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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/28/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites multiple instances of “and/or”. This may lead to a confusion of whether the limitation is joint or in the alternate. Examiner suggests amending the claims to state “at least one of”. For the purposes of examination, the clause will be interpreted as being in the alternate. 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 (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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xu et al (US 2024/0406968 A1).
As to claim 1, Xu et al teach a method performed by a User Equipment, UE, for associating Uplink, UL, channels and/or signals to a Timing Advance Group, TAG, the method comprising:
grouping UL channels and/or signals into at least two groups, each associated with a TAG ([0225]-[0230], [0236]-[0240], [0244]-[0249], [0250]-[0259], [0261]-[0267]; Xu et al describes first and second TAGs, each associated with different TRPs, CORESET pool indexes, or RS sets, and uplink transmissions selected based on the associated TAG);
associating a TAG index with a UL channel and/or signal by one or more of:
configuring an identifier representing the TAG in a UL Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state ([0228]-[0230], [0236]-[0240], [0240]-[0243], [0261]-[0266]; Xu et al expressly teaches unified TCI states associated with a first TAG and second TAG, and says each unified TCI state may be an uplink TCI state used for uplink transmissions.); and
configuring an identifier representing the TAG in a joint TCI state ([0236]-[0243], [0261]-[0266], especially [0238], [0240], [0263], [0266]; Xu et al expressly discloses a joint TCI state used for downlink receptions and uplink transmissions, which closely matches the claim’s “joint TCI state” language); and
utilizing, for UL transmission, the timing advance of the identifier representing the TAG associated with the UL channel and/or signal ([0225]-[0227], [0238]-[0240], [0243]-[0244], [0263]-[0266]; Xu et al expressly teaches transmitting uplink signals based on the timing advance value of the TAG selected in response to the unified/joint TCI state.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Asad M Nawaz whose telephone number is (571)272-3988. The examiner can normally be reached 8:15-4:45 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Deborah Reynolds. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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ASAD M. NAWAZ
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2468
/ASAD M NAWAZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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