Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/857,310

METHODS, ARCHITECTURES, APPARATUSES AND SYSTEMS DIRECTED TO HYBRID AUTOMATIC REPEAT REQUEST (HARQ) OPERATIONS FOR SIDELINK COMMUNICATIONS IN UNLICENSED SPECTRUM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Oct 16, 2024
Priority
Apr 26, 2022 — provisional 63/335,134 +3 more
Examiner
SAIFUDDIN, AHMED
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
InterDigital Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 2m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allowance Rate
37 granted / 45 resolved
+22.2% vs TC avg
Strong +23% interview lift
Without
With
+23.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
48 currently pending
Career history
98
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.2%
-38.8% vs TC avg
§103
71.9%
+31.9% vs TC avg
§102
25.2%
-14.8% vs TC avg
§112
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 45 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 § 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. Claims 18-20, 22-24, 26-27, 28-30, 32-34, and 36-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HWANG et al. (Patent No: US 2025/0247883 A1), hereinafter, HWANG, in view of LI et al. (Patent No: US 2023/0319880 A1), hereinafter, LI. Regarding Claim 18, HWANG teaches, A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising: a processor configured to: -Fig. 20 (Fig. 20 shows device to device communication with each device comprises of transceiver, processor and memory) receive, during a first channel occupancy time established for device-to-device communications, an initial transmission of first control information and a transport block followed by a second transmission of second control information and the same transport block, -Fig. 18; Paragraph [0006, 0125] ([0006] recites, “ receiving, from a second device, information for a channel occupancy time (COT); “ [0125] recites, “the first UE may transmit a SCI (Sidelink Control Information) to the second UE through the PSCCH. Alternatively, for example, the first UE may transmit two consecutive SCIs (e.g., 2-stage SCI) to the second UE through the PSCCH and/or the PSSCH.”) wherein (i) at least the first control information indicates a first transmission occasion within the first channel occupancy time, -Fig. 18; Paragraph [0336, 0125] ([0336] recites, “Referring to FIG. 18, in step S1810, a second device may transmit, to a first device, information for a channel occupancy time (COT). In step S1820, the second device may transmit, to the first device, a first physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).” [0125] recites, “..the first UE may transmit two consecutive SCIs (e.g., 2-stage SCI) to the second UE through the PSCCH and/or the PSSCH.”) determine a first HARQ feedback for the transport block, wherein the first HARQ feedback comprises a non-acknowledgement; -Paragraph [0123] ( [0123] recites, “ In step S830, the first UE may receive a PSFCH related to the PSCCH/PSSCH from the second UE. For example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., NACK information or ACK information) may be received from the second UE through the PSFCH.”) Although implicit, HWANG does not explicitly mention, and (ii) at least the second control information indicates a latency bound for reporting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the transport block; perform a first channel access procedure during the first channel occupancy time; transmit a third transmission indicating the first HARQ feedback during the first transmission occasion; determine a second HARQ feedback for the transport block based on (i) the first HARQ feedback comprising the non-acknowledgement and (ii) a combination of the initial transmission and the second transmission; determine, from one or more transmission occasions, a second transmission occasion that satisfies the latency bound; perform a second channel access procedure and establishing a second channel occupancy time for device-to-device communications at the second transmission occasion; and transmit a fourth transmission indicating the second HARQ feedback at the second transmission occasion. However, in an analogous invention, LI teaches, and (ii) at least the second control information indicates a latency bound for reporting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the transport block; -Paragraph [0120, 0126] ([0120] recites, “In some aspects, the first UE 120-1 may determine the preferred number of transmission occasions for the allocated transmissions to be granted for the sidelink TB based at least in part on or more QoS requirements, such as a priority, a reliability requirement, and/or a latency requirement (e.g., a packet delay budget (PDB)), associated with the sidelink TB. For example, the first UE 120-1 may select a preferred number of transmission occasions that corresponds to at least one of the priority, the reliability requirement, or the PDB associated with the sidelink TB to be transmitted by the first UE 120-1.” [0126] recites, “a second resource for the first occasion of a second transmission, and/or a third resource for the first occasion of a third transmission, wherein the multi-occasion parameters (e.g., m for the number of multiple occasions and the associated tx_gap in time or tx_offset in frequency) may be dynamically indicated in SCI part 1 (e.g. on PSCCH) or SCI part 2 (e.g., multiplexed with PSSCH) or activated via MAC CE (e.g., as described for reference number 730 and/or 734) or configured via RRC (e.g., as described for reference number 710 and/or 714).” It is easily understood that any parameter ( including (latency bound) can be indicated in SCI 2 multiplexed with PSSCH. This is a simple configuration.) perform a first channel access procedure during the first channel occupancy time; -Paragraph [0088] ([0088] recites, “…To contend for channel access, the transmitting device may perform a channel access procedure, such as a listen-before-talk (or listen-before-transmit) (LBT) procedure or another type of channel access procedure, for shared or unlicensed frequency band channel access…. If the transmitting device determines that the channel access procedure is successful, the transmitting device may perform one or more transmissions on the shared or unlicensed channel during a transmission opportunity (TXOP), which may extend for a channel occupancy time (COT).”) transmit a third transmission indicating the first HARQ feedback during the first transmission occasion; determine a second HARQ feedback for the transport block based on (i) the first HARQ feedback comprising the non-acknowledgement -Fig. 6; Paragraph [0090] ([0090] recites, “As shown by reference number 615, the Tx UE may detect LBT success for the resources allocated for the first retransmission, and the Tx UE may transmit the sidelink communication (e.g., the sidelink TB and the SCI) to the Rx UE in slot j. As shown by reference number 620, the Tx UE may receive, from the Rx UE, a PSFCH communication including sidelink feedback (e.g., ACK/NACK feedback) for the sidelink communication transmitted in slot j. As shown by reference number 625, in a case in which the sidelink feedback is NACK feedback, the Tx UE may retransmit the sidelink communication in the resources allocated for the second retransmission (e.g., after detecting LBT success for the resources allocated for the second retransmission, as shown by reference number 625). As shown by reference number 630, the Tx UE may receive, from the Rx UE, a PSFCH communication including sidelink feedback (e.g., ACK/NACK feedback) for the sidelink communication transmitted in the resources allocated for the second retransmission….”) and (ii) a combination of the initial transmission and the second transmission; -Paragraph [0092] ([0092] recites, “a first UE to receive, an indication of multiple transmission occasions for a transmission of a sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum. The first UE may transmit, to a second UE, the sidelink communication in a selected transmission occasion of the multiple transmission occasions for the transmission of the sidelink communication in the unlicensed spectrum. Accordingly, the first UE may transmit the sidelink communication in one of the multiple transmission occasions (e.g., if another of the transmission occasions cannot be used) without having to wait for a second grant, thereby reducing delay in transmission of the sidelink communication…”) determine, from one or more transmission occasions, a second transmission occasion that satisfies the latency bound; -Paragraph [0092] ([0092] recites, “In some aspects, the first UE may perform an LBT procedure for one or more of the multiple transmission occasions, and the selected transmission occasion, in which the sidelink communication is transmitted, may be selected based at least in part on performing the LBT procedure. For example, the first UE may select a transmission occasion for which the LBT is successful from the multiple transmission occasions indicated by the indication for the transmission of the sidelink communication. As a result, delays due to LBT failures preventing transmission of sidelink communications in allocated resources for sidelink transmissions are reduced. Such reduced delays reduce dropped sidelink TBs caused by failure to satisfy latency requirements of sidelink traffic, and thus, increase the reliability of sidelink communications in the unlicensed spectrum.”) perform a second channel access procedure and establishing a second channel occupancy time for device-to-device communications at the second transmission occasion; -Paragraph [0088] ([0088] recites, “…To contend for channel access, the transmitting device may perform a channel access procedure, such as a listen-before-talk (or listen-before-transmit) (LBT) procedure or another type of channel access procedure, for shared or unlicensed frequency band channel access…. If the transmitting device determines that the channel access procedure is successful, the transmitting device may perform one or more transmissions on the shared or unlicensed channel during a transmission opportunity (TXOP), which may extend for a channel occupancy time (COT).”) and transmit a fourth transmission indicating the second HARQ feedback at the second transmission occasion. -Fig. 7; Paragraph [0142] ([0142] recites, “As shown by reference number 790A, in the sidelink feedback received by the first UE 120-1 from the one or more second UEs 120-2 results in a NACK (e.g., one or more of the second UEs 120-2 did not successfully decode the sidelink TB transmitted in the initial transmission), the first UE 120-1 may start a HARQ timer. As shown by reference number 790B, if a second UE 120-2 transmits NACK feedback to the first UE 120-1 in the selected feedback occasion associated with the initial transmission of the sidelink TB, the second UE 120-2 may start the HARQ timer. In the case, in which the NACK feedback is transmitted to the first UE 120-1 from a second UE 120-2, the first UE 120-1 and the second UE 120-2 may start respective HARQ round trip time (RTT) timers after receiving the NACK on the PSFCH (e.g., by the first UE 120-1) or transmitting the NACK on the PSFCH (e.g., by the second UE 120-2). The first UE 120-1 and the second UE 120-2 may start respective HARQ retransmission timers after the respective HARQ RTT timers for the first UE 120-1 and the second UE 120-2 expire. The HARQ retransmission timers for the first UE 120-1 and the second UE 120-2 may each have a duration that includes all of the multiple transmission occasions for the first retransmission of the sidelink TB.” As explained above the second HARQ feedback is transmitted in the second transmission occasion that satisfies the satisfies latency bound) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “CHANNEL SENSING METHOD AND DEVICE FOR NR SIDELINK TRANSMISSION IN UNLICENSED BAND” proposed by HWANG to include the concept of “at least the second control information indicates a latency bound for reporting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the transport block; perform a first channel access procedure during the first channel occupancy time; transmit a third transmission indicating the first HARQ feedback during the first transmission occasion; determine a second HARQ feedback for the transport block based on (i) the first HARQ feedback comprising the non-acknowledgement and (ii) a combination of the initial transmission and the second transmission; determine, from one or more transmission occasions, a second transmission occasion that satisfies the latency bound; perform a second channel access procedure and establishing a second channel occupancy time for device-to-device communications at the second transmission occasion; and transmit a fourth transmission indicating the second HARQ feedback at the second transmission occasion.” of LI. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve LBT performance [0113]. Regarding Claim 19, HWANG and LI teach the limitations of Claim 18. HWANG further teaches, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the initial transmission or the second transmission are a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmission, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmission, or a combination of a PSCCH transmission and a PSSCH transmission. -Paragraph [0123] ([0123] recites, “ In step S810, the first UE may transmit a PSCCH (e.g., sidelink control information (SCI) or 1st-stage SCI) to a second UE based on the resource scheduling. In step S820, the first UE may transmit a PSSCH (e.g., 2nd-stage SCI, MAC PDU, data, etc.) related to the PSCCH to the second UE….”) Regarding Claim 20, HWANG and LI teach the limitations of Claim 18. Although implicit, HWANG does not explicitly mention, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the first control information comprises sidelink control information, and wherein the first transmission occasion is a transmission occasion for a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) transmission. However, in an analogous invention, LI teaches, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the first control information comprises sidelink control information, and wherein the first transmission occasion is a transmission occasion for a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) transmission. -Paragraph [0102] ([0102] recites, “the multi-occasion parameters may include parameters that define the multiple feedback occasions for the sidelink feedback associated with each allocated sidelink transmission relative to a first feedback occasion (e.g., a PSFCH resource) in a resource pool that meets a minimum HARQ processing time from a last transmission occasion for the allocated transmission”) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “CHANNEL SENSING METHOD AND DEVICE FOR NR SIDELINK TRANSMISSION IN UNLICENSED BAND” proposed by HWANG to include the concept of “the first control information comprises sidelink control information, and wherein the first transmission occasion is a transmission occasion for a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) transmission.” of LI. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve LBT performance [0113]. Regarding Claim 22, HWANG and LI teach the limitations of Claim 18. Although implicit, HWANG does not explicitly mention, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured to: determine one or more resources for the fourth transmission in terms of a frequency allocation based on any of a transmission occasion index, a source identifier, a destination identifier and a channel occupancy time index. However, in an analogous invention, LI teaches, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the processor is configured to: determine one or more resources for the fourth transmission in terms of a frequency allocation based on any of a transmission occasion index, a source identifier, a destination identifier and a channel occupancy time index. -Paragraph [0077, 0097, 106] ([0077] recites, “..The SCI-2 may include information associated with data transmissions on the PSSCH 420, such as a HARQ process identifier (ID), a new data indicator (NDI), a source identifier, a destination identifier, and/or a channel state information (CSI) report trigger.” [0097] recites, “In some aspects, the SLU configuration may include one or more configurations and each of which may include a multi-occasion configuration for resource allocation for sidelink communications in the unlicensed spectrum. In some aspects, the multi-occasion configuration for resource allocation may configure the first UE 120-1 and the second UEs 120-2 with multiple transmission occasions for each allocated sidelink transmission in the unlicensed spectrum. In some aspects, the multi-occasion configuration for resource allocation may also configure the first UE 120-1 and the second UEs 120-2 with multiple feedback occasions for transmitting sidelink feedback (e.g., HARQ ACK/NACK feedback) associated with a transmission of a sidelink communication in the unlicensed spectrum.”[0106] recites, “In some aspects, the SLU configuration (e.g., included in the RRC communication) may indicate a plurality of multi-occasion configurations with corresponding identifiers or indexes.” From the above descriptions, it is evident that multi-occasion configurations allocate resources (e.g., frequency allocation etc.) depending on the index of the multi-occasion configurations.) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “CHANNEL SENSING METHOD AND DEVICE FOR NR SIDELINK TRANSMISSION IN UNLICENSED BAND” proposed by HWANG to include the concept of “determine one or more resources for the fourth transmission in terms of a frequency allocation based on any of a transmission occasion index, a source identifier, a destination identifier and a channel occupancy time index” of LI. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve LBT performance [0113]. Regarding Claim 23, HWANG and LI teach the limitations of Claim 22. Although implicit, HWANG does not explicitly mention, The WTRU of claim 22, wherein the frequency allocation is any of a resource block, a resource block interlace, a sub-channel, a cyclic shift and a cyclic shift index. This claim is a configuration and not a feature, and it is easily understandable to an ordinary person with the skill in the art that all configurations are conveyed from the network side. However, in an analogous invention, LI teaches, The WTRU of claim 22, wherein the frequency allocation is any of a resource block, a resource block interlace, a sub-channel, a cyclic shift and a cyclic shift index. -Fig. 9; Paragraph [0078, 0157-0161] ([0078] recites, “In some examples, the one or more sidelink channels 410 may use resource pools. For example, a scheduling assignment (e.g., included in SCI 430) may be transmitted in sub-channels using specific resource blocks (RBs) across time. In some examples, data transmissions (e.g., on the PSSCH 420) associated with a scheduling assignment (e.g., SCI-1) may occupy adjacent RBs in the same slot as the scheduling assignment (e.g., using frequency division multiplexing). “ [0157-0161] recites, “As shown in FIG. 9, example 900 shows an example of sidelink communications in an unlicensed spectrum using Mode 1 resource allocation with multiple transmission occasions, in the frequency domain, for each transmission allocated in a sidelink grant and multiple feedback occasions for sidelink feedback associated with each transmission allocated in the sidelink grant…. The DCI may indicate resources allocated for an initial transmission (e.g., a first transmission) of a sidelink communication (e.g., a sidelink TB) in an unlicensed spectrum by the Tx UE, resources allocated for a first retransmission reservation for a first retransmission (or second transmission) of the sidelink communication (e.g., the sidelink TB) in the unlicensed spectrum, and resources allocated for a second retransmission reservation for a second retransmission (or third transmission) of the sidelink communication (e.g., the sidelink TB) in the unlicensed spectrum… The DCI may indicate a frequency offset (e.g., tx_offset) between the starting frequencies of adjacent transmission occasions for the initial transmission and each retransmission reservation…. For example, the DCI may include a PSFCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator that indicates a time gap between a last feedback occasion associated with the final allocated transmission of the sidelink communication (e.g., the second retransmission reservation) and the PUCCH resource.” As described above all configurations are conveyed from the network, including the configurations stated by the above claim) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “CHANNEL SENSING METHOD AND DEVICE FOR NR SIDELINK TRANSMISSION IN UNLICENSED BAND” proposed by HWANG to include the concept of “the frequency allocation is any of a resource block, a resource block interlace, a sub-channel, a cyclic shift and a cyclic shift index” of LI. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve LBT performance [0113]. Regarding Claim 24, HWANG and LI teach the limitations of Claim 18. HWANG further teaches, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the first HARQ feedback is determined for the transport block for the initial transmission. -Paragraph [0123] ([0123] recites, “In step S810, the first UE may transmit a PSCCH (e.g., sidelink control information (SCI) or 1st-stage SCI) to a second UE based on the resource scheduling. In step S820, the first UE may transmit a PSSCH (e.g., 2nd-stage SCI, MAC PDU, data, etc.) related to the PSCCH to the second UE. In step S830, the first UE may receive a PSFCH related to the PSCCH/PSSCH from the second UE. For example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., NACK information or ACK information) may be received from the second UE through the PSFCH.”) Regarding Claim 26, HWANG and LI teach the limitations of Claim 18. HWANG further teaches, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the WTRU is a first WTRU, wherein the first channel occupancy time is initiated by a second WTRU, and wherein receiving an initial transmission and a second transmission comprises receiving the initial transmission and the second transmission from the second WTRU. -Fig. 18; Paragraph [0143, 0336] ([0143] recites, “In the present disclosure, channel occupancy time (COT) may refer to time domain resources obtained by the base station or the UE after LBT success. It may be shared between the base station (or the UE) and the UE (or the base station) that obtained the CO, and this may be referred to as COT sharing. Depending on the initiating device, this may be referred to as gNB-initiated COT or UE-initiated COT” [0336] recites, “Referring to FIG. 18, in step S1810, a second device may transmit, to a first device, information for a channel occupancy time (COT). In step S1820, the second device may transmit, to the first device, a first physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). “) Regarding Claim 27, HWANG and LI teach the limitations of Claim 18. HWANG further teaches, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth transmissions are performed over unlicensed spectrum. -Paragraph [0171] ([0171] recites, “Hereinafter, a method of transmitting a downlink signal through an unlicensed band will be described. For example, a method of transmitting a downlink signal through an unlicensed band may be applied to a method of transmitting a sidelink signal through an unlicensed band.”) Claim 28 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 18. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 18 above which is rejected. Claim 28 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 18. Claim 29 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 19. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 19 above which is rejected. Claim 29 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 19. Claim 30 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 20. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 20 above which is rejected. Claim 30 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 20. Claim 32 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 22. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 22 above which is rejected. Claim 32 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 22. Claim 33 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 23. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 23 above which is rejected. Claim 33 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 23. Claim 34 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 24. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 24 above which is rejected. Claim 34 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 24. Claim 36 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 26. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 26 above which is rejected. Claim 36 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 26. Claim 37 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 27. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 27 above which is rejected. Claim 37 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 27. Claims 21, and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HWANG, in view of LI and further in view of Talarico et al. (US 2025/0150209 A1), hereinafter, Talarico. Regarding Claim 21, HWANG and LI teach the limitations of Claim 18. Although implicit, HWANG does not explicitly mention, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the second transmission occasion is based on a PSSCH- to-PSFCH association between different channel occupancy times. However, in an analogous invention, Talarico teaches, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the second transmission occasion is based on a PSSCH- to-PSFCH association between different channel occupancy times. -Paragraph [0029-0031] ([0029-0031] recites, “In one embodiment, multiple PSFCH transmission opportunities are configured, fixed, or may be (pre)-configured in the resource pool configuration as illustrated in FIG. 2. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, for a given PSCCH/PSSCH, there are four opportunities for a UE to perform LBT and transmit the corresponding PSFCH.… The multiple PSFCH transmission occasions could be either in different slots, or in different symbols of the same slot, or a combination of the two approaches…..Also, in one option, the multiple PSFCH transmission occasions may either only lie within the shared COT or may be allowed across different COTs..”) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “CHANNEL SENSING METHOD AND DEVICE FOR NR SIDELINK TRANSMISSION IN UNLICENSED BAND” proposed by HWANG to include the concept of “the second transmission occasion is based on a PSSCH- to-PSFCH association between different channel occupancy times.” of Talarico. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to significantly improve the overall system performance [0022]. Claim 31 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 21. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 21 above which is rejected. Claim 31 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 21. Claims 25, and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HWANG, in view of LI and further in view of LEE et al. (US 2023/0171789 A1), hereinafter, LEE. Regarding Claim 25, HWANG and LI teach the limitations of Claim 18. Although implicit, HWANG does not explicitly mention, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the first HARQ feedback for the transport block is determined based on the initial transmission and not based on the second transmission. However, in an analogous invention, LEE teaches, The WTRU of claim 18, wherein the first HARQ feedback for the transport block is determined based on the initial transmission and not based on the second transmission. -Fig. 11; Paragraph [0164] ([0164] recites, “Referring to FIG. 11, resources related to initial transmission, blind retransmission, and HARQ-based retransmission of a MAC PDU in PDB may be selected…. For example, after initial transmission, a blind retransmission resource may be selected before HARQ-based retransmission. For example, the blind retransmission resource may be reserved M times. In this case, in the blind retransmission resources other than the last among the M blind retransmission resources, the HARQ request field on the related SCI may have a DISABLED value” As shown in Fig. 11 HARQ request field of the second transmission is disabled, and, therefore HARQ feedback is based on the initial transmission.) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “CHANNEL SENSING METHOD AND DEVICE FOR NR SIDELINK TRANSMISSION IN UNLICENSED BAND” proposed by HWANG to include the concept of “the first HARQ feedback for the transport block is determined based on the initial transmission and not based on the second transmission.” of LEE. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to efficiently perform SL communication [0015]. Claim 35 is the method claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 25. The Applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 25 above which is rejected. Claim 35 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 25. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED SAIFUDDIN whose telephone number is (703)756-4581. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-6:00pm. 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, KHALED M KASSIM can be reached on 571-270-3770. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /AHMED SAIFUDDIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2475 /KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475
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Prosecution Timeline

Oct 16, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 04, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+23.3%)
3y 1m (~1y 2m remaining)
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