DETAILED ACTION
Examiner acknowledges receipt of Applicant’s amendment filed 2/6/2026.
In the amendment, Applicant:
amended claims 1, 7, 17, 20, and 36, and
cancelled claim 5.
Claims 1-4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19-25, 36, and 38 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Examiner has fully considered Applicant’s arguments, see the amended drawings for Figures 1-3, filed 2/6/2026, with respect to the objections to the drawings and they are persuasive. Examiner has withdrawn the objections to the drawings.
Examiner has fully considered Applicant’s arguments, see page 12, filed 2/6/2026, with respect to the objections to claims 7 and 12 and they are persuasive. Examiner has withdrawn the objections to claims 7 and 12.
Examiner has fully considered Applicant’s arguments, see page 12, filed 2/6/2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 14, 17, and 36 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) and they are persuasive. Examiner has withdrawn the rejection of claims 14, 17, and 36 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Examiner has fully considered Applicant's arguments, see pages 12-14, filed 2/6/2026, with respect to the rejection of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the limitations from claim 5 that have been moved into independent claims 1, 17, 20, and 36 are not disclosed by Jia. In particular, Applicant recites portions of columns 4-7 of Jia and concludes that nothing in this portion of Jia discloses the amended limitations that the first message includes “i) an indication of an amount of load being transferred from the first network node to the second network node” or “ii) a request for the second network node to update a capacity of at least one cell or reference signal beam of the second network node”.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. As indicated in the previous rejection of claim 5, the “energy saving compensation state” in Jia is interpreted to update a capacity of a cell. As noted in 7:10-15, the neighboring cell is requested to enter this state to “compensate” for “coverage leakage and service demand” that may be lost when the first cell enters a network saving state. Thus, the neighbor cell updates or changes its capacity by either or both of handling this additional service demand and/or expanding the coverage to compensate for the first cell entering a network saving state. Further, as indicated in 6:40-42, the message “informs” the neighboring cell to “enter energy saving compensation state”.
For at least these reasons, the rejection is maintained in view of Jia herein.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 10, 17, 19-23, 36, and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jia et al (US 9,775,108).
Regarding claim 1: Jia discloses a method performed by a first network node for coordinating with a second network node with respect to an energy metric, the method comprising:
the first network node determining or identifying based on the energy metric at least one of: (i) an action to perform or (ii) a request relating to the second network node (disclosed throughout; see step 302 of Figure 3 and 6:19-27, which disclose that the first network node determines at least an action such as entering (or not entering) an energy saving state based on an energy metric (the load condition of itself and the neighbor network node); the load information relates to the energy used by these devices and is interpreted as an energy metric);
the first network node generating a first message (disclosed throughout; see step 303 of Figure 3 as well as 6:28-42, which disclose that the first network node sends (and thus generates) a message (transfers information) regarding its energy saving state to the second network node; see also step 202 of Figure 2 and 4:52-56 as well as similar steps in Figure 5, for example); and
the first network node transmitting the first message towards the second network node (disclosed throughout; see step 303 of Figure 3 as well as 6:28-42, which disclose that the first network node sends (and thus generates) a message (transfers information) regarding its energy saving state to the second network node; see also step 202 of Figure 2 and 4:52-56 as well as similar steps in Figure 5, for example),
wherein the first message comprises: i) an indication of an amount of load being transferred from the first network node to the second network node and an indication the load transfer is due to an energy saving reason, and/or ii) a request for the second network node to update a capacity of at least one cell or reference signal beam of the second network node and an indication the request is due to an energy saving reason (disclosed throughout; as indicated above, the message may request the second network node to perform “energy saving compensation” functionality; further, as indicated in 7:10-15, in this energy saving compensation state, a cell of the second network node “expands its coverage” to “compensate” for lost “service demand” when the first cell enters an energy saving state, which is an update to the capacity of the cell; that is, the capacity of the cell is updated to (a) handle the additional demand and (b) increase the coverage; see 6:40-42, which indicates that the message “inform[s] the cell next to the energy saving cell to enter energy saving compensation state”).
Regarding claim 17: Jia discloses a first network node in a radio access network, the first network node comprising:
memory (see 12:61-13:6, which discloses a software implementation including a “storage medium”); and
processing circuitry, wherein the first network node is configured to (see 12:61-13:6, which discloses a software implementation including a “necessary general hardware platform”):
determine or identify based on an energy metric at least one of: (i) an action to perform or (ii) a request relating to the second network node (disclosed throughout; see step 302 of Figure 3 and 6:19-27, which disclose that the first network node determines at least an action such as entering (or not entering) an energy saving state based on an energy metric (the load condition of itself and the neighbor network node); the load information relates to the energy used by these devices and is interpreted as an energy metric);
generate a first message (disclosed throughout; see step 303 of Figure 3 as well as 6:28-42, which disclose that the first network node sends (and thus generates) a message (transfers information) regarding its energy saving state to the second network node; see also step 202 of Figure 2 and 4:52-56 as well as similar steps in Figure 5, for example); and
transmit the first message towards the second network node (disclosed throughout; see step 303 of Figure 3 as well as 6:28-42, which disclose that the first network node sends (and thus generates) a message (transfers information) regarding its energy saving state to the second network node; see also step 202 of Figure 2 and 4:52-56 as well as similar steps in Figure 5, for example),
wherein the first message comprises: i) an indication of an amount of load being transferred from the first network node to the second network node and an indication the load transfer is due to an energy saving reason, and/or ii) a request for the second network node to update a capacity of at least one cell or reference signal beam of the second network node and an indication the request is due to an energy saving reason (disclosed throughout; as indicated above, the message may request the second network node to perform “energy saving compensation” functionality; further, as indicated in 7:10-15, in this energy saving compensation state, a cell of the second network node “expands its coverage” to “compensate” for lost “service demand” when the first cell enters an energy saving state, which is an update to the capacity of the cell; that is, the capacity of the cell is updated to (a) handle the additional demand and (b) increase the coverage; see 6:40-42, which indicates that the message “inform[s] the cell next to the energy saving cell to enter energy saving compensation state”).
.
Regarding claim 20: Jia discloses a method performed by a second network node for coordinating with a first network node with respect to an energy metric, the method comprising:
the second network node receiving a first message transmitted by the first network node (disclosed throughout; see step 303 of Figure 3 as well as 6:28-42, which disclose that the first network node sends (and thus generates) a message (transfers information) regarding its energy saving state to the second network node; see also step 202 of Figure 2 and 4:52-56 as well as similar steps in Figure 5, for example; as indicated throughout, this notifies the second network node of the action related to energy savings taken by the first network node and also may request the second network node to perform “energy saving compensation” functionality based on the first network node entering an energy saving state; see 6:33-45, for example); and
the second network node transmitting a second message towards the first network node, the second message comprising a response to the first message (disclosed throughout; see 11:11-13, the network node can transmit feedback (indicating the success or failure of the ESM message/request) to the first network node),
wherein the first message comprises: i) an indication of an amount of load being transferred from the first network node to the second network node and an indication the load transfer is due to an energy saving reason, and/or ii) a request for the second network node to update a capacity of at least one cell or reference signal beam of the second network node and an indication the request is due to an energy saving reason (disclosed throughout; as indicated above, the message may request the second network node to perform “energy saving compensation” functionality; further, as indicated in 7:10-15, in this energy saving compensation state, a cell of the second network node “expands its coverage” to “compensate” for lost “service demand” when the first cell enters an energy saving state, which is an update to the capacity of the cell; that is, the capacity of the cell is updated to (a) handle the additional demand and (b) increase the coverage; see 6:40-42, which indicates that the message “inform[s] the cell next to the energy saving cell to enter energy saving compensation state”).
Regarding claim 36: Jia discloses a second network node in a radio access network, the second network node comprising:
memory (see 12:61-13:6, which discloses a software implementation including a “storage medium”); and
processing circuitry, wherein the first network node is configured to (see 12:61-13:6, which discloses a software implementation including a “necessary general hardware platform”):
receive a first message transmitted by the first network node (disclosed throughout; see step 303 of Figure 3 as well as 6:28-42, which disclose that the first network node sends (and thus generates) a message (transfers information) regarding its energy saving state to the second network node; see also step 202 of Figure 2 and 4:52-56 as well as similar steps in Figure 5, for example; as indicated throughout, this notifies the second network node of the action related to energy savings taken by the first network node and also may request the second network node to perform “energy saving compensation” functionality based on the first network node entering an energy saving state; see 6:33-45, for example); and
transmit a second message towards the first network node, the second message comprising a response to the first message (disclosed throughout; see 11:11-13, the network node can transmit feedback (indicating the success or failure of the ESM message/request) to the first network node),
wherein the first message comprises: i) an indication of an amount of load being transferred from the first network node to the second network node and an indication the load transfer is due to an energy saving reason, and/or ii) a request for the second network node to update a capacity of at least one cell or reference signal beam of the second network node and an indication the request is due to an energy saving reason (disclosed throughout; as indicated above, the message may request the second network node to perform “energy saving compensation” functionality; further, as indicated in 7:10-15, in this energy saving compensation state, a cell of the second network node “expands its coverage” to “compensate” for lost “service demand” when the first cell enters an energy saving state, which is an update to the capacity of the cell; that is, the capacity of the cell is updated to (a) handle the additional demand and (b) increase the coverage; see 6:40-42, which indicates that the message “inform[s] the cell next to the energy saving cell to enter energy saving compensation state”).
Regarding claim 2: Jia discloses the limitations that the first network node receiving a second message transmitted by the second network node, the second message comprising a response to the first message (disclosed throughout; see 11:11-13, the network node can transmit feedback (indicating the success or failure of the ESM message/request) to the first network node).
Regarding claim 3: Jia discloses the limitation that the first network node determines or identifies, based on the energy metric, an action to perform, and the action to perform comprises one or more of: an offloading of network traffic to the second network node, a handover of one or more user equipments (UEs) to the second network node, an adjustment of one or more mobility parameters, a reduction of load at the first network node, a reduction in capacity at the first network node, an adjustment in a sleep mode state at the first network node, a reduction of one or more processing resources at the first network node, or an adjustment to a downlink transmission cycle (disclosed throughout; for example, see 6:28-32, for example, which discloses that the message may indicate that the first network node has entered the energy saving state, which is an adjustment to the sleep mode state (energy saving state) for the first network node).
Regarding claim 4: Jia discloses the limitation that the indication indicates one or more of the following: a handover is desired due to the energy saving reason, network node power saving, the action is desired because of an energy saving reason, a cell and/or reference signal beam are or will not be available for energy saving reasons, or a cell and/or reference signal beam deactivation is desired or planned due to energy saving reasons (disclosed throughout; for example, see 6:28-32, for example, which discloses that the message may indicate that the first network node has entered the energy saving state, which is indicates network node power saving).
Regarding claim 10: Jia discloses the limitation that the first message comprises information indicating a policy for the first or second network node relating to the energy metric, and the policy for the first network node relating to the energy metric comprises one or more of: a specified mode relating to power consumption, a preferred energy consumption state, a preferred load state, an indication of deactivation or activation of energy saving functionality, or a margin for acceptable energy consumption increase (disclosed throughout; as indicated above, the message includes at least a policy including an indication of a deactivation or activation of energy saving functionality such as entering (or not entering) an energy saving state).
Regarding claim 19: Jia discloses the limitation of non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuity of a first network node causes the first network node to perform the method of claim 1 (disclosed throughout; for example, see 12:61-13:6, which discloses that the nodes in the network may be implemented using software stored on a storage medium).
Regarding claim 21: Jia discloses the limitation that the action to perform comprises one or more of: an offloading of network traffic to the second network node, a handover of one or more user equipments (UEs) to the second network node, an adjustment of one or more mobility parameters, a reduction of load at the first network node, a reduction in capacity at the first network node, an adjustment in a sleep mode state at the first network node, a reduction of one or more processing resources at the first network node, and/or an adjustment to a downlink transmission cycle (disclosed throughout; for example, see 6:28-32, for example, which discloses that the message may indicate that the first network node has entered the energy saving state, which is an adjustment to the sleep mode state (energy saving state) for the first network node).
Regarding claim 22: Jia discloses the limitation that the indication indicates one or more of the following: a handover is desired due to the energy saving reason, network node power saving, the action is desired because of an energy saving reason, a cell and/or reference signal beam are or will not be available for energy saving reasons, or a cell and/or reference signal beam deactivation is desired or planned due to energy saving reasons (disclosed throughout; for example, see 6:28-32, for example, which discloses that the message may indicate that the first network node has entered the energy saving state, which is indicates network node power saving).
Regarding claim 23: Jia discloses the limitation that the first message further comprises one or more of: an indication of an amount of load being transferred from the first network node to the second network node, or a request for the second network node to update a capacity of at least one cell or reference signal beam of the second network node (disclosed throughout; as indicated above, the message may request the second network node to perform “energy saving compensation” functionality; further, as indicated in 7:10-15, in this energy saving compensation state, a cell of the second network node “expands its coverage”, which is an update to the capacity of the cell).
Regarding claim 38: Jia discloses the limitation of non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuity of a second network node causes the second network node to perform the method of claim 20 (disclosed throughout; for example, see 12:61-13:6, which discloses that the nodes in the network may be implemented using software stored on a storage medium).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 6, 7, 12, 24, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jia et al (US 9,775,108) in view of Awoniyi et al (US 9,031,530).
Regarding claims 6 and 24: Jia discloses the limitations of parent claims 1 and 20 as indicated above. Jia does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claims 6 and 24 that the first message further comprises one or more of: an indication of an amount or percentage of load to be offloaded from a cell or reference signal beam of the first network node in order to deactivate the cell or reference signal beam, an indication of an amount or percentage of load to be offloaded from a cell or reference signal beam of the first network node in order to reach the energy metric, an amount or percentage of load for a cell or reference signal beam of the first network node for which the energy metric is met, a cell global identity (CGI) of at least one cell of the first network node to be deactivated based on the energy metric, a CGI of at least one cell of the first network node for which the energy efficiency metric is to be enhanced, an indication of an implication of the action or the request on the energy metric, or a time interval within which the first network node is planning to transfer traffic to the second network node. However, Awoniyi discloses a similar system for coordinating load between network nodes. Awoniyi further discloses that a first network node sends a message to a second network node indicating to handle some or all of the traffic of the first network node (see the request sent by a requesting node to a selected eNB for assisting the requesting node throughout; for example, consider 15:24-16:34; the “ON-request” is a message requesting a neighboring node to assist the requesting node by accepting one or more UEs from the requesting node; this message includes a timer value, which represents the time interval during which the requesting node plans to transfer traffic to the assisting eNB (when the timer expires, the assisting eNB can return to sleep as its assistance is no longer needed)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Jia to include a time interval within which the first network node is planning to transfer traffic to the second network node such as the timer in Awoniyi. The rationale for doing so would have been to minimize the amount of wasted power by allowing the second network node to stop assisting or waiting for the load transfer when the expected time interval (as measured by the timer) has expired.
Regarding claim 7: Jia discloses the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above. Jia does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claim 7 that the first message comprises an indication of an amount of load to be offloaded from the first network node to the second network node, and the indication of the amount of load to be offloaded comprises one or more of: a total radio resource usage, a data volume, a total or average throughput, a number of radio resource control (RRC) connections, a number of active user equipments (UEs),one or more radio conditions of UEs to be offloaded and/or a geographical location, a served quality of service (QoS) flow, a total amount of guaranteed bit rate (GBR) and non GBR resources to be offloaded, a load information specified on a per network slice basis, a value corresponding to an energy metric, a time interval within which the first network node is planning to transfer traffic to the second network node, or a UE type to be offloaded. However, Awoniyi discloses a similar system for coordinating load between network nodes. Awoniyi further discloses that a first network node sends a message to a second network node indicating to handle some or all of the traffic of the first network node (see the request sent by a requesting node to a selected eNB for assisting the requesting node throughout; for example, consider 15:24-16:34; the “ON-request” is a message requesting a neighboring node to assist the requesting node by accepting one or more UEs from the requesting node; this message includes a timer value, which represents the time interval during which the requesting node plans to transfer traffic to the assisting eNB (when the timer expires, the assisting eNB can return to sleep as its assistance is no longer needed)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Jia to include a time interval within which the first network node is planning to transfer traffic to the second network node such as the timer in Awoniyi. The rationale for doing so would have been to minimize the amount of wasted power by allowing the second network node to stop assisting or waiting for the load transfer when the expected time interval (as measured by the timer) has expired.
Regarding claim 12: Jia discloses the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above. Jia does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claim 12 that the first message comprises information indicating one or more validity criteria relating to the energy metric, and the validity criteria comprises one or more of: an operator constraint indicating a time period during which load transfer due to energy efficiency is not desirable, an operator constraint connected to a specific performance indicator, an operator constraint connected to specific services, a constraint on a cell or reference signal beam level, indicating that at least one cell or at least one reference signal beam shall, should, or cannot be considered for energy saving related decisions, an activation or deactivation of energy saving function in combination with aspects concerning an air interface transmission/reception that can impact energy consumption of more than one cell or more than one transmission point at same time, a possibility of coexistence of energy saving opportunities with functionalities concerning duplication of packet transmission/reception to ensure high reliability, an activation or deactivation of an energy saving function based on quality of experience (QoE) related indication, or an activation or deactivation of energy saving function based on temperature indication. However, Awoniyi discloses a similar system for coordinating load between network nodes. Awoniyi further discloses that a first network node sends a message to a second network node indicating to handle some or all of the traffic of the first network node (see the request sent by a requesting node to a selected eNB for assisting the requesting node throughout; for example, consider 15:24-16:34; the “ON-request” is a message requesting a neighboring node to assist the requesting node by accepting one or more UEs from the requesting node; this message includes a timer value, which indicates a validity criteria including a time period during with load transfer due to energy efficiency is not desirable (the period after the timer expiration)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Jia to include a validity criteria including a time period during with load transfer due to energy efficiency is not desirable (the period after the timer expiration in Awoniyi). The rationale for doing so would have been to minimize the amount of wasted power by allowing the second network node to stop assisting or waiting for the load transfer when the expected time interval (as measured by the timer) has expired.
Regarding claim 25: Jia discloses the limitations of parent claim 20 as indicated above. Jia does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claim 25 that the first message comprises an indication of an amount of load to be offloaded from the first network node the second network node. However, Awoniyi discloses a similar system for coordinating load between network nodes. Awoniyi further discloses that a first network node sends a message to a second network node indicating to handle some or all of the traffic of the first network node (see the request sent by a requesting node to a selected eNB for assisting the requesting node throughout; for example, consider 15:24-16:34; the “ON-request” is a message requesting a neighboring node to assist the requesting node by accepting one or more UEs from the requesting node; this message includes a timer value, which represents the time interval during which the requesting node plans to transfer traffic to the assisting eNB (when the timer expires, the assisting eNB can return to sleep as its assistance is no longer needed)). As indicated in claim 7 above, this time interval within which the first network node is planning to transfer traffic to the second network node is interpreted as an indication of an amount of load to be offloaded from the first network node to the second network node. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Jia to include a time interval within which the first network node is planning to transfer traffic to the second network node such as the timer in Awoniyi. The rationale for doing so would have been to minimize the amount of wasted power by allowing the second network node to stop assisting or waiting for the load transfer when the expected time interval (as measured by the timer) has expired.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jia et al (US 9,775,108) in view of Filin et al (US 2024/0163741).
Regarding claim 14: Jia discloses the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above. Jia does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claim 14 of the first network node providing, to a machine learning model, input based on a response to the first message and further comprising an indication of the action or the request; and the first network node obtaining an output generated by the machine learning model, the output comprising an indication of the impact of the action or the request of a key performance indicator (KPI) metric for a user equipment, wherein the machine learning model is implemented in the first network node, or the machine learning model is implemented in a central node, and the providing comprises the first network node transmitting the input towards the central node and the obtaining comprises receiving the output transmitted by the central node. However, Filin discloses a wireless communication network that hands over UEs from one node to another. Further, Filin discloses utilizing an AI-capable NG-RAN to help determine the impact of a handover in the network. For example, see [0274]-[0275], which indicate that “a change in one RAN node parameters influences performance in other RAN nodes serving neighbor cells” and “other optimization processes are happening in parallel, e.g., capacity and coverage optimization, load balancing etc. that impact HO performance”. See also, Figure 27, for example, which discloses a learning AI model S1007 implemented at a RAN node. The model inputs network and measurement report information and outputs handover-relevant information that accounts for the impact of changes on multiple nodes in the network. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Jia to include a machine learning model (like the learning AI model in Filin) in the first network node to accept an indication of the action or request and provide the impact of the action or request on multiple devices in the network as suggested by Filin. The rationale for doing so would have been to improve the decision making by utilizing an AI-capable model to analyze the impact of the action or request on multiple devices as suggested by Filin.
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 Robert C Scheibel whose telephone number is (571)272-3169. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hassan A Phillips can be reached at 571-272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Robert C. Scheibel
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2467
/Robert C Scheibel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467 March 10, 2026