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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102[a2] as being anticipated by Lin [US 2022/0256504 which has provisional application 62/928221].
As claims 1 and 16, Lin [US 2022/0256504] discloses a method of wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting, to a plurality of UEs over a sidelink channel, a data signal in a groupcast transmission [Fig 3, TX UE transmitting a groupcast signal which includes TBs, Par. 0077-0079]; determining whether to monitor for one or more of a first type of feedback or a second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs for the groupcast transmission [Par. 0077-0079 discloses TX UE which transmits TBs via connection-oriented groupcast, determines if full format such as ACK and NACK or reduced format such as NACK only or Ack only]; and monitoring, from a second UE of the plurality of UEs over a sidelink channel, for feedback comprising the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Fig 6-7 and Par. 0088-89 discloses TX UE monitors both ACK and NACK of TBs].
As claims 2 and 17, Lin [US 2022/0256504] discloses the first type of feedback comprises an acknowledgment (ACK) signal and the second type of feedback comprises a negative acknowledgment (NACK) signal [Par. 0089 discloses ACK and NACK].
As claim 15, Lin [US 2022/0256504] discloses determining whether to retransmit the data signal to at least the second UE based on the feedback [Par. 0084-0085].
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) 3-5, 7 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin [US 2022/0256504] in view of Tsai [US 2022/0399927].
As claims 3 and 18, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Par. 0061 discloses TX UE monitor ACK/NACK but receiving no feedback from RX UE]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0061 discloses TX UE which informs higher layer that the link is failed “read on report NACK”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 4 and 19, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the second type of feedback while excluding monitoring for the first type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Par. 0274 discloses when TS monitors NACK but detect no feedback from RX]; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0061, 0274 discloses report ack to higher layer such as a number of ACKs is less than threshold].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the second type of feedback while excluding monitoring for the first type of feedback from the plurality of UEs; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 5 and 20, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting the ACK signal and not the NACK signal in the feedback [Par. 0062, table 1]; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0062, table 1].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the ACK signal and not the NACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claim 7, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting the NACK signal and not the ACK signal in the feedback [Par. 0061 discloses when TX detects NACK and not the ACK signal]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 00061 discloses report Nack to higher layer when consecutive-received NACK].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the NACK signal and not the ACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin [US 2022/0256504] in view of Han [US 2011/0235586].
As claim 6, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Han [US 2011/0235586] discloses detecting the ACK signal and the NACK signal in the feedback [Fig 10, Ref 1013]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Fig 10, Ref 1019].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the ACK signal and the NACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Han into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin [US 2022/0256504] in view of Lee [US 2022/0166557].
As claim 9, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Lee [US 2022/0166557] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a quality-of-service metric associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the quality-of-service metric associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a quality-of-service metric associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the quality-of-service metric associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission as disclosed by Lee into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claim 10, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Lee [US 2022/0166557] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a priority associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS such as priority from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS such as priority], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the priority associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS such as priority from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS such as priority].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a priority associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the priority associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission as disclosed by Lee into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin [US 2022/0256504] in view of Ryu [US 2020/0313804].
As claim 11, Lin [US 2022/0256504] fails to disclose what Ryu [US 2020/0313804] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating mapping information of the second UE [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs]; and determining a location of the second UE from the mapping information based on an application layer configuration [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on a location of the first UE and the location of the second UE [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating mapping information of the second UE; and determining a location of the second UE from the mapping information based on an application layer configuration, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on a location of the first UE and the location of the second UE as disclosed by Ryu into the teaching of Linn. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6 and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] in view of Han [US 2011/0235586].
As claims 1 and 16, Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] discloses a method of wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting, to a plurality of UEs over a sidelink channel, a data signal in a groupcast transmission [Fig 12, Ref S21, discloses TX UE transmitting a groupcast signal which includes TBs]; determining whether to monitor for one or more of a first type of feedback or a second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs for the groupcast transmission [Fig 12, Ref S23, Par. 0053-0054, 0069 discloses TX UE which transmits TBs via connection-oriented groupcast, determines if ACK and NACK, NACK only or both ]; monitoring, from a second UE of the plurality of UEs over a sidelink channel, for feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Fig 10 discloses the monitoring feedback for both options and Par. 0060 discloses TX UE monitors both ACK and NACK of TBs]. However, Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] fails to disclose feedback comprising the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback. In the same field of endeavor, Han discloses Yoshioka feedback comprising the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback [Fig 10, Ref 1013].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising feedback comprising the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback as disclosed by Han into the teaching of Yoshioka. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 2 and 17, Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] discloses the first type of feedback comprises an acknowledgment (ACK) signal and the second type of feedback comprises a negative acknowledgment (NACK) signal [Par. 0060 discloses ACK and NACK].
As claim 15, Yoshioka [US 2022/0078805] discloses determining whether to retransmit the data signal to at least the second UE based on the feedback [Fig 12, Ref S24].
As claim 6, Han [US 2011/0235586] discloses detecting the ACK signal and the NACK signal in the feedback [Fig 10, Ref 1013]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Fig 10, 1019].
Claim(s) 3-5, 7 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshioka and Han as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, and further in view of Tsai [US 2022/0399927].
As claims 3 and 18, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Par. 0061 discloses TX UE monitor ACK/NACK but receiving no feedback from RX UE]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0061 discloses TX UE which informs higher layer that the link is failed “read on report NACK”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 4 and 19, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the second type of feedback while excluding monitoring for the first type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Par. 0274 discloses when TS monitors NACK but detect no feedback from RX]; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0061, 0274 discloses report ack to higher layer such as a number of ACKs is less than threshold]. .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the second type of feedback while excluding monitoring for the first type of feedback from the plurality of UEs; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claims 5 and 20, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting the ACK signal and not the NACK signal in the feedback [Par. 0062, table 1]; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0062, table 1].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the ACK signal and not the NACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claim 7, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Tsai [US 2022/0399927] discloses detecting the NACK signal and not the ACK signal in the feedback [Par. 0061 discloses when TX detects NACK and not the ACK signal]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 00061 discloses report Nack to higher layer when consecutive-received NACK].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising detecting the NACK signal and not the ACK signal in the feedback; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting as disclosed by Tsai into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshioka and Han as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, and further in view of Lee [US 2022/0166557].
As claim 9, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Lee [US 2022/0166557] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a quality-of-service metric associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the quality-of-service metric associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a quality-of-service metric associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the quality-of-service metric associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission as disclosed by Lee into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
As claim 10, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Lee [US 2022/0166557] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a priority associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS such as priority from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS such as priority], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the priority associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission [Par. 0165 discloses UE which receives QOS such as priority from base station, select monitoring option for group cast based on the received QOS such as priority].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a priority associated with one or more packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on the priority associated with the one or more packets of the groupcast transmission as disclosed by Lee into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshioka and Han as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, and further in view of Ryu [US 2020/0313804].
As claim 11, Yoshioka and Han fail to disclose what Ryu [US 2020/0313804] discloses receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating mapping information of the second UE [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs]; and determining a location of the second UE from the mapping information based on an application layer configuration [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs], wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on a location of the first UE and the location of the second UE [Par. 102-0105 and 0124 discloses the base station which provides the location of the UEs, selecting option based on the location of the group UEs].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating mapping information of the second UE; and determining a location of the second UE from the mapping information based on an application layer configuration, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining whether to monitor for the one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback based on a location of the first UE and the location of the second UE as disclosed by Ryu into the teaching of Yoshioka and Han. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 12-14 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.
As claim 8, the prior arts fail to disclose receiving, from a base station over a downlink channel, a configuration indicating a predetermined number of transmissions associated with a same packet of the groupcast transmission for selectively monitoring for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback for a first transmission and a first retransmission based on the predetermined number of transmissions indicated in the configuration, and determining to monitor for the second type of feedback excluding the first type of feedback for a second retransmission based on the predetermined number of transmissions indicated in the configuration.
As claim 12, the prior arts fail to disclose determining that a number of the plurality of UEs are vulnerable to interference from one or more hidden nodes for a duration of time, wherein determining whether to monitor for one or more of the first type of feedback or the second type of feedback comprises: determining to monitor for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback for the groupcast transmission based on the duration of time exceeding a predetermined duration threshold, and determining to monitor for the second type of feedback excluding the first type of feedback for the groupcast transmission based on the duration of time not exceeding the predetermined duration threshold.
As claim 13, the prior arts fail to disclose determining whether the feedback comprises the first type of feedback for at least X number of packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein X is a configurable parameter; and transitioning into a first hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) procedure when the feedback comprises the first type of feedback for the at least X number of packets of the groupcast transmission, the first HARQ procedure comprising a monitoring operation for the first type of feedback and the second type of feedback.
As claim 14, the prior arts fail to determining whether the feedback excludes the first type of feedback for at least Y number of packets of the groupcast transmission, wherein Y is a configurable parameter; and transitioning into a second hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) procedure when the feedback excludes the first type of feedback for the at least Y number of packets of the groupcast transmission, the second HARQ procedure comprising a monitoring operation for the second type of feedback while excluding the monitoring operation for the first type of feedback.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/4/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to 9-10, the applicant states that Lin fails to disclose first UE (e.g., transmitting UE) that: (1) determines whether to monitor for one or more feedback types and (2) based on that determination, monitors for feedback comprising both the first type and second type from a receiving UE. In reply, the examiner disagrees with applicant because (1) the applicant does not recite all the limitation such as determining whether to monitor for one or more of a first type of feedback or a second type of feedback. So, the examiner need to meet one of three scenarios such as ack and nack, ack only or nack only. Lin discloses TX UE determines whether to monitor for one or more feedback types [Par. 0058-0060, 0077-0079, 0082-0085 which discloses TX UE determines which type of feedback such as such as NACK and ACK or reduced format such as ACK only or NACK only that RX-UE must feedback by enabling it via SCI. Furthermore, TX ue monitors the feedback from RX UE based on determining step such as full format such as NACK and ACK or reduced format such as ACK only or NACK only in order to retransmit data or not by monitoring the feedback NACK and ACK of the transmitted data from RX-UE when TX UE determines to enable full format or reduced format Par. ing059, 0088-0089 and Fig 6-7]. So, the teaching of Lin performs determining whether to monitor for one or more of a first type of feedback or a second type of feedback from the plurality of UEs for the groupcast transmission by enabling feedback such as full format for ACK and NACK or reduced format for ACK only or Nack only via SCI.
Furthermore, the applicant states that Lin’s provisional does not disclose the claimed invention. In reply, Lin’s provisional discloses the claimed invention at pages 3-5 and Fig 6-7 by allowing TX UE to determine what RX UE must feedback based on indicator by TX UE such as full format “both ack and NACK” or reduced format only ack or nack and monitors the feedback according to the determined in order to perform retransmission. So, Lin’s provisional discloses the claimed invention.
In response to page 11, the applicant states that Yoshioka fails to disclose determining whether to monitor for one or more of a first type of feedback or a second type of feedback by itself. In reply, the claim does not requires UE determine by itself In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., requires the first UE itself to determine whether to monitor for one or more of the first or second type of feedback) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). Since, the claimed limitation does not state how the TX UE determine whether to monitor for one or more of a first type of feedback or a second type of feedback. Therefore, Yoshioka discloses determining whether to monitor for one or more of a first type of feedback or a second type of feedback at Par. 0053-0054 and 0063 discloses network send a configuration message to TX-UE for using NACK only or ACK/NACK. Then TX-UE determines what it must monitor such as NACK only or ACK/NACK based on determined result from configuration message.
In response to pages 11-12, the applicant states that Tsai fails to disclose the limitation of claim 4. In reply, Tsai discloses detecting no NACK signal and no ACK signal in the feedback when the first UE is determined to monitor for the second type of feedback while excluding monitoring for the first type of feedback from the plurality of UEs [Par. 0274 discloses when TS monitors NACK but detect no feedback from RX]; and providing a report indicating an ACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 0061, 0274 discloses report ack to higher layer such as a number of ACKs is less than threshold, “read on report ACK to upper layer”].
In response to pages 11-12, the applicant states that Tsai fails to disclose the limitation of claim 7. In reply, Tsai discloses detecting the NACK signal and not the ACK signal in the feedback [Par. 0061 discloses when TX detects NACK and not the ACK signal]; and providing a report indicating a NACK to an upper layer of the first UE based on the detecting [Par. 00061 discloses report Nack to higher layer when consecutive-received NACKs for indicating a failure “read on report NACK to upper layer”].
The teaching of Lin, Yoshioka, Hand Tsai discloses the claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lee [US 2022/0052792] discloses a method and system for determining feedback option.
Hahn [US 2022/0294570] a method and system for determining feedback option.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3159. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached at 571-272-7884. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
Prosecution Insights