`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMIVHSSIONER FOR PATENTS
`PO. Box 1450
`Alexandria1 Virginia 22313-1450
`wwwusptogov
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`
`
`
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`14/630,210
`
`02/24/2015
`
`MASATAKA IRIE
`
`731156462
`
`9493
`
`Seed IP Law Group LLPflDanasonic
`701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5400
`Seattle, WA 98104
`
`NGUYEN, BAO G
`
`PAPER NUIVIBER
`
`ART UNIT
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`2461
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`NOTIFICATION DATE
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`DELIVERY MODE
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`05/16/2018
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`ELECTRONIC
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
`
`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above—indicated "Notification Date" to the
`following e—mail address(es):
`US PTOeAction @ SeedIP.com
`
`pairlinkdktg @ seedip.c0m
`
`PTOL—90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`
`
`Applicant(s)
`Application No.
` 14/630,210 IRIE ET AL.
`
`Examiner
`Art Unit
`AIA (First Inventor to File)
`Office Action Summary
`
`StatusYes BAO G. NGUYEN 2461
`
`-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
`Period for Reply
`
`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 CFR1. 136( a).
`after SIX () 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).
`
`In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed
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`Status
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`1)IZI Responsive to communication(s) filed on 12/22/17.
`El A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
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`2b)|:l This action is non-final.
`2a)|Z| This action is FINAL.
`3)I:I An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on
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`; 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
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`closed in accordance with the practice under Exparte Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
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`Disposition of Claims*
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`5)IZI Claim(s) 1,2 and 4-6 is/are pending in the application.
`5a) Of the above claim(s)
`is/are withdrawn from consideration.
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`is/are allowed.
`6)I:I Claim(s)
`7)|Z| Claim(s) 1,2 and4-6 is/are rejected.
`8)|:I Claim(s)_ is/are objected to.
`
`
`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.
`9)I:I Claim((s)
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, 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
`hit
`:/'/\W¢W.LISI>I‘.0. ovI’ atents/init events/
`
`
`
`h/index.‘s or send an inquiry to PPI-iieedback{®usgtc.00v.
`
`Application Papers
`
`10)I:l The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`11)I:l The drawing(s) filed on
`is/are: a)I:I accepted or b)I:I objected to by the Examiner.
`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).
`
`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
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`12)I:| 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)I:l All
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`b)|:l Some” c)I:l None of the:
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`1.I:I Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`2.|:l Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
`3.|:| Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage
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`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
`** 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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`
`
`3) D Interview Summary (PTO-413)
`1) E Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`Paper No(s)/Mai| Date.
`.
`.
`4) I:I Other'
`2) I] InformatIon DIsclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`Paper No(s)/Mai| Date
`
`US. Patent and Trademark Office
`PTOL—326 (Rev. 11-13)
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`Part of Paper No./Mai| Date 20180510
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 14/630,210
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`Page 2
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`Art Unit: 2461
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`1 .
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`The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined
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`under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA.
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`DETAILED ACTION
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 1 12
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`The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
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`IN GEN ERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the
`(a)
`invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise,
`and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it
`is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode
`contemplated by the inventor orjoint inventor of carrying out the invention.
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`The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
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`The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the
`manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to
`enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly
`connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the
`inventor of carrying out his invention.
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`2.
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`Claims 1-2, 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA),
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`first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The
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`claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a
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`way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint
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`inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had
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`possession of the claimed invention. The limitation of claim 1 “each beam of the
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`combinations of beams having a different frequency band than other beams of the
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`combinations of beams" is not described in the specification. The specification states
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`“The maximum allowable number of base stations is equal to the number of channels (4
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 14/630,210
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`Page 3
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`Art Unit: 2461
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`channels) allowed to be used in the frequency band, and thus the maximum allowable
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`number of base stations is four in this specific example. Basically, the four base
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`stations 10-1 to 10-4 use different channels in operation” (Paragraph [0074]). Hence
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`the specification teaches does not teach using different frequency bands for beaming
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`but using different channels within the same frequency band.
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`Response to Arguments
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`1.
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`Applicant’s arguments, see pg 6-8 filed 12/22/17, with respect to the rejection(s)
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`of claim(s) 1 under U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive.
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`Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a
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`new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Cain (Pub No 20040032847).
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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`1.
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`The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all
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`obviousness rejections 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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`2.
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`Claim 1-2, 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
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`Stirling-Gallacher (Pub No 20100210219), and further in view of Cain (Pub No
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`20040032847).
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`Regarding claim 1 and 4-6,
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`Application/Control Number: 14/630,210
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`Page 4
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`Art Unit: 2461
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`Stirling-Gallacher teaches a wireless communication method for performing
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`communication between a respective plurality of base stations and a corresponding
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`plurality of terminal stations, each base station using a plurality of beams in different
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`frequency bands from each other, the method comprising:
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`selectively switching a combination of beams used by the respective base
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`stations among a plurality of combinations of beams, synchronously and sequentially,
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`training frames to the plurality of terminal stations with the switched combination of
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`beams in each period (interpreted as the soft values of all antenna combinations
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`can be stored in a table as a ranked list. This list may also be stored at the
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`transmitter additionally or supplementary, see para [0153]);
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`storing information representing the plurality of combinations of beams for the
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`plurality of base stations based on a result of reception of the training frames; and
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`a communication unit that communicates between a plurality of base stations and
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`corresponding terminal stations using a first combination of beams selected from the
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`stored information representing the plurality of combinations of beams for the plurality of
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`base stations (interpreted as During the feedback burst, the receiver identifies the
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`antenna beams with the best transmission quality and sends these results to the
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`transmitter via a back channel. The results are favorably forwarded in form of an
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`ordered list of the best transmitter possibilities, see para [0085]. Also see
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`performance may be quantified as, packet error rate (PER), bit error rate (BER) or
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`some other quality measurement, see para [0099]).
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`However Stirling-Gallacher
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`Application/Control Number: 14/630,210
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`Page 5
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`Art Unit: 2461
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`does not teach each beam of the combination of beams having a different frequency
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`band than other beams of the combinations of beams and transmitting,
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`Cain teaches each beam of the combination of beams having a different
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`frequency band than other beams of the combinations of beams and transmitting,
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`(interpreted as FIG. 10 has 2 nodes each with 3 beams with each beam operating
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`in a different frequency band, i.e., beams a, b, and c each use a different
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`frequency band, see para [0200]. Also In this example, node 2 had already
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`allocated 7 beam/time slot combinations that were not used by node 1 (which
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`were in the list of 8 beam/time slot combinations received in the REQ_SPTS
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`message). Thus, by (9) there must be at least one remaining beam/time slot
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`combination that it can select for allocation (C.sub.5), see para [0200]).
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the
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`system taught by Stirling-Gallacher with the beam combination of different bands as
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`taught by Cain since it would have been a simple substitution producing expected
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`results of combining different bands frequency.
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`Regarding claim 2,
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`Stirling-Gallacher in view of Cain teaches the wireless communication method
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`according to Claim 1, wherein the result of the reception of the training frames includes
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`a beam number (interpreted as after each iteration the number of predetermined
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`antenna beams to be used is reduced; therefore, the number of antenna beams
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`used in the transmitter training burst 31a (Q CSF) is larger than the number of
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`Application/Control Number: 14/630,210
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`Page 6
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`Art Unit: 2461
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`antenna beams used in the transmitter training burst 31b (N CSF). This is the
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`same for the receiver training burst 33a (Q CSF), which is larger than the number
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`of antenna beams used in the receiver training burst 33b (N CSF). Formula wise,
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`it can be written S<M<N<Q, whereby each of the letters S, M, N, O is a natural
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`number and stands for a number of beams to be tested during its own iteration,
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`see para [0080] and fig. 4) and an SN ratio (interpreted as favorably, the evaluation
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`of the at least one signal link depends on the signal power, the signal to noise
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`ratio, see Stirling-Gallacher para [0080]).
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`Conclusion
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`1.
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`Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in
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`this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP
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`§ 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37
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`CFR1.136(a).
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`A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE
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`MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
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`In the event a first reply is filed within
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`TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not
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`mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the
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`shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any
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`extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 14/630,210
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`Page 7
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`Art Unit: 2461
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`the advisory action.
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`In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later
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`than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
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`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
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`examiner should be directed to BAO G. NGUYEN whose telephone number is
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`(571 )272—7732. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon - Fri, 8 am - 5 pm.
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`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s
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`supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached on 571 -272-31 55. The fax phone number for the
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`organization 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
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`Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for
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`published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR.
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`Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only.
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`For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should
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`you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic
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`Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a
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`USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information
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`system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272—1000.
`
`/BAO G NGUYEN/
`
`Examiner, Art Unit 2461
`
`/HUY D VU/
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`Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2461
`
`