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 .
This office action is in response to amendments filed 11/03/2025.
Claims 1, 3-8, 10-14 are pending and presented for examination. Claims 2, 9 are cancelled.
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, 3-8, 10-14 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.
The originally filed specification fails to disclose “at least one communication transceiver…using high frequency domain electromagnetic waves having a frequency of approximately 10GHz or more.” Examiner performed searching through the specification but could not locate the subject matter. As such, the subject matter is new matter. Similar issues exist with claims 13-14. Claims 3-8, 10, 11-12 are rejected as depending from rejected base claim.
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, 13, 14 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.
The term “approximately” in claim 1, 13, 14 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “approximately” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
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, 3-8, 10, 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo et al. (JP 2014-233065, referred to as Yoo herein) in view of Shiotani et al. (US 2019/0007997 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yoo discloses a communication apparatus comprising:
at least one communication transceiver that is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving directional communication media using high frequency domain electromagnetic waves having a frequency (see page 4, para. 7-12, discloses a communication unit for transmitting and receiving media, see further page 2, description para. 3-5, discloses frequencies to include those that are higher than VHF and UHF); and
at least one processor (see page 5, para. 11), the at least one processor carrying out:
a specification process comprising specifying at least one connection destination candidate by scanning with use of the at least one communication transceiver (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses determining optimal parent maritime communication device through channel searching process, i.e. scanning);
a connection establishment process comprising establishing process for establishing connection with the at least one connection destination candidate specified by the specification process (see Id. discloses establishing connection with parent maritime direction connection module); and
an acquisition process comprising acquiring related information related to at least one communication destination selected from the group consisting of: the at least one connection destination candidate specified by the specification process (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses scan or channel search produces an optimal candidate for connection); and at least one connection destination with which connection has been established by the connection establishment process (optional element).
Yoo fails to disclose but Shiotani discloses wherein the communication apparatus further comprises a storage that store the acquired information (see para. 0099, fig. 10-11, discloses storing the scanned results) and wherein the transceiver is capable of communicating using high frequency domain electromagnetic waves having a frequency of approximately 10 GHz or more (see para. 0004-0005, 0011-0012, discloses millimeter wave communication with upto 60GHz).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to include a transceiver capable of communicating using high frequency as described by Shiotani.
The motivation for doing so would be allow high speed data transmission as described by Shiotani (para. 0004).
Regarding claim 12, Yoo discloses the communication apparatus wherein in the connection establishment process, the at least one processor generates at least one communication path in a mesh network by establishing the connection (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses multi-hop relay communication and tree topology).
Regarding claims 13, 14, Yoo discloses a communication system comprising:
a plurality of communication apparatuses (see para. 7-18, discloses multiple children and parent communication devices), wherein at least any two or more of the plurality of communication apparatuses each include:
at least one communication transceiver that is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving directional communication media using high frequency domain electromagnetic waves (see page 4, para. 7-12, discloses a communication unit for transmitting and receiving media, see further page 2, description para. 3-5, discloses frequencies to include those that are higher than VHF and UHF); and
at least one processor (page 5, para. 11), wherein the at least one processor is configured to carry out:
specifying at least one connection destination candidate by scanning with use of at least one communication unit that is configured to be capable of transmitting and receiving directional communication media (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses determining optimal parent maritime communication device);
a specification process comprising specifying at least one connection destination candidate by scanning with use of the at least one communication transceiver (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses determining optimal parent maritime communication device); and
a connection establishment process comprising establishes process for establishing connection with the at least one connection destination candidate specified by the specification means. Process (see Id. discloses establishing connection with parent maritime direction connection module); and
an acquisition process comprising acquiring related information related to at least one communication destination selected from the group consisting of: the at least one connection destination candidate specified by the specification process (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses scan or channel search produces an optimal candidate for connection); and at least one connection destination with which connection has been established by the connection establishment process (optional element);
wherein in the acquisition process, the at least one processor acquires, from a scanning beam that the at least one communication unit has received prior to establishment of connection with the at least one communication destination, the related information related to the at least one communication destination (see page 4, para 7-18, discloses receiving information using the beams).
Yoo fails to disclose but Shiotani discloses wherein the transceiver is capable of communicating using high frequency domain electromagnetic waves having a frequency of approximately 10 GHz or more (see para. 0004-0005, 0011-0012, discloses millimeter wave communication with upto 60GHz);
wherein the at least any two or more of the plurality of communication apparatus each further comprise a storage that stores the related information acquired by the acquisition process (see para. 0099, fig. 10-11, discloses storing the scanned results, see fig. 4, discloses multiple communication management, edge node and hopping node, i.e. at least two or more), and
wherein in the acquisition process, the at least one processor acquires, from a scanning beam that the at least one communication transceiver has received prior to establishment of connection with the at least communication destination, the related information related to the at least one communication destination (see para. 0140-0144, fig. 10-11, discloses scanning and forming a table of connected nodes).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to include a transceiver capable of communicating using high frequency as described by Shiotani.
The motivation for doing so would be allow high speed data transmission as described by Shiotani (para. 0004).
Regarding claim 3, Yoo discloses the communication apparatus wherein the related information related to the at least one communication destination includes at least one selected from the group consisting of: positional information of the at least one communication destination (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses where the collected information is at least position of the device); and a load state of the at least one communication destination (optional element).
Regarding claim 4, Yoo discloses the communication apparatus wherein the related information related to the at least one communication destination includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:
the number of established connections in which the at least one communication destination is involved (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses number of children) and
the number of connection destination candidates specified by scanning in which the at least one communication destination is involved (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses number of children); and
a connection state of connection in which the at least one communication destination is involved (see page 4, para. 7-18, reception signal strength).
Regarding claim 5, Yoo discloses the communication apparatus, wherein the connection state of the connection in which the at least one communication destination is involved includes at least one selected from the group consisting of: a line quality of the connection in which the at least one communication destination is involved (see page 4, para. 7-18, discloses reception of signal strength); and the number of times of disconnection in the connection in which the at least one communication destination is involved (optional element).
Regarding claim 6, Yoo discloses the communication apparatus wherein the related information related to the at least one communication destination includes information pertaining to an influence of an environment on connection in which the at least one communication destination is involved (see page 4, para. 7-18, reception signal strength is information pertaining to an influence of an environment on connection).
Regarding claim 7, Yoo discloses the communication apparatus wherein the information pertaining to the influence of the environment on the connection in which the at least one communication destination is involved includes information pertaining to an influence of sunlight on the connection (see page 4, para. 7-18, reception signal strength is information pertaining to an influence of an environment on connection. Signal strength is directly affected by the sunlight).
Regarding claim 8, Yoo discloses the communication apparatus, wherein the at least one processor further is configured to carry out a judgment process comprising judging, with reference to the related information related to the at least one communication destination, at least one selected from the group consisting of: whether connection with the at least one communication destination will be established (see page 4, para 7-18, discloses determining to connect based on various characteristics); and whether communication with an apparatus different from the at least one communication destination will be carried out (see page 4, para 7-18, discloses determining to connect based on various characteristics).
Regarding claim 10, Yoo discloses the communication apparatus wherein the at least one processor is configured to carry out a provision process comprising providing a communication destination different from the at least one communication destination with the related information acquired by the acquisition process and related to the at least one communication destination (see page 5, para 3-10, discloses maritime communication and other maritime communication associated with first state information and second state information. Intermediate devices that help in making the connection to the destination).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo in view of Shiotani as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Itaya (EP 3310122 B1).
Regarding claim 11, Yoo fails to disclose but Itaya discloses the communication apparatus, wherein in a case where the number of established connections or the number of used connections among the established connections reaches a value obtained by subtracting 1 from the maximum number of connections that the at least one communication unit is capable of establishing, in the connection establishment process, the at least one processor carries out no further connection establishment, or carries out further connection and causes a connected connection to be in an unused state (see para. 0072-0085, discloses leaving room for connection, where the room for connection, or M can be 1. Therefore, connecting max number of devices with room for connection of 1, max-1 to allow connection, after which, no devices are connected, or unusable state.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to include wherein when the number of established connections or the number of used connections among the established connections reaches a value obtained by subtracting 1 from the maximum number of connections that the at least one communication unit is capable of establishing, in the connection establishment process, the at least one processor carries out no further connection establishment, or carries out further connection and causes a connected connection to be in an unused state.
The motivation for doing so would be to allow avoiding overload condition.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3-8, 10-14 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
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 NISHANT B DIVECHA whose telephone number is (571)270-3125. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM-6:00 PM.
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NISHANT B. DIVECHA
Supervisory Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419