CTNF 18/778,016 CTNF 83612 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 action is responsive to the application filed on 07/19/2024 has a total of 14 claims pending in the application; there are 2 independent claims and 12 dependent claims, all of which are ready for examination by the examiner. Double Patenting 08-33 AIA 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 §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) 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 USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The 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/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp. 08-34 AIA Claim s 1-14 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim s 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,119,935 [application No.17/507,327] , Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the independent claims and their dependent claims of the instant application contain similar limitations of the independent and their dependent claims of the patented application, which lead to the same claimed invention, thus they are not patentably distinct from each other . The independent claims and their dependent claims of the instant application contain similar limitations of the independent and their dependent claims of the co-pending application. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the language of the claims presented contain the same limitations claimed. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the patented application to create the instant application . 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. 07-20-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. 07-23-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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HWANG et al. Publication No. ((US 2021/0084462 A1) in view of LI et al. Publication No. (US 2021/0306824 A1 Regarding claim 1, HWANG teaches a method for transmitting sidelink data, comprising: receiving, by a second terminal device in a plurality of terminal devices (receiving UE RX-UE of the plurality of UEs FIG.11) , sidelink data, wherein the sidelink data is transmitted to the plurality of terminal devices by a first terminal device (transmitting UE TX-UE [UE1 of FIG.10B] transmit SL data by transmitting a sidelink control information (SCI) to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), and thereafter transmit data based on the SCI to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) [110-111] FIG.11) ; receiving, by the second terminal device, retransmission of the sidelink data transmitted by the first terminal device (retransmission is requested upon detecting the error and determining whether an unrecoverable error is included in data received by a physical layer, and [0115-116] FIG.13) ; obtaining, by the second terminal device, a retransmission feedback resource (the receiving UE may transmit HARQ feedback in response to the PSSCH to the transmitting UE by using a sidelink feedback control information (SFCI) format through a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) [0116-117] FIG.13) ; and determining, by the second terminal device, whether to transmit the feedback information of the retransmission to the first terminal device (transmitting UE TX-UE FIG.11) according to whether the sidelink data is successfully decoded (determining to transmit the feedback information once the receiving UE decodes a PSCCH of which a target is the receiving UE and if the receiving UE successfully decodes a transport block related to the PSCCH, the receiving UE may generate HARQ-ACK. In addition, the receiving UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK to the transmitting UE [0117-119] FIG.11a to 11c) , wherein the obtaining, by the second terminal device, the retransmission feedback resource, comprises: determining, by the second terminal device, the retransmission feedback resource from a feedback resource set (the receiving UE may determine a PSFCH resource for transmitting HARQ feedback in response to the PSCCH and/or PSSCH based on information on the PSFCH resource. For example, the PSFCH resource may also be referred to as a PSFCH resource pool or a PSFCH resource set [0144] FIG.13) , wherein the second terminal device selects a resource from the feedback resource set according to identification information of the second terminal device (the receiving UE may determine the frequency domain and/or code domain of the PSFCH resource, based on at least one of a slot index related to PSCCH/PSSCH/PSFCH, a subchannel related to PSCCH/PSSCH [0129-130] FIG.11a to 11c) , and wherein the identification information is identification information of the second terminal device in a group (an identifier for identifying each receiving UE in a group for HARQ feedback based on the groupcast [0129-130] FIG.11a to 11c). HWANG does not explicitly teach wherein the retransmission feedback resource is used for carrying feedback information of the retransmission. LI teaches the retransmission feedback resource is used for carrying feedback information of the retransmission (LI: The first SCI may carry control information for decoding the data, such as MCS, HARQ process number and RV, HARQ ID, repetition flag and number, precoding, Sidelink Demodulation Reference Signal (SL-DMRS) port and initial state, frequency hopping flag and pattern, etc. The first SCI may also carry resource reservations, such as a resource allocation at a second unicast occasion (e.g., UO2) for HARQ ACK/NACK feedback or other feedback such as SL-CSI feedback, a resource allocation at a third unicast occasion (e.g., UO3) for retransmission if needed, a resource allocation at one of the allocated unicast occasions for Sidelink Sound Reference Signal (SL-SRS) or SL-CSI_RS [0155-159] FIG.9A). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified HWANG by the teaching of LI to include the universal mobile telecommunications system when transferring data between a server and a mobile node in order to allocate resources for HARQ ACK/NACK feedback, repetition, retransmission, and SL-CSI respectively (LI: [0159] FIG.9B). Regarding claim 2, HWANG teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the second terminal device, whether to transmit the feedback information of the retransmission to the first terminal device according to whether the sidelink data is successfully decoded, comprises: responsive to determining that the second terminal device successfully decodes the sidelink data, transmitting, by the second terminal device, acknowledgement (ACK) information to the first terminal device or abandoning, by the second terminal device, transmitting the feedback information of the retransmission to the first terminal device, on the retransmission feedback resource (the receiving UE decodes a PSCCH of which a target is the receiving UE and if the receiving UE successfully decodes a transport block related to the PSCCH, the receiving UE may generate HARQ-ACK. In addition, the receiving UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK to the transmitting UE [0117-1120] FIG.13). Regarding claim 3, HWANG teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the second terminal device, whether to transmit the feedback information of the retransmission to the first terminal device according to whether the sidelink data is successfully decoded, comprises: responsive to determining that the second terminal device successfully decodes the sidelink data and does not successfully decode the retransmission, abandoning, by the second terminal device, transmitting the feedback information of the retransmission to the first terminal device (the receiving UE cannot successfully decode the transport block after decoding the PSCCH of which the target is the receiving UE, the receiving UE may generate the HARQ-NACK. In addition, the receiving UE may transmit HARQ-NACK to the transmitting UE [0117-120] FIG.13). Regarding claim 4, HWANG teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the second terminal device, whether to transmit the feedback information of the retransmission to the first terminal device according to whether the sidelink data is successfully decoded, comprises: responsive to determining that the second terminal device does not successfully decode the sidelink data, transmitting, by the second terminal device, the feedback information of the retransmission to the first terminal device on the retransmission feedback resource according to whether the retransmission is successfully decoded the receiving UE decodes a PSCCH of which a target is the receiving UE and if the receiving UE successfully decodes a transport block related to the PSCCH, the receiving UE may generate HARQ-ACK. In addition, the receiving UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK to the transmitting UE, the receiving UE cannot successfully decode the transport block after decoding the PSCCH of which the target is the receiving UE, the receiving UE may generate the HARQ-NACK. In addition, the receiving UE may transmit HARQ-NACK to the transmitting UE [0117-1120] FIG.13 Regarding claim 5, HWANG teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein the transmitting, by the second terminal device, the feedback information of the retransmission to the first terminal device on the retransmission feedback resource according to whether the retransmission is successfully decoded, comprises: responsive to determining that the second terminal device does not successfully decode the retransmission, transmitting, by the second terminal device, negative acknowledgement (NACK) information to the first terminal device on the retransmission feedback resource (the receiving UE decodes a PSCCH of which a target is the receiving UE and if the receiving UE successfully decodes a transport block related to the PSCCH, the receiving UE may generate HARQ-ACK. In addition, the receiving UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK to the transmitting UE. Otherwise, if the receiving UE cannot successfully decode the transport block after decoding the PSCCH of which the target is the receiving UE, the receiving UE may generate the HARQ-NACK. In addition, the receiving UE may transmit HARQ-NACK to the transmitting UE [0117-1120] FIG.13). Regarding claim 6, HWANG teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising: obtaining, by the second terminal device, a data feedback resource of the sidelink data; and responsive to determining that the second terminal device successfully decodes the sidelink data, transmitting, by the second terminal device, ACK information to the first terminal device on the data feedback resource (the receiving UE decodes a PSCCH of which a target is the receiving UE and if the receiving UE successfully decodes a transport block related to the PSCCH, the receiving UE may generate HARQ-ACK. In addition, the receiving UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK to the transmitting UE [0117-1120] FIG.13) ; or responsive to determining that the second terminal device does not successfully decode the sidelink data, transmitting, by the second terminal device, NACK information to the first terminal device or abandoning, by the second terminal device, transmitting feedback information of the sidelink data to the first terminal device, on the data feedback resource (the receiving UE cannot successfully decode the transport block after decoding the PSCCH of which the target is the receiving UE, the receiving UE may generate the HARQ-NACK. In addition, the receiving UE may transmit HARQ-NACK to the transmitting UE [0117-120] FIG.13). Regarding claim 7, HWANG teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein the obtaining, by the second terminal device, the data feedback resource of the sidelink data, comprises: receiving, by the second terminal device, the data feedback resource transmitted by the first terminal device; or determining, by the second terminal device, the data feedback resource from a feedback resource set (the receiving UE may determine a PSFCH resource for transmitting HARQ feedback in response to the PSCCH and/or PSSCH based on information on the PSFCH resource. For example, the PSFCH resource may also be referred to as a PSFCH resource pool or a PSFCH resource set [0144] FIG.13). Regarding claims 8-14 , the independent claim and each dependent claim are related to the same limitation set for hereinabove in claims 1-7 , where the difference used is the limitations were presented from a “terminal device” side with a processor and memory ([0207-208] FIG.22) and the wordings of the claims were interchanged within the claim itself or some of the claims were presented as a combination of two or more previously presented limitations. This change does not affect the limitation of the above treated claims. Adding these phrases to the claims and interchanging the wording did not introduce new limitations to these claims. Therefore these claims were rejected for similar reasons as stated above. Conclusion When responding to this office action, Applicant is advised to clearly point out the patentable novelty which he or she thinks the claims present, in view of the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. He or she must also show how the amendments avoid such references or objections See 37 CFR 1.111 (c). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABDELNABI O MUSA whose telephone number is (571)270-1901, and email address is abdelnabi.musa@uspto.gov ‘preferred’. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kevin Bates, can be reached on 571-2723980. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. 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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. /ABDELNABI O MUSA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 2 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 3 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 4 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 5 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 6 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 7 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 8 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 9 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 10 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 11 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/778,016 Page 12 Art Unit: 2472
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