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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claim 20 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on December 17, 2025.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Claim Interpretation
In the context of patent claims, "at least one of A and B" generally means "at least one of A and at least one of B," requiring the presence of at least one of each element, not just one or the other. Ex parte Jung, 2016-008290 PTAB Mar. 22, 2017 and SuperGuide Corp. v. DirecTV Enters., Inc., 358 F.3d 870 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
Under the broadest reasonable interpretation standard, the “or” language, the condition would also not occur and the step or function claimed would never be realized, hence the claim does not require to perform the step or function. See Ex parte Katz, 2011 WL 514314, at 4-5 (BPAI Jan. 27, 2011, 2011 WL 1211248 at 2 (BPAI Mar. 25, 2011); see also In re Johnston, 435 f.3d 1381, 1384 (Fed. Cir. 2006)( "optional elements do not narrow the claim because they can always be omitted”). “Or” conditions are not limitations against which prior art must be found. Under the broadest scenario, the steps or functions dependent on the “or” condition would not be invoked, and such, the Examiner is not required to find these limitations in the prior art in order to render the claim anticipated. In re Am. Acad. Of Sci. Tech Ctr., 367 f.3d 1359, 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 12, the term “third message indicating that the reconfigurable intelligent surface release resources allocated for the at least one energy harvesting device” is confusing because the claim and the parent claims don’t mention any other message that the reconfigurable intelligent surface release resources allocated for the at least one energy harvesting device. Where are the first and second message indicating that the reconfigurable intelligent surface release resources allocated for the at least one energy harvesting device mentioned? There is only a first report message and request message mentioned on the claims.
Regarding claim 6, the term “best” in claim 6 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “best” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. What makes the beam the “best” for selecting, strongest, most channels, least traffic, timing, etc.?
Claim 5 recites the limitations “the sensors”, “the energy harvesting circuitry” and “the communication interface”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 18, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication 2024/0413858 (MCMENAMY, et al) in view of ALY SABRI ABDALLA, et al, "UAVs with Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces: Applications, Challenges, and Opportunities", ARXIV.ORG, CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 201 OLIN LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY ITHACA, NY 14853, 8 December 2020 (2020-12-08).
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MCMENAMY, et al discloses an apparatus (figure 14), comprising a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)(#140) in a radio network, the reconfigurable intelligent surface comprising a plurality of passive elements (#86n) which are controlled by a plurality of active elements (#88, 94) distributed among the plurality of passive elements (#86n), wherein the plurality of active elements (#88, 94) configure the reconfigurable intelligent surface (#14) to perform, based on at least one request message (¶300-306). MCMENAMY, et al does not disclose at least one request message, at least one of sense incident electromagnetic radiation harvested over at least one frequency range by the passive elements and steer energy of the harvested electromagnetic radiation towards at least one energy harvesting device in the radio network. ALY SABRI ABDALLA, et al teaches the use of at least one request message, at least one of sense incident electromagnetic radiation harvested over at least one frequency range by the passive elements and steer energy of the harvested electromagnetic radiation towards at least one energy harvesting device in the radio network for the purpose of influencing the propagation of electromagnetic waves, note section 1, figures 1, 5, section II, F, section III, C, figures 1, 5. Hence, it 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 to incorporate the use of at least one request message, at least one of sense incident electromagnetic radiation harvested over at least one frequency range by the passive elements and steer energy of the harvested electromagnetic radiation towards at least one energy harvesting device in the radio network for the purpose of influencing the propagation of electromagnetic waves, as taught by ALY SABRI ABDALLA, et al in the apparatus of MCMENAMY, et al in order to support cellular communications at low cost and low energy footprint.
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Regarding claim 2, note ¶307-329 in MCMENAMY, et al which shows at least one request message is originated from a network node of the radio network.
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Regarding claim 4, note figures 8b, 10a-h, #150, 502, 506, 508, ¶3, 20, 69, 72, 93, 180, 188, 224, etc., in MCMENAMY, et al which shows he at least one of the plurality of active elements comprise at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the reconfigurable intelligent surface to perform based on the at least one request message the sensing of the harvested electromagnetic radiation energy.
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Regarding claim 5, note figures 8h, 10a-b, #1012, 510, ¶7, 78, 93, etc. in MCMENAMY, et al which shows the reconfigurable intelligent surface is further caused to perform one or a combination of measure, by the sensors or the energy harvesting circuitry, a respective energy level of the harvested electromagnetic radiation over the at least one frequency range and send, by the communication interface, to a network node in the radio network, a first report message indicating the respective energy level of the harvested electromagnetic radiation measured over the at least one frequency range.
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Regarding claim 18, note figure 14, #140, 86, ¶300-306 in MCMENAMY, et al which shows the passive elements on the reconfigurable intelligent surface are partitioned into multiple regions, each region configured to be controlled by at least one respective active element to sense, harvest and steer the electromagnetic radiation energy over a respective frequency range towards the at least one energy harvesting device.
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Regarding claim 19, note figure 14, #140, 86, ¶300-306 in MCMENAMY, et al which shows each of the multiple regions on the reconfigurable intelligent surface is configured to be independently and simultaneously controlled by the respective active elements to sense, harvest and steer harvested energy over a same frequency range or different frequency ranges towards the at least one energy harvesting device according to energy levels and available electromagnetic radiation frequency ranges.
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The Examiner has cited particular columns and/or line/paragraphs numbers in the reference(s) applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. IN RE JUNG, No. 10-1019 (Fed. Cir. 2011).
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Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication 2024/0413858 (MCMENAMY, et al) in view of ALY SABRI ABDALLA, et al, "UAVs with Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces: Applications, Challenges, and Opportunities", ARXIV.ORG, CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 201 OLIN LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY ITHACA, NY 14853, 8 December 2020 (2020-12-08).as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of NGUYEN MINH TRAN ET AL, "Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Aided Wireless Power Transfer Systems: Analysis and Implementation", ARXIV.ORG, CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 201 OLIN LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY ITHACA, NY 14853, 12 June 2021 (2021-06-12).
MCMENAMY, et al in view of ALY SABRI ABDALLA, et al discloses all subject matter, note the above paragraphs, except for the reconfigurable intelligent surface is further caused to perform a beam refinement operation to determine at least one beam of a plurality of beams for steering the harvested energy over the at least one frequency range toward the at least one energy harvesting device.
NGUYEN MINH TRAN ET AL teaches the use of the reconfigurable intelligent surface is further caused to perform a beam refinement operation to determine at least one beam of a plurality of beams for steering the harvested energy over the at least one frequency range toward the at least one energy harvesting device for the purpose of beamforming and beam focusing without using active and power-hungry components, note section IV. Hence, it 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 to incorporate the use of the reconfigurable intelligent surface is further caused to perform a beam refinement operation to determine at least one beam of a plurality of beams for steering the harvested energy over the at least one frequency range toward the at least one energy harvesting device for the purpose of beamforming and beam focusing without using active and power-hungry components, as taught by NGUYEN MINH TRAN ET AL in the apparatus of MCMENAMY, et al in view of ALY SABRI ABDALLA, et al in order to requiring only power information to enable the beam focusing capability of the RIS.
The Examiner has cited particular columns and/or line/paragraphs numbers in the reference(s) applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. IN RE JUNG, No. 10-1019 (Fed. Cir. 2011).
Allowable Subject Matter
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Claims 3, 14-17 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.
Claims 6-12 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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 of record does not disclose or make obvious the claimed that one of the pluralities of passive elements include an array of antennae operating over a plurality of frequency ranges having respective connections to sensors, energy harvesting circuitry, switching circuitry, phase shifter circuitry, and a communication interface. In combination with in an apparatus, comprising a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) in a radio network, the reconfigurable intelligent surface comprising a plurality of passive elements which are controlled by a plurality of active elements distributed among the plurality of passive elements. The plurality of active elements configure the reconfigurable intelligent surface to perform, based on at least one request message, at least one of sense incident electromagnetic radiation harvested over at least one frequency range by the passive elements and steer energy of the harvested electromagnetic radiation towards at least one energy harvesting device in the radio network.
Conclusion
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM D CUMMING whose telephone number is (571)272-7861. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 12 noon to 6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony S. Addy can be reached at (571) 272-7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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WILLIAM D. CUMMING
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2645
/WILLIAM D CUMMING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
Prosecution Insights