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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after notice of allowance. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous notice of allowance has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/26/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments/remarks made in an amendment filed June 26, 2026, have been fully considered. Applicant has cancelled claims 2, 17 and 32. In view of the amended claims 1, 16, 25, 28, 29, 31 and 35 and upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection, necessitated by the amendments is made in view of different interpretation of the previously applied references and new prior art as presented in this Office action. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-16, 18-31 and 33-35 are therefore moot.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
Since the claim limitation(s) invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claim(s) 31-34 have been interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
A review of the specification shows that the following appears to be the corresponding structure described in the specification for the 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph limitation in claims 31-34. For example, claim 31 comprises “a user equipment (UE), comprising: means for transmitting, to a base station a first message; means for receiving an SRS configuration for the UE; and means for transmitting the SRS on the one or more time or frequency resources” ([0008]).
If applicant does not intend to have this limitation interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation to avoid it being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation recites sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
For more information, see MPEP § 2173 et seq. and Supplementary Examination Guidelines for Determining Compliance With 35 U.S.C. 112 and for Treatment of Related Issues in Patent Applications, 76 FR 7162, 7167 (Feb. 9, 2011).
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 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.
Claims 1, 3-16, 18-31 and 33-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20200259683 A1 (MANOLAKOS et al.) (hereinafter MANOLAKOS) in view of US 20240019521 A1 (FAKOORIAN et al.) (hereinafter FAKOORIAN).
In re claims 1, 16, 31 and 35, MANOLAKOS discloses a method of wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 10, [0135], “FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary method 1000 performed by a UE and a cell to calculate an RTT using positioning SRS. At block 1005, the cell (e.g., a serving gNB) may send an SRS configuration to the UE, which is received at block 1010”), the UE (Fig. 3A, [0071], “UE 302”) comprising: a memory (Fig. 3A:340); at least one transceiver (Fig. 3A:310); and at least one processor (Fig. 3A:332) communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver (Fig. 3A:334, [0070], “The UE 302 includes processing circuitry implementing a processing system 332 for providing functionality relating to, for example, sounding reference signals (SRS) transmissions”), a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE) ([0017], “In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes computer-executable instructions comprising: one or more instructions instructing a UE to receive an SRS configuration from a cell”), cause the UE to:
transmit, to a base station, a first message of a random-access procedure, the first message indicating that the UE is a positioning-only UE (Fig. 4, [0107], “It is proposed to utilize SRS as an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS). In an aspect, an SRS may be used for positioning purposes only...”. [0089], “some of the REs (resource elements) carry demodulation reference signals (DMRS) for channel estimation at the base station” (transmitting SRS through DMRS discloses that UE is indicating to the base station that UE is a positioning-only UE as DMRS resources is dedicated to a positioning-only UE). [0145], “On the other hand, if a positioning SRS is used for positioning purposes only, then it may have independent Tx power and power control parameters” (indicating the parameters for positioning purposes only. Here, a "positioning-only UE" is interpreted broadly, as a standard UE that has only attached to the network via a random-access procedure to perform positioning operations)), wherein the first message indicating that the UE is the positioning-only UE indicates that the UE is connecting to the base station only to perform positioning operations or that the UE is only capable of transmitting uplink positioning reference signals;
receive, from the base station, in response to transmission of the first message, a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the UE (Fig. 11:1110, [0152], “At 1210, the cell sends an SRS configuration to a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein), the SRS configuration defining one or more SRS resource sets, each SRS resource set comprising one or more SRS resources, and each SRS resource comprising one or more SRS ports. In an aspect, at least one SRS port of at least one SRS resource of at least one SRS resource set defined in the SRS configuration is usable by the UE at least for positioning”. [0109], “For example, an SRS resource may be used for positioning in one SRS resource set and used for communication in another SRS resource set”. [0110], “In an aspect, SRS may be configured to be used for positioning purposes at an SRS resource set level, at an SRS resource level, and/or at an SRS port level”. [0116], “In another aspect, the tagging for positioning may occur at the antenna port (or simply “port”) level. That is, even if an SRS resource and its parent SRS resource set are not used for positioning purposes, one or more ports of the SRS resource may be configured for positioning purposes, for example, configured as CB and positioning, NCB and positioning, AntSw and positioning, and/or ULBM and positioning. In other words, a subset (some or all) of the ports of the SRS resource may be configured to be used for positioning purposes (as well as for other purposes). Note that if all SRS ports of the SRS resource are configured to be used for positioning purposes, this is effectively the same as configuring the SRS resource itself”), the SRS configuration indicating one or more time and frequency resources on which the UE is expected to transmit SRS for an uplink-only positioning session ([0122], “However, for positioning purposes, it is proposed that the SRS REs be staggered in frequency. In general, it may be said that for positioning, the UE expects a comb-N pattern with repetition of N consecutive symbols and frequency domain staggering such that all comb offsets are used. FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary pattern of an SRS resource 800 used for positioning, also referred to as a positioning SRS pattern”. [0130], “each positioning SRS resource may include one or more SRS ports mapped to SRS REs such that the resulting pattern of SRS REs across all N consecutive SRS resources are staggered in the frequency domain”. [0141], “Between the SRS used for communication purposes only and the SRS used for positioning purposes only, the SRS used for communication purposes only may take precedence”); and
transmit the SRS on the one or more time and frequency resources based on the SRS configuration (Fig. 11:1120, [0150], “At 1120, the UE transmits a positioning SRS as an uplink positioning signal utilizing one or more positioning SRS ports, each positioning SRS port being an SRS port of an SRS resource of an SRS resource set defined in the SRS configuration. In an aspect, the positioning SRS is transmitted in a positioning SRS pattern such that across N consecutive symbols, where N is greater than or equal to two, SRS REs to which the one or more positioning SRS ports are mapped are staggered in frequency and use each of the N consecutive symbols”. [0137], “Subsequent to receiving the downlink PRS, at block 1030, the UE may transmit a positioning SRS as an uplink positioning reference signal at a third time (e.g., T.sub.UE,Tx=T.sub.3). The positioning SRS may utilize one or more positioning SRS ports. Each positioning SRS port may be an SRS port of an SRS resource of an SRS resource set defined in the SRS configuration received from the cell”).
MANOLAKOS does not explicitly disclose wherein the first message indicating that the UE is the positioning-only UE indicates that the UE is connecting to the base station only to perform positioning operations or that the UE is only capable of transmitting uplink positioning reference signals.
FAKOORIAN discloses wherein the first message indicating that the UE is the positioning-only UE indicates that the UE is connecting to the base station only to perform positioning operations or that the UE is only capable of transmitting uplink positioning reference signals (Fig. 2: 204, [0042], “...the use of DL non-positioning signals for positioning purposes may be either combined with or used independently of the use of UL non-positioning signals for UE positioning purposes”. [0044], “The method 200 further includes sending 204, to a base station, the UE capability information message”. [0054], “The UE capability information message may include an indication of UL positioning signals which the UE can send for UL positioning measurements and/or an indication of UL non-positioning signals that the UE can send for UL positioning measurements. In this way, the wireless communications system is informed as to the UE capability and may reconfigure accordingly (which may include, e.g., the canceling of and/or adjusting the amount and or timing of UL positioning signals expected at the base station”. [0026], “In some wireless communications systems, various positioning methods may anticipate the use of DL positioning signals, such as DL-PRS. In such systems, DL positioning signals can be configured in different periodicities and/or bandwidths, at the cost of network efficiency (e.g., at the cost of additional power use at the base station) as well as in costs in terms of spectrum resource use” (discloses a different configuration for DL signaling by the base station in different periodicities and bandwidths for network efficiency depending on UE capability). [0031], “In some cases, the base station may, in response to the UE capability information message, indicate to the UE a subset (or subsets) of signals of the indicated type(s) which should be used for DL positioning measurements”. [0034], “Accordingly, a UE may indicate (e.g., via the UE capability information message) to the base station that signals of at least two signal types can be processed for DL positioning measurements when such signals are received in a same time resource, a same frequency resource, or a same time and frequency resource”. [0035], “In other examples, the UE may make the indication that two signal types can be so processed by explicitly indicating only a DL non-positioning signal type(s) (e.g., indicating only SSB). In these cases, the various elements of the wireless communications system may implicitly understand that a certain type of DL positioning signal (e.g., a DL-PRS) is to be one of the at least two signal types to be received in the same time resource, the same frequency resource ...” (discloses indication by UE on its capabilities if it is only connecting for positioning or UL PRS and a receive from the base station a PRS configuration accordingly for network efficiency)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of MANOLAKOS with FAKOORIAN to provide a method of wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE) wherein a UE capability is transmitted to the base station in the RACH so the UE can receive SRS configuration data for measurements. The advantage of doing so is improved power, network efficiency and improved accuracy.
In re claims 3, 18 and 33, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 1, the UE of claim 16 and the UE of claim 31, wherein the first message indicates that the UE is a positioning-only UE based on the first message being transmitted on demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resources dedicated to positioning-only UEs (Fig. 4, [0089], “As illustrated in FIG. 4, some of the REs carry demodulation reference signals (DMRS) for channel estimation at the base station”. [0094], “When a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and an SRS are transmitted in the same slot, the UE can only be configured to transmit the SRS after the PUSCH and the corresponding DMRS are transmitted” (this limitation relates to a standard feature defined in the 3GPP standard with the only difference of distinguishing positioning-only UEs from non-positioning-only UEs. Since the definition of a positioning-only UE has been broad enough as to be considered a standard UE occasionally performing positioning, the distinction of both UEs is considered as just part of the standard functions)).
In re claims 4 and 19, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 3 and the UE of claim 18, wherein the DMRS resources have different sequences or different DMRS ports than for DMRS resources used for non-positioning-only UEs ([0118], “When a port of an SRS resource is configured by the cell to be used for positioning purposes, it may also be referred to as a configured positioning SRS port. When a port of an SRS resource is designated by the UE to be used for positioning purposes, it may also be referred to as a designated positioning SRS port. Both may be broadly referred to as a positioning SRS port”. [0142], “In an aspect, a sequence (e.g., a Zadoff-Chu sequence) used for a positioning SRS, i.e., a sequence of an SRS resource used for positioning purposes, regardless of whether or not it is also used for communication purposes, may be different from a sequence of an SRS resource used for communication purposes only” (different sequence). [0011], “transmit a positioning SRS as an uplink positioning signal utilizing one or more positioning SRS ports, each positioning SRS port being an SRS port of an SRS resource of an SRS resource set defined in the SRS configuration, wherein the positioning SRS is transmitted in a positioning SRS pattern such that across N consecutive symbols, where N is greater than or equal to two, SRS resource elements (REs) to which the one or more positioning SRS ports are mapped are staggered in frequency and use each of the N consecutive symbols” (each SRS resource comprising one or more SRS ports wherein atleast one separate port is usable by UE for positioning”)).
In re claims 5 and 20, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 3 and the UE of claim 18, wherein the first message is a Message 3 of a four-step random access procedure or a Message A of a two-step random access procedure (this limitation relates to a standard feature defined in the 3GPP standard with the only difference of distinguishing positioning-only UEs from non-positioning-only UEs. Since the definition of a positioning-only UE has been broad enough as to be considered a standard UE occasionally performing positioning, the distinction of both UEs is considered as just part of the standard functions).
In re claims 6, 21 and 34, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 1, the UE of claim 16 and the UE of claim 31, wherein the first message indicates that the UE is a positioning-only UE based on information indicating capabilities of the UE being mapped to a bit-level scrambling identifier of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), to a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) mask of the PUSCH, to a payload of the first message, or to a dedicated uplink control information (UCI) pattern (Fig. 4, [0121], “The illustrated SRS resource 700 spans four consecutive symbols in the time domain (horizontal axis) and 12 subcarriers in the frequency domain (vertical axis), which is equivalent to 1 PRB for a 15 kHz numerology. Each block represents a resource element (RE) having a height of one subcarrier in the frequency domain and a length of one symbol in the time domain. The four symbols in the time domain are labeled with symbol offsets 0 to 3. The hashed boxes represent the REs used for transmitting the SRS. The numbers inside the SRS REs represent a mapping of the RE to the port ID of the port used to transmit the SRS. In conventional SRS resource configuration, each port is mapped to a specific subcarrier. Therefore, over the span of four symbols, port 1 is mapped to the same frequency (they are not staggered in frequency)”. [0094], “When a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and an SRS are transmitted in the same slot, the UE can only be configured to transmit the SRS after the PUSCH and the corresponding DMRS are transmitted”. [0143], “Further, the positioning SRS may appear before a PUSCH in a slot”).
In re claims 7 and 22, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 6 and the UE of claim 21, wherein the information indicating capabilities of the UE being mapped to the payload of the first message comprises the information indicating capabilities of the UE being mapped to being included in a dedicated medium access control (MAC) header or sub-header or a dedicated MAC sub-protocol data unit (sub-PDU) (Fig. 3B, [0074], “The processing system 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The processing system 384 may provide...PDCP layer functionality associated with header/decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization” (this limitation relates to a standard feature defined in the 3GPP standard with the only difference of distinguishing positioning-only UEs from non-positioning-only UEs. Since the definition of a positioning-only UE has been broad enough as to be considered a standard UE occasionally performing positioning, the distinction of both UEs is considered as just part of the standard functions)).
In re claims 8 and 23, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 1 and the UE of claim 16, wherein the SRS configuration is received in a Message 4 of a four-step random access procedure or in a Message B of a two-step random access procedure (this limitation relates to a standard feature defined in the 3GPP standard with the only difference of distinguishing positioning-only UEs from non-positioning-only UEs. Since the definition of a positioning-only UE has been broad enough as to be considered a standard UE occasionally performing positioning, the distinction of both UEs is considered as just part of the standard functions).
In re claims 9 and 24, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 1 and the UE of claim 16, wherein: the first message indicates a request for an on-demand positioning system information block (Pos-SIB) that includes at least the SRS configuration, and the SRS configuration is received in the on-demand Pos-SIB ([0074], “The processing system 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting”. [0078], “Similar to the functionality described in connection with the DL transmission by the base station 304, the processing system 332 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, and security” (this feature is rendered obvious from the common knowledge and the common design measures in the art)).
In re claims 10 and 25, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 9 and the UE of claim 24, wherein: the on-demand Pos-SIB includes a plurality of SRS configurations, including the SRS configuration, and the method further comprises: receiving a group-common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a PDCCH and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) combination indicating the SRS configuration from the plurality of SRS configurations (this feature is rendered obvious from the common knowledge and the common design measures in the art)).
In re claims 11 and 26, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 1 and the UE of claim 16, wherein: the SRS configuration is an SRS reconfiguration, and the SRS reconfiguration is indicated by a group-common positioning downlink control information (DCI) ([0091], “All of these are features that are additional to the current SRS framework, which is configured through RRC higher layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI)”. [0140], “In an aspect, there may be constraints on the time behavior of positioning SRS. For example, if a positioning SRS is an SRS resource used for positioning purposes and for another purpose, such as communication (e.g., tagged as CB and positioning, NCB and positioning, AntSw and positioning, and/or ULBM and positioning), aperiodic SRS transmission (e.g., triggered by DCI) and/or semi-persistent SRS transmission (e.g., triggered by MAC CE) may not be allowed” (this feature is rendered obvious from the common knowledge and the common design measures in the art)).
In re claims 12 and 27, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 11 and the UE of claim 26, wherein the group-common positioning DCI is conveyed via a positioning PDCCH and PDSCH combination (this limitation relates to a standard feature defined in the 3GPP standard with the only difference of distinguishing positioning-only UEs from non-positioning-only UEs. Since the definition of a positioning-only UE has been broad enough as to be considered a standard UE occasionally performing positioning, the distinction of both UEs is considered as just part of the standard functions).
In re claims 13 and 28, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 1 and the UE of claim 16, wherein the method further comprising: performing a second random access procedure based on a threshold period of time expiring before reception of a first SRS configuration in response to a first message of the second random access procedure, the second random access procedure performed before the random access procedure ([0147], “That is, for a threshold period of time from the start of transmission of a positioning SRS, the UE may not respond to any power control commands from the cell. The threshold period of time may represent a time duration in which the cells of the network are in the listening phase of an RTT procedure. The threshold period may be a number of slots, a number of slots within a frame, a number of frames, etc.” (this feature is rendered obvious from the common knowledge and the common design measures in the art)).
In re claims 14 and 29, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 1 and the UE of claim 16, wherein the method further comprising: transmitting, to the base station, an acknowledgment of the SRS configuration using a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) configuration (this limitation relates to a standard feature defined in the 3GPP standard and a common design measure with the only difference of distinguishing positioning-only UEs from non-positioning-only UEs. Since the definition of a positioning-only UE has been broad enough as to be considered a standard UE occasionally performing positioning, the distinction of both UEs is considered as just part of the standard functions).
In re claims 15 and 30, MANOLAKOS discloses the method of claim 1 and the UE of claim 29, wherein the PUCCH configuration is a single-bit PUCCH Format 0 configuration (Fig. 9, [0088], “A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each time slot including one or more time concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIG. 4, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols (for DL, OFDM symbols; for UL, SC-FDMA symbols) in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme” (this is a common design measure with the only difference of distinguishing positioning-only UEs from non-positioning-only UEs. Since the definition of a positioning-only UE has been broad enough as to be considered a standard UE occasionally performing positioning, the distinction of both UEs is considered as just part of the standard functions)).
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SWATI JAIN whose telephone number is (571)270-0699. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri (830 am - 530 pm).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pan Yuwen can be reached on 571-272-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SWATI JAIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2649
Prosecution Insights