Same 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 .
The information disclosure statement filed on 10.9/2023 has been entered. Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1, 2-5, 10-12, and-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims of U.S. Patent No. 11,817,718. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because they essentially recite the same limitations.
Claim 1 is rejected in view of claim 1 of the ‘718 patent in that they recite:
Claim 1 of the application
Claim 1 of the ‘718 patent
A method in a transceiver, the method comprising:
determining, by a controller of the transceiver, polarization information for one or more antennas to match polarization data of a signal received from a transmitter by at least one antenna; and
configuring, by the controller and based on the polarization information, the one or more antennas to facilitate generation of a waveform for transmission by the one or more antennas to a location of the transmitter.
1. A system comprising a controller configured to:
determine polarization data of a signal received at a plurality of antennas of an antenna array from a transmitting location at or proximate to a wireless device;
determine polarization information for at least two antennas of the antenna array to match the polarization data; and
configure, based on the polarization information, the at least two antennas to facilitate generation of a waveform for transmission in the opposite direction from which the signal was received.
As can be seen, though the claimed languages are not identical, it would have been obvious that claim 1 of the ‘718 patent discloses all essential limitations of claim 1 of the application. Thus, patent protections have been granted to the earlier filed application.
Claim 2 is rejected in view of claim 2 of the ‘718 patent.
Claim 3 is rejected in view of claim 3 of the ‘718 patent.
Claim 4 is rejected in view of claims 1 and 4 of the ‘718 patent.
Claim 5 is rejected in view of claim 8 of the ‘718 patent.
Claim 10 is rejected in view of claims 1 and 11 of the ‘718 patent.
Claim 11 is rejected in view of claims 2 and 16 of the ‘718 patent.
Claim 12 is rejected in view of claims 1 and 16-17 of the ‘718 patent.
Claim 20 is rejected in view of claims 1, 11 and 18 of the ‘718 patent.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9 and 13-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art fails to disclose:
i.. The method of claim 5 further comprising: determining , by the controller and based on the signal, the polarization data representative of one of: a right hand circular polarized (RHCP), and a left hand circular polarized (LHCP), signal being received by the one or more antennas from the transmitter over the line of sight path (claims 6 and 12; claims 7-9 and 13-19 depend on claims 6 and 12).
iii. The transceiver of claim 10, wherein to determine the polarization information, the controller is configured to separately analyze horizontal and vertical polarization components of the signal received from the transmitter by the at least one antenna (claim 18; claim 19 depends on claim 18).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIEN MINH LE whose telephone number is (571)272-2396. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30-5:00 PM M-Th..
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/THIEN M LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876