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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
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 1-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-10 of U.S. Patent No. 12075418. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of following:
- With respect to claims, the Patent discloses a method for reporting uplink control information, performed by a User Equipment (UE) (see claim 1, lines 1-2 of Patent “18) and comprising: determining resource indication information of an uplink channel occupation, wherein the resource indication information indicates a resource of an uplink channel occupied by the UE for sending information by a base station (see claim 1, lines 3-7 of Patent “18); carrying uplink indication information with a preset resource on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) scheduled by a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and/or a configured grant PUSCH, wherein the uplink indication information comprises the resource indication information of the uplink channel occupation (see claim 1, lines 8-14 of Patent “18); and sending the PUSCH scheduled by the PDCCH and/or the configured grant PUSCH to the base station (see claim 1, lines 15-16 of Patent “18).
- Regarding to claims, the Application merely broaden the scope of the patent by eliminating: “a time-frequency resource”; “where the time-frequency resource indication information is used for indicating a time-frequency resource of an uplink channel occupied by the UE”; “where the uplink indication information comprises the time-frequency resource indication information of the uplink channel occupation information”; “to make the base station send an information according to the time-frequency resource of the uplink channel indicated by the time-frequency resource indication information”. It have been held that the omission of the element and its function is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements perform the same function as before. In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184 (CCPA). Also note Ex Parte Raine, 168 USPQ 375 (bd. App. 1969); omission of a reference element whose function is not need would be obvious to one skill in the art.
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, 6, 7, 12-14 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo et al. (Pub. No. 20170048916) in view of Fu et al. (Pub. No. 20180019842).
- With respect to claims 1, 7, 13-14, Yoo teaches a method for reporting uplink control information, performed by a User Equipment (UE) and comprising: determining resource indication information of an uplink channel occupation, wherein the resource indication information indicates a resource of an uplink channel occupied by the UE for sending information by a base station (see steps S600, S610 and S620 in fig. 6); carrying uplink indication information with a preset resource on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) scheduled by a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and/or a configured grant PUSCH (e.g. par. 86), wherein the uplink indication information comprises the resource indication information of the uplink channel occupation; and sending the PUSCH scheduled by the PDCCH and/or the configured grant PUSCH to the base station (e.g. step s620 in fig. 6 and par. 107). Yoo explicitly fails to teaches a preset resource on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) scheduled by a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Fu teaches a preset resource on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) scheduled by a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) (see par. 135). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to implement the method of a preset resource on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) scheduled by a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) into Yoo’s invention for control uplink channel to report the occupation of the UL channel in communication.
- With respect to claims 6, 12, 19, Yoo teaches wherein the uplink indication information further comprises at least one of: a HARQ process (see par. 81), a Redundancy Version (RV) and a CSI.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
. Examiner's Note: Examiner has cited particular paragraphs or columns and line numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHUC H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3172. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 Flex.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy K. Kundu can be reached at 571-272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PHUC H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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