DETAILED ACTION
Applicant’s amendment and arguments filed November 26, 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 1, 8, and 15 have been amended.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
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 of this title, 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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 effective filing 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 5, 8, 12, 15, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al. (hereinafter You) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0378007 A1) in view of LIN et al. (hereinafter Lin) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2022/0007407 A1).
Regarding claim 1, You teaches a method, by a user equipment (UE) (terminal device, figure 4), for transmission of hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback by the UE in communication with a base station (BS) (network device, figure 4) using an unlicensed spectrum, the method comprising:
receiving downlink (DL) data (downlink data) in a first channel occupancy time (COT) (COT1, figure 5) (figures 4 and 5; [0149]; [0212]; teaches the terminal device receives downlink data in a first COT1);
receiving a triggering downlink control indicator (DCI) (second DCI) during a second COT (COT2, figure 5), the triggering DCI providing an indication of a HARQ feedback (feedback information; figure 5) that is pending for a corresponding HARQ process, and the second COT carrying no scheduled DL data ([0021]; [0025]; “…the second DCI further includes at least one of the following:… second DCI may carry the ID information of the first serving cell, to indicate that the uplink transmission resource indicated by using the second DCI is used to transmit a HARQ feedback for a downlink transmission resource on a cell…”; [0028]; [0029]; [0031]; “…ID information of a HARQ process…The HARQ process is a HARQ process corresponding to the second DCI. In other words, the uplink transmission resource indicated by the second DCI is used to perform HARQ feedbacks for HARQ processes…configuration information is used to indicate HARQ processes corresponding to the HARQ feedback performed by the terminal device on the uplink transmission resource indicated by the second DCI…”; [0208]; [0209]; [0212]; teaches the terminal device receives a second DCI during a second COT2 indicating information related to HARQ feedback for a corresponding HARQ process and the COT2 does not carry any schedule DL data); and
transmitting the HARQ feedback based on the triggering DCI, wherein the first COT and the second COT are acquired by the (BS) in the unlicensed spectrum, the second COT being subsequent to the first COT ([0116]; [0208]; [0209]; [0212]; teaches the terminal device transmits the feedback information based on the second DCI, and the first and second COT are in the unlicensed frequency where the second COT2 is subsequent to the first COT1; figure 4 and 5).
However, You may not explicitly disclose wherein the triggering DCI comprises a plurality of reset indicators, each of the reset indicators operating in a toggle manner and each indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback for a respective set of PDSCHs on a next PUCCH transmission; and based on determining whether a respective reset indicator has toggled, transmitting the HARQ feedback based on the triggering DCI (although You does suggest handling HARQ feedback on PUCCH; [0165]).
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Lin teaches and suggests wherein the triggering DCI (DCI; [0046]) comprises a plurality of reset indicators (first information field; [0046]), each of the reset indicators operating in a toggle manner ([0046]; teaches the first information field comprises a bit value of 1 or 0 thus operating in a toggle manner) and each indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback for a respective set of PDSCHs on a next PUCCH transmission; and based on determining whether a respective reset indicator has toggled, transmitting the HARQ feedback based on the triggering DCI ([0045]; [0046]; “…the first information field included in the DCI includes a bit, when the value of the bit is 1, it indicates that the first information field is used for triggering the feedback sequence; and when the value of the bit is 0, it indicates that the first information field is not used for triggering the feedback sequence…”; [0061]; [0079]; [0096]; teaches the UE receives a DCI for triggering feedback where the DCI comprises first information field including a bit value operating in a toggle manner indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback on a next PUCCH, and transmitting the HARQ feedback based on the bit value).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the UE receives a DCI for triggering feedback where the DCI comprises first information field including a bit value operating in a toggle manner indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback on a next PUCCH, and transmitting the HARQ feedback based on the bit value as taught by Lin with the method of transmitting feedback information based on DCI as disclosed by You for the purpose of triggering feedback information of the PDSCH in order to save signaling overhead, as suggested by Lin.
Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19, You teaches a terminal device transmitting feedback information based on a triggering second DCI on a second COT, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the triggering DCI comprises a set index, the set index indicating a set of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) having pending HARQ-ACK feedback.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Lin teaches and suggests wherein the triggering DCI comprises a set index, the set index indicating a set of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) having pending HARQ-ACK feedback ([0059]; [0064]; [0065]; teaches the DCI comprising an index for PDSCH and pending HARQ feedback).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the DCI comprising an index for PDSCH and pending HARQ feedback as taught by Lin with the method of transmitting feedback information based on DCI as disclosed by You, as modified by Lin, for the purpose of triggering feedback information of the PDSCH in order to save signaling overhead, as suggested by Lin.
Regarding claim 8, You teaches a user equipment (UE) (terminal device, figure 4) comprising: processor circuitry (processing element, figure 9) configured to:
receive downlink (DL) data (downlink data) in a first channel occupancy time (COT) (COT1, figure 5) (figures 4 and 5; [0149]; [0212]; teaches the terminal device receives downlink data in a first COT1);
receive a triggering downlink control indicator (DCI) (second DCI) during a second COT (COT2, figure 5), the triggering DCI providing an indication of a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback (feedback information; figure 5) that is pending for a corresponding HARQ process, and the second COT carrying no scheduled DL data ([0021]; [0025]; “…the second DCI further includes at least one of the following:… second DCI may carry the ID information of the first serving cell, to indicate that the uplink transmission resource indicated by using the second DCI is used to transmit a HARQ feedback for a downlink transmission resource on a cell…”; [0028]; [0029]; [0031]; “…ID information of a HARQ process…The HARQ process is a HARQ process corresponding to the second DCI. In other words, the uplink transmission resource indicated by the second DCI is used to perform HARQ feedbacks for HARQ processes…configuration information is used to indicate HARQ processes corresponding to the HARQ feedback performed by the terminal device on the uplink transmission resource indicated by the second DCI…”; [0208]; [0209]; [0212]; teaches the terminal device receives a second DCI during a second COT2 indicating information related to HARQ feedback for a corresponding HARQ process and the COT2 does not carry any schedule DL data); and
radio front end circuitry (interface circuit, figure 9) coupled to the processor circuitry and configured to, transmit the HARQ feedback based on the triggering DCI ([0116]; [0208]; [0209]; [0212]; teaches the terminal device transmits the feedback information based on the second DCI; figure 4 and 5).
However, You may not explicitly disclose wherein the triggering DCI comprises a plurality of reset indicators, each of the reset indicators operating in a toggle manner and each indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback for a respective set of PDSCHs on a next physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission; and based on determining whether a respective reset indicator has toggled, transmit the HARQ feedback based on the triggering DCI (although You does suggest handling HARQ feedback on PUCCH; [0165]).
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Lin teaches and suggests wherein the triggering DCI (DCI; [0046]) comprises a plurality of reset indicators (first information field; [0046]), each of the reset indicators operating in a toggle manner ([0046]; teaches the first information field comprises a bit value of 1 or 0 thus operating in a toggle manner) and each indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback for a respective set of PDSCHs on a next physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission; and based on determining whether a respective reset indicator has toggled, transmit the HARQ feedback based on the triggering DCI ([0045]; [0046]; “…the first information field included in the DCI includes a bit, when the value of the bit is 1, it indicates that the first information field is used for triggering the feedback sequence; and when the value of the bit is 0, it indicates that the first information field is not used for triggering the feedback sequence…”; [0061]; [0079]; [0096]; teaches the UE receives a DCI for triggering feedback where the DCI comprises first information field including a bit value operating in a toggle manner indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback on a next PUCCH, and transmitting the HARQ feedback based on the bit value).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the UE receives a DCI for triggering feedback where the DCI comprises first information field including a bit value operating in a toggle manner indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback on a next PUCCH, and transmitting the HARQ feedback based on the bit value as taught by Lin with the method of transmitting feedback information based on DCI as disclosed by You for the purpose of triggering feedback information of the PDSCH in order to save signaling overhead, as suggested by Lin.
Regarding claim 15, You teaches a method, by a base station (BS) (network device, figure 4), for transmission of hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback by the BS in communication with a user equipment (UE) (terminal device, figure 4) using an unlicensed spectrum, the method comprising:
acquiring a first channel occupancy time (COT) and a second COT in the unlicensed spectrum, the second COT being subsequent to the first COT ([0116]; [0208]; [0209]; [0212]; teaches the first and second COT are in the unlicensed frequency where the second COT2 is subsequent to the first COT1; figure 4 and 5);
transmitting downlink (DL) data in a first COT (COT1, figure 5) (figures 4 and 5; [0149]; [0212]; teaches the network device transmits downlink data in a first COT1);
transmitting a triggering downlink control indicator (DCI) (second DCI) during a second COT (COT2, figure 5), the triggering DCI providing an indication of a HARQ feedback (feedback information; figure 5) that is pending for a corresponding HARQ process, and the second COT carrying no scheduled DL data ([0021]; [0025]; “…the second DCI further includes at least one of the following:… second DCI may carry the ID information of the first serving cell, to indicate that the uplink transmission resource indicated by using the second DCI is used to transmit a HARQ feedback for a downlink transmission resource on a cell…”; [0028]; [0029]; [0031]; “…ID information of a HARQ process…The HARQ process is a HARQ process corresponding to the second DCI. In other words, the uplink transmission resource indicated by the second DCI is used to perform HARQ feedbacks for HARQ processes…configuration information is used to indicate HARQ processes corresponding to the HARQ feedback performed by the terminal device on the uplink transmission resource indicated by the second DCI…”; [0208]; [0209]; [0212]; teaches the terminal device receives a second DCI during a second COT2 indicating information related to HARQ feedback for a corresponding HARQ process and the COT2 does not carry any schedule DL data); and receiving the HARQ feedback based on the triggering DCI ([0116]; [0208]; [0209]; [0212]; teaches the network device receives the feedback information based on the second DCI; figure 4 and 5).
However, You may not explicitly disclose wherein the triggering DCI comprises a plurality of reset indicators, each of the reset indicators operating in a toggle manner and each indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback for a respective set of PDSCHs on a next physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission; and receiving the HARQ feedback based on the triggering DCI, the HARQ feedback having been transmitted based on determining whether a respective reset indicator has toggled (although You does suggest handling HARQ feedback on PUCCH; [0165]).
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Lin teaches and suggests wherein the triggering DCI (DCI; [0046]) comprises a plurality of reset indicators (first information field; [0046]), each of the reset indicators operating in a toggle manner ([0046]; teaches the first information field comprises a bit value of 1 or 0 thus operating in a toggle manner) and each indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback for a respective set of PDSCHs on a next physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission; and receiving the HARQ feedback based on the triggering DCI, the HARQ feedback having been transmitted based on determining whether a respective reset indicator has toggled ([0045]; [0046]; “…the first information field included in the DCI includes a bit, when the value of the bit is 1, it indicates that the first information field is used for triggering the feedback sequence; and when the value of the bit is 0, it indicates that the first information field is not used for triggering the feedback sequence…”; [0061]; [0079]; [0096]; teaches the UE receives a DCI for triggering feedback where the DCI comprises first information field including a bit value operating in a toggle manner indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback on a next PUCCH, and transmitting the HARQ feedback based on the bit value).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the UE receives a DCI for triggering feedback where the DCI comprises first information field including a bit value operating in a toggle manner indicating a handling of the HARQ feedback on a next PUCCH, and transmitting the HARQ feedback based on the bit value as taught by Lin with the method of transmitting feedback information based on DCI as disclosed by You for the purpose of triggering feedback information of the PDSCH in order to save signaling overhead, as suggested by Lin.
Claims 2, 9, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al. (hereinafter You) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0378007 A1) in view of LIN et al. (hereinafter Lin) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2022/0007407 A1), and further in view of LUNTTILA et al. (hereinafter Lunttila) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2018/0376490 A1).
Regarding claims 2, 9, and 16, You, as modified by Lin, teaches a terminal device transmitting feedback information based on a triggering second DCI on a second COT, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the triggering DCI comprises a bitmap providing the indication of the HARQ feedback pending for the corresponding HARQ process.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Lunttila teaches and suggests wherein the triggering DCI comprises a bitmap providing the indication of the HARQ feedback pending for the corresponding HARQ process ([0164]; teaches the scheduling information comprises a bitmap for HARQ feedback information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the scheduling information comprises a bitmap for HARQ feedback information as taught by Lunttila with the method for transmitting HARQ feedback information as disclosed by You, as modified by Lin, for the purpose of controlling HARQ-ACK feedback information in the unlicensed frequency, as suggested by Lunttila.
Claims 3, 10, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al. (hereinafter You) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0378007 A1) in view of LIN et al. (hereinafter Lin) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2022/0007407 A1), and further in view of YANG et al. (hereinafter Yang) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0297223 A1).
Regarding claims 3, 10, and 17, You, as modified by Lin, teaches a terminal device transmitting feedback information based on a triggering second DCI on a second COT, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the triggering DCI comprises a bitmap having a new data indicator (NDI) associated with the corresponding HARQ process, the method further comprising: comparing the NDI with a second NDI known at the UE, the transmitting the HARQ feedback being further based on the comparing.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Yang teaches and suggests wherein the triggering DCI comprises a bitmap having a new data indicator (NDI) (NDI) associated with the corresponding HARQ process, the method further comprising: comparing the NDI with a second NDI known at the UE, the transmitting the HARQ feedback being further based on the comparing ([0102]; [0221]; teaches the DCI includes a NDI associated with the HARQ process).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the DCI includes a NDI associated with the HARQ process as taught by Yang with the method of transmitting feedback information based on DCI as disclosed by You, as modified by Lin, for the purpose of improving and enhancing HARQ feedback, as suggested by Yang.
Claims 4, 11, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al. (hereinafter You) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0378007 A1) in view of LIN et al. (hereinafter Lin) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2022/0007407 A1), and further in view of Frenne et al. (hereinafter Frenne) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2022/0015129 A1).
Regarding claims 4, 11, and 18, You, as modified by Lin, teaches a terminal device transmitting feedback information based on a triggering second DCI on a second COT, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the triggering DCI comprises a physical uplink control channel_NDI (PUCCH_NDI), the PUCCH_NDI providing a single bit indication for controlling HARQ-ACK feedback for a set of HARQ processes.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Frenne teaches and suggests wherein the triggering DCI comprises a physical uplink control channel_NDI (PUCCH_NDI) (NDI bit), the PUCCH_NDI providing a single bit indication for controlling HARQ-ACK feedback for a set of HARQ processes ([0068]; [0103]; [0104]; [0106]; teaches the DCI comprises a NDI bit, which is a single bit, for controlling feedback for a set of HARQ processes).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the DCI comprises a NDI bit, which is a single bit, for controlling feedback for a set of HARQ processes as taught by Frenne with the method of transmitting feedback information based on DCI as disclosed by You, as modified by Lin, for the purpose of resetting a HARQ process, as suggested by Frenne.
Claims 6, 7, 13, 14, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al. (hereinafter You) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0378007 A1) in view of LIN et al. (hereinafter Lin) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2022/0007407 A1), and further in view of GAO (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0314094 A1).
Regarding claims 6, 13, and 20, You, as modified by Lin, teaches a terminal device transmitting feedback information based on a triggering second DCI on a second COT, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the triggering DCI further comprises first total downlink assignment indicator (T-DAI-1) for either a HARQ-ACK codebook or a first HARQ-ACK sub-codebook associated with the set of PDSCHs based on whether code block group (CBG)-based PDSCH transmission is configured on a cell.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Gao teaches and suggests wherein the triggering DCI further comprises first total downlink assignment indicator (T-DAI-1) for either a HARQ-ACK codebook or a first HARQ-ACK sub-codebook associated with the set of PDSCHs based on whether code block group (CBG)-based PDSCH transmission is configured on a cell ([0069]; “…the DCI format 0_1 includes 1-bit DAI for indicating whether there is the HARQ-ACK transmission…When the HARQ-ACK is configured to be transmitted by adopting a dynamic codebook, the DCI format 0_1 includes 2-bit or 4-bit DAI for indicating the total bits of the HARQ-ACK transmission on the PUSCH, and if sub-codebooks (respective codebooks for a downlink transmission based on a TB and a downlink transmission based on CBG (coding block Group)) are adopted, each of the sub-codebooks corresponds to 2-bit DAI, there are 4-bit DAI in total. For the dynamic codebook, DCI (such as DCI format 0_1 or 1_1) used by a PDCCH (a PDCCH used for scheduling a PDSCH or indicating the release for a downlink SPS resource) in a PDCCH monitoring occasion set corresponding to the dynamic codebook also includes DAI which is generally called DL DAI…there are 4-bit DAI including 2-bit C-DAI and 2-bit T-DAI which are respectively used for indicating the order and size of a codebook…”; teaches a DCI including a T-DAI for a codebook/sub-codebooks associated with PDSCH based on CBG on a cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a DCI including a T-DAI for a codebook/sub-codebooks associated with PDSCH based on CBG on a cell as taught by Gao with the method of transmitting feedback information based on DCI as disclosed by You, as modified by Lin, for the purpose of improving and enhancing HARQ feedback, as suggested by Gao.
Regarding claims 7 and 14, You, as modified by Lin, teaches a terminal device transmitting feedback information based on a triggering second DCI on a second COT, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the triggering DCI further comprises a second total downlink assignment indicator (T-DAI-1) for a second HARQ-ACK sub-codebook associated with the set of PDSCHs when CBG-based PDSCH transmission is configured on the cell.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Gao teaches and suggests wherein the triggering DCI further comprises a second total downlink assignment indicator (T-DAI-1) for a second HARQ-ACK sub-codebook associated with the set of PDSCHs when CBG-based PDSCH transmission is configured on the cell ([0069]; “…the DCI format 0_1 includes 1-bit DAI for indicating whether there is the HARQ-ACK transmission…When the HARQ-ACK is configured to be transmitted by adopting a dynamic codebook, the DCI format 0_1 includes 2-bit or 4-bit DAI for indicating the total bits of the HARQ-ACK transmission on the PUSCH, and if sub-codebooks (respective codebooks for a downlink transmission based on a TB and a downlink transmission based on CBG (coding block Group)) are adopted, each of the sub-codebooks corresponds to 2-bit DAI, there are 4-bit DAI in total. For the dynamic codebook, DCI (such as DCI format 0_1 or 1_1) used by a PDCCH (a PDCCH used for scheduling a PDSCH or indicating the release for a downlink SPS resource) in a PDCCH monitoring occasion set corresponding to the dynamic codebook also includes DAI which is generally called DL DAI…there are 4-bit DAI including 2-bit C-DAI and 2-bit T-DAI which are respectively used for indicating the order and size of a codebook…”; teaches a DCI including another T-DAI for a corresponding codebook/sub-codebooks associated with PDSCH based on CBG on a cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a DCI including a T-DAI for a codebook/sub-codebooks associated with PDSCH based on CBG on a cell as taught by Gao with the method of transmitting feedback information based on DCI as disclosed by You, as modified by Lin, for the purpose of improving and enhancing HARQ feedback, as suggested by Gao.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection as necessitated by Applicant’s amendment.
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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUK JIN KANG whose telephone number is (571) 270-1771. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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/Suk Jin Kang/
Examiner, Art Unit 2477
February 20, 2026
/CHIRAG G SHAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2477