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
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims filed on 6/11/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 1, 4-6, 9-11, 14-16 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0121803 (Pan) in view of US 2025/0254101 (Qiao et al.).
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 among a list of roles associated with the discovery message, wherein the list of roles include at least one of a sidelink anchor UE, a sidelink server UE, or a sidelink target UE (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);
wherein the discovery message further comprises information indicating that a location of the first UE is known in case that the location of the first UE is known (see paragraphs 448, 514 and 523, target UE indication~location not known, reference UE indication~location known).
What is explicitly lacking is the information on a role among a list of roles associated with the discovery message comprising a bitmap for indicating the list of roles wherein each bit of the bitmap corresponds to a role of the list of roles.
In analogous art, Qiao teaches the use of a bitmap for conveying a given tasks from a list of tasks (~role from a list of roles) such that each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a task in the list of tasks (see Qiao, paragraphs 308 and 373).
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 into Pan so as to efficiently convey information pertaining to the role.
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 a role among a list of roles associated with the discovery message, wherein the list of roles include at least one of a sidelink anchor UE, a sidelink server UE, or a sidelink target UE (see paragraphs 515 and 524, Reference or Target UE receives said Announcement or Solicitation message with the information comprised within it);
wherein the discovery message further comprises information indicating that a location of the first UE is known in case that the location of the first UE is known (see paragraphs 448, 514 and 523, target UE indication~location not known, reference UE indication~location known).
What is explicitly lacking is the information on a role among a list of roles associated with the discovery message comprising a bitmap for indicating the list of roles wherein each bit of the bitmap corresponds to a role of the list of roles.
In analogous art, Qiao teaches the use of a bitmap for conveying a given tasks from a list of tasks (~role from a list of roles) such that each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a task in the list of tasks (see Qiao, paragraphs 308 and 373).
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 into Pan so as to efficiently convey information pertaining to the role.
As to claims 4, 9, 14 and 19, Pan in view of Qiao’s cited teachings further teach wherein, if the discovery message is a sidelink positioning announcement message, the each bit of the bitmap indicates whether the first UE supports the role of the list of roles (see paragraph 514).
As to claims 5 and 15, Pan in view of Qiao’s cited teachings further teach wherein, if the discovery message is a sidelink positioning solicit message, the each bit of the bitmap indicates whether the role of the list of roles is requested by the first UE (see paragraphs 523 and 524).
As to claims 10 and 20, Pan in view of Qiao’s cited teachings further teach wherein, if the discovery message is a sidelink positioning solicit message, the each bit of the bitmap indicates whether the role of the list of roles is requested by the first 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).
Claims 3, 8, 13 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan in view of Qiao, as applied to claims 1, 6, 11 and 16 above, and further in view of US 2025/0184879 (Paladugu et al.).
As to claims 3, 8, 13 and 18, what is lacking from Pan 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
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 MAZDA SABOURI whose telephone number is (571)272-8892. The examiner can normally be reached 10 am-7 pm.
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, Charles Appiah can be reached at 571-272-7904. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MAZDA SABOURI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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