DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This Office Action is in response to the Reply filed on January 22, 2026.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 7-9, 14, 16-18, 22, 25-27, 29, 31-33, 38, 41, 42, 45, 47-49, 54, 56-58, 62, 65-67, 69, 71-73, and 78 remain pending in the application. Claims 3, 4, 6, 10-13, 15, 19-21, 23, 24, 28, 30, 34-37, 39, 40, 43, 44, 46, 50-53, 55, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 68, 70, 74-77, 79, and 80 have been canceled.
Response to Arguments
The drawings were received on January 22, 2026. These drawings are acceptable.
Applicant's arguments, on pages 10-12 of the Reply, with respect to rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 102 of independent claims 1, 25, 41, and 65 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Specifically, on page 11 of the Reply, the Applicant submits that the cited references fail to disclose transmitting, to at least one UE other than the second UE, a reservation message indicating reservation of the RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs, as recited in claims 1 and 41, or receiving a reservation message, and modifying an intended transmission to reduce interference with another UE during the reserved RPP, as recited in claims 25 and 65.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. With respect to independent claims 1 and 41, U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0022375 (Keating et al.) discloses, teaches, or suggests transmitting, to at least one UE other than the second UE, a reservation message indicating reservation of the RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs (see at least Fig. 2, step 245 second message, and paragraphs 80-82). Keating et al. disclose, teach, or suggest transmitting a second message to at least one of its neighbor devices 150, which correspond to the claimed at least one UE other than the second UE, where the second message indicates the sidelink resource that is allocated (i.e., reserved) to be used for exchanging the reference signals among the first terminal device 110 and the positioning terminal devices 120, where the resources for transmitting the reference signals for positioning the first device are reserved and a conflict of resource usage is avoided.
Thus, the Examiner respectfully submits that, based on the amendments to claims 1 and 41 and a different interpretation of the previously-applied prior art reference, Keating et al. disclose, teach, or suggest transmitting, to at least one UE other than the second UE, a reservation message indicating reservation of the RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs, as recited in claims 1 and 41.
With respect to independent claims 25 and 65, the claims are broadly written and, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, one of the positioning terminal devices (e.g., second, third, and fourth terminal devices 120-1 to 120-3 of Fig. 2) of Keating et al. can be reasonably interpreted as the UE of claims 25 and 65. Keating et al. disclose, teach, or suggest a plurality of positioning terminal devices receiving a first message indicating sidelink resources for transmitting reference signals from the plurality of positioning terminal device (see at least paragraph 63). That is, the second terminal device receives the first message indicating sidelink resources reserved for transmitting reference signals from the second terminal device to the first terminal device, where the reference signals are received by the first terminal device and used by the first terminal device for positioning purposes (i.e., for use by a second UE). Keating et al. further disclose, teach, or suggest a resource configuration indicating, for example, a time offset between a time point of receiving the second reference signal at the positioning terminal devices and the time points of transmitting the reference signals to the first terminal device by the positioning terminal devices. As shown in Fig. 2 of Keating et al. at steps 260-1 to 260-3 and described in paragraph 94, the second terminal device 120-1 transmits a first reference signal to the first terminal device via the determined first sidelink resource and the third terminal device transmits a further first reference signal to the first terminal device via the fourth sidelink resource.
Thus, the Examiner respectfully submits that Keating et al. disclose, teach, or suggest receiving a reservation message, and modifying an intended transmission to reduce interference with another UE during the reserved RPP, as recited in claims 25 and 65.
In view of the reasons above, the Examiner respectfully submits that the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) of independent claims 1, 25, 41, and 65, and the dependent claims thereon should be maintained.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on November 7, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 22, 25-27, 29, 31-33, 38, 41, 42, 45, 47, 49, 54, 56, 61, 62, 65-67, 69, 71-73, and 78 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0022375 (hereinafter “Keating”).
Keating discloses or suggests:
regarding claims 1 and 41, a method of wireless communication performed by a first user equipment (UE) (see at least paragraph 59, first terminal device), the method and the first UE comprising:
a memory (see at least Fig. 7 and paragraph 149, memory);
at least one transceiver (see at least Fig. 7 and paragraph 147, communication module); and
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver (see at least Fig. 7 and paragraph 148, processor), the at least one processor configured to:
determine that a resource pool for positioning (RPP) from a predefined plurality of RPPs should be reserved for use by a second UE (see at least paragraphs 61-63 and 67-76, a first terminal device detects a requirement for obtaining its position, which requires sidelink resource allocation for transmitting reference signals for positioning, where the sidelink resource includes a predefined plurality of RPPs);
cause the at least one transceiver to transmit, to the second UE, a configuration message that identifies a reserved RPP to be used by the second UE (see at least paragraphs 63-76, the first terminal device transmits a first message to a plurality of positioning terminal devices, where the first message comprises a resource configuration indicating the sidelink resources for transmitting the RSs); and
cause the at least one transceiver to transmit, to at least one UE other than the second UE, a reservation message indicating a reservation of the RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs (see at least paragraphs 80-82, the first terminal device transmits a second message to at least one of its neighbor device(s), where the second message indicates the second sidelink resource used for transmitting second RS from the first terminal device to the positioning terminal devices, and the sidelink resources for transmitting RSs from the positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device, where the resources for transmitting the RSs from the positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device are reserved for positioning the first terminal device and a conflict of resource usage is avoided);
regarding claims 2 and 42, the predefined plurality of RPPs is preloaded or configured by a serving base station (see at least paragraph 67);
regarding claims 5 and 45, the reservation message is transmitted via a broadcast, groupcast, or multicast message over a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), or a combination thereof (see at least paragraphs 64 and 65);
regarding claims 7 and 47, the reservation message indicates that a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) will be transmitted using the reserved RPP (see at least paragraphs 63-76, the first message indicates sidelink resources for transmitting RSs for positioning);
regarding claims 9 and 49, the reservation message comprises at least one of an RPP identifier, a zone identifier, a priority indication, or timing information associated with the reservation (see at least paragraphs 70-72 and 77, the first message comprises a resource configuration indicating sidelink time resources, which indicates timing information, where the resource configuration further comprises a set of timing offsets);
regarding claims 14 and 54, the reservation message comprises a request that the at least one UE other than the second UE reduce interference during the reserved RPP via rate-matching, muting, puncturing, reducing transmit power, or combinations thereof (see at least paragraphs 80-82, the second message indicates the second sidelink resource used for transmitting second RS from the first terminal device to the positioning terminal devices, and the sidelink resources for transmitting RSs from the positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device, where the resources for transmitting the RSs from the positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device are reserved for positioning the first terminal device and a conflict of resource usage is avoided, where the avoidance of resource usage conflict corresponds to muting or puncturing of the resources);
regarding claims 16 and 56, the UE comprises a relay UE that is associated with the second UE (see at least Figs. 1 and 2, the first terminal device 110 is a relay UE associated with a remote UE 120-1, 120-2, or 150); and
regarding claims 22 and 62, the RPP configuration message identifies sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resources within the reserved RPP (see at least paragraphs 63-76, the first message indicates sidelink resources for transmitting RSs for positioning).
Keating discloses or suggests:
regarding claims 25 and 65, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (see at least paragraphs 59 and 60, one of the positioning terminal devices 120-1 to 120-3), the method and the UE comprising:
a memory (see at least Fig. 7 and paragraph 149, memory);
at least one transceiver (see at least Fig. 7 and paragraph 147, communication module); and
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver (see at least Fig. 7 and paragraph 148, processor), the at least one processor configured to:
receive a reservation message indicating reservation of a RPP from a predefined plurality of RPPs for use by a second UE (see at least paragraphs 63-77, the first terminal device transmits a first message, which is received by a plurality of positioning terminal devices, where the first message comprises a resource configuration indicating the sidelink resources for transmitting the RSs and a set of resource/timing/frequency offsets, which indicates the time offset between a time point of receiving the second RS at the positioning terminal devices and the time points of transmitting the RSs to the first terminal device by the positioning terminal devices and/or the frequency offset between a carrier used by the second RS and the carriers used for transmitting the RSs from the positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device); and
modify an intended transmission to reduce interference with the second UE during the reserved RPP (see at least paragraph 77, a resource configuration indicating the sidelink resources for transmitting the RSs and a set of resource/timing/frequency offsets, which indicates the time offset between a time point of receiving the second RS at the positioning terminal devices and the time points of transmitting the RSs to the first terminal device by the positioning terminal devices and/or the frequency offset between a carrier used by the second RS and the carriers used for transmitting the RSs from the positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device);
regarding claims 26 and 66, the at least one processor being configured to modify the intended transmission comprises the at least one processor being configured to rate-match, mute, puncture, reduce transmit power, or combinations thereof (see at least paragraphs 77 and 82, the resource configuration comprises a set of resource/timing/frequency offsets, which indicates the time offset between a time point of receiving the second RS at the positioning terminal devices and the time points of transmitting the RSs to the first terminal device by the positioning terminal devices and/or the frequency offset between a carrier used by the second RS and the carriers used for transmitting the RSs from the positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device, where resources for transmitting the RSs are reserved and a conflict of resource usage is avoided);
regarding claims 27 and 67, the predefined plurality of RPPs is preloaded or configured by a serving base station (see at least paragraph 67);
regarding claims 29 and 69, the reservation message is transmitted via a broadcast, groupcast, or multicast message over a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), or a combination thereof (see at least paragraphs 64 and 65);
regarding claims 31 and 71, the reservation message indicates that a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) will be transmitted using the reserved RPP (see at least paragraphs 63-76, the first message indicates sidelink resources for transmitting RSs for positioning);
regarding claims 32 and 72, the reservation message identifies a remote UE that will use the reserved RPP (see at least paragraph 67, the first message comprises identifications of the determined positioning terminal devices that will use the respective sidelink resource);
regarding claims 33 and 73, the reservation message comprises at least one of an RPP identifier, a zone identifier, a priority indication, or timing information associated with the reservation (see at least paragraphs 70-72 and 77, the first message comprises a resource configuration indicating sidelink time resources, which indicates timing information, where the resource configuration further comprises a set of timing offsets); and
regarding claims 38 and 78, the reservation message identifies sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resources within the reserved RPP (see at least paragraphs 63-76, the first message indicates sidelink resources for transmitting RSs for positioning).
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.
Claims 8 and 48 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keating.
Regarding claims 8 and 48, Keating discloses all of the subject matter of the claimed invention of claims 1 and 41, as described above, and further discloses the reservation message (i.e., the second message) indicating sidelink resources for transmitting RSs from the positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device (see at least paragraph 80). However, Keating does not explicitly disclose that the reservation message identifies the second UE that will use the reserved RPP.
Nevertheless, Keating discloses that the first message comprises identification of the positioning terminal devices, such that, any of the positioning terminal devices may determine respective sidelink resource based on the identifications (see at least paragraphs 67 and 68).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the teaching of incorporating the identification of the positioning terminal devices in the first message into the second message of Keating in order to identify the positioning terminal device of the indicated sidelink resource.
Claims 17, 18, 57, and 58 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keating in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0127945 (hereinafter “Ko”).
Regarding claims 17, 18, 57, and 58, Keating discloses or suggests all of the subject matter of the claimed invention except receiving, from the second UE, a request for a RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs and determining that a RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs should be reserved based on receiving the request, wherein the request at least one of identifies a specific RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs, indicates reservation of the specific RPP identified in the request, or indicates reservation of an RPP different from the specific RPP identified in the request.
However, in an analogous art, Ko discloses or suggests receiving, from the remote UE, a request for a RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs and determining that a RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs should be reserved based on receiving the request (see at least paragraphs 167-168 and 178, a first device receives a positioning request including information related to positioning and at least one candidate band and the first device determines a second band among the at least one candidate band for communicating a positioning reference signal (PRS), where information related to the positioning may include information related to the resource pool), wherein the request at least one of identifies a specific RPP from the predefined plurality of RPPs, indicates reservation of the specific RPP identified in the request, or indicates reservation of an RPP different from the specific RPP identified in the request (see at least paragraphs 167-168 and 178, the positioning request received from a second device includes information related to positioning and at least one candidate band).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the technique as taught by Ko in to the invention of Keating in order to guarantee a specific frequency resource in an unlicensed band for positioning reference signal (see at least paragraphs 139 and 140 of Ko).
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 Pawaris Sinkantarakorn whose telephone number is (571)270-1424. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:00pm.
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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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/PAO SINKANTARAKORN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409 04/17/2026
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