www.uspto.gov
`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and TrademarkOffice
`Address; COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
`
`17/256,261
`
`12/28/2020
`
`Lilei WANG
`
`733456.619USPC
`
`1023
`
`Seed IP Law Group LLP/Panasonic (PIPCA)
`701 5th Avenue, Suite 5400
`Seattle, WA 98104
`
`KIM, WON TAE C
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`ART UNIT
`
`2414
`
`NOTIFICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`05/04/2022
`
`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)
`
`

`

`
`
`Disposition of Claims*
`1-15 is/are pending in the application.
`)
`Claim(s)
`5a) Of the above claim(s) ___ is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`Cj] Claim(s)
`is/are allowed.
`Claim(s) 1-6 and 8-15 is/are rejected.
`Claim(s) 7 is/are objectedto.
`£] Claim(s)
`are subjectto 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 12/28/20 is/are: a)@) accepted or b)() 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)0) 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)C) All
`1.2 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 20220421
`
`Application No.
`Applicant(s)
`17/256,261
`WANG etal.
`
`Office Action Summary Art Unit|AIA (FITF) StatusExaminer
`WON TAE C KIM
`2414
`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 12/28/20.
`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.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 2
`
`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.
`
`Claims 1-15 are pending.
`
`Information Disclosure Statement
`
`The IDS filed 12/28/20 has been considered by the examiner.
`
`Specification
`
`The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly
`
`indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
`
`Claim Objections
`
`Claims 11-12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
`
`in claims 11
`
`and 12, the acronyms “SS”, “PSBCH”, and “RSRP” should be spelled out to avoid any
`
`potential ambiguities with the meaning of the acronyms. Appropriate correction is
`
`required.
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
`
`The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
`(b}) CONCLUSION.—The s pecfication shallcondude with one or moreclaims particularly pointing out
`and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor ora joint inventor regards as the
`invention.
`
`The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AlA), second paragraph:
`The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly
`claimingthe subject matter which the applicant regards as hisinvention.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 3
`
`Claims 5, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AlA),
`
`second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly
`
`claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications
`
`subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
`
`In claim 5, the limitation “fulfills latency requirement” is not clearsinceit is not
`
`readily apparent how the latency requirement
`
`is fulfilled by the time interval.
`
`In other
`
`words, how does one of ordinary skill inthe art know that a latency requirement has
`
`been fulfilled by the time interval?
`
`In claim 10, the meaning of the acronyms CBR and PPPP is not clear given that
`
`these acronyms are subject to multiple meanings. The examiner suggests spelling out
`
`these acronyms in order to avoid any ambiguities. The limitation “a corresponding
`
`transmission parameter ... of PPPP of the UE” is confusing in that itis not clear how this
`
`limitation is related to any of the previously recited limitations.
`
`In addition, the
`
`limitation “the UE” (last line) lacks a clearantecedent basis, i.e., it is not clearif “the UE”
`
`refers back to the UE in the preamble or to the “another UE.”
`
`For purposes of applying prior art, the above-identified vague and indefinite
`
`claim limitation has been interpreted to read on the prior art.
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
`
`Inthe 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
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 4
`
`correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of
`
`rejection ifthe 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 madein this Office action:
`
`A personshall be entitled to a patent unless —
`
`(a)}(2} the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, orinanapplication
`for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in whichthe patent or application, as
`the case maybe, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effectivefiling date of
`the claimed invention.
`
`Claim(s) 1-2 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being
`
`anticipated by Wang etal., US 2020/0221423, (“Wang”).
`
`Independent Claims
`
`Regarding independent claim 1, Wang teaches the claim limitations “A user
`
`equipment (UE) (Fig. 22, paragraph no. 0294), comprising:
`
`a receiver (Fig. 22, transceiver 2220 and paragraph no. 0299), operative to receive
`
`transmissions of a Transport Block (TB) performed by another UE using eachof a first set
`
`of beams respectively (see paragraph nos. 0097 and 0105 which disclose that a UE
`
`receives PSCCHs and PSSCHs transmitted by other UEs via beams; see paragraph no.
`
`0096, “when UEs perform transmission and/or reception based on beams... a
`
`transmitting UE can cover each desired direction and a receiving UE can perform
`
`reception correctly in the desired direction”; the limitation “a first set of beams” is
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 5
`
`interpreted to mean one or more beams which is consistent with applicant’s
`
`specification);
`
`circuitry (Fig. 22, processor 2210 and paragraph no. 0297), operative to perform
`
`measurement on the received transmissions, and to select resource for sidelink
`
`transmission among candidate resources based on a measurement result (see paragraph
`
`nos. 0106-0107 which disclose performing PSSCH-RSRP measurement on the PSSCHs,
`
`determining whether an RSRP measurement value of each PSSCH is higher than a
`
`threshold, and if so, exclude the time-frequency resource; see also paragraph no. 0112
`
`which discloses selecting a candidate single TU resource from the set of remaining
`
`candidate resources as a transmission resource for sidelink transmission); and
`
`a transmitter (Fig. 22, transceiver 2220 and paragraph no. 0299), operative to
`
`perform the sidelink transmission with the selected resource (paragraph no. 0118, “A
`
`packet to be transmitted ... is transmitted via the transmission resource”; see Fig. 3C
`
`which clearly showssidelink transmission and reception by a group of UEs),
`
`wherein, the circuitry (Fig. 22, processor 2210 and paragraph no. 0297) is further
`
`operative to preclude, from the candidate resources, one or more candidate resources
`
`associated with a transmission using a beam of the first set of beams, if the
`
`measurement result of the transmission using the beam fulfills a predetermined
`
`condition” (see paragraph nos. 0106, 0107 and in particular paragraph no. 0107 which
`
`discloses “If the RSRP measurement value of the PSSCH is higher than the predefined
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 6
`
`threshold ... excluding the time-frequency resource”; the limitation “fulfills a
`
`predetermined condition” reads on the higher than the predefined threshold disclosure;
`
`the PSSCHs are transmitted by another UE via one or more beams, see paragraph no.
`
`0096, “when UEs perform transmission and/or reception based on beams... a
`
`transmitting UE can cover each desired direction and a receiving UE can perform
`
`reception correctly in the desired direction”).
`
`Regarding independent claim 13, this independent claim is a corresponding
`
`method claim of the apparatus (i.e., UE) claim 1 and recites similar subject matter. As
`
`such, the rationale behind the above rejection of claim 1 applies with equal force to this
`
`independent claim.
`
`Regarding independent claim 14, Wang teaches the claimlimitations “A user
`
`equipment (UE) (Fig. 22, paragraph no. 0294, the “user equipment” in the preamble
`
`reads on one of the outer periphery UEs shown in Fig. 3C, for example, the UE which is
`
`closest to the 60’ clock position in Fig. 3C in which the UE transmitting in all 4 directions
`
`is at the center of the “clock”), comprising:
`
`a receiver (Fig. 22, transceiver 2220 and paragraph no. 0299), operative to
`
`perform sidelink reception from a second UE {the “second UE” reads on the UE closest to
`
`the 4 o’clock position, this second UE transmits (paragraph no. 0118, “A packet to be
`
`transmitted ... is transmitted via the transmission resource”) and the UE receives},
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 7
`
`wherein, the sidelink reception is performed with resource which is selected by the
`
`second UE among candidate resources based on a measurement result,
`
`the measurement result being obtained by the second UE performing measurement on
`
`transmissions of a Transport Block (TB) receivedfrom a third UE and performed by the
`
`third UE using each of a first set of beams respectively (see paragraph nos. 0106-0107
`
`which disclose that the second UE, supra, performs PSSCH-RSRP measurement on the
`
`PSSCHs, determines whether an RSRP measurement value of each PSSCH is higher than
`
`a threshold, and if so, excludes the time-frequency resource; see also paragraph no.
`
`0112 which discloses selecting a candidate single TU resource from the set of remaining
`
`candidate resources as a transmission resource for sidelink transmission; the “third UE”
`
`reads on the UE at the center of the clock, supra, as shown in Fig. 3C), and
`
`wherein, one or more candidate resources associated with a transmission by the
`
`third UE using a beam of the first set of beams are precluded from the candidate
`
`resources, if the measurement result of the transmission by the third UE using the beam
`
`fulfills a predetermined condition” (see paragraph nos. 0106, 0107 and in particular
`
`paragraph no. 0107 which discloses “If the RSRP measurement value of the PSSCH is
`
`higher than the predefined threshold ... excluding the time-frequency resource”; the
`
`limitation “fulfills a predetermined condition” reads on the higher than the predefined
`
`threshold disclosure; the PSSCHs are transmitted by the third UE, supra, via one or
`
`more beams, see Fig. 3C and paragraph no. 0096, “when UEs perform transmission
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 8
`
`and/or reception based on beams ... a transmitting UE can cover each desired direction
`
`and a receiving UE can perform reception correctly in the desired direction”).
`
`Regarding independent claim 15, this independent claim is a corresponding
`
`method claim of the apparatus (i.e., UE) claim 14 and recites similar subject matter. As
`
`such, the rationale behind the above rejection of claim 14 applies with equal force to
`
`this independent claim.
`
`Dependent Claims
`
`Regarding claim 2, Wang teaches “wherein, receiving transmissions of a TB
`
`performed by another UE using each ofa first set of beams respectively comprises:
`
`receiving at least one ofinitial transmissions of the TB and retransmissions of the same
`
`TB using each of the first set of beams respectively (the at least “initial transmissions”
`
`transmitted by the third UE, supra, are received by the second UE, supra; see paragraph
`
`no. 0105 which discloses that the second UE, supra, receives within a sensing window
`
`PSCCHs and PSSCHs transmitted by other UEs such as the third UE, supra, shown in Fig.
`
`3C; see paragraph no. 0138 which discloses that a transmitting UE needs to repetitively
`
`transmit one packet N times in multiples directions by sweeping); and precluding one
`
`or more candidate resources associated with a transmission using a beam ofthe first set
`
`of beams comprises: precluding one or more candidate resources associated with at
`
`least one of initial transmission and retransmission using the beam ofthe first set of
`
`beams” (see paragraph nos. 0106, 0107 and in particular paragraph no. 0107 which
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 9
`
`discloses “If the RSRP measurement value of the PSSCH is higher than the predefined
`
`threshold ... excluding the time-frequency resource”; the received and measured
`
`PSSCHs are at least part of the initial transmission by the third UE, supra, shown in Fig.
`
`3C).
`
`Regarding claim 12, see paragraph no. 0107.
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
`
`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 fora claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is
`notidentically disclosed as set forth ins ection 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 ofthe claimed invention to a person having ordinary skillinthe art to which the
`claimed invention pertains. Pa tentability s hall not be negated by the mannerin which the invention
`was made.
`
`This application currently names joint inventors.
`
`In considering patentability of
`
`the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was
`
`commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any
`
`evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to
`
`point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly
`
`owned as of the effectivefiling date of the later invention in order for the examiner 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 against the later invention.
`
`Claim 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in
`
`view of Wei et al., US 2019/0166640, (“Wei”).
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 10
`
`Regarding claim 3, Wang teaches “wherein the beam is determined by measuring
`
`Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) for the received transmissions” (see paragraph
`
`no. 0107) but not for “sidelink Synchronization Signal” or “PBSCH.”
`
`Wei teaches within a communication system using sidelink transmissions, the link
`
`quality of aremote UE with its sidelink neighbors can be measured using the RSRP of a
`
`sidelink synchronization signal, see paragraph no. 0149.
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skillinthe art before the effective
`
`filing date of this claimed invention to modify Wang by measuring the RSRP of a sidelink
`
`synchronization signal as taught by Wei to measure the link quality of the UE with its
`
`sidelink neighbors, as suggested by Wei in paragraph no. 0149.
`
`Claims 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang
`
`in view of Lee et al., US 2021/0195543, (“Lee”).
`
`Regarding claim 4, Wang teaches “wherein the circuitry is further operative to set
`
`a time interval for a resource selection window to include, within the resource selection
`
`window, candidate resourcesforinitial transmission using each of a second set of
`
`beams (see Fig. 7 which showsa time interval, from n+T1 to n+T2, for a resource
`
`selection window which includes candidate resourcesA, B forinitial transmission using
`
`beams, see paragraph no. 0138) but does not teach “candidate resources for
`
`retransmission using each of the second set of beams” as recited. Wang also appears to
`
`implicitly teach retransmissions of the same packet, see paragraph no. 0138.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 11
`
`Lee teaches retransmissions more explicitly. Lee teaches within a V2X sidelink
`
`resource exclusion communication system, when resources for initial transmission are
`
`selected, resources for retransmission may also be reserved apart from the resources
`
`for initial transmission by a predetermined time gap, see paragraph no. 0206.
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skillinthe art before the effective
`
`filing date of this claimed invention to modify Wang by including within the resource
`
`selection window, candidate resources for retransmission as taught by Lee, to perform
`
`the transmission twice for each MAC PDU/packet, as suggested by Lee in paragraph no.
`
`0206. Such a modification would improve the reliability of the sidelink transmissions
`
`performed by each UE to the other UEs.
`
`Regarding claim 5, the limitation “wherein the time interval for the resource
`
`selection window fulfills latency requirement” is deemed inherent in the time interval
`
`shown in Fig. 7 of Wang.
`
`Regarding claim 6, see Fig. 7 of Wang which showsthat the resources A and B are
`
`“bundled together” as that term is broadly construed since the resources A and Bare
`
`consecutive in time.
`
`Claim 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in
`
`view of Lee et al., US 2019/0014564, (“Lee”).
`
`Regarding claim 8, Wang teaches “wherein the initial transmissions or
`
`retransmissions of the same TB usingthe first set of beams are performed on
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 12
`
`consecutive positions in time domain” (see Fig. 7 which showsinitial
`
`transmissions/retransmissions of the same packet consecutive in time, see also
`
`paragraph no. 0138).
`
`Wang does not teach the limitation “on a sameposition in frequency domain” as
`
`recited in claim 8.
`
`In Wang, the resources A and B occupy different frequency positions.
`
`Lee teaches that retransmissions of the same packet may be performed by using
`
`the same frequency resourceas the initial transmission in a V2X communication system,
`
`see paragraph no. 0199. Hence, Lee teaches that the retransmissions of the same
`
`packet may use the same frequency resource.
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skillinthe art before the effective
`
`filing date of this claimed invention to modify Wang by using the same frequency
`
`position for initial transmissions/retransmissions as taught by Lee in order to use the
`
`Mode 1 DCl and/or ‘SA(/PSCCH)’ as suggested by Lee in paragraph no. 0199.
`
`Furthermore, such a modification would enable the sidelink transmissions to occupy a
`
`smaller frequency band, thereby reserving the other unused frequency bandsfor
`
`additional sidelink transmissions.
`
`Claim 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in
`
`view of Guo et al., US 2017/0325260, (“Guo”).
`
`Regarding claim 9, Wang does not teach but Guo teaches/suggests “wherein the
`
`number of beamsin the first set of beams is implied by sidelink SS of the other UE or
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 13
`
`indicated in PSBCH of the other UE” (see paragraph no. 0013 of Guo which discloses that
`
`a BS transmits to a UE a PBCH which conveys a number of the transmit beams being
`
`utilized by the BS).
`
`In Guo, the BS is analogous to “the other UE” and the PBCH is
`
`analogous to the “PSBCH.” Hence, Guo at least suggests the limitation “wherein the
`
`number of beamsin the first set of beams is indicated in PSBCH of the other UE” as
`
`recited in claim 9 given that sidelink communications are well known in the art and the
`
`concepts in LTE can be easily applied to the sidelink technology being employed in the
`
`emerging V2X technologies.
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skillinthe art before the effective
`
`filing date of this claimed invention to modify Wang by indicating the number of beams
`
`in the PSBCH of the other UE as suggested by Guo in order to prepare the sidelink
`
`neighboring UEs to better receive the transmitted signals by using a corresponding
`
`number of receive beamsat the receiving UE.
`
`Claim 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang
`
`in view of Mok et al., US 2019/0253927, (“Mok”).
`
`Regarding claim 10, given the 112(b) rejection above, Wang appears to implicitly
`
`teach “wherein the sidelink transmission is performed by using a second set of beams
`
`(sidelink transmission performed, via beams, by the second UE, supra, see also
`
`paragraph no. 0118), and the number of beams in the second set of beamsis not larger
`
`than a maximum allowable number of beams determined based on transmission
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 14
`
`parameter of the UE (implicit in Wang), a corresponding transmission parameter being
`
`configured or preconfigured for a certain value of CBR and acertain value of PPPP of the
`
`UE” (see paragraph no. 0130 which discloses CBR and priority of each resource pool in
`
`which the disclosed priority teaches the recited “PPPP”).
`
`Mok teaches these limitations more explicitly, see paragraph no. 0090 which
`
`discloses that a first terminal 121 may select a Tx carrier and a resource pool using the
`
`channel busy ratio (CBR) and the ProSe per packet priority (PPPP) of the resource pool
`
`of each carrier. The first terminal 121 then transmits a duplicated packet to a second
`
`terminal 123 via the Tx carrier or beam, see paragraph no. 0091. The number of beams
`
`used by the first terminal 121 is “not larger than a maximum allowable number of
`
`beams” given the 112(b) rejection above.
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skillinthe art before the effective
`
`filing date of this claimed invention to modify Wang by incorporating the teachings of
`
`Mok to improve the sidelink communication with neighboring UEs by limiting the
`
`number of beams used by the transmitting UE based on the CBR and PPPP which are
`
`known parameters in the art.
`
`Claim 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang
`
`in view of Chae et al., US 2017/0272299, (“Chae”).
`
`Regarding claim 11, Wang does not explicitly teach but Chae teaches “wherein
`
`three or more sets of sidelink SS and PSBCH are allocated in one slot” (see Fig. 8(a)
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 15
`
`which discloses within a 1 ms subframe at least 4 sidelink synchronization signals (PSSS
`
`in symbols 1, 2 and SSSS in symbols 11, 12) and a PSBCH (symbols 4-9) are allocated, see
`
`also paragraph no. 0119; the limitation “slot” is broadly construed to read on the
`
`disclosed subframe).
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skillinthe art before the effective
`
`filing date of this claimed invention to modify Wang by incorporating the teachings of
`
`Chae to enable the UEs to communicate system information to a group of neighboring
`
`UEs via the PSBCH and to synchronize their transmissions with one another by using the
`
`well known primary and secondary sidelink synchronization signals, as is known in the
`
`art. Such a modification would improve thereliability and the efficiency of sidelink
`
`communications in V2X communications.
`
`Allowable Subject Matter
`
`Claim 7 is 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 anyintervening claims.
`
`The prior art of record does not teach or suggest the limitations as set forth in
`
`claim 7.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Conclusion
`
`Page 16
`
`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
`
`examiner should be directed to WON TAE C. KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-
`
`1812. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
`
`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.
`
`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's
`
`supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached on (571)272-7884. The fax phone number for
`
`the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
`
`Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be
`
`obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is
`
`available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center,
`
`visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit
`
`https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about
`
`Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information aboutfiling in
`
`DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at
`
`866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service
`
`Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA)or 571-272-1000.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/256,261
`Art Unit: 2414
`
`Page 17
`
`/W.C.K/
`
`Examiner, AU 2414
`
`/EDAN ORGAD/
`Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414
`
`