CTFR 18/404,761 CTFR 99652 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 Amendment Applicant’s submission dated 11 May 2026—in which claims 1 and 15 are amended, and claims 1 and 15 are pending—has been entered and fully considered herein. Claims 1 and 15 remain pending. 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). Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection relies on one or more sections of the references not previously applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over US 2025/0105955 (hereinafter, “MA ‘955”) in view of US 2024/0349273 (hereinafter, “BAE”) . Regarding claim 1, MA ‘955 discloses: A user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing one or more computer-executable instructions for determining a transport block size for a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission; and (¶ 0001: [T]ransport block size calculation for orthogonal cover coding and sub-physical resource block allocation for physical uplink shared channel ; ¶ 0007: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications is described ) at least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, and configured to execute the one or more computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to: ( at least one processor 940 ) receive . . . Downlink Control Information (DCI) with a DCI format for scheduling a PUSCH; (¶ 0003: [T]he scheduling information (e.g., the downlink control information (DCI)) for a PUSCH ) determine whether length information of an Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) is associated with one entry of a plurality of entries Time Domain Resource Assignment (TDRA) information, wherein the one entry is indicated in the DCI format; and (¶ 0013: [T]ransmitting the transport block over a set of multiple slots, where the scheduling information includes a time domain resource allocation that indicates the set of multiple slots ; ¶ 0129: UE 115 may calculate N RE as N RE =[N∙min(156, N′ RE )∙n PRB ÷SF] when the uplink transmission is a TBoMS or N RE =[min(156, N′ RE )∙n PRB ÷SF] for a single slot uplink transmission, where SF is the spreading factor (e.g., length of the OCC) for the uplink transmission ; ¶ 0134: [C]ontrol message 325 may indicate how to reinterpret the existing DCI format (e.g., which fields indicate the coarse and fine resource allocations). In some examples, the time domain resource allocation field (TDRA) may be interpreted by the UE 115 to identify a pattern of time slots (e.g., the quantity of allocated time slots) or a pattern of OFDM symbols, and the pattern may be based on an OCC codeword. The control message 325 may indicate how to reinterpret the TDRA field ) apply the OCC to the PUSCH in a case that the length information is associated with the one entry. (¶ 0129: UE 115 indicated to apply OCC to an uplink transmission may change the calculation of the quantity of REs for the uplink transmission, N RE , based on the indication to apply OCC to the uplink transmission in order to account for the OCC spreading ) MA ‘955 does not disclose: receive, on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), In the same field of endeavor, however, BAE teaches: receive, on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), (¶ 0047: A PDCCH carries Downlink Control Information (DCI) ) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify MA '955's OCC-based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) multiplexing procedure to provide a PDCCH that carries Downlink Control Information (DCI) as taught by BAE such that the DCI may be group-common DCI to reduce the burden of the PDCCH, such that the UE may be allocated a plurality of SPS/CG resources from the BS and receive information on valid resources and information on when to use the resources over a group-common PDCCH. See BAE, at ¶¶ 0095, 0117. Regarding claim 15, MA ‘955 discloses: A method for determining a transport block size for a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, the method comprising: (¶ 0001: [T]ransport block size calculation for orthogonal cover coding and sub-physical resource block allocation for physical uplink shared channel ) receiving, . . . Downlink Control Information (DCI) with a DCI format for scheduling a PUSCH; (¶ 0003: [T]he scheduling information (e.g., the downlink control information (DCI)) for a PUSCH ) determining whether length information of an Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) is associated with one entry of a plurality of entries for Time Domain Resource Assignment (TDRA) information, wherein the one entry is indicated in the DCI format; and (¶ 0013: [T]ransmitting the transport block over a set of multiple slots, where the scheduling information includes a time domain resource allocation that indicates the set of multiple slots ; ¶ 0129: UE 115 may calculate N RE as N RE =[N∙min(156, N′ RE )∙n PRB ÷SF] when the uplink transmission is a TBoMS or N RE =[min(156, N′ RE )∙n PRB ÷SF] for a single slot uplink transmission, where SF is the spreading factor (e.g., length of the OCC) for the uplink transmission ; ¶ 0134: [C]ontrol message 325 may indicate how to reinterpret the existing DCI format (e.g., which fields indicate the coarse and fine resource allocations). In some examples, the time domain resource allocation field (TDRA) may be interpreted by the UE 115 to identify a pattern of time slots (e.g., the quantity of allocated time slots) or a pattern of OFDM symbols, and the pattern may be based on an OCC codeword. The control message 325 may indicate how to reinterpret the TDRA field ) applying the OCC to the PUSCH in a case that the length information is associated with the one entry. (¶ 0129: UE 115 indicated to apply OCC to an uplink transmission may change the calculation of the quantity of REs for the uplink transmission, N RE , based on the indication to apply OCC to the uplink transmission in order to account for the OCC spreading ) MA ‘955 does not disclose: receiving, on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), In the same field of endeavor, however, BAE teaches: receiving, on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), (¶ 0047: A PDCCH carries Downlink Control Information (DCI) ) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify MA '955's OCC-based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) multiplexing procedure to provide a PDCCH that carries Downlink Control Information (DCI) as taught by BAE such that the DCI may be group-common DCI to reduce the burden of the PDCCH, such that the UE may be allocated a plurality of SPS/CG resources from the BS and receive information on valid resources and information on when to use the resources over a group-common PDCCH. See BAE, at ¶¶ 0095, 0117. 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 Garth D Richmond whose telephone number is (703)756-4559. The Examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET. 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, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 571-270-5371. 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. /GARTH D RICHMOND/Examiner, Art Unit 2644 /KATHY W WANG-HURST/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/404,761 Page 2 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/404,761 Page 3 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/404,761 Page 4 Art Unit: 2644
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