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 amendment
2. This is a Final Office action in response to Applicant’s remarks and arguments filed on 03/04/2026.
3. Status of the claims:
• Claims 1, 5, 13, 15, and 16 have been amended.
• Claims 17-20 have been added.
• Claims 1-8 and 13-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
Response to remarks/arguments
4. Applicant’s remarks and arguments filed on 03/04/2026 with respect to amended independent claims 1 and 5 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Upon further search and consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of WIPO publication (WO 2021207219 A1) to Perras and LIU et al. (US 20250294626 A1).
5. In response to Applicant’s remarks and arguments filed on 03/04/2026 regarding amended independent claim 1, the Examiner acknowledges that Perras and 3GPP do not explicitly teach the receiving and initiating steps of the claim as argued by Applicant. However, the combination of WIPO publication (WO 2021207219 A1) to Perras and LIU et al. (US 20250294626 A1) cures this deficiency.
Please see the rejection below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Claims 1-8 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Perras et al. (WO 2021207219 A1) in view of LIU et al. (US 20250294626 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Perras discloses a method for a relay User Equipment (UE) (FIG. 2: WTRU-to-WTRU Relay), comprising:
establishing, by the relay UE, a first layer-2 link with a source remote UE for supporting a first UE-to-UE (U2U) relay communication between the source remote UE and a first destination remote UE via the relay UE (Perras, Fig. 2, para. [0086]: FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a layer-2 WTRU to WTRU relay method 200. In step 210, a relay WTRU 20 may be provisioned with relay policy parameters. In step 211, a target WTRU 22, 23, 24 may determine a destination layer-2 identifier (L2 ID) for signaling reception. A source WTRU 21 may send a direct communication request (DCR) message 212, for example, in broadcast mode to the relay WTRU 20, which may trigger a WTRU discovery process by sending a broadcast DCR message 213 to peer WTRUs 22, 23, 24);
receiving, by the relay UE, a first PC5 message from the source remote UE for modifying the first layer-2 link to add a second destination remote UE for a second U2U relay communication between the source remote UE and the second destination remote UE via the relay UE (Perras, Fig. 2, para. [0088]: Relay WTRU receives from source WTRU1 Direct Communication Request (BCAST) message 212. The source 21 and target 23 (as second destination) WTRUs may send messages to the relay WTRU 20 and may receive messages from the relay WTRU 20. According to embodiments, the security association and the (e.g., PC5 unicast) link (e.g., layer-2 link as shown in Fig. 2 step 211) may be established between the source WTRU 21 and the target WTRU 23 (i.e., second link or destination). For example, the source 21 and target 23 WTRUs may detect that the communication may go through a relay WTRU based on detecting any of a relay indication and a relay identifier (RID) included in the received messages);
initiating, by the relay UE and in response to reception of the first PC5 message for modifying the first layer-2 link to add the second destination remote UE, a procedure of establishing a second layer-2 link between the second destination remote UE and the relay UE (Perras, Fig. 2, para. [0088]: The source 21 and target 23 WTRUs may send messages to the relay WTRU 20 and may receive messages from the relay WTRU 20. The security association and the (e.g., PC5 unicast) link (which is a layer-2 link, see Fig. 2 step 211) may be established between the source WTRU 21 and the target WTRU 23. For example, the source 21 and target 23 WTRUs may detect that the communication may go through a relay WTRU based on detecting any of a relay indication and a relay identifier (RID) included in the received messages);
sending, by the relay UE and in response to completion of establishing the second layer-2 link, a second PC5 message to the source remote UE for complete of modification of the first layer-2 link (Perras, Fig. 2, para. [0087][0089]: the relay WTRU 20, receiving a message from the target WTRU 23, may use the R-L2-ID of the received message for retrieving the L2 ID of the source WTRU 21 based on the mapping table. The relay WTRU 20 may set the source field of the message to R-L2 ID and may set the destination field to the L2 ID of the source WTRU 21. The relay WTRU 20 may send the message to the source WTRU 21).
Perras does not appear to explicitly disclose sending, by the relay UE and in response to the completion of modification of the first layer-2 link, a PC5-RRC message to the source remote UE, wherein the PC5-RRC message includes a layer-2 identity (L2ID) of the second destination remote UE and a local identity for identifying the second destination remote UE.
In the same field of endeavor, LIU teaches sending, by the relay UE and in response to the completion of modification of the first layer-2 link, a PC5-RRC message to the source remote UE (LIU, para. [0104]: The relay UE sends a HbH PC5 RRC message to the source UE to indicate that the configuration is completed. A layer-2 link is used for communication between source remote UE and relay UE, see Fig. 10); wherein the PC5-RRC message includes a layer-2 identity (L2ID) of the second destination remote UE and a local identity for identifying the second destination remote UE (LIU, para. [0355]: the first message includes at least one of the following: [0356] a layer-2 identity of the second terminal; and [0357] the local identity of the second terminal. Moreover, paragraph 390 further teaches that the first message is an HbH PC5 RRC message).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Perras with the teaching of LIU by using the above features such as sending, by the relay UE and in response to the completion of modification of the first layer-2 link, a PC5-RRC message to the source remote UE, wherein the PC5-RRC message includes a layer-2 identity (L2ID) of the second destination remote UE and a local identity for identifying the second destination remote UE as taught by LIU. The motivation for doing so would have been to trigger U2U relay reselection to perform relay communication through another relay terminal, to improve reliability of relay communication (LIU, para. [0197]).
Regarding claim 2, Perras and LIU disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the first PC5 message includes a user info Identity (ID) or an upper layer ID of the second destination remote UE (Perras, para. [0083], [0097], [0148]: the term “user info” may refer to an application layer identifier. For example, a WTRU may be identified at the application layer based on this identifier. The user info may be used in direct communication (e.g., any of request and accept) messages to identify any of a source and a target WTRUs. That is, a first PC5 unicast link 410 may be established between a source WTRU 41 and a relay WTRU 40).
Regarding claim 3, Perras and LIU disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the second PC5 message includes a user info Identity (ID) or an upper layer ID of the second destination remote UE (Perras, para. [0083], [0097], [0148]: the term “user info” may refer to an application layer identifier. For example, a WTRU may be identified at the application layer based on this identifier. The user info may be used in direct communication (e.g., any of request and accept) messages to identify any of a source and a target WTRUs. That is, a second PC5 unicast link 411 may be establish between a target WTRU 41 and the relay WTRU 40).
Regarding claim 4, Perras and LIU disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the first PC5 message is a Link Modification Request message, and the second PC5 message is a Link Modification Accept message (Perras, abstract, para. [0103], [0105], [0166]: the first PC5 message is a Link Modification Request message and the second PC5 message is a Link Modification Accept message).
Regarding claim 5, Perras discloses a relay User Equipment (UE), comprising:
a control circuit (Perras, Fig 1B); a processor installed in the control circuit (Perras, Fig 1B); and a memory installed in the control circuit and operatively coupled to the processor (Perras, Fig 1B); wherein the processor is configured to execute a program code stored in the memory to:
establish a first layer-2 link with a source remote UE for supporting a first UE-to-UE (U2U) relay communication between the source remote UE and a first destination remote UE via the relay UE (Perras, Fig. 2, para. [0086]: FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a layer-2 WTRU to WTRU relay method 200. In step 210, a relay WTRU 20 may be provisioned with relay policy parameters. In step 211, a target WTRU 22, 23, 24 may determine a destination layer-2 identifier (L2 ID) for signaling reception. A source WTRU 21 may send a direct communication request (DCR) message 212, for example, in broadcast mode to the relay WTRU 20, which may trigger a WTRU discovery process by sending a broadcast DCR message 213 to peer WTRUs 22, 23, 24);
receive a first PC5 message from the source remote UE for modifying the first layer-2 link to add a second destination remote UE for a second U2U relay communication between the source remote UE and the second destination remote UE via the relay UE (Perras, Fig. 2, para. [0088]: As shown in figure 2, Relay WTRU receives from source WTRU1 Direct Communication Request (BCAST) message 212. The source 21 and target 23 WTRUs may send messages to the relay WTRU 20 and may receive messages from the relay WTRU 20. According to embodiments, the security association and the (e.g., PC5 unicast) link may be established between the source WTRU 21 and the target WTRU 23 (i.e., second link or destination). For example, the source 21 and target 23 WTRUs may detect that the communication may go through a relay WTRU based on detecting any of a relay indication and a relay identifier (RID) included in the received messages);
initiate, in response to reception of the first PC5 message for modifying the first layer-2 link to add the second destination remote UE, a procedure of establishing a second layer-2 link between the second destination remote UE and the relay UE (Perras, Fig. 2, para. [0086]: A source WTRU 21 may send a direct communication request (DCR) message 212, for example, in broadcast mode to the relay WTRU 20, which may trigger a WTRU discovery process by sending a broadcast DCR message 213 to peer WTRUs 22, 23, 24);
send, in response to completion of establishing the second layer-2 link, a second PC5 message to the source remote UE for complete of modification of the first layer-2 link (Perras, Fig. 2, para. [0087]: After the security may be established, the target WTRU 23 may send a direct communication accept (DCA) message 215 to the relay WTRU 20, which may be forwarded 216 to the source WTRU 21).
Perras does not appear to explicitly disclose send, in response to the completion of modification of the first layer-2 link, a PC5-RRC message to the source remote UE, wherein the PC5-RRC message includes a layer-2 identity (L2ID) of the second destination remote UE and a local identity for identifying the second destination remote UE.
In the same field of endeavor, LIU teaches send, in response to the completion of modification of the first layer-2 link, a PC5-RRC message to the source remote UE (LIU, para. [0104]: The relay UE sends a HbH PC5 RRC message to the source UE to indicate that the configuration is completed. A layer-2 link is used for communication between source remote UE and relay UE, see Fig. 10); wherein the PC5-RRC message includes a layer-2 identity (L2ID) of the second destination remote UE and a local identity for identifying the second destination remote UE (LIU, para. [0355]: the first message includes at least one of the following: [0356] a layer-2 identity of the second terminal; and [0357] the local identity of the second terminal. Moreover, paragraph 390 further teaches that the first message is an HbH PC5 RRC message).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Perras with the teaching of LIU by using the above features such as sending, by the relay UE and in response to the completion of modification of the first layer-2 link, a PC5-RRC message to the source remote UE, wherein the PC5-RRC message includes a layer-2 identity (L2ID) of the second destination remote UE and a local identity for identifying the second destination remote UE as taught by LIU. The motivation for doing so would have been to trigger U2U relay reselection to perform relay communication through another relay terminal, to improve reliability of relay communication (LIU, para. [0197]).
Regarding claim 6, Perras and LIU disclose the relay UE of claim 5, wherein the first PC5 message includes a user info Identity (ID) or an upper layer ID of the second destination remote UE (Perras, para. [0083], [0097], [0148]: the term “user info” may refer to an application layer identifier. For example, a WTRU may be identified at the application layer based on this identifier. The user info may be used in direct communication (e.g., any of request and accept) messages to identify any of a source and a target WTRUs. That is, a first PC5 unicast link 410 may be established between a source WTRU 41 and a relay WTRU 40).
Regarding claim 7, Perras and LIU disclose the relay UE of claim 5, wherein the second PC5 message includes a user info Identity (ID) or an upper layer ID of the second destination remote UE (Perras, para. [0083], [0097], [0148]: the term “user info” may refer to an application layer identifier. For example, a WTRU may be identified at the application layer based on this identifier. The user info may be used in direct communication (e.g., any of request and accept) messages to identify any of a source and a target WTRUs. That is, a second PC5 unicast link 411 may be establish between a target WTRU 41 and the relay WTRU 40).
Regarding claim 8, Perras and LIU disclose the relay UE of claim 5, wherein the first PC5 message is a Link Modification Request message, and the second PC5 message is a Link Modification Accept message (Perras, abstract, para. [0103], [0105], [0166]: the first PC5 message is a Link Modification Request message and the second PC5 message is a Link Modification Accept message).
11. Claims 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Perras et al. (US 20230224778 A1) in view of LIU et al. (US 20250294626 A1) and further in view of KARAMPATSIS et al. (WO 2023072417 A1).
Regarding claim 13, Perras and LIU disclose all the method of claim 1, but the references fail to teach transmitting, by the relay UE, a third PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for request of establishing the second layer-2 link in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; receiving, by the relay UE, a fourth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for establishing a security context between the second destination remote UE and the relay UE in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; transmitting, by the relay UE, a fifth PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for completing establishment of the security context in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; transmitting, by the relay UE, a sixth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for completing the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link.
In the same field of endeavor, Karampatsis further discloses transmitting, by the relay UE, a third PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for request of establishing the second layer-2 link in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link (Karampatsis, para. [0093]: At Step 3, the UE- to-UE Relay 405 broadcasts the Direct Communication Request received from the UE 1 (see signaling 425). Fig. 4 425. In 4[0093], the request is PCS5-S control frame. When Relay 405 (third UE) forwards it, it becomes the second PCS-5S message aimed at every potential peer including UE-3 (second UE));
receiving, by the relay UE, a fourth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for establishing a security context between the second destination remote UE and the relay UE in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link (Karampatsis, para. 95: arrow from UE-3 to 305 to UE-to-UE Relay 405. [0095]: At Step 4, the interested UE(s) exchange security information to establish a secure link via the UE-to-UE Relay 405 and negotiate the QoS. In the depicted embodiment, the UE-3 305 decides to establish a unicast (“UC”) connection, and the UE-1 205 and UE-3 305 authenticate and establish a security context for the unicast relay connection (see messaging 430). Fig. 4 430. In [0095], the security-setup handshake uses PC5-S signaling, the first frame by UE-3 toward Relay 405 maps to the third PC5-S message whose purpose is to establish a security context during the exchange security information);
transmitting, by the relay UE, a fifth PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for completing establishment of the security context in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link (Karampatsis, para. 95: Fig. 4 430 arrow from UE-to-UE Relay 405 to UE-3 to 305. [0095]: the UE-1 205 and UE-3 305 authenticate and establish a security context for the unicast relay connection (see messaging 430). A person of ordinary skill in the pertinent art would recognize that the security procedure includes a confirm/complete frame. That confirm is the fourth PCS-S message completing the security context); and
transmitting, by the relay UE, a sixth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for completing the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link (Karampatsis, Fig. 4, S430, para. 96: Fig. 4 435. | [0096]: At Step 5, the UE-3 305 accepts the Unicast link establishment request by responding with a Direct Communication Accept message to the UE-to-UE Relay 405 (see messaging 435)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Perras and LIU with the teaching of Karampatsis by using the above features such as ransmitting, by the relay UE, a third PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for request of establishing the second layer-2 link in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; receiving, by the relay UE, a fourth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for establishing a security context between the second destination remote UE and the relay UE in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; transmitting, by the relay UE, a fifth PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for completing establishment of the security context in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; transmitting, by the relay UE, a sixth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for completing the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link as taught by Karampatsis. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve sidelink communication among a set of UEs by supporting a multipath unicast link between a source UE and a target UE (KARAMPATSIS, para. [0041]).
Regarding claim 14, Perras and LIU disclose all the subject matter of the method of claim 13, but the references fail to teach wherein the fourth PC5-S message is received by using the L2ID of the second destination remote UE as Source L2ID.
In the same field of endeavor, Karampatsis discloses wherein the fourth PC5-S message is received by using the L2ID of the second destination remote UE as Source L2ID (Karampatsis, para. 93: step 3, the UE-to-UE Relay 405 broadcasts the Direct Communication Request received from the UE 1 (see signaling 425). Moreover, the Direct Communication Request contains as Destination L2 ID the broadcast L2 ID indicating that UE-1 205 requests a unicast connection. Again, the request may include the application layer information provided by the V2X application in UE-1 205).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Perras and LIU with the teaching of Karampatsis by using the above features such as the PC5-S message is received by using the L2ID of the second destination remote UE as Source L2ID as taught by Karampatsis. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve sidelink communication among a set of UEs by supporting a multipath unicast link between a source UE and a target UE (KARAMPATSIS, para. [0041]).
Regarding claim 15, Perras and LIU disclose all the relay UE of claim 5, but the refences fail to teach transmitting, by the relay UE, a third PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for request of establishing the second layer-2 link in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; receiving, by the relay UE, a fourth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for establishing a security context between the second destination remote UE and the relay UE in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; transmitting, by the relay UE, a fifth PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for completing establishment of the security context in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; receiving, by the relay UE, a sixth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for completing the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link.
In the same field of endeavor, Karampatsis further discloses transmitting, by the relay UE, a third PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for request of establishing the second layer-2 link in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link (Karampatsis, para. [0093]: At Step 3, the UE- to-UE Relay 405 broadcasts the Direct Communication Request received from the UE 1 (see signaling 425). Fig. 4 425. In 4[0093], the request is PCS5-S control frame. When Relay 405 (third UE) forwards it, it becomes the second PCS-5S message aimed at every potential peer including UE-3 (second UE));
receiving, by the relay UE, a fourth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for establishing a security context between the second destination remote UE and the relay UE in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link (Karampatsis, para. 95: arrow from UE-3 to 305 to UE-to-UE Relay 405. [0095]: At Step 4, the interested UE(s) exchange security information to establish a secure link via the UE-to-UE Relay 405 and negotiate the QoS. In the depicted embodiment, the UE-3 305 decides to establish a unicast (“UC”) connection, and the UE-1 205 and UE-3 305 authenticate and establish a security context for the unicast relay connection (see messaging 430). Fig. 4 430. In [0095], the security-setup handshake uses PC5-S signaling, the first frame by UE-3 toward Relay 405 maps to the third PC5-S message whose purpose is to establish a security context during the exchange security information);
transmitting, by the relay UE, a fifth PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for completing establishment of the security context in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link (Karampatsis, para. 95: Fig. 4 430 arrow from UE-to-UE Relay 405 to UE-3 to 305. [0095]: the UE-1 205 and UE-3 305 authenticate and establish a security context for the unicast relay connection (see messaging 430). A person of ordinary skill in the pertinent art would recognize that the security procedure includes a confirm/complete frame. That confirm is the fourth PCS-S message completing the security context); and
receiving, by the relay UE, a sixth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for completing the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link (Karampatsis, Fig. 4, S430, para. 96: Fig. 4 435. | [0096]: At Step 5, the UE-3 305 accepts the Unicast link establishment request by responding with a Direct Communication Accept message to the UE-to-UE Relay 405 (see messaging 435)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Perras and LIU with the teaching of Karampatsis by using the above features such as transmitting, by the relay UE, a third PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for request of establishing the second layer-2 link in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; receiving, by the relay UE, a fourth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for establishing a security context between the second destination remote UE and the relay UE in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; transmitting, by the relay UE, a fifth PC5-S message to the second destination remote UE for completing establishment of the security context in the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link; receiving, by the relay UE, a sixth PC5-S message from the second destination remote UE for completing the procedure of establishing the second layer-2 link as taught by Karampatsis. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve sidelink communication among a set of UEs by supporting a multipath unicast link between a source UE and a target UE (KARAMPATSIS, para. [0041]).
Regarding claim 16, Perras and LIU disclose all the relay UE of claim 15, but the refences fail to teach wherein the fourth PC5-S message is received by using the L2ID of the second destination remote UE as Source L2ID.
In the same field of endeavor, Karampatsis discloses wherein the fourth PC5-S message is received by using the L2ID of the second destination remote UE as Source L2ID (Karampatsis, para. 93: step 3, the UE-to-UE Relay 405 broadcasts the Direct Communication Request received from the UE 1 (see signaling 425). Moreover, the Direct Communication Request contains as Destination L2 ID the broadcast L2 ID indicating that UE-1 205 requests a unicast connection. Again, the request may include the application layer information provided by the V2X application in UE-1 205).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Perras and LIU with the teaching of Karampatsis by using the above features such as the PC5-S message is received by using the L2ID of the second destination remote UE as Source L2ID as taught by Karampatsis. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve sidelink communication among a set of UEs by supporting a multipath unicast link between a source UE and a target UE (KARAMPATSIS, para. [0041]).
12. Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Perras et al. (US 20230224778 A1) in view of LIU et al. (US 20250294626 A1) and further in view of Freda et al. (US 20230180313 A1).
Regarding claim 17, Perras and LIU disclose the method of claim 1, but the references fail to teach wherein the first PC5 message is a PC5-S message.
In the same field of endeavor, Freda teaches wherein the first PC5 message is a PC5-S message (Freda, [0091]; FIG 2: see PC5 connection as shown in figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Perras and LIU with the teaching of Freda by using the above features such as the first PC5 message is a PC5-S message as taught by Freda. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide the WTRUs with access to the other networks (Freda, [0049]).
Regarding claim 18, Perras and LIU disclose the method of claim 1, but the references fail to teach wherein the second PC5 message is a PC5-S message.
In the same field of endeavor, Freda teaches wherein the second PC5 message is a PC5-S message (Freda, [0091]; FIG 2: see PC5 connection as shown in figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Perras and LIU with the teaching of Freda by using the above features such as the second PC5 message is a PC5-S message as taught by Freda. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide the WTRUs with access to the other networks (Freda, [0068]).
Regarding claim 19, Perras and LIU disclose the relay UE of claim 5, but the references fail to teach wherein the first PC5 message is a PC5-S message.
In the same field of endeavor, Freda teaches wherein the first PC5 message is a PC5-S message (Freda, [0091]; FIG 2: see PC5 connection as shown in figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Perras and LIU with the teaching of Freda by using the above features such as the first PC5 message is a PC5-S message as taught by Freda. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide the WTRUs with access to the other networks (Freda, [0068]).
Regarding claim 20, Perras and LIU disclose the relay UE of claim 5, but the references fail to teach wherein the second PC5 message is a PC5-S message.
In the same field of endeavor, Freda teaches wherein the second PC5 message is a PC5-S message (Freda, [0091]; FIG 2: see PC5 connection as shown in figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Perras and LIU with the teaching of Freda by using the above features such as the second PC5 message is a PC5-S message as taught by Freda. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide the WTRUs with access to the other networks (Freda, [0068]).
Conclusion
13. 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.
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN F VOLTAIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-3953. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6:30 PM.
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, REBECCA E. SONG can be reached at (571)270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JEAN F VOLTAIRE/Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
