DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 05/18/2026 has been entered and considered by Examiner. Claims 1 - 20 are presented for examination. This Action is made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8, and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Guo (WO 2021/147925 A1).
Re Claim 1, Guo discloses a method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless device (301), a message indicating:
activation of a cell, wherein a bandwidth part (BWP), of the cell, is associated with at least two control resource set (CORESET) pool indexes (gets a message telling it that a cell is being turned on; the cell has a portion of the bandwidth called a BWP, and that BWP is linked to at least two CORESET pool indexes and at least two TCI states, which define how signals are transmitted and received) (Figs. 9-13, Page 14 lines 7-50, Page 12 lines 17-50, Page 15, lines 1-19); and
at least two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states (Page 10 lines 1-5, 30-50);
activating, based on the message, the cell (turns on or enables the cell according to the message instructions) (Page 10 lines 1-5, 30-50, Page 13, lines 23-27, Page 14, lines 7-18);
receiving, via the BWP and using a first TCI state of the at least two TCI states, one or more first downlink signals associated with a first CORESET pool index of the at least two CORESET pool indexes (receives downlink signals using the first TCI state; these signals come from the first CORESET pool index of the BWP) (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 7-18 and lines 31-50); and
receiving, via the BWP and using a second TCI state of the at least two TCI states, one or more second downlink signals associated with a second CORESET pool index of the at least two CORESET pool indexes (receives additional downlink signals using the second TCI state; these come from the second CORESET pool index of the BWP) (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 8-19 and lines 31-50, page 15 line 1-19).
Re Claim 8, Guo discloses a method comprising:
transmitting, by a base station (gNB 311), a message indicating: activation of a cell, wherein a bandwidth part (BWP), of the cell, is associated with at least two control resource set (CORESET) pool indexes (send a message telling it that a cell is being turned on; the cell has a portion of the bandwidth called a BWP, and that BWP is linked to at least two CORESET pool indexes and at least two TCI states, which define how signals are transmitted and received) (Figs. 9-13, Page 14 lines 7-50, Page 12 lines 17-50); and
at least two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states (Page 10 lines 1-5, 30-50);
activating, after transmitting the message, the cell (turns on or enables the cell according to the message instructions) (Page 10 lines 1-5, 30-50);
transmitting, via the BWP and using a first TCI state of the at least two TCI states, one or more first downlink signals associated with a first CORESET pool index of the at least two CORESET pool indexes (send downlink signals using the first TCI state; these signals come from the first CORESET pool index of the BWP) (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50); and
transmitting, via the BWP and using a second TCI state of the at least two TCI states, one or more second downlink signals associated with a second coreset pool index of the at least two coreset pool indexes (send additional downlink signals using the second TCI state; these come from the second CORESET pool index of the BWP) (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50).
Re Claims 3 and 10, Guo discloses the message comprises at least one of: a medium access control (MAC) control command (CE); or a radio resource control (RRC) message (Page 1 lines 26-50, Page 2 line 9-12, Page 4 line 10-15).
Re Claims 4 and 11, Guo discloses the at least two TCI states comprises at least two lists of TCI states; a first list of TCI states, of the at least two lists of TCI states, comprises the first TCI state (Page 7 lines 5- Page 8 line 42, Page 12 lines 42- Page 13 lines 35); and
a second list of TCI states, of the at least two lists of TCI states, comprises the second TCI state (Page 7 lines 5- Page 8 line 42, Page 12 lines 42- Page 13 lines 35).
Re Claims 5 and 12, Guo discloses the BWP is associated with a primary secondary cell (PSCell) of a secondary cell group (SCG) (Page 13 lines 35-50); and
the message indicates activation of the SCG (Page 13 lines 35-50).
Re Claims 6 and 13, Guo discloses the message further indicates activation of the at least two TCI states (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50).
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 of this title, 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) 7 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo (WO 2021/147925 A1) in view of Cirik et al. (US Pub. 20210378004 A1).
Re Claims 7 and 14, Guo discloses all limitations this claim depended on.
But Guo doesn’t explicitly disclose the following limitation taught by Cirik.
Cirik discloses at least one demodulation reference signal (DMRS) antenna port of the one or more first downlink signals is quasi co-located with a first reference signal indicated by the first TCI state [0294-295]; and
at least one DMRS antenna port of the one or more second downlink signals is quasi co-located with a second reference signal indicated by the second TCI state [0307-308].
Since, all are analogous arts addressing reference signaling used in a mobile network; Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Guo with Cirik to ensure proper reference information can be applied to improve signaling efficiency in the mobile network.
Claim(s) 2, 9, and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo (WO 2021/147925 A1) in view of Jang et al. (US Pub. 20230006727 A1).
Re Claim 15, Guo discloses a method comprising:
transmitting, by a base station, one or more configuration parameters indicating a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs), for a bandwidth part (BWP) of a cell, (Figs. 9-13, Page 14 lines 7-50, Page 12 lines 17-50) comprising:
one or more first CORESETs, wherein the one or more first CORESETs are associated with at least two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states (sending extra configuration information defining multiple CORESETs for the BWP; some of these CORESETs are linked to the two TCI states for normal reception) (Figs. 9-13, Page 14 lines 7-50, Page 12 lines 17-50); and
a second CORESET (Page 8 lines 43 – Page 9 lines 11);
transmitting, using a reference signal and via the second CORESET, at least one downlink signal (sending one or more downlink signals through the second CORESET by using a reference signal to help with synchronization or decoding) (Page 4 lines 16-42, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50).
But Guo doesn’t explicitly teach a second CORESET associated with a recovery search space set;
However, Jang discloses a second CORESET associated with a recovery search space set [0223, 0245-0246];
Jang also discloses transmitting, using a reference signal and via the second CORESET, at least one downlink signal [0011-13, 0177].
Since, all are analogous arts addressing resource configuration used in a mobile network; Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Guo with Jang to ensure proper configuration information can be used to improve data processing in the network.
Re Claim 2, Guo discloses receiving one or more configuration parameters indicating a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs) (Figs. 9-13, Page 14 lines 7-50, Page 12 lines 17-50), for the BWP, comprising:
one or more first CORESETs, wherein the one or more first CORESETs are associated with the at least two TCI states (Figs. 9-13, Page 14 lines 7-50, Page 12 lines 17-50); and
a second CORESET (Page 8 lines 43 – Page 9 lines 11); and
receiving, using a reference signal and via the second CORESET, at least one third downlink signal (Page 4 lines 16-42, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50).
But Guo doesn’t explicitly teach a second CORESET associated with a recovery search space set;
However, Jang discloses a second CORESET associated with a recovery search space set [0223, 0245-0246];
Jang also discloses receiving, using a reference signal and via the second CORESET, at least one third downlink signal [0011-13, 0177].
Since, all are analogous arts addressing resource configuration used in a mobile network; Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Guo with Jang to ensure proper configuration information can be used to improve data processing in the network.
Re Claim 9, Guo discloses transmitting one or more configuration parameters indicating a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs), for the BWP (Figs. 9-13, Page 14 lines 7-50, Page 12 lines 17-50), comprising:
one or more first CORESETs, wherein the one or more first CORESETs are associated with the at least two TCI states (Figs. 9-13, Page 14 lines 7-50, Page 12 lines 17-50); and
a second CORESET (Page 8 lines 43 – Page 9 lines 11);
transmitting, using a reference signal and via the second CORESET, at least one downlink signal (Page 4 lines 16-42, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50).
But Guo doesn’t explicitly teach a second CORESET associated with a recovery search space set;
However, Jang discloses a second CORESET associated with a recovery search space set [0223, 0245-0246];
Jang also discloses transmitting, using a reference signal and via the second CORESET, at least one downlink signal [0011-13, 0177].
Since, all are analogous arts addressing resource configuration used in a mobile network; Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Guo with Jang to ensure proper configuration information can be used to improve data processing in the network.
Re Claim 16, Guo discloses transmitting, a message indicating: activation of the cell (Figs. 9-13, Page 14 lines 7-50, Page 12 lines 17-50); and
the at least two TCI states (Page 10 lines 1-5, 30-50);
activating, after transmitting the message, the cell (Page 10 lines 1-5, 30-50); and .
transmitting, via the BWP and using a first TCI state of the at least two TCI states, one or more first downlink signals associated with a first CORESET pool index of a plurality of CORESET pool indexes for the BWP (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50); and
transmitting, via the BWP and using a second TCI state of the at least two TCI states, one or more second downlink signal associated with a second CORESET pool index of the plurality of CORESET pool index (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50).
Re Claim 17, Guo, as modified by Jang, Jang further discloses the at least one downlink signal comprises a beam failure recovery (BFR) response [0175, 0197-198, 0232]. See motivation to combine the references from the above.
Re Claim 18, Guo discloses transmitting, via a first CORESET of the one or more first CORESETs and using a first TCI state of the at least two TCI states, at least one physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) signals (Page 4 lines 3-15, Page 5 lines 30-37, Page 11 lines 31-50).
Re Claim 19, Guo discloses determining, based on the plurality of CORESETs comprising the second CORESET, a quantity of the at least two TCI states (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50); and transmitting, based on the determining, a message indicating the at least two TCI states (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50).
Re Claim 20, Guo discloses each of the one or more first CORESETs is associated with a respective TCI state of the at least two TCI states (Figs. 12-13, Page 8 lines 43-51, Page 9 lines 25-40, Page 14 lines 31-50).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's latest filed arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With regard to the references failing to teach every element recited in the independent claims; the Examiner respectfully disagrees with the arguments by the Applicant. Even though, the Examiner acknowledges Applicant's invention may possess some novel features, the claims are written too broad that can be read on the current cited prior art(s). Further actions must be taken to explicitly claim those novel features of the current application.
With regards to the argument for the limitation “…activation of a cell, wherein a bandwidth part (BWP), of the cell, is associated with at least two control resource set (CORESET) pool indexes…”, the Examiner asserts that Guo teaches TCI-state activation and multi-TRP operation involving multiple CORESET pool indexes within a serving cell and BWP. Guo explains that a UE may be configured with CORESETs divided into two groups using the higher-layer parameter CORESETPoolIndex, such as a first group having CORESETPoolIndex = 0 and a second group having CORESETPoolIndex = 1 (Page 14, lines 8-23). Guo further teaches that the UE supports mapping up to two TCI states to a single codepoint of the DCI field “Transmission Configuration Indicator,” thereby allowing multiple TCI states to be associated with downlink reception in a BWP (Page 15, lines 1-19). Thus, Guo teaches a cell/BWP configuration associated with at least two CORESET pool indexes and at least two TCI states.
With regards to the argument for the limitation “…at least two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states…”, the Examiner asserts that Guo teaches activating the cell/BWP configuration based on a received message. Specifically, Guo discloses that “the UE receives an activation command” used to map TCI states to DCI TCI codepoints within a component carrier (CC) or downlink BWP (Page 13, lines 23-27). Guo further describes processing of “activation command of PDSCH TCI-states” (Page 14, lines 7-18). A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that receipt of the activation command causes the UE to activate and apply the specified TCI-state configuration for communications on the corresponding cell and BWP. Therefore, Guo teaches activating the cell based on a received message.
With regards to the argument for the limitation “…receiving, via the BWP and using a first TCI state of the at least two TCI states, one or more first downlink signals associated with a first CORESET pool index of the at least two CORESET pool indexes…”, the Examiner asserts that Guo teaches receiving downlink signals via the BWP using a first TCI state associated with a first CORESET pool index. In particular, Guo states that “the UE may apply the activated PDSCH TCI-states to the PDSCH scheduled by DCI sent in any of the first CORESETs” (Page 14, lines 15-18). Because the first CORESETs correspond to a first CORESET pool index (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex = 0), the UE receives downlink signals scheduled from that first CORESET group using the activated TCI-state configuration. Figures 12 and 13 illustrate this relationship between activated TCI states and reception of downlink transmissions associated with the first CORESET pool.
With regards to the argument for the limitation “…receiving, via the BWP and using a second TCI state of the at least two TCI states, one or more second downlink signals associated with a second CORESET pool index of the at least two CORESET pool indexes…”, the Examiner asserts that Guo teaches receiving additional downlink signals via the BWP using a second TCI state associated with a second CORESET pool index. Guo discloses a second CORESET group having CORESETPoolIndex = 1 (Page 14, lines 8-11, 17-19) and further teaches support for multiple TCI states for multi-TRP operation (Page 15, lines 1-19). Because the second CORESET group is distinguished from the first by its CORESET pool index and because multiple TCI states may be activated and mapped for downlink reception, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the UE receives downlink signals associated with the second CORESET pool using a second TCI state. Figures 12 and 13, together with the discussion of activated TCI states and CORESET pool indexes on Pages 14-15, therefore teach receiving first downlink signals using a first TCI state associated with a first CORESET pool index and receiving second downlink signals using a second TCI state associated with a second CORESET pool index. ARGUMENT DOES NOT REPLACE EVIDENCE WHERE EVIDENCE IS
NECESSARY
The arguments made by the counsel cannot take the place of evidence in the record. The Applicant representative’s arguments for the obvious reason to combine the implicit and explicit teaching of the cited reference(s) failed to provide factual support to sustain the ground of arguments. The mere statement of disagreement of the prior art made by the Applicant’s representative cannot be served as evidence for support. Please see the following case law for detail:
In re Schulze, 346 F.2d 600, 602, 145 USPQ 716, 718 (CCPA 1965); In re Geisler, 116 F.3d 1465,43 USPQ2d 1362 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (“An assertion of what seems to follow from common experience is just attorney argument and not the kind of factual evidence that is required to rebut a prima facie case of obviousness.”). See MPEP § 716.01(c) for examples of attorney statements which are not evidence and which must be supported by an appropriate affidavit or declaration.
ARGUING AGAINST REFERENCES INDIVIDUALLY
One cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck and Co., Inc., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
As discussed above, it is apparent that the Applicant's cited limitations, elements, and arguments have already been disclosed by the relevant prior art(s) or were thoroughly addressed by the Examiner. Additionally, the current Office Action provides further elaboration on the explicit and implicit teachings of the aforementioned disclosed reference(s). It is important to note that any justifications and citations utilized in the preceding Office Action which were not contested by the Applicant shall be regarded as an implicit admission by the Applicant on the matter at hand.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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.
Inquiries
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to PAKEE FANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3633. The Examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9:00AM-5:00PM.
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, Armouche, Hadi can be reached on 571-270-3618. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAKEE FANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409
Prosecution Insights