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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/26/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/26/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Notice of Allowance on 04/01/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 13 (previously renumbered as claim 12 in the issue information dated 04/01/2026) objected to because of the following informalities: undefined abbreviation and inconsistent claim terms.
Claims 1 and 13 each recite “a RAN resource among a plurality of RAN network resources”. The claims do not define what the abbreviation “RAN” stands for. Although it is widely known as “radio access network” in the communication field, any abbreviation should still be defined in the claims.
In addition, claims 1 and 13 recites “a plurality of RAN network resources” and refers to the “plurality of RAN network resources” as “the plurality of RAN resources”. As the claims recite both “RAN resources” and “RAN network resources”, it is unclear whether the claims are referring to the same resources with “RAN resources” and “RAN network resources”. As it appears that the “RAN resources” and “RAN network resources” are referred to the same resources, it is recommended to amend the “a plurality of RAN network resources” in claims 1 and 13 to recite “a plurality of RAN resources” to have consistent claim language.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1, 3-13 and 15-20 (previously renumbered as claims 1-18 in the issue information dated 04/01/2026) are 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.
Claims 1 and 13 recites the limitation "the plurality of RAN resources" in line 9 and lines 4-5, respectively. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 13 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 3-12 and 15-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUTAI KAO whose telephone number is (571)272-9719. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-17:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang Yao can be reached at (571)272-3182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUTAI KAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473