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 .
Preliminary Amendment
The present Office Action is based upon the original patent application as modified by the preliminary amendment filed on October 14, 2024. Claims 1-8 and 10-11 are now pending in the present application.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of papers, which have been placed of record in the file.
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements submitted on April 2, 2025, August 13, 2025, December 1, 2025, and February 12, 2026 have been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Claim 11 refers to a “storage medium”. However, in Applicant’s specification, the storage medium is not clearly defined to exclude non-statutory transitory media such as signals or transmission media. Therefore, the subject matter claimed in Claim 11 is again deemed non-statutory subjected matter. Examiner suggests replacing “A storage medium” with --A non-transitory storage medium--. Appropriate correction is required.
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 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 1-7 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by MolavianJazi et al. (hereinafter MolavianJazi) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0057605 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, MolavianJazi teaches and discloses a storage medium, storing a computer program ([0051]; [0054]) and a method for determining a number of monitoring, applied to a terminal (UE, figures 1 and 3), comprising: according to a predefined rule or indication information of a network side (BS, figure 1), for a first cell or multiple cells ([0093]; [0097]; [0098]; [0100]; “…Throughout the present disclosure, the term “configuration” or “higher layer configuration” and variations thereof (such as “configured” and so on) are used to refer to one or more of: a system information signaling such as by a master information block (MIB) or a system information block (SIB) (such as SIB1), a common or cell-specific higher layer / RRC signaling, or a dedicated or UE-specific or BWP-specific higher layer / RRC signaling…”; teaches according to configuration information for single or multi-cells), counting a number of monitored physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates and/or a number of non-overlapping control channel elements (CCEs) carrying first downlink control information (DCI), the first DCI scheduling physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in the multiple cells ([0092]; [0093]; [0097]; [0098]; [0173]; [0377]; teaches the UE counting a number of monitored PDCCH candidates or non-overlapping CCEs carrying a DCI and the DCI scheduling PDSCH and/or PUSCH in multi-cells).
Regarding claim 2, MolavianJazi further teaches and discloses determining the first cell according to the predefined rule; wherein the first cell is a cell where the terminal detects the first DCI ([0093]; [0097]; [0098]; [0100]; teaches according to configuration information determining the first cell related to the first DCI).
Regarding claim 3, MolavianJazi further teaches and discloses determining the first cell according to the indication information of the network side ([0093]; [0097]; [0098]; [0100]; teaches determining the first DCI according to configuration information).
Regarding claim 4, MolavianJazi further teaches and discloses for a second cell, not counting the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and/or a number of non-overlapping CCEs carrying the first DCI, and the second cell is a cell among the multiple cells excepting the first cell ([0089]; “…the UE counts the PDCCH candidate as a full/single count towards a number of monitored PDCCH candidates in the slot, and as a full count L towards a number of monitored non-overlapping CCEs in the slot, for only the first scheduled cell - no counting towards the limits for other cells in the set of co-scheduled cells…”; [0097]; [0359]; teaches not counting the number of PDCCH and non-overlapping CCEs for the second cell).
Regarding claim 5, MolavianJazi further teaches and discloses wherein the counting according to the predefined rule or indication information of the network side, the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and/or the number of non-overlapping CCEs carrying the first DCI for the first cell or the multiple cells comprises: according to the predefined rule, for the multiple cells, counting the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and/or the number of non-overlapping CCEs carrying the first DCI ([0093]; [0097]; [0098]; [0100]; teaches according to configuration information for multi-cell counting the number of PDCCH candidates and non-overlapping CCEs).
Regarding claim 6, MolavianJazi further teaches and discloses wherein the counting, according to the predefined rule, the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and/or the number of non-overlapping CCEs carrying the first DCI for the multiple cells comprises: for each of the multiple cells, multiplying the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and/or the number of non-overlapping CCEs carrying the first DCI by a first factor, and counting the result into the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and/or the number of non-overlapping CCEs carrying the first DCI corresponding to each of the multiple cells ([0367]; “…a UE can be configured separate scaling factors that the UE applies to count a PDCCH candidate or non-overlapping CCE for each cell from the set of co-scheduled cells …”; [0403]; teaches multiplying the number of PDCCH candidates and non-overlapping CCEs by a scaling factor and counting the results).
Regarding claim 7, MolavianJazi further teaches and discloses wherein the first factor is a parameter related to N or 1/N; wherein N is a number of cells scheduled by the first DCI or a number of cells configured for the first DCI to schedule ([0374]; teaches the scaling factor related to N cells or 1/N).
Regarding claim 10, MolavianJazi teaches and discloses a terminal (UE, figures 1 and 3), comprising: a processor (processor, figure 3), a memory (memory, figure 3) and a communication bus (inherent connections between components of the UE as depicted in figure 3); wherein the processor is configured to execute a running program ([0051]; [0054]) stored in the memory to perform:
according to a predefined rule or indication information of a network side (BS, figure 1), for a first cell or multiple cells ([0093]; [0097]; [0098]; [0100]; “…Throughout the present disclosure, the term “configuration” or “higher layer configuration” and variations thereof (such as “configured” and so on) are used to refer to one or more of: a system information signaling such as by a master information block (MIB) or a system information block (SIB) (such as SIB1), a common or cell-specific higher layer / RRC signaling, or a dedicated or UE-specific or BWP-specific higher layer / RRC signaling…”; teaches according to configuration information for single or multi-cells), counting a number of monitored physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates and/or a number of non-overlapping control channel elements (CCEs) carrying first downlink control information (DCI), the first DCI scheduling physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in the multiple cells ([0092]; [0093]; [0097]; [0098]; [0173]; [0377]; teaches the UE counting a number of monitored PDCCH candidates or non-overlapping CCEs carrying a DCI and the DCI scheduling PDSCH and/or PUSCH in multi-cells).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 of this title, 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MolavianJazi et al. (hereinafter MolavianJazi) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0057605 A1) in view of Papasakellariou et al. (hereinafter Papasakellariou) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0309106 A1).
Regarding claim 8, MolavianJazi discloses the UE counting a number of monitored PDCCH candidates or non-overlapping CCEs carrying a DCI and the DCI scheduling PDSCH and/or PUSCH in multi-cells according to configuration information for single or multi-cells, but may not explicitly disclose for a primary cell among the multiple cells, if the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs in a first search space multiplied by the first factor is less than or equal to the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs remained in the primary cell, monitoring the first search space; if the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs in the first search space multiplied by the first factor is greater than the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs remained in the primary cell, not monitoring the first search space or other search space with an index larger than an index of the first search space; wherein the first search space is a search space configured with the first DCI.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Papasakellariou teaches and suggests for a primary cell among the multiple cells, if the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs in a first search space multiplied by the first factor is less than or equal to the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs remained in the primary cell, monitoring the first search space; if the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs in the first search space multiplied by the first factor is greater than the number of monitored PDCCH candidates and the number of non-overlapping CCEs remained in the primary cell, not monitoring the first search space or other search space with an index larger than an index of the first search space; wherein the first search space is a search space configured with the first DCI ([0160]; “…a UE evaluates, per slot, whether a number of configured PDCCH candidates, according to corresponding configured search space sets, exceeds a limit for non-overlapping CCE or a limit for a number of PDCCH candidates, also referred to as blind decoding (BD) limit, that the UE is expected to be able to monitor in a slot…the UE drops PDCCH monitoring for all search space sets with indexes larger than or equal to the index of a search space set where the UE reaches the limit for the number of non-overlapped CCEs or the limit for the number of PDCCH candidates that the UE can monitor in a slot…”; [0173]; teaches for multi-cell scheduling, determining and comparing a number of PDCCH candidate and non-overlapping CCEs in a search space to a limit, and determining to monitoring a search space based on an index).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate for multi-cell scheduling, determining and comparing a number of PDCCH candidate and non-overlapping CCEs in a search space to a limit, and determining to monitoring a search space based on an index as taught by Papasakellariou with the method and apparatus for counting a number of monitored PDCCH candidates or non-overlapping CCEs carrying a DCI and the DCI scheduling PDSCH and/or PUSCH in multi-cells according to configuration information for single or multi-cells as disclosed by MolavianJazi for the purpose of reducing overhead for multi-cell scheduling, as suggested by Papasakellariou.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
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/Suk Jin Kang/
Examiner, Art Unit 2477
August 21, 2026
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