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 .
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.
Claims 1-7 AND 55 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-4 and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 11329777 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the present application are anticipated by the claims of the US Patent as follows:
Claim 1 of the present application is anticipated by claim 1 of the US Patent; Claim 1 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 19-32, recites what is claimed in claim 1 of the present application.
Claim 2 of the present application is anticipated by claim 1 of the US Patent; Claim 1 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 33-37, recites what is claimed in claim 2 of the present application.
Claim 3 of the present application is anticipated by claim 2 of the US Patent; Claim 2 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 53-58, recites what is claimed in claim 3 of the present application.
Claim 4 of the present application is anticipated by claim 1 of the US Patent; Claim 1 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 38-46, recites what is claimed in claim 4 of the present application.
Claim 5 of the present application is anticipated by claim 3 of the US Patent; Claim 1 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 59-67, recites what is claimed in claim 5 of the present application.
Claim 6 of the present application is anticipated by claim 4 of the US Patent; Claim 1 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 1-24, recites what is claimed in claim 6 of the present application.
Claim 7 of the present application is anticipated by claim 1 of the US Patent; Claim 1 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 47-52, recites what is claimed in claim 7 of the present application.
Claim 55 of the present application is anticipated by claim 13 of the US Patent; Claim 13 of the US Patent in column 53, lines 10-23, recites what is claimed in claim 55 of the present application
Claims 8-24 and 56 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-14 and 20 of U.S. Patent No. 11943158 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the present application are anticipated by the claims of the US Patent as follows:
Claim 8 of the present application is anticipated by claim 1 of the US Patent; Claim 1 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 19-42, recites what is claimed in claim 8 of the present application.
Claim 8 of the present application is also anticipated by claim 12 of the US Patent; Claim 12 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 55-67, recites what is claimed in claim 8 of the present application.
Claim 8 of the present application is also anticipated by claim 13 of the US Patent; Claim 13 of the US Patent in column 52, lines 30-53, recites what is claimed in claim 8 of the present application.
Claim 8 of the present application is also anticipated by claim 14 of the US Patent; Claim 14 of the US Patent in column 53, lines 13-36, recites what is claimed in claim 8 of the present application.
Claim 9 of the present application is anticipated by claim 1 of the US Patent; Claim 1 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 43-48, recites what is claimed in claim 9 of the present application.
Claim 10 of the present application is anticipated by claim 2 of the US Patent; Claim 2 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 53-57, recites what is claimed in claim 10 of the present application.
Claim 11 of the present application is anticipated by claim 3 of the US Patent; Claim 3 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 58-62, recites what is claimed in claim 11 of the present application.
Claim 12 of the present application is anticipated by claim 4 of the US Patent; Claim 4 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 63-67, recites what is claimed in claim 12 of the present application.
Claim 13 of the present application is anticipated by claim 5 of the US Patent; Claim 5 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 1-7, recites what is claimed in claim 13 of the present application.
Claim 14 of the present application is anticipated by claim 6 of the US Patent; Claim 6 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 8-15, recites what is claimed in claim 14 of the present application.
Claim 15 of the present application is anticipated by claim 1 of the US Patent; Claim 1 of the US Patent in column 50, lines 49-52, recites what is claimed in claim 14 of the present application.
Claim 16 of the present application is anticipated by claim 7 of the US Patent; Claim 7 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 16-20, recites what is claimed in claim 16 of the present application.
Claim 17 of the present application is anticipated by claim 8 of the US Patent; Claim 8 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 21-26, recites what is claimed in claim 17 of the present application.
Claim 18 of the present application is anticipated by claim 9 of the US Patent; Claim 9 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 27-37, recites what is claimed in claim 18 of the present application.
Claim 19 of the present application is anticipated by claim 10 of the US Patent; Claim 10 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 38-45, recites what is claimed in claim 19 of the present application.
Claim 20 of the present application is anticipated by claim 11 of the US Patent; Claim 11 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 46-54, recites what is claimed in claim 20 of the present application.
Claim 21 of the present application is anticipated by claim 12 of the US Patent; Claim 12 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 55-67 and column 52, lines 18-23, recites what is claimed in claim 21 of the present application.
Claim 22 of the present application is anticipated by claim 12 of the US Patent; Claim 12 of the US Patent in column 51, lines 55-67 and column 52, lines 24-29, recites what is claimed in claim 21 of the present application.
Claim 23 of the present application is anticipated by claim 13 of the US Patent; Claim 13 of the US Patent in column 52, lines 30-53 and column 53, lines 5-14, recites what is claimed in claim 21 of the present application.
Claim 24 of the present application is anticipated by claim 14 of the US Patent; Claim 14 of the US Patent in column 53, lines 13-36 and column 53, lines 43-47, recites what is claimed in claim 24 of the present application.
Claim 56 of the present application is anticipated by claim 20 of the US Patent; Claim 14 of the US Patent in column 55, lines 3-25, recites what is claimed in claim 56 of the present application.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8, 55 and 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ahn et al. (US Publication 2015/0230211 A1).
In regards to claims 1 and 55, Ahn et al. (US Publication 2015/0230211 A1) teaches, a data communication apparatus, for transmitting one or more blocks of data within a frame comprising a two-dimensional grid of transmission symbol positions, wherein the data communication apparatus is configured to select a group of transmission symbol positions, which is a subset of the two-dimensional grid of transmission symbol positions, for a transmission of a data portion (see figure 11; see the two dimensional resource grid that has PUSCH data; the time-frequency resources corresponding to the PUSCH data reads on selecting symbol positions for transmissions); and wherein the data communication apparatus is configured to select one or more reference symbol positions associated to the selected group of transmission symbol positions, out of a plurality of possibilities, based on an information describing a desired relative position of the reference symbol position with respect to the selected group of transmission symbol positions (see paragraph 233; If the DMRS is punctured due to collision of the transmission locations of the TRS and the DMRS, the eNB may additionally transmit a DMRS RE for a UE that is subjected to a problem of data reception caused by insufficient DMRS REs. In this case, the additionally transmitted DMRS is located on an RE that does not overlap with an RE of the TRS. Because all UEs are not always subjected to a problem in operation due to puncturing of the DMRS, the additional DMRS may be UE-specifically transmitted).
In regards to claim 2, Ahn teaches, wherein the data communication apparatus is configured to receive an information indicating whether a reference symbol position is at a beginning of a selected group of transmission symbol positions or at an end of a selected group of transmission symbol positions (see paragraph 209; The eNB may inform the UE of the additional DMRS pattern through an RRC signal or the (e)PDCCH. The eNB may directly inform the UE of an RE location of the additional DMRS. For example, when N prescheduled additional DMRS RE locations are present and the eNB desires to additionally use K DMRS REs, the eNB may inform the UE of index(es) of locations of the K REs to be used for additional DMRS among indexes from 0 to N-1. Alternatively, the eNB may inform the UE of DMRS RE(s) to be used for the additional DMRS among the N DMRS RE locations by a bitmap scheme. Alternatively, the eNB may inform the UE of an index of one pattern to be used among P predefined additional DMRS pattern(s) in order to inform the UE of the additional DMRS pattern).
In regards to claim 3, Ahn teaches, wherein the information indicating whether a reference symbol position is at a beginning of a selected group of transmission symbol positions or at an end of a selected group of transmission symbol positions is a 1-bit information (see paragraph 216; when N prescheduled DMRS puncturing RE location(s) are present, the eNB may inform the UE of location(s) of RE(s) to be punctured among the N DMRS puncturing RE location(s) by a bitmap scheme. Alternatively, the eNB may inform the UE of an index for one DMRS puncturing pattern to be used among P predefined DMRS puncturing pattern(s) in order to inform the UE of DMRS RE location(s) to be punctured. In particular, for example, if a value of a bit of a 1-bit field transmitted through a PDCCH is 0, the UE may use a default DMRS and, if the value of the bit is 1, the UE may use a punctured DMRS).
In regards to claim 4, Ahn teaches, wherein the data communication apparatus is configured to receive an information indicating whether a reference symbol position is at a beginning of a selected group of transmission symbol positions or at an end of a selected group of transmission symbol positions or in an inner part of a selected group of transmission symbol positions or whether there are reference symbol positions both at a beginning and at an end of a selected group of transmission symbol positions (see paragraph 209; The eNB may inform the UE of the additional DMRS pattern through an RRC signal or the (e)PDCCH. The eNB may directly inform the UE of an RE location of the additional DMRS. For example, when N prescheduled additional DMRS RE locations are present and the eNB desires to additionally use K DMRS REs, the eNB may inform the UE of index(es) of locations of the K REs to be used for additional DMRS among indexes from 0 to N-1. Alternatively, the eNB may inform the UE of DMRS RE(s) to be used for the additional DMRS among the N DMRS RE locations by a bitmap scheme. Alternatively, the eNB may inform the UE of an index of one pattern to be used among P predefined additional DMRS pattern(s) in order to inform the UE of the additional DMRS pattern. For example, the UE may use a default DMRS when a bit value of a 1-bit field transmitted through a PDCCH is 0 and use an additional DMRS pattern when the bit value is 1; see paragraph 216; when N prescheduled DMRS puncturing RE location(s) are present, the eNB may inform the UE of location(s) of RE(s) to be punctured among the N DMRS puncturing RE location(s) by a bitmap scheme. Alternatively, the eNB may inform the UE of an index for one DMRS puncturing pattern to be used among P predefined DMRS puncturing pattern(s) in order to inform the UE of DMRS RE location(s) to be punctured. In particular, for example, if a value of a bit of a 1-bit field transmitted through a PDCCH is 0, the UE may use a default DMRS and, if the value of the bit is 1, the UE may use a punctured DMRS).
In regards to claims 8 and 56, Ahn teaches, a data communication apparatus, for transmitting one or more blocks of data within a frame comprising a two-dimensional grid of transmission symbol positions, wherein the data communication apparatus is configured to select a group of transmission symbol positions, which is a subset of the two-dimensional grid of transmission symbol positions, for a transmission of a data portion (see figure 11; see the two dimensional resource grid that has PUSCH data; the time-frequency resources corresponding to the PUSCH data reads on selecting symbol positions for transmissions), wherein one or more reference symbol positions are associated to the selected group of transmission symbol positions; wherein the data communication apparatus is configured to determine which one or more symbol positions are used as one or more reference symbol positions based on the selection of the group of transmission symbol positions or together with the selection of the group of transmission symbol positions (see paragraph 233; If the DMRS is punctured due to collision of the transmission locations of the TRS and the DMRS, the eNB may additionally transmit a DMRS RE for a UE that is subjected to a problem of data reception caused by insufficient DMRS REs. In this case, the additionally transmitted DMRS is located on an RE that does not overlap with an RE of the TRS. Because all UEs are not always subjected to a problem in operation due to puncturing of the DMRS, the additional DMRS may be UE-specifically transmitted); and wherein the reference symbol positions are variable with respect to one or more borders of time slots of the frame or with respect to one or more borders of sub-frames of the frame, and/or wherein the one or more reference symbol positions are variable with respect to the selected group of transmission symbol positions (see figures 18-19 and paragraph 220; a DMRS pattern may be defined as one RB unit and the same or different DMRS pattern may be applied per RB. Alternatively, in the present invention, the DMRS pattern may be defined in the unit of one PRB bundle and the same or different DMRS pattern may be applied per PRB bundle. For example, a DMRS pattern for two PRBs may be configured with respect to a specific UE as illustrated in FIG. 18 and the DMRS pattern illustrated in FIG. 18 may be used for two PRB bundles of a PDSCH region transmitted to the UE).
Relevant Prior Art
Prior art Uchiyama (US Publication 2018/0294935 A1) teaches, the eNB 30 may signal information indicating the arrangement position of each DMRS to the UE 20 as an arrangement format (see paragraph 227). Also, while the example in which a DMRS insertion amount of a format having “persistent” as “allocation type” is less than DMRS insertion amounts of semipersistent and dynamic formats, and the priority control example in which the dynamic format is preferentially selected have been described, the present embodiment is not limited to such examples. For example, a DMRS insertion amount of a format having “persistent” as “allocation type” may be greater than DMRS insertion amounts of semipersistent and dynamic formats (see paragraph 228).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAY P PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-3086. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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/JAY P PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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