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 .
Response to Amendment
This communication is in response to amendment filed on 3/6/2026. Claims 1-5, 7-11, 17, and 18 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0212142) in view of Merlin et al. (US Pub. No. 2018/0205502) in view of Zhou et al. (US Pub. No. 2026/0143402).
Regarding claims 1 and 7, Patil discloses a method a non-access point (non-AP) multi-link device (MLD) (figure 4 non AP MLD) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the non-AP MLD comprising:
at least one processor (figure 3 processor 335); and
at least one computer memory (figure 3 memory 345) operatively connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions (paragraph 119) that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:
wherein the first non-AP STA operates on a first link (see figure 4 STA1 links with AP1), a second non-AP STA (figure 4 STA2 links with AP2) is further affiliated with the non-AP MLD, and the second non-AP STA operates on a second link,
receiving, by the first non-AP STA, a first protocol data unit (PPDU) including first data through the first link (figure 9 step 902; paragraph 85: receiving a MPDU through first wireless link);
receiving, by the first non-AP STA, a second PPDU including second data through the second link (figure 9 step 904; paragraph 86: receiving MPDU through second link); and
transmitting, by the first non-AP STA, a block ACK (BA) frame through the first link, wherein the BA frame includes an ACK for the first data and the second data (figure 9 step 906; paragraph 87: block BA is transmitted through the first link including feedback for packets from first and second links).
Patil does not teach the PDU is a physical PDU. However, Patil’s paragraphs 54-57 discloses packets in the form of PPDUs and MPDUs are transmitted and received by wireless communication device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to substitute a known element (MPDU) with another (PPDU) with predictable result of wireless communication according to 802.11 (paragraph 57).
Patil does not teach wherein a second element related to capability for acknowledgement (ACK) sharing is transmitted from the non-AP STA during an association process, wherein the second element includes information related to a time period in which ACK sharing is possible.
In the same field of block Acknowledgement, Merlin discloses wherein a second element related to capability for acknowledgement (ACK) sharing is transmitted from the non-AP STA during an association process, wherein the second element includes information related to a time period in which ACK sharing is possible (figure 8 element 810: Exchange BA capability info; paragraphs 5, 6, 8, 44, 58, 59, 106, 107 : BA capability exchange include at least BA window size (period of time due to multi-link operation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement in Patil wherein a second element related to capability for acknowledgement (ACK) sharing is transmitted from the non-AP STA during an association process, wherein the second element includes information related to a time period in which ACK sharing is possible.
The motivation would have been to improve BA procedure (paragraph 107).
Patil does not teach transmitting, by a first non-AP station (STA) affiliated with the non-AP MLD, a management frame including a first element related to a multi operation, wherein the first element includes simultaneous transmission and reception information related to whether the non-AP MLD supports a simultaneous transmission and reception operation, wherein the first element further includes link information related to a maximum number of links to be supported by the non-AP MLD.
However, in the same field of multi-link, Zhou discloses transmitting, by a first non-AP station (STA) affiliated with the non-AP MLD, a management frame (paragraph 6: management frame) including a first element related to a multi operation (paragraph 7: aggregation/multi-link), wherein the first element includes simultaneous transmission and reception information related to whether the non-AP MLD supports a simultaneous transmission and reception operation (paragraphs 7-9), wherein the first element further includes link information related to a maximum number of links to be supported by the non-AP MLD (see figures 2 and 3 and paragraphs 7, 43, 55, and 66: wireless devices exchange link aggregation capability including capability for parallel/simultaneous transmission/reception and maximum number of links that are supported at the same time).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement in Patil transmitting, by a first non-AP station (STA) affiliated with the non-AP MLD, a management frame including a first element related to a multi operation, wherein the first element includes simultaneous transmission and reception information related to whether the non-AP MLD supports a simultaneous transmission and reception operation, wherein the first element further includes link information related to a maximum number of links to be supported by the non-AP MLD.
The motivation would have been for acquiring other node’s capability to communicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless link (paragraph 7).
Regarding claims 2 and 8, all limitations of claims 1 and 7 are disclosed above. Patil does not teach but Merlin discloses wherein the ACK shared capability information includes information related to whether sharing ACK information between the first STA and the second STA is possible (figure 8 element 810: Exchange BA capability info and agreement; paragraphs 5, 6, 8, 44, 58, 59, 106, 107).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement in Patil wherein the ACK shared capability information includes information related to whether sharing ACK information between the first STA and the second STA is possible.
The motivation would have been for block ACK procedure/process.
Regarding claims 3 and 9, all limitations of claims 1 and 7 are disclosed above. Patil does not teach but Merlin discloses wherein the ACK sharing capability element includes information related to whether a time required to share ACK information between the first STA and the second STA is less than a preconfigured threshold value (paragraphs 58, 65: longer BA window which means the time period is not less than a threshold value (64 MPDUs for example).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement in Patil wherein the ACK sharing capability element includes information related to whether a time required to share ACK information between the first STA and the second STA is less than a preconfigured threshold value.
The motivation would have been for an improve BA procedure.
Regarding claims 4 and 10, all limitations of claims 1 and 7 are disclosed above. Patil does not teach but Merlin discloses transmitting the BA frame through the second link (paragraph 104).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement in Patil transmitting the BA frame through the second link.
The motivation would have been to transmit BA over multi-link.
Regarding claims 5 and 11, all limitations of claims 1 and 7 are disclosed above. Patil further teaches receiving ACK request link information related to a link through which the BA frame is transmitted (paragraphs 134 and 149).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17 and 18 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 17 and 18, Patil reference discloses a concept of block Acknowledgement for a plurality of packets via multiple links. Merlin and Zhou references teach multi-link capability including block Acknowledgement parameters.
Claims 17 and 18 are objected allowable over prior art since none of the cited references as prior arts of record, and the newly found reference (Zhou) during search teaches the amended limitations in conjunction with the previously recited limitations within all independent claims 1 and 7. Furthermore, even if the combination of prior arts discloses the foregoing limitations inherently or in combination, it would invariably require impermissible hindsight reasoning due to the numbers and verities of references
required and the content in which the limitation is recited in the independent claims. It
would not have been obvious to combine the several references to teach the limitations
of the amended independent claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remark, filed 3/6/2026, with respect to 35 U.S.C. 112(a) rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. 112(a) rejection of claims 1-5, 7-11, 17, and 18 has been withdrawn.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TITO Q PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-4122. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9AM-6PM EST.
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, Faruk Hamza can be reached at 571-272-7969. 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.
/TITO Q PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466
Prosecution Insights