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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/26/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
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 obviousness-type 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); and 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims 1-19 are rejected under the judicially created doctrine of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-19 of U.S. Patent No. 12127125.
Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-19 of the present application are a broader version of claims 1-19 of U.S. Patent No. 12127125. The difference being in U.S. Patent No. 12127125, claims 1, 12, and 19 are similar to claims 1, 12, and 19 of present application but further state the limitations of response to detecting data to be sent exists and need to receive feedback information. Rest of the claims are similar.
Nonetheless, the removal of said limitations from the above claims of the present application made these claims broader versions. Therefore, since omission of an element and its function in a combination is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements perform the same functions as before (In re Karlson (CCPA) 136 USPQ 184 (1963)), claims 1-19 of the present application are not patentably distinct from claims 1-19 of U.S. Patent No. 12127125.
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 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.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8, 10-12, 14-17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jung et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0045446)
Referring to Claim 1, Jung et al. disclose a sidelink communication method (par 55, portable terminal connects to neighboring portable terminals), comprising: determining, by a sidelink communication device, to enter an energy saving state (par 58, enter sleep mode); and cancelling, by the sidelink communication device, a conventional operation on sidelink control information (SCI) in the energy saving state (par 58, stop data transmission); wherein the sidelink communication method further comprises: in a case where data to be sent exists (par 59, data), determining whether to exit the energy saving state according to a type of the data to be sent; wherein determining whether to exit the energy saving state according to the type of the data to be sent comprises at least one of: in response to determining the type of the data to be sent is groupcast data, exiting the energy saving state; in response to determining the type of the data to be sent is unicast data, exiting the energy saving state; or in response to determining the type of the data to be sent is broadcast data, maintaining the energy saving state (par 59, broadcast data, maintain sleep state).
Referring to Claim 3 as applied to Claim 1 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication method, further comprising: monitoring a wake-up signal on a periodic time-frequency resource in the energy saving state; and exiting the energy saving state if the wake-up signal is monitored (par 59, sleep state, wake up for predefined time; pars 10 and 67, wake up, beacon interval).
Referring to Claim 4 as applied to Claim 3 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication method, wherein the periodic time-frequency resource is orthogonal to a time-frequency resource occupied by a sidelink communication signal or channel in a time division or frequency division manner, and wherein the sidelink communication signal or channel is different from the wake-up signal (pars 10 and 67, wake up, ATIM frame).
Referring to Claim 5 as applied to Claim 3 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication method, wherein the periodic time-frequency resource is determined based on at least one of following information: pre-configuration information, or downlink configuration information (par 59, predefined).
Referring to Claim 6 as applied to Claim 5 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication method, wherein the pre-configuration information or the downlink configuration information comprises at least one of following parameters: a period of the time-frequency resource; a position of a frequency resource occupied by the time-frequency resource; or a slot offset value of the time-frequency resource relative to a starting subframe in a time domain (par 59, predefined time).
Referring to Claim 8 as applied to Claim 3 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication method, wherein the wake-up signal is a sequence-based physical layer signal (par 9, physical channel).
Referring to Claim 10 as applied to Claim 3 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication method, further comprising: sending the wake-up signal on the periodic time-frequency resource (par 59, sleep state, wake up for predefined time; pars 10 and 67, wake up, beacon interval).
Referring to Claim 11 as applied to Claim 1 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication method, wherein determining to enter the energy saving state comprises at least one of following operations: in response to receiving a set downlink signaling, determining to enter the energy saving state; in response to determining that the data is not received within a set time, determining to enter the energy saving state; or in response to determining that the sidelink communication device satisfied a set condition, determining to enter the energy saving state (par 59, sleep state, wake up for predefined time).
Referring to Claim 12, Jung et al. disclose a sidelink communication apparatus, comprising: a processor; and a memory configured to store executable instructions of the processor; wherein, the processor is configured to (par 55, portable terminal connects to neighboring portable terminals): determine to enter an energy saving state (par 58, enter sleep mode); and cancel a conventional operation on sidelink control information (SCI) in the energy saving state (par 58, stop data transmission); wherein the processor is further configured to: in a case where data to be sent exists (par 59, data), determine whether to exit the energy saving state according to a type of the data to be sent; wherein determining whether to exit the energy saving state according to the type of the data to be sent comprises at least one of: in response to determining the type of the data to be sent is groupcast data, exiting the energy saving state; in response to determining the type of the data to be sent is unicast data, exiting the energy saving state; or in response to determining the type of the data to be sent is broadcast data, maintaining the energy saving state (par 59, broadcast data, maintain sleep state).
Referring to Claim 14 as applied to Claim 12 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication apparatus, wherein the processor is further configured to: monitor a wake-up signal on a periodic time-frequency resource in the energy saving state; and exit the energy saving state if the wake-up signal is monitored (par 59, sleep state, wake up for predefined time; pars 10 and 67, wake up, beacon interval).
Referring to Claim 15 as applied to Claim 14 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication apparatus, wherein the periodic time-frequency resource is orthogonal to a time-frequency resource occupied by a sidelink communication signal or channel in a time division or frequency division manner, and wherein the sidelink communication signal or channel is different from the wake-up signal (pars 10 and 67, wake up, ATIM frame).
Referring to Claim 16 as applied to Claim 14 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication apparatus, wherein the periodic time-frequency resource is determined based on at least one of following information: pre-configuration information or downlink configuration information (par 59, predefined).
Referring to Claim 17 as applied to Claim 16 above, Jung et al. disclose the sidelink communication apparatus, wherein the pre-configuration information or the downlink configuration information comprises at least one of following parameters: a period of the time-frequency resource; a position of a frequency resource occupied by the time-frequency resource; or a slot offset value of the time-frequency resource relative to a starting subframe in a time domain (par 59, predefined time).
Referring to Claim 19, Jung et al. disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein instructions in the storage medium, when executed by a processor of a mobile terminal, cause the mobile terminal to execute following operations (par 55, portable terminal connects to neighboring portable terminals): determining to enter an energy saving state (par 58, enter sleep mode); and cancelling a conventional operation on sidelink control information (SCI) in the energy saving state (par 58, stop data transmission); wherein the instructions cause the mobile terminal to further execute following operations: in a case where data to be sent exists (par 59, data), determining whether to exit the energy saving state according to a type of the data to be sent; wherein determining whether to exit the energy saving state according to the type of the data to be sent comprises at least one of: in response to determining the type of the data to be sent is groupcast data, exiting the energy saving state; in response to determining the type of the data to be sent is unicast data, exiting the energy saving state; or in response to determining the type of the data to be sent is broadcast data, maintaining the energy saving state (par 59, broadcast data, maintain sleep state).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUHAIL KHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7187. The examiner can normally be reached on M-TH 8:30am-6:30pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on 5712727915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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.
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/Suhail Khan/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
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