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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I, claim 1-9 in the reply filed on 8-14-2026 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because fig. 1B is faded. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Parent claim 1 recite the limitation “determine, based on the session information, difference information between the first sidelink positioning session and a second sidelink positioning session in which the terminal device is a target device”, par. 0071 of the specification discloses session information and in par. 0075 explain that the difference information can be determined by comparing the QoS requirement; however, the explanation is incomplete. The specification may explain determining the desired or missing QoS, but not how to determine any of the actual difference information such as the examples given in par. 0077. Please indicate where support can be found. The rest of the claims share the issue by virtue of dependency.
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.
Claims 1-9 are 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Parent claim 1 recite the limitation “determine, based on the session information, difference information between the first sidelink positioning session and a second sidelink positioning session in which the terminal device is a target device”, the specification fails to clearly disclose the limitation; thereby, it is unclear the scope of the limitation. Moreover, from the specification it appears that more than one session information is required for the determination, but the claim fails to obtain more than one session information; thereby, it is unclear how with a single session information the difference information can be determined. Please explain. The rest of the claims share the issue by virtue of dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao 20230284201.
As to claim 1, Bao discloses a terminal device [104,204,302,160,182] comprising:
at least one processor [332]; and
at least one memory [340] storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (see fig. 3a), cause the terminal device at least to:
obtain session information associated with a first sidelink positioning session [2620,2630];
determine, based on the session information [see 112 rejection: for examination purposes is equated to requirements, PRS pre-configuration, assistance data, etc.] difference information between the first sidelink positioning session and a second sidelink positioning session in which the terminal device is a target device [2640] (see par. 0354);
transmit a positioning request for determining at least one anchor device to perform the second sidelink positioning session, wherein the positioning request comprises the difference information [transmits, a sidelink PRS trigger to trigger an on-demand sidelink PRS position estimation session with a dynamic sidelink anchor group, the sidelink PRS trigger configured to indicate a sidelink zone associated with the UE and a proximity requirement for participation in the on-demand sidelink PRS position estimation] [2650] (see par. 0313, 0319, 0335, 0348, 0355, 0368); and
perform the second sidelink positioning session with the at least one anchor device [2660] (see par. 0368, 0372, 0388). Since it is unclear the scope of the claim, it is unclear if Bao disclose every single limitation. In case that difference information is something different, it would have been obvious tone of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the information since it is going to bring the same predictable result of indicating the desired and/or missing information to determine whether an additional anchor is needed for the simple purpose of reaching the desired accuracy of location.
As to claim 2, Bao discloses the terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to obtain the session information by at least one of the following:
transmitting, to a managing device [according to specification par. 0047 terminal device can be managing entity], at least one request for the session information associated with at least one of a previous sidelink positioning session; an ongoing sidelink positioning session; or a predefined or preconfigured potential sidelink positioning session (see par. 0198, 0313, 0319, 0335, 0348, 0355, 0359); or
overhearing the session information of an ongoing positioning session.
As to claim 3, Bao discloses the terminal device of claim 2, wherein at least one of the at least one request or the positioning request is transmitted via one of the following: the target device; a server terminal device for the target device; or a positioning information client associated with the target device (see par. 0313, 0319, 0335, 0348, 0355, 0368).
As to claim 4, Bao discloses the terminal device of claim 2, wherein the terminal device is caused to overhear the session information until relevant session information is received, wherein an accuracy or a quality of service (QoS) of the relevant session information corresponds to a predetermined accuracy or a QoS or corresponds to an accuracy or a QoS higher than a threshold (see par. 0274).
As to claim 5, Bao discloses the terminal device of claim 2, wherein: in the event that at least one condition is satisfied, the positioning request is transmitted, wherein the at least one condition comprises at least one of the following:
a number of the at least one request is higher than a first threshold;
a number of overheard session information is higher than a second threshold; or
a sum of a number of the at least one request and a number of overheard session information is higher than a third threshold (see par. 0277-0282).
As to claim 6, Bao discloses the terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to determine the difference information based on at least one of the following:
a comparison of requirements of QoS associated with the first sidelink positioning session and the second sidelink positioning session [position estimation accuracy] (see par. 0317); or
one or more of the following conditions: a channel condition; an environmental condition for positioning; a status of the target device; a status of a terminal device among the at least one anchor device, capability of the target device, or capability of a terminal device among the at least one anchor device [capability associated with the plurality of sidelink anchors] (see par. 0317).
As to claim 7, Bao discloses the terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to transmit the positioning request by at least one of the following: broadcasting the positioning request; transmitting the positioning request to at least one terminal device which is activated for the first sidelink positioning session (see par. 0228, 0271); or transmitting the positioning request to a managing device.
As to claim 8, Bao discloses the terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to perform the second sidelink positioning session by: selecting, based on the difference information, a configuration of a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL PRS) for the second sidelink positioning session and a resource associated with the SL PRS; and transmitting, based on the configuration and the resource, the SL PRS to the at least one anchor device (see par. 0313-0314).
As to claim 9, Bao discloses the terminal device of claim 1, wherein the session information comprises at least one of the following:
an identity of the first sidelink positioning session;
at least one positioning method or positioning measurement utilized for the first sidelink positioning session;
at least one of a number or an identity of at least one anchor device for the first sidelink positioning session (see par. 0272);
at least one configuration of SL PRS for the first sidelink positioning session (see par. 0272); at least one resource for SL PRS transmission or reception in the first sidelink positioning session; or a QoS associated with the first sidelink positioning session (see par. 0313-0314)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Nam 20260101304 discloses a method for operating multiple sidelink positioning session.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCOS L TORRES whose telephone number is (571)272-7926. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alison Slater can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MARCOS L. TORRES
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2647
/MARCOS L TORRES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
