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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/22/2026 has been entered.
Terms
Data signalling – user data
Data blocks – transport blocks, code blocks
Allocation units – slots, mini-slots, PRB
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 14 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.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 14 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 20 of U.S. Patent No. 7178089 in view of Mallik (US-20160226643).
Claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 14 provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over
claim(s) 5 of copending Application No. 18546488,
claim(s) 1 of copending Application No. 17109954,
claim(s) 1 of copending Application No. 18261931
claim(s) 1 of copending Application No. 16965169
claim(s) 1 of copending Application No. 18263054
claim(s) of 1 copending Application No. 18553603
claim(s) 1 of copending Application No. 18551304
claim(s) 24 of copending Application No. 14380089
claim(s) of 1 copending Application No. 16401741
claim(s) 27 of copending Application No. 14380081
in view of Mallik (US-2016022643)
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Independent Claims
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeo (WO-2018084515-A1) in view of Mallik (US-20160226643).
As to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 , 14: Yeo teaches a method of operating a transmitting radio node in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: transmitting data signalling, the data signalling representing a plurality of data blocks, each of the plurality of data blocks corresponding to a code block bundle, CBB (And transmitting data through a sub transport block, wherein the sub transport block is a code block bundle including at least one code block).
Yeo may not explicitly teach each CBB comprising a plurality of code blocks, each code block being associated wo a different acknowledgement process. However, Mallik teaches each CBB comprising a plurality of code blocks, each code block being associated wo a different acknowledgement process (abstract, [0042, 43, 46]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement CB ack, taught by Mallik, into the CBB, taught by Yeo, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and granular HARQ and better resource efficiency. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Mallik and Yeo in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Dependent Claims
Claim(s) 5, 11, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeo (WO-2018084515-A1), Mallik (US-20160226643) in view of Guo (US-20230217447).
As to claim 5, 16: Guo teaches the method according to claim 1, 3, wherein the data signalling is transmitted over a plurality of consecutive allocation units (fig.6, [0005]).
As to claim 11: Guo teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the data signalling is scheduled with a control information message ([0072]).
Claim(s) 6, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeo (WO-2018084515-A1), Mallik (US-20160226643) in view of Yu (US-9232512).
As to claim 6, 17: Yeo teaches the method according to claim 1, 3.
Yeo may not explicitly teach wherein the data signalling has unspecified duration when triggered. However, Yu teaches wherein the data signalling has unspecified duration when triggered (claim 1, claim 2).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement unspecified duration uplink, taught by Yu, into the data signaling, taught by Yeo, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and enable uplink transmission. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Yu and Yeo in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Claim(s) 7, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeo (WO-2018084515-A1), Mallik (US-20160226643) in view of Mallik (US-20160234820).
As to claim 7, 18: Yeo teaches the method according to claim 1, 3.
Yeo may not explicitly teach wherein different data blocks of the data signalling are transmitted with one or both different modulation and different coding. However, Mallik teaches wherein different data blocks of the data signalling are transmitted with one or both different modulation and different coding ([0035, 68] each transport block can have a different MCS).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement different MCS for each TB, taught by Mallik, into the uplink, taught by Yeo, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and account for different QoS requirements. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Yeo and Mallik in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Claim(s) 9, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeo (WO-2018084515-A1), Mallik (US-20160226643) in view of Sun (US-20190058553).
As to claim 9, 20: Guo teaches the method according to claim 1, 3.
Yeo may not explicitly teach wherein one of both: one or more of the data blocks are associated to new transmissions; and one or more of the data blocks are associated to retransmissions. However, Sun teaches wherein one of both: one or more of the data blocks are associated to new transmissions; and one or more of the data blocks are associated to retransmissions ([0065] retransmit TBs).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement retransmit TBs, taught by Sun, into the uplink, taught by Yeo, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and enable reliable reception of transmissions. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Sun and Yeo in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Claim(s) 10, 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeo (WO-2018084515-A1), Mallik (US-20160226643) in view of Papasakellariou (US-20140269454).
As to claim 10, 21: Yeo teaches the method according to claim 1, 3.
Yeo may not explicitly teach wherein the Modulation and Coding Scheme used for transmitting a data block is based on whether the data block is transmitted in a new transmission or retransmission. However, Papasakellariou teaches wherein the Modulation and Coding Scheme used for transmitting a data block is based on whether the data block is transmitted in a new transmission or retransmission ([0029, 133, 134] it can be beneficial for the MCS used for the retransmission of the data TB to be higher than the MCS used for the initial transmission of the same data TB).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement MCS depends on whether a TB is transmitted or retransmitted, taught by Papasakellariou, into the uplink, taught by Yeo, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and improve reliability of a transmission. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Yeo and Papasakellariou in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeo (WO-2018084515-A1), Mallik (US-20160226643) in view of Yokomakura (US-20200196332).
As to claim 12: Yeo teaches the method according to claim 1.
Yeo may not explicitly teach wherein Phase Tracking Reference signalling is associated to the data signalling. However, Yokomakura teaches wherein Phase Tracking Reference signalling is associated to the data signalling (abstract the transmitter transmits the PUSCH to which the PTRS is mapped).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement PTRS, taught by Yokomakura, into the uplink, taught by Yeo, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and compensate for phase error. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Yeo and Yokomakura in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeo (WO-2018084515-A1), Mallik (US-20160226643) in view of Yang (US-20240048319).
As to claim 13: Yeo teaches the method according to claim 1.
Yeo may not explicitly teach wherein different Phase Tracking Reference signalling is used for different types of data signalling. However, Yang teaches wherein different Phase Tracking Reference signalling is used for different types of data signalling ([0108], claim 14).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement PTRS, taught by Yang, into the uplink, taught by Yeo, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and compensate for phase error. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Yeo and Yang in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW CHUNG SUK OH whose telephone number is (571)270-5273. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12p-8p.
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/ANDREW C OH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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