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 § 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) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adachi (10,827,313) in view of Song et al. (2021/0,185,612).
For claims 1, 6, 12-15, a method and system (abstract) for increasing available airtime (background, summary and claims) in Wi-Fi networks (col. 5, lines 20-45), the method (100) comprising:
generating (102), by a first Wi-Fi device (1010) (col. 6, line 65 – col. 7, line 10), a management frame (104) (col. 8, line 45 - col. 9, line 10), wherein the management frame (104) is an IEEE 802.11 Beacon frame (200) (col. 9, lines 10-30) or an IEEE 802.11 Probe Request frame (900); (col. 9, lines 10-30)
compressing (106), by the first Wi-Fi device (1010), the management frame (104) (col. 22, lines 15-20) to obtain a compressed management frame (108) (col. 22, lines 20-40);
wirelessly broadcasting (110), by the first Wi-Fi device (1010), the compressed management frame (108) (col. 15, line 40 – col. 16, line 5);
receiving (112), at a second Wi-Fi device (1020), the compressed management frame (108) (col. 15, line 40 – col. 16, line 5).
Adachi does not expressly disclose decompressing (114), by the second Wi-Fi device (1020), the compressed management frame (108) to obtain the management frame (104) generated by the first Wi-Fi device (1010). Song teaches a method and system (abstract) of the relevant art (background, summary and claims) that includes this limitation (Paras 254, 260). At the time of filing, one of ordinary skill in the art would have added Song in order to provide improvements to wifi frames (Paras 4-8).
For claims 2, 7, Adachi teaches that the management frame (104) is a Beacon frame (200) (col. 9, lines 10-30), the first Wi-Fi device (1010) is an access point, and the second Wi-Fi device (1020) is a station.
For claims 3, 8, Adachi teaches that the management frame (104) is a Probe Request frame (900) (col. 9, lines 10-30), the first Wi-Fi device (1010) is a station, and the second Wi-Fi device (1020) is an access point.
For claims 4, 10, Song teaches that the management frame (104) is partially compressed (Paras 196-197).
For claims 5, 11, Song teaches that the MAC header (202) of the management frame (104) is not compressed (Paras 196, 206) and the frame body (204) of the management frame (104) is at least partially compressed (Paras 280-283).
For claim 9, Adachi teaches that the data processing unit (1012) of the first Wi-Fi device (1010) is configured to fully compress the management frame (104) (col. 22, lines 15-20).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELVIN H POLLACK whose telephone number is (571)272-3887. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
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, Oscar Louie can be reached at (571)270-1684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MELVIN H POLLACK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445
Prosecution Insights