DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/20/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-20 were previously pending. Claims 1, 6, 11, 16 are amended. Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/20/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on pages 8-10 of applicants remarks:
Claim 1, as amended, renders the rejection moot because Hoshino, Tsai and Zhou fail to disclose the core concept of the present invention where the target for PDCCH skipping (a single serving cell) differs from the target for resuming PDCCH monitoring (all serving cells in the MAC entity associated with that serving cell).
A. Distinction from Hoshino and Tsai
Hoshino requires explicit RRC signaling to define a "cell group" for switching monitoring states (see Hoshino [0301]-[0307]). In Hoshino, both the skipping and the resumption of monitoring are performed on the same "cell group" basis (see Id. [0310] and [0313]). The UE follows the RRC configuration for both actions.
In contrast, the present invention utilizes the existing Dual Connectivity (DC) structure where the UE already manages separate MAC entities for the Master Cell Group (MCG) and Secondary Cell Group (SCG). This allows the UE to resume monitoring for "all serving cells associated with a MAC entity... that corresponds to the serving cell" without the need for the additional, explicit grouping signaling required by Hoshino. Furthermore, in the present invention, the scope of the action changes: skipping is applied to a "single serving cell," while the SR- triggered resumption is applied to "all serving cells" within the corresponding MAC entity. Hoshino fails to teach this dynamic change in scope.
Similarly, Tsai also merely teaches that both PDCCH skipping and PDCCH monitoring resumption operate based on the same "cell group unit" (see Tsai [0060]: "per specific cell group basis"). There is no suggestion in Tsai of the claimed operation where only an individual cell enters an OFF (or deactivated) state, and subsequently, all cells within the group are turned ON (or activated).
Above all, Tsai does not disclose the specific mechanism of the present invention where the transmission of a Scheduling Request (SR) triggers the UE to autonomously resume monitoring for the entire group.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claim limitation recites “skipping a PDCCH monitoring on the serving cell for the skipping duration based on the DCI”. While the instant application may be directed to PDCCH skipping being performed on a single serving cell, the claim limitations do not indicate that the PDCCH skipping cannot also be performed on other serving cells of the serving cell group. Hoshino in [0310], in which when the switching instruction DCI is detected in serving cell #1, the UE 100 may switch the PDCCH monitoring state for the serving cells #1, #2, #3, and #4 included in the cell group #1 to which thee serving cell #1 belongs. As shown in Hoshino, a DCI is switching instruction DCI is received in serving cell #1, and PDCCH monitoring state is switched (i.e. PDCCH skipping) for serving cell #1. Therefore, Hoshino fully teaches on the claim limitation.
Examiner notes that in a reference cited as pertinent art, Lai (US 2024/0073816), also teaches the core concept as described by applicant, in which [0295] of Lai, discloses when a UE detects a DCI format 1_1 related to the PDCCH skipping in an active DL BWP of a PCell and the UE initiates the SR in a serving cell with ID 2, the UE may ignore one or some DCI fields in the DCI format 1_1 indicating the PDCCH skipping in the serving cell with ID 2 and the UE may monitor PDCCH occasion(s) in other serving cells (except the serving cell with ID 2) in an active BWP of a configured PDCCH skipping group.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20, with respect to the new limitation of “transmitting, to a base station, information indicating that the terminal supports a PDCCH skipping” have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection relies on new prior art US 2023/0328652 A1 to Zhou et al., not applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0137973 A1 (foreign priority date of June 9, 2021) to Hoshino et al. (hereinafter “Hoshino”) in view of US 2023/0328652 A1 to Zhou et al. (hereinafter “Zhou”) and US 2021/0051698 A1 to Tsai et al. (hereinafter “Tsai”)
Regarding Claim 1 and 11, Hoshino teaches A method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system, and a terminal in the wireless communication system, (Figure 29, illustrates UE 100)
The terminal comprising: a transceiver; and a controller configured to: (Figure 13 and [0156], discloses UE comprising controller and communicator)
the method comprising: (Figure 29)
receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including information on a skipping duration; (Figure 29 and [0300], discloses In step S301, the base station 200 (the transmitter 211) transmits the RRC message to the UE 100. The RRC message may be a dedicated RRC message (for example, RRCReconfiguration message) transmitted for each UE. The UE 100 (the receiver 112) receives the RRC message. The RRC message includes the above-described switching control information. The RRC message may further include information for configuring PDCCH skipping and/or SSSG switching. [0075], further discloses the UE 100 skips the monitoring of the PDCCH for a designated duration in response to the reception of the skip instruction DCI from the base station 200. The designated duration during which the monitoring of the PDCCH is skipped may be configured by higher layer signaling (an RRC message))
receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) indicating a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) skipping on a serving cell; (Figure 29 and [0309], discloses In step S302, the base station 200 (the transmitter 211) transmits, to the UE 100 on the PDCCH, the switching instruction DCI instructing PDCCH skipping or SSSG switching. The UE 100 (the receiver 112) receives the switching instruction DCI. [0310], discloses the switching instruction DCI is detected in the serving cell #1)
skipping a PDCCH monitoring on the serving cell for the skipping duration based on the DCI; and (Figure 29 and [0310], discloses In step S303, the UE 100 (the controller 120) switches the PDCCH monitoring state in response to the reception of the switching instruction DCI. In a case where the PDCCH skipping is configured, the UE 100 (the controller 120) may skip the monitoring of the PDCCH for a designated duration in response to the reception of the switching instruction DCI (skip instruction DCI). The UE 100 (the controller 120) may switch the PDCCH monitoring state for each cell group to which the serving cell in which the switching instruction DCI is detected belongs. In the above example, when the switching instruction DCI is detected in the serving cell #1, the UE 100 (the controller 120) may switch the PDCCH monitoring state for the serving cells #1, #2, #3, and #4 included in the cell group #1 to which the serving cell #1 belongs)
in case that a scheduling request (SR) is transmitted on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) after receiving the DCI, (Figure 29 and [0311]-[0312], discloses In step S304, the UE 100 (the controller 120) detects the SR or RACH transmission trigger. In step S305, the UE 100 (the transmitter 111) transmits the SR to the base station 200 on the PUCCH in response to the SR transmission trigger. Alternatively, the UE 100 (the transmitter 111) transmits the RACH preamble to the base station 200 on the PRACH in response to the transmission trigger of the RACH. The base station 200 (the receiver 212) receives the SR or RACH) monitoring a PDCCH in all serving cells of a cell group in dual connectivity ([0313], discloses In step S306, the UE 100 (the controller 120) simultaneously switches the PDCCH monitoring state for each serving cell in the cell group in response to the transmission of the SR or the RACH (the SR-induced simultaneous switching processing or the RACH-induced simultaneous switching processing. [0319], discloses the first monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is not monitored (that is, PDCCH skipping), and the second monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is periodically monitored. For example, after PDCCH skipping is configured and an instruction to perform PDCCH skipping is given by the DCI, the UE 100 (the controller 120) switches to a state of monitoring the PDCCH in response to the transmission of the SR or the RACH. [0151], discloses dual connectivity).
Hoshino does not explicitly teach transmitting, to a base station, information indicating that the terminal supports a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) skipping;
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Zhou discloses in Figure 39 and [0367]-[0369], a wireless device may transmit to a base station UE information indicating configuration parameters of one or more PS operations. The UE information may be transmitted from the wireless device to the base station, e.g., via a UE capability information RRC message (e.g., UECapabilitylnformation IE). In an example embodiment, the configuration parameters (e.g., in the UE capability information RRC message) may indicate whether the wireless device supports PDCCH skip based PS operation (e.g., per BWP, per cell, or per cell group, or per band/band combination).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Hoshino to include the above limitations as suggested by Zhou, in order for the base station to properly configure parameters of a DCI based on the radio access capabilities of the wireless device for the power saving operations as indicated in [0366] of Zhou.
Hoshino/Zhou does not explicitly teach monitoring a PDCCH in all serving cells associated with a medium access control (MAC) entity, from among a first MAC entity for a master cell group (MCG) and a second MAC entity for a secondary cell group (SCG) in dual connectivity, that corresponds to the serving cell.
However, the concept of monitoring of PDCCH for cell groups such as a master cell group or a secondary cell group is well known in the art. For example, in a similar field of endeavor, Tsai discloses in [0060], to reduce UE's battery consumption when monitoring PDCCH on the serving cells, one alternative is to group the serving cells into one or multiple specific cell groups. Then the UE can determine whether or not to apply dormant behavior (e.g., stop monitor the PDCCH) on the serving cell(s) of a specific cell group (e.g., per specific cell group basis) based on a specific indication and/or certain criteria. In other words, the dormant behavior (e.g., stop PDCCH monitoring) of the serving cells in the specific cell group could be turned ON (or activated) or OFF (or deactivated). [0056], [0065] and [0105], discloses dual connectivity, where the cell group may be a set of serving cells in an MCG or in a SCG, e.g., the serving cells may be associated with the same MAC entity.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Hoshino/Zhou to include the above limitations as suggested by Tsai, because dynamically adapting PDCCH monitoring to reduce PDCCH monitoring on a specific serving cell(s) or a specific cell group may be beneficial for power saving as indicated in [0020] of Tsai.
Regarding Claim 2, Hoshino/Zhou/Tsai teaches The method of claim 1, wherein Hoshino further teaches the monitoring of the PDCCH in all serving cells of the cell group is performed by cancelling or suspending the skipping of the PDCCH monitoring. ([0319], discloses the first monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is not monitored (that is, PDCCH skipping), and the second monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is periodically monitored. For example, after PDCCH skipping is configured and an instruction to perform PDCCH skipping is given by the DCI, the UE 100 (the controller 120) switches to a state of monitoring (i.e. canceling) the PDCCH in response to the transmission of the SR or the RACH))
Regarding Claim 3, Hoshino/Zhou/Tsai teaches The method of claim 1, wherein Hoshino further teaches wherein the DCI is for scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). ([0062], discloses The base station 200 configures, in the UE 100, a search space corresponding to a candidate timing at which a PDCCH is provided. The UE 100 in the RRC connected state monitors (monitors) the PDCCH in the configured search space, receives downlink control information (DCI) carried on the PDCCH, and performs reception of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) according to resource allocation (scheduling) indicated by the DCI)
Regarding Claim 4, Hoshino/Zhou/Tsai teaches The method of claim 1, wherein Hoshino further teaches wherein the DCI is for scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). ([0062], discloses The base station 200 configures, in the UE 100, a search space corresponding to a candidate timing at which a PDCCH is provided. The UE 100 in the RRC connected state monitors (monitors) the PDCCH in the configured search space, receives downlink control information (DCI) carried on the PDCCH, and performs reception of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) according to resource allocation (scheduling) indicated by the DCI)
Regarding Claim 5, Hoshino/Zhou/Tsai teaches The method of claim 1, wherein Hoshino further teaches wherein the DCI indicates stopping of the PDCCH monitoring according to a search space set group. ([0310], discloses In step S303, the UE 100 (the controller 120) switches the PDCCH monitoring state in response to the reception of the switching instruction DCI. In a case where the PDCCH skipping is configured, the UE 100 (the controller 120) may skip the monitoring of the PDCCH for a designated duration in response to the reception of the switching instruction DCI (skip instruction DCI). When the SSSG switching is configured, the UE 100 (the controller 120) may switch to the SSSG instructed by the switching instruction DCI in response to reception of the switching instruction DCI. [0318]-[0319], further discloses switching to the SSSG having the long PDCCH monitoring period is instructed by the DCI, The first monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is not monitored (that is, PDCCH skipping). Figure 4, further illustrates PDCCH skipping for a search space set based on a switching indication DCI.)
Regarding Claim 6 and 16, Hoshino teaches A method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system and a base station in a wireless communication system, (Figure 29, illustrates base station 200)
the base station comprising: a transceiver; and a controller configured to: (Figure 14 and [0163], discloses base station comprising communicator and controller)
the method comprising:
transmitting, to a terminal, a radio resource control (RRC) message including information on a skipping duration; (Figure 29 and [0300], discloses In step S301, the base station 200 (the transmitter 211) transmits the RRC message to the UE 100. The RRC message may be a dedicated RRC message (for example, RRCReconfiguration message) transmitted for each UE. The UE 100 (the receiver 112) receives the RRC message. The RRC message includes the above-described switching control information. The RRC message may further include information for configuring PDCCH skipping and/or SSSG switching. [0075], further discloses the UE 100 skips the monitoring of the PDCCH for a designated duration in response to the reception of the skip instruction DCI from the base station 200. The designated duration during which the monitoring of the PDCCH is skipped may be configured by higher layer signaling (an RRC message))
transmitting, to the terminal, downlink control information (DCI) indicating a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) skipping on a serving cell; (Figure 29 and [0309], discloses In step S302, the base station 200 (the transmitter 211) transmits, to the UE 100 on the PDCCH, the switching instruction DCI instructing PDCCH skipping or SSSG switching. The UE 100 (the receiver 112) receives the switching instruction DCI. [0310], discloses the switching instruction DCI is detected in the serving cell #1)
in case that a scheduling request (SR) is received on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) after transmitting the DCI, (Figure 29 and [0311]-[0312], discloses In step S304, the UE 100 (the controller 120) detects the SR or RACH transmission trigger. In step S305, the UE 100 (the transmitter 111) transmits the SR to the base station 200 on the PUCCH in response to the SR transmission trigger. Alternatively, the UE 100 (the transmitter 111) transmits the RACH preamble to the base station 200 on the PRACH in response to the transmission trigger of the RACH. The base station 200 (the receiver 212) receives the SR or RACH) transmitting a PDCCH in any serving cell in dual connectivity. ([0313], discloses In step S306, the UE 100 (the controller 120) simultaneously switches the PDCCH monitoring state for each serving cell in the cell group in response to the transmission of the SR or the RACH (the SR-induced simultaneous switching processing or the RACH-induced simultaneous switching processing. [0319], discloses the first monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is not monitored (that is, PDCCH skipping), and the second monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is periodically monitored. For example, after PDCCH skipping is configured and an instruction to perform PDCCH skipping is given by the DCI, the UE 100 (the controller 120) switches to a state of monitoring the PDCCH in response to the transmission of the SR or the RACH. [0151], discloses dual connectivity)
Hoshino teaches skipping PDCCH monitoring at the UE on the serving cell for the skipping duration according to the DCI; and (Figure 29 and [0310], discloses In step S303, the UE 100 (the controller 120) switches the PDCCH monitoring state in response to the reception of the switching instruction DCI. In a case where the PDCCH skipping is configured, the UE 100 (the controller 120) may skip the monitoring of the PDCCH for a designated duration in response to the reception of the switching instruction DCI (skip instruction DCI). The UE 100 (the controller 120) may switch the PDCCH monitoring state for each cell group to which the serving cell in which the switching instruction DCI is detected belongs. In the above example, when the switching instruction DCI is detected in the serving cell #1, the UE 100 (the controller 120) may switch the PDCCH monitoring state for the serving cells #1, #2, #3, and #4 included in the cell group #1 to which the serving cell #1 belongs)
Hoshino does not explicitly teach transmitting, to a base station, information indicating that the terminal supports a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) skipping; and the base station skipping a PDCCH transmission on the serving cell for the skipping duration according to the DCI.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Zhou discloses in Figure 39 and [0367]-[0369], a wireless device may transmit to a base station UE information indicating configuration parameters of one or more PS operations. The UE information may be transmitted from the wireless device to the base station, e.g., via a UE capability information RRC message (e.g., UECapabilitylnformation IE). In an example embodiment, the configuration parameters (e.g., in the UE capability information RRC message) may indicate whether the wireless device supports PDCCH skip based PS operation (i.e. supports PDCCH skipping) (e.g., per BWP, per cell, or per cell group, or per band/band combination). [0322], further discloses [0322] As shown in FIG. 31, the wireless device may receive, at a first slot (T1), a first DCI (e.g., 1.sup.st DCI) indicating skipping (or stopping) monitoring PDCCH within a time window. A time value for the time window may be indicated by the first DCI and/or configured by the one or more RRC messages. In response to receiving the first DCI, the wireless device may stop monitoring PDCCH on the BWP. Stopping monitoring PDCCH on the BWP may comprise stopping monitoring PDCCH on one or more SSS groups configured on the BWP. The wireless device may maintain an active state of the BWP. The first DCI may not indicate an active BWP switching. In an example, during the time window (or when a timer associated with the time window is running), the base station may not transmit PDCCH to the wireless device (i.e. base station skipping a PDCCH transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Hoshino to include the above limitations as suggested by Zhou, in order for the base station to properly configure parameters of a DCI based on the radio access capabilities of the wireless device for the power saving operations as indicated in [0366] of Zhou.
Hoshino/Zhou does not explicitly teach transmitting a PDCCH in any serving cell associated with a medium access control (MAC) entity, from among a first MAC entity for a master cell group (MCG) and a second MAC entity for a secondary cell group (SCG) in dual connectivity, that corresponds to the serving cell.
However, the concept of transmitting of PDCCH for cell groups such as a master cell group or a secondary cell group is well known in the art. For example, in a similar field of endeavor, Tsai discloses in [0060], to reduce UE's battery consumption when monitoring PDCCH on the serving cells, one alternative is to group the serving cells into one or multiple specific cell groups. Then the UE can determine whether or not to apply dormant behavior (e.g., stop monitor the PDCCH) on the serving cell(s) of a specific cell group (e.g., per specific cell group basis) based on a specific indication and/or certain criteria. In other words, the dormant behavior (e.g., stop PDCCH monitoring) of the serving cells in the specific cell group could be turned ON (or activated) or OFF (or deactivated). Examiner notes that monitoring of PDCCHs in a specific cell group is indicative of the base station sending PDCCHs in serving cells within the specific cell group. [0056], [0065] and [0105], discloses dual connectivity, where the cell group may be a set of serving cells in an MCG or in a SCG, e.g., the serving cells may be associated with the same MAC entity.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Tsai to include the above limitations as suggested by Tsai, because dynamically adapting PDCCH monitoring to reduce PDCCH monitoring on a specific serving cell(s) or a specific cell group may be beneficial for power saving as indicated in [0020] of Tsai.
Regarding Claim 7, Hoshino/Zhou/Tsai teaches The method of claim 6, wherein Hoshino further teaches the transmitting of the PDCCH in all serving cells of the cell group is performed by cancelling or suspending the skipping of the PDCCH transmission. ([0319], discloses the first monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is not monitored (that is, PDCCH skipping), and the second monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is periodically monitored. For example, after PDCCH skipping is configured and an instruction to perform PDCCH skipping is given by the DCI, the UE 100 (the controller 120) switches to a state of monitoring (i.e. canceling) the PDCCH in response to the transmission of the SR or the RACH))
Regarding Claim 8, Hoshino/Zhou/Tsai teaches The method of claim 6, wherein Hoshino further teaches the DCI is for scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). ([0062], discloses The base station 200 configures, in the UE 100, a search space corresponding to a candidate timing at which a PDCCH is provided. The UE 100 in the RRC connected state monitors (monitors) the PDCCH in the configured search space, receives downlink control information (DCI) carried on the PDCCH, and performs reception of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) according to resource allocation (scheduling) indicated by the DCI)
Regarding Claim 9, Hoshino/Zhou/Tsai teaches The method of claim 6, wherein Hoshino further teaches wherein the DCI is for scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). ([0062], discloses The base station 200 configures, in the UE 100, a search space corresponding to a candidate timing at which a PDCCH is provided. The UE 100 in the RRC connected state monitors (monitors) the PDCCH in the configured search space, receives downlink control information (DCI) carried on the PDCCH, and performs reception of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) according to resource allocation (scheduling) indicated by the DCI)
Regarding Claim 10, Hoshino/Zhou/Tsai teaches The method of claim 6, wherein Hoshino further teaches wherein the DCI indicates stopping of the PDCCH monitoring according to a search space set group. ([0310], discloses In step S303, the UE 100 (the controller 120) switches the PDCCH monitoring state in response to the reception of the switching instruction DCI. In a case where the PDCCH skipping is configured, the UE 100 (the controller 120) may skip the monitoring of the PDCCH for a designated duration in response to the reception of the switching instruction DCI (skip instruction DCI). When the SSSG switching is configured, the UE 100 (the controller 120) may switch to the SSSG instructed by the switching instruction DCI in response to reception of the switching instruction DCI. [0318]-[0319], further discloses switching to the SSSG having the long PDCCH monitoring period is instructed by the DCI, The first monitoring state may be a state in which the PDCCH is not monitored (that is, PDCCH skipping). Figure 4, further illustrates PDCCH skipping for a search space set based on a switching indication DCI.)
Claims 12-15 are rejected for having the same limitations as claims 2-5, respectively, except the claims are in terminal device format.
Claims 17-20 are rejected for having the same limitations as claims 7-10, respectively, except the claims are in base station device format.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2024/0073816 A1 to Lai et al., directed to a UE initiating a SR in a serving cell with ID 2, and ignoring a detected DCI indicating PDCCH skipping and allowing the UE to monitor PDCCH occasions in other serving cells, except the serving cell with ID 2, in an active BWP of a configured PDCCH skipping group.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
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/JENKEY VAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477