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 with respect to claim(s) 1 and 10 filed December 17, 2025 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 10, 12-15, 19, 21, 22, 28, 30 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zewail et al. (US 2021/0112540) in view of Nam et al. (US 2019/0090223).
Regarding claim 1, Zewail et al. disclose a method for time-domain parameter indication of data transmission, applied to a base station (Figure 10, BS 1004), the method comprising:
indicating to a User Equipment, UE, whether scheduled data (Paragraph 55, beam switching gap for UL/DL transmission; Paragraph 56, UL transmission being PUSCH transmission and DL transmission being PDSCH transmission, both PUSCH and PDSCH being scheduled data) comprises a beam switching time interval GAP through indication information carried in Downlink Control Information, DCI (Figure 10 and paragraph 85, BS 1004 may transmit a beam switching gap allocation 1014 to UE 1002. Beam switching gap allocation 1014 generally indicates, to a UE 1002, a time at which beams used for uplink and/or downlink communications with the BS 1004 may be switched from a first beam to a second beam; Paragraph 58, the beam switching gap may be allocated by an explicit indication. For example, the BS can indicate the allocation in downlink control information (DCI) with a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) field indicating one of multiple radio resource control (RRC) TDRA configurations), or making an agreement with the UE to determine whether the scheduled data comprises the GAP through a scheduling condition (Paragraphs 63-64, 76-77, the beam switching gap may be implicitly indicated and the UE determines beam switching gap allocation according to detected grant configurations [scheduling condition] received from and transmitted by the BS);
determining the GAP according to a UE switching capability parameter agreed by an interface protocol when determining that the GAP is comprised (Figure 10 and paragraph 83, the UE 1002 may transmit, to the BS 1004, beam switching capability information 1010. Beam switching capability information 1010 may include, for example, an indication of a number of symbols that a UE is requesting for a beam switching gap to allow the UE to switch beams for communications with the BS. In another example, the beam switching capability information 1010 may indicate whether the beam switching gap is requested for sequential transmissions or sequential receptions using different beams; Figure 10 and paragraph 84, the BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap for the UE based further on the capability information transmitted to the BS 1004 in beam switching capability information 1010. For example, the BS 1004 may determine whether a beam switching gap is to be allocated for the UE 1002 based on an amount of time the UE needs to switch beams (e.g., as indicated in beam switching capability information 1010));
transmitting the scheduled data on a beam after the GAP (Figure 10 and paragraph 87, the UE and BS may switch transmission and/or reception beams based on the beam switching gap allocation at blocks 1018 and 1020, respectively…Subsequently, the UE 1002 may perform communications 1022 using the second beam);
wherein when the agreement is made with the UE to determine whether the scheduled data comprises the GAP through the scheduling condition (Paragraphs 63-64, 76-77, the beam switching gap may be implicitly indicated and the UE determines beam switching gap allocation according to detected grant configurations [scheduling condition] received from and transmitted by the BS), then it is determined that the scheduled data does not include the GAP (Paragraphs 64, 77, the UE determines and the BS indicates the beam switching gap is not allocated).
Zewail et al. does not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Nam et al.: the scheduled data does not include the GAP when any of following scheduling conditions is met:
a delay between a start symbol of the scheduled data indicated by DCI scheduling and a last symbol of a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, of the DCI is less than a preset threshold;
a length of scheduled Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH, or Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH, data is less than a preset length;
a start position of the scheduled data is at a Synchronization Signal, SS, or a Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH, signal;
the start position of the scheduled data is at a first symbol after conversion of an uplink signal or a downlink signal;
the scheduled data is data scheduled by a specific DCI format (Nam et al.: Paragraph 74, a DCI format with a beam switch command may be derived from a DCI format without a beam switch command by appending a beam switch field. In such scenario, the UE may be configured to monitor both the DCI format without a beam switch command and the derived DCI format, and may perform beam switch if the UE detects the derived DCI format with beam switch field).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zewail et al. with the cited disclosure from Nam et al. in order to enhance UE efficiency and power consumption by reducing decoding (Nam et al., Paragraph 47).
Regarding claim 3, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the UE switching capability parameter comprises a UE switching capability device level related to the UE itself (Paragraph 55, low capability UEs, such as low-power UEs, or UEs with a limited number of transmit/receive chains, may switch beams more slowly than other UEs (e.g., UEs with multiple transmit/receive chains). Thus, the beam switching gap allocated for these low capability UEs may be longer in duration that the beam switching cap allocated for other UEs that may not be so limited; Paragraph 84, beam switching capability of the UE includes the amount of time the UE needs to switch beams), and comprises at least one of subcarrier spacing, a DCI format of the scheduled data, and a transmission direction of the scheduled data (Abstract, paragraphs 27, 36, 50, 72, claims 1, 14, 30, 35, 40-43, beam switching gap based in part on a SCS of the UE).
Regarding claim 4, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the determining the GAP according to the UE switching capability parameter agreed by the interface protocol, comprises:
determining a quantity of symbols of the GAP according to the UE switching capability parameter agreed by the interface protocol (Paragraph 53, the allocation including the beam switching gap may be determined based on beam switching capability information provided by the UE to the BS. The beam switching capability information may be provided to the BS, for example, in a capability information message, capability report, or other uplink signaling from the UE to the BS. For example, a capability report transmitted by the UE may indicate whether a full symbol (or multiple symbol) beam switching gap is requested; Figure 10 and paragraph 84, At block 1012, the BS 1004 determines a beam switching gap for the UE. The BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap, for example, based at least on the SCS of the UE 1002. As discussed, the SCS of the UE 1002, and the associated CP length associated with the SCS of the UE 1002, may be used to determine if a beam switching gap (e.g., of one or more symbols) is to be allocated to the UE… the BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap for the UE based further on the capability information transmitted to the BS 1004 in beam switching capability information 1010. For example, the BS 1004 may determine whether a beam switching gap is to be allocated for the UE 1002 based on an amount of time the UE needs to switch beams (e.g., as indicated in beam switching capability information 1010). If beam switching can be accomplished within the amount of time indicated in beam switching capability information 1010);
determining a switching position of the GAP according to switching positions corresponding to different quantities of time units defined by the interface protocol (Paragraphs 85-87, BS 1004 may transmit a beam switching gap allocation 1014 to UE 1002. Beam switching gap allocation 1014 generally indicates, to a UE 1002, a time at which [switching position] beams used for uplink and/or downlink communications with the BS 1004 may be switched from a first beam to a second beam… one or multiple symbols are allocated for the beam switching gap [quantities of time units]… within one or more symbols allocated for a beam switching gap [quantities of time units]).
Regarding claim 5, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the indicating to the UE whether the scheduled data comprises the beam switching time interval GAP through the indication information carried in the DCI (Paragraphs 58 and 75, the beam switching gap may be allocated by an explicit indication, for example, using the DCI with the TDRA field), comprises:
indicating whether the scheduled data comprises the GAP by different values of one bit (Paragraph 62, a first SLIV field is used when the at least one symbol beam switching gap is not allocated and a separate second SLIV field is used when the at least one symbol beam switching gap is allocated. In some examples, a single SLIV field is used for assignment, and a bit in the DCI indicates whether the last at least one symbol is included or not; Paragraph 75, Two SLIV fields may be used, or one SLIV field may be used with the DCI bit of the SLIV field indicating whether the beam switching gap is allocated); or
indicating that the scheduled data comprises the GAP and a switching position of the GAP by different values of one bit; or
indicating whether the scheduled data comprises the GAP and a switching position of the GAP by different values of two bits.
Regarding claim 6, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the scheduled data comprises any one of: Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH, data; Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS; Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH, data (Paragraph 55, beam switching gap for UL/DL transmission; Paragraph 56, UL transmission being PUSCH transmission and DL transmission being PDSCH transmission, both PUSCH and PDSCH being scheduled data).
Regarding claim 10, Zewail et al. disclose a method for time-domain parameter indication of data transmission, applied to a User Equipment, UE (Figure 10, UE 1002), the method comprising:
determining whether scheduled data (Paragraph 55, beam switching gap for UL/DL transmission; Paragraph 56, UL transmission being PUSCH transmission and DL transmission being PDSCH transmission, both PUSCH and PDSCH being scheduled data) comprises a beam switching time interval GAP through indication information carried in Downlink Control Information, DCI (Figure 10 and paragraph 85, BS 1004 may transmit a beam switching gap allocation 1014 to UE 1002. Beam switching gap allocation 1014 generally indicates, to a UE 1002, a time at which beams used for uplink and/or downlink communications with the BS 1004 may be switched from a first beam to a second beam; Paragraph 58, the beam switching gap may be allocated by an explicit indication. For example, the BS can indicate the allocation in downlink control information (DCI) with a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) field indicating one of multiple radio resource control (RRC) TDRA configurations), or through a scheduling condition agreed with a base station (Paragraphs 63-64, 76-77, the beam switching gap may be implicitly indicated and the UE determines beam switching gap allocation according to detected grant configurations [scheduling condition] received from and transmitted by the BS);
determining the GAP according to a UE switching capability parameter agreed by an interface protocol when determining that the GAP is comprised (Figure 10 and paragraph 83, the UE 1002 may transmit, to the BS 1004, beam switching capability information 1010. Beam switching capability information 1010 may include, for example, an indication of a number of symbols that a UE is requesting for a beam switching gap to allow the UE to switch beams for communications with the BS. In another example, the beam switching capability information 1010 may indicate whether the beam switching gap is requested for sequential transmissions or sequential receptions using different beams; Figure 10 and paragraph 84, the BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap for the UE based further on the capability information transmitted to the BS 1004 in beam switching capability information 1010. For example, the BS 1004 may determine whether a beam switching gap is to be allocated for the UE 1002 based on an amount of time the UE needs to switch beams (e.g., as indicated in beam switching capability information 1010));
transmitting the scheduled data on a beam after the GAP (Figure 10 and paragraph 87, the UE and BS may switch transmission and/or reception beams based on the beam switching gap allocation at blocks 1018 and 1020, respectively…Subsequently, the UE 1002 may perform communications 1022 using the second beam);
wherein when it is determined whether the scheduled data comprises the GAP through the scheduling condition agreed with the base station (Paragraphs 63-64, 76-77, the beam switching gap may be implicitly indicated and the UE determines beam switching gap allocation according to detected grant configurations [scheduling condition] received from and transmitted by the BS), then it is determined that the scheduled data does not include the GAP (Paragraphs 64, 77, the UE determines and the BS indicates the beam switching gap is not allocated).
Zewail et al. does not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Nam et al.: the scheduled data does not include the GAP when any of following scheduling conditions is met:
a delay between a start symbol of the scheduled data indicated by DCI scheduling and a last symbol of a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, of the DCI is less than a preset threshold;
a length of scheduled Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH, or Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH, data is less than a preset length;
a start position of the scheduled data is at a Synchronization Signal, SS, or a Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH, signal;
the start position of the scheduled data is at a first symbol after conversion of an uplink signal or a downlink signal;
the scheduled data is data scheduled by a specific DCI format (Nam et al.: Paragraph 74, a DCI format with a beam switch command may be derived from a DCI format without a beam switch command by appending a beam switch field. In such scenario, the UE may be configured to monitor both the DCI format without a beam switch command and the derived DCI format, and may perform beam switch if the UE detects the derived DCI format with beam switch field).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zewail et al. with the cited disclosure from Nam et al. in order to enhance UE efficiency and power consumption by reducing decoding (Nam et al., Paragraph 47).
Regarding claim 12, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the UE switching capability parameter comprises a UE switching capability device level related to the UE itself (Paragraph 55, low capability UEs, such as low-power UEs, or UEs with a limited number of transmit/receive chains, may switch beams more slowly than other UEs (e.g., UEs with multiple transmit/receive chains). Thus, the beam switching gap allocated for these low capability UEs may be longer in duration that the beam switching cap allocated for other UEs that may not be so limited; Paragraph 84, beam switching capability of the UE includes the amount of time the UE needs to switch beams), and comprises at least one of subcarrier spacing, a DCI format of the scheduled data, and a transmission direction of the scheduled data (Abstract, paragraphs 27, 36, 50, 72, claims 1, 14, 30, 35, 40-43, beam switching gap based in part on a SCS of the UE).
Regarding claim 13, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the determining the GAP according to the UE switching capability parameter agreed by the interface protocol, comprises:
determining a quantity of symbols of the GAP according to the UE switching capability parameter agreed by the interface protocol (Paragraph 53, the allocation including the beam switching gap may be determined based on beam switching capability information provided by the UE to the BS. The beam switching capability information may be provided to the BS, for example, in a capability information message, capability report, or other uplink signaling from the UE to the BS. For example, a capability report transmitted by the UE may indicate whether a full symbol (or multiple symbol) beam switching gap is requested; Figure 10 and paragraph 84, At block 1012, the BS 1004 determines a beam switching gap for the UE. The BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap, for example, based at least on the SCS of the UE 1002. As discussed, the SCS of the UE 1002, and the associated CP length associated with the SCS of the UE 1002, may be used to determine if a beam switching gap (e.g., of one or more symbols) is to be allocated to the UE… the BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap for the UE based further on the capability information transmitted to the BS 1004 in beam switching capability information 1010. For example, the BS 1004 may determine whether a beam switching gap is to be allocated for the UE 1002 based on an amount of time the UE needs to switch beams (e.g., as indicated in beam switching capability information 1010). If beam switching can be accomplished within the amount of time indicated in beam switching capability information 1010);
determining a switching position of the GAP according to switching positions corresponding to different quantities of time units defined by the interface protocol (Paragraphs 85-87, BS 1004 may transmit a beam switching gap allocation 1014 to UE 1002. Beam switching gap allocation 1014 generally indicates, to a UE 1002, a time at which [switching position] beams used for uplink and/or downlink communications with the BS 1004 may be switched from a first beam to a second beam… one or multiple symbols are allocated for the beam switching gap [quantities of time units]… within one or more symbols allocated for a beam switching gap [quantities of time units]).
Regarding claim 14, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the determining UE whether the scheduled data comprises the beam switching time interval GAP through the indication information carried in the DCI (Paragraphs 58 and 75, the beam switching gap may be allocated by an explicit indication, for example, using the DCI with the TDRA field), comprises:
determining whether the scheduled data comprises the GAP by different values of one bit (Paragraph 62, a first SLIV field is used when the at least one symbol beam switching gap is not allocated and a separate second SLIV field is used when the at least one symbol beam switching gap is allocated. In some examples, a single SLIV field is used for assignment, and a bit in the DCI indicates whether the last at least one symbol is included or not; Paragraph 75, Two SLIV fields may be used, or one SLIV field may be used with the DCI bit of the SLIV field indicating whether the beam switching gap is allocated); or
determining whether the scheduled data comprises the GAP and a switching position of the GAP by different values of one bit; or
determining whether the scheduled data comprises the GAP and a switching position of the GAP by different values of two bits.
Regarding claim 15, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the scheduled data comprises any one of: Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH, data; Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS; Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH, data (Paragraph 55, beam switching gap for UL/DL transmission; Paragraph 56, UL transmission being PUSCH transmission and DL transmission being PDSCH transmission, both PUSCH and PDSCH being scheduled data).
Regarding claim 19, Zewail et al. disclose a base station (Figure 10, BS 1004; Figure 12 and paragraph 90, communications device 1200) for time-domain parameter indication of data transmission, comprising a memory and a processor (Figure 12 and paragraphs 90-91, processor 1204 and computer-readable medium/memory 1212), wherein:
the memory is configured to store a computer program (Figure 12, memory 1212 storing code 1214, 1216);
the processor is configured to read the program in the memory (Figure 12 and paragraph 91, the processor 1204 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1212) and perform operations of the method of claim 1 (See rejection of claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 21, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the UE switching capability parameter comprises a UE switching capability device level related to the UE itself (Paragraph 55, low capability UEs, such as low-power UEs, or UEs with a limited number of transmit/receive chains, may switch beams more slowly than other UEs (e.g., UEs with multiple transmit/receive chains). Thus, the beam switching gap allocated for these low capability UEs may be longer in duration that the beam switching cap allocated for other UEs that may not be so limited; Paragraph 84, beam switching capability of the UE includes the amount of time the UE needs to switch beams), and comprises at least one of subcarrier spacing, a DCI format of the scheduled data, and a transmission direction of the scheduled data (Abstract, paragraphs 27, 36, 50, 72, claims 1, 14, 30, 35, 40-43, beam switching gap based in part on a SCS of the UE).
Regarding claim 22, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the processor determines the GAP according to the UE switching capability parameter agreed by the interface protocol, comprises:
determining a quantity of symbols of the GAP according to the UE switching capability parameter agreed by the interface protocol (Paragraph 53, the allocation including the beam switching gap may be determined based on beam switching capability information provided by the UE to the BS. The beam switching capability information may be provided to the BS, for example, in a capability information message, capability report, or other uplink signaling from the UE to the BS. For example, a capability report transmitted by the UE may indicate whether a full symbol (or multiple symbol) beam switching gap is requested; Figure 10 and paragraph 84, At block 1012, the BS 1004 determines a beam switching gap for the UE. The BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap, for example, based at least on the SCS of the UE 1002. As discussed, the SCS of the UE 1002, and the associated CP length associated with the SCS of the UE 1002, may be used to determine if a beam switching gap (e.g., of one or more symbols) is to be allocated to the UE… the BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap for the UE based further on the capability information transmitted to the BS 1004 in beam switching capability information 1010. For example, the BS 1004 may determine whether a beam switching gap is to be allocated for the UE 1002 based on an amount of time the UE needs to switch beams (e.g., as indicated in beam switching capability information 1010). If beam switching can be accomplished within the amount of time indicated in beam switching capability information 1010);
determining a switching position of the GAP according to switching positions corresponding to different quantities of time units defined by the interface protocol (Paragraphs 85-87, BS 1004 may transmit a beam switching gap allocation 1014 to UE 1002. Beam switching gap allocation 1014 generally indicates, to a UE 1002, a time at which [switching position] beams used for uplink and/or downlink communications with the BS 1004 may be switched from a first beam to a second beam… one or multiple symbols are allocated for the beam switching gap [quantities of time units]… within one or more symbols allocated for a beam switching gap [quantities of time units]).
Regarding claim 28, Zewail et al. disclose a User Equipment, UE (Figure 10, UE 1002; Figure 11 and paragraph 89, communications device 1100), for time-domain parameter indication of data transmission, comprising a memory and a processor (Figure 11 and paragraphs 88-89, processor 1104 and computer-readable medium/memory 1112), wherein:
the memory is configured to store a computer program (Figure 11, memory 1112 storing code 1114, 1116);
the processor is configured to read the program in the memory (Figure 11 and paragraph 89, the processor 1104 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1112) and perform operations of the method of claim 10 (See rejection of claim 10 above).
Regarding claim 30, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the UE switching capability parameter comprises a UE switching capability device level related to the UE itself (Paragraph 55, low capability UEs, such as low-power UEs, or UEs with a limited number of transmit/receive chains, may switch beams more slowly than other UEs (e.g., UEs with multiple transmit/receive chains). Thus, the beam switching gap allocated for these low capability UEs may be longer in duration that the beam switching cap allocated for other UEs that may not be so limited; Paragraph 84, beam switching capability of the UE includes the amount of time the UE needs to switch beams), and comprises at least one of subcarrier spacing, a DCI format of the scheduled data, and a transmission direction of the scheduled data (Abstract, paragraphs 27, 36, 50, 72, claims 1, 14, 30, 35, 40-43, beam switching gap based in part on a SCS of the UE).
Regarding claim 31, Zewail et al. disclose wherein the processor determines the GAP according to the UE switching capability parameter agreed by the interface protocol, comprises:
determining a quantity of symbols of the GAP according to the UE switching capability parameter agreed by the interface protocol (Paragraph 53, the allocation including the beam switching gap may be determined based on beam switching capability information provided by the UE to the BS. The beam switching capability information may be provided to the BS, for example, in a capability information message, capability report, or other uplink signaling from the UE to the BS. For example, a capability report transmitted by the UE may indicate whether a full symbol (or multiple symbol) beam switching gap is requested; Figure 10 and paragraph 84, At block 1012, the BS 1004 determines a beam switching gap for the UE. The BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap, for example, based at least on the SCS of the UE 1002. As discussed, the SCS of the UE 1002, and the associated CP length associated with the SCS of the UE 1002, may be used to determine if a beam switching gap (e.g., of one or more symbols) is to be allocated to the UE… the BS 1004 may determine the beam switching gap for the UE based further on the capability information transmitted to the BS 1004 in beam switching capability information 1010. For example, the BS 1004 may determine whether a beam switching gap is to be allocated for the UE 1002 based on an amount of time the UE needs to switch beams (e.g., as indicated in beam switching capability information 1010). If beam switching can be accomplished within the amount of time indicated in beam switching capability information 1010);
determining a switching position of the GAP according to switching positions corresponding to different quantities of time units defined by the interface protocol (Paragraphs 85-87, BS 1004 may transmit a beam switching gap allocation 1014 to UE 1002. Beam switching gap allocation 1014 generally indicates, to a UE 1002, a time at which [switching position] beams used for uplink and/or downlink communications with the BS 1004 may be switched from a first beam to a second beam… one or multiple symbols are allocated for the beam switching gap [quantities of time units]… within one or more symbols allocated for a beam switching gap [quantities of time units]).
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 OTIS L THOMPSON, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-1953. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 6:30am - 7:00pm.
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/OTIS L THOMPSON, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 February 20, 2026