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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-9, 14-15, 20-24 are presented for examination.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/21/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/21/2026 is considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-9, 14-15, 20-24 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.
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 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 8-9, 14-15, 20-21 and 23-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paladugu et al (Paladugu), US 2021/0385714, in view of Cheng et al (Cheng’890), US 2024/0031890.
Paladugu and Cheng’890 were cited in the previous office action.
As per claim 1, Paladugu teaches the invention including a method for releasing a remote terminal, performed by a relay terminal, comprising:
Sending first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to a specified condition being satisfied (pp. 0097; figure 15: relay UE may initiate the PC5 link release), to enable the remote terminal to connect to a second relay terminal, wherein the second relay terminal is a terminal other than the relay terminal (pp. 0099: the remote UE may release the PC5 link and try to connect to other relay UE), the first release indication information is configured to indicate the remote terminal to release the relay terminal, and the specified condition comprises receiving a synchronous reconfiguration indication (pp. 0084-0085, 0097; figure 11: RRC reconfiguration including Reconfigwithsync).
Paladugu does not teach to enable the remote terminal to perform a relay reselection to determine a second relay terminal and send a connection establishment request to the second relay terminal. Cheng’890 teaches to send a first release indication information to the remote terminal, to enable the remote terminal to perform a relay reselection to determine a second relay terminal and send a connection establishment request to the second relay terminal (pp. 0005, 0067, 0108-0109, 0123-0124, 0136-0137, 0161-0167). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art a the time the invention was filed to combine the teachings of Paladugu and Cheng’890 in order to send sidelink transmission that includes a L2 release message as a trigger for the remote terminal to release connection with the first relay terminal and perform reselection procedure to select a target relay terminal based on measurement reports.
As per claim 2, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 1. Paladugu further teaches wherein sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to the specified condition being satisfied comprises:
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving the synchronous reconfiguration indication, and a target cell identifier in the synchronous reconfiguration indication being different from a source cell identifier; or
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration indication (pp. 0084, 0097), and the relay terminal not containing bearer configuration information of a dual active protocol solution (DAPS) (pp. 0081: relay UE may not know about the DAPS DRBs configuration); or
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration indication (pp. 0084, 0097), and a bearer currently configured to bear a transmission of the remote terminal not being a DAPS bearer (pp. 0036, 0089, 0091: non-DAPS channel).
As per claim 3, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 1. Paladugu further teaches wherein sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to the specified condition being satisfied comprises:
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration process (pp. 0084, 0097: figure 15); or
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration process, and a target cell identifier in the synchronous reconfiguration indication being different from a source cell identifier; or
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration process (pp. 0084, 0097), and the relay terminal not containing bearer configuration information of a dual active protocol solution (DAPS) (pp. 0081: relay UE may not know about the DAPS DRBs configuration); or
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration process (pp. 0084, 0097), and a bearer currently configured to bear a transmission of the remote terminal not being a DAPS bearer (pp. 0036, 0089, 0091: non-DAPS channel).
As per claim 6, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 1. Paladugu further teaches wherein sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal comprises:
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal by broadcasting (pp. 0097, 0105, 0116); and/or
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal by unicasting (pp. 0097, 0105, 0116).
As per claim 8, Paladugu teaches the invention including a method for releasing a remote terminal, configured to be performed by a remote terminal, comprising:
Receiving first release indication information sent by a first relay terminal, wherein the first release indication information is configured to indicate the remote terminal to release the first relay terminal (pp. 0097; figure 15: relay UE may initiate the PC5 link release), the first release indication information is sent in response to a specified condition being satisfied by the first relay terminal, and the specified condition comprises receiving a synchronous reconfiguration indication (pp. 0084-0085, 0097; figure 11: RRC reconfiguration including Reconfigwithsync);
Performing a connection to a second relay terminal, wherein the second relay terminal is a terminal other than the relay terminal (pp. 0099: the remote UE may release the PC5 link and try to connect to other relay UE).
Paladugu does not teach to perform a relay reselection to determine a second relay terminal and a connection establishment request to the second relay terminal. Cheng’890 teaches to receive a first release indication information to the remote terminal, perform a relay reselection to determine a second relay terminal and send a connection establishment request to the second relay terminal (pp. 0005, 0067, 0108-0109, 0123-0124, 0136-0137, 0161-0167). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art a the time the invention was filed to combine the teachings of Paladugu and Cheng’890 in order to send sidelink transmission that includes a L2 release message as a trigger for the remote terminal to release connection with the first relay terminal and perform reselection procedure to select a target relay terminal based on measurement reports.
As per claim 9, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 8. Paladugu further teaches to comprise:
Releasing a connection with the first relay terminal (pp. 0097).
As per claim 14, Paladugu teaches the invention including a communication device, comprising
A processor (pp. 0056-0057, 0110); and
A memory, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory (pp. 0056-0057, 0110), and the processor is configured to:
Send first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to a specified condition being satisfied (pp. 0097; figure 15: relay UE may initiate the PC5 link release), to enable the remote terminal to connect to a second relay terminal, wherein the second relay terminal is a terminal other than the relay terminal (pp. 0099: the remote UE may release the PC5 link and try to connect to other relay UE), the first release indication information is configured to indicate the remote terminal to release the relay terminal, and the specified condition comprises receiving a synchronous reconfiguration indication (pp. 0084-0085, 0097; figure 11: RRC reconfiguration including Reconfigwithsync).
Paladugu does not teach to enable the remote terminal to perform a relay reselection to determine a second relay terminal and send a connection establishment request to the second relay terminal. Cheng’890 teaches to send a first release indication information to the remote terminal, to enable the remote terminal to perform a relay reselection to determine a second relay terminal and send a connection establishment request to the second relay terminal (pp. 0005, 0067, 0108-0109, 0123-0124, 0136-0137, 0161-0167). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art a the time the invention was filed to combine the teachings of Paladugu and Cheng’890 in order to send sidelink transmission that includes a L2 release message as a trigger for the remote terminal to release connection with the first relay terminal and perform reselection procedure to select a target relay terminal based on measurement reports.
As per claim 15, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 8. Paladugu further teaches a communication device, comprising
A processor (pp. 0056-0057, 0110); and
A memory, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory (pp. 0056-0057, 0110), and the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the device to perform the method of claim 8.
As per claim 20, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 14. Paladugu further teaches wherein the processor is configured to:
Send the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving the synchronous reconfiguration indication, and a target cell identifier in the synchronous reconfiguration indication being different from a source cell identifier; or
Send the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration indication (pp. 0084, 0097), and the relay terminal not containing bearer configuration information of a dual active protocol solution (DAPS) (pp. 0081: relay UE may not know about the DAPS DRBs configuration); or
Send the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration indication (pp. 0084, 0097), and a bearer currently configured to bear a transmission of the remote terminal not being a DAPS bearer (pp. 0036, 0089, 0091: non-DAPS channel).
As per claim 21, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 14. Paladugu further teaches wherein the processor is configured to:
Send the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration process (pp. 0084, 0097: figure 15); or
Send the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration process, and a target cell identifier in the synchronous reconfiguration indication being different from a source cell identifier; or
Send the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration process (pp. 0084, 0097), and the relay terminal not containing bearer configuration information of a dual active protocol solution (DAPS) (pp. 0081: relay UE may not know about the DAPS DRBs configuration); or
Send the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving a synchronous reconfiguration process (pp. 0084, 0097), and a bearer currently configured to bear a transmission of the remote terminal not being a DAPS bearer (pp. 0036, 0089, 0091: non-DAPS channel).
As per claim 23, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 14. Paladugu further teaches wherein the processor is configured to:
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal by broadcasting (pp. 0097, 0105, 0116); and/or
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal by unicasting (pp. 0097, 0105, 0116).
As per claim 24, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 15. Paladugu further teaches wherein the processor is configured to:
Release a connection with the first relay terminal (pp. 0097).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paladugu and Cheng’890 as applied to claims 1-3, 6, 8-9, 14-15, 20-21 and 23-24 above, and further in view of Cheng et al (Cheng), US2023/0262564.
Cheng was cited in the previous office action.
As per claim 7, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 1. Paladugu and Cheng’890 do not teach to comprise: stopping sending a relay discovery signal. Cheng teaches to stop sending a relay discovery signal (pp. 0099). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teaching of Paladugu, Cheng’890 and Cheng and stop sending relay discovery signal while the nodes are in the process of performing RRC establishing or RRC re-establishing connection.
Claim(s) 4-5 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paladugu and Cheng’890 as applied to claims 1-3, 6, 8-9, 14-15, 20-21 and 23-24 above, and further in view of Chun et al (Chun), US 2019/0239147.
Chun was cited in the previous office action
As per claim 4, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 1. Paladugu and Cheng’890 do not teach wherein sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to the specified condition being satisfied comprises:
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving second release indication information sent by a target cell, wherein the second release indication information is configured to indicate the relay terminal to release a source cell; or
Sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to a cell handover trigger condition being satisfied.
Chun teaches wherein sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to the specified condition being satisfied comprises: sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to a cell handover trigger condition being satisfied (pp. 0250, 0252, 0267-0268). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teach Paladugu, Cheng’890 and Chun and release relay terminal connection in response to a cell handover procedure.
As per claim 5, Paladugu, Cheng’890 and Chun teach the invention as claimed in claim 4. Chun further teaches to comprise:
Determining the cell handover trigger condition according to an agreement of a protocol; or
Determining the cell handover trigger condition according to an indication from a network device (pp. 0267).
As per claim 22, Paladugu and Cheng’890 teach the invention as claimed in claim 14. Paladugu and Cheng’890 do not teach wherein the processor is configured to:
Send the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to receiving second release indication information sent by a target cell, wherein the second release indication information is configured to indicate the relay terminal to release a source cell; or
Send the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to a cell handover trigger condition being satisfied.
Chun teaches wherein sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to the specified condition being satisfied comprises: sending the first release indication information to the remote terminal, in response to a cell handover trigger condition being satisfied (pp. 0250, 0252, 0267-0268). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teach Paladugu, Cheng’890 and Chun and release relay terminal connection in response to a cell handover procedure.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wei et al, US 2018/0213588
A shortened statutory period for reply to this Office action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNY S LIN whose telephone number is (571) 272-3968.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached on 571-270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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KENNY S. LIN
Examiner
Art Unit 2416
/Kenny S Lin/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
July 28, 2026
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