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 .
Response to Arguments
In light of the changes made to the specification, the objection with regards to a non-descriptive title is withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 04/29/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 1, applicant argues Phu and Kim fail to teach the limitations as amended, particularly stating that “the base station to which the first RRC message is transmitted is the same as the base station to which the second RRC message and the fourth RRC message are also transmitted”, citing that instead Phu teaches transmitting flight path information to a source BS, while transmitting new flight path information to a target BS and thus sending to a different BS as compared to the amended claim language.
However, reading the claims in the broadest reasonable sense, the examiner respectfully disagrees. As described in ¶0053 of Phu, “In some aspects, the UE may indicate to the network, e.g. using UE radio capability signaling, whether it is capable of providing flight path information when connected to 5GC. In response, the target BS 105b may transmit a flightPathInfoReq message to the UE in a UEInformationRequest message. In response, the UE may send the flight path information using RRC signaling in a flightPathInfoReport,” - ¶0053, therefore the UE may actually send an initial first RRC message to a target BS information related to the current flight path which may be taken. As then further described in ¶0072-0073 and 0087-0088, the flight path may be modified which causes a change to flight path information, to which the UE may then transmit a [second] message to the target BS indicating that new flight path information is available in the form of newFlightPathInfoAvailable, and then in response the target BS may request updated flight path information [third message] by transmitting a flightPathInfoRequest message to the UE, and finally in response a fourth message from the UE to the target BS message updates of the new flight path, thus the first, second and fourth message may all be transmitted from the same [target] BS.
Therefore the rejection of claim(s) 1 is/are maintained. Regarding arguments pertaining to claim(s) 6 and 11, for reasons similar to those discussed above for claim 1, the examiner respectfully disagrees. Therefore the rejection of claim(s) 6 and 11 is/are maintained. Regarding claim(s) 3-5, 8-10 and 13-15 the claim(s) is/are dependent upon claim(s) 1, 6 and 11, respectively, and are still rejected under the same basis as claim(s) 1, 6 and 11 and the arguments presented above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1, 4-6, 9-11 and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Phuyal et al. (“Phu”) (U.S. PG Publication No. 2022/0386208).
In regards to claim 1, Phu teaches a communication apparatus comprising:
a memory storing a program (See ¶0010-0011, 0099-0103 and FIG. 8); and
one or more processors configured to execute the program (See ¶0099-0103 and FIG. 8) to:
transmit, to a base station, a first radio resource control (RRC) message including path information including information fields for indicating each of a plurality of waypoints (See ¶0050-0054 wherein a UE [which may also be taught as a UAV] which may transmit flight path information to a target BS [through RRC signaling in the form of a flightPathInfoReport in response to a UEInformationRequest message] that defines waypoints and associated ETAs of the UE at those waypoints, specifically “In some aspects, the UE may indicate to the network, e.g. using UE radio capability signaling, whether it is capable of providing flight path information when connected to 5GC. In response, the target BS 105b may transmit a flightPathInfoReq message to the UE in a UEInformationRequest message. In response, the UE may send the flight path information using RRC signaling in a flightPathInfoReport,” - ¶0053, some of which may change over time and would then be expected to update the path);
transmit, to the base station, a second RRC message including information for indicating an availability of the path information based on the communication apparatus having added at least one waypoint that is not included in the path information previously transmitted to the base station(See ¶0072-0073 and 0087-0088 wherein the UE may transmit a message to the target BS indicating that new flight path information is available [in the form of newFlightPathInfoAvailable], which, of course, is understood to include waypoints not included in the flight path previously transmitted as it includes new information [new waypoints]);
receive, from the base station, a third RRC message including information for requesting transmission of the path information (See ¶0032 wherein, in response to updated flight information being available, the target BS may request the updated flight path information [in the form of a flightPathInfoRequest message], and as discussed above, the UE being in a RRC connected state); and
transmit in response to the reception of the third RRC message including the information for requesting transmission of the path information, to the base station, a fourth RRC message including the path information which includes the information fields for indicating the added at least one waypoint (See ¶0072-0073 and 0087-0088 wherein after a request from the target BS for updated flight path information, updates may be sent from the UE to the target BS path information that may continuously update).
In regards to claim 4, Phu teaches the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the path information includes information fields for indicating each of a plurality of timestamps (See at least ¶0050-0054 which defines waypoints and associated expected time of arrival [timestamps]), the each of the plurality of timestamps indicating a time to arrive at the each of the plurality of waypoints (See ¶0050-0054 as described above).
In regards to claim 5, Phu teaches the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the path information includes information of a flight path or a moving path (See at least ¶0050-0054).
In regards to claim 6, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 1 by Phu from the perspective of the base station (BS) rather than the communication device (UE).
In regards to claim 9, Phu teaches the base station according to claim 6, wherein the path information includes information fields for indicating each of a plurality of timestamps (See at least ¶0050-0054 which defines waypoints and associated expected time of arrival [timestamps]), the each of the plurality of timestamps indicating a time to arrive at the each of the plurality of waypoints (See ¶0050-0054).
In regards to claim 10, Phu teaches the base station according to claim 6, wherein the path information includes information of a flight path or a moving path (See at least ¶0050-0054).
In regards to claims 11, 14 and 15, the claims are rejected under the same basis as claims 1, 4 and 5, respectively, by Phu.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 3, 8 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Phuyal et al. (“Phu”) (U.S. PG Publication No. 2022/0386208) in view of Kim et al. (“Kim”) (U.S. PG Publication No. 2019/0306768) and Sha et al. (“Sha”) (U.S. PG Publication No. 2021/0219163).
In regards to claim 3, Phu teaches the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second RRC message includes a message of the completion of an RRC connection establishment (See ¶0071, 0083 and 0093), a message of the completion of an RRC connection re-establishment (See ¶0093, 0103 and 0114), and a message of the completion of an RRC connection reconfiguration (See ¶0071 and 0093), the third RRC message includes a UEInformationRequest message (See ¶0032 in the form of flightPathInfoRequest).
Phu, however, fails to teach the fourth RRC message includes a UEInformationResponse message.
That is, Phu does indeed teach the UE responding to the request as seen in ¶0053 wherein the UE responds to the UEInformationRequest to the target BS using RRC signaling.
In a similar endeavor Sha teaches the third RRC message includes a UEInformationResponse message (See ¶0028 and 0117).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teaching of Sha into Phu because it allows for sending reports and information on the UE to the BS/eNB via specific RRC dedicated signaling in the form of UEInformationResponse as described in at least ¶0028 and 0117, wherein the network maintenance related measurement results are carried, thus enabling proper transmission and communication between devices.
In regards to claim 8, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 3 by Phu in view of Sha.
In regards to claim 13, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 3 by Phu in view of Sha.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDEMIO NAVAS JR whose telephone number is (571)270-1067. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, ~ 9 AM -6 PM.
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EDEMIO NAVAS JR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2483
/EDEMIO NAVAS JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
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