CTNF 18/662,684 CTNF 80951 DETAILED ACTION Specification Objections 07-29 AIA The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: It is required that continuing data is consistent in 1 st paragraph of specification and Bib data sheet and therefore, it is necessary to update Patent No. 12,021,768 in the specification . Appropriate correction is required. Double Patenting 15-24-06 AIA 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. See 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); and, 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) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent is shown to be commonly owned with this application. See 37 CFR 1.130(b). Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b). 14-38 AIA The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form 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 http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp. 08-34 AIA Claim s 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim s 1-24 of U.S. Patent No. 10,778,389 (hereinafter ‘389) and 1-24 of U.S. Patent No. 11,431,449 (hereinafter ‘449), and claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,021,768 (hereinafter ‘768) . Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because despite slight difference in wording, for example, claim 1 of ‘389 recites essentially all claimed subject matter of claim 1 in the present application . “A later patent claim is not patentably distinct from an earlier patent claim if the later claim is obvious over, or anticipated by , the earlier claim. In re Longi, 759 F.2d at 896, 225 USPQ at 651 (affirming a holding of obviousness-type double patenting because the claims at issue were obvious over claims in four prior art patents); In re Berg, 140 F.3d at 1437, 46 USPQ2d at 1233 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (affirming a holding of obviousness type double patenting where a patent application claim to a genus is anticipated by a 35 patent claim to a species within that genus). “ELI LILLY AND COMPANY v BARR LABORATORIES, INC., United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ON PETITION FOR REHEARING EN BANC (DECIDED: May 30, 2001). Accordingly, absent a terminal disclaimer, claims 1-20 are properly rejected under the doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting.” (In re Goodman (CA FC) 29 USPQ2d 2010 (12/3/1993). Instant Application: 18/662,684 U.S. Patent No.:10,778,389 1. A data transmission indication method, by an access point, comprising: - sending, to a terminal, a physical layer signaling that indicates, to the terminal, a subchannel allocated to the terminal for receiving downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data information; - sending the downlink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal, wherein the downlink OFDMA data information carries a request that is used to instruct the terminal to send a response to the access point in an OFDMA mode; and - receiving, from the terminal, in the OFDMA mode, the response, wherein the response is either an acknowledge (ACK) response or a block acknowledge (BA) response. 1. A data transmission indication method, comprising: - sending, by an access point, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) physical layer signaling to a terminal, by using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, a first subchannel allocated to the terminal for receiving a downlink OFDMA data information; - sending, by the access point using OFDMA, the downlink OFDMA data information on the first subchannel allocated to the terminal, wherein the downlink OFDMA data information comprising: a first part instructing the terminal to send a response of the downlink OFDMA data information to the access point by using OFDMA, wherein the response is one of an ACK response or a BA response; and a second part indicating a second subchannel allocated to the terminal for sending the response to the access point by using OFDMA in accordance with the first part instructing to use OFDMA; and - receiving, by the access point, the response sent by the terminal by using OFDMA on the second subchannel. Instant Application: 18/662,684 U.S. Patent No.: 11,431,449 1. A data transmission indication method, by an access point, comprising: - sending, to a terminal, a physical layer signaling that indicates, to the terminal, a subchannel allocated to the terminal for receiving downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data information; - sending the downlink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal, wherein the downlink OFDMA data information carries a request that is used to instruct the terminal to send a response to the access point in an OFDMA mode; and - receiving, from the terminal, in the OFDMA mode, the response, wherein the response is either an acknowledge (ACK) response or a block acknowledge (BA) response. 1. A data transmission indication method carried out by an access point, the method comprising: sending, to a terminal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) physical layer signaling by using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), wherein the OFDMA physical layer signaling indicates, to the terminal, a first subchannel allocated to the terminal for receiving a downlink OFDMA data information; - sending, to the terminal and using OFDMA, the downlink OFDMA data information on the first subchannel allocated to the terminal; sending a request frame to the terminal, wherein the request frame comprises a first part instructing the terminal to send a response of the downlink OFDMA data information to the access point by using OFDMA, - wherein the response is either an acknowledge (ACK) response or a block acknowledge (BA) response, and wherein the downlink OFDMA data information comprises a second part indicating a second subchannel allocated to the terminal for sending the response to the access point by using OFDMA in accordance with the first part instructing the terminal to send the response by using OFDMA; and - receiving the response sent by the terminal by using OFDMA on the second subchannel. Instant Application: 18/662,684 U.S. Patent No.:12,021,768 A data transmission indication method, by an access point, comprising: - sending, to a terminal, a physical layer signaling that indicates, to the terminal, a subchannel allocated to the terminal for receiving downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data information; - sending the downlink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal, wherein the downlink OFDMA data information carries a request that is used to instruct the terminal to send a response to the access point in an OFDMA mode; and - receiving, from the terminal, in the OFDMA mode, the response, wherein the response is either an acknowledge (ACK) response or a block acknowledge (BA) response. A terminal network apparatus comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal network apparatus to carry out a data transmission indication method comprising: - receiving a physical layer signaling from an access point, wherein the physical layer signaling indicates a subchannel allocated to the apparatus for receiving downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data information; - receiving the downlink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal network apparatus, wherein the downlink OFDMA data information comprises OFDMA data and a request that is used to instruct the terminal network apparatus to send a response to the access point in an OFDMA mode; and - sending the response to the access point in the OFDMA mode, wherein the response is either an acknowledge (ACK) response or a block acknowledge (BA) response . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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 of this title, 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chun et al. (US 2016/0278081, “Chun”, Provisional No. 61/901,362, filed on Nov. 7, 2013 includes same figures of Fig.1 & Fig.3-6 of Chun; hereinafter “Prov’362”) in view of Kwon et al. (US 2016/0242195, “Kwon”) . Regarding claim 1 , Chun discloses a data transmission indication method, by an access point , comprising: - sending, to a terminal, a physical layer signaling that indicates, to the terminal ( See Prov’362 , pg.3, Sec.2.2, Figure b, receiving DL MU MIMO PPDU (Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit) frame comprising VHT-SIG A and VHT-SIG B; See pg.5, Fig.1, AP sends DL indication frame), a subchannel allocated to the terminal for receiving downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data information ( See Prov’362 , pg.5, Fig.2, ‘DL indication frame’ as shown below: PNG media_image1.png 266 789 media_image1.png Greyscale See Fig.1-2, frequency or spatial domain for each of Users 1-3 as subchannel allocated to each of the users/terminals; pg.3, Sec.2.3, A first allocated STA transmits block ACK (BA) after DL MU MIMO frame + SIFS, and thereafter transmits BA sequentially after receiving a block ACK request (BAR); pg.5, 1 st ¶, “In this case, a DL indication frame for transmission of the UL data frame must be first transmitted. An STA ID, frame length, STA allocation scheme, or the like for the UL data frame must be included in the DL indication frame; See pg.10, OFDMA in a channel or in multiple channels; Examiner’s Note : Kwon discloses the limitation “a subchannel ”); - sending the downlink OFDMA data information on the subchannel allocated to the terminal, wherein the downlink OFDMA data information carries a request that is used to instruct the terminal to send a response to the access point in an OFDMA mode ( See Prov’362 , pg.3, Sec.2.3, a first allocated STA transmits block ACK (BA) after DL MU MIMO frame + SIFS, and thereafter transmits BA sequentially after receiving a block ACK request (BAR)); and - receiving, from the terminal, in the OFDMA mode, the response, wherein the response is either an acknowledge (ACK) response or a block acknowledge (BA) response ( See Prov’362 , pg.6, Fig.3-5 and Sec.2, “if a DL frame is transmitted in a DL MU MIMO manner, a BA (Block ACK) is transmitted sequentially for each STA in the conventional method. However, in case of using UL MU, ACK (whether it has an ACK form or a block ACK form) can be transmitted concurrently.” PNG media_image2.png 199 575 media_image2.png Greyscale PNG media_image3.png 197 595 media_image3.png Greyscale PNG media_image4.png 208 728 media_image4.png Greyscale ). Chun discloses the method of allocating frequency or spatial domain for STAs or Users as shown in Fig.1-2, but does not explicitly disclose the limitation “a subchannel.” However, Kwon discloses the limitation “ a subchannel allocated to the terminal ” ( Kwon , See ¶.5, performing channel sounding on a plurality of subchannel s and identifying subchannel s selected by stations among the subchannel s; See ¶.19, identifying a subchannel with the MU-MIMO mode selected as a group ID to conduct signaling; See ¶.97, the STAs successfully receiving the frames from the AP may transmit an ack nowledgement (ACK) frame to the AP at determined times for the respective STAs. When a Block Ack nowledgement Request (BAR) frame is received from the AP, the STAs may transmit a Block Ack nowledgement (BA) frame to the AP). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method of “ allocating a subchannel to a terminal ” as taught by Kwon into the system of Chun, so that it provides a way of scheduling communications between the AP and the stations based on the selected subchannel s; and transmitting a data frame to the stations through the subchannel s based on a scheduling result ( Kwon , See ¶.5). Regarding claim 2, Chun and Kwon disclose “receiving uplink OFDMA data information to the terminal ( Prov’362 of Chun , See pg.10, OFDMA in a channel or in multiple channels; Kwon , See ¶.87, when the wireless device 200 operates as an AP in an OFDMA communication system, the receiver 240 may receive feedback frames including information on a preferred candidate subchannel among a plurality of subchannels from a plurality of STAs through at least one antenna).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1. Regarding claim 6, Chun and Kwon disclose “the physical layer signaling comprises an identifier of the terminal (See, Prov’362 of Chun , pg.2, STA info, AID) and information of the subchannel ( Kwon , See ¶.19, id entifying a subchannel with the SU-MIMO mode selected as an association ID (AID) to conduct signaling and id entifying a subchannel with the MU-MIMO mode selected as a group ID to conduct signaling).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 1. Regarding claim 8 , it is an apparatus claim corresponding to the method claim 1, except the limitations “a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium (See Fig.8, a processor and a memory)” and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim. Regarding claims 9 and 13, they are claims corresponding to claims 2 & 6, respectively and are therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claims. Regarding claim 15 , it is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium claim corresponding to the method claim 1 and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim. Regarding claims 16 and 20, they are claims corresponding to claims 2 & 6, respectively and are therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claims . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 3, 7, 10, 14, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chun in view of Kwon and further in view of Ktenas et al. (US 2011/0273981, “Ktenas”) . Regarding claim 3, Chun and Kwon disclose OFDMA, but do not explicitly disclose what Ktenas discloses “an interval between subcarriers in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) mode is K multiples of an interval between subcarriers in the OFDMA mode, and wherein K is an integer ( Ktenas , See ¶.68, where the cooperative network is an OFDMA telecommunication system and the transmission resources consist of the subcarrier intervals of an OFDM multiplex or pluralities of such intervals).” Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method of “ an interval between subcarriers in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) mode is K multiples of an interval between subcarriers in the OFDMA mode, and wherein K is an integer ” as taught by Ktenas into the system of Chun and Kwon, so that in OFDMA system, it provides a way for various users to be assigned distinct subcarrier intervals (or frequency chunks) of an OFDM multiplex ( Ktenas , See ¶.9). Regarding claim 7, Chun and Kwon do not explicitly disclose what Ktenas discloses “the physical layer signaling is sent by using OFDM (See ¶.68, the transmission resources consist of the subcarrier intervals of an OFDM multiplex or pluralities of such intervals; See Claim 15, the transmission resources are subcarrier intervals of an OFDM multiplex or pluralities of such intervals). Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 3. Regarding claims 10, 14, and 17, they are claims corresponding to claims 3, 7, & 3, respectively and are therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claims . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 4, 11, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chun in view of Kwon and further in view of Hamaguchi (US 2018/0146482, “Hamaguchi”) . Regarding claim 4, Chun and Kwon do not explicitly disclose what Hamaguchi discloses “the quantity of subcarriers in the OFDMA mode is 64*K per 20 MHz ( Hamaguchi , See Claim 1, wherein each of the frequency sub-channels has a bandwidth of 20 MHZ and comprises 64 subcarriers; See ¶.16, Subcarriers of the OFDM will be divided and allocated to the frequency channels. Since it is assumed that the OFDM has 768 subcarriers, 64 subcarriers are allocated to each channel if divided equally among twelve slots).” Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method of “ the quantity of subcarriers in the OFDMA mode is 64*K per 20 MHz ” as taught by Hamaguchi into the system of Chun and Kwon, so that it provides a way for subcarriers of the OFDM to be divided and allocated to the frequency channels ( Hamaguchi , See ¶.16). Regarding claims 11 and 18, they are claims corresponding to claims 4 & 4, respectively and are therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claims . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 5, 12, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chun in view of Kwon and further in view of Cai (US 2008/0240275, “Cai”) . Regarding claim 5, Chun and Kwon do not explicitly disclose what Cai discloses “the subchannel includes one or more subcarriers ( Cai , See ¶.4, In OFDM, an allocated channel is divided into a number of orthogonal subchannels. Each subchannel has an equal bandwidth and is made of a unique group of subcarrier signals).” Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method of “ the subchannel includes one or more subcarriers ” as taught by Cai into the system of Chun and Kwon, so that it provides a way of utilizing the spectrum of OFDM for multicarrier data transmission that has been standardized for several wireless network physical layers ( Cai , See ¶.4). Regarding claims 12 and 19, they are claims corresponding to claims 5 & 5, respectively and are therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claims. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jung H Park whose telephone number is 571-272-8565. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 7:00 AM-3:00 PM. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /JUNG H PARK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 2 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 3 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 4 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 5 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 6 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 7 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 8 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 9 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 10 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 11 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 12 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 13 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 14 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 15 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 16 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 17 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 18 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 19 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 20 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/662,684 Page 21 Art Unit: 2411
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