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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7-11 and 15-20 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/15/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because it is software, per se. The claim is merely directed to a computer program.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 21 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cimpu (US 2020/0162929 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Cimpu discloses a communication control device, comprising:
a processing unit that calculates a metric based on radio wave signal strength for a plurality of reference points for each of a plurality of beams transmittable by a communication device, and creates a first protection zone in which the communication device is protected from radio wave interference on a basis of the metric. [0053-0054; 0108-0109, the CBSD beams are measured at a set of points which define the DPA along the boundary, and selected within the interior]
Regarding claim 2, Cimpu discloses the communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of reference points is set in each of a plurality of horizontal directions, and the processing unit calculates the metric for the plurality of reference points in the plurality of horizontal directions for each of the beams. [0041-0046; Fig 7 shows a number of reference points in relative horizontal direction to one another defining the protection zone]
Regarding claim 4, Cimpu discloses the communication control device according to claim 2, wherein the processing unit selects a reference point having the metric equal to or greater than a threshold among the plurality of reference points, and sets a region specified by the selected reference point as the first protection zone. [0115-0117]
Regarding claim 21, Cimpu discloses a communication control method, comprising:
calculating a metric based on radio wave signal strength for a plurality of reference points for each of a plurality of beams transmittable by a communication device, and creating a first protection zone in which the communication device is protected from radio wave interference on a basis of the metric. [0053-0054; 0108-0109, the CBSD beams are measured at a set of points which define the DPA along the boundary, and selected within the interior]
Regarding claim 22, Cimpu discloses a computer program for causing a computer to execute:
a step of calculating a metric based on radio wave signal strength for a plurality of reference points for each of a plurality of beams transmittable by a communication device; and a step of creating a first protection zone in which the communication device is protected from radio wave interference on a basis of the metric. [0053-0054; 0108-0109, the CBSD beams are measured at a set of points which define the DPA along the boundary, and selected within the interior]
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The invention as in claims 3, 5-6, 10 and 12-14 is not disclosed in any of the documents cited and thus is novel and involves an inventive step. In particular, none of the documents discloses a configuration in a communication control device in which one fiducial point is selected for each horizontal direction on the basis of metrics, and an area enclosed by the selected fiducial points is set as a first protected area.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See the attached PTO-892 for further state of art references.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LEWIS G WEST whose telephone number is (571)272-7859. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00-4:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, George Eng can be reached at (571) 272-7495. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LEWIS G WEST/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2699
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