DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is a response to Preliminary Amendment made an Application No. 18/681,422 filed on 02/05/2024 in which claims 1-15 are canceled and new claims 16-30 are added. Accordingly, claims 16-30 are currently pending for examination.
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 .
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 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.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The Examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 02/05/2024 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Examiner has considered the reference(s) listed on the Information Disclosure Statement submitted on 04/10/2024, 06/17/2025, and 09/15/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 30 recites “A processor for performing operations for a remote user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system” in the preamble. The processor itself falls within the statutory category of a machine, see MPEP 2106.03(I). This section goes on to define a machine as (with emphasis added), “A machine is a "concrete thing, consisting of parts, or of certain devices and combination of devices." Digitech, 758 F.3d at 1348-49, 111 USPQ2d at 1719 (quoting Burr v. Duryee, 68 U.S. 531, 570, 17 L. Ed. 650, 657 (1863)). ” The claimed processor is devoid of any particular parts. Instead of defining the metes and bounds of the claimed machine, the claim itself focuses on defining functional limitations. The boundaries of these functions are unclear, as the receiving and transmitting functions go beyond the scope of the ordinary function of a processor. See MPEP 2173.05(g). Therefore, the scope of the claim is unclear, as none of the functions are tied to any particular part of the processor. The examiner suggests that the applicant amend to the claim to recite a device, which includes a processor and other sufficient structures to perform the claimed functions.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 16 and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by CHENG et al. (US 2024/0007922 A1) hereinafter “Cheng”.
Regarding claims 16, 28, and 30, Cheng discloses Claim 16 of an operation method of a sidelink remote user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (see FIG. 3; see ¶ [0095]), Claim 28 of a remote user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (see FIG. 3 and 8; see ¶ [0095], a remote UE), the remote UE comprising: at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operatively connected to the at least one processor and configured to store instructions that when executed causes the at least one processor to perform operations (see FIG. 8; see ¶ [0148], a processor and a memory), and Claim 30 of a processor for performing operations for a remote user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (see FIG. 8; see ¶ [0148], a processor), the method comprising:
receiving, by the remote UE, information related to measurement and reporting from a base station (BS) (see FIG. 14; see ¶ [0095-96] [0196], a remote UE receives a configuration message/parameters for trigger events using a RRC configuration message from the network/base station);
performing, by remote UE, measurement on a serving relay UE (see FIG. 3; see ¶ [0097], the remote UE 115-d measures a channel metric for the relay connection using the relay UE 115-e and the channel metric may correspond to the sidelink channel between the remote UE 115-d and the relay UE 115-e);
transmitting, by the remote UE, a measurement report to the BS (see FIG. 3; see ¶ [0101], the remote UE 115-d may transmit a measurement report to the base station); and
wherein the measurement report includes SL-RSRP (Sidelink Reference Signal Received Power) of the serving relay UE (see FIG. 3; see ¶ [0097-98] [0102], the channel metric may be a reference signal received power (RSRP) for current relay sidelink connection).
Regarding claim 29, Cheng discloses wherein the remote UE communicates with at least one of a base station (BS) (see FIG. 3; see ¶ [0095], a remote UE 115-d may communicate with the base station).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-27 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
The prior art made of record (see attached PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Pan et al. (US 2022/0174758 A1) teaches a method and device are disclosed for a remote User Equipment (UE) to support UE-to-Network relay communication, wherein the remote UE establishes a PC5 connection with a first relay UE for a relay communication with a first network node, and also performs a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment procedure with the first network node via the first relay UE (see Abstract).
FUJISHIRO (US 2023/0022611 A1) teaches A communication control method using a relay user equipment relaying communication between a remote user equipment and a base station includes the steps of transmitting and receiving, by a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer of the remote user equipment, to and from the base station via the relay user equipment, an RRC message performing control of communication with the base station, transmitting and receiving, by a second RRC layer of the remote user equipment, to and from the relay user equipment, an RRC message performing control of communication with the relay user equipment, and notifying, by the second RRC layer, the first RRC layer of communication state information regarding a failure or disconnection of a first radio link between the remote user equipment and the relay user equipment (see Abstract).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of the action. An extension of time may be obtained under 37 CFR 1.136(a). However, in no event, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7241. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.
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, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at (571) 272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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