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 .
This office action is in response to the amendment filed on 02/13/2026. Claims 1-38 are pending in this application and have been considered below.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-38 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection because of the amendment changes the scope of the invention.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9-26, 28-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2021/0219103 A1) (Wang herein after) in view of Tenny (US 2022/0015059 A1).
Re Claim 1, Wang discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
identifying at least one potential positioning peer UE (The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs [0185]); and
sending, to a network node, a request for assistance data, the request comprising information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE (The target UE sends a message 104 to the RAN 1101, requesting the desired sidelink RefSig 1103. This RefSig request 104 may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]).
Wang discloses the claimed invention except the information associated with the at least one potential peer comprising at least one of a capability, quality, operational state, operational characteristic, or location of the potential positioning peer.
However, Tenny discloses a positioning methods facilated by a server UE wherein server UE may determine what assistance data should be provided, taking into account any information it has about the environment of UE1, such as a coarse location estimate, measurement reports indicating the radio environment in relation to other UEs, and so on. The delivery of assistance data may be in a format defined by a protocol, such as LPP, for example. The delivery of assistance data may be carried in a container in a message of a second protocol over the sidelink interface, such as a PC5-RRC or PC5-S protocol ([0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method and system of Wang, by making use of the technique taught by Tenny, in order to improve the positioning estimation quality.
Both references are within the same field of telecommunication, and in particular of positioning method, the modification does not change a fundamental operating principle of Wang, nor does Wang teach away from the modification (Wang merely discloses a preferred embodiment). The combination has a reasonable expectation of success in that the modifications can be made using conventional and well known engineering and/or programming techniques, the assistance data for positioning method taught by Tenny is not altered and continues to perform the same function as separately, and the resultant combination produces the highly predictable result of the information associated with the at least one potential peer comprising at least one of a capability, quality, operational state, operational characteristic, or location of the potential positioning peer.
Re Claim 2, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 1, Wang discloses wherein identifying the at least one potential positioning peer UE comprises performing a sidelink (SL) positioning peer discovery process (target UE sends a message 104 to the RAN 1101, requesting the desired sidelink RefSig 1103. This RefSig request 104 may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]).
Re Claim 3, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 1, Wang discloses wherein the information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE comprises an anchor quality, a response time, a channel quality, a mobility state, a time stamp of discovery, a bandwidth capability, a resource pool configuration, a geographic region, a zone ID, a UE ID, or a unique positioning peer UE ID, or combinations thereof (may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]).
Re Claim 4, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 1, Wang discloses wherein the at least one potential positioning peer UE comprises a plurality of potential positioning peer UEs (target UE may discover potential assisting UEs [0185]).
Re Claim 5, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 4, Wang discloses wherein the information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE comprises information associated with each of some or all of the plurality of potential positioning peer UEs (RAN further informs the target UE and the involved assisting UEs about the granted RefSig configuration 1102 [0186]).
Re Claim 6, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 5, Wang discloses wherein the information associated with each of some or all of the plurality of potential positioning peer UEs is sorted, or filtered, or both, according to at least one criterion (RAN 1101 may determine the assisting UEs to be activated as RefSig TXs. [0186]; location request may indicate the required positioning Quality of Service (QoS). Based on the positioning QoS and capability of RAN/UE, the target UE determines whether and which sidelink radio measurements are desired, then further determines the RefSig required for obtaining the desired measurement quality [0184]).
Re Claim 7, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 6, Wang discloses wherein the at least one criterion comprises an anchor quality criterion, a response time criterion, a channel quality criterion, or a mobility state criterion, a time stamp of discovery, a bandwidth capability, or a resource pool configuration, or combinations thereof (location request may indicate the required positioning Quality of Service (QoS). Based on the positioning QoS and capability of RAN/UE, the target UE determines whether and which sidelink radio measurements are desired, then further determines the RefSig required for obtaining the desired measurement quality [0184]).
Re Claim 9, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 1, Wang discloses further comprising receiving, from the network node, assistance data comprising assistance data for sidelink positioning (RAN further informs the target UE and the involved assisting UEs about the granted RefSig configuration 1102. Since there is a radio resource consumed, the RAN may inform the corresponding function block in the CN so that a billing policy can be applied [0186]).
Re Claim 10, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 9, Wang discloses further comprising: performing sidelink positioning measurements based at least in part on the assistance data for sidelink positioning (target UE calculates its position based on at least the radio signal measurements. The positioning method may be indicated by the network [0189]); and sending, to the network node, one or more sidelink measurement reports (target UE reports the location update to the location server in CN [0189]).
Re Claim 11, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 9, Wang discloses further comprising receiving, from the network node, an indication to activate or deactivate a sidelink positioning session with an identified positioning peer UE (involved assisting UEs transmit the RefSig 1103 to the target UE over sidelink according to the RefSig configuration [0187]).
Re Claim 12, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 11, Wang discloses further comprising activating or deactivating the sidelink positioning session with the identified positioning peer UE (involved assisting UEs transmit the RefSig 1103 to the target UE over sidelink according to the RefSig configuration [0187]).
Re Claim 13, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 1, Wang discloses wherein the network node comprises a location server or location management function (location server function in the RAN determines whether and which sidelink radio measurements are desired [0175]).
Re Claim 14, Wang discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a network node, the method comprising:
receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for assistance data, the request comprising information associated with at least one potential positioning peer UE (The target UE sends a message 104 to the RAN 1101, requesting the desired sidelink RefSig 1103. This RefSig request 104 may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]); and
sending, to the UE, assistance data based at least in part on the information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE (RAN 1101 may determine the assisting UEs to be activated as RefSig TXs. RAN further informs the target UE and the involved assisting UEs about the granted RefSig configuration [0186]), wherein the assistance data comprises assistance data for sidelink positioning (sidelink-assisted UE-based Positioning (PosEng at target UE) and which can be performed by the positioning device [0183]).
Wang discloses the claimed invention except the information associated with the at least one potential peer comprising at least one of a capability, quality, operational state, operational characteristic, or location of the potential positioning peer.
However, Tenny discloses a positioning methods facilated by a server UE wherein server UE may determine what assistance data should be provided, taking into account any information it has about the environment of UE1, such as a coarse location estimate, measurement reports indicating the radio environment in relation to other UEs, and so on. The delivery of assistance data may be in a format defined by a protocol, such as LPP, for example. The delivery of assistance data may be carried in a container in a message of a second protocol over the sidelink interface, such as a PC5-RRC or PC5-S protocol ([0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method and system of Wang, by making use of the technique taught by Tenny, in order to improve the positioning estimation quality.
Both references are within the same field of telecommunication, and in particular of positioning method, the modification does not change a fundamental operating principle of Wang, nor does Wang teach away from the modification (Wang merely discloses a preferred embodiment). The combination has a reasonable expectation of success in that the modifications can be made using conventional and well known engineering and/or programming techniques, the assistance data for positioning method taught by Tenny is not altered and continues to perform the same function as separately, and the resultant combination produces the highly predictable result of the information associated with the at least one potential peer comprising at least one of a capability, quality, operational state, operational characteristic, or location of the potential positioning peer.
Re Claim 15, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 14, Wang discloses wherein the information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE comprises an anchor quality, a response time, a channel quality, a mobility state, a time stamp of discovery, a bandwidth capability, a resource pool configuration, a geographic region, a zone ID, a UE ID, or a unique positioning peer UE ID, or combinations thereof (may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]).
Re Claim 16, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 14, Wang discloses further comprising receiving, from the UE, one or more sidelink measurement reports (target UE reports the location update to the location server in CN [0189]).
Re Claim 17, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 16, Wang discloses further comprising: sending, to the UE, an indication to activate or deactivate a sidelink positioning session with an identified positioning peer UE (involved assisting UEs transmit the RefSig 1103 to the target UE over sidelink according to the RefSig configuration [0187]).
Re Claim 18, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 17, Wang discloses further comprising: determining to activate or deactivate the sidelink positioning session with the identified positioning peer UE based at least in part on the one or more sidelink measurement reports received from the UE (involved assisting UEs transmit the RefSig 1103 to the target UE over sidelink according to the RefSig configuration [0187]).
Re Claim 19, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 14, Wang discloses wherein the network node comprises a location server or location management function (location server function in the RAN determines whether and which sidelink radio measurements are desired [0175]).
Re Claim 20, Wang discloses a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver (processor, medium, claim 1, Figure 11), the at least one processor configured to:
identify at least one potential positioning peer UE (The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs [0185]); and
send, to a network node via the at least one transceiver, a request for assistance data, the request comprising information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE (The target UE sends a message 104 to the RAN 1101, requesting the desired sidelink RefSig 1103. This RefSig request 104 may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]).
Wang discloses the claimed invention except the information associated with the at least one potential peer comprising at least one of a capability, quality, operational state, operational characteristic, or location of the potential positioning peer.
However, Tenny discloses a positioning methods facilated by a server UE wherein server UE may determine what assistance data should be provided, taking into account any information it has about the environment of UE1, such as a coarse location estimate, measurement reports indicating the radio environment in relation to other UEs, and so on. The delivery of assistance data may be in a format defined by a protocol, such as LPP, for example. The delivery of assistance data may be carried in a container in a message of a second protocol over the sidelink interface, such as a PC5-RRC or PC5-S protocol ([0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method and system of Wang, by making use of the technique taught by Tenny, in order to improve the positioning estimation quality.
Both references are within the same field of telecommunication, and in particular of positioning method, the modification does not change a fundamental operating principle of Wang, nor does Wang teach away from the modification (Wang merely discloses a preferred embodiment). The combination has a reasonable expectation of success in that the modifications can be made using conventional and well known engineering and/or programming techniques, the assistance data for positioning method taught by Tenny is not altered and continues to perform the same function as separately, and the resultant combination produces the highly predictable result of the information associated with the at least one potential peer comprising at least one of a capability, quality, operational state, operational characteristic, or location of the potential positioning peer.
Re Claim 21, Wang discloses the UE of claim 20, wherein, to identify the at least one potential positioning peer UE, the at least one processor is configured to perform a sidelink (SL) positioning peer discovery process (target UE sends a message 104 to the RAN 1101, requesting the desired sidelink RefSig 1103. This RefSig request 104 may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]).
Re Claim 22, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 20, Wang discloses wherein the information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE comprises an anchor quality, a response time, a channel quality, a mobility state, a time stamp of discovery, a bandwidth capability, a resource pool configuration, a geographic region, a zone ID, a UE ID, or a unique positioning peer UE ID, or combinations thereof (may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]).
Re Claim 23, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 20, Wang discloses wherein the at least one potential positioning peer UE comprises a plurality of potential positioning peer UEs (target UE may discover potential assisting UEs [0185]).
Re Claim 24, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 23, Wang discloses wherein the information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE comprises information associated with each of some or all of the plurality of potential positioning peer UEs (RAN 1101 may determine the assisting UEs to be activated as RefSig TXs. [0186]; location request may indicate the required positioning Quality of Service (QoS). Based on the positioning QoS and capability of RAN/UE, the target UE determines whether and which sidelink radio measurements are desired, then further determines the RefSig required for obtaining the desired measurement quality [0184]).
Re Claim 25, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 24, Wang discloses wherein the information associated with each of some or all of the plurality of potential positioning peer UEs is sorted, or filtered, or both, according to at least one criterion (RAN 1101 may determine the assisting UEs to be activated as RefSig TXs. [0186]; location request may indicate the required positioning Quality of Service (QoS). Based on the positioning QoS and capability of RAN/UE, the target UE determines whether and which sidelink radio measurements are desired, then further determines the RefSig required for obtaining the desired measurement quality [0184]).
Re Claim 26, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 25, Wang discloses wherein the at least one criterion comprises an anchor quality criterion, a response time criterion, a channel quality criterion, or a mobility state criterion, a time stamp of discovery, a bandwidth capability, or a resource pool configuration, or combinations thereof (location request may indicate the required positioning Quality of Service (QoS). Based on the positioning QoS and capability of RAN/UE, the target UE determines whether and which sidelink radio measurements are desired, then further determines the RefSig required for obtaining the desired measurement quality [0184]).
Re Claim 28, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 20, Wang discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, from the network node via the at least one transceiver, assistance data comprising assistance data for sidelink positioning (RAN further informs the target UE and the involved assisting UEs about the granted RefSig configuration 1102. Since there is a radio resource consumed, the RAN may inform the corresponding function block in the CN so that a billing policy can be applied [0186]).
Re Claim 29, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 28, Wang discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: perform sidelink positioning measurements based at least in part on the assistance data for sidelink positioning (target UE calculates its position based on at least the radio signal measurements. The positioning method may be indicated by the network [0189]); and send, to the network node via the at least one transceiver, one or more sidelink measurement reports (target UE reports the location update to the location server in CN [0189]).
Re Claim 30, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 28, Wang discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, from the network node via the at least one transceiver, an indication to activate or deactivate a sidelink positioning session with an identified positioning peer UE (involved assisting UEs transmit the RefSig 1103 to the target UE over sidelink according to the RefSig configuration [0187]).
Re Claim 31, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 30, Wang discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to activate or deactivate the sidelink positioning session with the identified positioning peer UE (involved assisting UEs transmit the RefSig 1103 to the target UE over sidelink according to the RefSig configuration [0187]).
Re Claim 32, the combined teachings disclose the UE of claim 20, Wang discloses wherein the network node comprises a location server or location management function (location server function in the RAN determines whether and which sidelink radio measurements are desired [0175]).
Re Claim 33, Wang discloses a network node, comprising:
a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver (processor claim 16, Figure 11), the at least one processor configured to:
receive, from a user equipment (UE) via the at least one transceiver, a request for assistance data, the request comprising information associated with at least one potential positioning peer UE (The target UE sends a message 104 to the RAN 1101, requesting the desired sidelink RefSig 1103. This RefSig request 104 may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]); and
send, to the UE via the at least one transceiver, assistance data based at least in part on the information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE (RAN 1101 may determine the assisting UEs to be activated as RefSig TXs. RAN further informs the target UE and the involved assisting UEs about the granted RefSig configuration [0186]), wherein the assistance data comprises assistance data for sidelink positioning (sidelink-assisted UE-based Positioning (PosEng at target UE) and which can be performed by the positioning device [0183]).
Wang discloses the claimed invention except the information associated with the at least one potential peer comprising at least one of a capability, quality, operational state, operational characteristic, or location of the potential positioning peer.
However, Tenny discloses a positioning methods facilated by a server UE wherein server UE may determine what assistance data should be provided, taking into account any information it has about the environment of UE1, such as a coarse location estimate, measurement reports indicating the radio environment in relation to other UEs, and so on. The delivery of assistance data may be in a format defined by a protocol, such as LPP, for example. The delivery of assistance data may be carried in a container in a message of a second protocol over the sidelink interface, such as a PC5-RRC or PC5-S protocol ([0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method and system of Wang, by making use of the technique taught by Tenny, in order to improve the positioning estimation quality.
Both references are within the same field of telecommunication, and in particular of positioning method, the modification does not change a fundamental operating principle of Wang, nor does Wang teach away from the modification (Wang merely discloses a preferred embodiment). The combination has a reasonable expectation of success in that the modifications can be made using conventional and well known engineering and/or programming techniques, the assistance data for positioning method taught by Tenny is not altered and continues to perform the same function as separately, and the resultant combination produces the highly predictable result of the information associated with the at least one potential peer comprising at least one of a capability, quality, operational state, operational characteristic, or location of the potential positioning peer.
Re Claim 34, the combined teachings disclose the network node of claim 33, Wang discloses wherein the information associated with the at least one potential positioning peer UE comprises an anchor quality, a response time, a channel quality, a mobility state, a time stamp of discovery, a bandwidth capability, a resource pool configuration, a geographic region, a zone ID, a UE ID, or a unique positioning peer UE ID, or combinations thereof (may consist of type or features of the RefSig 1103, such as bandwidth, number of repetitions, period, spatial characteristics such as direction, or any geographical area description. The target UE may discover potential assisting UEs and contain the assisting UEs' identities in the RefSig request [0185]).
Re Claim 35, the combined teachings disclose the network node of claim 33, Wang discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, from the UE, one or more sidelink measurement reports (target UE reports the location update to the location server in CN [0189]).
Re Claim 36, the combined teachings disclose the network node of claim 35, Wang discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send, to the UE via the at least one transceiver, an indication to activate or deactivate a sidelink positioning session with an identified positioning peer UE (involved assisting UEs transmit the RefSig 1103 to the target UE over sidelink according to the RefSig configuration [0187]).
Re Claim 37, the combined teachings disclose the network node of claim 36, Wang discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine to activate or deactivate the sidelink positioning session with the identified positioning peer UE based at least in part on the one or more sidelink measurement reports received from the UE (involved assisting UEs transmit the RefSig 1103 to the target UE over sidelink according to the RefSig configuration [0187]).
Re Claim 38, the combined teachings disclose the network node of claim 33, Wang discloses wherein the network node comprises a location server or location management function (location server function in the RAN determines whether and which sidelink radio measurements are desired [0175]).
Claim(s) 8, 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2021/0219103 A1) (Wang herein after) and Tenny (US 2022/0015059 A1), further in view of Baek et al. (US 2024/0031975 A1) (Baek herein after).
Re Claims 8 and 27, the combined teachings disclose the method of claim 6 and the UE of claim 25, except wherein the information associated with each of some or all of the plurality of potential positioning peer UEs comprises a top N number of potential positioning peer UEs sorted according to the at least one criterion, where N is greater than or equal to one.
However, Baek discloses network-based positioning method using relay in NR-V2X system wherein when the network has the latest position information of the remote UE, a list of remote UE IDs arranged in descending or ascending order may be provided in consideration of priority according to the distance between the relay UE and the remote UE, and the relay UE may report the obtained remote UE-assisted information to the network in the same order—that is, in the order according to the remote UE ID list received from the network ([0375]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method and system of the combined teachings, by making use of the technique taught by Baek, in order to improve the P2P connection efficiency.
Both references are within the same field of telecommunication, and in particular of P2P communication, the modification does not change a fundamental operating principle of the combined teachings, nor does the combined teachings teach away from the modification (the combined teachings merely disclose a preferred embodiment). The combination has a reasonable expectation of success in that the modifications can be made using conventional and well known engineering and/or programming techniques, the method and system taught by Baek is not altered and continues to perform the same function as separately, and the resultant combination produces the highly predictable result of wherein the information associated with each of some or all of the plurality of potential positioning peer UEs comprises a top N number of potential positioning peer UEs sorted according to the at least one criterion, where N is greater than or equal to one.
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 KENNETH T LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-1862. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00 PM.
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/KENNETH T LAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631