Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 15, 2026
Application No. 18/254,343

HARQ-ACK CODEBOOK CONSTRUCTION

Final Rejection §103
Filed
May 24, 2023
Priority
Nov 25, 2020 — provisional 63/118,550 +1 more
Examiner
JAIN, RAJ K
Art Unit
2411
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Lenovo (United States) Inc.
OA Round
3 (Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
4-5
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
724 granted / 826 resolved
+29.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
28 currently pending
Career history
868
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
§103
70.7%
+30.7% vs TC avg
§102
18.4%
-21.6% vs TC avg
§112
4.7%
-35.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 826 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 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. Claim(s) 1-2,4-6,8-11,13-17,19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gou et al (US 20230179346 A1) hereinafter as Gou in view of HOSSEINI et al (US 20230371028 A1) hereinafter as Hosseini. Regarding claim(s) 1,10,14, Guo discloses a method and apparatus of a user equipment (UE) (See Fig(s). 1 with UE102), the method comprising: constructing a first HARQ- ACK codebook based on first HARQ-ACK information, wherein the first HARQ-ACK codebook is scheduled to be transmitted on a first uplink transmission occasion (See Fig(s). 1, step 108, See ¶ 26-27, the UE can construct the HARQ-ACK codebook. The codebook can be constructed according to the DAI value in the PDCCH for scheduling the unicast PDSCH, the process of generating inherently includes construction of the same as a codebook.).; Guo further discloses wherein the second HARQ-ACK codebook is based on at least the part of the first HARQ- ACK information and the second HARQ-ACK information, and the first uplink transmission occasion starts earlier than the second uplink transmission occasion (See ¶ 29 the UE can construct a sub-HARQ-ACK codebook, denoted as sub-codebook 2. Then, sub-codebook 1 and sub-codebook 2 can be concatenated to obtain a final HARQ-ACK codebook….as for first uplink transmission starting earlier than second transmission See ¶ 31 whereby each codebook is constructed for each transmission period). Guo fails to disclose determining at least part of the first HARQ-ACK information to be transmitted together with second HARQ-ACK information in response to the first uplink transmission occasion not being available for transmission, wherein the second HARQ-ACK information is scheduled to be transmitted later than the first uplink transmission occasion…….. transmitting a second HARQ-ACK codebook on a second uplink transmission occasion Hosseini discloses determining at least part of the first HARQ-ACK information from the first HARQ-ACK codebook to be transmitted together with second HARQ-ACK information in a second HARQ-ACK codebook in response to the first uplink transmission occasion not being available for transmission, (See Fig(s). 13 step 1320, See ¶ 105,111, UE 210 delaying both the originally delayed HARQ-ACK and the second delayed HARQ-ACK (e.g., refraining from transmitting the uplink feedback message and the second uplink feedback message…, . This may continue for each instance where the PUCCH occasion corresponding to a PDSCH transmission overlaps with a downlink and/or flexible resource or is otherwise unavailable for use for an uplink transmission….further See ¶ 100-101, base station 205 and/or UE 210 when identifying the third uplink control resource, multiplexing the delayed HARQ-ACK with the second HARQ-ACK, and the like. ), wherein the second HARQ-ACK information is scheduled to be transmitted later than the first uplink transmission occasion (again See ¶ 105,111, UE 210 delaying both the originally delayed HARQ-ACK and the second delayed HARQ-ACK (e.g., refraining from transmitting the uplink feedback message and the second uplink feedback message when first uplink transmission resource is unavailable). Hosseni further discloses transmitting a second HARQ-ACK codebook on a second uplink transmission occasion (See ¶ 4, the UE and/or base station may identify a second uplink control resource to use for transmission of the uplink feedback message to the base station. The second uplink control resource may correspond to the next configured uplink resource). Codebook concatenation and transmission enables efficient feedback for scenarios where there are multiple PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) receptions or code block group (CBG)-based retransmissions. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teachings of Hosseni within Guo, allowing for efficient feedback for scenarios where there are multiple PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) receptions or code block group (CBG)-based retransmissions. Further with regards to claims 10 and 14, Guo discloses a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method of claim 1 (See Fig(s). 6 with processor 610 with memory for execution of computer instructions See ¶ 126, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random-access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data.). Regarding claim(s) 2,11, Guo discloses method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a downlink control information (DCI) format requesting a transmission of the first HARQ-ACK codebook on the second uplink transmission occasion (See ¶ 76), wherein transmitting the second HARQ-ACK codebook comprises transmitting the second HARQ- ACK codebook in response to detecting the downlink control information DCI format (See ¶ 77, the base station and the UE agree that after receiving the above DCI, the UE will determine a PUCCH resource according to the slot position and PRI indicated in the DCI in order to transmit an untransmitted HARQ-ACK codebook ….which is interpreted as a second HARQ- ACK codebook.). Regarding claim(s) 4,13, Guo discloses constructing the second HARQ-ACK codebook by appending the first HARQ-ACK codebook to a third HARQ-ACK codebook, wherein the third HARQ-ACK codebook is based on the second HARQ-ACK information (See ¶ 54-55,57, the UE can construct the HARQ-ACK codebook, denoted as sub-codebook 3. For the received MBMS service, the UE can independently construct a HARQ-ACK codebook, denoted as sub-codebook 2. Then, sub-codebook 3 and sub-codebook 2 can be concatenated to construct the final HARQ-ACK codebook. Regarding claim(s) 5,15-16, Hosseni discloses wherein the first uplink transmission occasion is semi- statically configured (See ¶ 89-90, SPS PDSCH occasion, K1 may point to a semi-static downlink slot. ). Reasons for combining same as claim 1. Regarding claim(s) 6,17, Guo discloses wherein: the first HARQ-ACK information comprises HARQ-ACK information of at least one semi-persistent scheduling(SPS) physical downlink shared channel PDSCH) (See ¶ 48); and the at least one SPS PDSCH semi-persistent scheduling physical downlink shared channel is semi-persistently scheduled on at least one slot of at least one serving cell based on at least one semi-persistent scheduling SPS configuration (See ¶ 53, the unicast service here can refer to the semi-static transmission PDSCH, namely SPS PDSCH….., See ¶ also 108, codebook is in time domain and thus having a time slot for serving a cell). Regarding claim(s) 8,19, Hosseni discloses detecting a downlink control information (DCI) format requesting a transmission of a part of HARQ-ACK information that the UL user equipment maintains on a third uplink transmission occasion (See ¶ 91, the semi-static configuration for SPS resources and/or the DCI activating the SPS resources may include a PRI indicating that the corresponding uplink control resource that UE 210 is to use for the corresponding PUCCH 225 transmission carrying the feedback message occurs N symbol(s)/slot(s) after the PDCCH 215 carrying the DCI grant or PDSCH 220 corresponding to the SPS PDSCH occasion.). Reasons for combining same claim 1. Regarding claim(s) 9,20, Hosseni discloses wherein the part of the HARQ-ACK information corresponds to HARQ-ACK information of a subset of serving cells (See Fig(s). 1, See ¶ 54, Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., the base stations 105, the UEs 115, or both) may have hardware configurations that support communications over a particular carrier bandwidth or may be configurable to support communications over one of a set of carrier bandwidths…… each served UE 115 may be configured for operating over portions (e.g., a sub-band, a BWP) or all of a carrier bandwidth.). Reasons for combining same claim 1. Claim(s) 3,12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gou et al (US 20230179346 A1) hereinafter as Gou in view of HOSSEINI et al (US 20230371028 A1) hereinafter as Hosseini, further in view of Blankenship et al (US 20230283415 A1) hereinafter as Blankenship. Regarding claim(s) 3,12 Blankenship discloses the first HARQ-ACK information comprises high-priority HARQ-ACK information and low-priority HARQ-ACK information (See ¶ 65, 70, enhanced Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook construction that accounts for the different priority indices of HARQ-ACK bits. Particular embodiments assign different physical priority levels (high priority, low priority) to enhanced Type-3 HARQ-ACK codebook for the uplink prioritization and multiplexing procedure Particular embodiments enable various DCI formats to trigger the enhanced Type-3 HARQ codebook.). Different HARQ priority levels (groups of same priority levels) enhance uplink codebook transmission by allowing for higher priority bits to be decoded and considered first over lower priority levels. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teachings of Blankenship within Guo, so as to transmit same priority levels in groups thus conserving bandwidth resources. Allowable Subject Matter Claim(s) 7 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) ) 1-2,4-6,8-11,13-17,19-20 have been considered but are moot based on new grounds of rejection necessitated by Applicant’s amendments. 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 date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAJ JAIN whose telephone number is (571)-272-3145. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 8-5. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached 571-272-2123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). 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) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form. /RAJ JAIN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 6 earlier events
Nov 07, 2025
Response Filed
Dec 22, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jan 26, 2026
Interview Requested
Mar 16, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Mar 16, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 17, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
May 14, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 13, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action

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

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Prosecution Projections

4-5
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+7.6%)
2y 10m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 826 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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