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 3/9/2026. Claims 2-4, 7-8, 12-14 and 17-18 have been canceled and claims 1, 5-6, 9-11, 15-16 and 19-20 are pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 5, 9, 15 and 19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. The limitation of the first modulation scheme is 16QAM is already recited in claims 1, 6, 11 and 16. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1, 5-6, 9-11, 15-16 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan [US 2023/0199768] in view of Ratasuk [US 2022/0322307].
As claims 1, 6, 11 and 16, Yan [US 2023/0199768] discloses a data transmission method comprising: generating downlink control information (DCI) [Fig 2, Ref 202 discloses DCI, Par. 0119 disclose base unit], wherein the DCI is used to indicate a first modulation scheme or a second modulation scheme [Par. 0070, 0116, 0120 discloses DCI for indicating 16QAM or QPSK], the first modulation scheme is 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) [Par. 0070, 116 discloses 16QAM] and the DCI comprises a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field and a repetition field [Fig 2, Ref 202 discloses DCI comprising MCS field and repetition field], wherein the DCI indicates the 16QAM when the MCS field is in "1111" [Par. 0056-0057 discloses DCI indicates 16QAM when MCS field is 14 or 15 wherein 15 is 1111 or 14 is 1110] or the DCI indicates the second modulation scheme and an MCS index of the second modulation scheme when the MCS field is other than "1111" and "1110" in "0000-1111" [Par. 0057-0059 discloses MCS indicating 0-13]; and sending the DCI [Fig 2, Ref 202]. However, Yan fails to disclose all bits of the repetition field is converted into a field that indicates an MCS index of the 16QAM. In the same field of endeavor, Ratasuk [US 2022/0322307] discloses all bits of the repetition field is converted into a field that indicates an MCS index of the 16QAM [Par. 0030-0033 discloses one or more bits of the repetition field is converted into MCS field to denote MCS indexes].
Since Yan suggests the repetition field can be joined with MCS field to indicate TBS, repetition and MCS. 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 using all the bits in the repetition field to denote MCS indexes as disclosed by Ratasuk into the teaching of Yan. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 5, 9, 15 and 19, Yan [US 2023/0199768]/Ratasuk [US 2022/0322307] discloses the first modulation scheme is 16QAM, and the second modulation scheme is quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) [Yan discloses Par. 0018 and Ratasuk discloses Par. 0029].
As claims 10 ad 20, Yan [US 2023/0199768]/Ratasuk [US 2022/0322307] discloses the receiving or sending data based on the DCI comprises: receiving or sending the data based on the first modulation scheme and the MCS index of the first modulation scheme that are indicated by the DCI [Par, 0037 for Ratasuk and Par. 0057 for Yan], or the second modulation scheme and the MCS index of the second modulation scheme that are indicated by the DCI [Par, 0037 for Ratasuk and Par. 0057 for Yan].
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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