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 .
Priorities and Examiner Remarks
This application is a National Stage entry of PCT/JP2022/015544 (international filing date: 03/29/2022) which claims foreign priority to application of JAPAN: 2021-089352 (filed 05/27/2021).
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 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by CHIN et al. (US 20210028849 A1, hereinafter CHIN).
Regarding claim 7, CHIN teaches a terminal comprising (in general, see fig. 3 and many of its corresponding paragraphs):
a receiver that receives information configuring a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for a scheduling request (SR) for transmission/reception point (TRP)-specific beam failure detection (BFD) (CHIN, see at least para. 41 along with para. 50, “...the UE may transmit a BFR-SR on a dedicated PUCCH resource for BFR-SR transmission. In one implementation, a “triggered SR procedure” may also be referred to as a “triggered SR for SCell BFR”. In one implementation, a PUCCH resource for BFR-SR transmission may be configured by the network via dedicated signaling...”, note that “...BFR-SR configuration may be configured per BWP, per TRP, per CC, per set of CCs, per CG, and/or per UE...”);
and
a processor that, when the SR for TRP-specific BFD is triggered for an other purpose, controls to select and apply one PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources for the other purpose (CHIN, see at least para. 260, for one non-limiting example, “...In some implementations, The UE transmits the BFR-SR on a PUCCH resource for BFR-SR transmission, and the PUCCH resource is configured on a BWP. If the UE switches/deactivated the BWP to another BWP, the UE may transmit the BFR-SR on another PUCCH resource for BFR-SR transmission, which is configured on another BWP...”, note that “...BFR-SR configuration may be configured per BWP, per TRP, per CC, per set of CCs, per CG, and/or per UE...”).
Regarding claim 8, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 7 except this claim is in method claim format.
Regarding claim 9, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 7. To be more specific, although reciting subject matters slightly different, one skilled in the art would have known claim 9 performs reverse (or corresponding) procedures of claim 7. For example, it would be a base station of claim 9 that performs the reverse (or corresponding) receiving from and transmitting to the terminal of claim 7. Hence, the examiner applies the same rejection reasoning as set forth in claim 7.
Regarding claim 10, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as combination of claims 7 and 9, except this claim is in system claim format.
To be more specific, CHIN also teaches a same or similar system comprising terminal and base station (CHIN, see at least of fig. 3), which are well known in the art and commonly used for providing and enabling robust and reliable data communication hardware and software.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/05/2026 have been fully considered. Regarding independent claims 7, 8, 9, and 10, since applicant's amendment necessitated new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action, previous Office action's rejections are moot.
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 YEE F LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7577. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached on 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YEE F LAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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