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) 1-30 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.
The applicant argues that Lee teaches “a field of Identifier for DCI format” in paragraph 45, therefore it excludes Lee from teaching the step of “determining whether the DCI … based on whether the FDRA points to an uplink .. and a downlink sub-band.”
In fact, a different field “[0052] In an example, a common field for time domain resource allocation (TDRA) and/or frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) may be used to indicate the resource allocation in time and/or frequency domain in the one or more DL and/or UL grants in the joint DCI, respectively. “ A person with ordinary skill in the art would understand to use the common field to determine whether the DCI is joint DCI.
For the purpose of expedited prosecution, the examiner cited Fakoorian; Seyed Ali Akbar et al. US 20210360676 A1 for the determining step.
Fakoorian teaches determining whether the DCI is a single direction DCI or a bi-directional DCI based on whether the FDRA points to an uplink sub-band, and/or a downlink sub-band; ([0109] At 510, the base station 105-b may transmit a joint control message to the UE 115-b. The joint control message may indicate the scheduling information for the uplink and downlink messages as determined by the base station 105-b at 505. In some examples, the joint control message may be a joint DCI message that includes a FDRA field, which may indicate frequency information for one or both of the uplink and downlink messages for the UE 115-b.) A person with ordinary skill in the art would understand to use the FDRA field to determine whether the DCI is single direction DI or a bi-directional DCI by looking at “ a FDRA field, which may indicate frequency information for one or both of the uplink and downlink messages for the UE” (Fakoorian [0109]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
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 1, 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE; Dae Won et al. US PGPUB 20210212072 A1, in view of Fakoorian; Seyed Ali Akbar et al. US 20210360676 A1
Regarding claim 1. Lee teaches A method of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving downlink control information (DCI) including an uplink grant and a downlink grant, (Fig. 7, Joint DCI, [0049] FIG. 7 shows an example joint DCI for scheduling of DL and UL transmissions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example, the DL grant with the DCI format 1_0 is placed before the UL grant with the DCI format 0_0 in the joint DCI.) the DCI indicating a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) and a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA); ([0052] In an example, a common field for time domain resource allocation (TDRA) and/or frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) may be used to indicate the resource allocation in time and/or frequency domain in the one or more DL and/or UL grants in the joint DCI, respectively.)
Lee does not teach
determining whether the DCI indicates a single direction DCI or a bi-directional DCI based on whether the FDRA points to an uplink sub-band, and/or a downlink sub-band; and
communicating in accordance with the single direction DCI or the bi-directional DCI based on the indication.
However, Fakoorian teaches
determining whether the DCI indicates a single direction DCI or a bi-directional DCI based on whether the FDRA points to an uplink sub-band, and/or a downlink sub-band; ([0109] At 510, the base station 105-b may transmit a joint control message to the UE 115-b. The joint control message may indicate the scheduling information for the uplink and downlink messages as determined by the base station 105-b at 505. In some examples, the joint control message may be a joint DCI message that includes a FDRA field, which may indicate frequency information for one or both of the uplink and downlink messages for the UE 115-b.)and
communicating in accordance with the single direction DCI or the bi-directional DCI based on the indication. ([0112] At 525, the base station 105-b may transmit, and the UE 115-b may receive, the downlink message scheduled by the joint control message transmitted at 510.
[0113] At 530, the UE 115-b may transmit an uplink message to the base station 105-b scheduled by the joint control message transmitted at 510. The uplink message may be transmitted based on the frequency information included in the joint control message)
In order to improve a scheduling flexibility at a base station ([0038])
Lee and Fakoorian are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of joint DCI determination in Fakoorian in order to improve a scheduling flexibility.
Regarding claim 16. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 1, Lee teaches in which uplink parameters and downlink parameters are a function of the FDRA and the TDRA. ([0052] In an example, a common field for time domain resource allocation (TDRA) and/or frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) may be used to indicate the resource allocation in time and/or frequency domain in the one or more DL and/or UL grants in the joint DCI,)
Regarding claim 17 . Lee and Fakoorian teach An apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; (Lee Fig. 13, Memory 1320) and at least one processor coupled to the memory, (Lee Fig. 13, Processor 1312) and the at least one processor configured perform the method of claim 1. They are rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 5, 7, 8, 21, and 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Fakoorian as applied to claim 1 and 17 above, further in view of Liu; Jialing et al. US PGPUB 20230239843 A1.
Regarding claim 5. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 1, but they do not teach in which the DCI is for scheduling uplink and downlink communications in a same slot.
However, Liu teaches in which the DCI is for scheduling uplink and downlink communications in a same slot. ([0307] A PDCCH schedules a URLLC data (UL/DL) as well as a CSI-acquisition RS (SRS/CSI-RS), possibly all in the same slot, on different symbols)
in order to improve spectral efficiency of the network and the terminals by reducing reference signal transmission ([0054]) Lee and Liu are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of DCI configuration in order to improve spectral efficiency of the network and the terminals by reducing reference signal transmission.
Regarding claim 7. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 5, they do not teach in which the TDRA includes a start and length indication value (SLIV) for uplink communications and for downlink communications, the method further comprising receiving a mapping between the SLIV, downlink allocations, and uplink allocations.
However, Liu teaches
in which the TDRA includes a start and length indication value (SLIV) for uplink communications and for downlink communications, the method further comprising receiving a mapping between the SLIV, downlink allocations, and uplink allocations. ([0161] The triggering offset may be indicated as a slot offset and symbol position(s), similar to the k0 and SLIV design for PDSCH or the k2 and SLIV design for PUSCH. To further reduce overhead, k0, k2, and SLIV may not refer to the absolute slot/symbol offsets but slot/symbol offsets within the A-SRS time-domain resources.)
in order to improve spectral efficiency of the network and the terminals by reducing reference signal transmission ([0054])
Lee and Liu are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of DCI configuration in order to improve spectral efficiency of the network and the terminals by reducing reference signal transmission.
Regarding claim 8. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 5, they does not teach further comprising applying a guard time between receiving a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).
However, Liu teaches
applying a guard time between receiving a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). ([0425] “When the UE is configured with the higher layer parameter usage in SRS-ResourceSet set to ‘antennaSwitching’, and a guard period of Y symbols is configured according to Clause 6.2.1.2, the UE shall use the same priority rules as defined above during the guard period as if SRS was configured.)
in order to improve spectral efficiency of the network and the terminals by reducing reference signal transmission ([0054])
Lee and Liu are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of DCI configuration in order to improve spectral efficiency of the network and the terminals by reducing reference signal transmission.
Regarding claim 21, 23, 24. Lee, Fakoorian and Liu teaches An apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; (Lee Fig. 13, Memory 1320) and at least one processor coupled to the memory, (Lee Fig. 13, Processor 1312) and the at least one processor configured perform the method of claim 5, 7, 8. They are rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 2-4 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Fakoorian as applied to claim 1 and 17 above, and further in view of Muruganathan; Siva et al. US PGPUB 20220095304 A1.
Regarding claim 2. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 1, they don’t teach further comprising decoding the DCI based on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) dedicated to the DCI when scheduling both uplink and downlink communications.
However, Muruganthan teaches
decoding the DCI based on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) dedicated to the DCI ([0103] Once a UE decodes a DCI, it de-scrambles the CRC with RNTI(s) that is(are) assigned to it and/or associated with the particular PDCCH search space.) when scheduling both uplink and downlink communications. ([0105] DCI can also include information about various timing offsets (e.g., in slots or subframes) between PDCCH and PDSCH, PUSCH, HARQ, and/or CSI-RS.)
in order to reduce control signal overhead in PDCCH ([0107])
Lee and Muruganathan are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of FDRA configuration in Muruganathan in order to reduce control signal overhead in PDCCH.
Regarding claim 3. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 1, they don’t teach in which the FDRA comprises a Type Zero FDRA with a bitmap, and the determining further comprises determining the FDRA is for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) when a value of any bit in the bitmap corresponds to any resource block group (RBG) in the downlink sub-band, and the FDRA is for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) when the value of any bit in the bitmap corresponds to any RBG in the uplink sub-band.
However, Muruganathan teaches
in which the FDRA comprises a Type Zero FDRA with a bitmap, ([0138] Frequency-domain resources also must be allocated for transmission of the resulting layers. Rel-15 NR supports two types of downlink frequency domain resource allocations, referred to as “type 0” and “type 1.” In downlink resource allocation type 0, a bitmap in the “Frequency domain resource assignment” (or FDRA for short) DCI field indicates the resource block groups (RBGs) that are allocated to the scheduled UE. )and
the determining further comprises determining the FDRA is for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) when a value of any bit in the bitmap corresponds to any resource block group (RBG) in the downlink sub-band, and the FDRA is for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) when the value of any bit in the bitmap corresponds to any RBG in the uplink sub-band. (Id.)
in order to reduce control signal overhead in PDCCH ([0107])
Lee and Muruganathan are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of FDRA configuration in Muruganathan in order to reduce control signal overhead in PDCCH.
Regarding claim 4. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 1, but they don’t teach in which the FDRA comprises a Type One FDRA with a resource indicator value (RIV), and the determining further comprises determining the FDRA is for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) when the RIV corresponds to any resource block group (RBG) in the downlink sub-band, and the FDRA is for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) when the RIV corresponds to any RBG in the uplink sub-band.
However, Muruganathan teaches
in which the FDRA comprises a Type One FDRA with a resource indicator value (RIV), ([0140] In downlink resource allocation type 1, the FDRA DCI field indicates a set of contiguously allocated non-interleaved or interleaved VRBs within the active BWP. The FDRA field includes the resource indication value (RIV) representing the starting VRB (RB.sub.start),) and the determining further comprises determining the FDRA is for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) when the RIV corresponds to any resource block group (RBG) in the downlink sub-band, and the FDRA is for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) when the RIV corresponds to any RBG in the uplink sub-band. ([0140] The FDRA field includes the resource indication value (RIV) representing the starting VRB (RB.sub.start), with the length of the contiguously allocated resource blocks denoted by L.sub.RBs. The number of bits in FDRA field is ┌log.sub.2(N.sub.RB.sup.DL,BWP(N.sub.RB.sup.DL,BWP+1)/2)┐ wherein N.sub.RB.sup.DL,BWP is the size of the active bandwidth part. Downlink Resource allocation type 1 is used in both DCI formats 1_0 and 1_1.)
in order to reduce control signal overhead in PDCCH ([0107])
Lee and Muruganathan are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of FDRA configuration in Muruganathan in order to reduce control signal overhead in PDCCH.
Regarding claim 18-20, Lee, Fakoorian and Muruganathan The apparatus of claim 17 performing the method in claim 2-4, and they are rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 6 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Fakoorian as applied to claim 1 and 17 above, and further in view of CHIN; HENG-LI et al. US 20210219322 A1.
Regarding claim 6. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 5, but they don’t teach in which the TDRA points to a row in a radio resource control (RRC) configured table including a potential first TDRA for uplink communications and a potential second TDRA for downlink communications.
However, Chin teaches in which the TDRA points to a row in a radio resource control (RRC) configured table ([0091] The bit field (e.g., TDRA field) of this multi-TTI UL grant may be used to indicate which row of the earlier configured PUSCH TDRA list should be applied by the UE.) including a potential first TDRA for uplink communications and a potential second TDRA for downlink communications. ([0238] Specifically, the UE may be considered as being configured with multi-TTI UL grant if it is configured, by the network (via RRC signaling), a TDRA list (e.g., pusch-TimeDomainAllocationList-r16 IE) with at least one row that includes the time-domain relationship between one PDCCH and multiple PUSCH resource allocations (e.g., a row that includes more than one startSymbolAndLength values).)
In order to reduce communication failures ([0085])
Lee and Chin are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of TDRA list configuration in Chin in order to reduce communication failures.
Regarding claim 22, Lee, Fakoorian and Muruganathan The apparatus of claim 17 performing the method in claim 6, and they are rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 9-14 and 25-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Fakoorian as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of LI; Hua et al. US PGPUB 20200374875 A1.
Regarding claim 9. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 5, but they don’t teach in which the TDRA includes a start and length indication value (SLIV) with uplink bits in a first field and downlink bits in a second field.
However, Li teaches in which the TDRA includes a start and length indication value (SLIV) with uplink bits in a first field and downlink bits in a second field. ([0338] For example, an SLIV value in a time-domain resource allocation table for the physical downlink shared channel is represented by using 6 bits, and an SLIV value in a time-domain resource allocation table for the uplink shared channel is represented by using 7 bits.) in order to improve communication flexibility.
Lee and Li are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of TDRA configuration in Li in order to improve communication flexibility.
Regarding claim 10. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 1, and they don’t teach in which the DCI is for scheduling uplink and downlink communications in multiple slots.
However, Li teaches in which the DCI is for scheduling uplink and downlink communications in multiple slots. ([0139] In the 5G NR system, the network device 10 may perform slot aggregation scheduling by using dynamic downlink control information (DCI), and the DCI indicates a data transmission direction and a symbol that is in a slot and that is used for uplink/downlink transmission. The DCI may be sent by the network device 10 to the terminal device 20 through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).) in order to improve communication flexibility.
Lee and Li are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of TDRA configuration in Li in order to improve communication flexibility.
Regarding claim 11. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 10, but they don’t teach in which the TDRA includes a first TDRA for downlink communications that is the same as a second TDRA for uplink communications.
However, Li teaches in which the TDRA includes a first TDRA for downlink communications that is the same as a second TDRA for uplink communications. ([0304] UL/DL TDRA
[0305] Non-slot based (2,4,7 symbols for SRS, in UL slot or even DL slot for TDD). SRS triggering time offset and time-domain resources may utilize non-slot based structure
[0306] Even preemption (for eMBB/other UEs) can be used to allow very flexible SRS, to insert a SRS and optionally UL/DL URLLC data
[0307] A PDCCH schedules a URLLC data (UL/DL) as well as a CSI-acquisition RS (SRS/CSI-RS), possibly all in the same slot, on different symbols)
in order to improve communication flexibility.
Lee and Li are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of TDRA configuration in Li in order to improve communication flexibility.
Regarding claim 12. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 10, but they don’t teach in which the TDRA includes bits mapped to an uplink TDRA and bits mapped to a downlink TDRA.
However, Li teaches
in which the TDRA includes bits mapped to an uplink TDRA and bits mapped to a downlink TDRA. ([0322] 4. For UL DCI 0_1 and 0_2 with data and DL DCI 1_1 and 1_2 with data to trigger aperiodic SRS: [0323] Add one A-SRS TDRA field for A-SRS time-domain resource allocation on one or more OFDM symbols, with the PUSCH/PDSCH TDRA field design reused as much as possible (up to 4 bits). [0324] Also add a new field to indicate the sounding behavior over the allocated multiple OFDM symbols: repetition, hopping, or splitting [0325] Add one flag bit to indicate whether or not the A-SRS also use PUSCH/PDSCH fields for its parameter indication, including FDRA field, port allocation field, beamforming field, etc.)
in order to improve communication flexibility.
Lee and Li are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of TDRA configuration in Li in order to improve communication flexibility.
Regarding claim 13. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 1, but they don’t teach further comprising receiving a first mapping between uplink parameters and fields of the DCI, as well as a second mapping between downlink parameters and fields of the DCI.
However, Li teaches
receiving a first mapping between uplink parameters and fields of the DCI, as well as a second mapping between downlink parameters and fields of the DCI. ([0140] In one embodiment, the network device 10 may send an uplink time-domain resource allocation table and a downlink time-domain resource allocation table to the terminal device 20 by using higher layer signaling such as radio resource control (RRC). The uplink/downlink time-domain resource allocation table includes a maximum of 16 rows.)
in order to improve communication flexibility.
Lee and Li are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of TDRA configuration in Li in order to improve communication flexibility.
Regarding claim 14. Lee, Fakoorian and Li teach The method of claim 13, and Liu teaches further comprising receiving a configured offset for one of the uplink parameters relative to a reference parameter, the offset and the reference parameter indicating one of the downlink parameters and one of the uplink parameters. ([0161] Regarding the re-definition of the triggering offset, a few options may be considered, which may also depend on how the A-SRS time-domain resources are specified. The triggering offset may be indicated as a slot offset and symbol position(s), similar to the k0 and SLIV design for PDSCH or the k2 and SLIV design for PUSCH. To further reduce overhead, k0, k2, and SLIV may not refer to the absolute slot/symbol offsets but slot/symbol offsets within the A-SRS time-domain resources.)
in order to improve spectral efficiency of the network and the terminals by reducing reference signal transmission ([0054])
Lee and Liu are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the technique of DCI configuration in order to improve spectral efficiency of the network and the terminals by reducing reference signal transmission.
Regarding claim 25-30, Lee, Fakoorian and Muruganathan The apparatus of claim 17 performing the method in claim 9-14, and they are rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Fakoorian as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Park; Jonghyun et al. US PGPUB 20240372661 A1, supported by 63244471, filed on 09/15/2021.
Regarding claim 15. Lee and Fakoorian teach The method of claim 1, but they don’t teach further comprising receiving a configuration for a pair of uplink and downlink parameters, the DCI pointing to the configuration.
Park teaches
receiving a configuration for a pair of uplink and downlink parameters, the DCI pointing to the configuration. (0010] In one or more cases, the WTRU may be configured to receive configuration information (e.g., via RRC) indicating a plurality of UL/DL RB configurations. In one or more cases, the information (e.g., received via the DCI and/or the MAC-CE) may indicate which of the plurality of UL/DL RB configurations to apply for the one or more symbols.
Supported by ‘471, [0068] ) in order to
in order to improve conventional TDD operation by enhancing UL coverage and capacity. ([0134])
Lee and Park are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Lee with the DCI configuration in Park in order to improve conventional TDD operation by enhancing UL coverage and capacity.
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 ZHAOHUI YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7527. The examiner can normally be reached 9 AM to 5 PM M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marcus Smith can be reached at 571 270-1096. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZHAOHUI YANG/ Examiner, Art Unit 2468
/MARCUS SMITH/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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