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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to remarks filed 02/04/2026.
Claims 1-29 are pending in the application.
Claims 1-29 are currently rejected.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 02/04/2026, with respect to objections to claims 16 and 26-29 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection of claims 16 and 26-29 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 02/04/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The cited prior art Kim (Pub. No.: US 2019/0394816 A1) discusses throughout that what is being transmitted and received throughout the process is data, see Kim [0001]. Further, the title of the Kim reference is “Method for Transmitting and Receiving Data…”. Messaging in the instant application is also sometimes referred to as simply ‘message’ showing that ‘message’ and ‘message with data’ are interchangeable (see [0007] of the instant application’s specification). There is a particular argument on page 7 in which applicant argues that a message indicating that certain data needs to be transmitted is not a message with data. However, an indication itself is data, the presence of there being indicative information is data.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim (Pub. No.: US 2019/0394816 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches
A method for wireless communications performed by a remote user equipment (UE) (Kim [0001], [0005], and [0458]: method for wireless communications performed by a remote UE), comprising:
generating, while the remote UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) state with no dedicated resources allocated to the remote UE by a relay UE (Kim [0460]: the remote UE is in RRC idle), a first message with data (Kim [0463]: data is transmitted in the uplink to the relay UE over the PC5 link between the remote UE and relay UE) and an indication the relay UE is to forward the data to a network entity (Kim [0464]: the PC5 message may include an indicator indicating that the PC5 message is not transmitted to the relay UE but is a message transmitted to a network by being relayed); and
transmitting the first message to the relay UE while still in the RRC state (Kim [0461-0462]: transmitting message from remote UE to the relay UE while still in the RRC state [0460]).
Regarding claim 2, Kim teaches
The method of claim 1 (the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above), wherein the RRC state comprises an RRC idle state (Kim [0460]: the remote UE is in RRC idle; only one of the two options is required per the claim language) or an RRC inactive state.
Regarding claim 3, Kim teaches
The method of claim 1 (the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above), further comprising:
receiving a second message, from the relay UE, with response data from the network entity (Kim Fig. 15 step 6, [0011-0012], and [0545]: receiving message from relay UE with data from network entity (e)NB)).
Regarding claim 4, Kim teaches
The method of claim 1 (the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above), wherein the first message comprises a sidelink RRC reconfiguration message (Kim [0463] and [0011]: PC5 (PC5 connections are sidelink communication channels)).
Regarding claim 5, Kim teaches
The method of claim 4 (the limitations of parent claim 4 as indicated above), further comprising:
receiving, from the relay UE, a second sidelink RRC reconfiguration message with response data from the network entity (Kim Fig. 15 step 6, [0011-0012], and [0545]: receiving message from relay UE with data from network entity (e)NB)).
Regarding claim 6, Kim teaches
The method of claim 4 (the limitations of parent claim 4), wherein the first message also includes an RRC message to be relayed to the network entity (Kim fig. 15 and fig. 16: 2-A to be relayed to the network entity).
Regarding claim 7, Kim teaches
A method for wireless communications performed by a relay user equipment (UE) (Kim [0001], [0005]: method for wireless communication by a relay UE), comprising:
receiving, while a remote UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) state with the relay UE with no dedicated resources allocated to the remote UE (Kim [0460]: the remote UE is in RRC idle), a first message from the remote UE with data (Kim [0463]: data is received by the relay UE over the PC5 link between the remote UE and relay UE) and an indication the relay UE is to forward the data to a network entity (Kim [0464]: the PC5 message may include an indicator indicating that the PC5 message is not transmitted to the relay UE but is a message transmitted to a network by being relayed); and
transmitting the data to the network entity while the remote UE is still in the RRC state with the relay UE (Kim fig. 16 and [0461-0462]]: transmitting message from relay UE to the network entity while still in the RRC state [0460]).
Regarding claim 8, Kim teaches
The method of claim 7 (the limitations of parent claim 7 as indicated above), further comprising:
transmitting a second message, to the remote UE, with response data from the network entity (Kim fig. 15 and [0021-0023]: step 5 response data from network entity to the relay UE).
Regarding claim 9, Kim teaches
The method of claim 7 (the limitations of parent claim 7 as indicated above), wherein the data is transmitted to the network entity while the relay UE is in an RRC connected state with the network entity (Kim fig. 15: 2-A data transmitted to network entity while relayUE is in RRC-connected with eNB (network entity)).
Regarding claim 10, Kim teaches
The method of claim 7 (the limitations of parent claim 7 as indicated above), wherein the data is transmitted to the network entity via a sidelink UE information message (Kim [0464] and [0136]: PC5 message transmitted to network entity).
Regarding claim 11, Kim teaches
The method of claim 7 (the limitations of parent claim 7 as indicated above), wherein the data is transmitted to the network entity while the relay UE is in an RRC idle state (Kim fig. 16: S16050 transmission to network entity while in idle state) or RRC inactive state with the network entity.
Regarding claim 12, Kim teaches
The method of claim 7 (the limitations of parent claim 7 as indicated above), wherein the data is transmitted to the network entity via a random access channel (RACH) based procedure (Kim [0120] and [0132-0133]: transmitting data from a UE to a network includes random access channel (RACH) transmitting).
Regarding claim 13, Kim teaches
The method of claim 7 (the limitations of parent claim 7 as indicated above),
wherein the data is transmitted to the network entity via a configured grant (CG) based procedure (Kim [0135]: grant uses resource allocation that is used for transmission of the scheduling message).
Regarding claim 14, Kim teaches
The method of claim 7 (the limitations of parent claim 7 as indicated above), wherein the first message comprises a sidelink RRC reconfiguration message (Kim fig. 15, [0463], and [0011]: PC5 (PC5 connections are sidelink communication channels)).
Regarding claim 15, Kim teaches
The method of claim 14 (the limitations of parent claim 14 as indicated above), further comprising:
transmitting, to the remote UE, a second sidelink RRC reconfiguration message with response data from the network entity (Kim Fig. 15 step 6, [0011-0012], and [0545]: transmitting message to remote UE with data from network entity (e)NB)).
Regarding claim 16, Kim teaches
The method of claim 14 (the limitations of parent claim 14 as indicated above), wherein the first message also includes an RRC message and the method further comprises:
relaying the RRC message to the network entity (Kim [0464]: transmitted to the network by being relayed; ‘go’ is a typographical error and is addressed in the claim objection section above).
Regarding claim 17, Kim teaches
A method for wireless communications performed by a network entity (Kim [0001] and [0004-0005]: method for wireless communications performed by an eNB (network entity)), comprising:
receiving, from a relay UE, a first message with data and an indication the data is from a remote UE (Kim fig. 16 and [0461-0462]]: receiving message from relay UE while still in the RRC state [0460]; Kim [0464]: the PC5 message with information from remote UE may include an indicator indicating that the PC5 message is not transmitted to the relay UE but is a message transmitted to a network by being relayed);
determining, based on the indication provided with the first message, that the data is from the remote UE (Kim [0012] and [0518]: identifier (indication) that the data is from remote UE); and
processing the data (Kim [0520]: eNB performs operations on the data received).
Regarding claim 18, Kim teaches
The method of claim 17 (the limitations of parent claim 17 as indicated above), wherein processing the data comprises:
transmitting a second message, to the relay UE, with response data for the remote UE (Kim fig. 15 and [0021-0023]: step 5 response data from network entity to the relay UE).
Regarding claim 19, Kim teaches
The method of claim 17 (the limitations of parent claim 17 as indicated above), wherein the first message is received while the relay UE is in an RRC connected state with the network entity (Kim fig. 15: 2-A data transmitted to network entity while relayUE is in RRC-connected with eNB (network entity)).
Regarding claim 20, Kim teaches
The method of claim 17 (the limitations of parent claim 17 as indicated above), wherein the first message comprises a sidelink UE information message (Kim [0464] and [0136]: PC5 message transmitted to network entity).
Regarding claim 21, Kim teaches
The method of claim 17 (the limitations of parent claim 17 as indicated above), wherein the first message is received while the relay UE is in an RRC idle state (Kim fig. 16: S16050 transmission to network entity while in idle state) or RRC inactive state with the network entity.
Regarding claim 22, Kim teaches
The method of claim 17 (the limitations of parent claim 17 as indicated above), wherein the first message is received via a random access channel (RACH) based procedure (Kim [0120] and [0132-0133]: transmitting data from a UE to a network includes random access channel (RACH) transmitting).
Regarding claim 23, Kim teaches
The method of claim 17 (the limitations of parent claim 17 as indicated above), wherein the first message is received via a configured grant (CG) based procedure (Kim [0135]: grant uses resource allocation that is used for transmission of the scheduling message).
Regarding claim 24, Kim teaches
A remote user equipment (UE) (Kim [0001], [0005], and [0458]: remote UE), comprising:
a processing system (Kim [0645]: processor/processing system) configured to generate, while the remote UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) state with no dedicated resources allocated to the remote UE by a relay UE (Kim [0460]: the remote UE is in RRC idle), a first message with data (Kim [0463]: data is transmitted in the uplink to the relay UE over the PC5 link between the remote UE and relay UE) and an indication the relay UE is to forward the data to a network entity (Kim [0464]: the PC5 message may include an indicator indicating that the PC5 message is not transmitted to the relay UE but is a message transmitted to a network by being relayed); and
a transmitter (Kim [0653]: transmitter) configured to transmit the first message to the remote relay UE while still in the RRC state (Kim [0461-0462]: transmitting message from remote UE to the relay UE while still in the RRC state [0460]).
Regarding claim 25, Kim teaches
The remote UE of claim 24 (the limitations of parent claim 24 as indicated above), wherein the RRC state comprises an RRC idle state (Kim [0460]: the remote UE is in RRC idle; only one of the two options is required per the claim language) or an RRC inactive state.
Regarding claim 26, Kim teaches
The remote UE of claim 24 (the limitations of parent claim 24 as indicated above), further comprising:
a receiver (Kim [0653]: receiver) configured to receive a second message, from the relay UE, with response data from the network entity (Kim Fig. 15 step 6, [0011-0012], and [0545]: receiving message from relay UE with data from network entity (e)NB)).
Regarding claim 27, Kim teaches
The remote UE of claim 24 (the limitations of parent claim 24 as indicated above), wherein the first message comprises a sidelink RRC reconfiguration message (Kim [0463] and [0011]: PC5 (PC5 connections are sidelink communication channels)).
Regarding claim 28, Kim teaches
The remote UE of claim 27 (the limitations of parent claim 27 as indicated above), further comprising:
a receiver configured to receive (Kim [0653]: receiver), from the relay UE, a second sidelink RRC reconfiguration message with response data from the network entity (Kim Fig. 15 step 6, [0011-0012], and [0545]: receiving message from relay UE with data from network entity (e)NB).
Regarding claim 29, Kim teaches
The remote UE of claim 27 (the limitations of parent claim 27 as indicated above), wherein the first message also includes an RRC message to be relayed to the network entity (Kim fig. 15 and fig. 16: 2-A to be relayed to the network entity).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 RACHEL E MARKS whose telephone number is (703)756-1309. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:30am-6pm.
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/R.E.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2412 /CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412