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 .
DETAILED ACTION
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/20/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 3, 8-10, and 17 have been amended. Claims 33-42 have been added; claims 2, 4-7, 11, 12, 15, and 18-32 have been deleted. Claims 1, 3, 8 - 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, and 33-42 are subject to examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim(s) 1, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 17, 33-39, and 42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a low of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
The claim 1 and 17 recite(s) “determining” steps. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims do not include additional elements beyond the abstract idea of determining “whether to delay the transmission of the HARQ feedback associated with the downlink data transmission”, they amount to simply implementing the abstract idea on a computer.
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. It is recommended that applicant add the “delaying” step as recited in the originally filed claim 1.
Regarding Claim(s) 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 33-39, and 42 are also rejected since they are dependent upon rejected claim(s) 1 and 17 as set forth above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 3, 10, and 40-41 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites “determine a duration … corresponding to a training process”. The purpose of “determine a duration” is unclear in how, or if, it relates to the other limitations of the claims, such as “cancel or delay the transmission of the HARQ feedback”.
Claim 10 recites “determine that a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback associated with the downlink data transmission … wherein, to determine whether to delay the transmission of the HARQ feedback, the at least one processor is configured to determine to ... not delay the transmission of the HARQ feedback for a retransmission that is received on a later PDSCH occasion after the first PDSCH occasion within the current IIOT cycle”. It is not clear to examiner how “delay of the HARQ feedback for the downlink data transmission” is related to “not delay HARQ feedback for a retransmission”. It is also not clear if “the HARQ feedback for a retransmission” is same as “the HARQ feedback associated with the downlink data transmission”.
Claim 40-41 is also rejected because they are dependent upon rejected claims 3 and 10 as set forth above and include limitations of claim 3 and 10 respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3, 8 - 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, and 33-42 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101 and 35 U.S.C. 112(b), set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Prior art JIANG (US 20240195539 A1) teaches in Par. 0023 that “since the network device may change a configuration ratio of an uplink transmission slot/subframe to a downlink transmission slot (or a subframe), the moment tx may correspond to one downlink slot (or subframe), then the terminal device needs to postpone the HARQ process feedback information to a next time resource position where the HARQ process feedback information may be transmitted, for example, a PUCCH-2 at a time ty illustrated in FIG. 1.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHARMIN CHOWDHURY whose telephone number is (571)272-6419. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Tue 8:00 am - 5:00 pm; Wed 8 am - 12 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached at 5712705630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHARMIN CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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