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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/24/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The following is a final office action in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 11/24/2025 for response of the final office action mailed on 09/25/2025. Independent Claim 16 is amended. Claims 16-30 are pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 11/24/2025 with respect to the provisional non-statutory double patenting rejection of independent Claim 16 have been fully considered. However, in view of applicant’s amendments to independent Claim 16, a new ground of rejection is made as disclosed herein.
Applicant’s arguments filed 11/24/2025 with respect to the provisional non-statutory double patenting rejection of independent Claim 30 have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
Main argument:
Applicant argues (page 7-8) that “unamended independent claim 30, is patentably distinguishable from ‘722” (co-pending Application No. 18/022,722) because “[s]pecifically, unamended claim 30 has a unique configuration in which when a UE connects to another UE through a first SL connection, the first SL connection is established by the other UE using a first resource set. Applicant respectfully submits that ‘722 does not describe such a configuration.”
Argument Response: Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Although the claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both independent Claim 30 of instant application and independent Claim 16 of the reference application (‘722) [now Claim 1 of reference patent, cited herein] teach a configuration in which a UE establishes a first SL connection from the UE to the other UE using a first resource set of a plurality of resource sets stored in the UE. Specifically, independent Claim 16 of reference application (‘722) teaches a configuration in which a UE “establish[es] a first SL connection from the UE to the other UE using a first resource set of a plurality of resource sets stored in the UE.”
Therefore, this limitation is not patentably distinct and examiner maintains the rejection of Claim 30 with respect to non-statutory double patenting.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 16-30 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over Claims 1-10 of U.S. Patent No. 12550204 (‘204 reference patent) in view of FRÖBERG OLSSON et al. (US 20170272222 A1), hereinafter FRÖBERG OLSSON.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both Claim 16 of the instant application and Claim 1 of the reference patent recite the following:
Instant Application Claim 16
‘204/ Reference Patent
A user equipment (UE), comprising:
A User Equipment (UE) for sidelink (SL) communication with another UE, the UE comprising:
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions;
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon;
at least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media and configured to execute the one or more computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to
at least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
establish a first sidelink (SL) connection between the UE and another UE using a first resource set, the first resource set including an identifier (ID) of the first resource set, parameters for configuring a first Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Resource Pool, and Beam Management (BM) parameters associated with the first V2X Resource Pool for enabling a first set of directional transmission beams;
establish a first SL connection from the UE to the another UE using a first resource set of a plurality of resource sets stored in the UE, the first resource set including an identifier (ID) of the first resource set, parameters for configuring a first Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Resource Pool, and Beam Management (BM) parameters associated with the first V2X Resource Pool for enabling a first set of directional transmission beams;
receive, from the another UE, a Quality of Service (QoS) value associated with a first beam of the first set of directional transmission beams used for establishing the first SL connection; and
receive, from the another UE, a Quality of Service (QoS) value associated with a first beam of the first set of directional transmission beams used for establishing the first SL connection; and
transmit, via a Uu interface, to a New Radio (NR) V2X Control Function, the ID of the first resource set, a first beam index identifying the first beam, and the QoS value associated with first beam.
determine, based on the ID of the first resource set, a first beam index identifying the first beam, and the QoS value associated with the first beam, whether to select a second resource set of the plurality of resource sets to establish a second SL connection from the UE to the other UE, using the plurality of resource sets stored in the UE when the UE is out of network coverage.
At issue is the limitation of “transmitting” based on the ID of the first resource, a first beam index and QoS value associated with the first beam in the instant application which is arguably equivalent to “determining” a first beam index and QoS value associated with the first beam in the reference patent (‘204). These terms do not impart a change in the essential scope or technical contribution to the claim.
Claim 16 of reference patent fails to explicitly recite the limitation [to] “transmit, via a Uu interface, [to a New Radio (NR) V2X control function], . . . “. However, in the analogous art, FRÖBERG OLSSON discloses a UE that transmits resource information to a [control function / network node/ BS] via a “Uu interface” (FRÖBERG OLSSON, ¶0041, [t]he radio links may for example be based on the Uu interface . . . ¶0052-0053, discloses the UE transmitting “3-tuple” type information/attributes to the BS/network; see also ¶0032 it should be understood that the concepts could also be applied in connection with other radio access technologies, e.g., future evolutions of the LTE radio technology, e.g., a 5G (5.sup.th Generation) cellular radio technology/ “NR”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine FRÖBERG OLSSON’s teaching with the method of Claim 1 of reference patent (‘204). The motivation would be to allow for efficiently controlling radio communication in a cellular network.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16 - 30 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the nonstatutory double patenting rejection, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for independent Claims 16 and 30:
CHEN et al. (US 20220015070 A1) teaches a UE performing a device-to-device link communication using a resource from multiple resource pools (Abstract; FIG. 6A; ¶217-218, at 606).
However, the closest prior art of record CHEN, CHENG (‘840, previously cited), (Kim ‘434, previously cited), FRÖBERG OLSSON or others cited herein, fail to disclose or make obvious the limitations of a user equipment(UE) configured to establish a first SL connection between the UE and another UE using a first resource set including an identifier (ID) of the first resource set, parameters for configuring a first Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Resource Pool, and Beam Management (BM) parameters associated with the first V2X Resource Pool for enabling a first set of directional transmission beams; receive, from the other UE, a Quality of Service (QoS) value associated with a first beam of the first set of directional transmission beams used for establishing the first SL connection; and transmit, via a Uu interface, to a New Radio (NR) V2X Control Function, the ID of the first resource set, a first beam index identifying the first beam, and the QoS value associated with the first beam.
Claims 17-29 include the above-described allowable subject matter for being dependent on independent Claim 16.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang et al. (US 20210153062 A1): Abstract; FIG. 1B, ¶0079, shows various interfaces supporting V2X communications via Uu or sidelink; ¶0109, [t]he QoS requirements for the services may be derived from the application layer in FIG. 2B, and they may also be indicated by the terminal device . . . and may correspond to a combination of values . . . [f] example, the combination of values for a QoS requirement may be a 3-tuple (e.g., three out of a bit rate, a latency, and/or a packet/bit/block error rate, etc.).
LY et al. (US 20230056442 A1): Abstract; FIG. 1, ¶0336, WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate with each other over a Uu interface 129 via the gNB 121 if they are within the access network coverage 131; FIG. 3, the UE 201 provides a 3-tuple consisting of a multi-USIM indicator with the temporary identifier and PDU session ID of the other USIM in the MA PDU Session Establishment request. see also ¶0291, the air interface 115/116/117 or 115c/116c/117c may implement 3GPP NR technology . . .[which] includes NR V2X technologies and interface (such as Sidelink communications, etc.).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACY L WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7694. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:30-5:30. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached at 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRACY L WILLIAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465