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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/09/2026 has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/22/2026 (section II.) have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Examiner would like to comment about the amended claims and the art rejection included in this Office Action.
Claims 1, 18, 37, 54 have been amended to at least claim “wherein the first beam corresponds to a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), and the second receiving beam corresponds to an initial beam of the TRP;”.
These claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
According to at least [0047], [0048], [0049], [0056], [0057] (of the instant application publication (US 2024/0413876)), the first receiving beam corresponds to the first TRP, and the second receiving beam corresponds to the initial beam of the second TRP.
Although other scenarios are described, Examiner has not been able to find support for the currently claimed “wherein the first beam corresponds to a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), and the second receiving beam corresponds to an initial beam of the TRP;” (emphasis added). It is disclosed that a first receiving beam corresponds to a (or the) first TRP and the second receiving beam corresponds to an initial beam of a second TRP. Alternatively ([0047]), the first receiving beam corresponds to a TRP and the second receiving beam corresponds to the same TRP (the TRP updates the receiving beam used by the terminal device to receive the communication contents sent by the second TRP).
The receiving beam used by the terminal of Cao et al. to receive (at least) the first PDCCH transmission (Fig. 20B), after receiving the MAC CE activation, is a receiving beam which corresponds to an “initial beam of the TRP”, because that transmit beam is an initial transmit beam used by the BS to perform the at least first PDCCH transmission (initial in terms of being used for the first time to perform that transmission). Fig. 20B and its description do not disclose any previous PDCCH transmissions using the MAC CE activated beam(s) prior to the first PDCCH transmission.
In this Office Action, claims 1, 18, 37, 54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cao (US 2021/0184733) in view of Honglei (US 2019/0215701). Due to the amendment to claims 1, 18, 37 and 54, the grounds of rejection have changed compared to the rejection of the 04/23/2026 Non Final Rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 18, 37, 54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 has been amended to claim “wherein the first beam corresponds to a
Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), and the second receiving beam corresponds to an initial beam of the TRP;”
Refer to at least [0047], [0048], [0049], [0056], [0057] of the instant application publication (US 2024/0413876). In these paragraphs, it is disclosed that the first receiving beam corresponds to the first TRP, and the second receiving beam corresponds to the initial beam of the second TRP. Although other scenarios are described, Examiner has not been able to find support for the currently claimed “wherein the first beam corresponds to a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), and the second receiving beam corresponds to an initial beam of the TRP;” (emphasis added). It is disclosed that a first receiving beam corresponds to a (or the) first TRP and the second receiving beam corresponds to an initial beam of a second TRP.
Claim 37 is rejected based on the reasoning used to reject claim 1 above.
Claim 18 has also been amended to recite: has been amended to recite “wherein the first beam corresponds to a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), and the second receiving beam corresponds to an initial beam of the TRP;” and is rejected based on the reasoning used to reject claim 1 above.
Claim 54 is rejected based on the reasoning used to reject claim 18 above.
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, 18, 37, 54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cao (US 2021/0184733) in view of Honglei (US 2019/0215701).
With respect to claim 1, as best understood, Cao discloses: receiving, first
indication information sent by a network device (Fig. 20B and related Fig. 10, [0236], “MAC-CE” (e.g. MAC CE activation)(first indication) transmitted from the base station is received by the UE, [0237], [0144]-[0152], [0156]), wherein the first indication information indicates a receiving beam ([0145] “…and the UE can use the receiving beams corresponding to the Ms transmitting beams to monitor the PDCCH”, [0237] discloses: “after the activation by the MAC CE takes effect, the base station can use the indicated plurality of transmitting beams to perform downlink PDCCH transmission. For the UE, the UE obtains identification information of the transmitting beams, such as the TCI state IDs, from the MAC CE, and can determine the spatial receiving parameters (receiving beams) for monitoring the PDCCH, and receives the PDCCH using the determined plurality of receiving beams.” Refer to one of the determined plurality of receiving beams); and the receiving beam corresponds to an initial beam of the TRP (the receiving beam used to receive the first PDCCH transmission corresponds to a transmit (an initial transmit beam used for initial PDCCH transmission ) beam of the TRP used to perform PDCCH transmission(s), e.g. Fig. 20B, refer to the reception of the first PDCCH transmission using the receiving (initial receiving) beam of the UE that corresponds to the transmitting beam of the TRP used to transmit the first PDCCH). The receiving beam used to receive the first PDCCH is considered to be an initial beam the corresponds to an initial beam of the TRP used to receive an initial (first) PDCCH transmission); wherein the first indication information is a Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) (as disclosed in Fig. 10, [0144]-[0152], [0156], [0237]), the MAC CE is configured to indicate an ID of a Control Resource Set (CORESET) associated with the TRP and a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state index corresponding to the initial beam of the TRP (refer to the MAC-CE format of Fig. 10, and refer to the coreset information CORSET IDx associated with (transmit) beam x (used by the network node (TRP) to transmit the PDCCH) and TCI state IDx corresponding to the initial beam of the TRP used to perform the PDDCH transmission), wherein the beam of the TRP corresponds to the CORESET ([0149]-[0151] or [0156] the beam (of the beams) of the TRP is used to transmit the PDDCH corresponds to the respective CORESET IDx).
Cao does not expressly disclose: using a first receiving beam, a second receiving beam (the initial receiving beam used to receive the first PDCCH is not described as a “second” receiving beam), wherein the first receiving beam corresponds to a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP).
Implementing beam switching between a network device and a UE, using MAC-CE signaling, Honglei disclose: using a first receiving beam (Fig. 5, time t1 UE side receiving the transmitted MAC-CE using a first receiving beam corresponding to an old beam (TCI#1) corresponding to a transmitting beam of the network. [0051] refer to the description of Step 1 “At time t0, gNB 400 sends a PDCCH transmitted with old beam TCI#1 to schedule a MAC-CE updating the CORESET TCI state to the UE 300. At time t1, UE 300 correctly receives and decodes the PDCCH…” through Step 3 “…UE 300 continues to use old beam TCI#1 associated DL receive beam for the PDCCH reception”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the receiving of the MAC CE (Fig. 20B, Fig. 10) by the UE, using a first receiving beam and the first receiving beam corresponds to a Transmission and Reception Point as taught by Honglei, so that the UE of Cao uses a first receiving beam that corresponds to a first transmitting beam of the TRP to receive the transmitted MAC-CE, to perform MAC-CE communication using aligned transmit and receive beams. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the receiving beam of Cao used to receive the first PDCCH transmission corresponds to a second receiving beam, as compared to the first receiving beam used by the terminal to receive the MAC-CE activation.
Claim 37, as best understood, is rejected based on the rationale used to reject claim 1 above. Cao discloses the claimed terminal device (UE of Fig. 20B and refer to the UE of at least Fig. 19A, described in detail in [0211]-[0218], 12-16 of [0369])), comprising: a transceiver (communication unit 205 implemented as a transceiver as disclosed in [0217] at least lines 1-6), a processor (processing circuitry 201 includes a processor [0212]) and a memory storing computer programs executed by the processor (memory 206, [0218], lines 1-4 “…programs…” and at least lines 12-16 of [0369]), wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 1 (at least [0211]).
With respect to claim 18, as best understood, Cao disclose: sending first indication information to a terminal device (Fig. 20B, BS performs sending first indication information (MAC CE activation) and related Fig. 10, [0144]-[0153], [0156], [0236]-[0237]); wherein the first indication information indicates a receiving beam of the terminal device (refer to at least the second half of [0145] “After the activation…”, [0156], [0237]), and the receiving beam corresponds to an initial beam of the TRP (the initial receiving beam(s) used by the UE to perform reception of an initial PDCCH transmission corresponds to an initial transmit beam if the TRP, used to perform the first PDCCH transmission, refer to the portions already cited); wherein the first indication information is a Medium Access Control Element (MAC CE) (Fig. 10 and Fig. 20B, refer to the disclosed MAC-CE); the MAC CE is configured to indicate an ID of a Control Resource Set (CORESET) associated with the TRP and a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state index corresponding to the initial beam of the TRP (Fig. 10, refer to the field of the MAC-CE, CORESET IDx, and TCI IDx, [0147]-[0152]), wherein the initial beam of the TRP corresponds to the CORESET (the initial beam(s) used by the TRP to perform the initial PDCCH transmission (including the first PDCCH transmission) corresponds to the CORESET, refer to the sections already cited above).
Cao does not expressly disclose: using a first sending beam; a second receiving beam of the terminal device, and the first sending beam corresponds to a first receiving beam of the terminal device; and the first receiving beam corresponds to a Transmission and Reception (TRP).
Implementing beam switching between a network device and a UE, using MAC-CE signaling, Honglei disclose: using a first sending beam (Fig. 5, MAC CE transmitted by a TRP using a first sending beam, old beam corresponding to (TCI#1)), the first sending beam corresponds to a first receiving beam of the terminal device (Fig. 5, MAC-CE is received using a first receiving beam corresponding to the first transmitting beam (old beam TCI#1), [0051] refer to the description of Step 1 “At time t0, gNB 400 sends a PDCCH transmitted with old beam TCI#1 to schedule a MAC-CE updating the CORESET TCI state to the UE 300. At time t1, UE 300 correctly receives and decodes the PDCCH…” and part of Step 3 “UE…continues to use old beam TCI#1 associated with DL receive beam…”) and the first receiving beam corresponds to a Transmission and Reception (TRP) (first receiving beam used by the UE to receive the MAC CE corresponds to a TRP (the transmit beam used by the TRP)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the receiving beam of the terminal device (used to receive the first PDCCH transmission) corresponds to a second receiving beam, as compared to the first receiving beam of the terminal that is used to receive the MAC-CE activation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the sending of the MAC CE (Fig. 20B, Fig. 10) by the TRP using a first sending beam, (as taught by Honglei), and the first sending beam corresponds to a first receiving beam of the terminal (used to receive the MAC CE according to the same TCI state) so that a first sending beam used to transmit the MAC CE is aligned with a first receiving beam used to receive the MAC CE at the UE.
Claim 54, as best understood, is rejected based on the rationale used to reject claim 1 above. Cao discloses the claimed network device (BS of Fig. 20B and refer to the BS of at least Fig. 19A, described in detail in [0204]-[0210]), comprising: a transceiver (communication unit 105 implemented as a transceiver as disclosed in [0209] at least lines 1-6), a processor (processing circuitry 201 includes a processor [0212]) and a memory storing computer programs executed by the processor (memory 106, [0210], lines 1-4 “…programs…” and at least lines 11-16 of [0346]), wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 1 (at least [0204]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 73-75 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chendamarai Kannan et al. (US 2021/0037512) entire document is relevant and [0116]-[0122] , refer to the disclosed “…beam configuration updates 340 that may be transmitted between the TRPs 305 and UE 315 when a TRP 305 (e.g., 305-a) updates its own beam configuration (e.g., TCI state) or the beam configuration for another TRP 305”, and Fig. 4A-4B.
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SOPHIA VLAHOS whose telephone number is (571)272-5507. The examiner can normally be reached M 8:00-4:00, TWRF 8:00-2:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SAM K AHN can be reached at 571-272-3044. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SOPHIA VLAHOS
Examiner
Art Unit 2633
/SOPHIA VLAHOS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633 09/08/2026
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