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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
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.
Claims 1, 15, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong et al (US 2008/0002660) in view of Yang et al (US 2015/0146684). Hereinafter referred to as Jeong and Yang.
Regarding claims 1, 15 and 22. Jeong discloses a method for uplink timing adjustment (see at least title and paragraphs [0023]-[0024]) comprising acquiring downlink timing information, wherein the downlink timing information comprises a first downlink timing corresponding to a first moment of the terminal and a second downlink timing corresponding to a second moment of the terminal (see at least paragraphs [0023]-[0024]); and adjusting, based on a timing difference between the second downlink timing and the first downlink timing, an uplink timing to be within a timing limit threshold range (see at least paragraphs [0023]-[0024]).
Jeong discloses all the limitations of the claimed invention with the exception of having a UE determine the uplink timing adjustment. However, Yang, from the same field of endeavor, teaches UE determining/calculating the uplink timing adjustment (see at least paragraphs [0041]-[0042]). 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 Yang, as indicated, into the communication method of Jeong for the purpose of reducing processing time at the eNB, eliminate possible transmission delay to update UE with uplink timing adjustment and reduce bandwidth usage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5, 13-14, 16-21, and 23-27 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO_892.
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.
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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.
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/MOUNIR MOUTAOUAKIL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476