DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . The instant First Office Action on the merits is in response to preliminary claims filed on 2/20/2026.
Claims 1-2, 4-7, 9-12, 14-17 and 19-20 are pending. Claims 1, 6, 11 and 16 are the base independent claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/16/2024, 8/29/2024 was filed before the mailing of a first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97(b). Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copies of papers required under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) have been filed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 / 103
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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 1-2, 4-7, 9-12, 14-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by Takahashi et al (US 2023/0007521) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Takahashi et al (US 2023/0007521) in view of Ramachandra et al (WO 2022/264086).
Regarding claim 1, Takahashi discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling (fig. 6 & par 81; RRC Connection Reconfiguration; also par 60), measurement configuration information including information on an event K, wherein the predefined event K is defined as a combination of an event Ax (par 34-50; event Ax) and an event Hn (par 100; new events), where x is one of 3, 4, 5 and n is one of 1, 2 (examining note: since the claim shows a limitation in an alternative form, the prior art may teach either or both limitations, and this notice applies to subsequent occurrences of claim limitations that are in the alternative form) (par 118-119; in one modification example, the entry condition of Event A3* is defined as Event X1 added to the entering condition of Event A3);
identifying whether an entering condition corresponding to the event K is satisfied, wherein the entering condition is satisfied in case that both a first entering condition corresponding to the event Ax and a second entering condition corresponding to the event Hn are fulfilled (fig. 7 & par 88-90; UE determines whether the trigger condition for starting measurement reporting); and
transmitting a measurement report based on the identification (par 92; e.g. transmits a measurement report).
Regarding claim 2, the reference discloses new events except the event is associated with altitude, however Ramachandra discloses:
wherein the event Ax is associated with a measurement of a cell and the event Hn is associated with altitude of the UE (Ramachandra, page 8, lines 20-30; e.g. when the height of the UE is above a threshold AND when cell measurement is fulfilling RSRP/RSRQ event).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Ramachandra with the electronic system of Takahashi. One is motivated as such to target special needs when serving the UAV (Ramachandra, page 5, lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 4, Takahashi discloses:
identifying whether a leaving condition corresponding to the event K, wherein the leaving condition is satisfied in case that both a first leaving condition corresponding to the event Ax and a second leaving condition corresponding to the second event Hn are fulfilled (par 88-89; e.g. if the leaving condition is satisfied, the UE 200 ends the measurement reporting).
Regarding claim 5, Takahashi discloses:
wherein the information on the event K includes a first set of configuration parameters corresponding to the first event Ax and a second set of configuration parameters corresponding to the second event Hn (par 90, par 116-118; e.g. thresholds for each event).
Regarding claims 6-7, 9-12, 14-17 and 19-20, Takahashi in view of Ramachandra also discloses the subject matter according to similar mappings of claims 1, 2, 4 and 5.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Velde et al (US 2010/0197300).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YAOTANG WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4023. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00-18:00 ET (M, W, TH & alternate F).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, HADI ARMOUCHE can be reached at 571-270-3618. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YAOTANG WANG/SCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409