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 .
Status of Claims
This is a Final Rejection office action in response to application Serial No. 17/422,139. Claim(s) 1-16 have been examined and fully considered.
Claim(s) 1-16 are pending in Instant Application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 01/21/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) under 35 USC § 103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 Park et al. (Pub. No.: US 2020/0045691).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (Pub. No.: US 2020/0045691), hereinafter, referred to as “Park” in view of Zhang et al. (Pub. No.: US 2018/0146506; previous recorded), hereinafter, referred to as “Zhang”.
Regarding [claim 1], Park discloses a method performed by a transmission terminal in a wireless communication system (see, Abstract; [0018]: “provided herein is a method of receiving a physical uplink control channel ( PUCCH ) from a user equipment ( UE)”), the method comprising:
performing synchronization based on a sidelink synchronization signal (see, Figure 10; and Paragraphs [0034]; and [0066]: “When a UE is powered on or enters a new cell, the
UE performs initial cell search (Sll). The initial cell search involves acquisition of synchronization to an eNB. Specifically, the UE synchronizes its timing to the eNB and
acquires information such as a cell Identifier (ID) by receiving a Primary Synchronization Channel (P-SCH) and a Secondary Synchronization Channel (S-SCH) from the eNB”);
receiving a control signal comprising information related to at least one resource (see, Paragraph [0073]: “a PUCCH periodically. However, if control information and traffic data should be transmitted simultaneously, the control information and traffic data may be transmitted on a PUSCH. In addition, the UCI may be transmitted aperiodically on the PUSCH, upon receipt of a request/command from a network.”; and [0098]: “In the 3GPP LTE or LTE-A system, the BS may set a plurality of CSI processes for the UE and receive a report of the CSI for each process from the UE. Here, the CSI process is configured with a CSI-RS for specifying signal quality from the BS and a CSI-interference measurement (CSI-IM) resource for interference measurement”);
transmitting a reference signal to a plurality of reception terminals in at least one subcarrier (see, Paragraph[0161]: “dynamic control information (DCI) may mean a dynamic control signal. In addition, when OFDM resources are represented in a time and frequency grid, an RE may mean a resource corresponding to a specific subcarrier and a specific OFDM symbol. Moreover, a DM-RS may mean a reference signal that supports reception operation for data demodulation such as channel estimation, etc. Further, a slot may mean a basic time unit for data scheduling and be composed of a plurality of symbols. Additionally, as a minimum time unit for data scheduling, a mini-slot may be defined to have a shorter time period than that of a slot. In this case, a symbol may be an OFDM symbol or SC-FDMA symbol”); and
receiving feedback signals through a resource in the at least one subcarrier based on the reference signal from the plurality of reception terminals, the feedback signals being overlapped in the resource (see, Paragraph [0088]: “Referring to FIG. 4, a UL subframe may be divided into a control region and a data region in the frequency domain. A PUCCH carrying UCI is allocated to the control region and a PUSCH carrying user data is allocated to the
data region. To maintain a single carrier property, a UE does not transmit a PUCCH and a PUSCH simultaneously. A pair of RBs in a subframe are allocated to a PUCCH for a UE.
The RBs of the RB pair occupy different subcarriers in two slots. Thus, it is said that the RB pair frequency-hops over a slot boundary”);
wherein each of the feedback signals comprises a sequence indicating negative acknowledge (NACK) and is applied (see, Paragraph [0269]: “[0269]: “When a UE is capable of transmitting an SRS, a BS may configure for the UE a specific resource set consisting of N (orthogonal) SRS resources. By selecting one SRS resource from among the N ( orthogonal) SRS resources, the UE may transmit k-bit ACK/NACK information (where k=floor(logiN)) to the BS.”; [0270]: “The SRS resource may be defined in terms of a frequency band, a sequence (in particular, the root index and cyclic shift of a CAZAC sequence), and a comb index (e.g., even or odd). The BS may transmit information indicating which SRS resource relates to the k-bits ACK/NACK information to the UE through a higher layer signal (e.g., RRC signaling).”; and
[0271]: “ In addition, the operation of transmitting ACK/NACK based on the SRS resource may be triggered by a specific state of a bit field for indicating an ACK/NACK resource in DCI corresponding to DL assignment (hereinafter referred to as an ACK/NACK resource indicator
(ARI)). That is, when the ARI in the DL assignment has multiple states, some of the multiple states may indicate specific PUCCH resources, and the specific state may indicate the ACK/NACK transmission operation based on the SRS resource”)…
Park does not explicitly disclose
wherein each of the feedback signals…are with, different phase compensation based on phase change of the reference signal received by each of the plurality of reception terminals.
However, Zhang teaches
wherein each of the feedback signals…are with, different phase compensation based on phase change of the reference signal received by each of the plurality of reception terminals (see, Abstract; Paragraphs [0063]-[0064] and [0066]: “At block 503, the base station receives a phase compensation reference signal from each of the UEs. When the phase drift is too large within a transmission opportunity, the UEs may transmit PCRS at the end of each subframe. The PCRS may be triggered via signaling received from the base stations, such as semi-static or dynamic signaling, or the UEs may either begin transmissions on their own detection of phase drift, or simply send the PCRS after each subframe regardless of detecting a phase drift. The UEs may send the PCRS after each subframe upon the trigger of the base stations regardless of detecting a phase drift. Each base station of the CoMP set may receive a PCRS from each served UE and uses the PCRS to determine the phase adjustment in a channel from each UE to each base station”; [0067]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to implement an wireless communication network may include a number of base stations or node Bs that can support communication for a number of user equipments (UEs). as taught by Zhang. One would be motivated to efficiently address operating diverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments (see, Paragraph [0025]).
As to [claim 2], Park in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1. Park discloses … a channel (see, Paragraph [0026]: “FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating physical channels
and a signal transmission method using the physical channels”) where a channel
used for phase compensation of the plurality of feedback signals is determined based on a reference antenna port (see, Paragraph [0093]: “In the 3GPP LTE or LTE-A system, user equipment (UE) has been defined to report channel state information (CSI) to a base station (BS or eNB). Herein, the CSI refers to information indicating the quality of a radio channel (or
link) formed between the UE and an antenna port”).
In support of the Park, Zhang also teaches
where a channel used for phase compensation of the plurality of feedback signals is determined based on a reference antenna port (see, Paragraph [0041]: “For example, a
device may infer that a change in a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a power meter indicates that a channel is occupied. Specifically, signal power that is concentrated in
a certain bandwidth and exceeds a predetermined noise floor may indicate another wireless transmitter. A CCA also may include detection of specific sequences that indicate use of
the channel. For example, another device may transmit a specific preamble prior to transmitting a data sequence. In some cases, an LBT procedure may include a wireless node adjusting its own backoff window based on the amount of energy detected on a channel and/or the acknowledge/
negative-acknowledge (ACK/NACK) feedback for its own transmitted packets as a proxy for collisions”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to implement an wireless communication network may include a number of base stations or node Bs that can support communication for a number of user equipments (UEs). as taught by Zhang. One would be motivated to efficiently address operating diverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments (see, Paragraph [0025]).
As to [claim 3], Park in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 2. Park further comprising: transmitting information related to the reference antenna port to the plurality of reception terminals through physical layer signaling or higher layer signaling (see, Paragraph [0106]: “The E-UTRA carrier RSSI comprises the linear average of the total received power (in [W]) observed only in OFDM symbols containing reference symbols for antenna port 0, in the measurement bandwidth, over N number of resource blocks by the UE from all sources, including co-channel serving and non-serving cells, adjacent channel
interference, thermal noise etc. If higher-layer signaling indicates certain subframes for performing RSRQ measurements, then RSSI is measured over all OFDM symbols in the
indicated subframes”; and [0117]: “The NR system to which the present invention is
applicable supports various OFDM numerologies shown in the following table. In this case, the value of μ and cyclic prefix information per carrier bandwidth part can be signaled in DL and UL, respectively. For example, the value ofμ and cyclic prefix information per downlink carrier bandwidth part may be signaled though DL-BWP-mu and DL-MWP-cp
corresponding to higher layer signaling. As another example, the value of μ and cyclic prefix information per uplink carrier bandwidth part may be signaled though ULBWP-
mu and UL-MWP-cp corresponding to higher layer signaling”).
As to [claim 4], Park in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 3. Park discloses wherein the information [[on]] related to the reference antenna port indicates at least one of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port of a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) (see, Figure 1 “(S11)” and Paragraphs [0066]: “the UE performs initial cell search (Sll). The initial cell search involves acquisition of synchronization to an eNB. Specifically, the UE synchronizes its timing to the eNB and acquires information such as a cell Identifier (ID) by receiving a Primary Synchronization Channel (P-SCH) and a Secondary Synchronization Channel (S-SCH) from the eNB.” and [0157]: “a short PUCCH may have various UCI payload sizes from 1 bit (e.g., HARQ-ACK information for one transmission block (TB)) to several tens of bits (e.g., HARQ-ACK information for multiple TBs and CSI feedback information). In this case, the density of a demodulation reference signals (DM-RS), which is a reference signal
for PUCCH demodulation, may be adjusted depending on the UCI payload size”) or a DMRS port of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).
As to [claim 5], Park in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 2. Park discloses wherein the transmission terminal transmits a reference signal or a sounding reference signal (SRS) used for channel state information (CSI) measurement based on the reference antenna port (see, Paragraph [0230]: “In this case, a BS may inform whether the FDM of the short PUCCH and SRS is supported in the specific symbol using a higher layer signal ( e.g., RRC signaling) or
a dynamic control signal (e.g., DCI). The BS may also configure the DM-RS pattern for the short PUCCH in the specific symbol through a higher layer signal (e.g., RRC signaling) or a dynamic control signal (e.g., DCI).”; [0233]: “However, if a short PUCCH resource and an SRS
resource are FDM in the specific symbol, specific REs (in the corresponding symbol) on the short PUCCH may not be available for SRS transmission. As a result, considering REs
not available for multiplexing with the SRS (in the corresponding symbol), the number of DM-RS REs needs to be adjusted such that the total number of UCI REs for the short PUCCH becomes a multiple of 2, 3 or 5.”; [0234]: “ For example, assuming that 2 REs are reserved for
multiplexing with the SRS in each basic unit when the frequency resource region for the short PUCCH is allocated with the basic unit composed of 12 subcarriers, if the DM-RS density is equal to or less than ½, the number of DM-RS REs in the basic unit may be one of {1, 2, 4, 5}.”;
[0235]: “That is, this is different from the number of DM-RS REs when the SRS is not considered, one of {2, 3, 4, 6}. Thus, the DM-RS pattern for the short PUCCH may be changed (in the specific symbol) depending on whether the FDM of the short PUCCH and SRS is supported (in the corresponding symbol).”).
Regarding [claim 10], recites analogous limitations that are present in claim 1, therefore claim 10 would be rejected for the same/similar reasons above.
As to [claim 11], Park in view of Zhang teaches the transmission terminal of claim 10. Park teaches wherein the transmission terminal communicates with at least one of a mobile terminal, a network or an autonomous vehicle other than the device (see, Paragraph [0041]: “a wireless communication module that communicates with a base station in a wireless communication system. For example, the UE includes user equipment (UE) in WCDMA, LTE, NR, HSPA, IMT-2020 (5G or New Radio), and the like, a mobile station in GSM, a user terminal (UT), a subscriber station (SS), a wireless device, and the like. In addition, the UE may be a portable user device, such as a smart phone, or the UE may be a vehicle, a device including a wireless communication module in the vehicle, and the like in a V2X communication system according to the usage type thereof. In the case of a machine-type communication (MTC) system, the UE may refer to an MTC terminal, an M2M terminal, or a URLLC terminal, which employs a communication module capable of performing machine type communication.”).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Zhang, and view of Islam et al. (Pub No.: US 2017/0302352; previously recorded), hereinafter, referred to as “Islam”.
As to [claim 8], Park in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1.
Islam teaches wherein the reception terminal is configured to randomize a phase compensation value applied to transmission of the plurality of feedback signals, when channel estimation accuracy is lower than a predetermined threshold (see at least Paragraph [0099]: “The PC-RSs 325-c may be transmitted according to the example subframe 375 based on a determination (e.g., based on previous phase noise detection events) that phase noise are below a threshold level in the subframe. In some examples, PC-RSs 325-c may be present in the same symbol period as CSI-RS, but may be absent in PDSCH transmissions during the second region 310-c and/or the third region 315-c. The UE 115 and the base station 105 may determine or identify that PC-RSs 325-c are not necessary during PDSCH for different reasons, e.g., due to low modulation rate, a low rank, a higher capability at UE, etc. ” and [0133]: “The channel information message component 725 may transmit the channel information message to the base station, the channel information message additionally or alternatively comprising the second channel information, generate the channel information message that comprises the first channel information and the second channel information, and transmit a channel information message to a base station, the channel information message comprising the first channel information”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to further disclose as taught by Islam. One would be motivated to make this modification in order to convey the UE (e.g., the receiver in downlink communications) may generate a large portion of the phase noise in the received signals, e.g., the oscillator components in the UE transceiver may have higher tolerance levels, may be manufactured using less expensive components, etc.
Claim(s) 7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Zhang, and in view of Kwak et al., (US 2021/0282041; previously recorded), hereinafter, referred to as “Kwak”.
As to claim 7, Park in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1. Neither Park nor Zhang teaches wherein a sequence for the phase compensation is expressed by ak exp (- jX) where, ak denotes a complex value of a sequence transmitted in a k-th tone and X denotes an average value of phase values obtained through channel estimation.
However, Kwak teaches wherein a sequence for the phase compensation is expressed by ak exp (- jX) where, ak denotes a complex value of a sequence transmitted in a k-th tone and X denotes an average value of phase values obtained through channel estimation (see at least Paragraph [0150]: “The terminal may estimate a channel value of such a band , based on a value measured through the synchronization signal. The channel value may be estimated using values measured in different time resources of the same frequency or in different frequency resources of the same time, or depending on the situation, both of them may be used for estimation”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to incorporate the phase values obtained through channel estimation as taught by Kwak and combining the transmission terminal in a wireless communication system as taught by Park in view of Zhang. One would be motivated to make this modification in order to improve the accuracy of the channel estimation.
As to [claim 9], Park in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1. Park in view of Zhang teaches wherein the different phase compensation is determined based on a reference antenna port, however, Neither Park nor Zhang teaches wherein the feedback signal indicates only negative acknowledge (NACK).
However, Kwak teaches
wherein the feedback signal indicates only negative acknowledge (NACK) (see at least Paragraph [0049]: “Other control channels 130: Other control channels include a physical HARQ indicator channel (PHICH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). These control channels provide control information necessary for a terminal to receive the PDSCH or transmit ACK/NACK for operating the HARQ for uplink data transmission”)…
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to incorporate the phase values obtained through channel estimation as taught by Kwak and combining the transmission terminal in a wireless communication system as taught by Park in view of Zhang. One would be motivated to make this modification in order to improve the accuracy of the channel estimation.
Claim(s) 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Zhang, and in view of Nam Young Hun (KR101841501B1; previous recorded) hereinafter, referred to as “Hun” (Foreign NPL; the citations are based on the provided English Translation).
As to claim 12, Park in view of Zhang discloses teaches the transmission terminal of claim 10. Islam does not explicitly disclose wherein the transmission terminal implements at least one advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) function based on a signal for controlling movement of the terminal.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Hun teaches
wherein the transmission terminal implements at least one advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) function (see at least Paragraph [0378]: “functions that can be implemented in a vehicle may include the ADAS function 1045”) based on a signal for controlling movement of the terminal (see at least Paragraph [0152]: “For example, the ITS communication unit 460 may receive a control signal from the transportation system and provide it to the control unit 170”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to further modify Park in view of Zhang by combining the transmission terminal implements at least one advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) function based on a signal for controlling movement of the terminal as taught by Hun. One would be motivated to make this modification in order to convey to provide a mobile terminal for car sharing that allows users to easily reserve a vehicle equipped with desired functions (see at least Paragraph [0007]).
Regarding [claim 13], Park in view of Zhang teaches the transmission terminal of claim 10. Hun further teaches wherein the terminal receives user input (see at least Paragraph [0048]: “When the vehicle 100 is operated in manual mode, the autonomous vehicle 100 may receive user input for driving through the driving control device 500. Based on user input received through the driving control device 500, the vehicle 100 may be driven”) and switches a driving mode of a device from an autonomous driving mode to a manual driving mode or from a manual driving mode to an autonomous driving mode (see at least Paragraphs [0044]: “For example, the vehicle 100 may be switched from manual mode to autonomous driving mode, or from autonomous driving mode to manual mode, based on driving situation information received through the communication device 400”; and [0045]: “The vehicle 100 may be switched from manual mode to autonomous driving mode or from autonomous driving mode to manual mode based on information, data, and signals provided from an external device”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to further modify the combination of Park in view of Zhang by combining wherein the terminal receives user input and switches a driving mode of a device from an autonomous driving mode to a manual driving mode or from a manual driving mode to an autonomous driving mode as taught by Hun. One would be motivated to make this modification in order to convey to provide a mobile terminal for car sharing that allows users to easily reserve a vehicle equipped with desired functions (see at least Paragraph [0007]).
As to [claim 14], Park in view of Zhang teaches the transmission terminal of claim 10. Hun further teaches wherein the transmission terminal is autonomously driven based on external object information (see at least Paragraph [0090]: “The object detection device 300 is a device for detecting objects located outside the vehicle 100. The object detection device 300 may generate object information based on sensing data”), and wherein the external object information comprises at least one of information on presence/absence of an object, location information of the object, information on a distance between the transmission terminal and the object or relative speed information of the transmission terminal and the object (see at least Paragraph [0091]: “Object information may include information about the presence or absence of an object, location information of the object, distance information between the vehicle 100 and the object, and relative speed information between the vehicle 100 and the object”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to further modify Park in view of Zhang by combining wherein the transmission terminal is autonomously driven based on external object information, and wherein the external object information comprises at least one of information on presence/absence of an object, location information of the object, information on a distance between the transmission terminal and the object or relative speed information of the transmission terminal and the object as taught by Hun. One would be motivated to make this modification in order to convey to provide a mobile terminal for car sharing that allows users to easily reserve a vehicle equipped with desired functions (see at least Paragraph [0007]).
Claim(s) 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Zhang, and in view of Kim (Pub. No.: US 2018/0309612), hereinafter, referred to as “Kim”.
As to [claim 15], Park in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1. Neither Park nor Zhang teaches transmitting a packet to the plurality of reception terminals; and determining whether transmitting the packet is successful based on power of the feedback signals.
However, Kim teaches
transmitting a packet to the plurality of reception terminals (see, Paragraph [0102]: “When a packet is transmitted in a mobile communication system, since the packet is transmitted via a radio channel, a signal may be distorted in the course of transmission. In order for a receiving end to correctly receive the distorted signal, the receiving end may correct the distortion of the transmitted signal as much as channel information by finding out the channel information. In order to find out the channel information, a signal known to both a transmitting end and the receiving end is transmitted and it may find out the channel information with the extent of distortion of the signal when the signal is received on a channel. The signal known to both the transmitting end and the receiving end is called a pilot signal or a reference signal”); and determining whether transmitting the packet is successful based on power of the feedback signals (see, Paragraph [0164]-[0165]: “And, for example, a UE can transmit a synchronization signal based on a probability. For example, when the UE receives a message or when the UE successfully receives a message, the UE can determine whether to transmit a synchronization signal based on a probability P. A value of the probability P can be configured by a value configured or preconfigured via higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). And, the value of the probability P can be included in the received message.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to implement wireless communication, and more particularly to methods for scheduling and transmitting the UCI and wireless communication devices as taught by Kim. One would be motivated to make this modification in order to convey (1) low cost, which is much lower than smartphones; (2) huge number (106 connections will be supported per square kilometer according to the requirements of ITU for 5G and MMC services); (3) low data transfer rate requirements; and (4) a high tolerance for latency (see, Paragraph [0003]).
As to [claim 16], recites analogous limitations that are present in claim 15, therefore claim 16 would be rejected for the same/similar reasons above.
Possible Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 6 is 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Upon review of the evidence at hand, it is hereby concluded that the evidence obtained and made of record, alone or in combination, neither anticipates, reasonably teaches, nor renders obvious all the features of applicant’s invention as the features amount to more than a predictable use of elements in the prior art:
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While the aforementioned references disclose elements of the invention, the combination of references does not fully capture the structure and interplay of the elements as recited in the claims. Therefore, upon review of the evidence at hand, it is hereby concluded that the evidence obtained and made of record, alone or in combination, neither anticipates, reasonably teaches, nor renders obvious all the features of applicant’s invention as the features amount to more than a predictable use of elements in the prior art.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/B.U./Examiner, Art Unit 3663 /JAMES M MCPHERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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