DETAILED ACTION
1. In view of the appeal brief filed on April 21, 2025, PROSECUTION IS HEREBY REOPENED. A new ground of rejection set forth below.
To avoid abandonment of the application, appellant must exercise one of the following two options:
(1) file a reply under 37 CFR 1.111 (if this Office action is non-final) or a reply under 37 CFR 1.113 (if this Office action is final); or,
(2) initiate a new appeal by filing a notice of appeal under 37 CFR 41.31 followed by an appeal brief under 37 CFR 41.37. The previously paid notice of appeal fee and appeal brief fee can be applied to the new appeal. If, however, the appeal fees set forth in 37 CFR 41.20 have been increased since they were previously paid, then appellant must pay the difference between the increased fees and the amount previously paid.
A Supervisory Patent Examiner (SPE) has approved of reopening prosecution by signing below:
/CHIRAG G SHAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2477
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. 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
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Claims 25-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by
Chu et al. (US 2019/0239226 A1, hereinafter “Chu”).
Regarding claims 25, 30, 31 and 36-38, Chu teaches a method in a wireless device (figs. 1, 7, ¶ [0110] ) of transmitting a frame to a receiver, the method comprising: determining that the frame is not successfully received by the receiver via a first wireless communication link between the wireless device and the receiver (figs. 7, 8, ¶ [0076], primary component channel is determined to be busy by the CCA/backoff operations ); and transmitting the frame to the receiver via a second wireless communication link between the wireless device and the receiver (figs. 7, 8, ¶ [0076], where AP is configured to transmits data in one or more non-primary component channels); wherein: determining that the frame is not successfully received by the receiver comprises transmitting the frame to the receiver using the first wireless communication link and determining that an acknowledgement of receipt of the frame by the receiver has not been received by the wireless device, and transmitting the frame to the receiver via the second wireless communication link comprises transmitting the frame to the receiver before expiry of a backoff time for retransmission of the frame via the first communication link following transmission of the frame using the first wireless communication link; or determining that the frame is not successfully received by the receiver comprises performing a Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure and determining that a channel associated with the first wireless communication link is occupied (fig. 7, ¶ [0072], ¶ [0074]-¶ [0076], where the AP 114 performs an LBT/CCA procedure on some or all channels (704-1 to 704-4) and determines that the primary channel 704-1 is busy/occupied), and transmitting the frame to the receiver via the second wireless communication link comprises transmitting the frame to the receiver before expiry of a backoff for a further LBT procedure on the first wireless communication link (fig. 7, ¶ [0068], ¶ [0069], ¶ [0074]-¶ [0076], the AP 114 transmits the data in the non-primary channel 704-2 if the AP 114 determines based on the LBT/CCA/backoff operations 708-2 corresponding to the non-primary channel 704-2 that the non-primary channel 704-2 is idle even if the CCA/backoff operations 708-1 indicate that the primary channel 704-1 is busy. If the primary channel 704-1 is busy then the backoff timer has not reached zero/expired. ¶ [0066], ¶ [0072]).
Regarding claims 26 and 32, Chu teaches the method of claim 25, wherein transmitting the frame to the receiver via the second wireless communication link comprises transmitting the frame to the receiver immediately on determining that the frame is not successfully received by the receiver (fig. 7, ¶ [0074]-¶ [0076], where the AP 114 transmits the data in the non-primary channel 704-2 if the AP 114 determines based on the CCA/backoff operations 708-2 corresponding to the non-primary channel 704-2 that the non-primary channel 704-2 is idle even if the CCA/backoff operations 708-1 indicate that the primary channel 704-1 is busy (i.e., determining that the frame is not successfully received by the receiver)).
Regarding claims 27 and 33, Chu teaches the method of claim 25, wherein transmitting the frame to the receiver via the second wireless communication link comprises performing a LBT procedure on the second wireless communication link (fig. 7, ¶ [0074]-¶ [0076], where the AP 114 is configured to transmit the data in the non-primary channel 704-2 if the AP 114 determines based on the LBT/CCA/backoff operations 708-2 corresponding to the non-primary channel 704-2 that the non-primary channel 704-2 is idle even if the CCA/backoff operations 708-1 indicate that the primary channel 704-1 is busy).
Regarding claims 28 and 34, Chu teaches the method of claim 25, wherein transmitting the frame to the receiver via the second wireless communication link comprises determining that the receiver is capable of receiving frames via the first and second wireless communication links (¶ [0050], the AP 114 and the bandwidth-limited client station 154 are configured to negotiate in which particular component channel of the communication channel the bandwidth-limited client station 154 will be operating. For example, in an embodiment, after association of the bandwidth-limited client station 154 with the AP 114, which may occur in the primary channel, a negotiation procedure is performed between the bandwidth-limited client station 154 and the AP 114 to negotiate in which component channel of the communication channel the bandwidth-limited client station 154 will be operating. ¶ [0060]).
Regarding claims 29 and 35, Chu teaches the method of claim 25, wherein the first and second wireless communication links comprise 802.11 wireless communication links (fig. 7, ¶ [0020]).
Response to Arguments
6. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 25, 30 and 31 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANDISH RANDHAWA whose telephone number is (571)270-5650. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday (9 AM-7 PM).
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, Chirag Shah can be reached at 571-272-3144. 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.
/MANDISH K RANDHAWA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477