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
`
`15/232,409
`
`08/09/2016
`
`Akihiko NISHIO
`
`733456.548C1
`
`7693
`
`Seed IP Law Group LLP/Panason1e (PIPCA)
`701 5th Avenue, Suite 5400
`Seattle, WA 98104
`
`LI'NING
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`ART UNIT
`
`2415
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`NOTIFICATION DATE
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`DELIVERY MODE
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`08/05/2019
`
`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.
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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
`
`pairlinkdktg @ seedip .eom
`
`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`0/7709 A0170” Summary
`
`Application No.
`15/232,409
`Examiner
`NING Li
`
`Applicant(s)
`NISHIO et al.
`Art Unit
`2415
`
`AIA (FITF) Status
`No
`
`- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet wit/7 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 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.
`|f 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).
`
`Status
`
`1). Responsive to communication(s) filed on 4/30/2019.
`[:1 A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
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`2a). This action is FINAL.
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`2b) C] 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.
`
`Disposition of Claims*
`5)
`Claim(s)
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`1,4—9,12—17 and 20—27 is/are pending in the application.
`
`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) 1,4—9,12—17 and 20—27 is/are rejected.
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`[:1 Claim(s) _
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`is/are objected to.
`
`) ) ) )
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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
`
`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`
`http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init events/pph/index.jsp or send an inquiry to PPeredback@uspto.gov.
`
`Application Papers
`10)[:] The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`
`11). The drawing(s) filed on 8/9/2016 is/are: a). accepted or b)D 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
`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). All
`
`b)D Some**
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`C)D 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. 14/234,570.
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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)).
`
`** See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
`
`Attachment(s)
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`1)
`
`Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
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`2) D Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date_
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`
`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 20190718
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/232,409
`Art Unit: 2415
`
`Page 2
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`DETAILED ACTION
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`Response to Amendment
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`The amendment filed on 4/30/2019 has been entered. Claims 2-3, 10-11 and 18-19 have
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`been cancelled, claims 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14, 17, 20, 22, 25-27 have been amended, and claims 1, 4-
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`9, 12-17 and 20-27 remain pending in the application.
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`Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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`The present application is being examined under the pre—AIA first to invent provisions.
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`Claim Rejections - 35 US C § 103
`
`The following is a quotation of pre—AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all
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`obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
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`(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set
`forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art
`are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made
`to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not
`be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
`
`The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere C0., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459
`
`(1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre—
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`AIA 35 USC. 103(a) are 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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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/232,409
`Art Unit: 2415
`
`Page 3
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`Claims 1: 4'5: 7'9: 12-13: 15-17: 20-21 and 23-24 are rejected under pre—AIA 35 U.S.C.
`
`1031a] as being unpatentable over Marinier et al. [US 2013/0003788 A1]; in view of Fong et al.
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`[WO 2011/041754 A1]; and in further view of Yang et al. [US 9497713 B2].
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`Regarding claims 1, 9 and 17; Marinier discloses receiving, by Radio Resource Control
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`(RRC) signaling (the transmission points (or corresponding reference signals such as CSl—RS)
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`that are part of each subset is transmitted to a UE via RRC signaling; see paragraphs [0058],
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`[0066], [0075], [0299]), a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) candidate list,
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`wherein the CSI—RS candidate list indicates CSI-RS configuration information (the WTRU may
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`be configured with a list of transmission points, CSl—RS or TP—RS to measure; the configuration
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`may include at least one subset of CSl—RS configuration which correspond to a list of CSl—RS;
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`see paragraphs [0298], [0311], [0317], [0323]), determines CSI-RS resource information based
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`on the CSI—RS candidate list, and makes a reception power measurement based on the
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`determined CSI—RS resource information (a WTRU may estimate a received signal strength
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`(RSRP) and/or quality (RSRQ) and/or path loss of a subset of transmission points of a certain
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`cell based on measuring the CSl—RS reference signal(s) for a subset of transmission points; the
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`configuration may include at least one subset of CSl—RS configuration, which may correspond to
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`a list of CSl—RS that related to the serving cell; see paragraphs [0294]—[0298]).
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`Marinier discloses a WTRU reports RSRP or RSRQ values to the eNB (see paragraph
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`[0297]).
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`Marinier does not explicitly disclose a WRTU a reporting condition reports the
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`measurement when the measurement is greater than a pre—configured threshold.
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/232,409
`Art Unit: 2415
`
`Page 4
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`Fong discloses receiving a reporting condition (to trigger measurement reporting from a
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`UE, the eNB may configure one or more measurement identities for a UE; each measurement
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`identity is associated with a reporting configuration such as RSRP/RSRQ threshold; see
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`paragraph [0087]), reporting a result of the reception power measurement when the result of the
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`reception power measurement is greater than a threshold included in the reporting condition (a
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`UE can include a cell in the measurement report if the received (measured) signal strength (e. g.
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`RSRP, RSRQ) is higher than a threshold configured by the eNB; see paragraphs [0125]—[0126]).
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention
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`was made to combine the teachings of Marinier and Fong to report the reception power
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`measurement in order to avoid triggering excessive measurement reports and signaling overhead
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`(see paragraph [0051] of Fong).
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`Marinier discloses a WTRU estimates RSRP or RSRQ values based on measuring the
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`CSI—RS reference signal(s); and the CSI—RS configuration may corresponding to a list of CSI—RS
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`that related to the serving cell (see paragraphs [0294]—[0298]).
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`Yang discloses wherein the CSI—RS candidate list (reference signals for RSPR
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`measurement), is included in a measurement object message received by the RRC signaling,
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`wherein the measurement object message indicates measurement targets of cell specific
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`reference signals (CRSs) (21 UP; receives reference signal crn'ifiguratierr 11?; from each RP
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`{reception point) in the R 9 set: in response to the RP set, information, the U12 measures the RSR 9
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`of the corresponding downlinlr reference signal; each R? configuration {33 includes cell ID;
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`reference signal type etc; in LTE and LTE—A with €30}le the downlink reference signal type
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`may be CR3, USERS; in earlier [TE and 1.;TE~A systems, CR8 is used for nieasurernent; RP set,
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/232,409
`Art Unit: 2415
`
`Page 5
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`configuration is transmitted in a message via higher layer signaling; see lines 24-27. colt 1; lines
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`5267, col. 4, lines 1436, col. 5; Fig, 2 Fig. 4~Fig. 5).
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention
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`was made to combine the teachings of Marinier, Fong and Yang to include the reference signals
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`for RSRP measurement in a measurement object message for measurement using CRSs in order
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`to support earlier LTE/LTE—A system (backward compatible) (see lines 242?, col. l).
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`Specifically for claim 1; Marinier discloses a receiver (transceiver; see Fig. 1B),
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`circuitry, which is coupled to the receiver (processor; see Fig. 1B) and a transmitter, which is
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`coupled to the circuitry (transceiver; see Fig. 1B).
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`Regarding claims 4, 12 and 20; Marinier discloses makes a reception quality
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`measurement based on the determined CSI-RS resource information (a WTRU may estimate a
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`received signal strength (RSRP) and/or quality (RSRQ) and/or path loss of a subset of
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`transmission points of a certain cell based on measuring the CSI—RS reference signal(s) for a
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`subset of transmission points; see paragraphs [0294]—[0298]); and the transmitter reports a result
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`of the reception quality measurement (the WTRU may report RSRP or RSRP values of some or
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`each transmission point of a same and/or different cell(s); see paragraph [0297]).
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`Regarding claims 5, 13 and 21; Marinier discloses wherein the CSI—RS candidate list
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`indicates CSI—RS configuration information of one or more transmission points selected from a
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`plurality of transmission points in a macro cell (the WTRU may be configured to measure the
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/232,409
`Art Unit: 2415
`
`Page 6
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`CSl—RS transmitted from the macro eNB and the CSl—RS transmitted from at least one of the
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`remote radio heads; see paragraph [0337]).
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`Regarding claims 7, 15 and 23; Marinier discloses wherein the reception power is a
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`reference signal reception power (RSRP) (the WTRU may report RSRP or RSRQ values of some
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`or each transmission point of a same and/or different cell(s); see paragraph [0297]).
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`Regarding claims 8, 16 and 24; Marinier discloses wherein the transmitter, in operation,
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`transmits channel state information (CSI) (the WTRU may also report CSI; see paragraph
`
`[0079]).
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`Claims 25-27 are rejected under p_re—AIA 35 U.S.C. 1031a] as being unp_atentable over
`
`
`Marinier' in view of Fon ' in view of Yan ' and in further view of Kan et al. US
`
`2011/0319109 Al 2.
`
`Regarding claims 25-27; Marinier discloses a WTRU estimates RSRP or RSRQ values
`
`based on measuring the CSl—RS reference signal(s); and the CSl—RS configuration may
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`corresponding to a list of CSl—RS that related to the serving cell (see paragraphs [0294]—[0298]).
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`Kang discloses wherein the CRSs are pre- defined in at least one of3GPP Release 8 (in
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`LTE Rel—8, a CRS is used to perform channel measurement; see paragraph [0067]), Release 9,
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`and Release 10 standards (no patentable weight is given to other elements due to the claim
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`language at least one of).
`
`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/232,409
`Art Unit: 2415
`
`Page 7
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention
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`was made to combine the teachings of Marinier, Fong, Yang and Kang to use CRSs defined in
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`previous LTE release to be compliance with 3GPP standand (see paragraph [0057]).
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`Claims 6, 14 and 22 are rejected under p_re—AIA 35 U.S.C. 1031a) as being unp_atentable
`
`
`over Marinier' in view of Fon ' in view of Yan ' and in further view of Ki'un Kim et al. WO
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`2011/115421 )2 hereinafter Kim.
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`Regarding claims 6, 14 and 22; Marinier discloses one or more of CSI—RS candidates in
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`the CSI-RS candidate list (the configuration may include at least one subset of CSI—RS
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`configuration, which may correspond to a list of CSl—RS; see paragraph [0298]).
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`Kim further discloses the CSI-RS configuration information includes at least one position
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`selected from a time resource position and a frequency resource position in a subframe
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`(resourceConfig) of one or more CSI-RS candidates (the CSl—RS configuration may specify the
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`time—frequency positions of CSl—RS REs in the downlink subframe; see lines 11—36 of page 36
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`and Fig. 8).
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention
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`was made to combine the teachings of Marinier, Fong, Yang and Kim to specify time—frequency
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`positions in a subframe in a CSl—RS configuration in order to efficiently and accurately measure
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`and report CSI using CSl—RS configuration (see lines 15 —22 of page 6).
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/232,409
`Art Unit: 2415
`
`Page 8
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`Response to Arguments
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`Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot in view
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`of a new reference Yang (US 9497713 B2) being used in the current rejection.
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`Conclusion
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`Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this
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`Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a).
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`Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(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. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO
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`MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after
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`the end of the THREE—MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period
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`will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37
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`CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event,
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`however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this
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`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 NING LI whose telephone number is (571)270—0624. The
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`examiner can normally be reached on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8:30am — 5:00pm.
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`Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in—person, and video conferencing using
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`a USPTO supplied web—based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is
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`encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at
`
`http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/232,409
`Art Unit: 2415
`
`Page 9
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`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s
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`supervisor, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached on (571) 270—1215. The fax phone number for the
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`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
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`system, see http://pair—direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR
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`system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866—217—9197 (toll—free). If you would
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`information system, call 800—786—9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571—272—1000.
`
`/N.L/
`
`Examiner, Art Unit 2415
`
`/JEFFREY M RUTKOWSKI/
`
`Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2415
`
`