 0372 & Fig. 20, TDD configuration information provided through cell-specific system information). Regarding Claim 16, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the indicated subband has same SCS as the associated TDD UL-DL pattern (You: paragraph 0081, subcarrier spacing). Regarding Claim 17, You teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the indicated subband has same time periodicity as the associated TDD UL-DL pattern (You: paragraph 0264, common periodicity; see also paragraph 0203 & Table 5 dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity). Regarding Claim 18, You teaches A method performed by a user equipment (UE) (You: paragraph 0372, & Figs. 20-21, user equipment (UE)), the method comprising: receiving a configuration message for a subband time-frequency configuration (You: paragraph 0372 & Fig. 20, receive TDD configuration message from base station), wherein the configuration message indicates frequency domain resources and time domain resources of at least one subband (You: paragraph 0373 & Fig. 20, type configuration information to the UE (i.e. FD type/HD type); see also paragraphs 0066, 0081, time domain resources and frequency domain resources); and determining a transmission direction of the at least one subband, wherein the transmission direction (You: paragraph 0374 & Fig. 20, UE determines the FD type/HD type based on the type configuration information for a specific slot containing symbols with different link directions) comprises downlink, uplink, guard-band, or a combination thereof (You: paragraphs 0320-0323 & Fig. 18, uplink or downlink direction type based on TDD configuration information). Regarding Claim 19, You teaches A base station (You: paragraph 0373 & Fig. 20, base station), comprising: at least one memory (You: paragraph 0389 & Fig. 21, memory); and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (You: paragraph 0389 & Fig. 21, processor coupled to memory) and configured to cause the base station to: transmit a configuration message for a subband time-frequency configuration (You: paragraph 0372 & Fig. 20, transmit TDD configuration message to user equipment), wherein the configuration message indicates frequency domain resources and time domain resources of at least one subband (You: paragraph 0373 & Fig. 20, type configuration information to the UE (i.e. FD type/HD type); see also paragraphs 0066, 0081, time domain resources and frequency domain resources), a transmission direction of the at least one subband is determined, and the transmission direction (You: paragraph 0374 & Fig. 20, UE determines the FD type/HD type based on the type configuration information for a specific slot containing symbols with different link directions) comprises downlink, uplink, guard-band, or a combination thereof (You: paragraphs 0320-0323 & Fig. 18, uplink or downlink direction type based on TDD configuration information Regarding Claim 20, You teaches A processor (You: paragraph 0372, & Figs. 20-21, user equipment (UE)) for wireless communication (You: Fig. 1, wireless communication system), comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory (You: paragraph 0388 & Fig. 21, processor coupled to memory) and configured to cause the processor to: receive a configuration message for a subband time-frequency configuration (You: paragraph 0372 & Fig. 20, receive TDD configuration message from base station), wherein the configuration message indicates frequency domain resources and time domain resources of at least one subband (You: paragraph 0373 & Fig. 20, type configuration information to the UE (i.e. FD type/HD type); see also paragraphs 0066, 0081, time domain resources and frequency domain resources); and determine a transmission direction of the at least one subband, wherein the transmission direction (You: paragraph 0374 & Fig. 20, UE determines the FD type/HD type based on the type configuration information for a specific slot containing symbols with different link directions) comprises downlink, uplink, guard-band, or a combination thereof (You: paragraphs 0320-0323 & Fig. 18, uplink or downlink direction type based on TDD configuration information). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. You et al. (US 2026/0230294 A1) teaches a user equipment receives TDD configuration information from a base station, receives full duplex (FD) time resource information from the base station, and performs communication with the base station on the basis of the TDD configuration information and the FD time resource information (paragraph 0007). Wang et al. (US 2025/0220647 A1) teaches a terminal determines available resources for the first time-domain unit according to the dynamic signaling and the SBFD pattern (paragraph 0115). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAJEEB ANSARI whose telephone number is (571)270-5446. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am to 2pm. 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, ASAD NAWAZ can be reached at (571) 272-3988. 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. /NAJEEB ANSARI/Examiner, Art Unit 2463 /ASAD M NAWAZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2463
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 12, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 11, 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
64%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+57.6%)
4y 4m (~2y 6m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 474 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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