DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1, 4-7, 9-10, 13, 15, 21-31 are pending in this application for reissue of US Patent 11,310,772 (hereinafter “the '772 patent”) issued from application no. 16/808,986 (“the ‘986 application”). In response to the Office Action issued on March 26, 2026, (“the Response”) Applicant amended claims 1, 10, and 15.
Prior or Concurrent Proceedings
2. Applicant is reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.178(b), to timely apprise the Office of any prior or concurrent proceed-ing in which the ‘772 patent is or was involved. These proceedings would include interferences, reissues, reexaminations, and litigation.
Information Material to Patentability
3. Applicant is further reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.56, to timely apprise the Office of any information which is mate-rial to patentability of the claims under consideration in this reissue appli-cation.
These obligations rest with each individual associated with the filing and prosecution of this application for reissue. See also MPEP §§ 1404, 1442.01 and 1442.04.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
4. The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Response to Amendments
Rejections Under 35 U.S.C 251
5. A new reissue declaration has been filed. Corresponding rejection is withdrawn
Rejections Under 35 U.S.C 102/103
6. Claims 1, 10, and 15 have been amended. Applicant’s argument regarding amended claims is moot in view of the new grounds of rejections applied in this Office Action.
Claim Objection - 37 C.F.R. 1.173
7. 37 CFR 1.173 (c) states:
(c) Status of claims and support for claim changes. Whenever there is an amendment to the claims pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, there must also be supplied, on pages separate from the pages containing the changes, the status (i.e., pending or canceled), as of the date of the amendment, of all patent claims and of all added claims, and an explanation of the support in the disclosure of the patent for the changes made to the claims (emphasis added).
Applicant has not provided any explanation of the support in the disclosure of the patent for the changes made to the claims for amended claims 1, 10, 15. As to new claims 21-31, although Applicant cited column 12, line 49 to column 21, line 35 and FIGs. 7-10, there was no explanation as to how the cited columns and lines support the specific limitations of each claim. Citation of 10 columns of text as support for all amendments and new claims, amount to a mere allegation of support, not an explanation of support. Applicant must explain how each of the limitations of the new claims are supported in the specification with reference to specific passages in the specification with accompanying explanations, not mere citations to a broad range of columns and lines or paragraph numbers in the specification. Failure to comply in the next response will result in a notice of non-compliance with no substantive examination. Failure to provide sufficient explanation of support to satisfy the written description requirements under 35 USC 112(a) may result in additional new rejections under that statute.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
8. 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.
9. Claims 1, 4-7, 9-10, 13, 15, and 21-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by US Pub. 2020/0092833 (“Agiwal”).
10. With respect to claim 1, Agiwal discloses a method for operating a first device in a communication system, the method comprising:
configuring a first sidelink (SL) bandwidth part (BWP) for SL communication (FIG. 6, Scheduling pool 1:F1, BWP ID 1);
transmitting configuration information including information on a second SL BWP to a second device (FIG. 6, 620 and paragraph [0145]);
performing the SL communication using resources in the second SL BWP different from the first SL BWP (FIG. 6, Scheduling pool: F2, BWP 2; see 640 and paragraph [0146]),
wherein the configuration information includes information regarding at least one of a location, a size, or a valid time duration of the second SL BWP (paragraph [0104]-[0134], BWP configuration information includes location and bandwidth of BWP).
11. With respect to claim 4, Agiwal discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the second SL BWP is determined by the first device (see FIG. 6, all SL BWPs are determined by the first device), and
wherein configuration information of the second SL BWP is transmitted to the
second device together with a SL BWP list (see FIG. 6, 620 and paragraphs [0120]-[0134]).
10. With respect to claim 5, Agiwal discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first SL BWP belongs to candidate SL BWPs configured by a base station (see paragraphs [0057] and [0134]).
11. With respect to claim 6, Agiwal discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SL communication is performed within the valid time duration in which the second SL BWP is valid (this is implicit, if not inherent, as systems do not allow transmissions outside the allowed time slots).
12. With respect to claim 7, Agiwal discloses the method of claim 4, further comprising:
when characteristics of the SL communication between the first device and the second device satisfy one or more conditions, determining that switching of the second SL BWP is necessary;
selecting a third SL BWP in the SL BWP list;
transmitting a switching request message including configuration information for the third SL BWP to the second device; and
performing the SL communication with the second device using the third SL BWP (see paragraphs [0015]-[0020], UE can reselect sidelink resources autonomously).
13. With respect to claim 7, Agiwal discloses the operation method of claim 7, wherein when the SL communication is completed in the third SL BWP, the third SL BWP is switched to the first SL BWP or the second SL BWP (see the rejection of claim 7 above).
14. With respect to claims 10 and 15, see the rejection of claim 1 above.
15. With respect to claim 13, see the rejection of claim 7 above.
16. With respect to claims 21-31, Agiwal describes these limitations (Abstract, [0002, 0009-0032, 0057-0067, 0104-0108, 0114-0118, 0142-0150]).
17. Claims 1, 4-6, 10, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by US Pub. 2021/0185674 (“Zhao”).
18. With respect to claim 1, Zhao discloses a method for operating a first device in a communication system, the method comprising:
configuring a first sidelink (SL) bandwidth part (BWP) for SL communication (FIG. 5, 510);
transmitting configuration information including information on a second SL BWP to a second device (paragraph [0059], “The first transmission channel is configured to indicate at least one of the following configuration information: configuration information of a slot format, configuration information of a BWP, configuration information of a synchronization resource on at least one carrier and configuration information of a synchronization resource on at least one BWP.”);
performing the SL communication using resources in the second SL BWP different from the first SL BWP (FIG. 7, Second sidelink transmission channel),
wherein the configuration information includes information regarding at least one of a location, a size, or a valid time duration of the second SL BWP (see paragraphs [0109]-[0115], [0129]-[134]).
19. With respect to claim 4, Zhao discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the second SL
BWP is determined by the first device (see FIG. 5, the first terminal sends configuration information to the second terminal), and
wherein configuration information of the second SL BWP is transmitted to the
second device together with a SL BWP list (see paragraph [0134]).
20. With respect to claim 5, Zhao discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first SL BWP belongs to candidate SL BWPs configured by a base station (see FIG. 6, and paragraph [0120]).
21. With respect to claim 6, Zhao discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SL communication is performed within the valid time duration in which the second SL BWP is valid (this is implicit, if not inherent, as systems do not allow transmissions outside the allowed time slots).
22. With respect to claims 10 and 15, see the rejection of claim 1 above.
Conclusion
23. 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 extension fee 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 Woo H Choi whose telephone number is (571) 272-4179. The examiner can normally be reached on weekdays between 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hetul Patel can be reached on 571-272-4184. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Woo H. Choi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992
Conferees:
/JEFFREY D CARLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992
/ALEXANDER J KOSOWSKI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3992
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