CTNF 18/763,920 CTNF 82752 DETAILED ACTION 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Loehr et al. (Pub No.: 2018/0309660) in view of Zhang et al. (Pub No.: 2024/0324054) . Regarding claim 1 , Loehr et al. discloses a communication apparatus (see UE 300 in fig. 3) configured to perform communication with a master cell group (MCG) (see MAC MCG 540 in fig. 5) managed by a master node (see para. 0086-0088) and a secondary cell group (SCG) (see MAC SCG 545 in fig. 5) managed by a secondary node (see para. 0086-0088), the communication apparatus comprising: a receiver (see receiver 335 in fig. 3) configured to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message (Loehr et al. see para. 0045, 0094; In para. 0045, The network procedure 200 begins with the gNB 210 sending the UE 205 a first control signal used to activate the packet duplication (see signaling 215) for said radio bearer. Here, the first control signal may be a PDCP control signal, a MAC control signal, and/or an RRC signal.). The UE receives the first control signal used to activate the packet duplication via RRC message, and a controller (read as the processor 305 in fig. 3 and/or the MAC entities 540-545 in fig. 5) configured to manage a variable for a logical channel in a logical channel prioritization procedure (Loehr et al. see para. 0094; In various embodiments, the token bucket status Bj is initialized to zero when the related logical channel is established, and incremented by the product PBR×TTI duration for each TTI, where PBR is Prioritized Bit Rate of logical channel j), The UE including MAC entities to manage a variable Bj for each logical channel j by using the product PBRxTTI duration, where PBR is Prioritized Bit Rate of logical channel j. Thus, the PBR is broadly interpreted as the prioritization procedure for a logical channel, wherein the controller is configured to initialize the variable to zero based on establishment of the logical channel (Loehr et al. see para. 0094; Here, the MAC entities 540-545 maintain a variable Bj for each logical channel j, Bj representing the status of the token bucket for that logical channel, e.g., the amount of tokens accumulated for that logial channel. In various embodiments, the token bucket status Bj is initialized to zero when the related logical channel is established). However, Loehr et al. does not explicitly disclose the feature to control whether to initialize the variable to zero based on activation or deactivation of the SCG indicated by using the RRC message. Zhang et al. from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature to control whether to initialize the variable to zero based on activation or deactivation of the SCG indicated by using the RRC message (Zhang et al. see para. 0028, 0086, 0087, 0092; Step S102: when the UE receives the indication information to deactivate the SCG, the UE performing at least one or more of the following operations: In para. 0087, indicating the SCG deactivation information to an upper layer, here the upper layer may be an RRC layer or an RLC layer. In para. 0092, Operation III: resetting all state variables to an initial value thereof, for example, setting an initial value of zero.). Thus, the variable is reset to zero based on SCG deactivation indicated by the indication information (e.g., via RRC signaling). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the disclosure of Loehr et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Zhang et al. to initialize the variable to zero based on deactivation of the SCG indicated by RRC message. The motivation would be to improve transmission reliability. Claim 9 is rejected similarly to claim 1. Regarding claim 5 , Loehr et al. discloses a master node (read as the gNB 210 in fig. 2) configured to manage a master cell group (MCG) (see para. 0086) and connected to a communication apparatus (read as the UE 205 in fig. 2) and a secondary node managing a secondary cell group (SCG) (see para. 0086), the master node comprising: a transmitter (see transmitter 430 in fig. 4) configured to transmit a radio resource control (RRC) message (Loehr et al. see para. 0045, 0094; In para. 0045, The network procedure 200 begins with the gNB 210 sending the UE 205 a first control signal used to activate the packet duplication (see signaling 215) for said radio bearer. Here, the first control signal may be a PDCP control signal, a MAC control signal, and/or an RRC signal.). The gNB transmits the first control signal used to activate the packet duplication via RRC message, and a controller (see processor 405 in fig. 4) configured to control a variable for a logical channel used in a logical channel prioritization procedure (Loehr et al. see para. 0086, 0087, 0094; The NE, e.g., an MN or an SN, signals to the UE 205 the PDCP duplication configuration, e.g., activation/deactivation of duplication. In para. 0094, In various embodiments, the token bucket status Bj is initialized to zero when the related logical channel is established, and incremented by the product PBR×TTI duration for each TTI, where PBR is Prioritized Bit Rate of logical channel j), The gNB (e.g., NE) transmits the PDCP duplication configuration (e.g., activation/deactivation) to the UE to control a variable for a logical channel used in a logical channel prioritization procedure. The PBR is broadly interpreted as the prioritization procedure for a logical channel, wherein the variable is initialized to zero based on establishment of the logical channel (Loehr et al. see para. 0094; Here, the MAC entities 540-545 maintain a variable Bj for each logical channel j, Bj representing the status of the token bucket for that logical channel, e.g., the amount of tokens accumulated for that logial channel. In various embodiments, the token bucket status Bj is initialized to zero when the related logical channel is established). However, Loehr et al. does not explicitly disclose the feature wherein the variable is controlled to whether to be initialized to zero based on activation or deactivation of the SCG indicated by using the RRC message. Zhang et al. from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature wherein the variable is controlled to whether to be initialized to zero based on activation or deactivation of the SCG indicated by using the RRC message (Zhang et al. see para. 0028, 0086, 0087, 0092; Step S102: when the UE receives the indication information to deactivate the SCG, the UE performing at least one or more of the following operations: In para. 0087, indicating the SCG deactivation information to an upper layer, here the upper layer may be an RRC layer or an RLC layer. In para. 0092, Operation III: resetting all state variables to an initial value thereof, for example, setting an initial value of zero.). Thus, the variable is reset to zero based on SCG deactivation indicated by the indication information (e.g., via RRC signaling). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the disclosure of Loehr et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Zhang et al. to initialize the variable to zero based on deactivation of the SCG indicated by RRC message. The motivation would be to improve transmission reliability. Regarding claim 2 , Zhang et al. discloses the feature wherein the variable is initialized to zero in a case where the activation of the SCG is indicated (Zhang et al. see para. 0095, 0101; In para. 0095, When the UE receives the indication information to activate the SCG, the UE performs at least one or more of the following operations: [0101] Operation III: resetting all state variables to the initial value thereof.). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the disclosure of Loehr et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Zhang et al. to initialize the variable to zero based on activation of the SCG indicated by RRC message. The motivation would be to improve transmission reliability . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12 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. Examiner's Note The Applicant is welcome to request a telephonic interview if the Applicant has any questions or requires any additional information that would further or expedite the prosecution of the application. Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kim et al. (Pub No.: 2024/0349088) discloses disclosure relates to a failure recovery in wireless communications. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a user equipment (UE) in a dual connectivity of a first cell group and a second cell group may determine a timer value for a recovery procedure of a failure on the first cell group based on at least one of i) a state of the second cell group, ii) whether a random access procedure to the second cell group is required for the recovery procedure, or iii) a time duration required for the random access procedure . Tsai (Pub No.: 2022/0264686) discloses method, executed by a User Equipment (UE) communicatively connected to a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) of a mobile communication network, is provided. The method includes the following steps: receiving a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message or a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) including an indicator for suspension or resumption of the SCG or for deactivation or activation of a Primary Secondary Cell (PSCell) of the SCG from the mobile communication network; suspending SCG transmission for all radio bearers in response to the first RRC message or the MAC CE including an indicator for suspension of the SCG or deactivation of the PSCell; and resuming SCG transmission for all radio bearers in response to the first RRC message or the MAC CE including an indicator for resumption of the SCG or activation of the PSCell. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAN YUEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1413. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:30am-7pm. 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, Ricky Ngo can be reached at 571-272-3139. 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. /KAN YUEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464 Application/Control Number: 18/763,920 Page 2 Art Unit: 2464 Application/Control Number: 18/763,920 Page 3 Art Unit: 2464 Application/Control Number: 18/763,920 Page 4 Art Unit: 2464 Application/Control Number: 18/763,920 Page 5 Art Unit: 2464 Application/Control Number: 18/763,920 Page 6 Art Unit: 2464 Application/Control Number: 18/763,920 Page 7 Art Unit: 2464 Application/Control Number: 18/763,920 Page 8 Art Unit: 2464
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