DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is responsive to Applicant’s remarks submitted November 21, 2025. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 1-6 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been carefully considered, but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection set forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
6. Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 2017/0347394 A1 (hereinafter “Yasukawa”), alternatively in view of U.S. Publication No. 2021/0045103 A1 (hereinafter “Kim”), and in further view of either U.S. Patent No. 9,794,767 (hereinafter “Harada”) or U.S. Publication No. 2019/0320467 A1 (hereinafter “Freda”).
Regarding claims 1 and 6: Yasukawa teaches communication device comprising: a processor configured to autonomously determine a first resource to be used for transmission; a transmitter configured to transmit data to another communication device by using the first resource (see, e.g., [0005]-[0007], [0013]; a transmitting UE autonomously determines a resource used for transmitting to a receiving UE); and
a receiver configured to receive feedback information corresponding to the data by using a second resource that is autonomously or heteronomously determined by the another communication device (see, e.g., [0013]-[0016]; the receiving UE sends feedback on a determined resource).
To the extent the system taught by Yasukawa does not inherently teach or include the feature wherein the second resource is autonomously or heteronomously determined (see, e.g., resource configurations for feedback beginning at [0057], also [0116]), this feature is nevertheless taught by Kim (see, e.g., [0099]-[0105], [0126]; both transmitting and receiving UEs determine resources autonomously; note also overlapping teachings with respect to resource determination and feedback). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate features from the system of Kim, such as the resource determination functionality, within the system of Yasukawa, in order to reduce collisions and/or improve spectrum utilization.
Yasukawa alternatively modified by Kim does not explicitly state transmission of a “preamble signal.” However, this feature is taught by Harada (see, e.g., col. 5:35 – 6:14; col. 13:25 – col. 14:32). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate features from the system of Harada, such as the indication functionality, within the system of Yasukawa alternatively modified by Kim, in order to improve signal detection.
Alternatively to Harada, the said feature is taught by Freda (see, e.g., [0254]-[0257]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate features from the system of Freda, such as the indication functionality, within the system of Yasukawa alternatively modified by Kim, in order to improve signal detection.
The rationale set forth above regarding the device of claim 1 is applicable to the method of claim 6.
Regarding claim 2: Yasukawa alternatively modified by Kim, and further Harada or Freda, further teaches wherein the receiver assumes that the second resource is arranged in a period that starts from a time at which the first resource is arranged (see, e.g., Yasukawa [0059]-[0066], note also figures 3-7; and/or Kim [0101], [0162], [0172]). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 2.
Regarding claim 3: Yasukawa alternatively modified by Kim, and further Harada or Freda, further teaches wherein the processor determines the second resource to be used for reception of the feedback information corresponding to the data, based on a timing of a beam of the another communication device, the transmitter transmits information indicating the second resource to the another communication device, and the receiver receives the feedback information by using the second resource (see, e.g., Yasukawa [0065]; also Kim [0099]-[0105], [0126]). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 3.
Regarding claim 4: Yasukawa alternatively modified by Kim, and further Harada or Freda, further teaches wherein the control unit determines a resource group that includes candidates of the second resource to be used for reception of the feedback information corresponding to the data, the transmitter transmits, to the another communication device, information indicating the resource group, the another communication device autonomously determines the second resource from among the resource group, and the receiver receives the feedback information by using the second (see, e.g., Yasukawa [0057]-[0066], [0135], [0195]-[0196]; also Kim [0118], [0157]). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 4.
Regarding claim 5: Yasukawa alternatively modified by Kim, and further Harada or Freda, further teaches wherein the transmitter retransmits the data to the another communication device by using a resource for retransmission of the data included in the feedback information in a case where the receiver receives the feedback information indicating a reception failure of the data (see, e.g., Yasukawa [0016], [0051]; also Kim [0099]-[0101]). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 5.
Conclusion
7. 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.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS SLOMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7520. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM EST.
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/NICHOLAS SLOMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476