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
The amendment filed 1/22/2026 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, claims 1, 4, and 11 have been amended.
Claims 1-5, 7-15, and 17-20 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/22/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that cited prior art Huang fails to disclose “among the plurality of bits, a bit set to a first value and correspond to a first wireless link indicates that the first wireless link is enabled and the plurality of TIDs are mapped to the first wireless link, and a bit set to a second value and corresponding to a second wireless link indicates that the second wireless link is disabled.” (Remarks Pg. 8-9)
Applicant has not provided any specific reasoning for why the cited reference Huang does not teach the entire claim limitation of “among the plurality of bits, a bit set to a first value and correspond to a first wireless link indicates that the first wireless link is enabled and the plurality of TIDs are mapped to the first wireless link, and a bit set to a second value and corresponding to a second wireless link indicates that the second wireless link is disabled.” There has only been provided reasoning for why Huang does not teach the newly amended limitation of “and the plurality of TIDs are mapped to the first wireless link.” Examiner respectfully disagrees with the argument that Huang does not teach parts of this claim. The cited prior art Huang at ¶0171 states “TID-to-link mapping is used to indicate whether each link is enabled (enable) or disabled (disable). For example, if no TID is mapped to a link, the link is disabled. On the contrary, if any TID is mapped to the link, the link is enabled”. In order to map a TID to a wireless link, setting a bit within a TID-to-Link field would be required. This being consistent with the applicant’s disclosure at ¶0006-¶0007 of the publication (US 2024/0259881 A1), which describes setting a bit corresponding to a wireless link to first value when it is mapped to a TID and enabled, and also describes setting a bit corresponding to a wireless link to a second value when it is not mapped to a TID and disabled. Therefore, the TID-to-link mapping of Huang reads on the claim language of setting a bit to a first/second value and corresponding to a first wireless link indicates that the first wireless link is enabled/disabled. Although regarding the limitation of “the plurality of TIDs are mapped to the first wireless link”, Huang is not cited in the current Office Action for rejecting this particular limitation. A new reference, Kim et al. (US 2025/0280460 A1) combined with the previously cited references teaches this limitation which can be seen from the updated Office Action below.
Therefore, applicant’s further arguments with respect to claims 1, 4, and 11 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
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.
Claims 1-5 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2023/0199551 A1), hereinafter “Kim”, in view of Huang et al. (US 2025/0323986 A1), hereinafter “Huang”, and further in view of Kim et al (US 2025/0280460 A1), hereinafter “Kim-2”.
Re. Claim 1, Kim teaches the following limitations:
A device within an access point multi-link device (AP MLD) (Fig. 11 AP1 & AP2 within AP MLD – shown below) having a plurality of wireless links (¶0176 It can be understood as a situation in which after identifying the TID-to-link mapping received from the AP MLD (a), the non-AP MLD (b) of FIG. 11 agrees to map traffic corresponding to TIDs 0 to 3 to Link1, and map traffic corresponding to TIDs 4 to 7 to Link2.), the device comprising: one or more processors configured to: (¶0071 FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an AP 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the AP 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include a processor 210, a communication unit 220, and a memory 260 & ¶0123 Referring to FIG. 9, the MLD including the multiple STAs may exist, and the multiple STAs included in the MLD may operate in the multiple links. In FIG. 9, the MLD including an AP1, an AP2, and an AP3 which are the AP may be referred to as an AP MLD [i.e. device within an access point multi-link device operating with a plurality of wireless links], and the MLD including a non-AP STA1, a non-AP STA2, and a non-AP STA3 which are the non-AP STA may be referred to as a non-AP MLD.)
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generate a first frame including a first subfield, (¶0237 An AP MLD may transmit a TID-to-link mapping element by including the same in a beacon frame [i.e. a first frame, format for generation of said frame shown Fig. 20a] & ¶0320 a TID-to-link mapping element may include element ID, length, element ID extension, TID-to-link mapping control, link mapping of TID 0-7 fields [i.e. first subfield])
the first subfield comprising a plurality of bits corresponding to the plurality of wireless links, (¶0321 A link mapping of TID 0-7 field [i.e. first subfield] includes two octets (16 bits), and each bit may correspond to a link ID of each link. [i.e. first subfield corresponds to plurality of wireless links])
each bit indicating whether a plurality of traffic identifiers (TIDs) are mapped to a corresponding wireless link; (¶0321-¶0322 each bit of the link mapping of TID field corresponds to a link ID having a value smaller than the bit order by one… when the link mapping of TID “n” field is indicated as 1100 0000 0000 0000 in the TID-to-link mapping element of the TID-to-link mapping request, a request has been made so that TID “n” is mapped to a link corresponding to Link ID 0 or 1.)
and wherein the first frame has a second subfield including a first bit set to 1 indicating that the first subfield is present; (Fig. 20b TID-to-Link Mapping Control field format [i.e. first frame] & ¶0336 The link mapping presence indicator subfield includes 8 bits, and may indicate [i.e. set a first bit to 1] whether the link mapping of TID field (of the TID-to-link mapping element) for each TID is included in the TID-to-link mapping element. & ¶0323 the TID-to-link mapping control field may include direction, default link mapping, and link mapping presence indicator subfields. [i.e. second subfield including first bit within first frame])
and wirelessly transmit, through a transmitter in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the first frame. (¶0057 FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless LAN system according to an embodiment of the present invention [i.e. devices operating within a WLAN]. & ¶0303 the AP MLD may transmit a TID-to-link mapping element to a beacon frame [i.e. transmitting the first frame] transmitted by the AP MLD)
Yet, Kim does not teach: wherein among the plurality of bits, a bit set to a first value and corresponding to a first wireless link indicates that the first wireless link is enabled, and a bit set to a second value and corresponding to a second wireless link indicates that the second wireless link is disabled,
However, in the analogous art, Huang teaches such limitations:
wherein among the plurality of bits, a bit set to a first value and corresponding to a first wireless link indicates that the first wireless link is enabled (¶0171 TID-to-link mapping is used to indicate whether each link is enabled (enable) or disabled (disable). For example, if no TID is mapped to a link, the link is disabled. On the contrary, if any TID is mapped to the link, the link is enabled [i.e. TID being mapped to the link would require a bit in a subfield being set to a value, in this case TID being mapped to the link (bit set to 1) also indicates that the link is enabled])
and a bit set to a second value and corresponding to a second wireless link indicates that the second wireless link is disabled, (¶0161, 0171, 0173 TID-to-link mapping is used to indicate whether each link is enabled (enable) or disabled (disable). For example, if no TID is mapped to a link, the link is disabled [i.e. TID not being mapped to the link would require a bit in a subfield being set to a value, in this case no TID being mapped to the link (bit set to 0) also indicates that the link is disabled]. On the contrary, if any TID is mapped to the link, the link is enabled,)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data in wireless communication system, to include Huang’s teaching of each bit of a plurality of bits corresponding to a first wireless link indicates that the wireless link is enabled/disabled, because it would allow the system to use a TID-to-link mapping beacon frame to convey the enabling or disabling of respective links associated with a TID-to-link mapping, which lowers signaling overhead. (see Huang ¶0173-¶0175)
Although the combined references teach a bit set to a first value and corresponding to a first wireless link indicates that the first wireless link is enabled, they do not explicitly teach: and the plurality of TIDs are mapped to the first wireless link.
However, in the analogous art, Kim-2 teaches such a limitation:
and the plurality of TIDs are mapped to the first wireless link. (¶0436 the state in which all TIDs are mapped to one link needs to be maintained between two MLDs associated through the one link.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim and Huang’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data in wireless communication system, to include Kim-2’s teaching of the plurality of TIDs being mapped to a wireless link, because it would allow multiple traffic flows from two MLDs to share the use of a single enabled wireless link. (see Kim-2 ¶0436)
Re. Claim 2, Kim combined with Huang and Kim-2 teaches claim 1.
Kim further teaches:
wherein the first subfield is included in a TID-to-link mapping information element (IE). (¶0170 According to an embodiment of the present invention, there may be signaling indicating which TID is to be mapped to which TID. For example, the signaling may be a TID-to-link mapping element. & ¶0320 Referring to part (a) of FIG. 20, a TID-to-link mapping element may include element ID, length, element ID extension, TID-to-link mapping control, link mapping of TID 0-7 fields. [i.e. first subfield])
Re. Claim 3, Kim combined with Huang and Kim-2 teaches claim 1.
Kim further teaches:
wherein the first subfield has a size of one octet representing a TID-to-link mapping for 8 wireless links, or a size of two octets representing a TID-to-link mapping for 16 wireless links. (¶0321 A link mapping of TID 0-7 field includes two octets (16 bits), and each bit may correspond to a link ID of each link. *note that examiner maps to only one limitation due to the presence of the word “or”)
Re. Claim 4, Kim combined with Huang and Kim-2 teaches claim 1.
Huang further teaches:
wherein in generating the first frame (FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a format of yet another traffic specification element),
the one or more processors (¶0299 a processor is enabled to perform the steps in the service indication method provided in this application)
are configured to: enable a wireless link among the plurality of wireless links; (¶0174 If a TID-to-link mapping indication only includes enabling of one or more links, [i.e. enabling a link among a plurality of wire links] the responder may accept or reject this TID-to-link mapping scheme.)
and set a bit, among the plurality of bits, corresponding to the enabled wireless link to the first value, (¶0171 TID-to-link mapping is used to indicate whether each link is enabled (enable) or disabled (disable). For example, if no TID is mapped to a link, the link is disabled. On the contrary, if any TID is mapped to the link, the link is enabled [i.e. TID being mapped to the link would require a bit in a subfield being set to a value, in this case TID being mapped to the link (bit set to 1) also indicates that the link is enabled])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim and Kim-2’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data in wireless communication system, to include Huang’s teaching of each bit of a plurality of bits corresponding to a first wireless link indicates that the wireless link is enabled/disabled, because it would allow the system to use a TID-to-link mapping beacon frame to convey the enabling or disabling of respective links associated with a TID-to-link mapping, which lowers signaling overhead. (see Huang ¶0173-¶0175)
Kim-2 further teaches:
and set a bit, among the plurality of bits, corresponding to the enabled wireless link to the first value, indicating that the plurality of TIDs are mapped to the enabled wireless link. (¶0436 TID-to-link mapping is a negotiation performed between two MLDs having performed multi-link setup, and is a method of determining the type of traffic to be transmitted/received through each link associated through the multi-link setup. a TID-to-link mapping element [i.e. plurality of bits] is an element including TID-to-link mapping information indicating a correspondence relationship between each TID and link [i.e. bits corresponding to wireless links (a bit among plurality of bits)]. If a specific TID is not mapped to any link among links associated between two MLDs, a frame having the specific TID cannot be transmitted in any link. [i.e. the TID being mapped to link (instead of not) would allow a frame to be transmitted on the link (enabled)] Accordingly, the state in which all TIDs are mapped to one link needs to be maintained between two MLDs associated through the one link. In this case, the state in which all TIDs are mapped to one link needs to be maintained between two MLDs associated through the one link. [i.e. plurality of TIDs are mapped to one link])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim and Huang’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data in wireless communication system, to include Kim-2’s teaching of the plurality of TIDs being mapped to a wireless link, because it would allow multiple traffic flows from two MLDs to share the use of a single enabled wireless link. (see Kim-2 ¶0436)
Re. Claim 5, Kim combined with Huang and Kim-2 teaches claim 1.
Huang further teaches:
wherein in generating the first frame (FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a format of yet another traffic specification element),
the one or more processors (¶0299 a processor is enabled to perform the steps in the service indication method provided in this application)
are configured to: set a bit among the plurality of bits, the bit corresponding to a wireless link among the plurality of wireless links, to the second value, indicating that no TIDs are mapped to the wireless link, (¶0161, 0171 TID-to-link mapping is used to indicate whether each link is enabled (enable) or disabled (disable). For example, if no TID is mapped to a link, the link is disabled [i.e. TID not being mapped to the link would require a bit in a subfield being set to a value, in this case no TID being mapped to the link (bit set to 0) also indicates that the link is disabled]. On the contrary, if any TID is mapped to the link, the link is enabled,)
wherein setting the bit to the second value is to disable the wireless link. (¶0173 If a TID-to-link mapping indication only includes disabling of one or more links, the responder needs to accept this TID-to-link mapping scheme or these links are disabled. [i.e. disabling a link among a plurality of links])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim and Kim-2’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data in wireless communication system, to include Huang’s teaching of each bit of a plurality of bits corresponding to a first wireless link indicates that the wireless link is enabled/disabled, because it would allow the system to use a TID-to-link mapping beacon frame to convey the enabling or disabling of respective links associated with a TID-to-link mapping, which lowers signaling overhead. (see Huang ¶0173-¶0175)
Claims 11-15 are directed to method claims that recite similar limitations to device claims 1-5. Therefore, the rejections for claims 11-15 are the same as those put forth in claims 1-5.
Claims 7-10 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim combined with Huang and Kim-2, and further in view of Ratnam et al. (US 2023/0109759 A1), hereinafter “Ratnam”.
Re. Claim 7, Kim combined with Huang and Kim-2 teaches claim 1.
Yet, the references do not teach: wherein the second subfield includes a second bit; and the one or more processors are configured to set the second bit to 1 to cause a device receiving the first frame to maintain a TID-to-link mapping that has been previously negotiated with an AP and does not conflict with the TID-to-link mapping indicated by the first subfield.
However, in the analogous art, Ratnam explicitly discloses the following limitations:
wherein the second subfield includes a second bit; (¶0127 In this embodiment, a non-AP MLD may transmit an EOMNF with the EMLSR mode bit set to 1 and the ‘Default TID-to-link mapping’ subfield [i.e. a second subfield] of the EML control field set to 1 [i.e. a second bit, set to 1] in order to request that the EMLSR mode be enabled and that the pre-defined TID-to link mapping be used for the duration of EMLSR operation.)
and the one or more processors (¶0014 In another embodiment, an AP MLD is provided, comprising APs and a processor operably coupled to the APs.)
are configured to set the second bit to 1 to cause a device receiving the first frame to maintain a TID-to-link mapping that has been previously negotiated with an AP and does not conflict with the TID-to-link mapping indicated by the first subfield. (¶0127 In this embodiment, a non-AP MLD may transmit an EOMNF with the EMLSR mode bit set to 1 and the ‘Default TID-to-link mapping’ subfield of the EML control field set to 1 [i.e. second bit set to 1] in order to request that the EMLSR mode be enabled and that the pre-defined TID-to link mapping be used for the duration of EMLSR operation [i.e. second bit set to 1 causes device to maintain a pre-negotiated TID-to-Link mapping].)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim, Huang and Kim-2’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data to include Ratnam’s teaching of setting a second bit withing a second subfield to 1 causing the device to maintain a previously negotiated TID-to-Link mapping, because it would allow the device to stay connected without the need to re-negotiate a TID-to-Link mapping. (see Ratnam ¶0267-¶0268)
Re. Claim 8, Kim combined with Huang, Kim-2, and Ratnam teaches claim 7.
Huang further teaches:
wherein in generating the first frame (FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a format of yet another traffic specification element),
the one or more processors (¶0299 a processor is enabled to perform the steps in the service indication method provided in this application)
are configured to: disable a wireless link among the plurality of wireless links; (¶0173 If a TID-to-link mapping indication only includes disabling of one or more links, the responder needs to accept this TID-to-link mapping scheme or these links are disabled. [i.e. disabling a link among a plurality of links])
set a bit, among the plurality of bits, corresponding to the disabled wireless link to indicate that no TIDs are mapped to the disabled wireless link; (¶0161, 0171 TID-to-link mapping is used to indicate whether each link is enabled (enable) or disabled (disable). For example, if no TID is mapped to a link, the link is disabled [i.e. TID not being mapped to the link would require a bit in a subfield being set to a value, in this case no TID being mapped to the link (bit set to 0) also indicates that the link is disabled]. On the contrary, if any TID is mapped to the link, the link is enabled,)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim, Kim-2, and Ratnam’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data in wireless communication system, to include Huang’s teaching of each bit of a plurality of bits corresponding to a first wireless link indicates that the wireless link is enabled/disabled, because it would allow the system to use a TID-to-link mapping beacon frame to convey the enabling or disabling of respective links associated with a TID-to-link mapping, which lowers signaling overhead. (see Huang ¶0173-¶0175)
Ratnam further teaches:
and set the second bit to 1 to cause the device receiving the first frame to maintain a TID-to-link mapping on remaining wireless links that do not include the disabled wireless link. (¶0127 In this embodiment, a non-AP MLD may transmit an EOMNF with the EMLSR mode bit set to 1 and the ‘Default TID-to-link mapping’ subfield of the EML control field set to 1 [i.e. second bit set to 1] in order to request that the EMLSR mode be enabled and that the pre-defined TID-to link mapping be used for the duration of EMLSR operation [i.e. second bit set to 1 causes device to maintain a pre-negotiated TID-to-Link mapping].)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim, Huang, and Kim-2’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data to include Ratnam’s teaching of setting a second bit withing a second subfield to 1 causing the device to maintain a previously negotiated TID-to-Link mapping, because it would allow the device to stay connected without the need to re-negotiate a TID-to-Link mapping. (see Ratnam ¶0267-¶0268)
Re. Claim 9, Kim combined with Huang, Kim-2, and Ratnam teach claim 8.
Ratnam further teaches:
wherein the first frame causes the device receiving the first frame not to renegotiate a TID-to-link mapping with the AP. (¶0127 In this embodiment, a non-AP MLD may transmit an EOMNF [i.e. first frame] with the EMLSR mode bit set to 1 and the ‘Default TID-to-link mapping’ subfield of the EML control field set to 1 [i.e. second bit set to 1] in order to request that the EMLSR mode be enabled and that the pre-defined TID-to link mapping be used for the duration of EMLSR operation [i.e. second bit set to 1 causes device to maintain a pre-negotiated TID-to-Link mapping].)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim, Huang, and Kim-2’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data to include Ratnam’s teaching of setting a second bit withing a second subfield to 1 causing the device to maintain a previously negotiated TID-to-Link mapping, because it would allow the device to stay connected without the need to re-negotiate a TID-to-Link mapping. (see Ratnam ¶0267-¶0268)
Re. Claim 10, Kim combined with Huang, Kim-2, and Ratnam teaches claim 7.
Huang further teaches:
wherein in generating the first frame (FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a format of yet another traffic specification element),
the one or more processors (¶0299 a processor is enabled to perform the steps in the service indication method provided in this application)
disable a wireless link among the plurality of wireless links; (¶0173 If a TID-to-link mapping indication only includes disabling of one or more links, the responder needs to accept this TID-to-link mapping scheme or these links are disabled. [i.e. disabling a link among a plurality of links])
set a bit, among the plurality of bits, corresponding to the disabled wireless link to indicate that no TIDs are mapped to the disabled wireless link; (¶0161, 0171 TID-to-link mapping is used to indicate whether each link is enabled (enable) or disabled (disable). For example, if no TID is mapped to a link, the link is disabled [i.e. TID not being mapped to the link would require a bit in a subfield being set to a value, in this case no TID being mapped to the link (bit set to 0) also indicates that the link is disabled]. On the contrary, if any TID is mapped to the link, the link is enabled,)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim, Kim-2, and Ratnam’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data in wireless communication system, to include Huang’s teaching of each bit of a plurality of bits corresponding to a first wireless link indicates that the wireless link is enabled/disabled, because it would allow the system to use a TID-to-link mapping beacon frame to convey the enabling or disabling of respective links associated with a TID-to-link mapping, which lowers signaling overhead. (see Huang ¶0173-¶0175)
Ratnam further teaches:
and set the second bit to 0 to cause the device receiving the first frame to renegotiate a TID-to-link mapping with the AP based on the TID-to-link mapping indicated by the first subfield. (Ratnam ¶0131 FIG. 15 illustrates another example format of an EOMNF action frame according to embodiments of the present disclosure. When switching to EMLSR mode, a non-AP MLD might either want to retain its existing TID-to-link mapping or negotiate a new TID-to-link mapping.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim, Huang, and Kim-2’s invention of a method and wireless communication terminal for transmitting/receiving data to include Ratnam’s teaching of setting a second bit within a second subfield to 0 causing the device to renegotiate a TID-to-Link mapping, because it would allow the device to become available for another connection and allow updated mapping. (see Ratnam ¶0047)
Claims 17-20 are directed to method claims that recite similar limitations to device claims 7-10. Therefore, the rejections for claims 17-20 are the same as those put forth in claims 7-10.
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 GARY A MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-4423. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8 to 5.
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/G.A.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
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