CTNF 18/656,399 CTNF 78853 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 Applicant’s election without traverse of the invention of Group I, claims 1-7, in the reply filed on 3/4/26 is acknowledged. Claims 1-7 and 15-21 are treated on the merits below. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1, 15 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bi et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2024/0413875 in view of Nguyen et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2026/0013006 . Regarding claims 1, 15 and 21, Bi discloses a user equipment (UE) (i.e. a first device being a terminal device – ¶ [0016]), comprising: one or more memories (1403 – Fig. 14), also considered a non-transitory computer readable medium for storing instructions executable by a processor; a first set of antennas configured for a first polarization (i.e. transmit antenna group 2 – Fig. 8A); a second set of antennas configured for a second polarization (i.e. transmit antenna group 1 – Fig. 8A; ¶¶ [0097], [0106]-[0110]); and one or more processors (1401, 1408) coupled to the one or more memories 1403 (Fig. 14), and configured to transmit communications based at least in part on a first quantity of the first set of antennas being different than a second quantity of the second set of antennas, as communication commences after determination of optimal beam direction based on transmission of reference signals (see Fig. 8A – slots n+1, n+2; ¶¶ [0008], [0097], [0106]). Although coverage area between first and second polarization directions apparently at least partially overlap since only frequency and polarization diversity are employed (Fig. 7), Bi does not expressly indicate that the second set of antennas for the second polarization at least partially overlaps in an intended region of coverage with the first set of antennas. Nguyen discloses that groups of antennas may have coverage areas ranging from mutually overlapping to non-overlapping (¶ [0070]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide at least partially overlapping intended regions of coverage, as suggested by Nguyen, in the system of Bi to ensure that no potential coverage area is not missed by beam sweeping . 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 2, 4, 16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bi et al. in view of Nguyen et al ., as applied to claim s 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Athley et al. U.S. Patent No. 10,432,273 . Regarding claims 2 and 16, Bi in combination with Nguyen disclose a UE and associated method for transmitting communications based on a first quantity of a first set of antennas being different than a second quantity of a second set of antennas, as described above, and Bi further discloses that the first quantity (i.e. transmit antenna group 2 – Fig. 8A) is less than the second quantity (transmit antenna group 1), but do not expressly disclose that the first set of antennas is configured to perform beam scanning. Athley discloses that dual-polarization beamforming may employ a beam management process for beam scanning (col. 7, ll. 9-11). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide beam scanning as suggested by Athley, in the UE and method of Bi and Nguyen in order to quickly identify potential beams in a wide angular sector, as indicated by Athley (col. 7, ll. 9-11). Regarding claims 4 and 18, Bi in combination with Nguyen disclose a UE and associated method for transmitting communications based on a first quantity of a first set of antennas being different than a second quantity of a second set of antennas, as described above, but do not expressly disclose that the second set of antennas is configured to perform beam refinement. Athley discloses that dual-polarization beamforming may employ a beam refinement process using a plurality of narrower beams (col. 7, ll. 11-14). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide beam refinement as suggested by Athley, in the UE and method of Bi and Nguyen, to identify optimal beams of a narrow bandwidth, as indicated by Athley (col. 7, ll. 11-14) . 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 3 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bi et al. in view of Nguyen et al ., as applied to claim s 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Hur et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2020/0382195 . Regarding claims 3 and 17, Bi in combination with Nguyen disclose a UE and method for transmitting communications, as described above, but do not expressly disclose that the processors are configured to cause the first set of antennas to perform beam failure recovery. Hur discloses that if a RF failure is detected, a processor may configure a wireless device to perform beam failure recovery (see Figs. 7, 10-12). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide for beam failure recovery, as suggested by Hur, in the UE and method of Bi and Nguyen, in order to continue communication after beam failure . 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 5 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bi et al. in view of Nguyen et al ., as applied to claim s 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Akkarakaran et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2021/0204252 . Regarding claims 5 and 19, Bi in combination with Nguyen disclose a UE and method for transmitting communications, as described above, but do not disclose that the processors are configured to cause the first set of antennas to transmit an indication of a quasi-co-location (QCL) source. Akkarakaran discloses that a QCL source indication may be provided by a UE to allow for determination of a beam to use to communicate on a sidelink interface (¶ [0028]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide for a QCL source indication, as suggested by Akkarakaran, in the UE and method of Bi and Nguyen, to allow for a receiver to determine a beam correspondence (Akkarakaran. ¶ [0028]) . 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 6 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bi et al. in view of Nguyen et al ., as applied to claim s 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Raghavan et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0077568 . Regarding claims 6 and 20, Bi in combination with Nguyen disclose a UE and method for transmitting communications, as described above, but do not disclose that the processors are configured to cause the UE to transmit an indication of beamwidth differentials across the first set of antennas and the second set of antennas. Raghavan discloses that respective antenna system characteristics such as beamwidth differential values may be indicated (¶ [0180]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide an indication of beamwidth differentials across antennas, as suggested by Raghavan, in the UE and method of Bi and Nguyen, to provide notification to a receiver of radiation patterns (Raghavan, ¶ [0180]) . 07-22-aia AIA Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bi et al. in view of Nguyen et al ., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhang et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0155657 . Regarding claim 7, Bi in combination with Nguyen disclose a UE transmitting communications, as described above, but do not expressly disclose that the processors are configured to cause the UE to transmit an indication of an asymmetric antenna array. Zhang discloses a system for providing network indications for selecting asymmetric antenna panels where a UE provides asymmetric UE capability information to a gNB (i.e. Fig. 8 – step 805; ¶¶ [0004], [0096]-[0108]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide an indication of an asymmetric antenna array, as suggested by Zhang, in the UE of Bi and Nguyen, to provide support for antenna panel selection for UEs with antenna panels having different properties and capabilities (see Zhang, ¶ [0007]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Lugo whose telephone number is 571-272-3043. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-6. Examiner interviews are available via telephone 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, Hannah Wang can be reached at 571-272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /DAVID B LUGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631 5/29/2026 Application/Control Number: 18/656,399 Page 2 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/656,399 Page 3 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/656,399 Page 4 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/656,399 Page 5 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/656,399 Page 6 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/656,399 Page 7 Art Unit: 2631
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