Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/710,042

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING INFORMATION

Final Rejection §103
Filed
May 14, 2024
Priority
Nov 15, 2021 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2021130767
Examiner
GEORGE, AYANAH S
Art Unit
2467
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Final)
87%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 87% — above average
87%
Career Allowance Rate
456 granted / 524 resolved
+29.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+5.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
551
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.8%
-36.2% vs TC avg
§103
61.9%
+21.9% vs TC avg
§102
20.6%
-19.4% vs TC avg
§112
8.5%
-31.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 524 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION This action is a response to an amendment filed on 7/7/26 in which claims 1-4, 6, 8-11, 17 and 37-42 are pending. 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 § 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) 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 17 and 37-42 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (Pub. No.: 2021/0250921 A1), herein Zhang and Zhao et al. (WO 2021142739 A1), herein Zhao. As to claim 1, Zhang teaches a method for transmitting information, performed by a network device, the method comprising: sending system information blocks on one or more candidate time-frequency domain resources (Zhang [0070] According to this embodiment, in a time interval, each information block may have at least two candidate resources for transmitting the information block, and the information block may be transmitted on one of the at least two candidate resources; wherein the number of candidate resources and a time-frequency position of each information block may be preset and [0065] In this embodiment, an information block may include at least a synchronization signal physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH Block, SSB). For example, the information block may be an SSB; or, in addition to the SSB, the information block may also contain other information. For example, the other information may be control resource set 0 and/or a physical layer shared channel carrying system information block 1 (SIB1)) Zhang does not teach wherein the system information blocks are used in at least one of the following ways: one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition are determined as one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels to be used; or, one or more time-frequency domain resources of uplink control channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition are determined as one or more time- frequency domain resources of uplink control channels to be used; wherein the signal qualities satisfy the preset condition comprises at least one of: reference signal received powers (RSRPs) of synchronization signals are greater than a first threshold, wherein a value of the first threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the first threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; reference signal received qualities (RSRQs) of synchronization signals are greater than a second threshold, wherein a value of the second threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the second threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; signal-to-noise and interference ratios (SINRs) of synchronization signals are greater than a third threshold, wherein a value of the third threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the third threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of synchronization signals are greater than a fourth threshold, wherein a value of the fourth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fourth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRPs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a fifth threshold, wherein a value of the fifth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fifth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRQs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a sixth threshold, wherein a value of the sixth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the sixth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; SINRs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a seventh threshold, wherein a value of the seventh threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the seventh threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; or RSSIs of demodulation reference signals are greater than an eighth threshold, wherein a value of the eighth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the eighth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device. However Zhao does teach wherein the system information blocks are used in at least one of the following ways: one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition are determined as one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels to be used; or, one or more time-frequency domain resources of uplink control channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition are determined as one or more time- frequency domain resources of uplink control channels to be used (Zhao page 6 lines 5-10 The SIB information configures multiple second PUCCH resources); wherein the signal qualities satisfy the preset condition comprises at least one of: reference signal received powers (RSRPs) of synchronization signals are greater than a first threshold, wherein a value of the first threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol (Zhao page 7 lines 1-2 the uplink feedback information is sent by the terminal device when the measured RSRP is greater than a fifth threshold), or a value of the first threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; reference signal received qualities (RSRQs) of synchronization signals are greater than a second threshold, wherein a value of the second threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the second threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; signal-to-noise and interference ratios (SINRs) of synchronization signals are greater than a third threshold, wherein a value of the third threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the third threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of synchronization signals are greater than a fourth threshold, wherein a value of the fourth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fourth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRPs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a fifth threshold, wherein a value of the fifth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fifth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRQs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a sixth threshold, wherein a value of the sixth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the sixth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; SINRs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a seventh threshold, wherein a value of the seventh threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the seventh threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; or RSSIs of demodulation reference signals are greater than an eighth threshold, wherein a value of the eighth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the eighth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang and Zhao, because Zhao teaches us page 7 lines 5-9 if the network configures a fifth threshold, the terminal device judges whether it is greater than the threshold according to the measured RSRP. If the RSRP measured by the terminal is greater than the threshold, the terminal device will send uplink feedback information. Specifically, if the network configures a third PUCCH resource and a fourth PUCCH resource, and if the terminal receives the PDSCH correctly, that is, when the corresponding uplink feedback information is ACK, the terminal uses the fourth PUCCH resource to send uplink feedback information to the network, That is, ACK information. If the terminal does not receive the PDSCH correctly, that is, when the corresponding uplink feedback information is NACK, the terminal uses the third PUCCH resource to send uplink feedback information, that is, NACK information, to the network. If the RSRP measured by the terminal device is less than the threshold, the terminal will not send uplink feedback information to the network regardless of whether the detection result is NACK or ACK. As to claim 8, Zhang teaches a method for transmitting information, performed by a terminal device, the method comprising: receiving system information blocks on one or more candidate time-frequency domain resources (Zhang [0070] According to this embodiment, in a time interval, each information block may have at least two candidate resources for transmitting the information block, and the information block may be transmitted on one of the at least two candidate resources; wherein the number of candidate resources and a time-frequency position of each information block may be preset and [0065] In this embodiment, an information block may include at least a synchronization signal physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH Block, SSB). For example, the information block may be an SSB; or, in addition to the SSB, the information block may also contain other information. For example, the other information may be control resource set 0 and/or a physical layer shared channel carrying system information block 1 (SIB1)) Zhang does not teach and determining one or more time-frequency domain resources to be used based on signal qualities of received system information blocks, which comprises at least one of: determining one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition as the one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels to be used; or determining one or more time-frequency domain resources of uplink control channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition as the one or more time-frequency domain resources of uplink control channels to be used wherein the signal qualities satisfy the preset condition comprises at least one of: reference signal received powers (RSRPs) of synchronization signals are greater than a first threshold, wherein a value of the first threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the first threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; reference signal received qualities (RSRQs) of synchronization signals are greater than a second threshold, wherein a value of the second threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the second threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; signal-to-noise and interference ratios (SINRs) of synchronization signals are greater than a third threshold, wherein a value of the third threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the third threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of synchronization signals are greater than a fourth threshold, wherein a value of the fourth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fourth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRPs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a fifth threshold, wherein a value of the fifth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fifth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRQs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a sixth threshold, wherein a value of the sixth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the sixth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; SINRs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a seventh threshold, wherein a value of the seventh threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the seventh threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; or RSSIs of demodulation reference signals are greater than an eighth threshold, wherein a value of the eighth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the eighth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device. However Zhao does teach and determining one or more time-frequency domain resources to be used based on signal qualities of received system information blocks, which comprises at least one of: determining one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition as the one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels to be used; or determining one or more time-frequency domain resources of uplink control channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition as the one or more time-frequency domain resources of uplink control channels to be used (Zhao page 6 lines 5-10 The SIB information configures multiple second PUCCH resources); wherein the signal qualities satisfy the preset condition comprises at least one of: reference signal received powers (RSRPs) of synchronization signals are greater than a first threshold, wherein a value of the first threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol (Zhao page 7 lines 1-2 the uplink feedback information is sent by the terminal device when the measured RSRP is greater than a fifth threshold), or a value of the first threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; reference signal received qualities (RSRQs) of synchronization signals are greater than a second threshold, wherein a value of the second threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the second threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; signal-to-noise and interference ratios (SINRs) of synchronization signals are greater than a third threshold, wherein a value of the third threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the third threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of synchronization signals are greater than a fourth threshold, wherein a value of the fourth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fourth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRPs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a fifth threshold, wherein a value of the fifth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fifth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRQs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a sixth threshold, wherein a value of the sixth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the sixth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; SINRs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a seventh threshold, wherein a value of the seventh threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the seventh threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; or RSSIs of demodulation reference signals are greater than an eighth threshold, wherein a value of the eighth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the eighth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang and Zhao for the same reasons stated in claim 1. As to claim 37, Zhang teaches a communication apparatus, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to implement operations comprising (Zhang Fig. 16 memory, central processing unit): sending system information blocks on one or more candidate time-frequency domain resources (Zhang [0070] According to this embodiment, in a time interval, each information block may have at least two candidate resources for transmitting the information block, and the information block may be transmitted on one of the at least two candidate resources; wherein the number of candidate resources and a time-frequency position of each information block may be preset and [0065] In this embodiment, an information block may include at least a synchronization signal physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH Block, SSB). For example, the information block may be an SSB; or, in addition to the SSB, the information block may also contain other information. For example, the other information may be control resource set 0 and/or a physical layer shared channel carrying system information block 1 (SIB1)) Zhang does not teach wherein the system information blocks are used in at least one of the following ways: one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition are determined as one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels to be used; or, one or more time-frequency domain resources of uplink control channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition are determined as one or more time- frequency domain resources of uplink control channels to be used wherein the signal qualities satisfy the preset condition comprises at least one of: reference signal received powers (RSRPs) of synchronization signals are greater than a first threshold, wherein a value of the first threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the first threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; reference signal received qualities (RSRQs) of synchronization signals are greater than a second threshold, wherein a value of the second threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the second threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; signal-to-noise and interference ratios (SINRs) of synchronization signals are greater than a third threshold, wherein a value of the third threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the third threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of synchronization signals are greater than a fourth threshold, wherein a value of the fourth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fourth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRPs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a fifth threshold, wherein a value of the fifth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fifth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRQs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a sixth threshold, wherein a value of the sixth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the sixth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; SINRs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a seventh threshold, wherein a value of the seventh threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the seventh threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device: or RSSIs of demodulation reference signals are greater than an eighth threshold, wherein a value of the eighth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the eighth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device. However Zhao does teach wherein the system information blocks are used in at least one of the following ways: one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition are determined as one or more time-frequency domain resources of random access channels to be used; or, one or more time-frequency domain resources of uplink control channels corresponding to one or more system information blocks of which signal qualities satisfy a preset condition are determined as one or more time- frequency domain resources of uplink control channels to be used (Zhao page 6 lines 5-10 The SIB information configures multiple second PUCCH resources); wherein the signal qualities satisfy the preset condition comprises at least one of: reference signal received powers (RSRPs) of synchronization signals are greater than a first threshold, wherein a value of the first threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol (Zhao page 7 lines 1-2 the uplink feedback information is sent by the terminal device when the measured RSRP is greater than a fifth threshold), or a value of the first threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; reference signal received qualities (RSRQs) of synchronization signals are greater than a second threshold, wherein a value of the second threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the second threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; signal-to-noise and interference ratios (SINRs) of synchronization signals are greater than a third threshold, wherein a value of the third threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the third threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) of synchronization signals are greater than a fourth threshold, wherein a value of the fourth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fourth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRPs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a fifth threshold, wherein a value of the fifth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the fifth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; RSRQs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a sixth threshold, wherein a value of the sixth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the sixth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device; SINRs of demodulation reference signals are greater than a seventh threshold, wherein a value of the seventh threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the seventh threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device: or RSSIs of demodulation reference signals are greater than an eighth threshold, wherein a value of the eighth threshold is determined according to an agreement by a protocol, or a value of the eighth threshold is determined based on a configuration of the network device. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zang and Zhao for the same reasons stated in claim 1. As to claim 2, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach the method according to claim 1, wherein sending the system information blocks on the one or more candidate time-frequency domain resources comprises: simultaneously sending the system information blocks on a plurality of candidate time-frequency domain resources; or sending the system information blocks on a plurality of candidate time- frequency domain resources in a time-division manner; or sending the system information blocks on a candidate time-frequency domain resource in a time-division manner (Zhang [0080] In this implementation, after transmitting the first information block, the network device may continue to transmit other information blocks in an order of the index values of the information blocks, the order of the index values of the information blocks being, for example, an ascending order to the index values and [0090] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of predetermined time-frequency resources. As shown in FIG. 8, 80˜87 are predetermined 8 time-frequency resources for transmitting information blocks in a time interval, and candidate starting symbols 0˜4 correspond to starting symbols of the time-frequency resources 80˜84 respectively; wherein a candidate starting symbol 0 is, for example, a symbol 4 of slot 0 in the time interval) Claim 9 is rejected for the same reasons stated in claim 2. As to claim 4, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises at least one of: the system information blocks comprise any one of: downlink synchronization signals, system information, and demodulation reference signals of system information (Zhang [0065] In this embodiment, an information block may include at least a synchronization signal physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH Block, SSB). For example, the information block may be an SSB; or, in addition to the SSB, the information block may also contain other information. For example, the other information may be control resource set 0 and/or a physical layer shared channel carrying system information block 1 (SIB1)) or each of the system information blocks satisfies at least one of: each of the system information blocks corresponds to a time-frequency domain resource of a random access channel; each of the system information blocks corresponds to a time-frequency domain resource of an uplink control channel; each of the system information blocks corresponds to time-frequency domain resources of a plurality of random access channels; or each of the system information blocks corresponds to time-frequency domain resources of a plurality of uplink control channels. Claim 11 is rejected for the same reasons stated in claim 4. As to claim 6, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach the method according to the method according to wherein different candidate time-frequency domain resources are distributed in different subbands wherein one of the subbands comprises M resource blocks (RBs), and one of the RBs comprises N orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)subcarriers, and wherein M and N are positive integers, respectively (Zhang [0074] In this implementation, time domain intervals between candidate starting symbols may be equal or unequal, the candidate starting symbols may be orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols having predetermined index values in a time interval. Units of the time domain intervals may be an integer number of OFDM symbols, an integer number of subframes, milliseconds, or the information block and [0107] the terminal equipment may determine that the number of information blocks contained in the cell information block group of the cell is L=4 via a carrier frequency and/or a subcarrier spacing, or that a default value of the number of information blocks contained in a information block group of a cell of an unlicensed frequency band is L=4. Therefore, the index of the information block may be obtained through calculation as 5 mod 4=1, and such measurement functions as RRM, and RLM, etc., may be executed by using the index 1 of the information block. Claim 17 is rejected for the same reasons stated in claim 6. As to claim 13, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach the method according to claim 8, further comprising: determining one or more time-frequency domain resources to be used based on signal qualities of received system information blocks (Zhang [0067] In this embodiment, the network device may use an unlicensed frequency band for communication. For example, the network device performs LBT detection before transmitting the information block in the time interval, and starts to transmit the information block group after the LBT is successful) As to claim 38, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach a communication apparatus, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to implement the method according to claim 8 (Zhang Fig. 15 memory and CPU) As to claim 39, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach communication apparatus, comprising a processor and an interface circuit; wherein, the interface circuit is configured to receive code instructions and transmit the code instructions to the processor (Zhang Fig. 16 memory and CPU); and the processor is configured to execute the code instructions to perform the method according to claim 1 (Zhang [0070] According to this embodiment, in a time interval, each information block may have at least two candidate resources for transmitting the information block, and the information block may be transmitted on one of the at least two candidate resources; wherein the number of candidate resources and a time-frequency position of each information block may be preset and [0065] In this embodiment, an information block may include at least a synchronization signal physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH Block, SSB). For example, the information block may be an SSB; or, in addition to the SSB, the information block may also contain other information. For example, the other information may be control resource set 0 and/or a physical layer shared channel carrying system information block 1 (SIB1)) As to claim 40, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach a communication apparatus, comprising a processor and an interface circuit (Zhang Fig. 16 CPU and transceiver); wherein, the interface circuit is configured to receive code instructions and transmit the code instructions to the processor (Zhang Fig. 16 CPU); and the processor is configured to execute the code instructions to perform the method according to claim 8 (Zhang [0070] According to this embodiment, in a time interval, each information block may have at least two candidate resources for transmitting the information block, and the information block may be transmitted on one of the at least two candidate resources; wherein the number of candidate resources and a time-frequency position of each information block may be preset and [0065] In this embodiment, an information block may include at least a synchronization signal physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH Block, SSB). For example, the information block may be an SSB; or, in addition to the SSB, the information block may also contain other information. For example, the other information may be control resource set 0 and/or a physical layer shared channel carrying system information block 1 (SIB1)) As to claim 41, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach a non-transitory computer readable storage medium for storing instructions that, when executed, implement the method according to claim 1 (Zhang Fig. 16 memory) As to claim 42, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach a non-transitory computer readable storage medium for storing instructions that, when executed, implement the method according to claim 8 (Zhang Fig. 15 memory) Claim(s) 3 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang, Zhao and Fu et al. (WO 2021/096323), herein Fu. As to claim 3, the combination of Zhang and Zhao teach the method according to claim 1, further comprising: Zhang nor Zhao teach determining the one or more candidate time-frequency domain resources according to an agreement by a protocol. However FU does teach determining the one or more candidate time-frequency domain resources according to an agreement by a protocol (Fu [0361] One feasible method is that the UE may obtain more than one candidate number of time-frequency resources for transmitting the MCS indication information by receiving the high-level signaling or by the presetting of the protocol) It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang and Zhao and Fu, because Fu teaches us [0361] The number of time-frequency resources for transmitting the MCS indication information is adjusted according to the measurement result. When the interference measured by the UE is relatively large, the performance of MCS indication information transmission is ensured by increasing the number of time-frequency resources for transmitting the MCS indication information. When the interference measured by the UE is relatively small, data is transmitted as much as possible under the premise of ensuring the performance of the CG PUSCH by reducing the number of time-frequency resources for transmitting the MCS instruction information. Claim 10 is rejected for the same reasons stated in claim 3. Conclusion 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 AYANAH S GEORGE whose telephone number is (571)272-8880. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 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, Hassan Phillips can be reached at 572-272-3940. 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. AYANAH S. GEORGE Primary Examiner Art Unit 2467 /AYANAH S GEORGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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Prosecution Timeline

May 14, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 08, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 07, 2026
Response Filed
Sep 21, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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3-4
Expected OA Rounds
87%
Grant Probability
93%
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2y 4m (~0m remaining)
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