CTNF 18/670,561 CTNF 76690 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15-aia AIA Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-8, 11, 12, and 14-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chitrakar et al., WO 2022/132030 (hereinafter Chitrakar) . Regarding claims 1 and11, Chitrakar discloses a first access point (AP) in a wireless network, the first AP device comprising: a memory [inherent feature of an AP]; and a processor coupled to the memory [inherent feature of an AP], the processor configured to cause: generating an invitation frame to solicit participation in a multi-AP coordination, the invitation frame including one or more coordination information to share with one or more second Aps [paragraph 0008]; transmitting the invitation frame to the one or more second Aps [paragraphs 0008, 0114]; receiving a response frame from the one or more second Aps [paragraphs 0081, 0115]; and forming a multi-AP coordination set including at least one second AP based on the response frame [paragraph 0115]. Regarding claims 2 and 12, Chitrakar discloses wherein the invitation frame includes capability information or limitation information for the first AP [paragraphs 0115, 0117]. Regarding claims 4and 14, Chitrakar discloses wherein the invitation frame includes benefit information that the one or more second APs gain when the one or more second APs participate in the multi-AP coordination [paragraph 0063]. Regarding claims 5 and 15, Chitrakar discloses wherein the invitation frame indicates that the first AP reciprocates by participating in a multi-AP coordination requested by the one or more second Aps [paragraph 0116]. Regarding claims 6 and 16, Chitrakar discloses wherein the invitation frame indicates a type of a target wake time (TWT) operation that is shared with the one or more second APs [paragraph 0072]. Regarding claims 7 and 17, Chitrakar discloses wherein the response frame indicates an acceptance, a rejection, or an alternative suggestion in response to the invitation frame [paragraph 0081]. Regarding claims 8 and 18, Chitrakar discloses wherein the processor is further configured to cause: transmitting, to one or more stations (STAs) associated with the first AP, a TWT schedule or a TWT agreement that is aligned with the one or more TWT schedule or TWT agreements transmitted by the one or more second APs that participate in the multi-AP coordination [paragraph 0072] . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 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) 3 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chitrakar in view of Lai, CN 102387537 (hereinafter Lai) . Regarding claims 3 and 13, Chitrakar does not specifically disclose wherein the invitation frame includes load information of the first AP. However, Lai teaches this limitation [paragraph 0037]. Before the effective filing of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Chitrakar to include the teaching of Lai. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 9 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chitrakar in view of Yu et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 2024/0357517 (hereinafter Yu) . Regarding claims 9 and 19, Chitrakar does not specifically disclose wherein the TWT schedule is a restricted TWT schedule that is associated with latency sensitive traffic. However, Yu teaches this limitation [paragraphs 0005, 0102]. Before the effective filing of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Chitrakar to include the teaching of Yu. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 10 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sun et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 2023/0308938, disclose multi-link steering and control in WLAN. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIKA WASHINGTON whose telephone number is (571)272-7841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday. 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, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 571-270-5371. 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. /EAW/ May 20, 2026 /ERIKA A WASHINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/670,561 Page 2 Art Unit: 2644
