CTFR 18/555,841 CTFR 82665 DETAILED ACTION 1. The following Office Action is based on the amendment filed on 14 April 2026, having claims 1-4 and 30-38 (claim 5 was cancelled). Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Response to Arguments 07-37 AIA 3. Applicant's arguments filed on 14 April 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant has argued that the claimed invention requires that “the reporting link is necessarily accepted while only a subpart of other requested links are accepted,” (remarks, page 7). Applicant further submitted that the Chu reference association response only accepts “part of the requested link IDs” (remarks, page 7). The examiner respectfully disagrees. The fact that Chu accepts “ part of the requested links” means that Chu accepts “a subset of the requested links” as recited in claims 1 and 2. “ Part of the requested links” is a broad recitation which may include requested links from the reporting non-AP station and a reporting affiliated AP station as recited in the claims. Furthermore, Chu ([0126] further discloses that all of the requested link IDs may be accepted which means the reporting link and the other requested links may be accepted. Thus, the rejection is maintained. This action is Final . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 4. 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 1-4 and 30-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chu et al. (US 2021/0314846 A1) . For claims 1 and 30-31, Chu discloses a communication method in a wireless network (Fig 1, multi-link communications system 100), comprising at a non-access point, non-AP multi-link device, MLD (Fig 1, STA MLD 104-3 is a non-AP MLD), having multiple affiliated non-AP stations (Fig 1, stations 120-1, 120-2, and 120-3 are affiliated with non-AP MLD 104-3): sending, by a reporting affiliated non-AP station to an AP MLD, a ML association request frame indicating links with affiliated APs of the AP MLD that are requested for ML setup ([0126] the non-AP (STA) MLD sends an association frame to the AP MLD, wherein the association request frame comprises requested link IDs for ML setup) , receiving, by the reporting affiliated non-AP station from the AP MLD, a ML association response frame indicating links that are accepted for ML setup, wherein the accepted links are a subset of the requested links ([0126] the AP MLD sends an association response frame to the non-AP (STA) MLD, wherein the association response frame comprises acceptance of all requested links or a subset of the requested links) , the ML association request frame indicates a first requested link between the reporting affiliated non-AP station and a reporting affiliated AP addressee of the ML association request frame and additional requested links between reported affiliated non-AP stations and reported affiliated APs of the AP MLD, wherein ML association response frame accepts the first requested link and a subset of the additional requested links with reported affiliated APs ([0126] the association request frame comprises the link IDs of the reporting STA(s) and the reported AP, and the link of the other STAs [0125], wherein the association response frame [0126] comprises acceptance of all requested link IDs or a subset of the requested link IDs). For claims 2 and 37-38, Chu discloses a communication method in a wireless network (Fig 1, multi-link communications system 100) , comprising at an access point, AP multi-link device, MLD ( Fig 1, AP MLD 102) , having multiple affiliated APs (Fig 1, APs 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 are affiliated with AP MLD 102): receiving, from a reporting affiliated non-AP station of a non-AP MLD, a ML association request frame indicating links with affiliated APs of the AP MLD that are requested for ML setup ([0126] the non-AP (STA) MLD sends an association frame to the AP MLD, wherein the association request frame comprises requested link IDs for ML setup), and sending, to the reporting affiliated non-AP station, a ML association response frame indicating links that are accepted for ML setup, wherein the accepted links are a subset of the requested links ([0126] the AP MLD sends an association response frame comprising acceptance of all requested links or a subset of the requested links) , wherein the ML association request frame indicates a first requested link between the reporting affiliated non-AP station and a reporting affiliated AP addressee of the ML association request frame and additional requested links between reported affiliated non-AP stations and reported affiliated APs of the AP MLD, wherein ML association response frame accepts the first requested link and a subset of the additional requested links with reported affiliated APs ([0126] the association request frame comprises the link IDs of the reporting STA(s) and the reported AP, and the link of the other STAs [0125], wherein the association response frame [0126] comprises acceptance of all requested link IDs or a subset of the requested link IDs). For claim 3, Chu discloses at the AP MLD, determining acceptable links for ML setup from the requested setup links ([0126] the AP MLD sends an association response frame comprising acceptance of all requested links or a subset of the requested links) . For claims 4 and 32-33, Chu discloses comprising exchanging frames between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD over the multiple accepted links ([0054] exchange of frames between the non-AP (STA) MLD and the AP MLD). Conclusion 07-39 AIA 5. 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. 6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Elisabeth B Magloire whose telephone number is (571)272-5601. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 AM-5 PM ET. 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, Sujoy K Kundu can be reached at 571-272-8586. 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. /ELISABETH BENOIT MAGLOIRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471 Application/Control Number: 18/555,841 Page 2 Art Unit: 2471 Application/Control Number: 18/555,841 Page 3 Art Unit: 2471 Application/Control Number: 18/555,841 Page 4 Art Unit: 2471 Application/Control Number: 18/555,841 Page 5 Art Unit: 2471 Application/Control Number: 18/555,841 Page 6 Art Unit: 2471
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