Ex Parte Mielczarek et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Oct 22, 2018

14628570 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 22, 2018)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
14/628,570 02/23/2015
10585 7590
Volpe and Koenig, P.C.
30 South 17th Street
Suite 1800
Philadelphia, PA 19103
10/24/2018
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Bartosz Mielczarek
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
WIN-P00431US3 2844
EXAMINER
NGUYEN, LEON VIET Q
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2632
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
10/24/2018 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):
eoffice@volpe-koenig.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte BARTOSZ MIELCZAREK
and WITOLD A. KRZYMIEN
Appeal2018-002263
Application 14/628,570 1
Technology Center 2600
Before ROBERT E. NAPPI, DAVID M. KOHUT, and
LYNNE E. PETTIGREW, Administrative Patent Judges.
KOHUT, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This is a decision on appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the
Examiner's Final Rejection of claims 1-24. We have jurisdiction under 35
U.S.C. § 6(b).
We reverse.
1 According to Appellants, the real party in interest is Wi-LAN, Inc. App.
Br. 3.
Appeal2018-002263
Application 14/628,570
INVENTION
Appellants' invention relates to multi-user communications systems
using multiple input and multiple output modes and the quantization of the
channel state information. Spec. 2 :25-31.
CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER
Claims 1, 9, and 17 are independent. Claim 1 is illustrative and is
reproduced below.
1. A method for wireless transmission from a multiple-antenna
transmitter, the method comprising:
storing a codebook including pre-quantized channel
vectors each having a length N, wherein N is a number of
antennas at the transmitter; and
in a multi-user multiple input and multiple output
(MIM O) mode:
receiving a plurality of indices, only one of the plurality
of indices from each of a plurality of user devices, each user
device comprising a receiver and at least one of the user devices
comprising a plurality of antennas, wherein each index
corresponds to one of the pre-quantized channel vectors;
determining at least one and no more than N vectors
based on at least one and no more than N of the received
indices and on pre-quantized channel vectors corresponding to
the at least one and no more than N received indices; and
transmitting data to at least one and no more than N user
devices of the plurality of user devices, using the determined
vectors;
wherein N is greater than one.
App. Br. 16, Claims App.
2
Appeal2018-002263
Application 14/628,570
REJECTIONS AT ISSUE
The Examiner rejected claims 1--4, 6-12, 14--20, and 22-24 under 35
U.S.C. § I03(a) as being unpatentable over Li (U.S. 2006/0056531 Al;
published Mar. 16, 2006), Kolesnik (U.S. 6,952,671 Bl; issued Oct. 4,
2005), and Zheng (U.S. 2010/0150036 Al; published June 17, 2010). Final
Act. 2-9.
The Examiner rejected claims 5, 13, and 21 under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a)
as unpatentable over Li, Kolesnik, Zheng, and Ionescu (U.S. 2006/0019602
Al; published Jan. 26, 2006). Final 9-10.
ANALYSIS
Independent claim 1 recites a method comprising "receiving a
plurality of indices[,] ... only one of the plurality of indices from each of a
plurality of user devices, wherein at least one of the user devices comprises a
plurality of antennas." Final Act 3--4. Independent claims 9 and 17 recite
similar limitations. Claims 2-8, 10-16, and 18-24 are dependent upon
claims 1, 9, and 17 (respectively). The Examiner finds Zheng teaches the
disputed limitation. Specifically, the Examiner finds Zheng teaches
receiving one index per user in a multi-user environment. Final Act. 4; Ans.
14. The Examiner also finds "Zheng appears to teach a plurality of user
devices with single antenna arrangements[, but] ... the user devices transmit
and receive signals ... , which is interpreted to mean that each user device
may be a transmitter or receiver." Ans. 12; see Final Act. 4. Thus, the
Examiner concludes that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill
in the art for a user to use multiple antennas and receive only one index.
Ans. 12; Final Act. 4.
3
Appeal2018-002263
Application 14/628,570
Appellants argue that while Zheng teaches receiving one index per
user, Zheng fails to teach or suggest receiving one index per user with
multiple antennas. App. Br. 7; Reply Br. 4. We agree with Appellants.
While Zheng does teach one index per user, Zheng also repeatedly
and explicitly states that each user has a single antenna. See Zheng ,r,r 30,
32, and 41; see also Zheng Figs. 1 and 2. Although Zheng discusses
multiple antennas in the background of the invention, the Examiner fails to
provide sufficient evidence or technical reasoning to show that it would have
been obvious for Zheng to receive one index per user where each user has
multiple antennas. The additional references were not cited to teach or
suggest this limitation and we will not engage in any inquiry as to whether
the additional references cure the noted deficiencies. As such, we cannot
sustain the Examiner's rejection of claims 1-24.
DECISION
The Examiner's rejection of claims 1-24 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) is
reversed.
REVERSED
4