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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-3 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu et al (US Publication 2026/0318770 A1).
Regarding to claims 1 and 3, Liu discloses a user equipment UE (fig. 7) comprising: higher layer circuitry 710 (page 6 paragraph 0082) configured to receive 502 information (RRC) to configure: a plurality of (P) sounding reference signal SRS resource sets for aperiodic SRS transmission (fig. 5 page 5 paragraph 0078), and a plurality of values (N) of a slot offset for each of the plurality of SRS resource sets (page 5 paragraph 0078); receiving circuitry 730 (page 6 paragraph 0082) configured to: receive 504 a media access control MAC control element CE that activates one or more SRS resource sets from the configured plurality of SRS resource sets (page 5 paragraph 0078), and receive 506 downlink control information DCI (page 5 paragraph 0078) carried by a physical downlink control channel PDCCH (page 1 paragraph 0002); and transmitting circuitry 730 (page 6 paragraph 0082) configured to transmit 508 an SRS (page 5 paragraph 0078), wherein: an SRS request field in the DCI indicates one SRS resource set from the plurality of activated one or more SRS resource sets (page 5 paragraph 0067), and the DCI indicates one value from the plurality of values of the slot offset configured for the indicated one SRS resource set (page 4 paragraph 0047).
Regarding to claim 2, Liu discloses a base station (fig. 7; gNB) comprising: higher layer circuitry 740 (page 6 paragraph 0082) configured to transmit 602 information (RRC) to configure: a plurality of (P) sounding reference signal SRS resource sets for aperiodic SRS transmission (fig. 6 page 6 paragraph 0080), and a plurality of values (N) of a slot offset for each of the plurality of SRS resource sets (page 6 paragraph 0080); transmitting circuitry 760 (page 6 paragraph 0082) configured to: transmit 604 a media access control MAC control element CE that activates one or more SRS resource sets from the configured plurality of SRS resource sets (page 6 paragraph 0080), and transmit 506 downlink control information DCI (page 6 paragraph 0080) carried by a physical downlink control channel PDCCH (page 1 paragraph 0002); and receiving circuitry 730 (page 6 paragraph 0082) configured to receive 608 an SRS (page 5 paragraph 0078), wherein: an SRS request field in the DCI indicates one SRS resource set from the plurality of activated one or more SRS resource sets (page 5 paragraph 0067), and the DCI indicates one value from the plurality of values of the slot offset configured for the indicated one SRS resource set (page 4 paragraph 0047).
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 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Duc T Duong whose telephone number is (571)272-3122. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri; 9am-6pm.
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, Hassan Phillips can be reached at (571)272-3940. 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.
/DUC T DUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
Prosecution Insights