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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 25-32 and 41-56 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 25-32, 41-44, and 47-56 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (US 2024/0129932) (“Gao”) in view of Gao et al. (US 2024/0397451) (“Gao2”).
For claims 25 and 41; Gao discloses: downlink control information (DCI) that includes a precoding information and number of layers (PINL) field (paragraph 37: single DCI based M-TRP PUSCH repetition schemes, and the terminal device 110-1 may be configured with codebook based uplink/PUSCH transmission (when the higher layer parameter txConfig in pusch-Config is set to ‘codebook’), there may be two sets of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions and the precoder for the first set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions is based on the TPMI/PMI indicated in the field “precoding information and number of layers” (or represented as the first TPMI/PMI/RI field) in DCI. An additional (i.e., second) precoding information (or represented as the additional/second TPMI/PMI) field may be introduced to indicate the TPMI/PMI (for the second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions)); and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to: retrieve the DCI from the memory, wherein the DCI is to schedule a multi-transmission reception point (TRP) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission with repetitions by a user equipment (UE) (paragraph 37: single DCI based M-TRP PUSCH repetition schemes, and the terminal device 110-1 may be configured with codebook based uplink/PUSCH transmission (when the higher layer parameter txConfig in pusch-Config is set to ‘codebook’), there may be two sets of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions and the precoder for the first set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions is based on the TPMI/PMI indicated in the field “precoding information and number of layers” (or represented as the first TPMI/PMI/RI field) in DCI. An additional (i.e., second) precoding information (or represented as the additional/second TPMI/PMI) field may be introduced to indicate the TPMI/PMI (for the second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions)), wherein the PINL field includes an indication of a maximum number of possible transmit precoding matrix indicators (TPMI) states for a plurality of transmission layers (paragraph 86-91: The first index may correspond to a number of layers for the plurality of PUSCH transmissions. The first index may further correspond to the first value of the first TPMI. The terminal device 110-1 determines 2020 a second TPMI based on the number of layers and one or more of the followings: a configuration of codebook subset type, a configuration of full power mode, the first index, the second index, or the first value of the first TPMI…the size of the second TPMI/PMI field may depend on the number of (available) TPMIs for 1 and/or 2 layer transmission and the type of codebookSubset and the value of maxRank and type of full power mode. In this way, the size of the second TPMI field is less than the size of the first TPMI field, thereby saving overheads); and encode a message for transmission to the UE that includes the DCI (paragraph 84: The network device 120 transmits 2010 control information to the terminal device 110-1. In some embodiments, the control information may indicate a first index associated with the first TPMI and a second index associated with the second TPMI. Alternatively, the control information may indicate an index associated with the first TPMI and the second TPMI for the plurality of PUSCH transmissions).
Gao does not expressly disclose, but Gao2 from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein the SRI field comprises a plurality of codepoints including a reserved codepoint, wherein the reserved codepoint indicates dynamic switching between a single-TRP transmission mode in which the UE transmits toward a single one of the first TRP or the second TRP and a multi-TRP transmission mode in which the UE transmits toward both the first TRP and the second TRP (paragraph 134, 144-145: when a single SRI field is used to dynamically switch between PUSCH transmission toward a single TRP and PUSCH transmissions toward two TRPs. One possibility for dynamic switching between a single TRP and multiple TRPs for PUSCH transmission(s) with a single SRI field is to associate some codepoints of the SRI field with a single SRI value (corresponding to a PUSCH transmission toward a single TRP) and have some other codepoints of the SRI field with two SRI values (corresponding to PUSCH transmissions toward two TRPs)). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Gao2 in the M-TRP single DCI as described by Gao. The motivation is to improve PUSCH configuration.
For claims 26; Gao discloses: wherein the PINL field is to indicate twenty-eight TPMI states using a five-bit field (paragraph 88: For example, the maximum value of number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 14, 16, 28}), the size for second TPMI/PMI field may be ceil(log 2(M)). Alternatively, the number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 16, 28}), the size for additional/second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))).
For claims 27; Gao discloses: wherein the PINL field is to indicate fourteen TPMI states using a four-bit field (paragraph 88: For example, the maximum value of number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 14, 16, 28}), the size for second TPMI/PMI field may be ceil(log 2(M)). Alternatively, the number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 16, 28}), the size for additional/second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))).
For claims 28; Gao discloses: wherein the PINL field is to indicate six TPMI states using a three-bit field (paragraph 88: For example, the maximum value of number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 14, 16, 28}), the size for second TPMI/PMI field may be ceil(log 2(M)). Alternatively, the number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 16, 28}), the size for additional/second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))).
For claims 29; Gao discloses: wherein the PINL field is to indicate sixteen TPMI states using a four-bit field (paragraph 88: For example, the maximum value of number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 14, 16, 28}), the size for second TPMI/PMI field may be ceil(log 2(M)). Alternatively, the number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 16, 28}), the size for additional/second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))).
For claims 30; Gao discloses: wherein the PINL field is to indicate two TPMI states using a one-bit field (paragraph 78: And the second TPMI is assumed to be TPMI={0} with 2 layers if the number of layers is indicated with 2 by the first index in the first field. In some embodiments, the size for the second field is 1 bit).
For claims 31; Gao discloses: wherein the PINL field is to indicate three TPMI states using a two-bit field (paragraph 88: For example, the maximum value of number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 14, 16, 28}), the size for second TPMI/PMI field may be ceil(log 2(M)). Alternatively, the number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 16, 28}), the size for additional/second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))).
For claims 32 and 44; Gao discloses: wherein the PUSCH transmission has a maximum rank (maxRank) larger than one (paragraph 82: the maximum transmission rank may be configured to be 2 or 3 or 4).
For claim 42; Gao discloses: wherein: the PINL field is to indicate twenty-eight TPMI states using a five-bit field; or the PINL field is to indicate fourteen TPMI states using a four-bit field; or the PINL field is to indicate six TPMI states using a three-bit field (paragraph 88: For example, the maximum value of number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 14, 16, 28}), the size for second TPMI/PMI field may be ceil(log 2(M)). Alternatively, the number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 16, 28}), the size for additional/second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))).
For claim 43; Gao discloses: wherein: the PINL field is to indicate sixteen TPMI states using a four-bit field; or the PINL field is to indicate two TPMI states using a one-bit field; or the PINL field is to indicate three TPMI states using a two-bit field (paragraph 88: For example, the maximum value of number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 14, 16, 28}), the size for second TPMI/PMI field may be ceil(log 2(M)). Alternatively, the number of TPMIs for 1 or 2 layer transmission may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 16, 28}), the size for additional/second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))).
For claims 47; Gao discloses: the PINL field comprises a first PINL field and a second PINL field, the second PINL field is limited to TPMI indication information and excludes number of layer indication information, and a number of layers for both a first set of PUSCH transmissions and a second set of PUSCH transmissions is indicated by the first PINL field instead of the second PINL field, and the second PINL field has fewer bits than the first PINL field. (paragraph 81, 86, 87: In some embodiments, the number of layers (e.g. TRI/RI) may be same for the first and second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions, and the number of layers may be indicated in the field “precoding information and number of layers” (or represented as the first TPMI/PMI/RI field) in DCI. In other words, the additional/second TPMI/PMI field may not indicate information of TM/RI)… the size of the second TPMI field is less than the size of the first TPMI field).
For claims 48; Gao discloses: the apparatus is configured with four antenna ports and a maximum rank (maxRank) of 2, 3, or 4, the PUSCH transmission is codebook-based with transform precoder disabled, and for a fully-and-partial-and-noncoherent codebook subset type, the PINL field uses five bits to indicate a maximum of twenty-eight TPMI states (paragraph 74, 98-102, Table 1&2: if the number of antenna ports is configured as 4 or the number of SRS ports is 4, and if transform precoder is disabled, and if maxRank=2 or 3 or 4, and if ul-FullPowerTransmission-r16 is not configured or configured to fullpowerMode2 or configured to fullpower, and if codebookSubset is configured as fullAndPartialAndNonCoherent. In some embodiments, if the number of layers is indicated as 1 by the first index in the first field, the second TPMI associated/indicated with the second index in the second field can only be any one of TPMI={0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27} with 1 layer…number of antenna ports is 4… the size for the second field may be Y bits. Y is positive integer. For example, Y may be 3 or 4 or 5. In some embodiments, the number of valid codepoints or valid bit indices in the second field may be W. W is positive integer. For example, W may be no larger than 28. For another example, W may be 26 or 27 or 28… When codebookSubset configured with fullyAndPartialAndNonCoherent, the number of (available) TPMIs for 1 layer transmission is T.sub.F1 (T.sub.F1 is positive integer, e.g. T.sub.F1=28)… the size for second TPMI/PMI field is 5 bits).
For claims 49; Gao discloses: the apparatus is configured with four antenna ports and a maximum rank (maxRank) of 2, 3, or 4, for a partial-and-noncoherent codebook subset type, the PINL field uses four bits to indicate a maximum of fourteen TPMI states (paragraph 72, 75, Table 1&2: if the number of antenna ports is configured as 4 or the number of SRS ports is 4, and if transform precoder is disabled, and if maxRank=2 or 3 or 4, and if ul-FullPowerTransmission-r16 is not configured or configured to fullpowerMode2 or configured to fullpower, and if codebookSubset is configured as partialAndNonCoherent…if the number of layers is indicated as 2 by the first index in the first field, the second TPMI associated/indicated with the second index in the second field can only be any one of TPMI={0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13} with 2 layers… For example, Y may be 2 or 3 or 4… W may be 12 or 13 or 14), and for a noncoherent codebook subset type the PINL field uses three bits to indicate a maximum of six TPMI states (paragraph 71, Table 1&2: if the number of antenna ports is configured as 4 or the number of SRS ports is 4, and if transform precoder is disabled, and if maxRank=2 or 3 or 4, and if ul-FullPowerTransmission-r16 is not configured or configured to fullpowerMode2 or configured to fullpower, and if codebookSubset is configured as non Coherent… if the number of layers is indicated as 2 by the first index in the first field, the second TPMI associated/indicated with the second index in the second field can only be any one of TPMI={0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} with 2 layers…Y may be 2 or 3…the number of valid codepoints or valid bit indices in the second field may be W. W is positive integer. For example, W may be 4 or 5 or 6).
For claims 50; Gao discloses: the apparatus is configured with two antenna ports and a maximum rank (maxRank) of 2, for a fully-and-partial-and-noncoherent codebook subset type the PINL field uses three bits to indicate a maximum of six TPMI states (paragraph 79, Table 1&7: if the number of antenna ports is configured as 2 or the number of SRS ports is 2, and if transform precoder is disabled, and if maxRank=2, and if ul-FullPowerTransmission-r16 is not configured or configured to fullpowerMode2 or configured to fullpower, and if codebookSubset is configured as fullAndPartialAndNonCoherent… if the number of layers is indicated as 1 by the first index in the first field, the second TPMI associated/indicated with the second index in the second field can only be any one of TPMI={0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} with 1 layer… Y may be 2 or 3. In some embodiments, the number of valid codepoints or valid bit indices in the second field may be W. W is positive integer. For example, W may be no larger than 6), and for a noncoherent codebook subset type the PINL field uses one bit to indicate a maximum of two TPMI states (paragraph 78, Table 1&7: if the number of antenna ports is configured as 2 or the number of SRS ports is 2, and if transform precoder is disabled, and if maxRank=2, and if ul-FullPowerTransmission-r16 is not configured or configured to fullpowerMode2 or configured to fullpower, and if codebookSubset is configured as noncoherent… the second field can only be any one of TPMI={0, 1} with 1 layer… the size for the second field is 1 bit. In some embodiments, the number of valid codepoints or valid bit indices in the second field may be W. For example, W may be 1 or 2).
For claim 51; Gao discloses the subject matter in claims 25 and 47 as described above in the office action.
For claims 52; Gao discloses: wherein the second precoding information field has a fixed bit width determined by a maximum number of TPMI options across all possible layer counts for a given antenna port configuration. (paragraph 88, 93-94: the value of number of indexes which corresponds to TPMI associated with at least one of 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 layer (the index is not “reserved” for all number of layers) may be N (N is positive integer), and the size for the second TPMI/PMI field may be ceil(log 2(N))).
For claims 53; Gao discloses: wherein for a configuration with 4 antenna ports, the second precoding information field has a bit width of 3 to 5 bits (paragraph 73: if the number of antenna ports is configured as 4 … the size for the second field may be Y bits. Y is positive integer. For example, Y may be 3 or 4 or 5).
For claims 54; Gao discloses: wherein the second precoding information field indicates precoding for a PUSCH repetition transmitted to a second TRP different from a first TRP associated with the first PINL field (paragraph 37: An additional (i.e., second) precoding information (or represented as the additional/second TPMI/PMI) field may be introduced to indicate the TPMI/PMI (for the second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions), and the precoder for the second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions may be based on the TPMI/PMI indicated by the additional/second TPMI/PMI field).
For claims 55; Gao discloses: wherein the second precoding information field has a bit width determined by codebook subset configuration, in which: for a first codebook subset configuration, the second precoding information field comprises 5 bits to indicate the second TPMI from among up to 28 TPMI states (paragraph 88: the number of TPMIs for 1 layer transmission and codebookSubset=fullAndPartialAndNonCoheret may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 16, 28}), the size for second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))); for a second codebook subset configuration, the second precoding information field comprises 4 bits to indicate the second TPMI from among up to 16 TPMI states (paragraph 88: the number of TPMIs for 1 layer transmission and codebookSubset=fullAndPartialAndNonCoheret may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g. M∈{3, 6, 16, 28}), the size for second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))); and for a third codebook subset configuration, the second precoding information field comprises 3 bits to indicate the second TPMI from among up to 6 TPMI states (paragraph 88, Table 1&2: the number of TPMIs for 2 layer transmission and codebookSubset=PartialAndNonCoheret may be M (where M is positive integer, and e.g. 3<=M<=28 or e.g M∈{6, 14}), the size for second TPMI field may be ceil(log 2(M))).
For claims 56; Gao discloses: wherein the second precoding information field has a reduced bit width compared to the first PINL field due to indicating the second TPMI without layer count information being jointly encoded (paragraph 81, 86, 87: In some embodiments, the number of layers (e.g. TRI/RI) may be same for the first and second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions, and the number of layers may be indicated in the field “precoding information and number of layers” (or represented as the first TPMI/PMI/RI field) in DCI. In other words, the additional/second TPMI/PMI field may not indicate information of TM/RI)… the size of the second TPMI field is less than the size of the first TPMI field).
Claim(s) 45 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Gao2 as applied to claim 25 above, and further in view of Kung et al. (US 2022/0217644) (“Kung”).
For claim 45; Gao discloses the subject matter in claim 25 as described above in the office action. Gao discloses: the PINL field comprises a first PINL field and a second PINL field, the PUSCH transmission with repetitions comprises a first set of PUSCH transmissions directed toward a first TRP using a first transmission beam and a second set of PUSCH transmissions directed toward a second TRP using a second transmission beam different from the first transmission beam, both the first set and the second set are scheduled by a single instance of the DCI (paragraph 37: there may be two sets of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions and the precoder for the first set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions is based on the TPMI/PMI indicated in the field “precoding information and number of layers” (or represented as the first TPMI/PMI/RI field) in DCI. An additional (i.e., second) precoding information (or represented as the additional/second TPMI/PMI) field may be introduced to indicate the TPMI/PMI (for the second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions), and the precoder for the second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions may be based on the TPMI/PMI indicated by the additional/second TPMI/PMI field).
Gao does not expressly disclose, but Gao2 from similar fields of endeavor teaches: the first transmission beam is determined based on a first TPMI indicated in the first PINL field and the second transmission beam is determined based on a second TPMI indicated in the second PINL field (paragraph 128: For PUSCH transmission, a TRP may be implicitly associated with a SRI and/or a TPMI field in a DCI). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Gao2 in the M-TRP single DCI as described by Gao. The motivation is to improve PUSCH configuration.
Gao does not expressly disclose, but Kung from similar fields of endeavor teaches: the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam provide spatial diversity to overcome blockages in wireless channels (paragraph 414: A goal of multi-TRP PUSCH may be for the UE to transmit a same set of data via multiple PUSCHs to a network to increase reliability (e.g., the UE may transmit the same set of data via the multiple PUSCHs using spatial diversity of multiple TCI states and/or beams, and thus may increase a likelihood that the same set of data is successfully transmitted and/or received)). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Kung in the M-TRP single DCI as described by Gao. The motivation is to improve resource usage.
Claim(s) 46 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Gao2 as applied to claim 25 above, and further in view of Deghel et al. (US 2024/0057112) (“Deghel”).
For claim 46; Gao discloses the subject matter in claim 25 as described above in the office action. Gao discloses: the PUSCH transmission with repetitions comprises a first PUSCH repetition and a second PUSCH repetition, the first PUSCH repetition is directed toward a first TRP and the second PUSCH repetition is directed toward a second TRP (paragraph 37: there may be two sets of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions and the precoder for the first set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions is based on the TPMI/PMI indicated in the field “precoding information and number of layers” (or represented as the first TPMI/PMI/RI field) in DCI. An additional (i.e., second) precoding information (or represented as the additional/second TPMI/PMI) field may be introduced to indicate the TPMI/PMI (for the second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions), and the precoder for the second set of PUSCH transmissions/repetitions may be based on the TPMI/PMI indicated by the additional/second TPMI/PMI field).
Gao does not expressly disclose, but Deghel from similar fields of endeavor teaches: the PUSCH transmission with repetitions comprises a first PUSCH repetition and a second PUSCH repetition, the first PUSCH repetition is directed toward a first TRP and the second PUSCH repetition is directed toward a second TRP, a default transmission sequence specifies that the first PUSCH repetition is transmitted temporally before the second PUSCH repetition, and at least one codepoint of the plurality of codepoints, when indicated in the SRI field, causes re-ordering of a transmission sequence relative to the default transmission sequence such that the second PUSCH repetition is transmitted temporally before the first PUSCH repetition. (paragraph 36: SRS resource set index/ID (e.g., 0 or 1)… this indication may be used to indicate which SRS resource set to start with (i.e., it may indicate the order of SRS resource sets) when the multi-TRP PUSCH scheme is applied. Specifically, the indicated SRS resource set index may allow the UE to determine whether the first value of a certain DCI field (such as TPC command, SRI, “precoding information and number of layers,” and PTRS-DMRS association) corresponds to the first SRS resource set or the second SRS resource set. In addition, for the multi-TRP PUSCH scheme, for the mapping of some of the indicated value(s) to PUSCH repetitions, this indication may be used to indicate whether to start with the value(s) corresponding to the first or the second SRS resource set and, thus, potentially the first or the second TRP). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Deghel in the M-TRP single DCI as described by Gao. The motivation is to improve resource usage.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chen et al. (US 2024/0049221); Chen discloses the PUSCH transmission is codebook-based PUSCH transmission, and the DCI includes the following DCI fields: SRI field #1, SRI field #2, PINL field #1, and PINL field #2, wherein SRI field #1 includes the first SRS resource indicator, SRI field #2 includes the second SRS resource indicator, PINL field #1 includes the first PINL indicator, and PINL field #2 includes the second PINL indicator.
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.
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