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 .
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) 1-7, 15, 22, 29, 30, 59, 62, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAI et al (2020/0053767) in view of MOON et al (US 2024/0421968).
Regarding claim 1, and 59, BAI et al (US 2020/0053767): method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
sending a message to a base station (BS) with UE capability information indicating one or more capabilities of the UE (BAI (US 2020/0053767): ¶104, ¶113, Fig. 7, UE sends capability information to the network/base station);
receiving signaling from the BS indicating a semi-static slot format configuration based on the UE capability information, the slot format configuration including one or more slot format patterns (BAI (US 2020/00537): ¶119, ¶124, ¶148,the base station signals a semi-static format configuration based on the UE’s capability information); and
communicating with the BS based on the semi-static slot format configuration (BAI: (US2020/0053767) ¶158, ¶163, ¶65-66, semi-static slot configuration component may receive slot aggregation).
BAI remains silent regarding receiving a cyclic shift (CS) associated with the one or more slot format patterns.
However, MOON et al (US 2024/0421968) discloses receiving a cyclic shift (CS) associated with the one or more slot format patterns and communication with the BS is based on the CS (MOON: ¶188, semi-static slot formats have a corresponding CP type (cyclic shift) associated with them and indicated to the UE by the network and the communication between the UE and the BS is based on the CS).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI would have been motivated to use the teachings of MOON as it solves the problem where the subcarrier spacing of the bandwidth part is configured to be smaller than the reference subcarrier spacing of the semi-static slot format (¶152). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI with teachings of MOON in order to allow that a subcarrier spacing of a bandwidth part is configured to be smaller than a reference subcarrier spacing of a semi-static slot format (¶186).
Regarding claim 30 and 62, BAI et al (2020/0053767) method for wireless communications by a base station (BS), the method comprising:
receiving obtaining a message from a user equipment (UE) with UE capability information indicating one or more capabilities of the UE (BAI (US 2020/0053767): ¶104, ¶113, Fig. 7, UE sends capability information to the network/base station);
sending outputting signaling to the UE indicating a semi-static slot format configuration based on the UE capability information, the slot format configuration including one or more slot format patterns (BAI (US 2020/00537): ¶119, ¶124, ¶148,the base station signals a semi-static format configuration based on the UE’s capability information); and communicating with the UE based on the semi-static slot format configuration (BAI: (US2020/0053767) ¶158, ¶163, ¶65-66, semi-static slot configuration component may receive slot aggregation).
BAI remains silent regarding transmitting a cyclic shift (CS) associated with the one or more slot format patterns.
However, MOON et al (US 2024/0421968) discloses transmitting a cyclic shift (CS) associated with the one or more slot format patterns and communication with the BS is based on the CS (MOON: ¶188, semi-static slot formats have a corresponding CP type (cyclic shift) associated with them and indicated to the UE by the network and the communication between the UE and the BS is based on the CS).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI would have been motivated to use the teachings of MOON as it solves the problem where the subcarrier spacing of the bandwidth part is configured to be smaller than the reference subcarrier spacing of the semi-static slot format (¶152). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI with teachings of MOON in order to allow that a subcarrier spacing of a bandwidth part is configured to be smaller than a reference subcarrier spacing of a semi-static slot format (¶186).
Regarding claim 2, BAI modified by MOON discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the signaling from the BS indicating the semi-static slot format configuration is received after completing radio resource control (RRC) setup with the BS (BAI: ¶90, RRC message, after RRC connection setup between the BS and UE).
Regarding claim 3, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 1, wherein the one or more slot format patterns are cell-specific (MOON: ¶86, slot configuration is performed in a cell specific manner).
Regarding claim 4, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 1, wherein the one or more slot format patterns are group common (MOON: ¶133, SFI is part of a group common control information).
Regarding claim 5, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 1, wherein the one or more slot format patterns are UE-specific (MOON: ¶86, slot configuration is performed in a UE specific manner).
Regarding claim 6, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 1 wherein a granularity of the CS granularity is at least one slot, one half-frame, or one frame (MOON: ¶187, Fig. 8 CP is at a granularity of a format which is for a frame with 14 symbols).
Regarding claim 7, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 1, wherein the receiving the signaling from the BS indicating the semi-static slot format configuration comprises:
receiving dedicated radio resource control (RRC} signaling indicating a slot format pattern; and receiving dedicated RRC signaling indicating a UE-specific CS associated with the slot format pattern (MOON: ¶112, ¶207, ¶186, RRC signaling indicates a slot format indicator (SFI) and a corresponding pattern).
Regarding claim 15, BAI modified by MOON discloses the method of one or more of claim 1, further comprising: determining a conflict between a slot configured by the semi-static slot format configuration and a cell-specific configured transmission (BAI: ¶129, ¶140, the UE determines a conflict between the cell specific transmission through DCI and UE-specific via RRC signaling; MOON: ¶112, DCI is cell-specific and RRC is UE-specific).
Regarding claim 22, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 15, further comprising: skipping monitoring or transmission of the cell-specific transmission in the slot (BAI: ¶129, ¶140, the UE determines a conflict between the cell specific transmission through DCI and UE-specific via RRC signaling; MOON: ¶112, DCI is cell-specific and RRC is UE-specific; ¶214, semi-stati slot configuration is used and other configuration resource is refrained from transmitting).
Regarding claim 29, BAI modified by MOON disclose method of one or more of claim 1, wherein the semi-static slot format configuration is for half duplex (HD) frequency division duplexing (FDD) operation (BAI: ¶76, ¶119, semi static assignments for half duplex FDD), and wherein the one or more capabilities includes at least support for HD FDD operation and a minimum time required for direction switching between reception (RX) and transmission (TX) (BAI: ¶65, Fig. 5 beam switching where beam is transmission beam and receiving beam).
Claim(s) 8-10, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAI modified by MOON as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of LIN (US 2022/0295553)
Regarding claim 8, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the signaling indicating the semi-static slot format configuration comprises:
receiving multicast or broadcast signaling indicating a slot format pattern (MOON: ¶84, SFI is transmitted in a common DCI (equivalent to multicast)); and receiving dedicated radio resource control (RRC} signaling or downlink control information (DCI) indicating a UE-specific information associated with the slot format pattern (MOON: ¶84, ¶192, ¶133, UE specific control information sent in a terminal specific RRC signal).
BAI modified by MOON remain silent regarding UE-specific information including CS information. However, LIN (US 2022/0295553) discloses UE-specific information including CS information (LIN: Abstract, ¶24-30, CP corresponding to a slot format indicator is determined based on the UE specific RRC signaling).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of LIN as it provides a way to include CP, critical to the slot format, in a standard RRC signaling IE. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of LIN in order to improve signaling protocol compliance.
Regarding claim 9 BAI modified by MOON discloses method of claim 1 wherein:
the one or more slot format patterns are preconfigured at the UE (BAI: Fig. 7, ¶158-159, the slot configurations are configured (preconfigured) at 710 and then indicated in the control signaling);
each of the one or more slot format patterns is associated with a downlink bandwidth (BWP) identifier or an uplink BWP identifier (MOON: ¶134-135, ¶144, a SFI has a corresponding Bandwidth Part); and
the receiving the signaling from the BS indicating the semi-static slot format configuration comprises receiving dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or downlink control information (DCI) signaling (MOON: ¶84, ¶99, ¶192, ¶133, UE specific control information sent in a terminal specific RRC signal).
BAI modified by MOON remain silent regarding the signaling is indicating a UE-specific CS and a DL BWP identifier associated with a slot format pattern of the preconfigured one or more slot format patterns
However, LIN (US 2022/0295553) discloses the signaling is indicating a UE-specific CS and a DL BWP identifier associated with a slot format pattern of the preconfigured one or more slot format patterns (LIN: ¶46-59, ¶24-30, CP and a corresponding a slot format indicator is determined based on the UE specific RRC signaling)
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of LIN as it provides a way to include CP, critical to the slot format, in a standard RRC signaling IE. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of LIN in order to improve signaling protocol compliance.
Regarding claim 10, BAI modified by MOON remains discloses the method of 1, wherein: at least one of the one or more slot format patterns is shared with one or more other UEs (MOON: ¶84, the patterns are shared with a group of UEs); and the UE and the one or more other UEs are configured with different UE-specific informations (MOON: ¶84, the UE is configured with specific information).
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding the different UE-specific informations includes different CSs.
However, LIN (US 2022/0295553) discloses the different UE-specific informations includes different CSs.
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of LIN as it provides a way to include CP, critical to the slot format, in a standard RRC signaling IE. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of LIN in order to improve signaling protocol compliance.
Claim(s) 11-14, 25, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAI modified by MOON as applied to claim 1/11 above, further in view of CHOI (US 2025/0151054)
Regarding claim 11, BAI modified by MOON remains disclose method of 1, wherein: each of the one or more slot format patterns indicates one or more downlink slots including only downlink symbols mapped to a downlink frequency carrier, one or more special slots, and one or more uplink slots including only uplink symbols mapped to an uplink frequency carrier; and the one or more special slots include one or more flexible slots (BAI: ¶148, flexible (special), DL and UL symbols).
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding the one or more special slots include one or more downlink symbols, including one or more guard symbols, and one or more uplink symbols.
However, CHOI (US 2025/0151054) discloses the one or more special slots include one or more downlink symbols, including one or more guard symbols, and one or more uplink symbols (CHOI: ¶278, flexible symbols used for gap, UL or DL transmission).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of CHOI in order to utilize the resources fully. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of CHOI in order to improve resource utilization.
Regarding claim 12, BAI modified by MOON modified by CHOI discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the one or more special slots comprises a first number of symbols when a normal CP is configured and a second number of symbols when an extended CP is configured (MOON: Fig. 8, ¶187-188, each of the extended and normal CP have a corresponding number of symbols used for special slots “X”; CHOI ¶69, ¶14 OFDM symbols and 12 OFDM symbols).
Regarding claim 13, BAI modified by MOON modified CHOI discloses method of one or more of claim 11, wherein a number of the one or more guard symbols is based on a minimum switching time of the UE for switching from uplink to downlink, a minimum switching time of the UE for switching from downlink, or both (CHOI: ¶275, a gap symbols used for UL-DL switching time ).
Regarding claim 14, BAI modified by MOON modified CHOI discloses method of one or more of claim 11, wherein at least one of the one or more special slots includes one or more flexible symbols directly between an uplink symbol and a subsequent downlink symbol (CHOI: ¶275, a gap symbols used for UL-DL switching time; this gap symbol is between the UL and DL symbol for accommodating processing time for switching).
Regarding claim 25, BAI modified by MOON disclose method of one or more of claim 1, wherein the one or more capabilities of the UE includes a minimum switching time for switching (BAI: ¶117, capability is a switching time).
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding, however CHOI et al (US 2025/0151054) discloses switching being from uplink to downlink, a minimum switching time for switching from downlink, or both (CHOI: ¶275-276, switching DL-UL switching between a DL symbol and UL symbol).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of CHOI in order to utilize the resources fully. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of CHOI in order to improve resource utilization.
Claim(s) 16-17, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAI modified by MOON as applied to claim 15 above, further in view of YE et al (US 2023/0283446)
Regarding claim 16, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of claim 15, wherein determining the conflict comprises:
determining a slot configured by the semi-static slot format configuration collides with another slot (BAI: ¶129, ¶140, the UE determines a conflict between slots).
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding the conflict being between as an uplink slot or a special slot with a configured synchronization signal block (SSB) resource in the slot.
However, YE et al (US 2023/0283446) discloses the conflict being between as an uplink slot or a special slot with a configured synchronization signal block (SSB) resource in the slot (YE: ¶94, ¶62, SSBs collide with UL slot).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of , BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of YE as it provides a way to resolve conflict by considering priority of the communication (¶94) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of , BAI modified by MOON with teachings of YE in order to avoid deadlock due to conflict of resources and reduce communication errors.
Regarding claim 17, BAI modified by MOON discloses the method of one or more of claim 15, wherein determining the conflict comprises:
determining a slot configured by the semi-static slot format configuration collides with another slot (BAI: ¶129, ¶140, the UE determines a conflict between slots).
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding the conflict being between a downlink slot or a special slot by the semi-static slot format configuration collides with a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource in the slot.
However, YE et al (US 2023/0283446) discloses the conflict being between a downlink slot or a special slot by the semi-static slot format configuration collides with a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource in the slot. (YE: ¶95, ¶62, PRACHs collide with UL slot).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of , BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of YE as it provides a way to resolve conflict by considering priority of the communication (¶95) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of , BAI modified by MOON with teachings of YE in order to avoid deadlock due to conflict of resources and reduce communication errors.
Claim(s) 18-21, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAI modified by MOON as applied to claim 15 above, further in view of YI (US 2020/0260442)
Regarding claim 18, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 15, as above.
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding, however, YI (US 2020/0260442) discloses monitoring or transmitting the cell-specific transmission in the slot; and applying the semi-static slot format configuration in the next slot (YI ¶228, ¶205, the UE specific slot format configuration is not considered for a current slot when a conflict occurs and instead in that slot, cell specific configuration is utilized to monitor/transmit information; a next slot is selected ).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of YI as it minimizes transmission errors. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of YI in order to reduce errors due to conflict.
Regarding claim 19, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 15, as above.
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding, however, YI (US 2020/0260442) discloses overriding the semi-static slot format configuration in the slot; and monitoring or transmitting the cell-specific transmission in the slot (YI ¶228, ¶205, the UE specific slot format configuration is not considered for a current slot when a conflict occurs and instead in that slot, cell specific configuration is utilized to monitor/transmit information ).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of YI as it minimizes transmission errors. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of YI in order to reduce errors due to conflict.
Regarding claim 20, BAI modified by MOON modified by YI discloses method of claim 19, further comprising: receiving signaling from the BS reconfiguring a special slot in the slot format configuration to compensate for the overridden slot (YI ¶228, ¶205, the UE specific slot format configuration is not considered for a current slot when a conflict occurs and instead in that slot, cell specific configuration is utilized to monitor/transmit information; a next slot is used to compensate for the overridden/conflicted slot; ¶146, a flexible slot/symbol is reused for SFI transmission).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON modified by YI would have been motivated to use the teachings of the embodiment of using flexible symbols of YI (¶146) as it provides flexibility of the resources to be used. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of YI in order increase resource utilization.
Regarding claim 21, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of one or more of claim 15, as above.
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding, however, YI (US 2020/0260442) discloses the UE does not expect the conflict; and further comprising treating as an error event when the conflict is determined (YI ¶110, ¶156, an error occurs when an SFI is not configured or updated; i.e. the UE does not expect a conflict that occurs).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of YI as it provides alternative when no SFI or incorrect SFI is received. This enables a flag for user intervention to take corrective steps and avoid further errors. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of YI in order to enable flagging of incorrect configurations.
Claim(s) 23, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAI modified by MOON as applied to claim 15 above, further in view of PAPASAKELLARION et al (US 2020/0137695)
Regarding claim 23, BAI modified by MOON discloses method of claim 15, as above.
BAI modified by MOON remains silent, however, PAPASAKELLARION et al (US 2020/0137695) discloses puncturing or rate matching around one or more ending symbols or a downlink slot or beginning symbols of an uplink slot to accommodate switching due to the cell-specific transmission (PAPASAKELLARION: ¶97-98, ¶299-300, ¶304, rate matching is applied to the received symbols of the an uplink for the cell specific transmission).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of PAPASAKELLARION as it provides preserving code structure in the received information (¶299) . This enables a flag for user intervention to take corrective steps and avoid further errors. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of PAPASAKELLARION in order to minimize issues with preserving code structure.
Claim(s) 24, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAI modified by MOON as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of YI2 (YI et al US 2019/0364602)
Regarding claim 24, BAI modified by MOON disclose method of claim 1, as above.
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding, however, YI2 (YI et al US 2019/0364602) discloses ignoring the semi-static slot format configuration and monitoring downlink control information (DCI) including measurement gap information for uplink downlink switching or downlink uplink switching when at least one of the following occurs: the UE is not in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state; the UE's timing alignment timer expires; the UE's an active bandwidth part (BWP) configuration of the UE does not support the semi-static slot format configuration; or the semi-static slot format configuration collides with a configured measurement gap (YI2: ¶111, the semi-static configuration is dropped if it collides with measurement gap).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of YI2 as it enables the UE to be configured with different bandwidth depending on the traffic load state of the UE, etc (¶5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of YI2 in order to dynamically manage resources based on traffic type (¶5).
Claim(s) 27, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAI modified by MOON as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of RASTEGARDOOST et al (US 2021/0051672)
Regarding claim 27, BAI modified by MOON disclose method of one or more of claim 1, further comprising sending to the BS, a message (MOON: ¶239, performs PRACH procedure by transmitting PRACH).
BAI modified by MOON remains silent regarding, however, RASTEGARDOOST et al (US 2021/0051672) discloses a buffer status report (BSR), a channel station information (CSI) report, an indication for coverage enhancement, a quality-of-service (QoS) target, UE assistance information (UAI), or a combination thereof (), wherein the semi-static slot format configuration is further based on the BSR, the CSI report, the indication for coverage enhancement, the QoS target, the UAI, or the combination thereof (RASTERGARDOOST: ¶252, BSR is reported in a RA procedure message from the terminal to the BS)
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of BAI modified by MOON would have been motivated to use the teachings of RASTEGARDOOST as it provides additional status information to better assist the BS in scheduling resources. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of BAI modified by MOON with teachings of RASTEGARDOOST in order to improve resource management.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
PTO 892
Document U discloses an in-depth treatment of the key aspects of 5G NR V2X: the physical layer, the resource allocation, the quality of service management, the enhancements introduced to the Uu interface and the mobility management for V2N (Vehicle to Network) communications, as well as the coexistence mechanisms between 5G NR V2X and LTE V2X.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMER S MIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7524. The examiner can normally be reached M,T,W,Th: 10a-7p, Fri, 9a-12p.
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OMER S. MIAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2461
/OMER S MIAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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