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 .
This Office Action is a response to communications dated 05/04/2026. Original claims 1-20 are cancelled and new claims 21-40 are presented in the response dated 05/04/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 21-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
There are no support in the original specification for the newly added limitations of “trigger a random access procedure based on reception of the DCI; cancel the random access procedure based on one or more of the following conditions being satisfied:” and “wherein the random access procedure is used to determine uplink transmission timing on the first cell.” In accordance with the specification, paragraph [0004] and thereinafter, there is disclosed features in verbatim “In the existing protocol, the base station notifies the UE of timing advance updates through MAC CE commands, and when L1 (layer 1) is not synchronized, it can only send MSG 1 or MSGA through the random access procedure. If the existing scheme is reused, the procedure of random access for candidate cells will have a large impact on the current communications” and paragraph [0028]: “voiding reusing random access procedure, reducing the impact on protocols.” From the disclosed features, the claimed limitations of “trigger a random access procedure based on reception of the DCI; cancel the random access procedure based on one or more of the following conditions being satisfied:” and “wherein the random access procedure is used to determine uplink transmission timing on the first cell” cannot be unambiguously derived to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventors, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Furthermore; newly added claims 21-40 appear to introduce new matters into the original specification.
Should the Applicant dispute the examiner’s position on new matter, in a response to this Office Action, kindly point out the support in the original specification.
Because of the new matter issues, there is no prior art applied to determine the allowability of the newly added claims 21-40. However, should the Applicant revert back to the original claims 1-20, the previously rejection is maintained.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/04/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s arguments will be addressed hereinbelow in the order in which they appear in the response filed on 05/04/2026.
Pertaining the rejection of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Pub. Appln. No. 2025/0374134 to Kim (hereinafter, “Kim”), the applicant appears to argue that "New independent claims 21 and 31 are directed to a specific sequence in which: (i) a random access procedure is triggered based on DCI indicating a first cell; and then (ii) that random access procedure is canceled based on one or more expressly recited conditions. Kim does not disclose that claimed trigger-and-cancel framework."
The argument is noted but not persuasive because it appears to direct to new matters as above discussed.
The remaining arguments in the response filed on 05/04/2026 also appear to direct to new matters. As a result, the above response is also applicable.
Examiner believes an earnest attempt has been made in addressing all of the Applicant’s arguments. Due to the response fails to place the instant application in a favorable condition for allowance, the rejection is maintained.
Allowable Subject Matter
Should a response to this Office Action overcome all of the above raised issues, the instant application shall be placed in a favorable condition for allowance because the related references are not suggested or rendered obvious the limitations of “trigger a random access procedure based on reception of the DCI; cancel the random access procedure based on one or more of the following conditions being satisfied:” and “wherein the random access procedure is used to determine uplink transmission timing on the first cell,” structurally and functionally interconnected in a manner as presented.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Pezeshki et al. (US 2021/0212091).
Zhou et al. (US 2024/0187954).
Zhou et al. (US 2025/0374130).
Ericsson, Timing advance management for L1/L2 Mobility, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 Meeting #111 Toulouse, France, Tdoc R1-2211553, 5 pages, November 14 to 18, 2022.
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 FRANK DUONG whose telephone number is (571)272-3164. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00AM-3:30PM.
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, MICHAEL THIER can be reached at 571-272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FRANK DUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 June 12, 2026
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