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 Remarks
This Office action is considered fully responsive to the amendment filed 06/01/2026.
The previous specification objections are withdrawn as they have not been addressed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/01/2026 with respect to claim 25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant alleges they have incorporated the previously indicated allowable subject matter into the independent claims (page 10, Remarks) but that is not the case. Rather, Applicant has broadened claim 25 by removing limitations, however the prior art still applies, particularly as Raghavan teaches PUSCH (i.e. uplink shared channel transmissions as claimed). See the claim rejection section below for details.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 06/01/2026, with respect to claims 35-38, 41-45 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of claims 35-38 has been withdrawn.
Examiner telephoned and left a voice message for Agent Kevin M. Donnelly (Reg. No. 61, 643) on 06/17/2026 to discuss proposed amendments to place the application in condition for allowance, and a follow up telephone call 06/22/2026. As of 06/23/2026 no response has been received.
See the Claims Rejections section for a detailed mapping of the prior art to the claim limitations.
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.
Claim(s) 25, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 2024/0015737 A1 to RAGHAVAN et al. (“Raghavan”).
As to claim 25, Raghavan discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communications (fig. 2, UE 110), comprising: at least one a processor (fig. 2, processor 205); at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor (fig. 2, memory arrangement 210) and storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the UE to (para. 0059, a program containing lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor):
receive, from a network entity, a downlink control information message comprising a first indication of one or more transmission configuration indicator states for communications with the network entity (para. 0038, joint TCI state switch can be indicated by MAC CE and/or DCI, i.e. DCI includes target TCI state) and a second indication that schedules one or more uplink shared channel transmissions (para. 0020, The TCI state change delay engine 235 may perform operations including determining a span of time for continuing to use an old TCI state [i.e. this implies at least one UL transmission occurs after receiving the DCI as the old TCI state is still being used for uplink before switching over to the new TCI state] after receiving a TCI state change indicator from the network; para. 0037, The joint TCI state refers to a TCI chain including UL and DL signals, and a separate UL TCI state refers to a TCI chain including only UL signals (although the source RS may be a DL signal); para. 0031, A TCI chain may be configured to include UL components, including ports for UL RS, e.g., SRS, and/or UL channels, e.g., RACH, PUCCH, and PUSCH, para. 0038, joint TCI state switch can be indicated by MAC CE and/or DCI, i.e. DCI includes joint TCI state switch and pertains to the implied UL transmission sent before the delayed switchover);
transmit, to the network entity, in accordance with the second indication, at least one of the one or more uplink shared channel transmissions (para. 0020, The TCI state change delay engine 235 may perform operations including determining a span of time for continuing to use an old TCI state [i.e. this implies at least one UL transmission occurs after receiving the DCI as the old TCI state is still being used for uplink before switching over to the new TCI state] after receiving a TCI state change indicator from the network; para. 0037, The joint TCI state refers to a TCI chain including UL and DL signals, and a separate UL TCI state refers to a TCI chain including only UL signals (although the source RS may be a DL signal); para. 0031, A TCI chain may be configured to include UL components, including ports for UL RS, e.g., SRS, and/or UL channels, e.g., RACH, PUCCH, and PUSCH; para. 0038, joint TCI state switch can be indicated by MAC CE and/or DCI, i.e. DCI includes joint TCI state switch); and
communicate with the network entity using the one or more transmission configuration indicator states and after a delay, wherein the delay comprises an amount of time or a quantity of symbols between transmitting the at least one of the one or more uplink shared channel transmissions (para. 0052, For the UE receiving the separate UL TCI state switch command, the starting point for the switching delay is the slot in which the UE receives the PDSCH with MAC-CE or the PDCCH with DCI indicating the separate UL TCI state switch. The ending point for the switching delay is the slot in which the UE transmits the UL signal associated with the target TCI state; para. 0037, The joint TCI state refers to a TCI chain including UL and DL signals, and a separate UL TCI state refers to a TCI chain including only UL signals (although the source RS may be a DL signal); para. 0031, A TCI chain may be configured to include UL components, including ports for UL RS, e.g., SRS, and/or UL channels, e.g., RACH, PUCCH, and PUSCH;).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 OMAR J GHOWRWAL whose telephone number is (571)270-5691. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-6:00pm.
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/OMAR J GHOWRWAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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