CTFR 18/274,377 CTFR 82705 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 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. Response to Amendment The amendment filed on 03-06-2026 has been entered and considered. Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 are pending in the current application. Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 remain rejected as discussed below. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 10 07-20-02-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 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 1-2, 4-5, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (US 2018/0206094) in view of Crawford (US 2014/0229525) . Regarding claims 1, 5, and 7. Choi discloses a communication apparatus comprising: at least one communication unit that is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving high frequency domain electromagnetic for directional communication (see at least figure 2, elements 211, 213, 215, 217, 219 and paragraph [0075]: devices communication at very high frequencies); and at least one processor (see at least paragraph [0123]), the at least one processor carrying out: an acquisition process for acquiring related information related to at least one communication destination with which to communicate by the at least one communication unit (see at least figures 1, 4, and 7); and a determination process for determining at least one connection destination with which to connect by the at least one communication unit (see at least figures 1, 4, and 7 and paragraph [0042]: nodes perform a scan process to transmit a connect REQ message after receiving the advertisement message and connection is established), in the determination process, the at least one processor referring to the information related to the at least one communication destination, and determining, as the at least one connection destination (see at least paragraph [0141 ]: the node A 711 transmits a message including information about an advertisement process period and a scan process period of the node A 711 to the node B 713 . The node B 713 transmits a message including information about an advertisement process period and a scan process period of the node B 713 to the node A 711 . The node A 711 stores the advertisement process period and the scan process period of the node B 713 received from the node B 713 . The node A 711 transmits, to the node B 713 , a message including node information, e.g., at least one of connection information between nodes, an advertisement process period, a scan process period, and the number of hops, for each of all other nodes which the node A 711 stores. Here, the number of hops denotes the number of hops which exist between the node A 711 and a corresponding node .), a communication destination that has more unused connections among established connections (see at least paragraphs [0141]-[0155], [0159]-[0164], and figures 7-9: Firstly, a network topology is generated based on the following three stages of processes. For example, a process of generating a network topology based on a node A will be described in FIG. 9…A process of generating a network topology in a BLE mesh network supporting a connection scheme according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described with reference to FIG. 9, and a process of calculating connection delay in a BLE mesh network supporting a connection scheme according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 10) . Choi discloses all the limitations of the claimed invention with the exception of including a number of unused connections and comparing to other communication destinations. However, Crawford, from the same field of endeavor, teaches determining a number of unused connections, comparing the number of connections and allocating unused connections to destination (see at least paragraph [0034]). Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the invention to employ the teaching of Crawford, as indicated, into the communication method of Choi for the purpose of guaranteeing data delivery and reducing path loss. Regarding claim 2. Choi in view of Crawford discloses a communication apparatus wherein in the determination process, the at least one processor refers to the information, and determines, as the at least one connection destination, a communication destination that has more connections which have been established and which are in use (see at least paragraphs [0141]-[0155], [0159]-[0164], and figures 7-9). Regarding claim 4. Choi in view of Crawford discloses a communication apparatus, wherein in the acquisition process, the at least one processor acquires the information from a scanning signal that the at least one communication unit has received prior to establishment of connection with the at least one communication destination (see at least figure 7) . Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 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. Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO_892 . 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. In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention. When responding to this office action, applicants are advised to clearly point out the patentable novelty which they think the claims present in view of the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. Applicants must also show how the amendments avoid such references or objections. See 37C.F.R 1.111(c). In addition, applicants are advised to provide the examiner with the line numbers and pages numbers in the application and/or references cited to assist examiner in locating the appropriate paragraphs. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOUNIR MOUTAOUAKIL whose telephone number is (571)270-1416. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10AM-4PM EST. 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, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at 571-272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MOUNIR MOUTAOUAKIL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/274,377 Page 2 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/274,377 Page 3 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/274,377 Page 4 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/274,377 Page 5 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/274,377 Page 6 Art Unit: 2476
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