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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I (claims 1-14) in the reply filed on 10/31/2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 21-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Horn et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0032511).
Regarding claims 1, 21, and 24, Horn discloses a method a device (figures 1 and 4: base station or UE) a non-transitory
a processor (paragraph 6); and
a memory (paragraph 6) that stores executable instructions (paragraph 6) that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
receiving, by reflective surface equipment comprising a processor, a request to establish a reflective path usable to facilitate a connection between user equipment and access point equipment, resulting in reflected path information corresponding to the reflective path (figure 4 step 425; paragraphs 98, 103, 106 in view of paragraphs 103 and 114: control node (UE or base station) transmits a location message/request to a movable relay node to establish a reflective path [0048, 0092, and 0116] between UE and base station after both receive capability message from the movable relay node. The location message includes angle of arrival or a transmit beam [0098] such that the movable relay node can place one or more arrays (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface/RIS) in a non-parallel plan to the ground for signal relaying/reflecting);
based on the reflected path information, selecting, by the reflective surface equipment, a location for a reflective surface to facilitate the connection by the access point equipment (figure 4 step 435; paragraph 116: movable relay node configures RISs of the movable relay node based on the location message and positioning information) ; and
facilitating, by the reflective surface equipment, communicating the reflected path
information to the access point equipment (figure 4 step 440; paragraph 117: movable relay node relays communication from the control node 405 to the second node 415 based on configuring the RISs).
Regarding claims 2, 22, and 25, all limitations of claims 1, 21, and 24 are disclosed above. Horn further teaches based on the reflected path information, positioning, by the reflective surface equipment, the reflective surface at the location (paragraphs 116 and 117).
Regarding claims 3, 23, and 26, all limitations of claims 2, 22, and 25 are disclosed above. Horn further teaches the reflective surface equipment comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle (paragraphs 48, 87, 88: drone), and wherein the method further comprises, based on the request to establish the reflective path, moving, by the reflective surface equipment, to the location for the positioning of the reflective surface at the location (paragraphs 116 and 117).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-14 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 dependent claim 4, Horn reference teaches a concept of a control node indicates a location to a movable relay node for relaying/reflecting signaling communication between the control node and another node (UE). Claim 4’s elements of reflected path information comprises an estimated time for utilizing reflective surface to establish a relay connection, and based on the estimated time, the material of transient reflective surface ceases being usable to facilitate connection between access point after a period of time selected based on the estimated time, is not found the art. Even if the art is found, 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 dependent claims. It would not have been obvious to combine the several references to teach claim 4’s limitations in view of the main reference.
Claims 5-14 are allowable for the same reasons set forth in claim 4.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tong et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0022927) discloses drone being used as relay node for communication between base station and user equipment.
Walker et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0356625) discloses reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) node for relaying signal between base station and user equipment.
Echigo et al. (US Pub. No. 2025/0047365) teaches reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) node for relaying signal between base station and user equipment.
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/TITO Q PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466