DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/28/26 has been entered.
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 .
Response to Amendment/Arguments
With the amendment filed 7/28/26, entered with the RCE filed 8/7/26, Applicant has amended claim 1 to recite: “detecting…the reference signal received from the device on the resource and based on the angular direction without performing beam sweeping.” Claims 10 and 19 have been similarly amended. In addition, new claims 23-26 have been added, and claims 9, 10, 17 and 18 have been canceled. In view of Applicant’s amendment and associated arguments, the prior rejections of the claims have been withdrawn, but upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made in view of a newly applied prior art reference, as presented below.
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, 3, 7, 10, 12, 16, 19, 21, 22 and 26 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 7 and 17 of U.S. Patent No. 11,349,550 ('550 Patent) in view of Nagata et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2018/0145807.
Regarding claim 1 of the instant application, claim 7 of the '550 Patent discloses a method for receiving angular direction information, as indicated above, but does not disclose that information indicating an angular direction and a resource is separate from the reference signal, and the reference signal is detected by the apparatus without performing beam sweeping.
Nagata discloses that angular direction information associated with an allocated reference signal resource may be provided apart from the reference signal (see step S220: Fig. 2; ¶¶ [0044], [0045]), and a device receives the reference signal based on mode indication and configuration information without performing beam sweeping (step S320: Fig. 3; ¶ [0048]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide an apparatus with an angular direction indication separate from a reference signal, as suggested by Nagata, in the method of '550 Patent claim 7, as it provides the apparatus with specific information for receiving forthcoming signals, thereby enhancing and improving the capability to process the reference signals (Nagata, ¶¶ [0028]-[0029]).
Regarding claims 10 and 19 of the instant application, claim 17 of the '550 Patent discloses an apparatus for receiving angular direction information, as indicated above, but does not disclose that information indicating an angular direction and a resource is separate from the reference signal, and the reference signal is detected without performing beam sweeping.
Nagata discloses that angular direction information associated with an allocated reference signal resource may be provided apart from the reference signal (see step S220: Fig. 2; ¶¶ [0044], [0045]), and a device receives the reference signal based on mode indication and configuration information without performing beam sweeping (step S320: Fig. 3; ¶ [0048]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide an apparatus with an angular direction indication separate from a reference signal, as suggested by Nagata, in the apparatus of '550 Patent claim 17, as it provides the apparatus with specific information for receiving forthcoming signals, thereby enhancing and improving the capability to process the reference signals (Nagata, ¶¶ [0028]-[0029]).
Regarding claims 3 and 12, Nagata further discloses that the reference signals may also include synchronization signals (¶ [0074]).
Regarding claims 7 and 16, Nagata further discloses that the information may be received via a broadcast channel (see ¶ [0122]).
Regarding claims 21 and 22, Nagata further discloses that the information may be provided using RRC signaling (¶ [0036]).
Regarding claim 26, Nagata further discloses that the reference signals may also include synchronization signals (¶ [0074]), where synchronization is necessarily performed prior to reception of other reference signals.
Claims 2, 11 and 20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 7 and 17 of U.S. Patent No. 11,349,550 in view of Nagata et al. and Kumagai et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2018/0205443.
Regarding claims 2, 11 and 20, claims 7 and 17 of the '550 Patent in combination with Nagata disclose a method and device for receiving angular direction information, but do not disclose that the angular information comprises zenith angle and azimuth angle directions.
Kumagai discloses that communicated angular direction information may comprise a zenith angle direction and an azimuth angle direction (¶¶ [0104]-[0105]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include zenith angle and azimuth angle direction information, as suggested by Kumagai, in the method and device of the claims of the '550 Patent in combination with Nagata, in order to specify precise beam direction information.
Claims 4, 13 and 23-25 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 7 and 17 of U.S. Patent No. 11,349,550 in view of Nagata et al. and Ma et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0224725.
Regarding claims 4 and 13, claims 7 and 17 of the '550 Patent in combination with Meng disclose a method and device for receiving angular direction information, as indicated above, but do not disclose receiving additional information including an angular direction related to another device, and detecting a reference signal and communicating with the other device based on the other angular direction in the additional information.
Ma discloses a system for managing beam coverage area where multiple network stations are employed (see Fig. 1), which may include non-terrestrial stations with associated coverage areas and directions (¶ [0156]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to receive information for another device in a communication system involving multiple devices, as taught by Ma, in the method and device of the claims of the '550 Patent in combination with Meng, in order to communicate in an enhanced system employing multiple network nodes.
Regarding claims 23-25, claims 7 and 17 of the '550 Patent in combination with Nagata disclose a method and apparatus receiving information indicating an angular direction, where Nagata discloses that the information is received from a terrestrial network node (i.e. base station S210 – Fig. 2), but do not disclose that the device is a non-terrestrial network node.
Ma discloses a system for managing beam coverage area where multiple base stations are employed (see Fig. 1), which may include non-terrestrial stations with associated coverage areas and directions (¶ [0156]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to receive information for another device in a communication system involving non-terrestrial network nodes, as taught by Ma, in the method and device of the claims of the '550 Patent in combination with Nagata, to communicate in a system with enhanced coverage.
Claims 5 and 14 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 7 and 17 of U.S. Patent No. 11,349,550 in view of Nagata et al., Ma et al. and Guan et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2015/0326356.
Regarding claims 5 and 14, claims 7 and 17 of the '550 Patent in combination with Nagata and Ma disclose a method and device for receiving angular direction information, as indicated above, but do not disclose that the another resource and the resource partially or fully overlap in at least one of the time domain or the frequency domain.
Guan discloses the transmission of reference information on multiple time-frequency resources which are partially overlapped (¶ [0009]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to transmit reference information on partially overlapping resources, as suggested by Guan, in the method and apparatus of claims of the '550 Patent in combination with Nagata and Ma, as it allows for more efficient resource usage.
Claims 1, 3, 7, 10, 12, 16, 19, 21, 22 and 26 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 5 and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 12,136,981 ('981 Patent) in view of Nagata et al.
Regarding claim 1 of the instant application, claim 5 of the '981 Patent discloses transmission operations from a network node side involving a NT-TRP complementary to the reception operations performed at the user side in the instant application claims, but does not disclose that information indicating an angular direction and a resource is separate from the reference signal, and the reference signal is detected without performing beam sweeping.
Nagata discloses that angular direction information associated with an allocated reference signal resource may be provided apart from the reference signal (see step S220: Fig. 2; ¶¶ [0044], [0045]), and a device receives the reference signal based on mode indication and configuration information without performing beam sweeping (step S320: Fig. 3; ¶ [0048]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide an apparatus with an angular direction indication separate from a reference signal, as suggested by Nagata, in the method of '981 Patent claim 5, as it provides the apparatus with specific information for receiving forthcoming signals, thereby enhancing and improving the capability to process the reference signals (Nagata, ¶¶ [0028]-[0029]).
Regarding claims 10 and 19 of the instant application, claim 13 of the '981 Patent discloses transmission operations from a network node side involving a NT-TRP complementary to the reception operations performed at the user side in the application claims, but does not disclose that information indicating an angular direction and a resource is separate from the reference signal, and the reference signal is detected without performing beam sweeping.
Nagata discloses that angular direction information associated with an allocated reference signal resource may be provided apart from the reference signal (see step S220: Fig. 2; ¶¶ [0044], [0045]), and a device receives the reference signal based on mode indication and configuration information without performing beam sweeping (step S320: Fig. 3; ¶ [0048]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide an apparatus with an angular direction indication separate from a reference signal, as suggested by Nagata, in the apparatus of '981 Patent claim 13, as it provides the apparatus with specific information for receiving forthcoming signals, thereby enhancing and improving the capability to process the reference signals (Nagata, ¶¶ [0028]-[0029]).
Regarding claims 3 and 12, Nagata further discloses that the reference signals may also include synchronization signals (¶ [0074]).
Regarding claims 7 and 16, Nagata further discloses that the information may be received via a broadcast channel (see ¶ [0122]).
Regarding claims 21 and 22, Nagata further discloses that the information may be provided using RRC signaling (¶ [0036]).
Regarding claim 26, Nagata further discloses that the reference signals may also include synchronization signals (¶ [0074]), where synchronization is necessarily performed prior to reception of other reference signals.
Claims 2, 11 and 20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 5 and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 12,136,981 in view of Nagata et al. and Kumagai et al.
Regarding claims 2, 11 and 20, claims 5 and 13 of the '981 Patent in combination with Nagata suggest a method and device for receiving angular direction information, but do not disclose that the angular information comprises a zenith angle and azimuth angle directions.
Kumagai discloses that communicated angular direction information may comprise a zenith angle direction and an azimuth angle direction (¶¶ [0104]-[0105]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include zenith angle and azimuth angle direction information, as suggested by Kumagai, in the method and device of the claims of the '981 Patent in combination with Nagata, in order to specify precise beam direction information.
Claims 4, 13 and 23-25 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 5 and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 12,136,981 in view of Nagata et al., and Ma et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0224725.
Regarding claims 4 and 13, claims 5 and 13 of the '981 Patent in combination with Nagata disclose a method and device for receiving angular direction information, as indicated above, but do not disclose receiving additional information including an angular direction related to another device, and detecting a reference signal and communicating with the other device based on the other angular direction in the additional information.
Ma discloses a system for managing beam coverage area where multiple network stations are employed (see Fig. 1), which may include non-terrestrial stations with associated coverage areas and directions (¶ [0156]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to receive information for another device in a communication system involving multiple devices, as taught by Ma, in the method and device of the claims of the '981 Patent in combination with Nagata, in order to communicate in an enhanced system employing multiple network nodes.
Regarding claims 23-25, claims 5 and 13 of the '981 Patent in combination with Nagata disclose a method and apparatus receiving information indicating an angular direction, where Nagata discloses that the information is received from a terrestrial network node (i.e. base station S210 – Fig. 2), but do not disclose that the device is a non-terrestrial network node.
Ma discloses a system for managing beam coverage area where multiple base stations are employed (see Fig. 1), which may include non-terrestrial stations with associated coverage areas and directions (¶ [0156]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to receive information for another device in a communication system involving non-terrestrial network nodes, as taught by Ma, in the method and device of the claims of the '981 Patent in combination with Nagata, to communicate in a system with enhanced coverage.
Claims 5 and 14 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 5 and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 12,136,981 in view of Nagata et al., Ma et al. and Guan et al.
Regarding claims 5 and 14, claims 5 and 13 of the '981 Patent in combination with Nagata and Ma disclose a method and device for receiving angular direction information, as indicated above, but do not disclose that the another resource and the resource partially or fully overlap in at least one of the time domain or the frequency domain.
Guan discloses the transmission of reference information on multiple time-frequency resources which are partially overlapped (¶ [0009]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to transmit reference information on partially overlapping resources, as suggested by Guan, in the method and apparatus of claims of the '981 Patent in combination with Nagata and Ma, to provide more efficient resource usage.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-3, 7, 10-12, 16, 19-22 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumagai et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2018/0205443 in view of Nagata et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2018/0145807.
Regarding claims 1, 10 and 19, Kumagai discloses an apparatus (i.e. 200 – Fig. 4) comprising at least one processor (202) coupled with a non-transitory computer readable medium (201) storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform a method comprising: receiving information indicating an angular direction and a resource associated with a device, as apparatus 200 receives reference signals from a device as vectors corresponding to a plurality of beam directions defined by an azimuth angle and a zenith angle (Fig. 10, ¶¶ [0104]-[0105]), detecting a reference signal from the device on the resource and based on the angular direction (see Fig. 11, steps S51-S56, ¶ [0107]), and communicating with the device based on the angular direction (Fig. 18, step S135; ¶ [0197]).
Kumagai does not expressly disclose that the information indicating an angular direction and a resource is separate from the detected reference signal, and the reference signal is detected by the apparatus without performing beam sweeping. Nagata discloses that angular direction information associated with an allocated reference signal resource may be provided apart from the reference signal (see step S220: Fig. 2; ¶¶ [0044], [0045]), and such a device receives the reference signal based on mode indication and configuration information without performing beam sweeping (step S320: Fig. 3; ¶ [0048]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide an apparatus with an angular direction indication separate from a corresponding reference signal, as suggested by Nagata, in the apparatus and method of Kumagai, as it provides the apparatus with specific information for receiving forthcoming signals thereby enhancing and improving the capability to process the reference signals (Nagata, ¶¶ [0028]-[0029]).
Regarding claims 2, 11 and 20, in the proposed combination, Kumagai discloses that the angular direction comprises a zenith and an azimuth angle direction (¶¶ [0104]-[0105]).
Regarding claims 3 and 12, in the proposed combination, Kumagai discloses that the reference signal comprises a CSI-RS (¶ [0104]).
Regarding claims 7 and 16, in the proposed combination, Nagata discloses that the information may be received via a broadcast channel (see ¶ [0122]).
Regarding claims 21 and 22, in the proposed combination, Nagata discloses that the information may be provided using RRC signaling (¶ [0036]).
Regarding claim 26, in the proposed combination, Nagata further discloses that the reference signals may also include synchronization signals (¶ [0074]), where synchronization is necessarily performed prior to reception of other reference signals.
Claims 4, 13 and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumagai et al. in view of Nagata et al., as applied above, and further in view of Ma et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0224725.
Regarding claims 4 and 13, Kumagai and Nagata disclose a method and apparatus for receiving angular direction information, as described above, but do not disclose receiving additional information including an angular direction related to another device, and detecting a reference signal and communicating with the other device based on the other angular direction.
Ma discloses a system for managing beam coverage area where multiple base stations are employed (see Fig. 1), which may include non-terrestrial stations with associated coverage areas and directions (¶ [0156]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to receive information for another device in a communication system involving multiple devices, as taught by Ma, in the method and device of Kumagai and Nagata to communicate in an enhanced system employing multiple network nodes.
Regarding claims 23-25, Kumagai in combination with Nagata disclose a method and apparatus for receiving information indicating an angular direction, as described above, and Kumagai further discloses that the information is received from a terrestrial network node (i.e. base station 100), but do not disclose that the device is a non-terrestrial network node.
Ma discloses a system for managing beam coverage area where multiple base stations are employed (see Fig. 1), which may include non-terrestrial stations with associated coverage areas and directions (¶ [0156]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to receive information for another device in a communication system involving non-terrestrial network nodes, as taught by Ma, in the method and device of Kumagai and Nagata, to communicate in a system with enhanced coverage.
Claims 5 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumagai et al. in view of Nagata et al. and Ma et al., as applied to claims 4 and 13 above, and further in view of Guan et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2015/0326356.
Regarding claims 5 and 14, Kumagai in combination with Nagata and Ma teach a method and apparatus receiving information indicating an angular direction for multiple network nodes on multiple resources, as described above, but do not disclose that the another resource and the resource partially or fully overlap in at least one of the time domain or the frequency domain.
Guan discloses the transmission of reference information on multiple time-frequency resources which are partially overlapped (¶ [0009]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to transmit reference information on partially overlapping resources, as suggested by Guan, in the method and apparatus of Kumagai, Nagata and Ma, as it allows for more efficient resource usage.
Claims 5 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumagai et al. in view of Nagata et al. and Ma et al., as applied to claims 4 and 13 above, and further in view of Wang et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2019/0394770.
Regarding claims 5 and 14, Kumagai in combination with Nagata and Ma teach a method and apparatus receiving angular direction information for multiple network nodes on multiple resources, as described above, but do not disclose the multiple resources are spatially separated.
Wang discloses that communications between a base station and UE may be sent on separate spatial streams (¶ [0062]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to send signals on separate spatial streams, as suggested by Wang, in the method and apparatus of Kumagai, Nagata and Ma, as it is a well-known technique for signal transmission, yielding predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Bengtsson et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2021/0036754 disclose receiving a scheduling control message indicative of time-frequency resources for a reference signal associated with an opening angle, where the reference signal transmission is not beam swept.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Lugo whose telephone number is 571-272-3043. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-6. Examiner interviews are available via telephone 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, Hannah Wang can be reached at 571-272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID B LUGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631 8/22/2026
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