CTNF 18/732,328 CTNF 90708 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file. Claims status 3. This office action is a response to an application filed on June 03, 2024 in which claims 1-12 are pending for examination. Drawings 4. The Examiner contends that the drawings submitted on June 03, 2024 are acceptable for examination proceedings. Information Disclosure Statement 5. The Examiner has considered the reference(s) listed on the Information Disclosure Statement submitted on June 03, 2024. Double Patenting 08-33 AIA 6. The non-statutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper time wise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A non-statutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg , 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman , 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi , 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum , 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel , 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington , 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969). A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a non-statutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/ . The filing date of the application will determine what form should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp . Claims 1-12 are rejected on the ground of non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-12 of Patent No. (US 12,040,903 B2). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims in the present application and Patent Number. (US 12,040,903 B2) all disclose the method of generating, common information and user specific information, the common information indicating information relating to retransmission control for each of a plurality of users and being common to the plurality of users, the user specific information being specific to each of the plurality of users and corresponding to the information on the retransmission control. (the table below shows only Example of Claim 1 is anticipated by claim 1 of Patent Number US 12,040,903 B2) Claim Instant Application No. 18/732,328 (limitations) US 12,040,903 B2 (limitations) Claim 1 An integrated circuit for a base station, comprising, at least one input, which, in operation, inputs an electronic signal, and controller circuitry, which, in operation, controls: generating common information and user specific information, the common information including information relating to retransmission control for each of a plurality of users and being common to the plurality of users, the user specific information being specific to each of the plurality of users and corresponding to the information relating to the retransmission control; and transmitting a control signal including the common information and the user specific information. A base station, comprising: control circuitry, which, in operation, generates common information and user specific information, the common information including information relating to retransmission control for each of a plurality of users and being common to the plurality of users, the user specific information being specific to each of the plurality of users and corresponding to the information relating to the retransmission control; and transmission circuitry, which, in operation, transmits a control signal including the common information and the user specific information, wherein the control circuitry determines a configuration of the user specific information based on the information relating to the retransmission control, and in a case where the information relating to the retransmission control indicates a retransmission, the control circuitry does not configure, in the user specific information, at least one of a plurality of parameters configured in the user specific information in a case where the information relating to the retransmission control indicates a new transmission. 1 Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 7. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-08-aia AIA (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-14-aia AIA (g)(1) during the course of an interference conducted under section 135 or section 291, another inventor involved therein establishes, to the extent permitted in section 104, that before such person’s invention thereof the invention was made by such other inventor and not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed, or (g)(2) before such person’s invention thereof, the invention was made in this country by another inventor who had not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed it. In determining priority of invention under this subsection, there shall be considered not only the respective dates of conception and reduction to practice of the invention, but also the reasonable diligence of one who was first to conceive and last to reduce to practice, from a time prior to conception by the other. 8. A rejection on this statutory basis (35 U.S.C. 102(g) as in force on March 15, 2013) is appropriate in an application or patent that is examined under the first to file provisions of the AIA if it also contains or contained at any time (1) a claim to an invention having an effective filing date as defined in 35 U.S.C. 100(i) that is before March 16, 2013 or (2) a specific reference under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) to any patent or application that contains or contained at any time such a claim. 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 9. 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. 07-15-03-aia AIA 10. Claim 1-6, 8 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by EP 3780447 B1 (as submitted by the applicant with IDS dated June 03, 2024), hereinafter “EP’447” . Regarding claim 1 , EP’447 discloses an integrated circuit for a base station (Figs. 1, 4, 5a, hybrid automatic repeat request technology-based communication) , comprising: at least one input, which, in operation, inputs an electronic signal (Figs. 3, 12-14) , and controller circuitry, which, in operation (Figs. 3, 12-14) , controls: generating common information (Figs. 4, 5a, paragraphs [0057], [0058], common field of the NG-SIG-B i.e. resource unit allocation indication and Bitmap) and user specific information (Figs. 4, 5a, paragraphs [0044], [0062], [0063], user specific field of the NG-SIG-B i.e. User information 1……User information N) , the common information including information (Figs. 4, 5a, paragraphs [0057], [0058], for instance-bitmap is 0111) relating to retransmission control for each of a plurality of users and being common to the plurality of users (Figs. 4, 5a, paragraphs [0057], [0058], NG-SIG-B shown in FIG. 5a includes a bitmap, the bitmap includes a plurality of bits, and each bit may be 0 or 1, to indicate that data of the second device corresponding to the bit is new transmitted data or retransmitted data) , the user specific information being specific to each of the plurality of users (Figs. 4, 5a, paragraphs [0044], [0062], [0063], HARQ information carried in user information i.e. User information 1…User information N) and corresponding to the information relating to the retransmission control (Figs. 4, 5a, paragraphs [0044], [0062], [0063], HARQ information including a HARQ process identifier (Process ID), a HARQ type (Type), a redundancy version (Redundancy Version, RV), a receiver address, or other information) ; and transmitting a control signal including the common information and the user specific information (Figs. 4, 5a, paragraphs [0032], [0036], a first device generates at least one transmission indicator and data of at least one second device and the first device sends the at least one transmission indicator and the data of the at least one second device to the at least one second device ) . Regarding claim 2 , EP’447 discloses the information relating to the retransmission control indicates whether transmission of a data signal is a new transmission or a retransmission for each of the plurality of users (Fig. 5a, paragraphs [0057], [0058], the bitmap includes a plurality of bits, and each bit may be 0 or 1, to indicate that data of the second device corresponding to the bit is new transmitted data or retransmitted data) . Regarding claim 3 , EP’447 discloses the information relating to the retransmission control includes a value of each of the plurality of users (Fig. 5a, paragraphs [0057], [0058], for example, data of four users (from a user 1 to a user 4) is in a one-to-one correspondence with four bits in the bitmap, and if data of the user 1 is new transmitted data, and data of the user 2, the user 3, and the user 4 is retransmitted data, the bitmap is 0111). Regarding claim 4 , EP’447 discloses the information relating to the retransmission control includes a value common to the plurality of users (Fig. 5a, paragraphs [0057], [0058], a field that carries the bitmap in the common field of the NG-SIG-B). Regarding claim 5 , EP’447 discloses the control circuitry determines a configuration of the user specific information based on the information relating to the retransmission control (paragraphs [0062], [0063], HARQ information may be carried in user information) . Regarding claim 6 , EP’447 discloses the control circuitry configures a parameter relating to the retransmission control in the user specific information, in a case where the information relating to the retransmission control indicates a retransmission (paragraphs [0062], [0063], HARQ information may be carried in user information of the second device; when the transmission indicator is used to indicate that the data of the second device is retransmitted data, the first information is HARQ information required by the second device for combining data, in other words, the HARQ information is indicated in a manner of reusing original field information) , and the control circuitry does not configure the parameter in the user specific information, in a case where the information relating to the retransmission control indicates a new transmission (paragraphs [0062], [0063], user information of the second device may further include first information, and when the transmission indicator is used to indicate that the data of the second device is new transmitted data, the first information is information (for example, information such as an NSTS, a TxBF, an MCS, and coding) used to indicate a transmission format of the new transmitted data). Regarding claim 8 , EP’447 discloses the control circuitry configures the information relating to the retransmission control in resource allocation information to be included in the common information (paragraph [0055], NG-SIG-B carries a resource unit allocation indication and at least one piece of user information) . Regarding claim 11 , EP’447 discloses the control circuitry configures a parameter of a different type in the user specific information between a case where the information relating to the retransmission control indicates a retransmission and a case where the information relating to the retransmission control indicates a new transmission (paragraphs [0062], [0063], in a data retransmission process, an MCS, a coding scheme, and other corresponding physical layer parameters (such as an NSTS and a TxBF) are the same as those used in a new data transmission; optionally, during data retransmission, information such as an NSTS, a TxBF, an MCS, and coding does not need to be carried, and instead, a field that carries the information is used to carry the HARQ information) . Regarding claim 12 , the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 1 from the perspective of the terminal . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 11. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. 07-21-aia AIA 12. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 3780447 B1 (as submitted by the applicant with IDS dated June 03, 2024), hereinafter “EP’447” in view of KIM et al. (US 2020/0280399 A1; as submitted by the applicant with IDS dated June 03, 2024), hereinafter “Kim” . Regarding claim 9 , EP’447 discloses the base station according to claim 8. EP’447 does not explicitly disclose “the resource allocation information indicates that a retransmission opportunity for a data signal is assigned to a resource different from a resource used for multiple-user multiplexing”. However, Kim from the same or similar field of endeavor discloses the resource allocation information indicates that a retransmission opportunity for a data signal is assigned to a resource different from a resource used for multiple-user multiplexing (paragraphs [0239], [0275], [0259], one or more RUs(resource units) may be allocated to one STA, a different HARQ Burst may be transmitted to each RU, and a different MCS may be applied to each HARQ Burst; for example, a different MCS may be used depending on a state of each sub channel or new transmission/retransmission; MCS of HARQ Burst transmitted to RU having a good channel state may be higher than MCS of HARQ Burst transmitted to RU having a poor channel state) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide “the resource allocation information indicates that a retransmission opportunity for a data signal is assigned to a resource different from a resource used for multiple-user multiplexing” as taught by Kim, in the system of EP’447, so that it would provide PPDU transmission and retransmission based on HARQ process performed in the physical layer more exactly and efficiently (Kim, paragraph [0016]) . 07-21-aia AIA 13. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 3780447 B1, hereinafter “EP’447” in view of Bharadwaj et al. (US 2017/0181129 A1; as submitted by the applicant with IDS dated June 03, 2024), hereinafter “Bharadwaj” . Regarding claim 10 , EP’447 discloses the base station according to claim 8. EP’447 does not explicitly disclose “the resource allocation information indicates that a retransmission opportunity for a data signal is assigned to a resource different from a resource including a center of a system band”. However, Bharadwaj from the same or similar field of endeavor discloses the resource allocation information indicates that a retransmission opportunity for a data signal is assigned to a resource different from a resource including a center of a system band (Figs. 4B-4C, 9A, paragraphs [0148], [0149], [0151], RU allocation table provided for the allocation plan for channels; corresponding center 26 tone RU) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide “the resource allocation information indicates that a retransmission opportunity for a data signal is assigned to a resource different from a resource including a center of a system band” as taught by Bharadwaj, in the system of EP’447, so that it would provide for resource allocation signaling supporting preamble design aspects of high efficiency wireless local area networks (Bharadwaj, paragraph [0007]) . Allowable Subject Matter 14. Claim 7 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable under or contingent upon the following conditions : (1) that the claims are rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims as presented by applicant and referenced herein, (2) that the subject limitation(s) are not taken alone but in view of the entirety of the claim language including any preceding claim limitation, any proceeding claim limitations, and any intervening claim limitations, and (3) that all independent claims (1 and 12) were amended with similar features and the amendments were submitted in a formal response. 13-03-01 AIA The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding Claim 7 , contingent upon or subject to the conditions noted herein above , the prior art of record fails to disclose, alone, individually or in any reasonable combination, as required by the dependent claim(s) : “in a case where the information relating to the retransmission control indicates a retransmission, the control circuitry does not configure, in the user specific information, at least one of a plurality of the parameters configured in the user specific information in a case where the information relating to the retransmission control indicates a new transmission”. Citations of Pertinent Prior Art 07-96 AIA 15. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. • KIM et al. (US 2021/0100052 A1) entitled: "Method For Supporting Dual Connectivity In Wireless Lan System And Wireless Terminal Using Same" • Atefi (US 2018/0376460 A1) entitled: "Apparatuses, Methods, And Computer-Readable Medium For Communication In A Wireless Local Area Network" • LIM et al. (US 2018/0241597 A1) entitled: "Method For Transmitting Signals In DCM Mode In Wireless LAN System, And Device For Same" Conclusion 16. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SITHU KO whose telephone number is 571-272-8647. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Friday 8:30am-5:00pmEST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached on 571-272-7884. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SITHU KO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 2 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 3 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 4 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 5 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 6 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 7 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 8 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 9 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 10 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 11 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 12 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 13 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 14 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 15 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/732,328 Page 16 Art Unit: 2414
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