CTNF 18/724,074 CTNF 76858 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 1, The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Objections 07-29-01 AIA 2. Claim s 12-14 are objected to because of the following informalities: Regarding claim 12, Applicant is requested to change “each second SL transmission” at line 3 to --- the at least one second SL transmission --- for consistency with “at least one second SL transmission” at claim 11, line 11. The same remark applies to claim 14 . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 3. 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 – 07-12-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. 07-15-03-aia AIA 4. Claim s 11 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sun et al. (US 2024/0064713 A1), hereinafter Sun . Regarding claim 11, Sun discloses: (1) UE 502a-fig.5A initiates a COT (shown as 524 in fig.5B), see 0095; (2) UE 502a transmits a sidelink transmission A (shown as 530 in fig.5B), see 0096 (equivalent to initiating a channel occupancy time (COT) for transmitting a first sidelink (SL) transmission; (2) the present application describes mechanisms for COT sharing in sidelink groupcast and/or broadcast communications. For example, an initiating UE (e.g., a first UE) may contend for a COT in a shared channel by performing a CAT4 LBT. Upon passing the CAT4 LBT (indicating the channel is cleared for transmission), the initiating UE may transmit a first sidelink transmission during a portion of the COT. The first sidelink transmission can be a unicast transmission, a groupcast transmission, or a broadcast transmission. A responding UE (e.g., a second UE) of the first sidelink transmission may share a remaining portion the COT. In some aspects, the responding UE may be allowed to utilize the remaining portion of the COT for a second sidelink transmission in a groupcast mode (e.g., connection-based or connectionless) or a broadcast mode if the initiating UE is an intended recipient of the second sidelink transmission, see 0047(equivalent to wherein the first DL transmission includes indication information which indicates a remaining COT or the COT); (3) a responding UE 115 (e.g., a second UE) of first sidelink transmission may share a remaining portion the COT. In some aspects, the responding UE 115 may be allowed to utilize the remaining portion of the COT for a second sidelink transmission in a groupcast mode (e.g., connection-based or connectionless) or a broadcast mode if the initiating UE 115 is an intended recipient of the second sidelink transmission, see 0075 (equivalent to receive, within the remaining COT and from at least one second UE of the plurality of second UEs, at least one second SL transmission in response to the first SL transmission). Regarding claim 15, Sun discloses if the responding UE 115 determines that the initiating UE 115 is one of the two or more UEs 115 intended to receive the second sidelink transmission, the responding UE 115 may transmit the second sidelink transmission to the two or more UEs (maximum number of UEs) during the remaining portion (a shared portion) of the COT, see 0075 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 5. . 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. 07-20-fti 6. The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: (a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. 07-23-aia AIA 7. 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA 8. 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. 07-21-aia AIA 9. Claim s 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun, in view of Nam et al. (US 2023/0052126), hereinafter Nam . Regarding claim 12, Sun discloses all claimed limitations, except wherein the first SL transmission further includes request information to request an SL positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) transmission, and wherein each second SL transmission is an SL-PRS transmission. Nam teaches in some implementations, the UE 115f-fig. 115 - f may transmit one or more first SL-PRSs to the UE 115 - g in accordance with a slot format that is dedicated for SL-PRS transmissions and the UE 115 - g may transmit one or more second SL-PRSs (for example, responsive PRSs) to the UE 115 - f in accordance with the slot format that is dedicated for SL-PRS transmissions and responsive to the first SL-PRS, see 0102, 0104. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ an implementation in a manner as taught by Nam into the system of Sun. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to improve a capability for determining positioning information of UEs, or may improve a quality of such positioning information among other benefits. Regarding claim 13, please see the rejection of claim 12. Nam teaches the first SL transmission is transmitted in sidelink control information (SCI), see 0104 . Allowable subject matter 12-151-07 AIA 07-97 12-51-07 10. Claim s 1-10 and 16-20 are allowed 11. Claim 14 is rejected based on its dependency, would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objection and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion 07-96 AIA 12. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Bao et al. (US 2022/0077990); Lee et al. (US 2022/0201731) and Wang et al. (US 2024/0349228) are cited, and considered pertinent to the instant specification . 13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC C HO whose telephone number is (571)272-3147. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8am-4pm. 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, Gary Mui can be reached on 571-270-1420 (Gary.mui@uspto.gov). The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /DUC C HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465 Application/Control Number: 18/724,074 Page 2 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 18/724,074 Page 3 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 18/724,074 Page 4 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 18/724,074 Page 5 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 18/724,074 Page 6 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 18/724,074 Page 7 Art Unit: 2465
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