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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on. The submission 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 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.
Claim 1 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-25 of U.S. Patent No. 12,309,673 (Filippou et al hereinafter Filippou). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of the following reason:
Referring to Claim 1. A computing node to implement a vehicle-to-everything (V 2X) information service (VIS) in a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) network, the computing node comprising:
network interface circuitry; and processing circuitry coupled to the network interface circuitry (refer to Claim 1), the processing circuitry configured to:
detect a subscription request to an information service, the subscription request originating from a MEC application instantiated on a MEC host of the MEC network (refer to Claim 1), and the subscription request including at least one filtering criterion indicative of an information-processing configuration of the M EC application (refer to Claim 1);
forward via the network interface circuitry, the subscription request with the at
least one filtering criterion to a plurality of computing resources, the plurality of computing resources configured as a corresponding plurality of providers of the information service within the MEC network (refer to Claim 1);
decode a response message received from at least one provider of the plurality of
providers, the response message indicating an acceptance of the subscription request by the at least one provider (refer to Claim 1); and encode an acknowledgment message for transmission to the MEC application via the network interface circuitry, the acknowledgment message indicating the acceptance of the subscription request by the at least one provider (refer to Claim 1).
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 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Poornachandran et al hereinafter Poornachandran (US 2020/0008044) in view of Moustafa et al hereinafter Moustafa (US 2020/0314614).
Referring to Claim 1. Poornachandran discloses a computing node to implement a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) information service (VIS) (par 0002, everything service associated with vehicles) in a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) network (refer to abstract), the computing node comprising:
network interface circuitry; and processing circuitry coupled to the network interface circuitry, the processing circuitry configured to:
detect a subscription request to an information service, the subscription request originating from a MEC application instantiated on a MEC host of the MEC network, and the subscription request including at least one filtering criterion indicative of an information-processing configuration of the M EC application (refer to par 0041, 0046, 0047, 0062, 0063, 0065 and 0067);
forward via the network interface circuitry, the subscription request with the at
least one filtering criterion to a plurality of computing resources, the plurality of computing resources configured as a corresponding plurality of providers of the information service within the MEC network (refer to par 0067, 0070, 0071, 0083 and 0171);
decode a response message received from at least one provider of the plurality of
providers, the response message indicating an acceptance of the subscription request by the at least one provider (refer to par 0171, 0071, 0073); and
encode an acknowledgment message for transmission to the MEC application via the network interface circuitry, the acknowledgment message indicating the acceptance of the subscription request by the at least one provider (refer to par 0051, 0023, 0062 and 0072).
Moustafa, in analogous art, is introduce to expedite the prosecution, to demonstrate it is well know in the art that a computing node to implement a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) information service (VIS) in a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) network (refer to par 00025) to encode an acknowledgement message for transmission to the MEC application via the network interface circuitry, the acknowledgement message indicating the acceptance of the subscription request by the at least one provider (refer to par 0035, 0127).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Poornachandran with Moustafa because Moustafa’s teaching would allow the system of Poornachandran to improve throughput and reduce complexity for vehicle connection services.
Conclusion
A shortened statutory period for reply to this Office action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN C TANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3116. The examiner can normally be reached on 5:30am - 2:30pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joon H Hwang can be reached on (571) 272-4036. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KAREN C TANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447
