Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 16, 2026
Application No. 17/630,121

UCI TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION METHODS, DEVICE, SYSTEM, APPARATUS, AND MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 25, 2022
Priority
Jul 25, 2019 — CN 201910678442.4 +1 more
Examiner
TRAN, THINH D
Art Unit
2466
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co., Ltd.
OA Round
5 (Non-Final)
62%
Grant Probability
Moderate
5-6
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
82%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 62% of resolved cases
62%
Career Allowance Rate
337 granted / 540 resolved
+4.4% vs TC avg
Strong +20% interview lift
Without
With
+20.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
4y 2m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
583
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.1%
-33.9% vs TC avg
§103
57.0%
+17.0% vs TC avg
§102
17.2%
-22.8% vs TC avg
§112
12.5%
-27.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 540 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
Notice of Pre-AIA 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 . Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/03/2026 has been entered. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 15, 17, 21, 22, 26, 28, 30, 31, 35, 37 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Applicant's arguments filed 04/30/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In response to applicant’s argument in pages 8-12, the applicant asserts that “claim 1 is patentable over R1-1906358, PARK, and YOSHIOKA combined or alone. Thus, claims 10 and 21 which recite similar elements as claim 1 are also patentable at least for similar reasons.” Examiner respectively disagrees. The applicant further asserts in pages 8-10 that “R1-1906358 at least fails to teach or suggest the limitations "determining, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCI in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI, a PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCII resource corresponding to the first UCI, wherein (i) the PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI is in the any one sub-slot, the first UCI is channel state information (CSI), the second UCI is a scheduling request (SR), and (ii) in a condition that different sub-slots contain different quantities of symbols, a quantity of symbols of the PUCCH resource does not exceed a quantity of symbols contained in a sub-slot with a largest quantity of symbols; and (iii) sending the first UCI and the second UCI on the determined PUCCII resource in the any one sub-slot" in claim 1 at least for the following reasons.” Examiner respectively disagrees. The applicant further asserts in page 9 that “A skilled person in the art would not replace a high-priority, time-critical UCI (HARQ-ACK) with a low-priority, delay-tolerant UCI (CSI) while keeping the same handling rule. Doing SO would be technically incoherent.” Examiner respectively disagrees since if always prioritize high priority traffic over the resource, PUCCH, for transmitting will create head of the queue blocking that prevent lower priority from accessing the resource, PUCCH, for transmitting. In one scenario, where low priority traffic would increment priority after each pass until it has priority for transmission for the resource. One of ordinary skill in the art would implement delay tolerant traffic with higher priority for transmission in order the access the resource for transmission. And as indicated by table 1 of R1-1906358, the scenarios are also taken in consideration of the overlapping HARQ-ACK, UCI, with other HARQ-ACK, UCI, as described in section 2.4 and the table 1 further consider with others UCIs, CSI and SR. The sub slot consideration in the overlapping of HARQ-ACKs or UCIs in section 2.4 would also be implemented with other UCIs, CSI and SR as in table 1. Therefore, R1-1906358 would indicates the sub-slot inconsideration with the overlapping of CSI and SR. The overlapping would indicate the resource in the sub slot or any sub slot that both the CSI and SR are transmitting. The applicant further asserts in pages 10-11 that “PARK also at least fails to teach or suggest the above limitations as recited in Applicant's claim 1.” Examiner respectively disagrees. As indicated by the office action, PARK discloses both slot and OFDM symbols in slot or sub slot used for PUCCHs transmission as indicated by par. 133, 200 and when PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing to the eNB in par. 777, which would indicating different UCI types in the same resource, symbols or sub slot,. Even if the transmission in slot, one of ordinary skill in the art would able to implement in the sub slot to micro managing to efficiently utilized the resource. Given the disclosure by PARK to teach “sending the first UCI and the second UCI on the determined PUCCH resource,” one ordinary skill in the art would able to implement the “sending the first UCI and the second UCI on the determined PUCCH resource” in the sub slot as explicitly indicated by R1-1906358. Therefore, the combination of R1-1906358 and PARK and the new reference, HOSSEINI et al. (US 20200351891), would teach the claims. The rejection is maintained. 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 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. The factual inquiries 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. Claim(s) 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 15, 17, 21, 22, 26, 28, 30, 31, 35, 37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over R1-1906358 (“Discussion on UCI enhancements for URLLC”, Spreadtrum Communications herein as R1-1906358) in view of PARK et al. (US 20190246416) and HOSSEINI et al. (US 20200351891 as supported by provisional app. 62842976 filed on 05/03/2019). Regarding claim 1, R1-1906358 teaches a method for sending uplink control information (UCI) (section 2, UE), comprising: receiving, by a terminal, configuration information (section 2.4, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot); determining, by the terminal, according to the configuration information, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource corresponding to UCI (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot…HARQ-ACK and SR (UCI) on PUCCH…CSI (UCI) on PUCCH), wherein the PUCCH resource is in one sub-slot (section 2.4, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot), determining, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCI in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI (section 2.2, 2.4, 3, PUCCH overlap with PUCCH), a PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCH resource corresponding to the first UCI (section 2.4, 3, resource for uplink control…PUCCH; PUCCH 1 overlap with PUCCH 2, the PUCCH resource for sending is corresponding to PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2), wherein the PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI is in the any one sub-slot (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot), and the first UCI is channel state information (CSI), and the second UCI is a scheduling request (SR) in the any one sub-slot (table 1, section 3, PUCCHs overlapping…Prioritize URLLC SR and Deprioritize CSI); However, R1-1906358 does not explicitly teach sending the first UCI and the second UCI on the determined PUCCH resource. But, PARK et al. (US 20190246416) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches determining, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCL in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, When PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing), a PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCH resource corresponding to the first UCI (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, When PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing), wherein the PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI is in the any one sub-slot (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, symbols), and the first UCI is channel state information (CSI), and the second UCI is a scheduling request (SR) (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH); and sending the first UCI and the second UCI on the determined PUCCH resource in the any one sub-slot (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, When PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing). Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by PARK in the system of R1-1906358 to multiplex UCIs for transmitting. The motivation would have been to provide a method of efficiently transmitting/receiving a wireless signal in a wireless communication and an apparatus therefor. However, R1-1906358 does not teach in a condition that different sub-slots contain different quantities of symbols, a quantity of symbols of the PUCCH resource does not exceed a quantity of symbols contained in a sub-slot with a largest quantity of symbols; But, HOSSEINI et al. (US 20200351891) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches determining, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCI in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI (par. 82, 84-87, 92, 95, a PUCCH resource for a PUCCH repetition collides with another uplink transmission), a PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCH resource corresponding to the first UCI (par. 82, 84-87, 92, 95, PUCCH resource 0 collides with another PUCCH), and in a condition that different sub-slots contain different quantities of symbols (par. 84-87, UE 120 may shorten the sub-slot PUCCH resource…a quantity of symbols that remain after adjusting the PUCCH resource), a quantity of symbols of the PUCCH resource does not exceed a quantity of symbols contained in a sub-slot with a largest quantity of symbols (par. 84-87, UE 120 may determine that a minimum quantity of symbols for transmitting the PUCCH is less than a quantity of symbols of a PUCCH resource for a particular PUCCH resource format that do not cross a slot boundary, and may determine to drop the entire PUCCH transmission); Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by HOSSEINI in the system of R1-1906358 and PARK to determine the available symbols for transmitting. The motivation would have been to optimize the resource usage. Regarding claim 2, R1-1906358 teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration information is a high-layer signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (section 2.4, The current starting symbol of PUCCH is based on PUCCH resource indication in DCI and PUCCH resource configurations…the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot); and/or the UCI further comprises hybrid automatic repeat request- acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot…HARQ-ACK and SR (UCI) on PUCCH…CSI (UCI) on PUCCH); and/or the one sub-slot is a pre-defined or configured time unit with a fixed quantity of symbols in one slot, and an order of sub-slots within the one slot, a position of each sub-slot, and a quantity of symbols contained in each sub-slot are pre-defined or configured (section 2.3, 2.4, 2/3/4/7 UL sub-slots for PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK can be enough for all the PDSCHs). Regarding claim 6, R1-1906358 teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the PUCCH resource being in one sub-slot comprises: the PUCCH resource does not cross a boundary of one sub-slot (section 2.2, 2.2, PUCCH across sub-slot boundary or not); or a start symbol and an end symbol of the PUCCH resource are in one same sub- slot (section 2, 2.3, 2.4, one PUCCH is associated with sub-slot n if its starting symbol is in sub-slot n as shown in Figure 1…2/3/4/7 UL sub-slots for PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK can be enough for all the PDSCHs… starting symbol of a PUCCH resource). . Regarding claim 8, R1-1906358 teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprises: sending, in a condition that the PUCCH resource corresponding to the UCI does not overlap with other uplink channels in time domain, the UCI on the PUCCH resource corresponding to the UCI (section 2.2, 2.4, 3, not go across sub-slot boundary, which not overlap, transmission of UCI). Regarding claims 10, 30, R1-1906358 teaches a method for receiving uplink control information (UCI) (section 2, gNB), comprising: sending, by a base station, configuration information (section 2.4, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot), wherein the configuration information is configured to indicate a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource corresponding to UCI (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot…HARQ-ACK and SR (UCI) on PUCCH…CSI (UCI) on PUCCH), and the PUCCH resource is in one sub-slot (section 2.4, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot); determining, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCI in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI (section 2.2, 2.4, 3, PUCCH overlap with PUCCH), a PUCCH resource for receiving the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCH resource corresponding to the first UCI (section 2.4, 3, resource for uplink control…PUCCH; PUCCH 1 overlap with PUCCH 2, the PUCCH resource for sending is corresponding to PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2), wherein the PUCCH resource for receiving the first UCI and the second UCI is in the any one sub-slot (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot), and the first UCI is channel state information (CSI), and the second UCI is a scheduling request (SR) in the any one sub-slot (table 1, section 3, PUCCHs overlapping…Prioritize URLLC SR and Deprioritize CSI); However, R1-1906358 does not explicitly teach receiving the first UCI and the second UCI on the determined PUCCH resource. But, PARK et al. (US 20190246416) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches determining, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCL in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, When PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing), a PUCCH resource for receiving the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCH resource corresponding to the first UCI (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, When PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing), wherein the PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI is in the any one sub-slot (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, symbols), and the first UCI is channel state information (CSI), and the second UCI is a scheduling request (SR) (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH); and receiving the first UCI and the second UCI on the determined PUCCH resource (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, When PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing). Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by PARK in the system of R1-1906358 to multiplex UCIs for transmitting. The motivation would have been to provide a method of efficiently transmitting/receiving a wireless signal in a wireless communication and an apparatus therefor. However, R1-1906358 does not teach in a condition that different sub-slots contain different quantities of symbols, a quantity of symbols of the PUCCH resource does not exceed a quantity of symbols contained in a sub-slot with a largest quantity of symbols. But, HOSSEINI et al. (US 20200351891) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches determining, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCI in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI (par. 82, 84-87, 92, 95, a PUCCH resource for a PUCCH repetition collides with another uplink transmission), a PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCH resource corresponding to the first UCI (par. 82, 84-87, 92, 95, PUCCH resource 0 collides with another PUCCH), and in a condition that different sub-slots contain different quantities of symbols (par. 84-87, UE 120 may shorten the sub-slot PUCCH resource…a quantity of symbols that remain after adjusting the PUCCH resource), a quantity of symbols of the PUCCH resource does not exceed a quantity of symbols contained in a sub-slot with a largest quantity of symbols (par. 84-87, UE 120 may determine that a minimum quantity of symbols for transmitting the PUCCH is less than a quantity of symbols of a PUCCH resource for a particular PUCCH resource format that do not cross a slot boundary, and may determine to drop the entire PUCCH transmission); Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by HOSSEINI in the system of R1-1906358 and PARK to determine the available symbols for transmitting. The motivation would have been to optimize the resource usage. Regarding claim 11, 31, R1-1906358 teaches the method according to claim 10, wherein the configuration information is a high-layer signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (section 2.4, The current starting symbol of PUCCH is based on PUCCH resource indication in DCI and PUCCH resource configurations…the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot); and/or the UCI further comprises hybrid automatic repeat request- acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot…HARQ-ACK and SR (UCI) on PUCCH…CSI (UCI) on PUCCH); and/or the one sub-slot is a pre-defined or configured time unit with a fixed quantity of symbols in one slot, and an order of sub-slots within the one slot, a position of each sub-slot, and a quantity of symbols contained in each sub-slot are pre-defined or configured (section 2.3, 2.4, 2/3/4/7 UL sub-slots for PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK can be enough for all the PDSCHs). Regarding claim 15, 35, R1-1906358 teaches the method according to claim 10, wherein the PUCCH resource being in one sub-slot comprises: the PUCCH resource does not cross a boundary of one sub-slot (section 2.2, 2.2, PUCCH across sub-slot boundary or not); or a start symbol and an end symbol of the PUCCH resource are in one same sub- slot (section 2, 2.3, 2.4, one PUCCH is associated with sub-slot n if its starting symbol is in sub-slot n as shown in Figure 1…2/3/4/7 UL sub-slots for PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK can be enough for all the PDSCHs… starting symbol of a PUCCH resource). . Regarding claim 17, 37, R1-1906358 teaches the method according to claim 10, further comprises: receiving, in a condition that the PUCCH resource corresponding to the UCI does not overlap with other uplink channels in time domain, the UCI on the PUCCH resource corresponding to the UCI (section 2.2, 2.4, 3, not go across sub-slot boundary, which not overlap, transmission of UCI). Regarding claim 21, R1-1906358 teaches a terminal (section 2, UE), comprising: a processor (section 2, UE), a memory and a transceiver (section 2, UE), wherein the transceiver is configured to receive configuration information (section 2.4, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot); the processor is configured to read a program in the memory to: determine, according to the configuration information, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource corresponding to uplink control information (UCI) (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot…HARQ-ACK and SR (UCI) on PUCCH…CSI (UCI) on PUCCH), wherein the PUCCH resource is in one sub- slot (section 2.4, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot); and control the transceiver to send the UCI according to the PUCCH resource corresponding to the UCI (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot…HARQ-ACK and SR (UCI) on PUCCH…CSI (UCI) on PUCCH); determine, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCI in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI (section 2.2, 2.4, 3, PUCCH overlap with PUCCH), a PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCH resource corresponding to the first UCI (section 2.4, 3, resource for uplink control…PUCCH; PUCCH 1 overlap with PUCCH 2, the PUCCH resource for sending is corresponding to PUCCH 1 and PUCCH 2), wherein the PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI is in the any one sub-slot (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot), and the first UCI is channel state information (CSI), and the second UCI is a scheduling request (SR) in the any one sub-slot (table 1, section 3, PUCCHs overlapping…Prioritize URLLC SR and Deprioritize CSI); However, R1-1906358 does not explicitly teach control the transceiver to send the first UCL and the second UCI on the determined PUCCH resource. But, PARK et al. (US 20190246416) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches determining, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCL in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, When PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing), a PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCH resource corresponding to the first UCI (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, When PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing), wherein the PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI is in the any one sub-slot (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, symbols), and the first UCI is channel state information (CSI), and the second UCI is a scheduling request (SR) (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH); and control the transceiver to send the first UCL and the second UCI on the determined PUCCH resource (par. 25, 133, 200, 742, 777, 994, 996, When PUCCHs of different UCI types (e.g., A/N PUCCH, SR PUCCH, and CSI PUCCH) to be transmitted by the UE overlap with each other only in some symbols on the time axis (e.g., partial overlapping), the UE may transmit the PUCCHs (in a single PUCCH resource) through UCI multiplexing). Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by PARK in the system of R1-1906358 to multiplex UCIs for transmitting. The motivation would have been to provide a method of efficiently transmitting/receiving a wireless signal in a wireless communication and an apparatus therefor. However, R1-1906358 does not teach in a condition that different sub-slots contain different quantities of symbols, a quantity of symbols of the PUCCH resource does not exceed a quantity of symbols contained in a sub-slot with a largest quantity of symbols; But, HOSSEINI et al. (US 20200351891) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches determining, for any one sub-slot, in a condition that at least one symbol of a PUCCH resource corresponding to first UCI in the any one sub-slot overlaps with a PUCCH resource corresponding to second UCI (par. 82, 84-87, 92, 95, a PUCCH resource for a PUCCH repetition collides with another uplink transmission), a PUCCH resource for sending the first UCI and the second UCI being the PUCCH resource corresponding to the first UCI (par. 82, 84-87, 92, 95, PUCCH resource 0 collides with another PUCCH), and in a condition that different sub-slots contain different quantities of symbols (par. 84-87, UE 120 may shorten the sub-slot PUCCH resource…a quantity of symbols that remain after adjusting the PUCCH resource), a quantity of symbols of the PUCCH resource does not exceed a quantity of symbols contained in a sub-slot with a largest quantity of symbols (par. 84-87, UE 120 may determine that a minimum quantity of symbols for transmitting the PUCCH is less than a quantity of symbols of a PUCCH resource for a particular PUCCH resource format that do not cross a slot boundary, and may determine to drop the entire PUCCH transmission); Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by HOSSEINI in the system of R1-1906358 and PARK to determine the available symbols for transmitting. The motivation would have been to optimize the resource usage. Regarding claim 22, R1-1906358 teaches the terminal according to claim 21, wherein the configuration information is a high-layer signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (section 2.4, The current starting symbol of PUCCH is based on PUCCH resource indication in DCI and PUCCH resource configurations…the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot); and/or the UCI further comprises hybrid automatic repeat request- acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) (section 2.4, 3, the real starting symbol of a PUCCH resource should depend on the PRI in DCI, PUCCH resource configurations and the position of this sub-slot in a slot…HARQ-ACK and SR (UCI) on PUCCH…CSI (UCI) on PUCCH); and/or the one sub-slot is a pre-defined or configured time unit with a fixed quantity of symbols in one slot, and an order of sub-slots within the slot, a position of each sub-slot, and a quantity of symbols contained in each sub-slot are pre-defined or configured (section 2.3, 2.4, 2/3/4/7 UL sub-slots for PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK can be enough for all the PDSCHs). Regarding claim 26, R1-1906358 teaches the terminal according to claim 21, wherein the PUCCH resource being in the one sub-slot comprises: the PUCCH resource does not cross a boundary of one sub-slot (section 2.2, 2.2, PUCCH across sub-slot boundary or not); or a start symbol and an end symbol of the PUCCH resource are in one same sub- slot (section 2, 2.3, 2.4, one PUCCH is associated with sub-slot n if its starting symbol is in sub-slot n as shown in Figure 1…2/3/4/7 UL sub-slots for PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK can be enough for all the PDSCHs… starting symbol of a PUCCH resource). Regarding claim 28, R1-1906358 teaches the terminal according to claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to control, in a condition that the PUCCH resource corresponding to the UCI does not overlap with other uplink channels in time domain, control the transceiver to send the UCI according to the PUCCH resource corresponding to the UCI (section 2.2, 2.4, 3, not go across sub-slot boundary, which not overlap, transmission of UCI). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THINH D TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3934. The examiner can normally be reached mon-fri 9-6. 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, FARUK HAMZA can be reached at 5712727969. 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 about filing 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. /THINH D TRAN/for /Thinh Tran/, Patent Examiner of Art Unit 2466 06/26/2026
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Prosecution Timeline

Show 6 earlier events
Jun 08, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Aug 20, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Nov 19, 2025
Response Filed
Mar 05, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Apr 30, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 03, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jun 10, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 30, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
62%
Grant Probability
82%
With Interview (+20.0%)
4y 2m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
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