Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 19/038,459

ENABLING UNRESTRICTED ALLOCATION FOR DFT-S-OFDM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 27, 2025
Examiner
KASSA, ZEWDU A
Art Unit
2635
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
89%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 89% — above average
89%
Career Allowance Rate
728 granted / 821 resolved
+26.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +5% lift
Without
With
+5.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
15 currently pending
Career history
834
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.2%
-33.8% vs TC avg
§103
75.5%
+35.5% vs TC avg
§102
10.1%
-29.9% vs TC avg
§112
1.4%
-38.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 821 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. 1. Claims 1-3, 9, 13-17, 23, 27-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (US 2026/0113227) in view of Goto (JP 2014131112). 2. As per claim 1, Shin teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (Shin, ¶0008 “ … processor … memory …”), the at least one processor is configured to: obtain a configuration for uplink discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) communication (Shin, ¶0006 “… DFT-s-OFDM …”. Furthermore, it’s well-known in the art at the time of the invention to obtain or receive configuration for uplink DFT-s-OFDM communication for the benefit of enhancing communication – see Goto JP 2014131112 for example claim section), wherein the configuration for the uplink DFT-s-OFDM communication indicates a set of resource blocks (RBs) for a transmission of at least one signal (Shin, ¶0070 “… indication …”), wherein the set of RBs includes a plurality of resource elements (REs) including a set of supported REs or at least one additional RE (Shin, ¶0071 “… resource element …”); and transmit the at least one signal in accordance with the configuration for the uplink DFT-s-OFDM communication (Shin, ¶0069). 3. Claim 27 is similarly analyzed as claim 1 for obviousness reasons discussed above. 4. As per claim 2, Shin in view of Goto teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set of supported REs is a DFT-sized set of Res (Shin, ¶0071). 5. Claim 28 is similarly analyzed as claim 2 for obviousness reasons discussed above. 6. As per claim 3, Shin in view of Goto teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the DFT-sized set of REs comprises a number of REs that is an integer product of at least one of 2, 3, or 5 or an integer product of powers of at least one of 2, 3, or 5 (Shin, ¶0075). 7. Claim 29 is similarly analyzed as claim 3 for obviousness reasons discussed above. 8. As per claim 9, Shin in view of Goto teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of REs comprises a maximum number of RE allocated or supported by the UE for transmitting the at least one signal under OFDM communication (Shin, ¶0071). 9. As per claim 13, Shin in view of Goto teaches the apparatus of claim 1, the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, from a network entity, the configuration for the uplink DFT-s-OFDM communication (Shin, ¶0008). 10. As per claim 14, Shin in view of Goto teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the configuration for the uplink DFT-s- OFDM communication is based on a communication specification (Shin, ¶0008). 11. As per claim 15, Shin teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, comprising: memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (Shin, ¶0008), the at least one processor is configured to: configure a user equipment (UE) for uplink discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) communication (Shin, ¶0006. Furthermore, it’s well-known in the art at the time of the invention to obtain or receive configuration for uplink DFT-s-OFDM communication for the benefit of enhancing communication – see Goto JP 2014131112 for example claim section), wherein the configuration for the uplink DFT-s-OFDM communication indicates a set of resource blocks (RBs) for a transmission of at least one signal (Shin, ¶0070), wherein the set of RBs includes a plurality of resource elements (REs) including a set of supported REs or at least one additional RE (Shin, ¶0071); and receive the at least one signal configured in accordance with the configuration for the uplink DFT-s-OFDM communication (Shin, ¶0069). 12. Claim 30 is similarly analyzed as claim 15 for obviousness reasons discussed above. 13. As per claim 16, Shin in view of Goto teaches the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the set of supported REs is a DFT- sized set of Res (Shin, ¶0071). 14. As per claim 17, Shin in view of Goto teaches the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the DFT-sized set of REs comprises a number of REs that is an integer product of at least one of 2, 3, or 5 or an integer product of powers of at least one of 2, 3, or 5 (Shin, ¶0070). 15. As per claim 23, Shin in view of Goto teaches the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the plurality of REs comprises a maximum number of RE allocated or supported by the UE for transmitting the at least one signal under OFDM communication (Shin, ¶0071). Allowable Subject Matter 16. Claims 4-8, 10-12, 18-22 and 24-26 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZEWDU A KASSA whose telephone number is (571)270-5253. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30. 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, David Payne can be reached at 5712723024. 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. ZEWDU A. KASSA Examiner Art Unit 2637 /ZEWDU A KASSA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 27, 2025
Application Filed
Jul 28, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
89%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+5.1%)
2y 4m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 821 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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