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 § 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)(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.
Claims 1, 4-6, 9-11, 14-16 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a2 as being anticipated by US 2024/0121803 (Pan).
As to claims 1 and 11, Pan teaches a first user equipment (UE) (250, fig 2) comprising:
at least one transceiver (254a, fig 2);
at least one processor (260/270, fig 2) communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; and
at least one memory (272, fig 2), communicatively coupled to the at least one
processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the first UE to:
generate a discovery message for a sidelink positioning, wherein the discovery message comprises information on a role associated with the discovery message (see paragraphs 514 and 523, Target or Reference UE sends an Announcement or Solicitation message comprising Role Indication), and
transmit, to a second UE associated with the sidelink positioning, the discovery message (see paragraphs 515 and 524, Reference or Target UE receives said Announcement or Solicitation message).
As to claims 6 and 16, Pan teaches a second user equipment (UE) (250, fig 2) comprising:
at least one transceiver (254a, fig 2);
at least one processor (260/270, fig 2) communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver: and
at least one memory (272, fig 2), communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the second UE to:
receive, from a first UE associated with a sidelink positioning, a discovery message for the sidelink positioning (see paragraphs 514 and 523, Target or Reference UE sends an Announcement or Solicitation message comprising Role Indication), and
identify, based on the discovery message,information on associated with the discovery message (see paragraphs 515 and 524, Reference or Target UE receives said Announcement or Solicitation message with the information comprised within it).
As to claims 4, 9, 14 and 19, Pan further teaches wherein if the discovery message is a sidelink positioning announcement message, the information indicates that the role is supported for the first UE and the role includes at least one of a sidelink anchor UE, a sidelink server UE, or a sidelink target UE (see paragraph 514).
As to claims 5 and 15, Pan further teaches wherein see paragraphs 523 and 524).
As to claims 10 and 20, Pan further teaches wherein if the discovery message is a sidelink positioning solicit message, the information indicates that the role is requested for the second UE and the role includes at least one of a sidelink anchor UE, a sidelink server UE, or a sidelink target UE, and wherein the instructions further cause the second UE to transmit a response message for the discovery message to the first UE (see paragraphs 523 and 524).
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.
Claims 2, 7, 12 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan in view of US 2025/0168808 (Ramachandran et al.).
As to claims 2, 7, 12 and 17, what is lacking from Pan wherein the discovery message further includes metadata information on a role to be discovered.
In analogous art, Ramachandran teaches information in a discovery message between anchor and target UEs being sent in the form of metadata information (see Ramachandran, paragraphs 175 and 287).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the arts before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply this teaching to Pan, so as to utilize a widely used format for information transmission.
Claims 3, 8, 13 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan in view of US 2025/0184879 (Paladugu et al.).
As to claims 3, 8, 13 and 18, what is lacking from Pan wherein the first UE is a located UE, and wherein the discovery message further includes information on a public land mobile network (PLMN) of the first UE.
In analogous art, Paladugu teaches a discovery message between UEs comprising a PLMN ID and TAI (~located UE) (see Paladugu, paragraph 84).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the arts before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply this teaching to Pan, so as to inform the other UE of the current tracking area and serving network of the transmitting UE.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAZDA SABOURI whose telephone number is (571)272-8892. The examiner can normally be reached 10 am-7 pm.
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/MAZDA SABOURI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641