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 .
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the amendment filed on 6/5/2026. Claims 3, 7, 11 and 15 have been canceled and claims 1-2, 4-6, 8-10, 12-14, 16 are pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 9 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102[a2] as being anticipated by Hakola [US 2024/0380543].
As claims 1, 5, 9 and 13, Hakola [US 2024/0380543] discloses a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: determining a band having a bandwidth of a frequency band operated by the base station is narrower than 5 MHz and a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz [Par. 0102-0104 discloses identifying band with less 5 Mhz and SCS 15 Khz]; generating a synchronization signal block(SSB) based on the SCS, the SSB3 including a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) [Fig 2 discloses SSB includes PSS, SSS and PBCH]; and transmitting the SSB by puncturing a first resource of the SSB and a second resource of the SSB [Par. 0150, 0165, discloses symmetric punctured on SSB], wherein the first resource corresponds to subcarriers 0 to 47 of the SSB and the second resource corresponds to subcarriers 192 to 239 of the SSB [Fig 2 discloses left side 1-48 or 0-47 and right side 193-248 or 192-239].
Claim(s) 1, 5, 9 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102[a2] as being anticipated by Tiirola [US 2023/0007626].
As claims 1, 5, 9 and 13, Tiirola [US 2023/0007626] discloses a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: determining a band having a bandwidth of a frequency band operated by the base station is narrower than 5 MHz and a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz [Par. 0026-0027 discloses identifying band with less 5 Mhz and SCS 15 Khz]; generating a synchronization signal block(SSB) based on the SCS, the SSB3 including a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) [Fig 5 discloses SSB includes PSS, SSS and PBCH]; and transmitting the SSB by puncturing a first resource of the SSB and a second resource of the SSB [Fig 5, discloses punctured on SSB], wherein the first resource corresponds to subcarriers 0 to 47 of the SSB and the second resource corresponds to subcarriers 192 to 239 of the SSB [Fig 5 discloses 0-47 and 192-239 are symmetric punctured, Par. 0036 discloses symmetric].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 2, 6, 10 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hakola [US 2024/0380543]/Tiirola [US 2023/0007626] in view of Liu [US 2022/0240249].
As claims 2, 6, 10 and 14, Hakola/Tiiorla fails to fully disclose what Liu [US 2022/0240249] discloses in case that 24 resource blocks are used for a control resource set (CORESET) 0 of the band, some resources of the CORESET 0 are punctured [Fig 5, 9 and 11 discloses CORESET get punctured on both edges].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for punctured both sides of the CORESET 0 as disclosed by Liu [US 2022/0240249] into the teaching of Hakola [US 2024/0380543]/Tiirola [US 2023/0007626]. The motivation would have been to allow the narrowband device to receive system information.
Claim(s) 4, 8, 12 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hakola/Tiirola and Liu as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Tiirola [US 2025/0142578].
As claims 4, 8, 12 and 16, Hakola/Tiirola and Liu fail to fully disclose what Tiirola [US 2025/0142578] discloses resources for the CORESET 0 are determined based on a CORESET configuration table for the band [Par. 0052, 0066 discloses Coreset 0 mapped to band less than 5 Mhz].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising resources for the CORESET 0 are determined based on a CORESET configuration table for the band as disclosed by Liu [US 2022/0240249] into the teaching of Hakola [US 2024/0380543]/Tiirola [US 2023/0007626]. The motivation would have been to allow the narrowband device to receive system information.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 9 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu [US 2022/0240249] in view of Hakola [US 2024/0380543]/Tiirola [US 2023/0007626].
As claims 1, 5, 9 and 13, Liu [US 2024/0240249] discloses a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: determining a band having a bandwidth of a frequency band operated by the base station is narrower than 5 MHz and a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz [Par. 0045-0048 discloses identifying band with less 5 Mhz and SCS 15 Khz]; generating a synchronization signal block(SSB) based on the SCS, the SSB3 including a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) [Fig 9, 11 discloses SSB includes PSS, SSS and PBCH, Par. 0155]; and transmitting the SSB by puncturing a first resource of the SSB and a second resource of the SSB [Fig 9, 11 discloses punctured on SSB]. However, Liu [US 2022/0240249] fails to discloses what Hakola [US 2024/0380543]/Tiirola [US 2023/0007626] discloses the first resource corresponds to subcarriers 0 to 47 of the SSB and the second resource corresponds to subcarriers 192 to 239 of the SSB [Tiirola discloses Fig 2 closes left side 1-48 or 0-47 and right side 193-248 or 192-239, Hakola discloses Fig 5 discloses 0-47 and 192-239 are symmetric punctured, Par. 0036 discloses symmetric].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising the first resource corresponds to subcarriers 0 to 47 of the SSB and the second resource corresponds to subcarriers 192 to 239 of the SSB as disclosed by Liu [US 2022/0240249] into the teaching of Hakola [US 2024/0380543]/Tiirola [US 2023/0007626]. The motivation would have been to allow the narrowband device to receive system information.
As claims 2, 6, 10 and 14, Liu [US 2022/0240249] discloses in case that 24 resource blocks are used for a control resource set (CORESET) 0 of the band, some resources of the CORESET 0 are punctured [Fig 5, 9 and 11 discloses CORESET get punctured on both edges].
Claim(s) 4, 8, 12 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hakola/Tiirola and Liu as applied to claims 2, 6, 10 and 14 above, and further in view of Tiirola [US 2025/0142578].
As claims 4, 8, 12 and 16, Hakola/Tiirola and Liu fails to fully disclose what Tiirola [US 2025/0142578] discloses resources for the CORESET 0 are determined based on a CORESET configuration table for the band [Par. 0052, 0066 discloses Coreset 0 mapped to band less than 5 Mhz].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising resources for the CORESET 0 are determined based on a CORESET configuration table for the band as disclosed by Tiirola [US 2025/0142578] into the teaching of Hakola [US 2024/0380543]/Tiirola [US 2023/0007626] and Liu. The motivation would have been to allow the narrowband device to receive system information.
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 STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3159. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached at 571-272-7884. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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