CTFR 18/326,791 CTFR 100774 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Response to Arguments 07-37 AIA Applicant's arguments filed 03/23/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Amendments to claims 1, 20, 22, 29, and 30 introduce a limitation that changes the scope of the claim. Upon further search and consideration, Hosseini et al. (US 2022/0200737; hereinafter Hosseini 737) in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0201654) teaches the amended limitation . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-2, 5, 9-10, 14, 20-23, 25, and 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosseini et al. (US 2022/0200737; hereinafter Hosseini 737) in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0201654; hereinafter Lee 654) . Regarding claim 1, Hosseini 737 discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a first user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor, the at least one memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to ([0055], "The means for the UE to perform operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of antenna 252, demodulator 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, modulator 254, controller/processor 280, or memory 282.") : receive, from a second UE, a sidelink message via one or more sidelink resources ([0063], "As shown in FIG. 3, a first UE 305-1 may communicate with a second UE 305-2 (and one or more other UEs 305) via one or more sidelink channels 310. The UEs 305-1 and 305-2 may communicate using the one or more sidelink channels 310 for P2P communications, D2D communications, V2X communications (e.g., which may include V2V communications, V2I communications, V2P communications, and/or the like), mesh networking, and/or the like.") ; select a sidelink shared channel resource to use for transmission of feedback information associated with the sidelink message ([0096], "In some aspects, the UE 705 may transmit multi-bit HARQ-ACK feedback indications using PSSCH resources by piggybacking the HARQ-ACK feedback indications on PSSCH communications. In some aspects, "piggybacking" may refer to puncturing the PSSCH communication with the HARQ-ACK feedback indication by replacing one or more bits of the PSSCH communication with one or more bits of the HARQ-ACK feedback indication.") . Hosseini 737 does not explicitly disclose that the conditions for selecting the shared channel resource are related to a timing associated with the sidelink shared channel resource relative to the periodic sidelink feedback channel resource. Lee 654 discloses wherein the selecting is based at least in part on one or more conditions and is between at least the sidelink shared channel resource and a sidelink feedback channel resource, wherein the sidelink feedback channel resource comprises a periodic sidelink feedback channel resource ([0091], “The network may configure one or more of N slots to include a PSFCH resource… Even numbered slots or odd number slots may include a PSFCH resource, for example, if N=2”), and wherein the one or more conditions comprise a timing associated with the sidelink shared channel resource relative to the periodic sidelink feedback channel resource ([0129], “A WTRU may (e.g., determine to) use one or more (e.g., all) resources a WTRU has reserved for a PSSCH or RS transmission for a HARQ transmission, for example, if the reserved resources satisfy the HARQ timing”; [0130], “The source and destination WTRUs may (e.g., determine to) multiplex the PSFCH transmission in the scheduled PSSCH transmission”) ; and transmit, to the second UE via the sidelink shared channel resource, the feedback information ([0147], "A WTRU may select a PSFCH resource (e.g., one PSFCH resource) among (e.g., the determined) PSFCH resources to transmit the HARQ ACK/NACK information corresponding to a received PSSCH.") . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the multi-bit HARQ-ACK piggybacking of Hosseini 737 to include the timing-based selection conditions taught by Lee 654. The motivation would have been to efficiently utilize previously reserved PSSCH resources for HARQ feedback when the PSSCH timing satisfies HARQ latency requirements, thereby eliminating the need to acquire separate periodic PSFCH resources and reducing overall network congestion (e.g., Lee 654 [0129]-[0130]). Regarding claim 2, Hosseini 737 discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the feedback information, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit a sidelink control information message comprising the feedback information, wherein the sidelink control information message comprises a medium access control control element or a second-stage sidelink control information message ([0059], "In some aspects, the UE includes means for receiving the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications as a dedicated MAC-CE, means for receiving the set of PSSCH resources, wherein the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications are piggybacked on the set of PSSCH resources, means for receiving the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications using a dedicated sidelink control information (SCI) format 2, and/or means for receiving the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications using a dedicated SCI format 1."). Regarding claim 5, Hosseini 737 discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to the second UE, a second sidelink control information message comprising second feedback information that is associated with the feedback information ([0097], "In some aspects, multi-bit HARQ-ACK feedback indications may be transmitted using PSSCH resources by using a dedicated sidelink control information (SCI) format 2. An SCI format 2 may include a second portion of a sidelink control information message, which may be referred to as an SCI-2."). Regarding claim 9, Hosseini 737 discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the feedback information, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit the feedback information with second feedback information that is associated with a second sidelink message ([0052], "In some aspects, the UE includes means for transmitting the first HARQ-ACK feedback indication using a first set of resources of a first subset of slots of the set of slots; and/or means for transmitting the second HARQ-ACK feedback indication using a second set of resources of a second subset of slots of the set of slots."). Regarding claim 10, Hosseini 737 discloses the apparatus of claim 9, wherein, to transmit the feedback information with the second feedback information, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit at least one codebook that indicates the feedback information and the second feedback information ([0079], "HARQ-ACK feedback may be conveyed in a HARQ codebook, which may include one or more bits indicating ACKs or NACKs corresponding to one or more communications."). Regarding claim 14, Hosseini 737 discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to select the sidelink shared channel resource, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: select the sidelink shared channel resource based at least in part on a priority associated with the feedback information ([0099], "To reserve PSSCH resources, a priority may be assigned to the transmission. In some aspects, a priority of the sidelink communication is higher than a priority associated with transmitting the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications."). Regarding claim 20, Hosseini 737 discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions further comprise a cast type associated with the sidelink message, a capability of the second UE, a priority associated with the feedback information, a level of congestion associated with sidelink data traffic, a type of feedback associated with the feedback information, or a timing associated with the sidelink feedback channel resource, a configured value, a preconfigured value, or any combination thereof ([0099], "To reserve PSSCH resources, a priority may be assigned to the transmission. In some aspects, a priority of the sidelink communication is higher than a priority associated with transmitting the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications."). Regarding claim 21, Hosseini 737 discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the feedback information comprises hybrid automatic repeat request feedback ([0053], "In some aspects, the UE includes means for reporting the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications as a dedicated medium access control (MAC) control element, means for piggybacking the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications on the set of PSSCH resources"). Regarding claim 22, Hosseini 737 discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a first user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor, the at least one memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to ([0055], "The means for the UE to perform operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of antenna 252, demodulator 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, modulator 254, controller/processor 280, or memory 282.") : transmit, to a second UE, a sidelink message via one or more sidelink resources ([0063], "As shown in FIG. 3, a first UE 305-1 may communicate with a second UE 305-2 (and one or more other UEs 305) via one or more sidelink channels 310. The UEs 305-1 and 305-2 may communicate using the one or more sidelink channels 310 for P2P communications, D2D communications, V2X communications (e.g., which may include V2V communications, V2I communications, V2P communications, and/or the like), mesh networking, and/or the like.") ; and receive, from the second UE via a sidelink shared channel resource, feedback information associated with the sidelink message ([0096], "In some aspects, the UE 705 may transmit multi-bit HARQ-ACK feedback indications using PSSCH resources by piggybacking the HARQ-ACK feedback indications on PSSCH communications. In some aspects, "piggybacking" may refer to puncturing the PSSCH communication with the HARQ-ACK feedback indication by replacing one or more bits of the PSSCH communication with one or more bits of the HARQ-ACK feedback indication.") , wherein the feedback information is received via the sidelink shared channel resource based at least in part on a selection of the sidelink shared channel resource from among a plurality of candidate resources for transmission of the feedback information based at least in part on one or more conditions, wherein the plurality of candidate resources comprises at least the sidelink shared channel resource and a sidelink feedback channel resource ([0086], "The HARQ configuration may be an indication of one or more aspects of a HARQ reporting configuration such as, for example, an indication of one or more CCs on which HARQ indications will be transmitted, an indication of a mapping between PSSCH occasions and PSFCH occasions, an indication of a message format to be used for transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback indications, and an indication of a number of bits of HARQ-ACK to be reported for each PSSCH occasion, among other examples."). Hosseini 737 does not explicitly disclose that the conditions for selecting the shared channel resource are related to a timing associated with the sidelink shared channel resource relative to the periodic sidelink feedback channel resource. Lee 654 discloses wherein the sidelink feedback channel resource comprises a periodic sidelink feedback channel resource ([0091], “The network may configure one or more of N slots to include a PSFCH resource… Even numbered slots or odd number slots may include a PSFCH resource, for example, if N=2”) , and wherein the one or more conditions comprise a timing associated with the sidelink shared channel resource relative to the periodic sidelink feedback channel resource ([0129], “A WTRU may (e.g., determine to) use one or more (e.g., all) resources a WTRU has reserved for a PSSCH or RS transmission for a HARQ transmission, for example, if the reserved resources satisfy the HARQ timing”; [0130], “The source and destination WTRUs may (e.g., determine to) multiplex the PSFCH transmission in the scheduled PSSCH transmission”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the multi-bit HARQ-ACK piggybacking of Hosseini 737 to include the timing-based selection conditions taught by Lee 654. The motivation would have been to efficiently utilize previously reserved PSSCH resources for HARQ feedback when the PSSCH timing satisfies HARQ latency requirements, thereby eliminating the need to acquire separate periodic PSFCH resources and reducing overall network congestion (e.g., Lee 654 [0129]-[0130]). Regarding claim 23, Hosseini 737 discloses the apparatus of claim 22, wherein, to receive the feedback information, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: receive a sidelink control information message comprising the feedback information, wherein the sidelink control information message comprises a medium access control control element or a second-stage sidelink control information message ([ 0059], "In some aspects, the UE includes means for receiving the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications as a dedicated MAC-CE, means for receiving the set of PSSCH resources, wherein the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications are piggybacked on the set of PSSCH resources, means for receiving the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications using a dedicated sidelink control information (SCI) format 2, and/or means for receiving the plurality of HARQ-ACK feedback indications using a dedicated SCI format 1."). Regarding claim 25, Hosseini 737 discloses the apparatus of claim 22, wherein, to receive the feedback information, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: receive the feedback information with second feedback information that is associated with a second sidelink message ([0052], "In some aspects, the UE includes means for transmitting the first HARQ-ACK feedback indication using a first set of resources of a first subset of slots of the set of slots; and/or means for transmitting the second HARQ-ACK feedback indication using a second set of resources of a second subset of slots of the set of slots."). Regarding claim 29, Hosseini 737 discloses a method for wireless communications at a first user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a second UE, a sidelink message via one or more sidelink resources ([0063], "As shown in FIG. 3, a first UE 305-1 may communicate with a second UE 305-2 (and one or more other UEs 305) via one or more sidelink channels 310. The UEs 305-1 and 305-2 may communicate using the one or more sidelink channels 310 for P2P communications, D2D communications, V2X communications (e.g., which may include V2V communications, V2I communications, V2P communications, and/or the like), mesh networking, and/or the like.") ; selecting a sidelink shared channel resource to use for transmission of feedback information associated with the sidelink message ([0096], "In some aspects, the UE 705 may transmit multi-bit HARQ-ACK feedback indications using PSSCH resources by piggybacking the HARQ-ACK feedback indications on PSSCH communications. In some aspects, "piggybacking" may refer to puncturing the PSSCH communication with the HARQ-ACK feedback indication by replacing one or more bits of the PSSCH communication with one or more bits of the HARQ-ACK feedback indication.") . Hosseini 737 does not explicitly disclose that the conditions for selecting the shared channel resource are related to a timing associated with the sidelink shared channel resource relative to the periodic sidelink feedback channel resource. Lee 654 discloses wherein the selecting is based at least in part on one or more conditions and is between at least the sidelink shared channel resource and a sidelink feedback channel resource, wherein the sidelink feedback channel resource comprises a periodic sidelink feedback channel resource ([0091], “The network may configure one or more of N slots to include a PSFCH resource… Even numbered slots or odd number slots may include a PSFCH resource, for example, if N=2”) , and wherein the one or more conditions comprise a timing associated with the sidelink shared channel resource relative to the periodic sidelink feedback channel resource ([0129], “A WTRU may (e.g., determine to) use one or more (e.g., all) resources a WTRU has reserved for a PSSCH or RS transmission for a HARQ transmission, for example, if the reserved resources satisfy the HARQ timing”; [0130], “The source and destination WTRUs may (e.g., determine to) multiplex the PSFCH transmission in the scheduled PSSCH transmission”) ; and transmitting, to the second UE via the sidelink shared channel resource, the feedback information ([0147], "A WTRU may select a PSFCH resource (e.g., one PSFCH resource) among (e.g., the determined) PSFCH resources to transmit the HARQ ACK/NACK information corresponding to a received PSSCH.") . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the multi-bit HARQ-ACK piggybacking of Hosseini 737 to include the timing-based selection conditions taught by Lee 654. The motivation would have been to efficiently utilize previously reserved PSSCH resources for HARQ feedback when the PSSCH timing satisfies HARQ latency requirements, thereby eliminating the need to acquire separate periodic PSFCH resources and reducing overall network congestion (e.g., Lee 654 [0129]-[0130]). Regarding claim 30, Hosseini 737 discloses a method for wireless communications at a first user equipment (UE), comprising: transmitting, to a second UE, a sidelink message via one or more sidelink resources ([0063], "As shown in FIG. 3, a first UE 305-1 may communicate with a second UE 305-2 (and one or more other UEs 305) via one or more sidelink channels 310. The UEs 305-1 and 305-2 may communicate using the one or more sidelink channels 310 for P2P communications, D2D communications, V2X communications (e.g., which may include V2V communications, V2I communications, V2P communications, and/or the like), mesh networking, and/or the like.") ; and receiving, from the second UE via a sidelink shared channel resource, feedback information associated with the sidelink message ([0096], "In some aspects, the UE 705 may transmit multi-bit HARQ-ACK feedback indications using PSSCH resources by piggybacking the HARQ-ACK feedback indications on PSSCH communications. In some aspects, "piggybacking" may refer to puncturing the PSSCH communication with the HARQ-ACK feedback indication by replacing one or more bits of the PSSCH communication with one or more bits of the HARQ-ACK feedback indication.") , wherein the feedback information is received via the sidelink shared channel resource based at least in part on a selection of the sidelink shared channel resource from among a plurality of candidate resources for transmission of the feedback information based at least in part on one or more conditions, wherein the plurality of candidate resources comprises at least the sidelink shared channel resource and a sidelink feedback channel resource ([0086], "The HARQ configuration may be an indication of one or more aspects of a HARQ reporting configuration such as, for example, an indication of one or more CCs on which HARQ indications will be transmitted, an indication of a mapping between PSSCH occasions and PSFCH occasions, an indication of a message format to be used for transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback indications, and an indication of a number of bits of HARQ-ACK to be reported for each PSSCH occasion, among other examples."). Hosseini 737 does not explicitly disclose that the conditions for selecting the shared channel resource are related to a timing associated with the sidelink shared channel resource relative to the periodic sidelink feedback channel resource. Lee 654 discloses wherein the sidelink feedback channel resource comprises a periodic sidelink feedback channel resource ([0091], “The network may configure one or more of N slots to include a PSFCH resource… Even numbered slots or odd number slots may include a PSFCH resource, for example, if N=2”) , and wherein the one or more conditions comprise a timing associated with the sidelink shared channel resource relative to the periodic sidelink feedback channel resource ([0129], “A WTRU may (e.g., determine to) use one or more (e.g., all) resources a WTRU has reserved for a PSSCH or RS transmission for a HARQ transmission, for example, if the reserved resources satisfy the HARQ timing”; [0130], “The source and destination WTRUs may (e.g., determine to) multiplex the PSFCH transmission in the scheduled PSSCH transmission”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the multi-bit HARQ-ACK piggybacking of Hosseini 737 to include the timing-based selection conditions taught by Lee 654. The motivation would have been to efficiently utilize previously reserved PSSCH resources for HARQ feedback when the PSSCH timing satisfies HARQ latency requirements, thereby eliminating the need to acquire separate periodic PSFCH resources and reducing overall network congestion (e.g., Lee 654 [0129]-[0130]) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 3-4, 6-8, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosseini et al. (US 2022/0200737; hereinafter Hosseini 737) in view of Hwang et al. (US 2023/0137259) . Regarding claim 3, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the first and second stage SCIs. Hwang discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to the second UE, a first-stage sidelink control information message that indicates that the sidelink control information message comprises the feedback information, wherein the sidelink control information message comprises the second-stage sidelink control information message ([0456], "The second PSSCH scheduled by the first stage SCI (SCI format 1-A) related to the second PSCCH is transmitted (S1420)."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Hwang to have the first and second stage SCls. The motivation would have been to improve signal reliability (e.g., Hwang [0416]). Regarding claim 4, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the first SCI containing a format indicator associated with second-stage SCI. Hwang discloses the apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first-stage sidelink control information message comprises a format indicator field associated with the second- stage sidelink control information message, or an indicator bit field, or both, that indicates that the second-stage sidelink control information message comprises the feedback information ([0450], "According to an embodiment, the inter-UE coordination information may be transmitted based on a second SCI (second second stage SCI). Specifically, the second SCI may be transmitted based on a second PSSCH scheduled by a first stage SCI related to the second PSCCH. In this case, the first stage SCI related to the second PSCCH may include a field (e.g., second-stage SCI format field) indicating the format of the second SCI."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Hwang to have the first SCI containing a format indicator associated with second-stage SCI. The motivation would have been to improve signal reliability (e.g., Hwang [0416]). Regarding claim 6, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the second sidelink message comprising MAC- CE and second-stage SCI. Hwang discloses the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second sidelink control information message comprises the medium access control control element and the sidelink control information message comprises the second-stage sidelink control information message ([0429], "Specifically, based on that the first UE has second data to be transmitted to the second UE, the inter-UE coordination information may be transmitted based on MAC-CE and/or a second SCI (e.g., when a value of sI-TriggerConditionCoordInfo is set to 1)."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Hwang to have the second sidelink message comprising MAC-CE and second-stage SCI. The motivation would have been to improve signal reliability (e.g., Hwang [0416]). Regarding claim 7, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the multiplexed feedback information with sidelink data. Hwang discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the feedback information, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: multiplex the feedback information with sidelink data on a physical sidelink shared channel; and transmit the multiplexed feedback information via at least the sidelink shared channel resource on the physical sidelink shared channel ([0419], "The first data and the request may be received based on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). The first data and the request may be multiplexed and received. That is, the request may be received by being multiplexed with the first data in which a SOURCE ID and a DESTINATION ID are the same."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Hwang to have the multiplexed feedback information with sidelink data. The motivation would have been to improve signal reliability (e.g., Hwang [0416]). Regarding claim 8, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the multiplexed feedback information with sidelink data based on the identifier. Hwang discloses the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to multiplex the feedback information with the sidelink data on the physical sidelink shared channel based at least in part on the feedback information and the sidelink data being associated with a same source identifier or a same destination identifier, the feedback information or the sidelink data satisfying a priority threshold, an availability of the sidelink data, a cast type associated with the sidelink data, or a configuration for multiplexing on the physical sidelink shared channel, or any combination thereof ([0419], "The first data and the request may be received based on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). The first data and the request may be multiplexed and received. That is, the request may be received by being multiplexed with the first data in which a SOURCE ID and a DESTINATION ID are the same."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Hwang to have the multiplexed feedback information with sidelink data based on the identifier. The motivation would have been to improve signal reliability (e.g., Hwang [0416]). Regarding claim 24, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the multiplexed feedback information with sidelink data. Hwang discloses the apparatus of claim 22, wherein, to receive the feedback information, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: receive the feedback information via at least the sidelink shared channel resource on a physical sidelink shared channel, wherein the feedback information is multiplexed with sidelink data on the physical sidelink shared channel ([0419], "The first data and the request may be received based on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). The first data and the request may be multiplexed and received. That is, the request may be received by being multiplexed with the first data in which a SOURCE ID and a DESTINATION ID are the same."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Hwang to have the multiplexed feedback information with sidelink data. The motivation would have been to improve signal reliability (e.g., Hwang [0416]) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosseini et al. (US 2022/0200737; hereinafter Hosseini 737) in view of Hosseini et al. (US 2021/0136781; hereinafter Hosseini 781) . Regarding claim 11, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the unicast message with the codebook. Hosseini 781 discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein, to transmit the at least one codebook, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to the second UE, a unicast message ([0181], "In another example, the priority of sidelink HARQ feedback may be implicitly indicated by the cast type (e.g., unicast, multicast, groupcast, etc.) of the sidelink transmission.") comprising the at least one codebook ([0181], "the priority of the sidelink HARQ feedback may be indicated by the HARQ-ACK codebook used for HARQ reporting."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Hosseini 781 to have the unicast message with the codebook. The motivation would have been to improve sidelink communications (e.g., Hosseini 737 [0215]). Regarding claim 12, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the broadcast or groupcast message. Hosseini 781 discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein, to transmit the at least one codebook, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit a broadcast message or a groupcast message ([0181], "In another example, the priority of sidelink HARQ feedback may be implicitly indicated by the cast type (e.g., unicast, multicast, groupcast, etc.) of the sidelink transmission.") comprising the at least one codebook ([0181], "the priority of the sidelink HARQ feedback may be indicated by the HARQ-ACK codebook used for HARQ reporting."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Hosseini 781 to have the broadcast or groupcast message. The motivation would have been to improve sidelink communications (e.g., Hosseini 737 [0215]). Regarding claim 13, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the first and second codebook. Hosseini 781 discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein: the at least one codebook comprises a codebook that indicates the feedback information and the second feedback information, or the at least one codebook comprises a first codebook that indicates the feedback information and a second codebook that indicates the second feedback information ([0243], "In some examples, the priority component 1335 may identify a first codebook used for feedback for downlink communications and a second codebook used for feedback for sidelink communications and determine the first priority or the second priority based on the first and second codebooks."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Hosseini 781 to have the first and second codebook. The motivation would have been to improve sidelink communications (e.g., Hosseini 737 [0215]) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 15-16 and 26-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosseini et al. (US 2022/0200737; hereinafter Hosseini 737) in view of Li et al. (US 2021/0227602) . Regarding claim 15, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the feedback timer. Li discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to select the sidelink shared channel resource, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: select the sidelink shared channel resource during a resource selection window that is based at least in part on a feedback timer ([0348], "In one embodiment, the first device may perform a PSCCH or PSSCH transmission to the second device. The first device may detect or receive SL HARQ-ACK feedback associated with the PSCCH or PSSCH transmission from the second device. The first device may know, assume, or expect that the DRX retransmission timer (for sidelink) of the second device starts or restarts, when the first device detects associated SL HARQ-ACK feedback as NACK from the second device."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Li to have the feedback timer. The motivation would have been to reduce power consumption (e.g., Li [0317]). Regarding claim 16, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the feedback timer based on a preconfigured timer. Li discloses the apparatus of claim 15, wherein a duration of the feedback timer is based at least in part on a priority associated with the feedback information, a configured value, a preconfigured value, or a level of congestion associated with sidelink data traffic, or any combination thereof ([0371], "The Tx UE may select a first sidelink resource from the valid sidelink resource set to perform sidelink transmission to the Rx UE. As shown in FIG. 10(a), the (sidelink) active time of the Rx UE after the sidelink resource (re-)selection trigger is fully within time interval of selection window [n+T.sub.1, n+T.sub.2]. The Tx UE may derive or determine the set of candidate slots, where the set of candidate slots comprise (all) slots of the (sidelink) active time of the Rx UE."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Li to have the feedback timer based on a preconfigured timer. The motivation would have been to reduce power consumption (e.g., Li [0317]). Regarding claim 26, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the feedback timer. Li discloses the apparatus of claim 22, wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to select the sidelink shared channel resource during a resource selection window that is based at least in part on a feedback timer ([0348], "In one embodiment, the first device may perform a PSCCH or PSSCH transmission to the second device. The first device may detect or receive SL HARQ- ACK feedback associated with the PSCCH or PSSCH transmission from the second device. The first device may know, assume, or expect that the DRX retransmission timer (for sidelink) of the second device starts or restarts, when the first device detects associated SL HARQ-ACK feedback as NACK from the second device."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Li to have the feedback timer. The motivation would have been to reduce power consumption (e.g., Li [0317]). Regarding claim 27, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the feedback time expiring and transmission of the second feedback based on expiry of the timer. Li discloses the apparatus of claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to the second UE, a second sidelink message via a second one or more sidelink resources ([0360], "The first device may select, determine, or acquire a second sidelink resource for PSCCH retransmission and/or PSSCH retransmission (to the second device) without basing on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device. The first device may also select, determine, or acquire a second sidelink resource for PSCCH retransmission and/or PSSCH retransmission (to the second device) without basing on (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device.") ; identify an expiration of the feedback timer; and transmit second feedback information associated with the second sidelink message based at least in part on the feedback timer being expired ([0349], "The DRX retransmission timer for sidelink resource (re)selection may start or restart after a time duration from the (slot) time of the SL HARQ-ACK feedback. The time duration may mean a DRX HARQ RTT (Round Trip Time) time for sidelink. The second device may (re-)start the DRX HARQ RTT timer in response to transmission of the SL HARQ-ACK feedback. Preferably, the first device may (re-)start the DRX HARQ RTT timer in response to reception of the SL HARQ-ACK feedback. The PSCCH or PSSCH transmission may be the last reserved PSCCH/PSSCH transmission for a same data packet before performing the sidelink resource reselection. Preferably, the second device may start or restart the DRX retransmission timer (for sidelink) when the DRX HARQ RTT timer expires.") , wherein the second feedback information indicates a negative acknowledgment based at least in part on the first UE failing to receive feedback responsive to the second sidelink message during a duration of the feedback timer ([0360], "The first sidelink resource may not be selected for a PSSCH retransmission based on detecting HARQ-ACK feedback as NACK. The first device may select, determine, or acquire a second sidelink resource for PSCCH retransmission and/or PSSCH retransmission (to the second device) without basing on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Li to have the feedback time expiring and transmission of the second feedback based on expiry of the timer. The motivation would have been to reduce power consumption (e.g., Li [0317]). Regarding claim 28, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the feedback timer based on a preconfigured timer. Li discloses the apparatus of claim 26, wherein a duration of the feedback timer is based at least in part on a priority associated with the feedback information, a configured value, a preconfigured value, or a level of congestion associated with sidelink data traffic, or any combination thereof ([0371], "The Tx UE may select a first sidelink resource from the valid sidelink resource set to perform sidelink transmission to the Rx UE. As shown in FIG. 10(a), the (sidelink) active time of the Rx UE after the sidelink resource (re-)selection trigger is fully within time interval of selection window [n+T.sub.1, n+T.sub.2]. The Tx UE may derive or determine the set of candidate slots, where the set of candidate slots comprise (all) slots of the (sidelink) active time of the Rx UE."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Li to have the feedback timer based on a preconfigured timer. The motivation would have been to reduce power consumption (e.g., Li [0317]) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosseini et al. (US 2022/0200737; hereinafter Hosseini 737) in view of Lee et al. (US 2023/0363052; hereinafter Lee 052) . Regarding claim 17, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the channel sensing procedure. Lee 052 discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sidelink shared channel resource comprises a shared radio frequency spectrum band resource, and wherein, to select the sidelink shared channel resource, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: select the sidelink shared channel resource based at least in part on performing a channel sensing procedure on a set of candidate resources including the sidelink shared channel resource ([0176], "FIG. 10 illustrates a method of selecting slots for transmitting a control channel and a data channel by sensing in a resource pool for transmission of the control channel (PSCCH) and the data channel (PSSCH) related thereto."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Lee 052 to have the channel sensing procedure. The motivation would have been to increase resource efficiency (e.g., Lee 052 [0100]). Regarding claim 18, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the type of channel sensing. Lee 052 discloses the apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: receive an indication of a type of channel sensing procedure, wherein the channel sensing procedure comprises the indicated type of channel sensing procedure ([0202], "Therefore, for V-UE, a sensing-based resource selection method (hereinafter, a full sensing method) may be applied to all of the resources within a specific duration (e.g., 1000 ms corresponding to a duration from "TTI m-a" to "TTI m-b"). Meanwhile, for P-UE, a sensing-based resource selection method (hereinafter, a partial sensing method) is required with respect to some resources within a specific duration (e.g., 1000 ms corresponding to the duration from "TTI m-a" to "TTI m-b") to save power consumption."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Lee 052 to have the type of channel sensing. The motivation would have been to increase resource efficiency (e.g., Lee 052 [0100]). Regarding claim 19, Hosseini 737 does not disclose the type of channel sensing in the sidelink message. Lee 052 discloses the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the sidelink message ([0198], "The second UE may identify a SL resource through which the first UE is to transmit SL data through the PSSCH based on the first and second SCI received from the first UE. The second UE may receive the SL data from the first UE through the PSSCH on the identified resource.") comprises the indication of the type of channel sensing procedure ([0196], "Meanwhile, in the UE autonomous resource selection mode (or mode 2), the UE autonomously determines a slot in which the SA is transmitted within the resource pool through sensing and a resource block that is a frequency axis resource used for transmission of the SA within the slot in which the SA is transmitted may be autonomously determined by the UE within the resource pool."). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Hosseini 737 in view of Lee 052 to have the type of channel sensing in the sidelink message. The motivation would have been to increase resource efficiency (e.g., Lee 052 [0100]). Conclusion 07-40 AIA 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 Nick A Sundara whose telephone number is (571)272-6749. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 7:30-5:30 EST. 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) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jae Y. Lee can be reached at (571) 270-3936. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /NICK ANON SUNDARA/Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 2 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 3 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 4 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 5 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 6 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 7 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 8 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 9 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 10 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 11 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 12 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 13 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 14 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 15 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 16 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 17 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 18 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 19 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 20 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 21 Art Unit: 2479 Application/Control Number: 18/326,791 Page 22 Art Unit: 2479
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