`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and TrademarkOffice
`Address; COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
`
`16/990,669
`
`08/11/2020
`
`YUTAKA MURAKAMI
`
`731456.509C1
`
`8479
`
`Seed IP Law Group LLP/Panasonic (PIPCA)
`701 5th Avenue, Suite 5400
`Seattle, WA 98104
`
`PUENTE, EVA YI ZHENG
`
`ART UNIT
`
`2632
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`NOTIFICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`04/09/2021
`
`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):
`USPTOeAction @ SeedIP.com
`
`pairlinkdktg @seedip.com
`
`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`Application No.
`16/990,669
`Examiner
`EVA Y PUENTE
`
`Applicant(s)
`MURAKAM| etal.
`Art Unit
`AIA (FITF) Status
`2632
`Yes
`
`-- The MAILING DATEofthis communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
`Period for Reply
`
`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLYIS SET TO EXPIRE 3 MONTHS FROM THE MAILING
`DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensions of time may be available underthe provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply betimely filed after SIX (6) MONTHSfrom 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) MONTHSfrom 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, evenif timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term
`adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
`
`Status
`
`
`
`1) Responsive to communication(s) filed on 8/11/20.
`C} A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/werefiled on
`
`2a)L) This action is FINAL. 2b)¥)This action is non-final.
`3)02 An election was madeby the applicant in responseto a restriction requirement set forth during the interview
`on
`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
`4\0) 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 Quayle, 1935 C.D. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
`
`Disposition of Claims*
`1-12 is/are pending in the application.
`)
`Claim(s)
`5a) Of the above claim(s) ___ is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`(J Claim(s)__ is/are allowed.
`Claim(s) 1-3,6-9 and 12 is/are rejected.
`Claim(s) 4-5 and 10-11 is/are objected to.
`1) Claim(s
`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement
`)
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, you maybeeligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`http:/Awww.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/index.jsp or send an inquiry to PPHfeedback@uspto.gov.
`
`) ) ) )
`
`Application Papers
`10)() The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`11)M The drawing(s)filed on 8/11/20 is/are: a) accepted or b)C) 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:
`c)() None ofthe:
`b)( Some**
`a) All
`1.4) Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`2.1) Certified copies of the priority documents have beenreceived in Application No.
`3.1.) 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)
`
`1)
`
`Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`
`Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`2)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`
`3) (J Interview Summary (PTO-413)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date
`(Qj Other:
`
`4)
`
`PTOL-326 (Rev. 11-13)
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`Part of Paper No./Mail Date 20210406
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 16/990,669
`Art Unit: 2632
`
`Page 2
`
`DETAILED ACTION
`
`Notice of Pre-AlA or AIA Status
`
`The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the
`
`first inventor to file provisions of the AIA.
`
`Acknowledgmentis made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119
`
`Priority
`
`(a)-(d).
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
`
`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-AlA 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form
`
`the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
`
`A person shall be entitled to a patent unless —
`
`(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale,
`or otherwise available to the public before the effectivefiling date of the claimed invention.
`
`Claims 1-3, 6-9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by
`
`Murakami et al (US 2014/0219389)
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 16/990,669
`Art Unit: 2632
`
`Page 3
`
`a)
`
`Regarding claims 1 and 7, Murakami et al disclose a reception apparatus comprising:
`
`a receiver (Fig. 65), which, in operation, receivesa first precoded signal and a second
`
`precodedsignal, wherein, when a first phase change is enabled at a communication partner
`
`apparatus (Fig. 52; Pub [0375]), the first phase changeis applied to the first precoded signal,
`
`and the first phase change and a second phase changeare applied to the second precoded
`
`signal (317A and 317B in Fig. 52; [0466-0469]), wherein an amountofthe first phase changeis
`
`cyclically switched (Pub [0377-0378]); and
`
`a signal processor (6500in Fig. 65), which is coupled to the receiver and which, in
`
`operation, performs reception processing of the received first precoded signal by using the first
`
`phase change, performs reception processing of the received second precoded signal by using
`
`the first phase change and the second phase change,and obtains a data signal (Pub [0691-
`
`0695)).
`
`b)
`
`Regarding claims 2 and 8, Murakami et al disclose wherein when the first phase change
`
`is enabled at the communication partner apparatus, m/2 shift BPSK (binary phase shift keying) is
`
`used and the amountofthe first phase changeis switched symbol by symbol (Pub [1944];
`
`symbol to symbol switching is an inherent feature of BPSK).
`
`C)
`
`Regarding claims 3 and 9, Murakami et al disclose wherein when the first phase change
`
`is enabled at the communication partner apparatus, m/2 shift BPSK (binary phase shift keying) is
`
`used and the amountofthe first phase change is switched between zero and nm/2 (Pub [1944];
`
`zero and m/2 switching is an inherent feature of BPSK).
`
`d)
`
`Regarding claims 6 and 12, Murakami et al disclose wherein the receiver, in operation,
`
`receives a control signal relating to a modulation method used by the communication partner
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 16/990,669
`Art Unit: 2632
`
`Page 4
`
`apparatus to generatethe first precoded signal and the second precoded signal Fig. 52; [0466-
`
`0469; Table 1].
`
`Allowable Subject Matter
`
`Claims 4, 5, 10, and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim,
`
`but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the
`
`base claim and any intervening claims.
`
`Conclusion
`
`The prior art made of record and notrelied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
`
`disclosure. US 8,000,401 Lee et al disclose phase shift base precoding.
`
`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
`
`examiner should be directed to Eva Y Puente whose telephone number is 571-272-3049. The
`
`examiner can normally be reached on M-F, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
`
`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s
`
`supervisor, Chieh Fan can be reached on 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the
`
`organization wherethis 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 system, see http://pair-
`
`
`
`Application/Control Number: 16/990,669
`Art Unit: 2632
`
`Page 5
`
`direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on accessto the Private PAIR system, contact the
`
`Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
`
`April 6, 2021
`
`/EVA Y PUENTE/
`
`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
`
`