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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 18 December 2024 and 17 January 2025. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of copending Application No. 18/896,215 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-20 of the instant application are in the same scope as claims 1-20 of the reference application.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claims 1-20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of copending Application No. 18/897,131 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-20 of the instant application are in the same scope as claims 1-20 of the reference application.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claims 1-20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of copending Application No. 18/898,818 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-20 of the instant application are in the same scope as claims 1-20 of the reference application.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 13 recites the limitation “activating a second PDSCH reception via” in line 4. It is unclear whether the second PDSCH reception is activated via anything as the phrase suddenly cuts off. For examining purposes, the examiner will interpret the claim as best understood.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by 3GPP R1-2308717 “Introduction of specification support for MIMO enhancements on uTCI_STxMP_DMRS_SRS_8Tx_2TA” (hereinafter referred to as “3GPP”). Note: 3GPP was cited by the applicant in the IDS received 18 December 2024.
As to claim 1, 3GPP teaches a method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages (§§5.1 and 5.1.5: UE receives higher layer parameters) comprising:
a repetition scheme parameter indicating a time domain scheme or a frequency domain scheme (§5.1; page 7: higher layer parameter repetitionscheme set to fdmSchemeA, fdmSchemeB, or tdmSchemeA); and
a downlink-or-joint transmission configuration indication (TCI) state list parameter indicating a list of TCI states for both uplink transmission and downlink reception (§5.1.5; page 9: “The UE can be configured with a list of up to 128 TCI-State configurations, within the higher layer parameter dl-OrJointTCI-StateList in PDSCH-Config for providing a reference signal for the quasi co-location for DM-RS of PDSCH and DM-RS of PDCCH in a BWP/CC, for CSI-RS, and to provide a reference, if applicable, for determining UL TX spatial filter for dynamic-grant and configured-grant based PUSCH and PUCCH resource in a BWP/CC, and SRS”);
receiving downlink control information (DCI) configured to schedule a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception (§5.1.5; page 9: receive DCI for decoding PDSCH); and
based on a TCI selection field in the DCI indicating to apply two TCI states to the PDSCH reception (§5.1; page 7: “UE is indicated with two TCI states in a codepoint of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication'…two TCI states are indicated in a DCI”), receiving the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states in non-overlapping resources indicated by the repetition scheme parameter (§5.1; page 7: UE receives two PDSCH transmissions according to the two TCI states in non-overlapping resource allocation according to the repetitionScheme).
As to claim 2, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the DCI further comprises a time domain resource assignment field indicating a number of repetitions, and wherein the receiving the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states comprises:
based on the TCI selection field in the DCI indicating to apply two TCI states to the PDSCH reception or the TCI selection field being absent in the DCI, receiving, in consecutive time slots, the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states, wherein a number of the consecutive time slots is equal to the number of repetitions (§5.1; page 7: “When two TCI states are indicated in a DCI and the UE is set to 'tdmSchemeA', the UE shall receive two PDSCH transmission occasions of the same TB with each TCI state associated to a PDSCH transmission occasion which has non-overlapping time domain resource allocation with respect to the other PDSCH transmission occasion and both PDSCH transmission occasions shall be received within a given slot as described in Clause 5.1.2.1…When two TCI states are indicated in a DCI with 'Transmission Configuration Indication' field, the UE may expect to receive multiple slot level PDSCH transmission occasions of the same TB with two TCI states used across multiple PDSCH transmission occasions in the repetitionNumber consecutive slots as defined in Clause 5.1.2.1”).
As to claim 3, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising
receiving second DCI configured to schedule a second PDSCH reception; and
based on a TCI selection field in the second DCI indicating to apply two TCI states to the second PDSCH reception, receiving the second PDSCH reception using:
a first demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) port that is associated with a first TCI state of the two TCI states; and
a second DM-RS port that is associated with a second TCI state of the two TCI states (§5.1.5; page 16: “When a UE is configured with sfnSchemePdsch set to 'sfnSchemeA', and the UE is indicated with two TCI states in a codepoint of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication' in a DCI scheduling a PDSCH, the UE shall assume that the DM-RS port(s)of the PDSCH is quasi co-located with the DL-RSs of the two TCI states. When a UE is configured with sfnSchemePdsch set to 'sfnSchemeB', and the UE is indicated with two TCI states in a codepoint of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication' in a DCI scheduling a PDSCH, the UE shall assume that the DM-RS port(s)of the PDSCH is quasi co-located with the DL-RSs of the two TCI states except for quasi co-location parameters {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} of the second indicated TCI state”).
As to claim 4, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving second DCI configured to schedule a second PDSCH reception; and
based the second DCI not being configured with a TCI selection field, receiving the second PDSCH reception using the two TCI states in non-overlapping resources indicated by the repetition parameter (§5.1.5; page 14: “When the PDCCH reception includes two PDCCH candidates from two respective search space sets, as described in clause 10.1 of [6, TS 38.213], for the configuration of tci-PresentInDCI or tci-PresentDCI-1-2, the UE expects the same configuration in the first and second CORESETs associated with the two PDCCH candidates; and if the PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format not having the TCI field present and if the scheduling offset is equal to or larger than timeDurationForQCL, if applicable, PDSCH QCL assumption is based on the CORESET with lower ID among the first and second CORESETs associated with the two PDCCH candidates”).
As to claim 5, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 1, wherein:
the repetition scheme parameter is set to the time domain scheme; and
based on the repetition scheme parameter being set to the time domain scheme, the receiving the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states in non-overlapping resources comprises receiving the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states in non-overlapping time domain resources (§5.1; page 7: “When a UE is configured by the higher layer parameter repetitionNumber in PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation, the UE may expect to be indicated with one or two TCI states in a codepoint of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication' together with the DCI field 'Time domain resource assignment' indicating an entry which contains repetitionNumber in PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation and DM-RS port(s) within one CDM group in the DCI field 'Antenna Port(s)'”).
As to claim 6, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 1, wherein:
the repetition scheme parameter is set to the frequency domain scheme; and
based on the repetition scheme parameter being set to the frequency domain scheme, the receiving the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states in non-overlapping resources comprises receiving the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states in non-overlapping frequency domain resources (§5.1; page 7: “When two TCI states are indicated in a DCI and the UE is set to 'fdmSchemeB', the UE shall receive two PDSCH transmission occasions of the same TB with each TCI state associated to a PDSCH transmission occasion which has non-overlapping frequency domain resource allocation with respect to the other PDSCH transmission occasion as described in Clause 5.1.2.3”).
As to claim 7, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the DCI comprises an antenna port field indicating one or more demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports within one code division multiplexing (CDM) group (§5.1; page 7: “When a UE is configured by the higher layer parameter repetitionNumber in PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation, the UE may expect to be indicated with one or two TCI states in a codepoint of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication' together with the DCI field 'Time domain resource assignment' indicating an entry which contains repetitionNumber in PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation and DM-RS port(s) within one CDM group in the DCI field 'Antenna Port(s)'”).
As to claim 8, 3GPP teaches a method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages comprising a downlink-or-joint transmission configuration indication (TCI) state list parameter indicating a list of TCI states for both uplink transmission and downlink reception (§5.1.5; page 9: “The UE can be configured with a list of up to 128 TCI-State configurations, within the higher layer parameter dl-OrJointTCI-StateList in PDSCH-Config for providing a reference signal for the quasi co-location for DM-RS of PDSCH and DM-RS of PDCCH in a BWP/CC, for CSI-RS, and to provide a reference, if applicable, for determining UL TX spatial filter for dynamic-grant and configured-grant based PUSCH and PUCCH resource in a BWP/CC, and SRS”);
receiving downlink control information (DCI) configured to schedule a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception (§5.1.5; page 9: receive DCI for decoding PDSCH), wherein the DCI comprises a time domain resource assignment field indicating a number of repetitions (§5.1; page 7: “When two TCI states are indicated in a DCI and the UE is set to 'tdmSchemeA', the UE shall receive two PDSCH transmission occasions of the same TB with each TCI state associated to a PDSCH transmission occasion which has non-overlapping time domain resource allocation with respect to the other PDSCH transmission occasion and both PDSCH transmission occasions shall be received within a given slot as described in Clause 5.1.2.1”); and
based on a TCI selection field in the DCI indicating to apply two TCI states to the PDSCH reception, receiving, in consecutive time slots, the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states, wherein a number of the consecutive time slots is equal to the number of repetitions (§5.1; page 7: “When two TCI states are indicated in a DCI with 'Transmission Configuration Indication' field, the UE may expect to receive multiple slot level PDSCH transmission occasions of the same TB with two TCI states used across multiple PDSCH transmission occasions in the repetitionNumber consecutive slots as defined in Clause 5.1.2.1”).
As to claim 9, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the one or more messages further comprise:
a repetition scheme parameter indicating a time domain scheme or a frequency domain scheme (§5.1; page 7: higher layer parameter repetitionscheme set to fdmSchemeA, fdmSchemeB, or tdmSchemeA).
As to claim 10, claim 10 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As to claim 11, claim 11 is rejected the same way as claim 7.
As to claim 12, claim 12 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As to claim 13, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 8, further comprising:
receiving second DCI comprising two TCI states for both uplink transmission and downlink reception;
receiving third DCI scheduling or activating a second PDSCH reception via, wherein the third DCI comprises:
an antenna port field indicating one or more DM-RS ports within one CDM group; and
a second time domain resource assignment field indicating a second number of repetitions; and
receiving, in second consecutive time slots, the second PDSCH reception using the TCI state based on the third DCI indicating the one or more DM-RS ports within one CDM group, wherein a number of the second consecutive time slots is equal to the second number of repetitions (§5.1; page 7: “When a UE is configured by the higher layer parameter repetitionNumber in PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation, the UE may expect to be indicated with one or two TCI states in a codepoint of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication' together with the DCI field 'Time domain resource assignment' indicating an entry which contains repetitionNumber in PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation and DM-RS port(s) within one CDM group in the DCI field 'Antenna Port(s)'”).
As to claim 14, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 8, wherein:
the one or more messages further comprise one or more configuration parameters; and
the one or more configuration parameters comprise a PDSCH time domain resource allocation parameter (§5.1; page 7: “When two TCI states are indicated in a DCI and the UE is set to 'tdmSchemeA', the UE shall receive two PDSCH transmission occasions of the same TB with each TCI state associated to a PDSCH transmission occasion which has non-overlapping time domain resource allocation with respect to the other PDSCH transmission occasion and both PDSCH transmission occasions shall be received within a given slot as described in Clause 5.1.2.1”).
As to claim 15, 3GPP teaches a method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages comprising a downlink-or-joint transmission configuration indication (TCI) state list parameter indicating a list of TCI states for both uplink transmission and downlink reception (§5.1.5; page 9: “The UE can be configured with a list of up to 128 TCI-State configurations, within the higher layer parameter dl-OrJointTCI-StateList in PDSCH-Config for providing a reference signal for the quasi co-location for DM-RS of PDSCH and DM-RS of PDCCH in a BWP/CC, for CSI-RS, and to provide a reference, if applicable, for determining UL TX spatial filter for dynamic-grant and configured-grant based PUSCH and PUCCH resource in a BWP/CC, and SRS”);
receiving downlink control information (DCI) configured to schedule a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception (§5.1.5; page 9: receive DCI for decoding PDSCH), wherein the DCI comprises an antenna port field indicating one or more demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) ports within two code division multiplexing (CDM) groups (§5.1; page 8 & §5.1.6.2; page 20: “it is indicated with two TCI states in a codepoint of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication' and DM-RS port(s) within two CDM groups in the DCI field 'Antenna Port(s)'”); and
based on a TCI selection field in the DCI indicating to apply two TCI states to the PDSCH reception,
receiving the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states, wherein:
a first DM-RS port, of the DM-RS ports, is associated with a first TCI state of the two TCI states; and
a second DM-RS port, of the DM-RS ports, is associated with a second TCI state of the two TCI states (§5.1.5; page 16: “When a UE is configured with sfnSchemePdsch set to 'sfnSchemeA', and the UE is indicated with two TCI states in a codepoint of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication' in a DCI scheduling a PDSCH, the UE shall assume that the DM-RS port(s)of the PDSCH is quasi co-located with the DL-RSs of the two TCI states. When a UE is configured with sfnSchemePdsch set to 'sfnSchemeB', and the UE is indicated with two TCI states in a codepoint of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication' in a DCI scheduling a PDSCH, the UE shall assume that the DM-RS port(s)of the PDSCH is quasi co-located with the DL-RSs of the two TCI states except for quasi co-location parameters {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} of the second indicated TCI state”).
As to claim 16, claim 16 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As to claim 17, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the DCI further comprises a time domain resource assignment field indicating a number of repetitions; and wherein the receiving the PDSCH reception is in consecutive time slots, wherein a number of consecutive time slots is equal to the number of repetitions (§5.1; page 7: “When two TCI states are indicated in a DCI with 'Transmission Configuration Indication' field, the UE may expect to receive multiple slot level PDSCH transmission occasions of the same TB with two TCI states used across multiple PDSCH transmission occasions in the repetitionNumber consecutive slots as defined in Clause 5.1.2.1”).
As to claim 18, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 15, wherein a second DCI comprises a TCI selection field with a value indicating to apply the two TCI states to the PDSCH reception (§5.1; page 7: “When two TCI states are indicated in a DCI with 'Transmission Configuration Indication' field, the UE may expect to receive multiple slot level PDSCH transmission occasions of the same TB with two TCI states used across multiple PDSCH transmission occasions in the repetitionNumber consecutive slots as defined in Clause 5.1.2.1”).
As to claim 19, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the receiving the PDSCH reception using the two TCI states is receiving a single PDSCH reception using the two TCI states (§5.1; page 7: “When two TCI states are indicated in a DCI and the UE is set to 'fdmSchemeA', the UE shall receive a single PDSCH transmission occasion of the TB with each TCI state associated to a non-overlapping frequency domain resource allocation as described in Clause 5.1.2.3”).
As to claim 20, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 15, wherein:
the one or more messages further comprise one or more configuration parameters (§§5.1 and 5.1.5: UE receives higher layer parameters); and
the one or more configuration parameters comprise a PDSCH time domain resource allocation parameter (§5.1; page 7: higher layer parameter repetitionscheme set to fdmSchemeA, fdmSchemeB, or tdmSchemeA).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN T VAN ROIE whose telephone number is (571)270-0308. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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/JUSTIN T VAN ROIE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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