Detailed Action
1. This Action is in response to Applicant's Patent Application filed on August 29, 2024. Claims 1-20 are currently pending in the present application. This Action is made Non-Final.
America Invents Act (AIA ) Information
2. 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
3. The information disclosure statement(s) submitted within this application (has/have) been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
6. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
7. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
8. Claims 1, 15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HWANG; Daesung et al. (US 20230146928 A1), hereafter “HWANG,” in view of Huang; Chun-Wei et al. (US 20200205166 A1), hereafter “Huang,”
Consider claim 1, HWANG discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to (see fig. 2: #10, par. 0205: “first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104 and additionally further include one or more transceivers 106 and/or one or more antennas 108.”): select one or more physical sidelink feedback channels (PSFCHs) from a set of PSFCHs on overlapping in time domain (see par. 0155: “the UE may select a PSFCH to be omitted or to finally select a PSFCH to be transmitted. For example, the maximum number of PSFCHs that a UE can transmit simultaneously may be predefined for a power limited case and a power non-limited case, respectively” and “PSFCH reception and/or PSFCH transmission of a UE may overlap at the same time point”), based on configuration information indicating a capability of simultaneous PSFCH transmissions of the UE (see par. 0154: “For example, the maximum number of PSFCHs capable of simultaneous transmission may be defined as a part of UE capability” and par. 0155 “In this case, even if the PSFCH transmission of the UE is selected with high priority, the UE may select the number of transmittable PSFCHs according to UE capability based on a priority value indicated by SCI”) and a maximum transmitting power for the UE (see par. 0153: “For example, a UE may determine or configure the maximum transmit power that can be used to transmit a PSFCH (hereinafter, the maximum transmit power for a PSFCH). For example, the maximum transmit power for the PSFCH may be configured to be smaller than the maximum transmit power of a UE (hereinafter, PCmax). For example, the maximum transmit power for a PSFCH may be limited to a value obtained by multiplying PCmax by a scaling value. For example, PCmax may be a linear value. For example, PCmax may be a dB value.”); and transmit the one or more PSFCHs (see par. 0147: “In step S1230, the receiving UE may transmit the PSFCH to the transmitting UE based on the transmit power of the PSFCH”).
HWANG, however, does not particular refer to the following limitation taught by Huang, in analogous art; select one or more physical sidelink feedback channels (PSFCHs) from a set of PSFCHs on a set of carriers (see par. 0006: “The first UE may derive a second slot for transmitting a second PSFCH based upon a second resource associated with the second sidelink transmission. At least a part of the first slot may overlap with at least a part of the second slot in the time domain. Responsive to determining that a number of carriers of a second plurality of carriers associated with derived transmissions of a plurality of PSFCHs exceeds the first number of carriers, the first UE may prioritize the first PSFCH or the second PSFCH based upon a rule. The plurality of PSFCHs may comprise the first PSFCH and the second PSFCH. A plurality of slots for transmitting the derived transmissions of the plurality of PSFCHs may be at least partially overlapped in the time domain”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of HWANG and have it include the teachings of Huang. The motivation would have been in order to use available carriers to better manage the resource (see par. 0006).
Consider claim 15, HWANG discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: (see fig. 2: #10, par. 0205: “first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104 and additionally further include one or more transceivers 106 and/or one or more antennas 108.”): selecting one or more physical sidelink feedback channels (PSFCHs) from a set of PSFCHs overlapping in time domain (see par. 0155: “the UE may select a PSFCH to be omitted or to finally select a PSFCH to be transmitted. For example, the maximum number of PSFCHs that a UE can transmit simultaneously may be predefined for a power limited case and a power non-limited case, respectively” and “PSFCH reception and/or PSFCH transmission of a UE may overlap at the same time point”), based on configuration information indicating a capability of simultaneous PSFCH transmissions (see par. 0154: “For example, the maximum number of PSFCHs capable of simultaneous transmission may be defined as a part of UE capability” and par. 0155 “In this case, even if the PSFCH transmission of the UE is selected with high priority, the UE may select the number of transmittable PSFCHs according to UE capability based on a priority value indicated by SCI”) and a maximum transmitting power for simultaneous PSFCH transmissions (see par. 0153: “For example, a UE may determine or configure the maximum transmit power that can be used to transmit a PSFCH (hereinafter, the maximum transmit power for a PSFCH). For example, the maximum transmit power for the PSFCH may be configured to be smaller than the maximum transmit power of a UE (hereinafter, PCmax). For example, the maximum transmit power for a PSFCH may be limited to a value obtained by multiplying PCmax by a scaling value. For example, PCmax may be a linear value. For example, PCmax may be a dB value.”); and transmitting the one or more PSFCHs (see par. 0147: “In step S1230, the receiving UE may transmit the PSFCH to the transmitting UE based on the transmit power of the PSFCH”).
HWANG, however, does not particular refer to the following limitation taught by Huang, in analogous art; select one or more physical sidelink feedback channels (PSFCHs) from a set of PSFCHs on a set of carriers (see par. 0006: “The first UE may derive a second slot for transmitting a second PSFCH based upon a second resource associated with the second sidelink transmission. At least a part of the first slot may overlap with at least a part of the second slot in the time domain. Responsive to determining that a number of carriers of a second plurality of carriers associated with derived transmissions of a plurality of PSFCHs exceeds the first number of carriers, the first UE may prioritize the first PSFCH or the second PSFCH based upon a rule. The plurality of PSFCHs may comprise the first PSFCH and the second PSFCH. A plurality of slots for transmitting the derived transmissions of the plurality of PSFCHs may be at least partially overlapped in the time domain”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of HWANG and have it include the teachings of Huang. The motivation would have been in order to use available carriers to better manage the resource (see par. 0006).
Consider claim 18, HWANG processor for wireless communication, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: (see fig. 2: #10, par. 0205: “first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104 and additionally further include one or more transceivers 106 and/or one or more antennas 108.”): select one or more physical sidelink feedback channels (PSFCHs) from a set of PSFCHs on overlapping in time domain (see par. 0155: “the UE may select a PSFCH to be omitted or to finally select a PSFCH to be transmitted. For example, the maximum number of PSFCHs that a UE can transmit simultaneously may be predefined for a power limited case and a power non-limited case, respectively” and “PSFCH reception and/or PSFCH transmission of a UE may overlap at the same time point”), based on configuration information indicating a capability of simultaneous PSFCH transmissions of the processor (see par. 0154: “For example, the maximum number of PSFCHs capable of simultaneous transmission may be defined as a part of UE capability” and par. 0155 “In this case, even if the PSFCH transmission of the UE is selected with high priority, the UE may select the number of transmittable PSFCHs according to UE capability based on a priority value indicated by SCI”) and a maximum transmitting power for the processor (see par. 0153: “For example, a UE may determine or configure the maximum transmit power that can be used to transmit a PSFCH (hereinafter, the maximum transmit power for a PSFCH). For example, the maximum transmit power for the PSFCH may be configured to be smaller than the maximum transmit power of a UE (hereinafter, PCmax). For example, the maximum transmit power for a PSFCH may be limited to a value obtained by multiplying PCmax by a scaling value. For example, PCmax may be a linear value. For example, PCmax may be a dB value.”); and transmit the one or more PSFCHs (see par. 0147: “In step S1230, the receiving UE may transmit the PSFCH to the transmitting UE based on the transmit power of the PSFCH”).
HWANG, however, does not particular refer to the following limitation taught by Huang, in analogous art; select one or more physical sidelink feedback channels (PSFCHs) from a set of PSFCHs on a set of carriers (see par. 0006: “The first UE may derive a second slot for transmitting a second PSFCH based upon a second resource associated with the second sidelink transmission. At least a part of the first slot may overlap with at least a part of the second slot in the time domain. Responsive to determining that a number of carriers of a second plurality of carriers associated with derived transmissions of a plurality of PSFCHs exceeds the first number of carriers, the first UE may prioritize the first PSFCH or the second PSFCH based upon a rule. The plurality of PSFCHs may comprise the first PSFCH and the second PSFCH. A plurality of slots for transmitting the derived transmissions of the plurality of PSFCHs may be at least partially overlapped in the time domain”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of HWANG and have it include the teachings of Huang. The motivation would have been in order to use available carriers to better manage the resource (see par. 0006).
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claim(s) 2-14, 16-17 and 19-20 (is/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.
Conclusion
10. The following prior arts are made of record and not relied upon, but is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure for their relation to selection of physical sidelink feedback channels:
US 20220345249 A1
US 20230097552 A1
US 20220337355 A1
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Marcos Batista, whose telephone number is (571) 270-5209. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm.
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, Rafael Pérez-Gutiérrez can be reached at (571) 272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/MARCOS BATISTA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
October 5, 2026
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