CTNF 18/717,155 CTNF 90582 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. DETAILED ACTION This office action is in response to the application filed on 06/06/2024. Claims 1-2, 5-7, 9-10, 16-17, 19-20, 26-27, 30-31, 33-35 and 56-57 are currently pending. Claims 1-2, 5-7, 9-10, 16-17, 19-20, 26-27, 30-31, 33-35 and 56-57 are rejected. Claims 1, 30 and 56 are independent claims. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 5. 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. 07-34-01 6. Claims 16-17, 19 and 26-27 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. For claim 16, the limitations end with “or”. It is considered as indefinite because it is not a complete claim. Claims 17, 19 and 26-27 depend on claim 16, thus they are rejected for the same reason. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 7. 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 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. 07-20-aia AIA 8. 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. 07-23-fti 9. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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. 07-21-aia AIA 10. Claim s 1-2, 5-7, 9-10, 16-17, 19-20, 26-27, 30-31 and 33-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ("The remaining issue on RO configuration of 2-step CFRA", Fujitsu, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #111 electronic, R2-2007022, Online, August 17 - 28, 2020, 4 pages, cited in IDS filed on 03/31/2025), hereinafter D1 . For claim 1, D1 teaches a method for determining random access occasion resource information, performed by a terminal, comprising: initiating 2-step contention-free random access (CFRA); and in case that separate random access occasion (RO) resource information configured in configuration information for the CFRA is absent for the terminal, determining RO resource information for the initiated 2-step CFRA according to RO resource information for contention-based random access (CBRA) in a specified release (D1, introduction on page 1, teaches "Dedicated msgA PRACH occasions are optionally configured for 2-step CFRA. If not configured, msgA PRACH occasions for 2-step CBRA are used.", which means the RA occasions of 2-step CBRA are used as the RA occasions for 2-step CFRA when dedicated RA occasions are not configured. D1, discussion on page 1, further teaches According to present CR, if occasions TwoStepRA is absent, i.e. the dedicated 2-step CFRA ROs are not configured, 2-step CFRA can use the RA occasions configured for 2-step random access derived from RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA as the ROs of 2-step CFRA. See also D1, pages 2-4.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in D1 to have method of initiating 2-step contention-free random access (CFRA); and in case that separate random access occasion (RO) resource information configured in configuration information for the CFRA is absent for the terminal, determining RO resource information for the initiated 2-step CFRA according to RO resource information for contention-based random access (CBRA) in a specified release. Because the technical scheme claimed in this claim is only slightly different in terms of text expression, and its technical scheme is essentially the same, and both belong to the same technical field and can produce the same technical effect. For claim 2, D1 further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the specified release is determined according to a protocol agreement, and the specified release comprises at least one of: a legacy release, or Release 17, wherein the legacy release comprises at least one of: Release 15, or Release 16 (D1, page 1 teaches CFRA-TwoStep-r16, occasionsTwoStepRA-r16, rach-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA-r16. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to conclude that r16 is Release 16.). For claim 5, D1 further teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the RO resource information comprises at least one of: RO configuration information ; or correspondence between synchronization signal block (SSB) and RO (D1, page 1 teaches When the PRACH resources for 2-step random access are not shared with 4-step random access, the UE uses the separately configured ROs for 2-step RA. msgA-TotalNumberOfRA-Preambles indicates the total number of available preambles used for 2-step random access and the preambles for 2-step CFRA are implicitly specified, as msgA-CB-PreamblesPerSSB indicates the number of 2-step CBRA preambles per SSB that 2-step CFRA can use the rest of the available preambles.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in D1 to the RO resource information comprises at least one of: RO configuration information; or correspondence between synchronization signal block (SSB) and RO. Because the technical scheme claimed in this claim is only slightly different in terms of text expression, and its technical scheme is essentially the same, and both belong to the same technical field and can produce the same technical effect. For claims 6-7, 9-10, 16-17 and 19-20, instant claim is proviso upon limitation “RO configuration information” not required by the claim 5; therefore, the limitations of the instant claims do not come into force. For claims 26-27, they depend on claim 16, thus they are rejected for the same reason. For claim 30, D1 teaches a method for indicating random access occasion resource information, performed by a network side device, comprising: initiating a terminal to perform a 2-step contention-free random access (CFRA); and in case that separate random access occasion (RO) resource information configured in configuration information for the CFRA is absent for a terminal, indicating the terminal to determine RO resource information for the initiated 2-step CFRA according to RO resource information for contention-based random access (CBRA) in a specified release (D1, introduction on page 1, teaches "Dedicated msgA PRACH occasions are optionally configured for 2-step CFRA. If not configured, msgA PRACH occasions for 2-step CBRA are used.", which means the RA occasions of 2-step CBRA are used as the RA occasions for 2-step CFRA when dedicated RA occasions are not configured. D1, discussion on page 1, further teaches According to present CR, if occasions TwoStepRA is absent, i.e. the dedicated 2-step CFRA ROs are not configured, 2-step CFRA can use the RA occasions configured for 2-step random access derived from RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA as the ROs of 2-step CFRA. See also D1, pages 2-4.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in D1 to have method of initiating a terminal to perform a 2-step contention-free random access (CFRA); and in case that separate random access occasion (RO) resource information configured in configuration information for the CFRA is absent for a terminal, indicating the terminal to determine RO resource information for the initiated 2-step CFRA according to RO resource information for contention-based random access (CBRA) in a specified release. Because the technical scheme claimed in this claim is only slightly different in terms of text expression, and its technical scheme is essentially the same, and both belong to the same technical field and can produce the same technical effect. For claim 31, D1 further teaches the method of claim 30, wherein the specified release comprises at least one of: a legacy release, or Release 17 , wherein the legacy release comprises at least one of: Release 15, or Release 16 (D1, page 1 teaches CFRA-TwoStep-r16, occasionsTwoStepRA-r16, rach-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA-r16. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to conclude that r16 is Release 16.). For claim 33, D1 further teach the method of claim 31, wherein the RO resource information comprises at least one of: RO configuration information ; or correspondence between synchronization signal block (SSB) and RO (D1, page 1 teaches When the PRACH resources for 2-step random access are not shared with 4-step random access, the UE uses the separately configured ROs for 2-step RA. msgA-TotalNumberOfRA-Preambles indicates the total number of available preambles used for 2-step random access and the preambles for 2-step CFRA are implicitly specified, as msgA-CB-PreamblesPerSSB indicates the number of 2-step CBRA preambles per SSB that 2-step CFRA can use the rest of the available preambles.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in D1 to the RO resource information comprises at least one of: RO configuration information; or correspondence between synchronization signal block (SSB) and RO. Because the technical scheme claimed in this claim is only slightly different in terms of text expression, and its technical scheme is essentially the same, and both belong to the same technical field and can produce the same technical effect. For claims 34-35, instant claim is proviso upon limitation “RO configuration information” not required by the claim 33; therefore, the limitations of the instant claims do not come into force . 07-21-aia AIA 11. Claim s 56-57 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ("The remaining issue on RO configuration of 2-step CFRA", Fujitsu, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #111 electronic, R2-2007022, Online, August 17 - 28, 2020, 4 pages), hereinafter D1, in view of Jing Lei et al. (US 2021/0100029 A1) hereinafter D2 . For claim 56, D1 teaches a method for determining random access occasion resource information, performed by a terminal, comprising: initiating 2-step contention-free random access (CFRA); and in case that separate random access occasion (RO) resource information configured in configuration information for the CFRA is absent for the terminal, determining RO resource information for the initiated 2-step CFRA according to RO resource information for contention-based random access (CBRA) in a specified release (D1, introduction on page 1, teaches "Dedicated msgA PRACH occasions are optionally configured for 2-step CFRA. If not configured, msgA PRACH occasions for 2-step CBRA are used.", which means the RA occasions of 2-step CBRA are used as the RA occasions for 2-step CFRA when dedicated RA occasions are not configured. D1, discussion on page 1, further teaches According to present CR, if occasions TwoStepRA is absent, i.e. the dedicated 2-step CFRA ROs are not configured, 2-step CFRA can use the RA occasions configured for 2-step random access derived from RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA as the ROs of 2-step CFRA. See also D1, pages 2-4.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in D1 to have method of initiating 2-step contention-free random access (CFRA); and in case that separate random access occasion (RO) resource information configured in configuration information for the CFRA is absent for the terminal, determining RO resource information for the initiated 2-step CFRA according to RO resource information for contention-based random access (CBRA) in a specified release. Because the technical scheme claimed in this claim is only slightly different in terms of text expression, and its technical scheme is essentially the same, and both belong to the same technical field and can produce the same technical effect. D2 further teaches a terminal (Lei, Fig. 10) , comprising: a processor (Lei, Fig. 10 item 1035 and paragraph 170) ; and a memory (Lei, Fig. 10 item 1025 and paragraph 170) , configured to store a computer program, wherein the processor is configured to: initiate 2-step contention-free random access (CFRA) (Lei, Figs. 1, 6 and paragraphs 100-103.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in D1 with a terminal, comprising: a processor; and a memory, configured to store a computer program, wherein the processor is configured to: initiate 2-step contention-free random access (CFRA)to have method of initiating 2-step contention-free random access (CFRA); and in case that separate random access occasion (RO) resource information configured in configuration information for the CFRA is absent for the terminal, determining RO resource information for the initiated 2-step CFRA according to RO resource information for contention-based random access (CBRA) in a specified release. Because the technical schemes are essentially the same, and both belong to the same technical field and can produce the same technical effect. For claim 57, D1 teaches all the limitations of parent claim 30. D1 does not explicitly teach a network side device, comprising: a processor; and a memory, configured to store a computer program. However, D2 explicitly teaches a network side device (Lei, Fig. 14) , comprising: a processor (Lei, Fig. 14 item 1440 and paragraph 205.) ; and a memory (Lei, Fig. 14 item 1430 and paragraph 205.) , configured to store a computer program It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in D1 with a network side device, comprising: a processor; and a memory, configured to store a computer program. Because the technical schemes are essentially the same, and both belong to the same technical field and can produce the same technical effect. Conclusion 12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILL W LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-8749. 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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. /WILL W LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 2 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 3 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 4 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 5 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 6 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 7 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 8 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 9 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 10 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 11 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/717,155 Page 12 Art Unit: 2412
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