Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 16, 2026
Application No. 18/982,514

DISCONTINUOUS RECEPTION AND NETWORK ENERGY SAVING

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Dec 16, 2024
Priority
Jun 16, 2022 — provisional 63/352,696 +1 more
Examiner
ASRES, HERMON
Art Unit
2449
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Toyota Motor Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 2m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allowance Rate
311 granted / 385 resolved
+22.8% vs TC avg
Strong +18% interview lift
Without
With
+18.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
411
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
13.6%
-26.4% vs TC avg
§103
53.4%
+13.4% vs TC avg
§102
15.7%
-24.3% vs TC avg
§112
9.7%
-30.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 385 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/15/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 6, 8, 12, and 15 are 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. 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)(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. Claims 1, and 3-5, 7, 9-11, 13-14, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhou et al. (USPGPub 2021/0243763). As per claim 1, Zhou teaches a method of network energy saving, (Zhou, see paragraph [0050], enable power saving operations of a wireless device and/or a base station) comprising the steps of: receiving, by a user equipment (UE) first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameters associated with a non-energy saving state of a serving cell (Zhou, see paragraph [0441], A base station (e.g., gNB in FIG. 28) may transmit to a wireless device (e.g., UE in FIG. 28), one or more RRC messages comprising first configuration parameters of a power saving (e.g., PS in FIG. 28) mode (Note DRX is received by UE here). Also see paragraph [0450], the wireless device may communicate with the base station in the full function mode (Note: this is the non-energy saving state)) and second DRX configuration parameters associated with an energy saving state of the serving cell (Zhou, see paragraph [0448], a second DRX configuration (e.g., 2.sup.nd DRX configuration as shown in FIG. 29) may indicate: one or more second search spaces (e.g., 2.sup.nd SSs as shown in FIG. 29) and/or one or more second control resource sets (e.g., 2.sup.nd CORESETs as shown in FIG. 29); one or more second RNTIs (e.g., 2.sup.nd RNTIs as shown in FIG. 29) of PDCCH candidates monitoring; one or more second DCI formats (e.g., 2.sup.nd DCI formats as shown in FIG. 29); one or more second DRX timers) monitoring a control channel based on the first DRX configuration parameters while the serving cell is in the non-energy saving state (Zhou, see paragraph [0452], wireless device may monitor the PDCCH in full function mode (or not in power saving mode)) and monitoring a control channel based on the second DRX configuration parameters while the serving cell is in the energy saving state (Zhou, see paragraph [0452], a first number of search spaces, control resource sets, RNTIs, and/or DCI formats, with which a wireless device may monitor a PDCCH in power saving mode). As per claim 3, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1, wherein: the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameters comprise a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value; and the second DRX configuration parameters comprise a second HARQ RTT timer value (Zhou, see paragraph [0454], The one or more fields may comprise at least one of: a frequency domain resource assignment, a HARQ process number, a RV value, an NDI value, and/or an MCS level. The wireless device may achieve the validation of the DCI for SPS PDSCH release based on at least one of: a RNTI used for scrambling CRC bits of the DCI being CS-RNTI, a frequency domain resource assignment being set to a predefined value (e.g., all zeros or all ones), a HARQ process number being set to a predefined value). As per claim 4, Zhou teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value are for a HARQ process (Zhou, see paragraph [0419], In an example, DRX may be configured for a wireless device. A DL HARQ RTT Timer may expire in a subframe and the data of the corresponding HARQ process may not be successfully decoded. The MAC entity may start the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL for the corresponding HARQ process). As per claim 5, Zhou teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value are for downlink HARQ RTT timers (Zhou, see paragraph [0419], In an example, DRX may be configured for a wireless device. A DL HARQ RTT Timer may expire in a subframe and the data of the corresponding HARQ process may not be successfully decoded. The MAC entity may start the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL for the corresponding HARQ process). As per claim 7, Zhou teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round trip time (RTT) timer value and the second HARQ RTT timer value are for uplink HARQ RTT timers (Zhou, see paragraph [0408], an uplink DRX HARQ RTT Timer (e.g., drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL)). As per claim 9, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1, wherein: the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameters comprise a first DRX retransmission timer value; and the second DRX configuration parameters comprise a second DRX retransmission timer value (Zhou, see paragraph [0462], a first set of feedback time values (e.g., in unit of symbols/slots/microseconds). The first set of feedback time values may be used for transmission of confirmation (e.g., a HARQ-ACK information) for a reception of a power saving signal/channel. The first set of feedback time values may be separately or independently configured from a second set of feedback time values. The first set of feedback time values may be same as a second set of feedback time values. The second set of feedback time values may be used for HARQ-ACK information feedback of a PDSCH reception after a last symbol of the PDSCH reception). As per claim 10, Zhou teaches the method of claim 9, wherein the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value are for hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ processes (Zhou, see paragraph [0420], DRX may be configured for a wireless device. An UL HARQ RTT Timer may expire in a subframe. The MAC entity may start the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process). As per claim 11, Zhou teaches the method of claim 9, wherein the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value are for downlink DRX retransmission timers (Zhou, see paragraph [0408], a downlink retransmission timer (e.g., drx-RetransmissionTimerDL)) As per claim 13, Zhou teaches the method of claim 12, wherein the user equipment (UE) is in a discontinuous reception (DRX) active time while a discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer is running (Zhou, see paragraph [0427], When the HARQ retransmission timer is running, the UE may receive a second DCI indicating a DL grant for the retransmission of the TB. If not receiving the second DCI before the HARQ retransmission timer expires, the UE may stop monitoring the PDCCH.) As per claim 14, Zhou teaches the method of claim 9, wherein the first discontinuous reception (DRX) retransmission timer value and the second DRX retransmission timer value are for uplink DRX retransmission timers (Zhou, see paragraph [0408], an uplink DRX HARQ RTT Timer (e.g., drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL)). As per claim 16, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1, wherein: the first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration parameters comprise a first DRX inactivity timer value; and the second DRX configuration parameters comprise a second DRX inactivity timer value. (Zhou, see paragraph [0462], a first set of feedback time values (e.g., in unit of symbols/slots/microseconds). The first set of feedback time values may be used for transmission of confirmation (e.g., a HARQ-ACK information) for a reception of a power saving signal/channel. The first set of feedback time values may be separately or independently configured from a second set of feedback time values. The first set of feedback time values may be same as a second set of feedback time values. The second set of feedback time values may be used for HARQ-ACK information feedback of a PDSCH reception after a last symbol of the PDSCH reception). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HERMON ASRES whose telephone number is (571)272-4257. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 9AM to 5PM. 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, Vivek Srivastava can be reached at (571)272-7304. 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. /HERMON ASRES/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2449
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 16, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12764807
METHODS, APPARATUSES AND SYSTEMS DIRECTED TO PROVISIONING DOMAIN SUPPORT IN 5G NETWORKS
3y 11m to grant Granted Oct 13, 2026
Patent 12764559
WIRELESS SIGNAL EXTENDING METHOD, ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM
2y 2m to grant Granted Oct 13, 2026
Patent 12756664
ADVERTISING NON-VPN ROUTES WITH A ROUTE DISTINGUISHER AND A ROUTE TARGET
3y 10m to grant Granted Oct 06, 2026
Patent 12750103
SPATIAL AUDIO ASSISTED BEAMFORMING FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN SAFE MODE
2y 9m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12745072
METHOD AND COMMUNICATION DEVICES FOR TRANSMITTING DATA
3y 3m to grant Granted Sep 22, 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
81%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+18.2%)
3y 0m (~1y 2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 385 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