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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/02/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 02/02/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 2, 9, 12, 18, 19, 27, 28, 45 and 48 are amended. Claims 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 18-19, 27-28, 31, 33, 44-48, 55 and 62 are pending and addressed below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 18-19, 27-28, 31, 33, 44-48, 55 and 62 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Independent claims 1, 18 and 27 recite limitation “wherein the configuration information comprises physical downlink control channel configuration information, the physical downlink control channel configuration information is configured to receive scheduling information for scheduling uplink or downlink data of the terminal.”, which discloses that in case of preconfigured uplink data transmission in Inactive state, any UL data including the first data from the terminal in Inactive state are sent according to the scheduling information received in the configured PDCCH (physical downlink control channel). However, Spec. para [362], [401]-[403] discloses that first UL data is sent according to the scheduling of preconfigured resources, and scheduling information in the configured PDCCH is only used for retransmission of the UL data.
Dependent claims are subjected to the same rejection because of their dependency on the above rejected claims 1, 18 and 27.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 27-28, 31, 33, 44-48 and 62 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Independent Claim 1 recites expression “receiving, in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Inactive state, configuration information sent by a network side;” is not understood. According to Spec. e.g., Figs. 5-7 and corresponding paragraphs in the Spec, discloses configuration information is sent by RRC Reconfiguration message or RRC Release message, which are messages known to be exchanged in RRC Connected state, not as claimed in RRC Inactive state which is a state when there is no RRC connection between the network and the terminal.
Dependent claim 2 recites expression “wherein the configuration information is carried in an RRC release message or an RRC reconfiguration message” which is not understood. Claim 1, upon which claim 2 is dependent, recites configuration information is received in RRC Inactive state. However, RRC Release message or an RRC Reconfiguration message are known to be exchanged in RRC Connected state.
Dependent claim 12 recites expression “performing an uplink feedback of downlink data, according to physical uplink control channel configuration information;”, however, it is not understood how the terminal, in Inactive state, received the physical uplink control channel configuration information.
Independent Claim 27 recites expression “sending configuration information to a terminal in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Inactive state” is not understood. It is not clear about how a network side device sends the configuration information in RRC Inactive state. According to Spec. e.g., Figs. 5-7 and corresponding paragraphs in the Spec, discloses configuration information is sent by RRC Reconfiguration message or RRC Release message, which are messages known to be exchanged in RRC Connected state, not as claimed in RRC Inactive state which is a state when there is no RRC connection between the network and the terminal.
Dependent claims are subjected to the same rejection because of their dependency on the above rejected claims 1 and 27.
Examiners Note
Because of indefiniteness in the claims as explained above, prior art search based on the amendment will not be proper.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection under USC 112(a) and 112(b) does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/MAHBUBUL BAR CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2475