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 .
Claims 1-12 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claims fail to place the invention squarely within one statutory class of invention. Based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the term "computer readable storage media storing", the term is not limited to non-transitory computer readable storage media, and can include transitory media (See http://www.uspto.gov/patents/law/comments/2009-08-25_interim_101_instructions.pdf). The transitory media generally stores data/information in form of signals. Signals are form of energy. As such, the claim is drawn to a form of energy and/or signal per se. Energy is not one of the four categories of invention and therefore this claim(s) is/are not statutory. Energy is not a series of steps or acts and thus is not a process. Energy is not a physical article or object and as such is not a machine or manufacture. Energy is not a combination of substances and therefore not a composition of matter. Signal per se does not appear to be a process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter. [Claims that recite nothing but the physical characteristics of a form of energy, such as frequency, voltage or the strength of a magnetic field, define energy or magnetism, per se, and as such are nonstatutory natural phenomena. O'Reilly, 56 U. S. (15 How.) at 112-14. See also In re Nuijten. Docket no. 2006-1371 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 20, 2007)(slip. Op. at 18): "A propagating signal is not a process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter"]. Thus, such a signal cannot be patentable subject matter.
As to claim 12, the claim recites “ a computer readable storage medium storing”. This does not meet 35 U.S.C. 101, for example the claim may recite “A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing”. Furthermore, the claim and the specification must refer to "A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing" to obviate 101 issues. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1, 4-6 and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al, application no. 2021/0144797, Zhang in view of R2-2104876 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #114-e Electronic meeting, 19th - 27th May 2021 Agenda item: 8.1.2.4 Intel Corporation Source: MBS MAC Layer and Group Scheduling Aspects hereinafter known as Intel (IDS submitted art).
As to claim 1, Zhang discloses a method for receiving data units by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (Zhang, [0005], UE for DRX reception), the method comprising: receiving the data unit during an active time of a first discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration related to a multicast transmission for a Hybrid Automatic Repeat and request (HARQ) process (Zhang, Figure 2, [0075], [0083], sending a multicast message to UE by base station during DRX active); transmitting a negative response to the network based on the data unit being not successfully decoded (Zhang, [0076], sending multicast feedback, HARQ); starting a HARQ Round-trip Time (RTT) timer of a second DRX con-figuration related to a unicast transmission for the HARQ process (Zhang, [0074-[0076], starting a timer unicast HARQ response with RTT). Zhang does not expressly disclose however Intel dicloses and monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) related to a retransmitted data unit during an active time of the second DRX con-figuration, based on the HARQ RTT timer expiring (Intel, section 2.4, proposal 12, different DRX configuration for different transmission including HARQ RTT time retransmission).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zhang to include the limitations of and monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) related to a retransmitted data unit during an active time of the second DRX con-figuration, based on the HARQ RTT timer expiring as taught by Intel. Individual timer for different DRX are used in to the art for different network conditions and communications needs.
As to claim 4, Zhang discloses wherein receiving the data unit comprises receiving the data unit based on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) identified by a Group-Radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI) (Zhang, [0004], DRX data reception based on PDCCH using G-RNTI). Zhang does not disclose however Intel disclose and wherein the PDCCH related to the retransmitted data unit is identified by a Cell-RNTI (C-RNTI) (Intel, section 2.1 C-RNTI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zhang to include the limitations of and wherein the PDCCH related to the retransmitted data unit is identified by a Cell-RNTI (C-RNTI) as taught by Intel. C-RNTI are part of the art to handle UE specific communications.
As to claim 5, Zhang discloses receiving the retransmitted data unit based on the PDCCH related to the retransmitted data unit (Zhang, [0090], initiating a retranmission based on PDCCH).
As to claims 6, 9 and 10, the claims are rejected as applied to claim 1, 4 and 5 respectively by Zhang in view of Intel.
As to claims 11 and 12, the claims are each rejected as applied to claim 1 by Zhang in view of Intel.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 7 and 8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/GAUTAM SHARMA/Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/HASSAN A PHILLIPS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467