DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-8 of application 18/939,621, filed on 7-November-2024, are presented for examination. The IDS received on the same date has been considered. The present application is a CON of application 17/330,273, filed on 25-May-2021, now USP 12,176,972.
The present application, filed on or after 16-March-2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Specification Objections
2. The specification is objected to because of the following informalities:
In view of the fact that continuation information was provided in paragraph [0001] of the specification, for consistency purposes, the continuation information should be updated to reflect the current patent status of parent application 17/330,273, which is now USP 12,176,972. Appropriate correction is optional, but nevertheless requested.
Double Patenting Rejections
3.1 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 reference 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. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.32(b).
The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form 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 http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
3.2 Claims 1 and 5 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of USP 12,176,972. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both the present invention and the ‘972 patent are directed to a communication device in vehicular multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication system, the device comprising a signal processing apparatus. Furthermore, the features of claims 1 and 5 of the present invention are primarily directed to the corresponding features in claim 1 of the ‘972 patent. These features, while not identical, are not patentably distinct from the features of claim 1 of the ‘972 patent. See the following comparison:
(Present claim 1) A communication device in vehicular multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication system, the device comprising a signal processing apparatus [‘972:claim 1 (A signal detection apparatus for vehicular multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication)] having:
an antenna configured to communicate a signal using a radio frequency [‘972:claim 1 (an antenna configured to receive a reception signal using a radio frequency)];
and a signal processor configured to process the signal by performing reinforcement learning using the signal acquired by the device in motion [‘972:claim 1 (a signal processor configured to detect a transmission signal by performing reinforcement learning on a transmission/reception relationship in which a relationship of a channel matrix, the transmission signal, and a reception noise is represented by the reception signal)].
3.3 For at least these reasons, one of ordinary skill would have found it obvious that the features in claims 1 and 5 of the present invention, and claim1 of the ‘972 patent, which were present before the effective filing date of the present invention, are not patentably distinct in so far as the present invention is an obvious variation of the ‘972 patent, and the specifications of both the present invention and the ‘972 patent support the identical critical features noted above.
Claim Objections
4. In regard to the double patenting rejection noted above, claims 2-4 and 6-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Allowed Claims
5.1 The following is an Examiner's Statement of Reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. The present application is directed to a non-obvious improvement over the article “Spectrum Sharing in Vehicular Networks Based on Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning”, authored by Liang et al, which teaches the spectrum sharing problem in vehicular networks based on multi-agent reinforcement learning, where multiple vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) links reuse the frequency spectrum preoccupied by vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) links. Fast channel variations in high mobility vehicular environments preclude the possibility of collecting accurate instantaneous channel state information at the base station for centralized resource management. In response, the resource sharing as a multi-agent reinforcement learning problem is modeled, which is then solved using a fingerprint-based deep Q-network method that is amenable to a distributed implementation. The V2V links, each acting as an agent, collectively interact with the communication environment, receive distinctive observations yet a common reward, and learn to improve spectrum and power allocation through updating Q-networks using the gained experiences. Accordingly, with a proper reward design and training mechanism, the multiple V2V agents successfully learn to cooperate in a distributed way to simultaneously improve the sum capacity of V2I links and payload delivery rate of V2V links.
5.2 Claims 1-8 are considered allowable, since when reading the claims in light of the specification, as per MPEP § 2111.01, none of the references of record, either individually or in combination, disclose the specific arrangement of elements in the same combination specified in independent claims 1 and 5 for a communication device in vehicular multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication system, the device comprising a signal processing apparatus, specifically including:
(Claim 1) “an antenna configured to communicate a signal using a radio frequency; and
a signal processor configured to process the signal by performing reinforcement learning using the signal acquired by the device in motion.”
5.3 There are inventions in the field that provide similar functionality and/or have similar features, as the prior art of record shows. The examiner's search failed to find this combination of features, nor was it obvious in light of the prior art. It is for these reasons that the claims of the present application are found to be patentable over the prior art.
Dependent claims 2-4 and 6-8 are deemed allowable as depending either directly or indirectly from allowed independent claims 1 and 5.
Prior Art
6. The following prior art, discovered in an updated search and herein made of record but not relied upon, is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure, and consists of documents U-X on the attached PTO-892 Notice of References Cited, such documents defining the general state of the art which is not considered to be of particular relevance.
Response Guidelines
7.1 A shortened statutory period for response to this non-final action is set to expire 3 (three) months and 0 (zero) days from the date of this letter. Unless the applicant is notified in writing that a reply is required in less than six months (see the shortened response period previously noted), a maximum period of six months is allowed, if a petition for an extension of time and the fee set in § 1.17(a) are filed (see MPEP 710 and 35 U.S.C. 133). Failure to respond within the required period for response will cause the application to become abandoned (see MPEP 710.02, 710.02(b)).
7.2 Any response to the Examiner in regard to this non-final action should be
directed to: Russell Frejd, telephone number (571) 272-3779, Monday-Friday from 0730 to
1600 ET. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful,
please contact the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Nolan, who can be reached at
(571) 270-7016.
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/RUSSELL FREJD/
Primary Examiner AU 3661