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 filed 4/29/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 4, 9-10, 12, 15, 43-44, and 47 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
As to claims 1 and 10, Particularly, “to instruct” verse “to indicate” is new matter. The specification uses “request” and “indicate” throughout but fails to mention “instruct”.
Claim 9 recites “determining that the positioning information is not present in the first UE, and sending the positioning request to the base station or the LMF server, wherein the positioning request is used to obtain the positioning information from the base station or the LMF server”, applicant cites page 24 with the additional for clarity, however the instant specification including the drawings simply does not support this claim.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites a method comprising a step of acquiring a positioning request and a step of sending positional information. Drafting the amendment such that “, and the positioning request further comprises the positioning information” is grouped with the sending step instead of the acquiring step does not make any sense since it is referring to the acquiring step. It should either be grouped by itself or with the acquiring step but not with the sending step. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 9, 10, 12, 15, 43, and 44 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being anticipated by Gangakhedkar et al. (2019/0239181) hereinafter “Gangakhedkar”.
As to claim 1, (Currently Amended) Gangakhedkar discloses A positioning method, performed by a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
acquiring a positioning request (CP assignment, see Figs 4-5 and [0085]: “… BS D coordinates the CP procedure for the requesting target node E by selecting and assigning the anchors A, B and C which then communicate directly with E… on the D2D interfaces d1, d2, d3 to support localization of E”, [0089]: “The BS broadcasts the CP assignment on the downlink containing the IDs of the selected anchor nodes , their respective position reference signal transmission configurations…”) sent by a base station (eNB, Figs 4-5) or a location management function (LMF) server, wherein the positioning request is configured to instruct the first UE to send positioning information at a sidelink interface, (see [0090]: “After receiving and decoding the CP assignment message, the selected anchor nodes will start or continue broadcasting the position reference signal via the sidelink, according to the configurations instructed by BS in the CP assignment message”) and the positioning request is a specified signal corresponding to a type of the positioning information, a message comprising the positioning information and a resource corresponding to the positioning information ([0149]: “signalling framework… in accordance with the 3GPP TS 36.211 standard…”); and
sending, in response to the positioning request, the positioning information at the sidelink interface, (see [0090]: “After receiving and decoding the CP assignment message, the selected anchor nodes will start or continue broadcasting the position reference signal via the sidelink, according to the configurations instructed by BS in the CP assignment message”) wherein the positioning information comprises positioning assistance information or a positioning pilot signal, and the positioning request further ([0151]) comprises the positioning information.
Further, it is noted that the method comprises steps of “acquiring a positioning request” and “sending the positioning information”. The contents of the “request” and/or “information” are considered nonfunctional and descriptive only therefore not carrying any patentable weight because the contents do not interact or relate or depend on or in any way affect any step of the method. Limitations have been treated for compact prosecution.
As to claim 4, (Currently Amended) Gangakhedkar discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the positioning request comprises at least one of:
an identifier of the base station or the LMF server, a type of the positioning information, an identifier of the positioning information, a sending mode of the positioning information, a sending duration of the positioning information, a sending period of the positioning information, a beam direction for sending the positioning information, a resource index number corresponding to the positioning information or a message name of the positioning request, wherein different message names correspond to different positioning information. See [0090]: “duration”.
As to claim 9 (Currently Amended) Gangakhedkar discloses The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining that the positioning information is not present in the first UE, and sending [0055] the positioning request (CP response) to the base station or the LMF server, wherein the positioning request is used to obtain the positioning information from the base station or the LMF server.
As to claim 10, (Currently Amended) Gangakhedkar discloses A positioning method, performed by a communication device-being a base station (eNB, Figs 4-5) or a location management function (LMF) server, the method comprising:
sending a positioning request (CP assignment, see Figs 4-5 and [0085]: “… BS D coordinates the CP procedure for the requesting target node E by selecting and assigning the anchors A, B and C which then communicate directly with E… on the D2D interfaces d1, d2, d3 to support localization of E”, [0089]: “The BS broadcasts the CP assignment on the downlink containing the IDs of the selected anchor nodes , their respective position reference signal transmission configurations…”) to a first user equipment (UE),
wherein the positioning request is configured to instruct the first UE to send positioning information at a sidelink interface (see [0090]: “After receiving and decoding the CP assignment message, the selected anchor nodes will start or continue broadcasting the position reference signal via the sidelink, according to the configurations instructed by BS in the CP assignment message”),
and the positioning request is a specified signal corresponding to a type of the positioning information ([0149]: “signalling framework… in accordance with the 3GPP TS 36.211 standard…”),
a message comprising the positioning information (inherently) and
a resource corresponding to the positioning information (see [0132]: “resource allocation”), [0159];
wherein the positioning information comprises positioning assistance information ([0132]:“position reference configuration”) or a positioning pilot signal, and the positioning request further ([0151]) comprises the positioning information.
Further, it is noted that the method comprises a single step of “sending a positioning request”. The contents of the “request” are considered nonfunctional and descriptive only therefore not carrying any patentable weight because the contents do not interact or relate or depend on or in any way affect any step of the method. Limitations have been treated for compact prosecution.
As to claim 12, Gangakhedkar discloses (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 10, wherein the positioning request comprises at least one of:
an identifier of the base station or the LMF server, a type of the positioning information, an identifier of the positioning information, a sending mode of the positioning information, a sending duration of the positioning information, a sending period of the positioning information, a beam direction for sending the positioning information, a resource index number corresponding to the positioning information or a message name of the positioning request, wherein different message names correspond to different positioning information. See [0090]: “duration”.
As to claim 15, (Currently Amended) Gangakhedkar discloses The method according to claim 10, wherein the communication device is the base station, and sending the positioning request to the first UE, comprises:
receiving by the base station, a positioning request sent by a second UE, and sending by the base station, the positioning request to the first UE (see Fig 5, [0087]-[0089]); or, receiving by the base station, a positioning request sent by the location management function server, and sending by the base station, the positioning request to the first UE.
As to claim 43, (Currently Amended) Gangakhedkar discloses A user equipment (UE), Fig 2, to perform the method of claim 1 as applied above.
As to claim 44, (Previously Presented) discloses A communication device (201), Fig 2, to perform the method of claim 10 as applied above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 47 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gangakhedkar as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kim et al. (2023/0254838) hereinafter “Kim”.
Gangakhedkar discloses (New) The method according to claim 4, is silent to yet in an analogous art, Kim discloses wherein in a case that the positioning request comprises the beam direction for sending the positioning information, the method further comprises: sending, based on the beam direction, the positioning pilot signal at the sidelink interface in one or more specified beams, to reduce reception of beams monitored by the first UE. See Figs 18-19 [0233]-[0235]. Before the effective filing date of the instant invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to perform “sending” as taught by Kim for the purpose of enabling millimeter wave sidelink communication ([0220]).
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 LESTER KINCAID whose telephone number is (571)272-7922. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th: 7-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuwen Pan can be reached at 571-272-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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LESTER G. KINCAID
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2649
/LESTER G KINCAID/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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