DETAILED ACTION
Applicant's response filed on 06/04/2026 has been entered and made of record.
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 .
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 Status
Claims 2, and 6-7 are cancelled.
Claims 1, 3-5, and 8-15 are amended.
No new claims are added.
Claims 1, 3-5, and 8-15 are currently pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Remarks (on page 7), filed 06/04/2026, with respect to Claim Objections have been fully considered and the claims have been amended. Therefore, the objections to claims 1-4, 6-12, 14, and 16-18 have been withdrawn in view of the amendment.
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1 have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. The amendments to the claims necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection discussed below.
This Office action is made Final.
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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1, 3-5, 8-10, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of ISHII (US 2023/0164658 A1) hereinafter “Ishii”.
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses an apparatus for conditional reconfiguration (see FIG. 1 and 2; see ¶ [0053], a wireless device/UE), the apparatus comprising:
a memory (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0070], one or more memories); and
processor circuitry coupled to the memory (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0070], one or more processors) and configured to:
select one of first cells fulfilling a conditional reconfiguration condition from conditional reconfiguration candidate cells as a second cell (see FIG. 10-12; see ¶ [0151] [0159], the UE evaluates conditional handover (CHO) execution condition and if at least one target cell satisfies the CHO execution condition); and
initiate conditional reconfiguration execution on the second cell (see FIG. 10-12; see ¶ [0151] [0159], the UE initiates access to the target cell using the target cell).
Although Kim discloses the wireless communication/connections may be established through various RATs such as inter-base station communication (e.g., relay, integrated access and backhaul (IAB)) (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0067]), but does not explicitly disclose the first IAB node or the child IAB node.
However, Ishii discloses wherein the apparatus for conditional reconfiguration, applicable to at least one of a terminal equipment served by the first IAB-node or the child IAB-node (see FIG. 1 and 3; see ¶ [0119-20], a UE may be connected to an IAB-node which itself may be connected to a parent IAB-node in communication with an IAB-donor).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide the first IAB node or the child IAB node as taught by Ishii, in the system of Kim, so that it would provide extending the backhaul resources to allow for the transmission of backhaul traffic within the network and between parent and child for integrated access (Ishii: see ¶ [0120]).
The combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein the conditional reconfiguration condition comprises at least one of the following conditions that:
a radio link failure of a link with a parent IAB-node of the first IAB-node or the child IAB-node is detected (Kim: see ¶ [0152] [0159] [0178], the wireless device detects the radio link failure (RLF) and Ishii: see FIG. 11; see ¶ [0135] [0161], detecting a radio condition, such as a radio link failure, RFL, to its parent node).
Regarding claim 3, the combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein
the notification of a radio link failure and/or the first indication is/are received via a PDU (Protocol Data Unit) control BAP (Backhaul Adaptation Protocol); or the notification of a radio link failure is received via a system message; or the notification of a radio link failure is received via a paging message (Claim 2 recites multiple functionalities by using “at least one of” in a selective way. Since the Examiner has shown the teaching of at least one functionality, the claim limitation(s) is/are still met which dependent upon said claim).
Regarding claim 4, the combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein,
at least one of the notification of a radio link failure, an update indication of the system message is comprised in a short message of paging message and is indicated by DCI (Downlink Control Information) (Claim 2 recites multiple functionalities by using “at least one of” in a selective way. Since the Examiner has shown the teaching of at least one functionality, the claim limitation(s) is/are still met which dependent upon said claim).
Regarding claim 5, the combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein,
the notification of a radio link failure comprises at least one of a Type-4 RLF (radio link failure) notification, a Type-2 RLF (radio link failure) notification and a Type-3 RLF (radio link failure) notification (Claim 2 recites multiple functionalities by using “at least one of” in a selective way. Since the Examiner has shown the teaching of at least one functionality, the claim limitation(s) is/are still met which dependent upon said claim).
Regarding claim 8, the combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to:
when one first cell fulfilling the conditional reconfiguration condition exists, take first cell as the second cell (Kim: see ¶ [0151] [0154], the UE initiates access to the target cell, performs cell selection and cell #1 is selected); and
when at least two first cells fulfilling the conditional reconfiguration condition exist, determine the first cell as the second cell (Kim: see ¶ [0151] [0154], it is assumed that CHO candidate cells #1 to #4 are configured by the mobility command upon failure (e.g., RLF), the UE performs cell selection and cell #1 is selected).
Regarding claim 9, the combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to:
select the first cell from the at least two first cells and take the first cell as the second cell (Kim: see ¶ [0151] [0154], it is assumed that CHO candidate cells #1 to #4 are configured by the mobility command upon failure (e.g., RLF), the UE performs cell selection and cell #1 is selected).
Regarding claim 10, the combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to:
select the first cell fulfilling at least one of the following conditions from the at least two first cells and take the first cell as the second cell:
when a failure of a radio link with a parent IAB-node of the first IAB-node or the child IAB-node is detected, the first cell is not a cell of the parent IAB-node (Kim: see ¶ [0159] [0178], the wireless device detects the radio link failure (RLF) and see ¶ [0142-43], set of candidate cells and Ishii: see FIG. 11; see ¶ [0135] [0161], detecting a radio condition, such as a radio link failure, RFL, to its parent node).
Regarding claim 13, the combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein, the processor circuitry is further configured to apply stored second cell configuration on the selected second cell (Kim: see ¶ [0256], apply the stored condRRCReconfig (i.e., apply a target cell configuration associated to the selected cell)).
Regarding claim 14, the combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein, the terminal equipment to apply the apparatus for conditional reconfiguration (Kim: see ¶ [0252] [0256], the wireless device shall apply the stored condRRCReconfig).
Regarding claim 15, the combined system of Kim and Ishii discloses wherein, the conditional reconfiguration candidate cells comprise conditional handover candidate cells (Kim: see ¶ [0151] [0176], the target cell configurations associated to one or more target cells may be condRRCReconfig field included in the ConditionalReconfiguration IE).
Claims 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Ishii further in view of Deenoo et al. (US 2021/0168678 A1) hereinafter “Deenoo”.
Regarding claim 11, Kim does not explicitly disclose the first cell with best quality of a beam.
However, Deenoo discloses select the first cell fulfilling a second condition from the at least two first cells and take it as the second cell,
the second condition comprising at least one of the following: the first cell with best quality of a beam (see ¶ [0110], the WTRU may be configured to choose a cell having the best beam quality from among the candidate cells).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide the first cell with best quality of a beam as taught by Deenoo, in the combined system of Kim and Ishii, so that it would provide to improve the reliability of control signaling (Deenoo: see ¶ [0084]).
Regarding claim 12, Kim discloses wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to:
select the first cell fulfilling a first condition and a second condition from the at least two first cells and take the first cell as the second cell,
the first condition comprising at least one of the following that: when a failure of a radio link with a parent IAB-node of the first IAB-node or the child IAB-node is detected, the first cell is not a cell of the parent IAB-node (see ¶ [0159] [0178], the wireless device detects the radio link failure (RLF) and see ¶ [0142-43], set of candidate cells and Ishii: see FIG. 11; see ¶ [0135] [0161], detecting a radio condition, such as a radio link failure, RFL, to its parent node).
Kim does not explicitly disclose the first cell with best quality of a beam.
However, Deenoo discloses the second condition comprising at least one of the following: the first cell with best quality of a beam (see ¶ [0110], the WTRU may be configured to choose a cell having the best beam quality from among the candidate cells).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide the first cell with best quality of a beam as taught by Deenoo, in the combined system of Kim and Ishii, so that it would provide to improve the reliability of control signaling (Deenoo: see ¶ [0084]).
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 PETER CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7241. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at (571) 272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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