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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see section titled “35 U.S.C. § 112(a)”, with respect to claim 26 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 26 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments, see section titled “35 U.S.C. § 112(a)”, with respect to claim 30 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant indicates support is found in ¶ 114-117 and fig. 5 of the specification. These paragraph and fig. 5 does not show that a measurement of one or more reference signal is done by a network entity, such as a base station, but a UE, which is not a network entity, instead. Furthermore, Applicant’s amendments to claim 30 does not fully resolve the deficiency.
Applicant’s arguments, see section titled “35 U.S.C. § 112(b)”, with respect to claims 9-12 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 9-12 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments, see section titled “35 U.S.C. § 112(b)”, with respect to claim 19 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s amendments to claim 19 does not fully resolve the deficiency.
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.
Claim(s) 30 is/are 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 30, in view of claim 30 reciting, “A method…at a network entity”, the claim appears to recite that the network entity performing “measurement of one or more reference signals”. Applicant states that support is found in ¶ 114-117 as well as figure 5. A review of these paragraphs and fig. 5 and the rest of the specification does not appear to support that network entity performing measurement of one or more reference signals and that a UE is performing the measurement instead.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 19, 22-25, and 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim(s) 19, the boundaries of “measurement of one or more reference signals” is/are unclear because the claim(s) does not provide a discernable boundary on what performs the function(s). The recited function(s) does not follow from the structure recited in the claim, i.e., a processor or memory, so it is unclear whether the function(s) requires some other structure or is simply a result of operating the apparatus in a certain manner. Thus one of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to draw a clear boundary between what is and is not covered by the claim(s). See MPEP 2173.05(g) for more information. Claims 22-25 and 27-28 fails to resolve the deficiency of claim 19 and are thus rejected under similar rationale. Examiner will interpret the measurement to be done by the UE hereinafter for examination.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 1, 4-18, and 29 is/are allowed.
Claims 22-25 and 27-28 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 19 and 30 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 1st paragraph and/or 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior arts of record, in single or combination, does not teach, suggest or provide rationale for, in view of other limitations within the same claim, “start a timer for a time period after a change in received power associated with the non-terrestrial network entity satisfies a signal power threshold; and perform, prior to expiration of the timer, a measurement of one or more reference signals associated with a first non-terrestrial network cell of the one or more non-terrestrial network cells, the measurement performed by the UE based at least in part on a distance between the UE and the reference location satisfying the threshold distance associated with the distance-based measurement trigger criterion” of claim 1 and similarly for claim 29.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 PETER P CHAU whose telephone number is (571)270-7152. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 A.M - 6 P.M. ET M-F.
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, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at 571-272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER P CHAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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