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 .
This office action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed on 11/26/2025.
Claims 86-93 and 95-105 are currently pending.
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 86, 88-90, 97, 99-101 and 105 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Falconetti et al. (US 2020/0059902 A1; hereafter FALCON) in view of Huang et al. (US 2021/0153197 A1; hereafter HUANG).
With respect to claim 86, FALCON discloses a user equipment (44 of FIG. 21), comprising:
at least one processor (48 of FIG. 21); and
at least one memory (52 of FIG. 21) comprising computer program code (54 of FIG. 21),
the at least one memory and computer program code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the user equipment (44 of FIG. 21) at least to:
determine that one or more signals or channels can be transmitted as one or more short control signals (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]);
receive an indication of an allowance of time or resources of a time period for the one or more short control signals (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]);
determine whether to transmit at least one of the one or more signals or channels based on a type of the one or more signals or channels and on the allowance (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]); and
transmit the one or more short control signals (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]).
FALCON does not disclose determine whether to transmit at least one of the one or more signals or channels, without using listen-before-talk or without performing channel sensing based on a type of the one or more signals or channels and on the allowance.
HUANG discloses determine whether to transmit at least one of the one or more signals or channels, without using listen-before-talk or without performing channel sensing based on a type of the one or more signals or channels and on the allowance (926 of FIG. 9A; 924, 936 of FIG. 9B; paragraphs [0126], [0129], [0130], [0132], [0133, [0134], [0135], [0136], [0137] and [0138]; HUANG shows using MCOT or COT, that is send by the network node, for the UE to see what time period is occupied and what time period is available for uplink transmission).
HUANG teaches the benefit of high data throughput by using a MCOT or COT for sharing wireless time transmissions. (paragraphs [0004] and [0005]) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT technique as taught by HUANG with the user equipment, method, and computer-readable medium of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 88, FALCON further discloses wherein the allowance of time or resources comprises slots or symbols associated with the time period (paragraph [0190]).
With respect to claim 89, FALCON further discloses wherein the allowance of time or resources comprises a portion of time of the time period (paragraph [0190]).
With respect to claim 90, FALCON further discloses wherein the allowance of time or resources is shared between the user equipment and at least one or more other user equipments or one or more network nodes (paragraphs [0010] and [0030]; 30 of FIG. 18).
With respect to claim 97, FALCON discloses a method (Abstract; Title), for a user equipment (44 of FIG. 21), comprising:
determining that one or more signals or channels can be transmitted as one or more short control signals (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]);
receiving an indication of an allowance of time or resources of a time period for the one or more short control signals (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]);
determining whether to transmit at least one of the one or more signals or channels based on a type of the one or more signals or channels and
on the allowance (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]); and
transmitting the one or more short control signals (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]).
FALCON does not disclose determine whether to transmit at least one of the one or more signals or channels, without using listen-before-talk or without performing channel sensing based on a type of the one or more signals or channels and on the allowance.
HUANG discloses determine whether to transmit at least one of the one or more signals or channels, without using listen-before-talk or without performing channel sensing based on a type of the one or more signals or channels and on the allowance (926 of FIG. 9A; 924, 936 of FIG. 9B; paragraphs [0126], [0129], [0130], [0132], [0133, [0134], [0135], [0136], [0137] and [0138]; HUANG shows using MCOT or COT, that is send by the network node, for the UE to see what time period is occupied and what time period is available for uplink transmission).
HUANG teaches the benefit of high data throughput by using a MCOT or COT for sharing wireless time transmissions. (paragraphs [0004] and [0005]) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT technique as taught by HUANG with the user equipment, method, and computer-readable medium of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 99, FALCON further discloses wherein the allowance of time or resources comprises slots or symbols associated with the time period (paragraph [0190]).
With respect to claim 100, FALCON further discloses wherein the allowance of time or resources comprises a portion of time of the time period (paragraph [0190]).
With respect to claim 101, FALCON further discloses wherein the allowance of time or resources is shared between the apparatus and at least one or more other apparatuses or one or more network nodes (paragraphs [0010] and [0030]).
With respect to claim 105, FALCON discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (38 of FIG. 18) encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor (36 of FIG. 18), cause an user equipment (44 of FIG. 21) to at least:
determine that one or more signals or channels can be transmitted as one or more short control signals (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]);
receive an indication of an allowance of time or resources of a time period for the one or more short control signals (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]);
determine whether to transmit at least one of the one or more signals or channels as one or more short control signals based on a type of the one or more signals or channels and on the allowance (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]); and
transmit the one or more short control signals (S100, S102 of FIG. 19; S104, S106 of FIG. 22; paragraphs [0083], [0084], [0131], and [0132]).
FALCON does not disclose determine whether to transmit at least one of the one or more signals or channels, without using listen-before-talk or without performing channel sensing based on a type of the one or more signals or channels and on the allowance.
HUANG discloses determine whether to transmit at least one of the one or more signals or channels, without using listen-before-talk or without performing channel sensing based on a type of the one or more signals or channels and on the allowance (926 of FIG. 9A; 924, 936 of FIG. 9B; paragraphs [0126], [0129], [0130], [0132], [0133, [0134], [0135], [0136], [0137] and [0138]; HUANG shows using MCOT or COT, that is send by the network node, for the UE to see what time period is occupied and what time period is available for uplink transmission).
HUANG teaches the benefit of high data throughput by using a MCOT or COT for sharing wireless time transmissions. (paragraphs [0004] and [0005]) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT technique as taught by HUANG with the user equipment, method, and computer-readable medium of FALCON to produce an expected result.
Claims 87, 91-93, 95, 96, 98, and 102-104 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FALCON in view of HUANG and further in view of Li et al. (US 2020/0037354 A1; hereafter LI).
With respect to claim 87, FALCON does not disclose wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus, when determining that the one or more signals or channels can be transmitted, at least to:
determine that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of a type that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals without regard to the allowance, or
determine that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of one or more other types that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals according to the allowance.
LI discloses determine that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of a type that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals without regard to the allowance, or
determine that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of one or more other types that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals according to the allowance (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 91, FALCON does not disclose wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus, when determining whether to transmit, at least to:
determine that the one or more signals or channels are of a type of that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals; and
determine that the allowance has not been exceeded.
LI discloses determine that the one or more signals or channels are of a type of that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]); and
determine that the allowance has not been exceeded (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 92, FALCON does not disclose wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, when determining whether to transmit, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine that the allowance has been exceeded; and
based on performing a listen-before-talk procedure, transmit the one or more short control signals if a channel is free.
LI discloses determine that the allowance has been exceeded (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]); and
based on performing a listen-before-talk procedure, transmit the one or more short control signals if a channel is free (3902, 3903, 3904 in FIG. 39; paragraphs [0489] and [0490]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 93, FALCON does not disclose wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to:
determine an amount of the allowance that has been consumed after transmitting the one or more short control signals.
LI discloses determine an amount of the allowance that has been consumed after transmitting the one or more short control signals (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 95, FALCON does not disclose wherein the indicated allowance of time or resources comprises resources following an end of an indicated channel occupancy time, or
wherein the indication is valid for a predetermined time after the end of the indicated channel occupancy time.
LI discloses wherein the indicated allowance of time or resources comprises resources following an end of an indicated channel occupancy time, or
wherein the indication is valid for a predetermined time after the end of the indicated channel occupancy time (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 96, FALCON does not disclose wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to:
receive an indication of a portion of the allowance of the time or resources; determine that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of a type that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals according to the allowance; and
determine that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of one or more other types that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals according to the allowance and the portion of the allowance.
LI discloses receive an indication of a portion of the allowance of the time or resources; determine that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of a type that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals according to the allowance (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]); and
determine that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of one or more other types that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals according to the allowance and the portion of the allowance (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 98, FALCON does not disclose wherein the determining that the one or more signals or channels can be transmitted further comprises:
determining that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of a type that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals without regard to the allowance, or determining that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of one or more other types that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals according to the allowance.
LI discloses determining that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of a type that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals without regard to the allowance, or determining that at least one of the one or more signals or channels is of one or more other types that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals according to the allowance (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 102, FALCON does not disclose wherein the determining whether to transmit further comprises:
determining that the one or more signals or channels are of a type of that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals; and determining that the allowance has not been exceeded.
LI discloses determining that the one or more signals or channels are of a type of that can be transmitted as the one or more short control signals; and determining that the allowance has not been exceeded (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 103, FALCON does not disclose wherein the determining whether to transmit further comprises:
determining that the allowance has been exceeded; and based on performing a listen-before-talk procedure, transmitting the one or more short control signals if a channel is free.
LI discloses determining that the allowance has been exceeded; and based on performing a listen-before-talk procedure, transmitting the one or more short control signals if a channel is free (3902, 3903, 3904 in FIG. 39; paragraphs [0489] and [0490]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
With respect to claim 104, FALCON does not disclose further comprising:
determining an amount of the allowance that has been consumed after transmitting the one or more short control signals.
LI discloses determining an amount of the allowance that has been consumed after transmitting the one or more short control signals (COT FIG. 26; FIG. 28; paragraph [0181]; FIG. 34A; FIG. 34B; paragraph [0435] and [0436]).
LI teaches the benefit of supporting higher data rates (paragraph [0013]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the COT & LBT & time excess processing as taught by LI with the apparatus and method of FALCON to produce an expected result.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 86, 97, and 105 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
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 Brian T O'Connor whose telephone number is (571)270-1081. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri Flex 10am-6:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gary Mui can be reached at 571-270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRIAN T O CONNOR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465 March 7, 2026