CTNF 18/170,761 CTNF 84410 DETAILED ACTION Status of Case 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. This Office Action is in response to the RCE filed on 4/2/2026. Claims 1-13, 25, and 27-32 are pending. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed on 3/10/2026 are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1, 6, 25, 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tekgul (USPAN 2021/0075497) in view of Jianhua-Liu (USPAN 2023/0209625) and Xu (USPAN 2022/0417821) . Consider claims 1, 25, and 30, Tekgul discloses a method of wireless communication by a UE (see figure 6, reproduced below for convenience, wherein disclosed is said method) , and a corresponding apparatus for wireless communications by a UE, wherein the apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory (see figures 8-9, wherein disclosed is said apparatus, comprising a processor 904 and a memory 906) , and corresponding non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the non-transitory computer-readable medium associated with an apparatus configured for communicating with an assisting device (see element 906 in figure 9, wherein disclosed is a computer-readable medium / memory) , the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to: establish a local communication link between the apparatus and the assisting device, the UE being configured for communicating with the assisting device (communication link between the relay and UE; see figure 6, wherein the UE and relay communicate with each other) ; receive transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the assisting device (see figure 6 step 603 and step 621 in figure 6 and claim 61: relay node transmitting capability information of first and second relay mode to be supported for relay transmissions) ; communicate with the assisting device via the local communication link to select a transmission mode of the assisting device (see claims 61, 70, and 72: relay communicates via access link with UE and provides measurement report of the access link to select or determine transmission mode of the relay) ; and communicate with the network entity via the Uu link relayed by the assisting device based on the selected transmission mode (see claim 61: “communicating with at least one of the base station or another wireless device based at least in part on the determined mode of operation”) . PNG media_image1.png 450 632 media_image1.png Greyscale Although Tekgul discloses a Uu link between the UE and a network entity and discloses that the UE receives transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the assisting device (see above) , Jianhua-Liu is cited to more explicitly disclose this. Jianhua-Liu discloses a Uu link between the UE and a network entity (see paragraph 50: the relay UE is connected to a base station by means of the Uu interface+) and discloses that the UE receives transmission mode set information associated with a set of one or more active transmission modes of the assisting device (see steps S330 and S340 in figure 3, reproduced below for convenience, as well as paragraphs 65-69: the remote device [UE] receives the transmission mode set information and the remote device [UE] selects the relay mode from the plurality of relay modes to be used and sends the selected relay mode to the relay device) . PNG media_image2.png 480 596 media_image2.png Greyscale It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Tekgul and combine it with the noted teachings of Jianhua-Liu. The motivation to combine these references is to provide an efficient method for determining a relay mode to be used between a relay device and a remote device (see paragraph 3 of Jianhua-Liu) . Tekgul does not specifically disclose relaying layer 1 radio signals associated with a Uu link between a UE and a network entity and communicating by selecting a transmission mode of a set of one or more active transmission modes. Xu discloses relaying layer 1 radio signals associated with a Uu link between a UE and a network entity and communicating by selecting a transmission mode of a set of one or more active transmission modes (see paragraph 119: “In some embodiments, the network may relay (or forward) side-link data from the UE to the targeted UE via a Uu interface. For example, the network may configure the same V2X bearer transmitted via both a Uu interface and a PC5 interface. In some embodiments, the network may operate in any of a duplication mode (same packets transmitted via both Uu and PC5 interfaces), split mode (different packets transmitted via the Uu interface and the PC5 interface), and/or fallback/switch mode (Uu interface used as a fallback during failure of side-link).”) . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Tekgul and combine it with the noted teachings of Xu. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for performing network assisted side-link resource configuration in a cellular network (see paragraphs 3 and 6 of Xu) . Consider claim 6, Tekgul discloses that the transmission mode set information comprises information on at least one transmission mode dataset associated with a respective transmission mode of the assisting device, the at least one transmission mode dataset comprising indications of at least one of:- a configuration of the respective transmission mode at the assisting device; - a signal quality measured by the UE;- a cell identifier associated with a measured signal quality; - a UE location determined by the UE;- a signal quality prediction provided by the assisting device; - a second cell identifier associated with the signal quality prediction; - a signal quality forecast provided by the assisting device, the signal quality forecast being associated with a respective signal quality expected at a future time instant; or - a signal quality forecast time instant indicating a time instant associated with the signal quality forecast (see paragraph 86: a signal quality measured by the UE) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tekgul (USPAN 2021/0075497) in view of Jianhua-Liu (USPAN 2023/0209625), Xu (USPAN 2022/0417821), and Liu (USPAN 2015/0327314) . Consider claim 7, Tekgul does not specifically disclose receiving an update of the transmission mode set information from the assisting device. Liu discloses receiving an update of the transmission mode set information from the assisting device (see paragraph 46: transmission mode update) . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Tekgul and combine it with the noted teachings of Liu. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a resource adjustment method for a wireless communication system (see paragraph 2 of Liu) . Consider claim 8, Tekgul does not specifically disclose the update indicates a modification of one or more active transmission modes of the assisting device. Liu discloses the update indicates a modification of one or more active transmission modes of the assisting device (see paragraph 44: “an updated …transmission mode,” which indicates a modification of the current active transmission mode) . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Tekgul and combine it with the noted teachings of Liu. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a resource adjustment method for a wireless communication system (see paragraph 2 of Liu) . Consider claim 9, Tekgul does not specifically disclose transmitting a request to the assisting device for the update of the transmission mode set information. Liu discloses transmitting a request to the assisting device for the update of the transmission mode set information (see paragraph 46: request message 104) . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Tekgul and combine it with the noted teachings of Liu. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a resource adjustment method for a wireless communication system (see paragraph 2 of Liu) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 2-5, 10-13, 27-29, 31-32 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including 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 Jamal Javaid whose telephone number is 571-270-5137 and email address is Jamal.Javaid@uspto.gov. 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, Charles Jiang, can be reached on 571-270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /JAMAL JAVAID/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412 JAMAL JAVAID Primary Examiner Art Unit 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/170,761 Page 2 Art Unit: 2412
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