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 .
1. Claims 6-7 and 9-12 are pending. Claims 1-5 and 8 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
2. In light of the amendments to the title, the objection to the specification is withdrawn and the new title is entered.
3. The 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claims 6-7 and 9-12 has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al, US 2023/0105294 hereafter Park in view of Marinier et al, US 2024/0322979 hereafter Marinier.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
4. Claims 6-7 and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 6 and 10-11 disclose “when simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is not applied and multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions is not performed, the processor does not perform a UL transmission with a lower priority among the multiple UL transmissions.”
Claim 12 discloses “when simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is not applied and multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions is not performed, the processor does not perform a UL transmission with a lower priority among the multiple UL transmissions…. wherein when simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is not applied and multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions is not performed, the receiver does not receive the UL transmission with the lower priority.”
Claim 6 and 10-12 include the limitations above that recite a plurality of negative limitations (i.e. “not applied…not performed…not perform) which are unclear and indefinite for failing to particularly point out the scope of claim due to the number of negative limitations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
5. Claim(s) 6-7 and 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al, US 2023/0105294 hereafter Park in view of Marinier et al, US 2024/0322979 hereafter Marinier.
As for claim 6, Park discloses:
A terminal (Park, Fig. 16, [0288]-[0290], the terminal may include a processor 1601, a transceiver 1602, and a memory 1603) comprising:
a transmitter that transmits capability information of the terminal, the capability information relating to support of simultaneous transmission of multiple uplink (UL) transmissions with different priorities (Park, [0179]-[0178], Transmit/report the UE capability for simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmission having different priorities); and
a processor that, when the multiple UL transmissions overlap in a time domain (Park, [0178]-[0179], a UL control channel and a data channel having different priorities from each other overlap in one cell in terms of time resources), controls, based on a given condition, to perform simultaneous transmission (Park, [0269] In operation 1407, the terminal may determine one UL control channel and one UL data channel to be transmitted, based on a result of determining whether to perform the simultaneous transmission and a result of the identifying) without performing multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions (Park, [0274], the terminal may transmit the UL control channel and the UL data channel without multiplexing. [0225], [0227], the terminal may simultaneously transmit the PUCCH and the PUSCH without multiplexing.)
Park does not explicitly disclose when simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is not applied and multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions is not performed, the processor does not perform a UL transmission with a lower priority among the multiple UL transmissions.
However, Marinier discloses when simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is not applied (Marinier, [0123], RRC or MAC signaling may configure the WTRU such that a multiplexing indication for HARQ-ACK and PUSCH may only include either that multiplexing is enabled, or that multiplexing is disabled with simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmission enabled.) and multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions is not performed, the processor does not perform a UL transmission with a lower priority among the multiple UL transmissions (Marinier, [0122], The multiplexing may be disabled and lower priority transmission canceled.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Park with when simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is not applied and multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions is not performed, the processor does not perform a UL transmission with a lower priority among the multiple UL transmissions as taught by Marinier to provide minimize the risk of worsening reliability and latency of the high priority (P1) transmission (Marinier, [0029]).
As for claim 7, Park discloses the given condition is whether simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is applied or not (Park, [0269] In operation 1407, the terminal may determine one UL control channel and one UL data channel to be transmitted, based on a result of determining whether to perform the simultaneous transmission and a result of the identifying).
As for claim 9, Park discloses the multiple UL transmissions are a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (Park, [0179]-[0178], the UE capability for simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmission in one cell).
As for claim 10, this claim is analyzed and rejected for the same reasons as claim 6 because the corresponding the apparatus of claim 6 can be used to practice the method of claim 10.
As for claim 11, Park discloses:
A base station (Park, Fig. 17, [0297], the base station may include a processor 1701, a transceiver 1702, and a memory 1703 )comprising:
a receiver that receives capability information of a terminal, the capability information relating to support of simultaneous transmission of multiple uplink (UL) transmissions with different priorities (Park, [0179]-[0178], Receive from the UE the capability information for simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmission having different priorities); and
a processor that, when the multiple UL transmissions overlap in a time domain (Park, [0178]-[0179], a UL control channel and a data channel having different priorities from each other overlap in one cell in terms of time resources), controls, based on a given condition, reception processing for the multiple UL transmissions that are simultaneously transmitted, (Park, [0269], one UL control channel and one UL data channel to be received/transmitted, based on a result of determining whether to perform the simultaneous transmission and a result of the identifying) without performing multiplexing of the multiple UL transmission (Park, [0274], [0287], the base station receives, from the terminal, the UL control channel and the UL data channel without multiplexing. [0225], [0227], the terminal may simultaneously transmit the PUCCH and the PUSCH without multiplexing.)
Park does not explicitly disclose when simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is not applied and multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions is not performed, the processor does not perform a UL transmission with a lower priority among the multiple UL transmissions.
However, Marinier discloses when simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is not applied (Marinier, [0123], RRC or MAC signaling may configure the WTRU such that a multiplexing indication for HARQ-ACK and PUSCH may only include either that multiplexing is enabled, or that multiplexing is disabled with simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmission enabled.) and multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions is not performed, the processor does not perform a UL transmission with a lower priority among the multiple UL transmissions (Marinier, [0122], The multiplexing may be disabled and lower priority transmission canceled.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Park with when simultaneous transmission of the multiple UL transmissions is not applied and multiplexing of the multiple UL transmissions is not performed, the processor does not perform a UL transmission with a lower priority among the multiple UL transmissions as taught by Marinier to provide minimize the risk of worsening reliability and latency of the high priority (P1) transmission (Marinier, [0029]).
As for claim 12, this claim is analyzed and rejected for the same reasons as claims 6 and 11 because the corresponding the apparatuses of claims 6 and 11 can be used to practice the system of claim 12.
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENEE HOLLAND whose telephone number is (571)270-7196. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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, IAN MOORE can be reached at (571)272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
JENEE HOLLAND
Examiner
Art Unit 2469
/JENEE HOLLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
Prosecution Insights