Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 05, 2026
Application No. 18/007,297

MULTI-TB SCHEDULING FOR SINGLE DCI-BASED MULTI-TRP AND PANEL TRANSMISSION

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 27, 2023
Priority
Aug 06, 2020 — SG 10202007552X +1 more
Examiner
HAN, CLEMENCE S
Art Unit
2414
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allowance Rate
1022 granted / 1125 resolved
+32.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +5% lift
Without
With
+5.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
1149
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.0%
-37.0% vs TC avg
§103
50.4%
+10.4% vs TC avg
§102
17.6%
-22.4% vs TC avg
§112
17.6%
-22.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1125 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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. Claims 1, 5, 14-16 and 19-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US Pub. 2022/0095350) in view of Khoshnevisan et al. (US Pub. 2021/0051652). Regarding claims 1, 14 and 15, Lee teaches a communication apparatus comprising: a receiver, which in operation, receives a single downlink control information (DCI) (“receiving, from the BS, a single downlink control information (DCI) including information about two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states” in Claim 1); and circuitry, which in operation, obtains radio resources of multiple Physical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCHs) based on the single DCI (“receiving two physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) based on the single DCI” in Claim 1), wherein, a first PDSCH of the multiple PDSCHs is associated with a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (“a first PDSCH of the two PDSCHs corresponds to a first TCI state” in Claim 1), and a second PDSCH of the multiple PDSCHs is associated with a second TCI state (“a second PDSCH of the two PDSCHs corresponds to a second TCI state” in Claim 1), the first PDSCH is associated with one or more transport blocks (TBs) (“The PDSCH conveys DL data (e.g., DL-shared channel transport block (DL-SCH TB))” in [0139]), and the second PDSCH is associated with one or more TBs different from the one or more TBs associated with the first PDSCH (“In this case, when an odd number of total resource block group (RBG) sizes are allocated to the UE, resources may be allocated for the first/second PDSCHs according to one of the following schemes: (i) One more RBG is allocated for the first PDSCH based on configuration in which a first MCS for the first PDSCH between the PDSCHs being higher than a second MCS for the second PDSCH between the PDSCHs; (ii) One more RBG is allocated for the second PDSCH based on the first MCS being higher than the second MCS; (iii) One more RBG is allocated for the first PDSCH or the second PDSCH based on the first MCS being the same as the second MCS; or (iv) One more RBG is allocated for one PDSCH determined based on information related to the one TB between the PDSCHs” in [0739]-[0743]). Lee, however, does not teach a first PDSCH of the multiple PDSCHs is associated with a first start and length indicator value (SLIV), and a second PDSCH of the multiple PDSCHs is associated with a second SLIV. Khoshnevisan teaches a first PDSCH of the multiple PDSCHs is associated with a first start and length indicator value (SLIV), and a second PDSCH of the multiple PDSCHs is associated with a second SLIV (“The TDRA field 220 may indicate a mapping type, a slot offset (K0), a start symbol (S), an allocation length (L), a start and length indicator (SLIV)” in [0094]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee to have a first PDSCH of the multiple PDSCHs is associated with a first start and length indicator value (SLIV), and a second PDSCH of the multiple PDSCHs is associated with a second SLIV as taught by Khoshnevisan in order to determine the set of PDSCH occasions for a downlink serving cell based on a set of configured PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK delay (K1) values, a set of TDRA candidates, a time division duplexing (TDD) configuration, or a combination thereof [0100]. Regarding claim 5, Lee teaches each of the multiple PDSCHs includes one or more code-blocks (CBs) or one or more code-block-groups (CBGs) (“CBG-based (or CBG-level) PDSCH” in [0154]). Regarding claim 16, Lee teaches a size of each of the multiple PDSCHs is configured by control information or RRC signalling (“determine the TB size corresponding to the CW indicated by DCI and/or higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC or MCA-CE, etc.)” in [0507]). Regarding claim 19, Lee teaches the multiple PDSCHs are related to transmission using different transmission and reception points (TRPs) (“receiving the respective PDSCHs (e.g., PDSCH #1 and PDSCH #2) through different TRPs” in [0547]). Regarding claim 20, Lee teaches the multiple PDSCHs are related to transmission using a same transmission and reception point (TRP) (“receiving the respective PDSCHs (e.g., PDSCH #1 and PDSCH #2) through the same TRP” in [0547]). Regarding claim 21, Khoshnevisan teaches the DCI comprises a time-domain resource assignment (TDRA) field, and wherein the radio resources of the multiple PDSCHs are indicated by the TDRA field (“the TDRA field 220” in [0096]). Regarding claim 22, Khoshnevisan teaches the single DCI includes a start and length indicator (SLIV) corresponding to each of the multiple PDSCHs (“The TDRA field 220 may indicate a mapping type, a slot offset (K0), a start symbol (S), an allocation length (L), a start and length indicator (SLIV)” in [0094]). Regarding claim 23, Khoshnevisan teaches the single DCI includes a slot offset corresponding to each of the multiple PDSCHs (“The TDRA field 220 may indicate a mapping type, a slot offset (K0), a start symbol (S), an allocation length (L), a start and length indicator (SLIV)” in [0094]). Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. in view of Khoshnevisan et al. and further in view of Khoshnevisan et al. (US Pub. 2020/0351934, hereinafter Khoshnevisan1934). Regarding claim 9, Lee in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the limitations in claim 1 as shown above. Khoshnevisan also teaches a time-domain resource assignment (TDRA) table [0100]. Lee in view of Khoshnevisan, however, does not teach a time-domain resource assignment (TDRA) table is configured by at least a DCI, MAC CE, or RRC signalling, or specified in specifications. Khoshnevisan1934 teaches a time-domain resource assignment (TDRA) table is configured by at least a DCI, MAC CE, or RRC signalling, or specified in specifications (“the TDRA table may be a default table known to the network and the UE, or may be a configurable table that is configured via RRC signaling” in [0057]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee in view of Khoshnevisan to have a time-domain resource assignment (TDRA) table is configured by at least a DCI, MAC CE, or RRC signalling, or specified in specifications as taught by Khoshnevisan1934 in order to use configurable table [0057]. Claims 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Khoshnevisan et al. and further in view of Kim et al. (US Pub. 20220400489). Regarding claim 17, Lee in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the limitations in claim 1 as shown above. Lee in view of Khoshnevisan, however, does not teach different spatial information is indicated for each of one or more TCI states. Kim teaches different spatial information is indicated for each of one or more TCI states (“control information including a plurality of L pieces of beam information (spatial relation information TCI state)” in [0025]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee in view of Khoshnevisan to have different spatial information is indicated for each of one or more TCI states as taught by Kim in order to perform transmission of an uplink channel or reception of a downlink channel based on the control information [0025]. Regarding claim 18, Kim teaches the single DCI indicates at least a TCI state with a reference signal (RS) to derive spatial information (“TCI state ID may be indicated through DCI to indicate QCL reference information for the PDSCH DMRS” in [0170]). Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 5, 9 and 14-23 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLEMENCE S HAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3158. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM EST. 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, Edan Orgad can be reached at (571)272-7884. 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. /CLEMENCE S HAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 1 earlier event
Apr 23, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 22, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 29, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Dec 23, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Dec 23, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Jan 21, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 28, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
91%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+5.3%)
2y 4m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 1125 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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