DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 25 June 2026. Claims 6-10 are now pending in the present application and claims 1-5 are canceled. This office action is made Non-Final.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 25 June 2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Apple (hereinafter Apple-3GPP) (“Discussion on MBS Reliability Improvement for RRC Connected UE”; 3GPP Draft; RP-2103125) in view of further support Yi et al. (hereinafter Yi; US 20240057108 A1).
Regarding claims 10, 6, and 9, Apple-3GPP discloses a communication system comprising:
a base station (RAN); and a terminal (UE) { (see pg. 1, section 1) }, wherein
the base station (RAN) includes { (see pg. 1, sec. 1) }
a transmitter (RAN) that performs transmission using a first downlink data channel in multicast (e.g., PTM, group-common PDSCH), and transmission using a second downlink data channel in unicast (e.g., PTP, PDSCH) { (see pg. 2, sec. 2), where the system provides unicast PDSCH and multicast (group-common) PDSCH}, and
the terminal (UE) includes { (see pg. 1, section 1) }:
a processor (UE) that determines, based on a parameter of a radio resource control (e.g., RRC) layer, whether to use, for transmitting feedback (e.g., PUCCH), a first method of generating (e.g., construction) a codebook of feedback for automatic retransmission request (e.g., HARQ), based on a union of a time domain resource allocation for a first downlink data channel in multicast and a time domain resource allocation for a second downlink data channel in unicast, or a second method of generating a codebook by generating each of a codebook of feedback for automatic retransmission request (HARQ-Ack feedback) for the first downlink data channel (e.g., multicast) and a codebook of feedback for automatic retransmission request (HARQ-Ack feedback) for the second downlink data channel (e.g., unicast), and then combining them { (see pg. 2, sec. 2), where the system provides multicast and unicast (see pg. 2, sec. 2 ‘agreement 4’ & ‘proposal 2’), and the system performs codebook construction and optimization for HARQ (see pg. 2, sec. 2 'agreement 4' & 'proposal 2'); As a note, the claim recites the limitation “when” and “or” which is alternative language. };
wherein each time domain resource allocation is related to a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) formats { (see pg. 3, sec. 2), where the system provides DCI }; and
a transmitter that transmits feedback (HARQ-Ack feedback) for automatic retransmission request for reception of the first downlink data channel (e.g., multicast), and feedback for automatic retransmission request for reception of the second downlink data channel (e.g., unicast), based on the determination { (see pp. 2-3, sec. 2), where the system provides multicast and unicast }.
Apple-3GPP does not specifically disclose having the feature(s) wherein each time domain resource allocation is related to a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) formats. However, in the alternative, the examiner maintains that the feature(s) wherein each time domain resource allocation is related to a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) formats was well known in the art, as taught by Yi.
As further alternative support in the same field of endeavor, Yi discloses the feature(s)
wherein each time domain resource allocation (e.g., TDRA) is related to a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) formats { (see pg. 45, [0361, lines 10-18]; pg. 18, [0198]; pp. 47-48, [0375]; Fig. 22), where the system provides TDRA with one or more DCI formats }.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Apple-3GPP as further alternatively supported by Yi to have the feature(s) wherein each time domain resource allocation is related to a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) formats, in order to provide configuration parameters, as taught by Yi (see pg. 45, [0361]).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Apple-3GPP and Yi discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 6), in addition Apple-3GPP further discloses the terminal according to claim 6, wherein the control unit determines to use the second method when the parameter is received, which indicates that the first downlink data channel (e.g., multicast) and the second downlink data channel (e.g., unicast) are frequency-division multiplexed (e.g., FDM) { (see pp. 2-3, sec. 2) }.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Apple-3GPP and Yi discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 6), in addition Apple-3GPP further discloses the terminal according to claim 6, wherein the transmission unit transmits capability information indicating that the first downlink data channel (e.g., multicast) and the second downlink data channel (e.g., unicast) can be received in a same time domain { (see pp. 2-3, sec. 2) }.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 6-10 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection necessitated by the amended language, new limitations, and/or new claims.
In response to applicant’s arguments, the Examiner respectfully disagrees as the applied reference(s) provide more than adequate support and to further clarify (see the above claims for relevant citations and comments in this section).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yang et al. (US 11,652,582 B2) discloses acknowledgment feedback techniques in sidelink wireless communications.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIE J DANIEL JR whose telephone number is (571)272-7907. The examiner can normally be reached on 9 - 6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gary Mui can be reached on 571-270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIE J DANIEL JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
WJD,Jr
19 August 2026
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