`
`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
`
`
`
`
`
`15/063,447
`
`03/07/2016
`
`NAGANORI SHIRAKATA
`
`731156527
`
`9098
`
`Seed IP Law Group LLPflDanasonic
`701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5400
`Seattle, WA 98104
`
`ROSE, DERRICK V
`
`PAPER NUIVIBER
`
`ART UNIT
`
`2462
`
`NOTIFICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`06/15/2018
`
`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.
` 15/063,447 SHIRAKATA ET AL.
`
`
`AIA (First Inventor to File)
`Art Unit
`Examiner
`Office Action Summary
`
`
`DERRICK v. ROSE $2213 2462
`-- 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
`
`Status
`
`1)IZI Responsive to communication(s) filed on 2—20-2018.
`El A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
`
`2b)|:l This action is non-final.
`2a)|Z| This action is FINAL.
`3)|:I 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.
`
`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 Exparte Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
`
`Disposition of Claims*
`
`5)IZI Claim(s) 1-11 is/are pending in the application.
`5a) Of the above claim(s)
`is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`
`is/are allowed.
`6)|:I Claim(s)
`7)|Z| Claim(s)_1-11 is/are rejected.
`8)|:I Claim(s)_ is/are objected to.
`
`
`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.
`9)|:I Claim((s)
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, 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
`hit z/thvvvtlsnto. ovI’ atentS/init events/
`
`
`
`iindex.‘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)|:l 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)I:| Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).
`Certified copies:
`
`a)I:l All
`
`b)|:l Some” c)I:l None of the:
`
`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
`
`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)
`
`
`
`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 20180606
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/063,447
`
`Page 2
`
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`DETAILED ACTION
`
`The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor
`
`to file provisions of the AIA.
`
`Response to Arguments
`
`Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim1—11 have been considered but are moot because the
`
`arguments do not apply to all of the references being used in the current rejection.
`
`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 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nabar et al (US
`
`20080266176) in view of Rensburg et al (US 20100127931).
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/063,447
`
`Page 3
`
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`As to claims 1 and 11 Nabar discloses a radio communication device and a communication control
`
`method thereof comprising (Nabar, 29 of Fig.1, 112 of Fif.2): first to Nth directional
`
`communicating circuitry which, in operation connect to first to Mth radio terminals through
`
`beam forming and perform radio communication, N being an integer of two or more, M being
`
`an integer of N or more (Nabar, Fig. 1-2, fl0018- 1“ 2ndl and 3rd sentences; fl0034- 1“ and 2nd1
`
`sentence) : and space time coordinating circuitry (Nabar fij0034- 3rdl sentence— abate—timefi/z‘mflg or
`
`mappmg) which, in operation, performs controlling of the beam forming of each of the first to Nth
`
`directional communicating circuitry (Nabar fl0018- 3rdl sentence) in accordance with (i) connection
`
`information on first beam patterns used by the first radio terminal connected to the first directional
`
`communicating circuitry and second beam patterns used by the second radio terminal connected to
`
`the second directional communicating circuitry (Nabar, 0042- 3rdl and 4th sentences; $100434“ and
`
`2nd1 sentence- develop/726m of#96 [764177 pattern).
`
`Nabar however is silent with regard to controlling (ii) interference information on interference
`
`among the first beam patterns and the second beam patterns. However in an analogous art Rensberg
`
`remedies this deficiency (Rensberg fil0043- 3rd sentence— NB providingpredictable [764177 dfld z'm‘ey‘ereme
`
`to terminals; fij0077- 6th sentence): Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in
`
`the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teachings of Nabar with that of Rensberg
`
`for the purpose of beam adjustments when subjected to interference as desired which is known in
`
`the art (Rensberg fl0013- 1“ sentence).
`
`Claim 2—10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nabar in view of Rensburg
`
`and further in view of Lim et al (US 20050195822).
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/063,447
`
`Page 4
`
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`As to claim 2 the combined teachings of Nabar and Rensburg disclose the radio communication
`
`device according to claim 1 however silent wherein in accordance with the connection information,
`
`the space time coordinating circuitry further causes data transfer between each of another
`
`communication layer to which the radio communication device is connected and the first to the Nth
`
`directional communicating circuitry. However in an analogues art Lime remedies this deficiency:
`
`(Lim $10016, fl0017- last sentences— dam trammz'm'm lady/em MAC— lazg/y dfld [0w layers).
`
`Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time the invention
`
`was filed to combine the teachings of Lim with the already combined teachings of Nabar and
`
`Rensberg for the purpose of providing a MAC protocol structure for packet communication in a
`
`wireless communication system as desired which is known in the art (Lim fl0017- 1St sentence).
`
`As to claim 3 the combined teachings of Nabar Rensburg, and Lim disclose the radio
`
`communication device according to claim 2, wherein the first and second beam patterns include
`
`beam patterns different in beam direction (Nabar 119b, c, d of Fig.2).
`
`As to claim 4 the combined teachings of Nabar Rensburg, and Lim disclose the radio
`
`communication device according to claim 3, wherein in a case that a combination of desired beam
`
`patterns that causes no communication interference is present among combinations of the first and
`
`second beam patterns, the first and second space time coordinating circuitry select the combination
`
`of the desired beam patterns, and in a case that a combination of undesired beam patterns that
`
`causes communication interference is present among the combinations of the first and second beam
`
`patterns, the first and second space time coordinating circuitry select a combination of beam
`
`patterns other than the combination of the undesired beam patterns (Rensburg 110013).
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/063,447
`
`Page 5
`
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`As to claims 5 the combined teachings of Nabar Rensburg, and Lim disclose the radio
`
`communication device according to claim 3, wherein adjacent communication areas of the first and
`
`second directional communicating circuitry overlap each other at least partially (Rensberg Fig.1)
`
`As to claim 6 the combined teachings of Nabar Rensburg, and Lim disclose the radio
`
`communication deVice according to claim 3, wherein the space time coordinating circuitry further
`
`acquires quality information that indicates one or more of reception quality of a radio signal
`
`transmitted from each of the first and second directional communicating circuitry at each of the first
`
`and second radio terminals in each of the first and second beam patterns (Rensberg Fig.3, $10058—
`
`2nd and 3rd sentences— CQI), and reception quality of a radio signal transmitted from each of the first
`
`and second radio terminals at each of the first and second directional communicating circuitry in
`
`each of the first and second beam patterns, and the space time coordinating circuitry detects the
`
`interference information from the acquired quality information (Rensberg fl0009- last sentence).
`
`As to claim 7 the combined teachings of Nabar Rensburg, and Lim disclose the radio
`
`communication deVice according to claim 6, wherein each of the fist and second directional
`
`communicating circuitry acquires the quality information in beam forming training for the first and
`
`second radio terminals (Rensberg Fig.3, fl0058— 2nd and 3rd sentences— CQI) , and
`
`the space time coordinating circuitry performs the scheduling of the beam forming or the data
`
`transfer using the information on each of the first and second directional communicating circuitry,
`
`the information on the beam pattern used for communication with the first and second radio
`
`terminals, identification information on each of the one or more radio terminals, and information on
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/063,447
`
`Page 6
`
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`the reception quality regarding the beam pattern not used for communication with the first and
`
`second radio terminals (Rensberg fil0083- 15t and 2ndl sentence).
`
`As to claim 8 the combined teachings of Nabar Rensburg, and Lim disclose the radio
`
`communication deVice according to claim 6, wherein the space time coordinating circuitry switches
`
`the beam pattern of each of the first and second directional communicating circuitry in accordance
`
`with the quality information and changes a connection destination of the first radio terminal
`
`connected to first directional communicating circuitry to a third directional communicating circuitry
`
`(Nabar, Fig. 1-2, Rensberg fil0091, fil0097).
`
`As to claim 9 the combined teachings of Nabar Rensburg, and Lim disclose the radio
`
`communication device according to claim 6, wherein the space time coordinating circuitry switches
`
`the beam pattern of each of the first and second directional communicating circuitry in accordance
`
`with the interference information and changes a connection destination of the first radio terminals
`
`connected to the first directional communicating circuitry to s third directional communicating
`
`circuitry (Nabar, Fig. 1-2, Rensberg filOlOl, fil0107).
`
`As to claim 10 the combined teachings of Nabar Rensburg, and Lim disclose the radio
`
`communication device according to claim 2, wherein each of the first to Nth directional
`
`communicating circuitry includes: physical layer processing circuitry which, in operation, performs
`
`the beam forming (Lim fl0068- adding a MAC beadezj; and low—level medium access control
`
`(MAC) layer processing circuitry which, in operation, performs transmission and reception of data
`
`with the first to the Mth radio terminals using the physical layer processing circuitry, the other
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/063,447
`
`Page 7
`
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`communication layer includes controlling circuitry which, in operation, performs a process of a
`
`high—level MAC layer, and the space time coordinating circuitry performs transfer of data between
`
`the controlling circuitry and the low—level MAC layer processing circuitry, the transferred data being
`
`transmitted to or from the one or more radio terminals (Lim fil0070- 15t sentence).
`
`Conclusion
`
`Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action.
`
`Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded
`
`of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
`
`A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS
`
`from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the
`
`mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the
`
`THREE—MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on
`
`the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be
`
`calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory
`
`period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
`
`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
`
`should be directed to DERRICK V. ROSE whose telephone number is (571)270—7460. The
`
`examiner can normally be reached on Monday — Friday 8:30— 5:00.
`
`Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in—person, and video conferencing using a
`
`USPTO supplied web—based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to
`
`use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
`
`