Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/996,949

USER EQUIPMENT (UE)

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jan 17, 2025
Priority
Jul 26, 2022 — JP 2022-118516 +1 more
Examiner
WASHINGTON, ERIKA ALISE
Art Unit
2644
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Sharp Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
89%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
6m
Est. Remaining
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 89% — above average
89%
Career Allowance Rate
911 granted / 1022 resolved
+27.1% vs TC avg
Minimal +4% lift
Without
With
+4.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
1033
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.3%
-34.7% vs TC avg
§103
25.6%
-14.4% vs TC avg
§102
38.8%
-1.2% vs TC avg
§112
10.0%
-30.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1022 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 . 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) 4-6, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Won, US Patent Application Publication Number 2021/0258857 (hereinafter Won). Regarding claims 4 and 9, Won discloses a user equipment (UE) comprising: transmission and reception circuitry [inherent feature of user equipment]; and controlling circuitry [inherent feature of user equipment], wherein the UE is operating in a Stand-alone Non-public Network (SNPN) access operation mode [paragraph 0383], and the controlling circuitry uses the same SNPN-specific attempt counter for non- 3GPP access in a case that the UE accesses to the SNPN service directly over non-3GPP access and in a case that the UE accesses to the SNPN service via a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) [paragraph 0385]. Regarding claim 5, Won discloses a user equipment (UE) comprising: transmission and reception circuitry [inherent feature of user equipment]; controlling circuitry [inherent feature of user equipment]; and storage circuitry, wherein the UE is operating in a Stand-alone Non-public Network (SNPN) access operation mode [paragraph 0383], the storage circuitry stores an SNPN-specific attempt counter for non-3GPP access, and the controlling circuitry maintains the SNPN-specific attempt counter stored on the storage circuitry in a case that the UE accesses to the SNPN service directly over the non- 3GPP access [paragraph 0385]. Regarding claim 6, Won discloses wherein the attempt counter is used in a case that the UE accesses to the SNPN service via a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and in the case that the UE accesses to the SNPN service directly over the non-3GPP access [paragraph 0385]. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 7 and 8 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. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chiba et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 2026/0025778, disclose user equipment operating in a stand-alone non-public network. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIKA WASHINGTON whose telephone number is (571)272-7841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday. 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, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 571-270-5371. 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. /EAW/ September 1, 2026 /ERIKA A WASHINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 17, 2025
Application Filed
Sep 04, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12745206
DUTY-CYCLE BASED POSITIONING SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNALS
2y 10m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12745301
INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD
2y 4m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12745085
ELECTRIC MOBILE VEHICLE, PORTABLE TERMINAL DEVICE, AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION PROGRAM
2y 7m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12732776
METHOD FOR PROVIDING A SERVICE
3y 2m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12712623
Repeater with Carrier-Specific Information
2y 9m to grant Granted Aug 18, 2026
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
89%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+4.3%)
2y 2m (~6m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1022 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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