UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`PO. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 2231371450
`www.uspto.gov
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`15/567,055
`
`10/16/2017
`
`Joachim Loehr
`
`736456.456USPC
`
`6656
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`Seed IP Law Group LLP/Panasome (PIPCA)
`701 5th Avenue, Suite 5400
`Seattle, WA 98104
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`WYLLIE' CHRISTOPHER T
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`ART UNIT
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`2465
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`PAPER NUMBER
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`NOTIFICATION DATE
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`DELIVERY MODE
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`10/01/2019
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`ELECTRONIC
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`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
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`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
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`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above—indicated "Notification Date" to the
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`following e—mail address(es):
`US PTOeACtion @ SeedIP .Com
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`pairlinkdktg @ seedip .eom
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`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
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`

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`0,7709 A0170” Summary
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`Application No.
`15/567,055
`Examiner
`CHRISTOPHER TWYLLIE
`
`Applicant(s)
`Loehr et al.
`Art Unit
`2465
`
`AIA (FITF) Status
`Yes
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`- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet wit/7 the correspondence address -
`Period for Reply
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`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE g MONTHS FROM THE MAILING
`DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing
`date of this communication.
`If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`-
`- Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
`Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term
`adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
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`Status
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`1). Responsive to communication(s) filed on 08/22/2019.
`[:1 A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
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`2a)D This action is FINAL.
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`2b)
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`This action is non-final.
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`3)[:] An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on
`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
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`4)[:] Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is
`closed in accordance with the practice under Expat/7e Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
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`Disposition of Claims*
`5)
`Claim(s)
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`41—43,45—46,48—51,53—54 and 56 is/are pending in the application.
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`5a) Of the above claim(s)
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`is/are withdrawn from consideration.
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`E] Claim(s)
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`is/are allowed.
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`Claim(s) 41—43,45—46,48—51,53—54 and 56 is/are rejected.
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`[:1 Claim(s) _
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`is/are objected to.
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`) ) ) )
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`
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`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement
`[j Claim(s)
`* If any claims have been determined aflowabie, you may be eligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
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`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
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`http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init events/pph/index.jsp or send an inquiry to PPeredback@uspto.gov.
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`Application Papers
`10)[:] The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
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`11)[:] The drawing(s) filed on
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`is/are: a)D accepted or b)l:] objected to by the Examiner.
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`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).
`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
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`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
`12):] Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).
`Certified copies:
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`a)D All
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`b)I:I Some**
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`c)C] None of the:
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`1.[:] Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
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`2.[:] Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
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`3.[:] Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage
`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
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`** See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
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`Attachment(s)
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`1)
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`Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
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`2) E] Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date_
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
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`3) C] Interview Summary (PTO-413)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date
`4) CI Other-
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`PTOL-326 (Rev. 11-13)
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`Office Action Summary
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`Part of Paper No./Mai| Date 20190925
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/567,055
`Art Unit: 2465
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`Page 2
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`Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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`The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first
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`inventor to file provisions of the AIA.
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`DETAILED OFFICE ACTION
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`1.
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`This action is responsive to the communication received August 22nd, 2019. Claims 1-40, 44, 47,
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`52, and 55 have been canceled. Claims 41 and 49 have been amended. Claims 41-43, 45-46, 48-51, 53-
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`54, and 56 have been entered and are presented for examination.
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`2.
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`3.
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`Application 15/567,055 is a 371 of PCT/CN2015/076867 (04/17/2015).
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`Applicant’s arguments, filed July 11th, 2019, have been fully considered, but deemed moot in
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`view of the new grounds of rejection which has been necessitated by Applicant’s amendment.
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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`This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the
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`examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the
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`effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised
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`of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that
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`was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner
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`to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art
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`against the later invention.
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`The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections
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`set forth in this Office action:
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`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.
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/567,055
`Art Unit: 2465
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`Page 3
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`The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere C0,, 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966),
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`that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are
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`summarized as follows:
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`1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
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`2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
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`3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
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`4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or
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`nonobviousness.
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`4.
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`Claims 41-43, 45-46, 48-51, 53-54, and 56 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being
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`unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 2016/0128082) in view of Panteleev et al. (US 2016/0095112) in view
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`of Sheng et al. (US 2015/0382324).
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`Regarding claims 41, 49, Chen et al. a transmitting user equipment comprising: a receiver,
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`which, in operation, receives a plurality of sidelink grants which indicate radio resources used to
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`perform within one transmission control period, a plurality of direct communication transmissions (see
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`Abstract and Figure 6 [plurality of D2D grants transmitted by the base station; Figure 6 shows the D2D
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`transmissions are within one SA period]), wherein the sidelink grant indicate time resource patterns,
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`which define radio resources in a time domain with bitmap patterns between the plurality of direct
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`communication transmission (paragraphs 0051-0052, 0056 [T-RPT index in the D2D Grant, time-
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`frequency resources]).
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`Chen et al. does not explicitly disclose different bitmap patterns.
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`However, Panteleev et al. discloses different bitmap patterns wherein different patterns may
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`have different maximum data rates, and it may be beneficial from a system perspective to restrict the
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`allowable combinations to control half-duplex problems, maximum data rate, reduce interference
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/567,055
`Art Unit: 2465
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`Page 4
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`dynamics, and/or improve channel state information (CSI) measurement overhead and direct link
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`adaptation (paragraph 0052).
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed
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`to implement method of Panteleev et al. into the system of Chen et al. by enabling multiple patterns to
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`be able to be selected wherein different patterns may have different maximum data rates, and it may be
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`beneficial from a system perspective to restrict the allowable combinations to control half-duplex
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`problems, maximum data rate, reduce interference dynamics, and/or improve channel state information
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`(CSI) measurement overhead and direct link adaptation.
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`The references as combined above do not explicitly disclose circuitry, which is coupled to the
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`receiver and which, in operation:
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`associates the plurality of sidelink grants with a plurality of sidelink processes, respectively,
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`wherein the sidelink processes are respectively associated with identifications (IDs), and
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`allocates radio resources to the plurality of sidelink grants, respectively; and
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`a transmitter, which is coupled to the circuitry and which, in operation, performs a direct
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`communication transmission of sidelink control information and data over a direct sidelink connection
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`per sidelink process using the sidelink grant associated with the sidelink process, thereby performing a
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`plurality of direct communication transmissions respectively for the plurality of sidelink processes within
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`the transmission control period.
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`However, Sheng et al. discloses transmissions requested or originated by applicant 56 in the first
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`wireless terminal may be classified according to priority, service type, or group ID (see Figure 2 and
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`paragraph 0130) wherein group-based resource pools comprising time-frequency resources (paragraph
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`0131) used to schedule transmissions over a second radio interface between first and second wireless
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`terminals wherein the transmissions include scheduling assignments and data (paragraph 0132).
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/567,055
`Art Unit: 2465
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`Page 5
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to recognize that the grants
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`received by Chen et al. could be selected based on group ID, service type, or priority within the
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`corresponding resource pool thereby associating the grants with group ID, service type, or priority in
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`which to perform the communication.
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`Regarding claims 42, 50, the references as combined above further disclose wherein the
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`circuitry, in operation, performs: determining one sidelink destination group out of a plurality of sidelink
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`destination groups as a destination of the direct communication transmission per sidelink process (see
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`Figures 1 and 2 [resource pools based on group ID, Sheng et al.]); generating sidelink control
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`information that identifies the determined sidelink destination group and that identifies the radio
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`resource allocated to the sidelink grant associated with the sidelink process (paragraph 0132 [D2D
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`transmissions may include both D2D scheduling assignments (SA) for the transmission of D2D data;
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`Sheng et al.]); and the transmitter, in operation, performs the direct communication transmission of the
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`sidelink control information and data destined to the determined sidelink destination group using the
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`radio resource identified in the sidelink control information (paragraph 0132 [D2D transmissions may
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`include both D2D scheduling assignments (SA) for the transmission of D2D data; see Figure 1,
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`transmission is transmitted using wireless interface 54; Sheng et al.]).
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`Regarding claims 43, 51, the references as combined above further disclose wherein the
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`circuitry, in operation, performs the determining of one sidelink destination group per sidelink process
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`by at least one of. using a logical channel prioritization procedure in common for determining all the
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`sidelink destination groups for all the sidelink grants, and using different logical channel prioritization
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`procedures for the sidelink grants, respectively (see Figure 2 [priority of the logical channel can be
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`based on access class, group ID, priority, and service type]).
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`Regarding claims 45, 53, the references as combined above disclose all the recited subject
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`matter in claims 41, 49, but do not explicitly disclose wherein the transmitter, in operation, transmits
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/567,055
`Art Unit: 2465
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`Page 6
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`the data using a next uplink subframe after an uplink subframe used to transmit the sidelink control
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`information over the direct sidelink connection per sidelink process.
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`However, it is well known in the art to transmit uplink control information in a subframe before
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`sending uplink data in a subsequent subframe. The motivation for this is to use techniques conventional
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`in the art.
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`Regarding claims 46, 54, the references as combined above disclose all the recited subject
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`matter in claims 41, 49, but do not explicitly disclose wherein a total number of the sidelink processes
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`executed in parallel at the transmitting user equipment is 8.
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`However, it is a known feature in the art for a mobile device to have multiple processing cores
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`and multiple antennas that allow for simultaneous processing and transmitting of data which allows for
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`faster processing of data.
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`Regarding claims 48, 56, the references as combined further disclose wherein the identification
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`(ID) is a destination group ID that identifies a sidelink destination group to which the direct
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`communication transmission is destined (see Figure 2 [Group ID; Sheng et al.]).
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`Response to Arguments
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`5.
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`Applicant’s arguments, filed July 11th, 2019, have been fully considered, but deemed moot in
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`view of the new grounds of rejection which has been necessitated by Applicant’s amendment.
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`Conclusion
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`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
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`should be directed to CHRISTOPHER T WYLLIE whose telephone number is (571)270-3937. The examiner
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`can normally be reached on 6:00a-2230p.
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/567,055
`Art Unit: 2465
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`Page 7
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`Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a
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`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor,
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`Marsha Banks-Harold can be reached on (571)272-7905. The fax phone number for the organization
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`where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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`Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application
`
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`from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available
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`through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-
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`
`/CHRISTOPHERTWYLLIE/
`Examiner, Art Unit 2465
`
`