Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/690,675

TIMER EXPIRATION IN RESPONSE TO RECEIVING DCI

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Mar 08, 2024
Examiner
THAWNG, MANG BOI
Art Unit
2476
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
LENOVO (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
92%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 92% — above average
92%
Career Allow Rate
62 granted / 67 resolved
+34.5% vs TC avg
Minimal -2% lift
Without
With
+-2.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
91
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.8%
-38.2% vs TC avg
§103
56.6%
+16.6% vs TC avg
§102
23.4%
-16.6% vs TC avg
§112
17.6%
-22.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 67 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/08/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 8-13, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei et al. (EP 3716520 A1), IDS submitted on 03/08/2024, hereinafter referred to as Babaei, in view of Chen ( US 2022/0394805 A1), hereinafter referred to as Chen. Regarding claim 1, Babaei teaches: An apparatus (see FIG. 3, Wireless Device 110) comprising: a transceiver (see FIG. 3, Wireless Device 110; ¶[0033], A transceiver may be a device that comprises both a transmitter and a receiver. Transceivers may be employed in devices such as wireless devices); and a processor coupled to the transceiver (see FIG. 3, Wireless Device 110; Processor 314), the processor configured to cause the apparatus to (¶[0028], The wireless device 110 may comprise at least one communication interface 310 (e.g. a wireless modem, an antenna, and/or the like), at least one processor 314, and at least one set of program code instructions 316 stored in non-transitory memory 315 and executable by the at least one processor 314): receive a downlink control information (“DCI”) during a Physical Downlink Control Channel (“PDCCH”) monitoring occasion ( see ¶[0282], The wireless device may … monitoring the control channel in response to the receiving the DCI ), wherein the DCI indicates a request for Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (“HARQ”) feedback ( see ¶[0282], a wireless device may receive a DCI indicating a trigger/request for transmission of HARQ feedback ; ) and wherein the DCI does not allocate any Physical Downlink Shared Channel (“PDSCH”) resources ( see ¶[0265], The DCI may indicate a trigger/request for transmitting the HARQ feedback for the first downlink HARQ process without scheduling/indicating a resource assignment for a transport block corresponding to the first downlink HARQ process … In response to the receiving the DCI and transmitting the HARQ feedback, the wireless device may start the HARQ RTT timer; ¶[0282] and ¶[0285]; It is noted that PDCCH corresponds to the DCI that is received in FIG. 30 and Fig. 31 and requests transmission of HARQ feedback for first downlink HARQ process without indicating a resource assignment for a transport block associated with the first downlink HARQ process, i.e., without allocating PDSCH resources) ; start a first timer for a HARQ process in response to receiving the DCI ( see ¶[0265], The DCI may indicate a trigger/request for transmitting the HARQ feedback for the first downlink HARQ process without scheduling/indicating a resource assignment for a transport block corresponding to the first downlink HARQ process … The wireless device may transmit the HARQ feedback based on one or more parameters (e.g., HARQ feedback timing, etc.) indicated by the DCI. In response to the receiving the DCI and transmitting the HARQ feedback, the wireless device may start the HARQ RTT timer; see FIG. 30 and Fig. 31; ¶[0282], The wireless device may start the HARQ RTT timer in response to the receiving the DCI and transmitting the HARQ feedback ); and immediately consider the first timer as expired in response to receiving the DCI (¶[0282], The wireless device may start the HARQ RTT timer in response to the receiving the DCI ; ¶[0253], The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer (e.g., the DRX retransmission timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) in response to the HARQ RTT timer (e.g., HARQ RTT timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) expiring). Although Babaei teaches starting HARQ RTT timer in response to receiving DCI and starting the DRX retransmission timer (e.g., the DRX retransmission timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) in response to the HARQ RTT timer (e.g., HARQ RTT timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) expiring ( see ¶[0282] and ¶[0253] ), Babaei, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to start a first timer and immediately consider the first timer as expired. However, Chen, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a wireless communication system when MAC entity of UE applies zero value for a timer, a timer shall be started and immediately expire unless explicitly stated otherwise ( see Chen, ¶[0096] ). Also note the overlapping teaching in (¶[0222] 1> if a drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL expires: ¶[0223] 2> if the data of the corresponding HARQ process was not successfully decoded: ¶[0224] 3> start the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL for the corresponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the expiry of drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Babaei's teachings with Chen's above teaching, avoiding unintended UE state transition, resulting in the reduction of the risk of packet loss due to unintended UE state transition ( see Chen, ¶[0005] ). Known work in one field of endeavor (Chen prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Babaei prior art) based on design incentives ( avoiding unintended UE state transition, resulting in the reduction of the risk of packet loss due to unintended UE state transition) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Regarding claim 2, the combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to immediately consider the first timer as expired, the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to: start a retransmission timer for the HARQ process ( see Babaei, ¶[0253], The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer (e.g., the DRX retransmission timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) in response to the HARQ RTT timer (e.g., HARQ RTT timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) expiring. The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer with the second value indicated by the DRX configuration parameters. The wireless device may be in a DRX Active time in response to the DRX retransmission timer running ); and monitor a PDCCH for a downlink allocation while the retransmission timer remains active ( see Babaei, ¶[0253], The wireless device may be in a DRX Active time in response to the DRX retransmission timer running. The wireless device may monitor the control channel when the wireless device is in DRX Active time. The wireless device may receive a PDCCH for a new downlink assignment. In an example, the wireless device may receive a new DL assignment for the first HARQ process ). Regarding claim 5, the combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to immediately consider the first timer as expired, the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to transition to a discontinuous reception (“DRX”) active time ( see Babaei, ¶[0253], The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer (e.g., the DRX retransmission timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) in response to the HARQ RTT timer (e.g., HARQ RTT timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) expiring. The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer with the second value indicated by the DRX configuration parameters. The wireless device may be in a DRX Active time in response to the DRX retransmission timer running. The wireless device may monitor the control channel when the wireless device is in DRX Active time). Regarding claim 8, the combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first timer comprises a drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer (see Babaei, ¶[0242], The plurality of DRX timers may comprise a DRX retransmission timer, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) RTT timer, a DRX inactivity timer, etc.;¶[0282]-¶[0284], HARQ RTT timer). Regarding claim 9, the combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to maintain a plurality of HARQ processes, and wherein to start the first timer, the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to start a respective drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer for each HARQ process for which the respective drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer is not currently running (see Babaei, in response to receiving a second DCI without indicating resource assignment for downlink transport block associated with the first downlink HARQ process, i.e., without PDSCH resource allocation as disclosed in ¶[0285], the wireless device of FIG. 31 start HARQ RTT timer disclosed in ¶[0286], which occurs when the respective HART timer associated with the first DCI of FIG. 31 is not running). Regarding claim 10, Babaei teaches: A method of a User Equipment (“UE”), the method comprising: receiving a downlink control information (“DCI”) during a Physical Downlink Control Channel (“PDCCH”) monitoring occasion ( see ¶[0282], The wireless device may … monitoring the control channel in response to the receiving the DCI), wherein the DCI indicates a request for Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (“HARQ”) feedback( see ¶[0282], a wireless device may receive a DCI indicating a trigger/request for transmission of HARQ feedback) and wherein the DCI does not allocate any Physical Downlink Shared Channel (“PDSCH”) resources ( see ¶[0265], The DCI may indicate a trigger/request for transmitting the HARQ feedback for the first downlink HARQ process without scheduling/indicating a resource assignment for a transport block corresponding to the first downlink HARQ process … In response to the receiving the DCI and transmitting the HARQ feedback, the wireless device may start the HARQ RTT timer; ¶[0282] and ¶[0285]; It is noted that PDCCH corresponds to the DCI that is received in FIG. 30 and Fig. 31 and requests transmission of HARQ feedback for first downlink HARQ process without indicating a resource assignment for a transport block associated with the first downlink HARQ process, i.e., without allocating PDSCH resources); starting a first timer for a HARQ process in response to receiving the DCI ( see ¶[0265], The DCI may indicate a trigger/request for transmitting the HARQ feedback for the first downlink HARQ process without scheduling/indicating a resource assignment for a transport block corresponding to the first downlink HARQ process … The wireless device may transmit the HARQ feedback based on one or more parameters (e.g., HARQ feedback timing, etc.) indicated by the DCI. In response to the receiving the DCI and transmitting the HARQ feedback, the wireless device may start the HARQ RTT timer; see FIG. 30 and Fig. 31; ¶[0282], The wireless device may start the HARQ RTT timer in response to the receiving the DCI and transmitting the HARQ feedback ); and immediately considering the first timer as expired in response to receiving the DCI (¶[0282], The wireless device may start the HARQ RTT timer in response to the receiving the DCI ; ¶[0253], The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer (e.g., the DRX retransmission timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) in response to the HARQ RTT timer (e.g., HARQ RTT timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) expiring). Although Babaei teaches starting HARQ RTT timer in response to receiving DCI and starting the DRX retransmission timer (e.g., the DRX retransmission timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) in response to the HARQ RTT timer (e.g., HARQ RTT timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) expiring ( see¶[0282] and ¶[0253] ), Babaei, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to start a first timer and immediately considering the first timer as expired. However, Chen, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a wireless communication system when MAC entity of UE applies zero value for a timer, a timer shall be started and immediately expire unless explicitly stated otherwise ( see Chen, ¶[0096] ). Also note the overlapping teaching in (see ¶[0222] 1> if a drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL expires: ¶[0223] 2> if the data of the corresponding HARQ process was not successfully decoded: ¶[0224] 3> start the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL for the corresponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the expiry of drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Babaei's teachings with Chen's above teaching, avoiding unintended UE state transition, resulting in the reduction of the risk of packet loss due to unintended UE state transition ( see Chen, ¶[0005] ). Known work in one field of endeavor (Chen prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Babaei prior art) based on design incentives ( avoiding unintended UE state transition, resulting in the reduction of the risk of packet loss due to unintended UE state transition) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Regarding claim 11, the combination teaches: The method of claim 10, wherein immediately considering the first timer as expired comprises: starting a retransmission timer for the HARQ process ( see Babaei, ¶[0253], The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer (e.g., the DRX retransmission timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) in response to the HARQ RTT timer (e.g., HARQ RTT timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) expiring. The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer with the second value indicated by the DRX configuration parameters. The wireless device may be in a DRX Active time in response to the DRX retransmission timer running ); and monitoring a PDCCH for a downlink allocation while the retransmission timer remains active ( see Babaei, ¶[0253], The wireless device may be in a DRX Active time in response to the DRX retransmission timer running. The wireless device may monitor the control channel when the wireless device is in DRX Active time. The wireless device may receive a PDCCH for a new downlink assignment. In an example, the wireless device may receive a new DL assignment for the first HARQ process ). Regarding claim 12, the combination teaches: The method of claim 11, wherein the UE maintains a plurality of HARQ processes ( see Babaei, FIG.23, ¶[0259] discloses plurality of HARQ processes; ¶[0289]-¶[0290]), wherein starting the first timer comprises starting a respective drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer for each HARQ process for which a respective drx-Retransmission-TimerDL timer is not currently running or for which the respective drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer is not currently running (see Babaei, in response to receiving a second DCI without indicating resource assignment for downlink transport block associated with the first downlink HARQ process, i.e., without PDSCH resource allocation as disclosed in ¶[0285], the wireless device of FIG. 31 start HARQ RTT timer disclosed in ¶[0286], which occurs when the respective HART timer associated with the first DCI of FIG.31 is not running). Regarding claim 13, the combination teaches: The method of claim 10, wherein immediately considering the first timer as expired comprises transitioning the UE to a discontinuous reception (“DRX”) active time ( see Babaei, ¶[0253], The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer (e.g., the DRX retransmission timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) in response to the HARQ RTT timer (e.g., HARQ RTT timer corresponding to the first HARQ process) expiring. The wireless device may start the DRX retransmission timer with the second value indicated by the DRX configuration parameters. The wireless device may be in a DRX Active time in response to the DRX retransmission timer running. The wireless device may monitor the control channel when the wireless device is in DRX Active time). Regarding claim 15, the combination teaches: The method of claim 10, wherein the first timer comprises a drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer (see Babaei, ¶[0242], The plurality of DRX timers may comprise a DRX retransmission timer, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) RTT timer, a DRX inactivity timer, etc.;¶[0282]-¶[0284], HARQ RTT timer) Claim(s) 6-7 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei, in view of Chen, and further in view of Zhang et al. ( US 2023/0163922 A1), hereinafter referred to as Zhang. Regarding claim 6, Babaei and Chen combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to indicate the request for HARQ feedback, the DCI comprises a request field indicating a request for a Type-3 HARQ acknowledgment (“HARQ-ACK”) feedback report (see Babaei, FIG. 19; ¶[0243], HARQ feedback; FIG. 23, ¶[0259], a DCI scheduling a DL transmission may indicate a PDSCH group. In an example, a DCI scheduling DL transmission may comprise a field, a value of the field indicating the PDSCH group. In an example, the wireless device may receive a plurality of DCIs with a same PDSCH group indication (e.g., PDSCH group i as shown in FIG. 23). In an example, the wireless device may receive a DCI indicating a trigger/request for transmission of HARQ feedback for the transport blocks of the PDSCH group i. ). Although the combination teaches HARQ feedback (see Babaei, ¶[0243], ¶[0259]; various passages throughout the reference disclose HARQ feedback), the combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to the DCI comprises a request field indicating a request for a Type-3 HARQ acknowledgment (“HARQ-ACK”) feedback report. However, Zhang, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: the DCI comprises a request field indicating a request for a Type-3 HARQ acknowledgment (“HARQ-ACK”) feedback report ( see Zhang, ¶[0037], the BS 104 is configured to provide a downlink control information (DCI) 106 to the UE 102. The DCI 106 is provided to the UE 102 as part of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). In some embodiments, the DCI 106 is configured to trigger a Type-3 hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) ACK feedback signal 108 from the UE 102. In such embodiments, the DCI 106 comprises an indication to trigger the Type-3 HARQ ACK feedback signal 108. Specifically, the DCI 106 comprises a one-shot HARQ-ACK frequent field, a value associated therewith providing an indication to the UE 102 to trigger the Type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback signal 108. For example, when the one-shot HARQ-ACK frequent field comprises a value of 1, the UE 102 is configured to trigger the Type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback signal 108.; ¶[0065], the DCI 508 comprises information of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)/physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources to be utilized by the UE 502 for the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510 comprises a Type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback… the DCI 508 may trigger the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510, without scheduling the PDSCH to the UE 502. The UE 502 is configured to receive and process the DCI 508.). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Zhang's above teachings in order to control HARQ-ACK codebooks based on grouping HARQ processes to improve reliability, for example, to meet the reliability requirement of URLLC service types (see Zhang, ¶[0035] ). Known work in one field of endeavor ( Zhang prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Babaei prior art) based on design incentives ( to control HARQ-ACK codebooks based on grouping HARQ processes to improve reliability, for example, to meet the reliability requirement of URLLC service types) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Regarding claim 7, Babaei, Chen, and Zhang combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: maintain a plurality of HARQ processes ( see Babaei, FIG.23, ¶[0259] discloses plurality of HARQ processes; ¶[0289]- ¶[0290]; see Zhang, ¶[0065] )), and transmit a One-shot HARQ-ACK feedback report comprising HARQ feedback information for each of the plurality of HARQ processes ( see Babaei, ¶[0264], The wireless device may, in response to validating the DCI as a HARQ feedback triggering DCI, transmit/retransmit HARQ feedbacks of one or more HARQ processes indicated by the DCI; see Zhang, ¶[0065], In some embodiments, the DCI 508 comprises information of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)/physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources to be utilized by the UE 502 for the transmission of the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510 comprises a Type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback. In such embodiments, the DCI 508 comprises a one-shot HARQ-ACK frequent field, a value associated therewith providing an indication to the UE 502 to trigger a Type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback. Alternately, in other embodiments, the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510 may comprise other types of HARQ-ACK signals, for example, Type-1 HARQ-ACK feedback signal. In some embodiments, the DCI 508 is configured to trigger the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510 from the UE 502, in response to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the DCI 508. Alternately, in other embodiments, for example, in the case of Type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback, the DCI 508 may trigger the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510, without scheduling the PDSCH to the UE 502. The UE 502 is configured to receive and process the DCI 508. In some embodiments, the UE 502 is further configured to generate the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510, in response to processing the DCI 508. In some embodiments, the HARQ-ACK feedback signal 510 comprises a HARQ-ACK feedback information for one or more HARQ processes associated with the UE 502). Regarding claim 14, Babaei and Chen combination: The method of claim 10, wherein, to indicate the request for HARQ feedback, the DCI comprises a One-shot HARQ-ACK request field indicating the request for a type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback report (see Babaei, FIG. 19; ¶[0243], HARQ feedback; FIG. 23, ¶[0259], a DCI scheduling a DL transmission may indicate a PDSCH group. In an example, a DCI scheduling DL transmission may comprise a field, a value of the field indicating the PDSCH group. In an example, the wireless device may receive a plurality of DCIs with a same PDSCH group indication (e.g., PDSCH group i as shown in FIG. 23). In an example, the wireless device may receive a DCI indicating a trigger/request for transmission of HARQ feedback for the transport blocks of the PDSCH group i. ). Although the combination teaches HARQ feedback (see Babaei, ¶[0243], ¶[0259]; various passages throughout the reference disclose HARQ feedback), the combination, however, fails to explicitly teaches information related to the DCI comprises a One-shot HARQ-ACK request field indicating the request for a type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback report. However, Zhang, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: the DCI comprises a One-shot HARQ-ACK request field indicating the request for a type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback report ( see Zhang, ¶[0037], the BS 104 is configured to provide a downlink control information (DCI) 106 to the UE 102. The DCI 106 is provided to the UE 102 as part of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). In some embodiments, the DCI 106 is configured to trigger a Type-3 hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) ACK feedback signal 108 from the UE 102. In such embodiments, the DCI 106 comprises an indication to trigger the Type-3 HARQ ACK feedback signal 108. Specifically, the DCI 106 comprises a one-shot HARQ-ACK frequent field, a value associated therewith providing an indication to the UE 102 to trigger the Type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback signal 108. For example, when the one-shot HARQ-ACK frequent field comprises a value of 1, the UE 102 is configured to trigger the Type-3 HARQ-ACK feedback signal 108. ). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Zhang's above teachings in order to control HARQ-ACK codebooks based on grouping HARQ processes to improve reliability, for example, to meet the reliability requirement of URLLC service types (see Zhang, ¶[0035] ). Known work in one field of endeavor ( Zhang prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Babaei prior art) based on design incentives ( to control HARQ-ACK codebooks based on grouping HARQ processes to improve reliability, for example, to meet the reliability requirement of URLLC service types) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Allowable Subject Matter Claim(s) 3 and 4 is/are 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. Regarding claim 3, this claim recites “ The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to maintain a plurality of HARQ processes, and wherein, to start the first timer, the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to start a respective drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL timer for each HARQ process for which a respective drx-Retransmission-TimerDL timer is not currently running.” The references of record do not teach or suggest aforementioned limitations, nor would it be obvious to modify those references to include such limitations. Regarding claim 4, this claim recites “ The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to receive a configured value for the retransmission timer, and wherein, to start the first timer, the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to set a length of the retransmission timer to an extended value that is greater than the configured value”. The references of record do not teach or suggest aforementioned limitations, nor would it be obvious to modify those references to include such limitations. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Zhang et al. (EP 4462708 A2), Handling missed hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) opportunities, multiple harq opportunities, or both for discontinuous reception (drx) Lin ( US 2023/0198686 A1), Wireless communication method and user equipment Yerramalli et al. ( US 2021/0153172 A1), Configuration for one-shot hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) feedback Jang et al. ( US 2022/0338118 A1), Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data in wireless communication system Wu ( US 2022/0271870 A1), Communication method, device and storage medium Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANG BOI THAWNG whose telephone number is (703)756-4751. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 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, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at (571)272-3795. 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. /MANG BOI THAWNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2476 /AYAZ R SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 08, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
92%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (-2.4%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 67 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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