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 .
Double Patenting
Claims 1-86 of this application is patentably indistinct from claims 1-86 of Application No. 17/582,473. Pursuant to 37 CFR 1.78(f), when two or more applications filed by the same applicant or assignee contain patentably indistinct claims, elimination of such claims from all but one application may be required in the absence of good and sufficient reason for their retention during pendency in more than one application. Applicant is required to either cancel the patentably indistinct claims from all but one application or maintain a clear line of demarcation between the applications. See MPEP § 822.
The nonstatutory 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 timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims 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); 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 nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) 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 www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-86 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-86 of U.S. Patent No. 12041613. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of the following:
The table below shows the independent claims #1, apparatus claim for user equipment of the instant application and already patented application.
Instant application (18/753,750)
Patented application (17/582,473)
Patent #12041613
1. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a base station, control signaling for scheduling communications on a scheduled component carrier that is different from a scheduling component carrier, the control signaling identifying a scheduling configuration indicating a first search space set and a second search space set of the scheduling component carrier;
receive, from the base station and through the control signaling or additional control signaling, a search space set linking configuration for a plurality of search space sets of the scheduled component carrier based at least in part on the scheduling configuration;
identify, based at least in part on the search space set linking configuration, a set of decoding candidates within the first search space set and the second search space set of the scheduling component carrier which are allocated for cross-carrier scheduling of the scheduled component carrier;
receive, from the base station and within at least one decoding candidate of the set of decoding candidates, at least one control message via the scheduling component carrier that schedules a communication between the base station and the UE via the scheduled component carrier; and
transmit or receive the communication with the base station via the scheduled component carrier based at least in part on the at least one control message.
1. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a base station, control signaling identifying a scheduling configuration indicating a first search space set and a second search space set of a scheduling component carrier for scheduling communications on a scheduled component carrier that is different from the scheduling component carrier;
identify a search space set linking configuration for a plurality of search space sets of the scheduled component carrier based at least in part on the scheduling configuration;
identify, based at least in part on the search space set linking configuration, a set of decoding candidates within the first search space set and the second search space set of the scheduling component carrier which are allocated for cross-carrier scheduling of the scheduled component carrier;
receive, from the base station and within at least one decoding candidate of the set of decoding candidates, at least one control message via the scheduling component carrier that schedules a communication between the base station and the UE via the scheduled component carrier; and
transmit or receive the communication with the base station via the scheduled component carrier based at least in part on the at least one control message.
The claims are not identical and the primary difference that lies in the claim element of the instant application, receive, from the base station and through the control signaling or additional control signaling, a search space set linking configuration, and the patented claim, identify a search space set linking configuration.
Though the claims are not identical, It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention may be come up with the claimed invention by modifying the patented claim by specifying specific method of identifying the search space set linking configuration.
Independent claims 24, 44, and 67 are change in category with respect to claim 1 of the instant application.
Dependent claims 2-23, 25-43, 45-66, and 68-86 of the instant application and 2-23, 25-43, 45-66, and 68-86 of the patented application are also obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art based on their individual scopes/combinations.
Conclusion
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/INTEKHAAB A SIDDIQUEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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