DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 9-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhou et al. (hereinafter “Zhou”, US Pat No. 2021/0297959).
As per claims 1, 11, and 19, Zhou disclosed a user equipment (see fig. 26, 2625) comprising a first antenna panel (see fig. 26, Panel 1 2630) and a second antenna panel (see fig. 26, Panel 2 635) to enable wireless communication with a first base station (see fig. 26, 2615, 0278) and a second base station (see fig. 26, 2620, 0278) respectively; and a processor (see at least fig. 15A, 1518), communicatively coupled to the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel (see at least fig. 15A), and configured to determine that a total transmission power of the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel is greater than a threshold (see at least 0302, 0305-0306, 0320, and 0353, 0356); determine a first back-off value for the first antenna panel and a second back-off value for the second antenna panel (see at least 0501-0505); generate a report that indicates the first back-off value and the second back-off value (see at least abstract, MPE reporting and throughout the reference); and transmit, via the first antenna panel or the second antenna panel, the report (see at least abstract, MPE reporting and throughout the reference).
As per claims 2 and 12, Zhou disclosed reduce a transmission power of the first antenna panel based on the first back-off value; and reduce a transmission power of the second antenna panel based on the second back-off value (see at least 0287, 0296, and 0502).
As per claims 3, 13, and 20, Zhou disclosed the threshold includes a maximum permissible exposure (MPE) threshold value, an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) value, or a total radiated power limitation (see at least 0302,0305-0306).
As per claims 4 and 14, Zhou disclosed the second back-off value is equal to the first back-off value (see at least 0312, 0362, 0508).
As per claims 5 and 15, Zhou disclosed the second back-off value is greater than the first back-off value (see at least 0304-0315 and throughout the reference).
As per claim 6, Zhou disclosed determine that the first antenna panel is associated with a Physical Uplink Control Channel (see 0115, 0138, 0151-0152); or determine that a priority of the first antenna panel is higher than a priority of the second antenna panel (see 0567-0569).
As per claim 7, Zhou disclosed determining the total transmission power by: determining a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of a downlink associated with the first antenna panel or the second antenna panel; and determining the total transmission power based on the SINR (see 0182, 0342, 0344, 0418, and 0428).
As per claims 9 and 17, Zhou disclosed the report is a power headroom report (PHR), wherein the PHR include a reserved bit, and wherein the reserved bit is set to 1 to indicate that the PHR is for multiple base stations (see 0296, 0455-0456).
As per claims 10 and 18, Zhou disclosed transmitting the report in response to determining that the total transmission power of the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel is greater than the threshold (see 0302, 0305-0306, 0356, 0455-0456, and at least 0501-0505).
As per claim 16, Zhou disclosed determining that the second antenna panel is associated with a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH); or determining that a priority of the second antenna panel is higher than a priority of the first antenna panel (see 0138, 0151-0152, 0213-0216, 0297, 0325-0329, and at least 0358).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (hereinafter “Zhou”, US Pat No. 2021/0297959) and in view of Enescu et al. (hereinafter, “Enescu”, US Pat. No. 2024/0243799).
As per claim 8, as rejected above in claim 1, Zhou disclosed determining the total transmission power but not explicitly determining the total transmission power by determining an angle of departure (AoD) of the UE and determine the total transmission power based on the AoD. However, Enescu disclosed such claimed limitation (see 0067 and 0231). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention for Zhou to adopt such teaching, as taught by Enescu, in order to improve different aspects of wireless communication for the cellular wireless communication systems by improving data rate, latency, reliability, and mobility.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Pablo Tran whose telephone number is (571)272-7898. The examiner normal hours are 9:30 -5:00 (Monday-Friday). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Jinsong Hu, can be reached at (571)272-3965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
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August 19, 2026
/PABLO N TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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