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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-17 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 3-7, 12, and 14-16 of U.S. Patent No. 12,075,430.
U.S. Application No. 18/810,545
U.S. Patent No. 12,075,430
Claim 1. A method, comprising: transmitting, by a base station to a first user equipment (UE), a configuration message including a configuration indicator, the configuration indicator indicating the first UE to measure quality of one or more sidelink communications on resources of a sidelink resource pool in a wireless network; and
receiving, by the base station from the first UE, a feedback report including an identification of a second UE in the wireless network and a sidelink measurement result in a physical sidelink channel of a sidelink communication from the second UE,
the sidelink measurement result being monitored by the first UE on the resources of the sidelink resource pool.
Claim 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a first user equipment (UE) from a base station, a configuration request message including a configuration indicator, the configuration indicator indicating the first UE to measure quality of a sidelink communication from a second UE on resources of a resource pool in a wireless network,
and transmitting, by the first UE, a feedback report to the base station, the feedback report including an identification of the second UE in the wireless network and a measurement result of the sidelink communication from the second UE.
wherein the sidelink communication on the resources of the resource pool is associated with one or more messages from the second UE in a physical sidelink channel;
Claim 2
Claim 1
Claim 3
Claim 3
Claim 4
Claim 4
Claim 5
Claim 5
Claim 6
Claim 6
Claim 7
Claim 7
Claim 8. A network device, comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform operations including:
transmitting a configuration message including a configuration indicator to a first user equipment (UE), the configuration indicator indicating the first UE to measure quality of one or more sidelink communications on resources of a sidelink resource pool in a wireless network; and
receiving a feedback report from the first UE, the feedback report including an identification of a second UE in the wireless network and a sidelink measurement result of a sidelink communication from the second UE,
the sidelink measurement result being monitored by the first UE on the resources of the sidelink resource pool.
Claim 12. A user equipment (UE), comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions to cause the UE to perform operations including:
receiving a configuration request message including a configuration indicator from a base station, the configuration indicator indicating the UE to measure quality of a sidelink communication from a second UE on resources of a resource pool in a wireless network,
transmit a feedback report to the base station, the feedback report including an identification of the second UE in the wireless network and a measurement result of the sidelink communication from the second UE.
wherein the sidelink communication on the resources of the resource pool is associated with one or more messages from the second UE in a physical sidelink channel
Claim 9
Claim 14
Claim 10
Claim 15
Claim 11
Claim 16
Claim 12. A user equipment (UE), comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to perform operations including:
receiving, from a base station, a configuration message including a configuration indicator, the configuration indicator indicating the UE to measure quality of one or more sidelink communications on resources of a sidelink resource pool in a wireless network;
monitoring the resources of the sidelink resource pool to obtain a sidelink measurement result in a physical sidelink channel of a sidelink communication from a second UE in the wireless network;
and transmitting, to the base station, a feedback report including an identification of the second UE and the sidelink measurement result in the physical sidelink channel of the sidelink communication from the second UE
Claim 12. A user equipment (UE), comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions to cause the UE to perform operations including:
receiving a configuration request message including a configuration indicator from a base station, the configuration indicator indicating the UE to measure quality of a sidelink communication from a second UE on resources of a resource pool in a wireless network,
wherein the sidelink communication on the resources of the resource pool is associated with one or more messages from the second UE in a physical sidelink channel; and
transmit a feedback report to the base station, the feedback report including an identification of the second UE in the wireless network and a measurement result of the sidelink communication from the second UE.
Claim 13
Claim 14
Claim 14
Claim 15
Claim 15
Claim 16
Claim 16
Claim 6
Claim 17
Claim 7
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the patent claims include all the limitations of the instant application claims, respectively (see table above showing the patent claims that correspond to the instant application claims). The patent claims also include additional limitations. Hence, the instant application claims are generic to the species of invention covered by the respective patent claims. As such, the instant application claims are anticipated by the patent claims and are therefore not patentably distinct therefrom (See Eli Lilly and Co. v. Barr Laboratories Inc., 58 USPQ2D 1869, " a later genus claim limitation is anticipated by, and therefore not patentably distinct from, an earlier species claim", In re Goodman, 29 USPQ2d 2010, "Thus, the generic invention is 'anticipated' by the species of the patented invention" and the instant “application claims are generic to species of invention covered by the patent claim, and since without terminal disclaimer, extant species claim preclude issuance of generic application claims”).
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.
(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 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10-12, 14, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tseng et al US 20180054237 (hereinafter Tseng).
Regarding claim 1, Tseng discloses a method, comprising:
transmitting, by a base station (202, see fig. 2, [0057]) to a first user equipment (UE) (204, 206, see fig. 2, [0038]), a configuration message including a configuration indicator (270, see fig. 2, [0057], [0060]), the configuration indicator indicating the first UE to measure quality of one or more sidelink communications on resources of a sidelink resource pool in a wireless network (SL-measurement configuration message may include component carrier list, see fig. 2, [0057]-[0060]); and
receiving, by the base station from the first UE, a feedback report (274, see fig. 2, [0072]) including an identification of a second UE in the wireless network and a sidelink measurement result in a physical sidelink channel of a sidelink communication from the second UE (), the sidelink measurement result being monitored by the first UE on the resources of the sidelink resource pool (see [0062]-[0063], [0065]).
Regarding claim 2 as applied to claim 1, Tseng further discloses transmitting, by the base station to the first UE, a configuration of the sidelink resource pool (see [0057]-[0060]).
Regarding claim 4 as applied to claim 1, Tseng further discloses wherein the sidelink measurement result comprises a signal quality parameter, the signal quality parameter comprising at least one of a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR), a signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SINR), or a frame error rate (FER) measurement (see [0072]).
Regarding claim 5 as applied to claim 1, Tseng further discloses wherein the configuration indicator indicates at least one of sidelink resources to be monitored or the identification of the second UE to be monitored for the sidelink communication (see tables 3 and 4, [0057]-[0060], [0066]-[0067]).
Regarding claim 8, Tseng discloses a network device (202, 800, see figs. and 8, [0088]), comprising:
at least one processor (826, see fig. 8, [0089]); and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor (828, see fig. 8, [0089]), cause the network device (202, see fig. 2, [0057]) to perform operations including:
transmitting a configuration message including a configuration indicator (270, see fig. 2, [0057], [0060]) to a first user equipment (UE) (204, 206, see fig. 2, [0038]), the configuration indicator indicating the first UE to measure quality of one or more sidelink communications on resources of a sidelink resource pool in a wireless network (SL-measurement configuration message may include component carrier list, see fig. 2, [0057]-[0060]); and
receiving a feedback report from the first UE (274, see fig. 2, [0072]), the feedback report including an identification of a second UE in the wireless network and a sidelink measurement result of a sidelink communication from the second UE (candidate CC, see tables 3 and 4, [0072]), the sidelink measurement result being monitored by the first UE on the resources of the sidelink resource pool (see [0062]-[0063], [0065]).
Regarding claim 10 as applied to claim 8, Tseng further discloses wherein the sidelink measurement result comprises a signal quality parameter, the signal quality parameter comprising at least one of a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR), a signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SINR), or a frame error rate (FER) measurement (see [0072]).
Regarding claim 11 as applied to claim 8, Tseng further discloses wherein the configuration indicator indicates at least one of sidelink resources to be monitored or the identification of the second UE to be monitored for the sidelink communication (see tables 3 and 4, [0057]-[0060], [0066]-[0067]).
Regarding claim 12, Tseng discloses a user equipment (UE) (202, 204, 800, see fig. 8, [0088]), comprising:
at least one processor (826, see fig. 8, [0089]); and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming instructions (828, see fig. 8, [0089]), that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to perform operations including:
receiving, from a base station (202, 800, see figs. and 8, [0088]), a configuration message including a configuration indicator (270, see fig. 2, [0057], [0060]), the configuration indicator indicating the UE to measure quality of one or more sidelink communications on resources of a sidelink resource pool in a wireless network (SL-measurement configuration message may include component carrier list, see fig. 2, [0057]-[0060]);
monitoring the resources of the sidelink resource pool to obtain a sidelink measurement result in a physical sidelink channel of a sidelink communication from a second UE (202, 204, 800, see fig. 8, [0088]) in the wireless network (see [0057]-[0062], [0065]-[0070]); and
transmitting, to the base station, a feedback report (274, see fig. 2, [0072]) including an identification of the second UE and the sidelink measurement result in the physical sidelink channel of the sidelink communication from the second UE (candidate CC, see tables 3 and 4, [0072]).
Regarding claim 14 as applied to claim 12, Tseng further discloses wherein the sidelink measurement result comprises a signal quality parameter, the signal quality parameter comprising at least one of a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR), a signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SINR), or a frame error rate (FER) measurement (see [0072]).
Regarding claim 15 as applied to claim 12, Tseng further discloses wherein the configuration indicator indicates at least one of sidelink resources to be monitored or the identification of the second UE to be monitored for the sidelink communication (see tables 3 and 4, [0057]-[0060], [0066]-[0067]).
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.
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) 3, 6-7, 9, 13, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng et al US 20180054237 (hereinafter Tseng) in view of Li et al US 20190098654 (hereinafter Li).
Regarding claims 3, 9, and 13 as applied to claims 1, 8, and 12, Tseng discloses the claimed invention except wherein the feedback report is carried in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a random access channel (RACH). Li discloses a UE transmitting a message to a base station via a PUSCH in response to an uplink grant (see [0050], [0090]). It would therefore have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Li with Tseng by transmitting the SL-measurement report to the base station via a PUSCH granted by the base station, for the benefit of providing reliable and low latency communication between base station and UE.
Regarding claims 6 and 16 as applied to claims 5 and 15, Tseng discloses the claimed invention except wherein the configuration indicator is included in at least one of a downlink control information (DCI) message, a media access control (MAC) control element message, or a radio resource control (RRC) message. Li discloses a configuration indicator included in at least one of a downlink control information (DCI) message, a media access control (MAC) control element message, or a radio resource control (RRC) message (SR configuration via RRC messaging, see [0050], [0090]). It would therefore have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Li with Tseng by transmitting a SL-measurement configuration from the base station to the UE via RRC messaging, as taught by Li, for the benefit of providing reliable and low latency communication between base station and UE.
Regarding claims 7 and 17 as applied to claims 1 and 12, Tseng discloses the claimed invention except transmitting, by the base station to the first UE, a resource grant message identifying available resources for transmitting the feedback report. Li discloses transmitting, by the base station to the first UE, a resource grant message identifying available resources for transmitting a message (see [0050], [0090]). It would therefore have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Li with Tseng by transmitting a resource grant message from the base station to the UE, as taught by Li, for the benefit of providing reliable and low latency communication between base station and UE thus enabling the UE to end the SL-measurement report to the base station.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Baghel et al US 20180049235 discloses cross-carrier scheduling for V2X communication.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLUMIDE T AJIBADE AKONAI whose telephone number is (571)272-6496. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CHARLES N APPIAH can be reached at 571-272-7904. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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