DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 28 July 2026. Claims 1-7 and 31-35 are now pending in the present application and claims 8-30 and 36-50 non-elected (or withdrawn).
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on
28 July 2026
are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
REQUIREMENT FOR UNITY OF INVENTION
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-7 and 31-35 in the reply filed on 28 July 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-30 and 36-50 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 28 July 2026.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 31-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhao et al. (hereinafter Zhao; US 2022/0046698 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 31, Zhao discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a sidelink user equipment (UE) (e.g., 122) { (see Fig. 1) }, comprising:
receiving, from a first sidelink UE, a first list of a first set of sidelink transmission resources for transmission of sidelink reference signals by the sidelink UE, wherein sidelink transmission resources of the first set of sidelink transmission resources are listed in the first list in a first priority order { (see pg. 8, [0143]; pg. 10, [0187]; Fig. 1), where the system provides priority for resources }; and
transmitting one or more sidelink reference signal resources on at least a subset of the first set of sidelink transmission resources, wherein the subset of the first set of sidelink transmission resources is selected based on the first priority order { (see pg. 8, [0143]; pg. 10, [0187]; Fig. 1), where the system provides priority for resources }.
Regarding claims 2 and 32, Zhao discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: the sidelink transmission resources of the first set of sidelink transmission resources are preferred for the transmission of sidelink reference signals by the sidelink UE, and the sidelink transmission resources of the first set of sidelink transmission resources are listed in decreasing priority order { (see pg. 10, [0186-0187]; pg. 8, [0143]; Fig. 1) }.
Regarding claims 3 and 33, Zhao discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: the sidelink transmission resources of the first set of sidelink transmission resources are not preferred for the transmission of sidelink reference signals by the sidelink UE, and the sidelink transmission resources of the first set of sidelink transmission resources are listed in increasing priority order { (see pg. 8, [0143]; pg. 10, [0187]; Fig. 1) { (see pg. 10, [0186-0187]; pg. 8, [0143]; Fig. 1) }.
Regarding claims 4 and 34, Zhao discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: the first set of sidelink transmission resources is a set of sidelink transmission resources in which a resource conflict is detected, and the first list of the first set of sidelink transmission resources includes a conflict indicator for each sidelink transmission resource of the first set of sidelink transmission resources.
Regarding claim 5, Zhao discloses the method of claim 4, wherein a value of the conflict indicator for each sidelink transmission resource of the first set of sidelink transmission resources indicates a degree of conflict on the sidelink transmission resource.
Regarding claims 6 and 35, Zhao discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from a second sidelink UE, a second list of a second set of sidelink transmission resources for the transmission of sidelink reference signals by the sidelink UE, wherein sidelink transmission resources of the second set of sidelink transmission resources are listed in a second priority order; and selecting the subset of the first set of sidelink transmission resources and a subset of the second set of sidelink transmission resources for transmission of the one or more sidelink reference signal resources based on the first priority order and the second priority order, wherein transmitting the one or more sidelink reference signal resources comprises: transmitting the one or more sidelink reference signal resources on the subset of the first set of sidelink transmission resources and the subset of the second set of sidelink transmission resources { (see pg. 10, [0186-0187]; pg. 8, [0143]; Fig. 1) }.
Regarding claim 7, Zhao discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first set of sidelink transmission resources is selected based on: resource reservations from other sidelink UEs reserving sidelink transmission resources; sidelink control information (SCI) from the other sidelink UEs; a channel busy ratio (CBR) operation performed by the at least one first sidelink UE; or any combination thereof { (see pg. 8, [0143]; pg. 12, [0221]; pg. 10, [0186-0187]; Fig. 1) }.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIE J DANIEL JR whose telephone number is (571)272-7907. The examiner can normally be reached on 9 - 6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gary Mui can be reached on 571-270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIE J DANIEL JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
WJD,Jr
21 August 2026
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