Detailed Action
Status of Claims
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 .
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Claims 1-20 are rejected.
This Action is Non-Final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claim 13 is drawn to functional descriptive material recorded on a ”computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon”. Normally, the claim would be statutory. However, Paragraph 0150 of the specification, defines or exemplifies “the claimed computer readable medium as the computer-readable storage medium may take any combination of one or more readable media. The readable medium may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. The readable storage medium for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or component, or a combination of any one of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the readable storage medium include: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random-access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable Read-only Memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable Compact Disk Read-only Memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage component, a magnetic storage component, or any suitable combination thereof.”.
“A transitory, propagating signal … is not a “process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.” Those four categories define the explicit scope and reach of subject matter patentable under 35 U.S.C. § 101; thus, such a signal cannot be patentable subject matter.” (In re Nuijten, 84 USPQ2d 1495 (Fed. Cir. 2007)).
Because the full scope of the claim as properly read in light of the disclosure appears to encompass non-statutory subject matter (i.e., because the specification defines/exemplifies a computer readable medium as a non-statutory signal, carrier waver, etc.) the claim as a whole is non-statutory. The examiner suggests amending the claim to include as “a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon” the disclosed tangible computer readable storage media, while at the same time excluding the intangible transitory media such as signals, carrier waves, etc. Any amendment to the claim should be commensurate with its corresponding disclosure.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 1-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if it overcome the 101 rejection above.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
RELEVANT ART CITED BY THE EXAMINER
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is cited to establish the level of skill in the applicant’s art and those arts considered reasonably pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. See MPEP 707.05(c).
References Considered Pertinent but not relied upon
LI et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No: 2025 A1) teaches a method for information transmission of backscatter communication, a terminal, and a network side device are provided. LI discloses the method includes: the terminal sends first information to the network side device, where the first information is used for configuration update or transmission adjustment related to backscatter communication, and the first information includes at least one of the following: inventory-related information; and information related to backscattering of a backscatter device; or information related to a carrier wave or a control command.
Ganesan et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No: 20230164835 A1) teaches apparatuses, methods, and systems are disclosed for adjusting a contention window size. Ganesan discloses one apparatus includes a processor and a transceiver comprising a plurality of transmit panels; and the transceiver initiates a first channel occupancy (“CO”) using at least one transmit panel in response to a successful Listen-Before-Talk procedure and transmits a directional transmission using a first transmit panel, the first transmit panel selected from the plurality of transmit panels. Ganesan suggests the processor determines whether the directional transmission was successfully received by a recipient and updates a first contention window size specific to the first transmit panel; and also the processor performs a subsequent Listen-Before-Talk procedure using the updated first contention window size prior to a subsequent directional transmission using the first transmit panel.
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/GETENTE A YIMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2181
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