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 .
Remarks
The present Office Action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed on 9/16/2025. Claims 46-50, 53-62, 64, and 65 are now pending in the present application. Claims 51, 52, and 63 have been canceled by the Applicant. This Action is made FINAL.
Drawings
The drawings received on 9/16/2025 are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 49 is 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.
Claim 49 includes the wording “the sidelink control information signaling includes one or more of: an indicator of the first paging message; the first paging message; a frequency domain resource assignment; and a time domain resource assignment” followed by the same wording “the sidelink control information signaling includes one or more of: an indicator of the first paging message; the first paging message; a frequency domain resource assignment; a time domain resource assignment”. This duplication of wording causes the claim wording to be unclear and indefinite.
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 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)(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.
Claims 57, 58, 62, and 65 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hong et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0373578 A1) (as cited in Applicant’s IDS, hereinafter Hong).
Regarding claim 57, Hong discloses a method performed by a second user equipment (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0127 disclose since the remote UE has woken up in a PO thereof aligned with the PO of the relay UE, the remote UE may immediately receive the paging message transmitted by the relay UE. Since the remote UE has woken up in the PO thereof aligned with the PO of the relay UE, if the relay UE immediately relays the paging message of the remote UE received (S1010) in the PO thereof or the PO of the remote UE (S1020), the remote UE may receive the paging message (S1030)), comprising:
transmitting status information to a first user equipment, wherein the status information indicates activity status of the second user equipment and includes one or more of: one or more time occasions during which the second user equipment is active; duration of the second user equipment being in active state; radio link status; buffer status; power headroom; mobility status; and one or more measurement results of a link between the first user equipment and the second user equipment (Paragraph 0108 discloses the remote UE may forward the PO value thereof to the relay UE. Information about the PO of the remote UE may be transmitted/received through PC5 connection. Paragraph 0097 discloses a PO in a PF defines a specific subframe in which an LTE UE checks the paging message); and
receiving one or more messages from a base station via the first user equipment, wherein the one or more messages includes a first paging message in physical layer signaling (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124, 0127, and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Since the remote UE has woken up in a PO thereof aligned with the PO of the relay UE, the remote UE may immediately receive the paging message transmitted by the relay UE. Since the remote UE has woken up in the PO thereof aligned with the PO of the relay UE, if the relay UE immediately relays the paging message of the remote UE received (S1010) in the PO thereof or the PO of the remote UE (S1020), the remote UE may receive the paging message (S1030). Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto. Paragraph 0081 discloses UEs in the IDLE mode monitor a PDCCH for a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) used for paging (hereinafter, a P-RNTI PDCCH) to receive a paging message from an eNB. Figure 9 and paragraph 0120 disclose if the relay UE and the remote UE are connected to the network via L2 relaying, the network should relay a paging message to the remote UE via the relay UE in order to page the remote UE. Paragraph 0097 discloses the P-RNTI indicates that the UE may have the paging message on a PDSCH).
Regarding claim 58, as applied to claim 57 above, Hong further discloses wherein the second user equipment receives the one or more messages in a groupcast or broadcast transmission from the first user equipment, or wherein the second user equipment receives the one or more messages in a dedicated transmission from the first user equipment (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto).
Regarding claim 62, as applied to claim 57 above, Hong further discloses wherein the second user equipment receives the one or more messages from the first user equipment according to a configuration provided by the base station or according to a predetermined configuration (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto).
Regarding claim 65, as applied to claim 57 above, Hong further discloses wherein the second user equipment is configured with capability information indicating whether the second user equipment supports the first paging message and/or the second paging message in relay communication (Paragraph 0013 discloses transmitting paging frame (PF) information and paging occasion (PO) information to the remote UE).
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the Examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the Examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 46-50, 53, 55, and 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Huber et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0178065 A1) (hereinafter Huber).
Regarding claim 46, Hong discloses a method performed by a first user equipment (Figure 10 and paragraph 0124 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO), comprising:
receiving one or more messages for a second user equipment from a base station, wherein the one or more messages includes a first paging message in physical layer signaling (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto. Paragraph 0081 discloses UEs in the IDLE mode monitor a PDCCH for a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) used for paging (hereinafter, a P-RNTI PDCCH) to receive a paging message from an eNB. Figure 9 and paragraph 0120 disclose if the relay UE and the remote UE are connected to the network via L2 relaying, the network should relay a paging message to the remote UE via the relay UE in order to page the remote UE. Paragraph 0097 discloses the P-RNTI indicates that the UE may have the paging message on a PDSCH);
forwarding the one or more messages to the second user equipment (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto);
receiving status information from the second user equipment, wherein the status information indicates activity status of the second user equipment and includes one or more of: one or more time occasions during which the second user equipment is active; duration of the second user equipment being in active state; radio link status; buffer status; power headroom; mobility status; and one or more measurement results of a link between the first user equipment and the second user equipment (Paragraph 0108 discloses the remote UE may forward the PO value thereof to the relay UE. Information about the PO of the remote UE may be transmitted/received through PC5 connection. Paragraph 0097 discloses a PO in a PF defines a specific subframe in which an LTE UE checks the paging message).
Hong does not explicitly disclose forwarding the status information of the second user equipment to the base station.
In analogous art, Huber discloses forwarding the status information of the second user equipment to the base station (Paragraph 0092 discloses the UE may send the computed paging occasion value to the Base Station when the finalized paging occasion is set up).
It 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 to incorporate a UE sending a PO value to a Base Station, as described in Huber, with a UE sending a PO value to a relay UE, as described in Hong, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining a UE sending a PO value to a Base Station of Huber with a UE sending a PO value to a relay UE of Hong was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Huber.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Hong and Huber to obtain the invention as specified in claim 46.
Regarding claim 47, as applied to claim 46 above, Hong, as modified by Huber, further discloses wherein the first user equipment forwards the one or more messages to the second user equipment in a groupcast or broadcast transmission or wherein the first user equipment forwards the one or more messages to the second user equipment in a dedicated transmission (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto).
Regarding claim 48, as applied to claim 46 above, Hong, as modified by Huber, further discloses wherein the first user equipment forwards the one or more messages to the second user equipment in one or more of: sidelink control information signaling; radio resource control signaling; a control element for medium access control; a control data unit; or a second paging message in signaling on a protocol layer above the physical layer (Paragraph 0021 discloses the paging message may be relayed to the remote UE by the relay UE through the PC5 connection. Paragraph 0079 discloses PC5-S, which is a higher layer than a radio resource control (RRC) layer, the UEs are linked. PC5-S means a PC5 signaling protocol).
Regarding claim 49, as applied to claim 48 above, Hong, as modified by Huber, further discloses wherein the first user equipment forwards the one or more messages to the second user equipment in sidelink control information signaling, and wherein the sidelink control information signaling includes one or more of: an indicator of the first paging message; the first paging message; a frequency domain resource assignment; and a time domain resource assignment; or the sidelink control information signaling includes one or more of: an indicator of the first paging message; the first paging message; a frequency domain resource assignment; a time domain resource assignment; an indicator of the second paging message; and paging information of the second user equipment (Since the claim upon which this claim depends recites options for steps written in the alterative and the option to which this claim is directed is not the one for which prior art is cited, no art need be cited in the rejection of this claim).
Regarding claim 50, as applied to claim 46 above, Hong, as modified by Huber, further discloses wherein the first user equipment forwards the one or more messages to the second user equipment according to a configuration provided by the base station or according to a predetermined configuration (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto).
Regarding claim 53, as applied to claim 46 above, Hong, as modified by Huber, further discloses scheduling one or more transmissions to the second user equipment according to the status information of the second user equipment (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto).
Regarding claim 55, as applied to claim 46 above, Hong, as modified by Huber, further discloses wherein the second user equipment is configured with capability information indicating whether the second user equipment supports the first paging message and/or the second paging message in relay communication (Paragraph 0013 discloses transmitting paging frame (PF) information and paging occasion (PO) information to the remote UE).
Regarding claim 56, Hong discloses a first user equipment (Figure 10 and paragraph 0124 disclose a relay UE), comprising:
one or more processors; and one or more memories comprising computer program codes, the one or more memories and the computer program codes being configured to, with the one or more processors, cause the first user equipment at least to (Figure 11 and paragraphs 0143 and 0149 disclose the transmitting device 100 and the receiving device 200 respectively include Radio Frequency (RF) units 13 and 23 capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals carrying information, data, signals, and/or messages, memories 12 and 22 for storing information related to communication in a wireless communication system, and processors 11 and 21 operationally connected to elements such as the RF units 13 and 23 and the memories 12 and 22 to control the elements and configured to control the memories 12 and 22 and/or the RF units 13 and 23 so that a corresponding device may perform at least one of the above-described embodiments of the present invention. A UE operates as the transmitting device 100 in UL and as the receiving device 200 in DL. In the embodiments of the present invention, an eNB operates as the receiving device 200 in UL and as the transmitting device 100 in DL):
receive one or more messages for a second user equipment from a base station, wherein the one or more messages includes a first paging message in physical layer signaling (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto. Paragraph 0081 discloses UEs in the IDLE mode monitor a PDCCH for a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) used for paging (hereinafter, a P-RNTI PDCCH) to receive a paging message from an eNB. Figure 9 and paragraph 0120 disclose if the relay UE and the remote UE are connected to the network via L2 relaying, the network should relay a paging message to the remote UE via the relay UE in order to page the remote UE. Paragraph 0097 discloses the P-RNTI indicates that the UE may have the paging message on a PDSCH);
forward the one or more messages to the second user equipment (Figure 10 and paragraphs 0124 and 0137 disclose if the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Upon receiving a paging message for the remote UE in the PO, the relay UE transmits the paging message in the dedicated PO to the remote UE linked thereto)
receive status information from the second user equipment, wherein the status information indicates activity status of the second user equipment and includes one or more of: one or more time occasions during which the second user equipment is active; duration of the second user equipment being in active state; radio link status; buffer status; power headroom; mobility status; and one or more measurement results of a link between the first user equipment and the second user equipment (Paragraph 0108 discloses the remote UE may forward the PO value thereof to the relay UE. Information about the PO of the remote UE may be transmitted/received through PC5 connection. Paragraph 0097 discloses a PO in a PF defines a specific subframe in which an LTE UE checks the paging message).
Hong does not explicitly disclose forward the status information of the second user equipment to the base station.
In analogous art, Huber discloses forward the status information of the second user equipment to the base station (Paragraph 0092 discloses the UE may send the computed paging occasion value to the Base Station when the finalized paging occasion is set up).
It 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 to incorporate a UE sending a PO value to a Base Station, as described in Huber, with a UE sending a PO value to a relay UE, as described in Hong, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining a UE sending a PO value to a Base Station of Huber with a UE sending a PO value to a relay UE of Hong was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Huber.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Hong and Huber to obtain the invention as specified in claim 56.
Claim 54 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Huber as applied to claim 46 above, and further in view of Seo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0244469 A1) (hereinafter Seo).
Regarding claim 54, as applied to claim 46 above, Hong, as modified by Huber, discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing wherein the one or more messages further include an indicator indicating whether the one or more messages are for the first user equipment and/or for the second user equipment.
In analogous art, Seo discloses wherein the one or more messages further include an indicator indicating whether the one or more messages are for the first user equipment and/or for the second user equipment (Paragraph 0130 discloses if PDCCH masked with T-RNTI is detected, each relay UE candidate can determine whether a target UE exists around the corresponding relay UE candidate by comparing a target UE ID contained in a paging message with a neighbor UE list of its own).
It 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 to incorporate a paging message having a UE ID so that a recipient of the paging message may be determined, as described in Seo, with a relay UE forwarding a paging message for a remote UE to the remote UE, as described in Hong, as modified by Huber, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining a paging message having a UE ID so that a recipient of the paging message may be determined of Seo with a relay UE forwarding a paging message for a remote UE to the remote UE of Hong, as modified by Huber, was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Seo.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Hong, Huber, and Seo to obtain the invention as specified in claim 54.
Claims 59-61 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Ye et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0239834 A1) (hereinafter Ye).
Regarding claim 59, as applied to claim 57 above, Hong discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing wherein the second user equipment receives the one or more messages from the first user equipment in one or more of: sidelink control information signaling; radio resource control signaling; a control element for medium access control; and a control data unit.
In analogous art, Ye discloses wherein the second user equipment receives the one or more messages from the first user equipment in one or more of: sidelink control information signaling; radio resource control signaling; a control element for medium access control; and a control data unit (Paragraph 0117 discloses the paging message is included in a sidelink control information (SCI) message included in a physical sidelink control channel).
It 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 to incorporate a paging message included in a SCI message in a physical sidelink control channel, as described in Ye, with a relay UE forwarding a paging message to a remote UE, as described in Hong, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining a paging message included in a SCI message in a physical sidelink control channel of Ye with a relay UE forwarding a paging message to a remote UE of Hong was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Ye.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Hong and Ye to obtain the invention as specified in claim 59.
Regarding claim 60, as applied to claim 59 above, Hong discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing wherein the sidelink control information signaling includes one or more of: an indicator of the first paging message; the first paging message; a frequency domain resource assignment; a time domain resource assignment; a second paging message in signaling on a protocol layer above the physical layer.
In analogous art, Ye discloses wherein the sidelink control information signaling includes one or more of: an indicator of the first paging message; the first paging message; a frequency domain resource assignment; a time domain resource assignment; a second paging message in signaling on a protocol layer above the physical layer (Paragraph 0117 discloses the paging message is included in a sidelink control information (SCI) message included in a physical sidelink control channel).
It 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 to incorporate a paging message included in a SCI message in a physical sidelink control channel, as described in Ye, with a relay UE forwarding a paging message to a remote UE, as described in Hong, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining a paging message included in a SCI message in a physical sidelink control channel of Ye with a relay UE forwarding a paging message to a remote UE of Hong was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Ye.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Hong and Ye to obtain the invention as specified in claim 60.
Regarding claim 61, as applied to claim 59 above, Hong discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing wherein the sidelink control information signaling includes one or more of: an indicator of the first paging message; the first paging message; a frequency domain resource assignment; a time domain resource assignment; an indicator of the second paging message; and paging information of the second user equipment.
In analogous art, Ye discloses wherein the sidelink control information signaling includes one or more of: an indicator of the first paging message; the first paging message; a frequency domain resource assignment; a time domain resource assignment; an indicator of the second paging message; and paging information of the second user equipment (Paragraph 0117 discloses the paging message is included in a sidelink control information (SCI) message included in a physical sidelink control channel).
It 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 to incorporate a paging message included in a SCI message in a physical sidelink control channel, as described in Ye, with a relay UE forwarding a paging message to a remote UE, as described in Hong, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining a paging message included in a SCI message in a physical sidelink control channel of Ye with a relay UE forwarding a paging message to a remote UE of Hong was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Ye.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Hong and Ye to obtain the invention as specified in claim 61.
Claim 64 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Seo.
Regarding claim 64, as applied to claim 57 above, Hong discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing wherein the one or more messages further include an indicator indicating whether the one or more messages are for the first user equipment and/or for the second user equipment.
In analogous art, Seo discloses wherein the one or more messages further include an indicator indicating whether the one or more messages are for the first user equipment and/or for the second user equipment (Paragraph 0130 discloses if PDCCH masked with T-RNTI is detected, each relay UE candidate can determine whether a target UE exists around the corresponding relay UE candidate by comparing a target UE ID contained in a paging message with a neighbor UE list of its own).
It 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 to incorporate a paging message having a UE ID so that a recipient of the paging message may be determined, as described in Seo, with a relay UE forwarding a paging message for a remote UE to the remote UE, as described in Hong, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining a paging message having a UE ID so that a recipient of the paging message may be determined of Seo with a relay UE forwarding a paging message for a remote UE to the remote UE of Hong was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Seo.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Hong and Seo to obtain the invention as specified in claim 64.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/16/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pages 11 and 12 in the Remarks, Applicant argues that the PO value supplied by the remote UE to the relay UE in Hong is not a time occasions during which the remote UE is active and therefore Hong does not disclose receiving status information from the second user equipment, wherein the status information indicates activity status of the second user equipment and includes one or more of: one or more time occasions during which the second user equipment is active; duration of the second user equipment being in active state; radio link status; buffer status; power headroom; mobility status; and one or more measurement results of a link between the first user equipment and the second user equipment.
Hong discloses receiving status information from the second user equipment, wherein the status information indicates activity status of the second user equipment and includes one or more of: one or more time occasions during which the second user equipment is active; duration of the second user equipment being in active state; radio link status; buffer status; power headroom; mobility status; and one or more measurement results of a link between the first user equipment and the second user equipment (Paragraph 0108 discloses the remote UE may forward the PO value thereof to the relay UE. Information about the PO of the remote UE may be transmitted/received through PC5 connection. Paragraph 0097 discloses a PO in a PF defines a specific subframe in which an LTE UE checks the paging message). Applicant’s argument that the PO value supplied by the remote UE to the relay UE in Hong is not a time occasions during which the remote UE is active mischaracterizes Hong. At paragraphs 0015 and 0018, Hong discloses a method of receiving paging by a remote user equipment (UE) linked to a relay UE in a wireless communication system. The method includes: receiving a paging message for the remote UE from the relay UE based on the PF information and the PO information. The paging message may be relayed to the remote UE in a PO in which the paging message is received. Paragraph 0114 discloses aligning in time the PO of the relay UE and the PO of the remote UE. Paragraphs 0122, 0124, and 0127 disclose the remote UE checks whether there is a paging message relayed thereto by the relay UE in a PO aligned with the PO of the relay UE (within the same PF) (S1010). Paging message for the remote UE: If the relay UE receives a paging message for the remote UE in the PO thereof, the relay UE immediately transmits the paging message to the remote UE linked thereto in the PO. Since the remote UE has woken up in a PO thereof aligned with the PO of the relay UE, the remote UE may immediately receive the paging message transmitted by the relay UE. Since the remote UE has woken up in the PO thereof aligned with the PO of the relay UE, if the relay UE immediately relays the paging message of the remote UE received (S1010) in the PO thereof or the PO of the remote UE (S1020), the remote UE may receive the paging message (S1030). Together, these portions of Hong make it clear that the remote UE receives a paging message from the relay UE during the PO of the remote UE.
On pages 12-14 in the Remarks, Applicant argues that combining Huber with Hong does not achieve a predictable result because Hong discloses a network determining a PO for the remote UE.
Applicant’s argument overlooks that Hong discloses a remote UE sending its PO value to a relay UE (Paragraph 0108 discloses the remote UE may forward the PO value thereof to the relay UE. Information about the PO of the remote UE may be transmitted/received through PC5 connection). Huber then discloses a UE sending a PO value to a base station (Paragraph 0092 discloses the UE may send the computed paging occasion value to the Base Station when the finalized paging occasion is set up). Huber may be applied to Hong such that a UE of Hong (the relay UE) forwards a PO value to a base station.
Hong discloses receive status information from the second user equipment, wherein the status information indicates activity status of the second user equipment and includes one or more of: one or more time occasions during which the second user equipment is active; duration of the second user equipment being in active state; radio link status; buffer status; power headroom; mobility status; and one or more measurement results of a link between the first user equipment and the second user equipment (Paragraph 0108 discloses the remote UE may forward the PO value thereof to the relay UE. Information about the PO of the remote UE may be transmitted/received through PC5 connection. Paragraph 0097 discloses a PO in a PF defines a specific subframe in which an LTE UE checks the paging message). Huber discloses forward the status information of the second user equipment to the base station (Paragraph 0092 discloses the UE may send the computed paging occasion value to the Base Station when the finalized paging occasion is set up). It 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 to incorporate a UE sending a PO value to a Base Station, as described in Huber, with a UE sending a PO value to a relay UE, as described in Hong, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining a UE sending a PO value to a Base Station of Huber with a UE sending a PO value to a relay UE of Hong was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Huber.
Consequently, in view of the above reasons and having addressed each of Applicant’s arguments, the previous rejection is maintained and made FINAL by the Examiner.
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 MARK G. PANNELL whose telephone number is (303) 297-4245. The Examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (Mountain Time).
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, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on (571) 272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/Mark G. Pannell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
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