DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed July 11, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The argument features Purkayastha is silent about a trigger signal that causes performing the action responsive to the trigger signal.
The examiner respectfully disagrees with the applicant’s statement and asserts that the claims are broadly written. What is the network node? What is the actual “wireless communication network” component that sends the trigger signal to the “network node” that needs to be identified? How is the configuration instruction determined in a novel way? How is the “action” performed by the “network node” in a novel away? Using the broadest reasonable interpretation, Purkayastha discloses “the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) The applicant will need to further amend the independent claims to clearly indicate the patentable subject matter.
In view of the above, the rejection using Purkayastha is maintained as repeated below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-15, 17-22, 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable by Purkayastha et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2020/0351734).
Consider claim 1; Purkayastha discloses a network node configured for operating in a wireless communication network [“The wireless communications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130.” (par. 55, lines 4-6)],
wherein the network node is configured or pre-configured with configuration instructions or to receive configuration instructions [“The source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a …” (par. 83, lines 1-2)], the configuration instructions related to an action that causes the network node to disconnect from the wireless communication network [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)];
wherein the network node is to receive [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…” (par. 83, lines 7-8)], from the wireless communication network [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…” (par. 83, lines 7-8)], a wireless signal as a trigger signal comprising a message providing information to perform the action [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…” (par. 83, lines 7-8)]; wherein the network node is to evaluate the message [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)]; and
performing the action responsive to the trigger signal [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)],
wherein the action further relates to one or more of
a reconnection action to reconnect to the wireless communication network,
a deregister action, e.g., access barring;
an initiation of a cell-search;
a normal handover;
a conditional handover, CHO [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 2; Purkayastha discloses the network node is configured or pre-configured with a conditional handover, CHO, configuration as the action [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)], which is triggerable by the wireless communication network via the message [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)].
Consider claim 3; Purkayastha discloses the network node is configured or pre-configured with a conditional handover, CHO, configuration as the action [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)], which is exclusively triggerable by the wireless communication network via the message [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)].
Consider claim 4; Purkayastha discloses the conditional handover, CHO, configuration [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)] is configured in a firmware of the network node or hard-coded [“The device 805 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 805 may include… a communications manager 815…” (par. 128, lines 4-7) “The communications manager 815 or its sub-components, may be implemented in hardware, code (e.g. software or firmware) executed by a processor or any combination thereof.” (par. 132, lines 1-4)].
Consider claim 5; Purkayastha discloses the network node is configured, pre-configured or to receive expiration information associated with the configuration instructions and indicating an expiration of the configuration instructions to operate according to the trigger signal only before the expiration of the configuration instructions [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “…the UE 115-a may also receive an indication of the validity timer associated with each target base station 105-b and 105-c with the CHO configuration, and may deconfigure the associated CHO configuration upon expiration of the associated validity timer.” (par. 84, lines 13-17)].
Consider claim 6; Purkayastha discloses the network node is configured for receiving a configuration signal comprising the configuration instructions and the trigger signal together as an execution signal, as a single message, and/or as separate messages [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 7; Purkayastha discloses the network node is configured for receiving the configuration instructions during a first instance of time and for preparing the action [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)]; and for receiving the message of the trigger signal during a later [“The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base statin 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)], second instance of time [“The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 8; Purkayastha discloses the network node is configured for
performing the action directly after having received the message of the trigger signal; or
performing the action with a predefined delay after having received the message of the trigger signal; or
performing the action based on an execution and/or time preference of the network node after having received the message of the trigger signal, e.g., in accordance with the configuration instructions [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)]; or
performing the action based on a further trigger condition and/or a further status within the network node.
Consider claim 9; Purkayastha discloses the configuration instructions indicate a designated access node or group of access nodes of the wireless communication network to which the network node is requested to connect [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)], wherein the network node is configured for connecting to the designated access node when performing the action [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 10; Purkayastha discloses the configuration instructions indicate a plurality of designated access nodes of the wireless communication network to which the network node is requested to connect [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)], the plurality being ordered in an ordered list [“…the UE 115-e may select one based on one or more predetermined criteria (e.g. the target base station with a highest channel quality, the target base station having the shortest time remaining on a validity timer, an earliest configured CHO, etc.).” (par. 118, lines 19-24)], wherein the network node is to select a new access node from the ordered list based on side information [“…the UE 115-e may select one based on one or more predetermined criteria (e.g. the target base station with a highest channel quality, the target base station having the shortest time remaining on a validity timer, an earliest configured CHO, etc.).” (par. 118, lines 19-24)].
Consider claim 11; Purkayastha discloses the network node is configured for performing the action exclusively responsive to the message of the trigger signal [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 12; Purkayastha discloses the network node is configured for performing the action based on the message of the trigger signal and/or based on at least one additional event [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)]; wherein the network node is configured for performing the action based on having determined that the at least one event has occurred [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 13; Purkayastha discloses the network node is configured for performing the action [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)], the action comprising to connect to a designated access node indicated in the configuration instructions [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)], the designated access node comprising a metric relating to a channel quality, a link quality and/or a link capability being lower when compared to a different access node being reachable for the network node [“The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…, and one or more measurement thresholds (e.g….channel quality metric thresholds, signal strength metric thresholds etc.) that are to be used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 12-15)].
Consider claim 14; Purkayastha discloses the configuration instructions comprise a plurality of actions [“The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…, and one or more measurement thresholds (e.g….channel quality metric thresholds, signal strength metric thresholds etc.) that are to be used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 12-15)]; wherein, responsive to the trigger signal [“The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…, and one or more measurement thresholds (e.g….channel quality metric thresholds, signal strength metric thresholds etc.) that are to be used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 12-15)], the network node is to select and perform one of the plurality of actions [“The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…, and one or more measurement thresholds (e.g….channel quality metric thresholds, signal strength metric thresholds etc.) that are to be used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 12-15)].
Consider claim 15; Purkayastha discloses the configuration instructions indicate a plurality of access nodes, e.g., as a plurality of configurations or preconfigurations for a conditional handover [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base statin 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)], to which the network node may connect [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)]; wherein, responsive to the trigger signal [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)], the network node is to select at least one of the plurality of access nodes as selected access node and to connect to the selected access node [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 17; Purkayastha discloses the network node is or comprises one or more of:
a user equipment, UE [“The source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a …” (par. 83, lines 1-2)];
a group lead UE;
a relay node;
a road side unit, RSU,
an integrated access and backhaul, IAB, node
Consider claim 18; Purkayastha discloses an access node configured for operating in a wireless communication network, the access node configured for providing a connection or proxy-access for a network node of the wireless communication network, the access node configured for:
transmitting a wireless signal as a trigger signal [“The wireless communications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130.” (par. 55, lines 4-6) “The source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)], to a network node [“The wireless communications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130.” (par. 55, lines 4-6) “The source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)], the trigger signal comprising a message providing information indicating that the network node is requested to perform an action responsive to the trigger signal [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)], that causes the network node to disconnect from the wireless communication network and for which the network node is configured or pre-configured [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4)]; wherein the action relates to one or more of
a reconnection action to reconnect to the wireless communication network,
a deregister action, e.g., access barring;
an initiation of a cell-search;
a normal handover;
a conditional handover, CHO [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 19; Purkayastha discloses the access node is to provide the proxy-access for a network node [“The source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…, and one or more measurement thresholds (e.g….channel quality metric thresholds, signal strength metric thresholds etc.) that are to be used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 12-15)]; wherein the access node is to operate by use of a first identifier associated with the access node [“The source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…, and one or more measurement thresholds (e.g….channel quality metric thresholds, signal strength metric thresholds etc.) that are to be used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 12-15)]; wherein the access node is to receive a signal comprising information to request the access node to operate by use of a second identifier associated with a different access node so as to operate as a proxy for connections of the different access node [“The source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105…, and one or more measurement thresholds (e.g….channel quality metric thresholds, signal strength metric thresholds etc.) that are to be used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 12-15)].
Consider claim 20; Purkayastha discloses a wireless communication network, comprising: at least one network node of claim 1 [“The wireless communications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130.” (par. 55, lines 4-6)]; and at least one access node of claim 18 [“The wireless communications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130.” (par. 55, lines 4-6)].
Consider claim 21; Purkayastha discloses the trigger signal is a dedicated signal transmitted to thereby cause execution of the action [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 22; Purkayastha discloses the message comprises an instruction to unconditionally perform the action [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
Consider claim 24; Purkayastha discloses the network node is adapted to perform the action regardless of detecting or not detecting CHO events [“the source base station 105-a may provide CHO configurations to the UE 115-a which may be used by the UE 115-a to … initiate a handover to a second communication connection 210.” (par. 83, lines 1-4) “The CHO configuration may provide, for example, a cell ID of the associated target base station 105… used to trigger handover to the associated target base station 105” (par. 83, lines 7-8, 14-15)].
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 of this title, 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 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Purkayastha et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2020/0351734) in view of Khay-Ibbat et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2014/0126544).
Consider claim 16, as applied in claim 1; Purkayasha discloses the claimed invention except: the network node is to receive the trigger signal while being in an RRC_IDLE state being associated with a first access node and for changing the association to a second access node in accordance with the configuration instructions responsive to the trigger signal; or wherein the network node is to receive the trigger signal while being in an RRC_INACTIVE state and for connecting to an access node in accordance with the configuration instructions when changing to an RRC_CONNECTED state.
In analogous art Khay-Ibbat discloses the network node is to receive the trigger signal while being in an RRC_IDLE state being associated with a first access node and for changing the association to a second access node in accordance with the configuration instructions responsive to the trigger signal [“…In response to detecting the occurrence of the handover trigger event, the UE 106 can automatically generate a measurement report (MR) to send to its serving eNodeB base station to inform the serving eNodeB of the UE’s 106 signal strength and/or signal quality measurements that may be associated with the serving eNodeB and with any number of neighbor eNodeBs…” (par. 45, lines 10-16) “…determining a network reselection trigger event has occurred when the UE 400 is in the RRC Idle Mode…” (par. 66, lines 5-7)]; or wherein the network node is to receive the trigger signal while being in an RRC_INACTIVE state and for connecting to an access node in accordance with the configuration instructions when changing to an RRC_CONNECTED state.
It is an object of Purkayastha’s invention to provide a method of managing handover configurations. It is an object of Khay-Ibbat’s invention to provide a method of cell reselection and handover procedures. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Purkayastha by including an idle state, as taught by Khay-Ibbat, for the purpose of effectively managing communication in a telecommunication network.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Purkayastha et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2020/0351734) in view of Moisanen et al. (U.S. Patent Number: 8,412,190).
Consider claim 23, as applied in claim 1; Purkayasha discloses the claimed invention except: the action further relates to the reconnection action to reconnect to the wireless communication network, or relates to the initiation of a cell-search.
In an analogous art Moisanen discloses the action further relates to the reconnection action to reconnect to the wireless communication network, or relates to the initiation of a cell-search [“… a wireless device is initially using a first RAT on a first network and receives a trigger…to connect to a second, different RAT 200.” (col. 6, lines 33-35) “The wireless device in an example reconnects from the first RAT on a first network to a second, different RAT 210 in order to obtain a service from the second RAT that is not available using the first RAT.” (col. 6, lines 38-41)].
It is an object of Purkayastha’s invention to provide a method of managing handover configurations. It is an object of Moisanen’s invention to provide a method of switching network connection of a wireless device. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Purkayastha by including a reconnection, as taught by Moisanen, for the purpose of efficiently providing services in a wireless system.
Conclusion
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
extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
Examiner should be directed to Joel Ajayi whose telephone number is (571) 270-1091. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday from 7:30am to 5:00pm and Friday 7:30am to 4:00 pm.
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/JOEL AJAYI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
Prosecution Insights