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 .
Claims 1-5, 8, and 11-20 are pending for examination. Claim 1 is independent.
Response to Amendment
The office action is responsive to the amendments filed on 11/07/2025. As
directed by the amendments claims 1 and 16 are amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/07/2025 have been fully considered but they are not fully persuasive.
Applicant arguments regarding 35 U.S.C. § 101:
Examiners response: Applicant’s arguments, see 1, filed 11/07/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-5, 8, and 11-20 under 35 USC 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of 35 USC 112(a).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-5, 8, and 11-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 1 lines 22-25 recites “when it is determined that the at least one type of network condition includes excessive antenna downtilt (EAD) that is a situation where mechanical tilt of an antenna of a base station in the communication network is excessively decreased, correcting the EAD by increasing the mechanical tilt of the antenna of the base station.” [emphasis added]. Support for this limitation does not appears in the Speciation, drawings, or claims as originally submitted. Based on Examiner review, the nearest support disclosure for this limitation is found on page 4 last paragraph:
[page 4 last paragraph] “The EAD is a situation that mechanical tilt of antennas of a base station in the communication network is excessively decreased, resulting in an abnormally small coverage area; the EAU is a situation that the mechanical tilt of antennas of a base station in the communication network is excessively increased, resulting in increased interference to neighboring cells of the base station or reduced signal quality for user equipments (e.g., mobile phones) near the base station.” […]
As shown in the passage above, the specification only describes excessive antenna downtilt (EAD), without any details about correcting EAD as recited in claim 1.
Dependent claims 2-5, 8, and 11-20 do not resolve the 112(a) rejection from independent claim 1 and are also rejected under 112(a).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Knebl et al. (US 9439081 B1) describes antenna down tilt (Col 4 lines 25-30). Chi et al. (US 20200366557 A1) also describes an antenna down tilt (Para 0004 and 0089).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEWODROS E MENGISTU whose telephone number is (571)270-7714. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:30-5:30.
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, ABDULLAH KAWSAR can be reached at (571)270-3169. 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.
/TEWODROS E MENGISTU/Examiner, Art Unit 2127