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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 11-12, 15-18, 26-27 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dutta et al. (US 2022/0104263 A1), hereinafter Dutta.
Regarding claim 1, Dutta discloses: (1) a first UE 115-fig.4 that includes a memory 404, a processor 402 coupled to the memory to perform the claimed steps; (2) the UE 115 receives a sidelink transmission 452-fig.4 associated with a direction from the UE end 415A to the other UE 115 end, thus this direction constitute a cast type, e.g., unicast in direction from UE 415A to UE 115-fig.4 (receive, from the second UE, a sidelink transmission associated with a cast type); (3) the HARQ setting data 444-fig.4 of the UE 415A may have data indicating multiple HARQ timeline modes, see 0132; (4) the direction from the UE 115-fig.4 to the UE 415A-fig.1 constitutes the unicast type; (5) In some implementations, the UE 115 optionally determines a second slot of the sidelink channel (in licensed or unlicensed/shared spectrum) to transmit HARQ feedback for the sidelink transmission, as described with reference to FIGS. 4-8. To illustrate, the UE 115 may determine two resources (e.g., slots) based on two HARQ timelines (two HARQ feedback timing gaps) which are configured for the UE 115 and/or the sidelink transmission, see 0176, and the UE 115 transmits to the UE 415A a HARQ feedback 456 to the UE 415A. In other words, (3)-(5) equivalent to “transmit, to the second UE, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback based at least in part on the sidelink transmission, wherein slots used for transmitting the HARQ feedback are based at least in part on a set of HARQ timelines associated with the cast type, and wherein the set of HARQ timelines is included in multiple sets of HARQ timelines configured for sidelink”.
Regarding claim 2, the HARQ setting data 444-fig.4 of the UE 415A may have data indicating multiple HARQ timeline modes, see 0132; and cast type, e.g., groupcast or broadcast, see 0150; In some implementations, the UE 115 optionally determines a second slot of the sidelink channel (in licensed or unlicensed/shared spectrum) to transmit HARQ feedback for the sidelink transmission, as described with reference to FIGS. 4-8. To illustrate, the UE 115 may determine two resources (e.g., slots) based on two HARQ timelines (two HARQ feedback timing gaps) which are configured for the UE 115 and/or the sidelink transmission, see 0176,
Regarding claim 3, the UE 115-fig.4 receives a sidelink transmission 452-fig.4 associated with direction from UE 415A to UE 115-fig.4. Thus, the sidelink transmission in this case is considered as unicast type.
Regarding claim 11, the indicator 490-fig.4 may indicate enhanced HARQ feedback operation capability for unlicensed spectrum and/or sidelink channel operations or a particular type or mode of HARQ feedback operation, see 0142.
Regarding claim 12, this claim has similar limitations to those of claim 1. Therefore, it is rejected under Dutta for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 1. In Dutta, the UE 415A-fig.4 may send a SCI message indicating a sidelink channel data transmission, such as a sidelink channel data transmission 452, see 0144.
Regarding claim 15, this claim has similar limitations to those of claim 11. Therefore, it is rejected under Dutta for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 11.
Regarding claim 16, this claim has similar limitations to those of claim 1. Therefore, it is rejected under Dutta for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 17, this claim has similar limitations to those of claim 2. Therefore, it is rejected under Dutta for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 2.
Regarding claim 18, this claim has similar limitations to those of claim 3. Therefore, it is rejected under Dutta for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 3.
Regarding claim 26, this claim has similar limitations to those of claim 2. Therefore, it is rejected under Dutta for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 2.
Regarding claim 27, this claim has similar limitations to those of claim 12. Therefore, it is rejected under Dutta for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 12.
Regarding claim 30, this claim has similar limitations to those of claim 15. Therefore, it is rejected under Dutta for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 15.
The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B) if the same invention is not being claimed; or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed in the reference and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement.
Allowable subject matter
4. Claims 4-10, 13-14, 19-25, 28-29 are rejected based on its dependency, would be allowable if rewritten or amended to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
5. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Selvanesan et al. (US 2021/0160014 A1); Wu et al. (US 2021/0099975 A1) are cited and considered pertinent to the instant specification.
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC C HO whose telephone number is (571)272-3147 (Duc.ho@uspto.gov). The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8am-4pm.
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, Gary Mui can be reached on 571-270-1420 (Gary.mui@uspto.gov). 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. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). 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.
/DUC C HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
Prosecution Insights