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 .
Notice for all Patent Application as subject to AIA
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.
RESPONSE TO PRE-APPEAL BRIEF
Claims 1-20 are pending and remain for further examination.
REOPEN PROSECUTION
Applicant's request for reconsideration of the finality of the rejection of the last Office Action mailed on 11/05/2025 filed with Pre-Appeal Brief has been considered. Applicant’s arguments filed on 01/20/2026, with respect to claims 1-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive; therefore, the finality of the rejection of the last Office Action is withdrawn.
The new grounds of rejection
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 filed on January 20, 2026 have been fully considered but they are deemed to be persuasive for the claims 1-20; therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn and further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of new references.
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 1-20 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being un-patentable over Chen et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0116868 A1) in view of Park et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0204837 A1).
As to claim 1, Chen et al disclose a wireless network interface circuit, comprising: a wireless interface; and a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured (figure 2, pars. 0036-0037, 0046, 0050) to: receive a shutdown command through the wireless interface (figure 4, par. 0062 lines 1-6, receiving a sleep command); transition to a limited activity state, in response to the receiving of the shutdown command (figure 4, par. 0062 lines 6-12, enter a sleep state with low power consumption and turn off partial wireless interface); and operate in the limited activity state, the operating in the limited activity state comprising generating wireless transmissions at a rate not exceeding a threshold (par. 0068, enter a sleep state with a flow rate lower than a predetermined threshold).
However, Chen et al do not explicitly teach that the processing circuit constrains the wireless network interface circuit from generating wireless transmissions at a rate exceeding the threshold while operating in the limited activity state.
Park et al disclose a wireless network interface circuit comprising: a processing circuit constrains the wireless network interface circuit from generating wireless transmissions at a rate exceeding the threshold while operating in the limited activity state (figure 2, par. 0032, figure 3, pars. 0050-005, controlling wireless transmissions rate based on threshold and activity state).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Park et al as stated above with the wireless network interface circuit, comprising: a processing circuit of Chen et al for generating wireless transmissions rate based on the threshold and the activity state because it would have improved control over the limited activity state and also improved control power consumption and saved battery power and increased battery lifetime.
As to claim 2, Chen et al disclose that the operating in the limited activity state comprises generating no wireless transmissions (figure 4, par. 0062 lines 12-19, enter a sleep state with turn off wireless network interface).
As to claims 3-4, Chen et al disclose that the generating of wireless transmissions at a rate not exceeding a threshold comprising generating transmissions with a duty cycle less than a duty cycle threshold and an average frame rate less than a frame rate threshold (pars. 0068-0069, enter a sleep state with a flow rate (a duty cycle or an average frame rate) lower than a predetermined threshold).
As to claim 5, Chen et al disclose a host interface, wherein the processing circuit is configured to not modify the response to a shutdown command in response to a command or data received through the wireless interface or through the host interface (figure 2, pars. 0041, 0043, figure 4, pars. 0059-0061).
As to claim 6, Chen et al disclose that the processing circuit comprises a state machine configured to operate in either the limited activity state or a normal state (figure 4, pars. 0061-0062).
As to claim 7, Chen et al disclose a memory storing instructions that when executed by the processing circuit cause the processing circuit to cause the wireless network interface circuit to transition to the limited activity state, wherein the instructions are not modifiable via a command or data received through the wireless interface or through the host interface (figure 2, pars. 0037-0038, 0041, 0043, figure 4, pars. 0060-0062).
As to claim 8, Chen et al disclose that the transitioning to a limited activity state is further in response to authenticating the shutdown command (pars. 0060-0061, 0064, 0069, checking a specific sleep time interval for a sleep command).
As to claim 9, Chen et al disclose that the processing circuit is configured to cause the wireless network interface circuit to transition from the limited activity state to a normal state upon powering down and powering up of the wireless network interface circuit (par. 0047, figure 3, pars. 0053-0054, figure 4, par. 0062).
As to claim 10, Chen et al disclose that the processing circuit is further configured to: receive a restart command; and transition from the limited activity state to a normal state in response to the receiving of the restart command (figure 5, pars. 0072-0073, 0078).
As to claims 11-12, Chen et al disclose that the receiving of the restart command comprises receiving the restart command through the wireless interface; and a host interface, wherein the receiving of the restart command comprises receiving the restart command through the host interface (figure 5, pars. 0074-005, 0078).
As to claims 13-14, Chen et al disclose a host interface, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: send a notification, through the host interface, in response to the receiving of the shutdown command, wherein the shutdown command comprises a message, and the notification comprises an indication of the message (figure2, pars. 0034, 0041, 0069-0071, sending a notification in response to a sleep command).
As to claim 15, it is also rejected for the same reasons set forth to rejecting claims 1 and 5-7 above, since claim 15 does not teach or define any new limitations than above rejected claims 1 and 5-7.
As to claims 16-20, they are also rejected for the same reasons set forth to rejecting claims 1-5 above, since claims 16-20 are merely method of operations for the apparatus defined in the claims 1-5 and claims 16-20 do not teach or define any new limitations than above rejected claims 1-5.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1-20 under 103 rejection filed on January 20, 2026 have been fully considered but they are deemed to be moot in a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of new reference. The examiner has attempted to answer (response) to the remarks (arguments) in the body of the Office Action.
Additional Reference
The examiner as of general interest cites the following reference.
Lo, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0241148 A1.
Content Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bharat Barot whose telephone number is (571)272-3979. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:00AM-3:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kamal B Divecha can be reached on (571)272-5863. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
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/BHARAT BAROT/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2453
August 12, 2026
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