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 .
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 obviousness-type 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); and 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
2. Claims 1-4 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-5 of U.S. patent 12,137,466 (hereinafter ‘466) in view of Kwak et al. (US 2003/0088695, hereinafter Kwak). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of the following:
Regarding claim 1, ‘466 discloses:
A method for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 18-19):
performing communication over a plurality of component carriers including
a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 20-22);
receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element including a
bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap corresponding to one of the at least
one secondary component carrier, wherein the bitmap indicates that the UE is to
monitor data on at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to at least
one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 23-29);
and monitoring the data on the primary component carrier and the at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at least one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 30-34), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among the bitmap not set to "1" (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 35-38).
466’ does not explicitly disclose monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘466’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Regarding claim 2, ‘466 discloses:
A user equipment (UE) comprising (claim 3; col. 12; line 46):
at least one memory storing instructions (claim 3; col. 12; line 47); and
at least one processor configured to process the instructions to (claim 3; col. 12; line 48 -49):
perform communication over a plurality of component carriers
including a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier
(claim 3; col. 12; line 50-52);
receive a Media Access Control (MAC) control elementincluding a
bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap corresponding to one of the at least
one secondary component carrier, wherein the bitmap indicates that the UE is to
monitor data on at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to at least
one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (claim 3; col. 12; line 53-59); and
monitor the data on the primary component carrier and the at least
one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at least one bit among the
bitmap set to "1" (claim 3; col. 12; line 60-63), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one
secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among
the bitmap not set to "1" (claim 3; col. 12; lines 64-67).
466’ does not explicitly disclose monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘466’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Regarding claim 3, ‘466 discloses:
A method for a base station, the method comprising (claim 4; col. 13; line 1):
performing communication over a plurality of component carriers including
a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier
(claim 4; col. 13; lines 2-4); and
sending a Media Access Control (MAC) control element to a user equipment
(UE)including a bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap corresponding to one
of the at least one secondary component carrier (claim 4; col. 13; lines 6-9),
wherein the MAC control element is configured with each bit of the bitmap,
corresponding to the one of the at least one secondary component carrier that the
UE is to monitor data, respectively set to "1" (claim 4; col. 13; lines 10-14),
wherein the data is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier
and the one of the at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at
least one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (claim 4; col. 13; lines 15-19), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one
secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among
the bitmap not set to "1" (claim 4; col. 13; lines 20-23).
466’ does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one of system information or paging information is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses wherein at least one of system information or paging information is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘466’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Regarding claim 4, ‘466 discloses:
A base station comprising (claim 5; col. 14; line 1):
at least one memory storing instructions (claim 5; col. 14; line 2); and
at least one processor configured to process the instructions to (claim 5; col. 14; lines 3-4):
perform communication over a plurality of component carriers including a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier (claim 5; col. 14; lines 5-7); and send a Media Access Control (MAC) control element to a user
equipment (UE)including a bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap
corresponding to one of the at least one secondary component carrier (claim 5; col. 14; lines 8-11), wherein the MAC control element is configured with each bit of the bitmap,
corresponding to the one of the at least one secondary component carrier that the
UE is to monitor, respectively set to "1" (claim 5; col. 14; lines 12-15),
wherein the data is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier
and the one of the at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at
least one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (claim 5; col. 14; lines 16-19), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one
secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among
the bitmap not set to "1" (claim 5; col. 14; lines 20-22).
466’ does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one of system information or paging information is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses wherein at least one of system information or paging information is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘466’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
3. Claims 1-4 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-4 of U.S. patent 11,889,524 (hereinafter ‘524) in view of Kwak et al. (US 2003/0088695, hereinafter Kwak). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of the following:
Regarding claim 1, ‘524 discloses:
A method for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 17-18):
performing communication over a plurality of component carriers including
a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 19-21);
receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element including a
bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap corresponding to one of the at least
one secondary component carrier, wherein the bitmap indicates that the UE is to
monitor data on at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to at least
one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 22-25);
and monitoring the data on the primary component carrier and the at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at least one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 26-29), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among the bitmap not set to "1" (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 30-33).
524’ does not explicitly disclose monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘524’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Regarding claim 2, ‘524 discloses:
A user equipment (UE) comprising (claim 2; col. 12; line 34):
at least one memory storing instructions (claim 2; col. 12; line 35); and
at least one processor configured to process the instructions to (claim 2; col. 12; lines 36-37):
perform communication over a plurality of component carriers
including a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier
(claim 2; col. 12; line 38-40);
receive a Media Access Control (MAC) control elementincluding a
bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap corresponding to one of the at least
one secondary component carrier, wherein the bitmap indicates that the UE is to
monitor data on at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to at least
one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (claim 2; col. 12; line 40-48); and
monitor the data on the primary component carrier and the at least
one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at least one bit among the
bitmap set to "1" (claim 2; col. 12; line 60-63), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one
secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among
the bitmap not set to "1" (claim 2; col. 12; lines 49-52).
524’ does not explicitly disclose monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘524’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Regarding claim 3, ‘524 discloses:
A method for a base station, the method comprising (claim 3; col. 12; line 53):
performing communication over a plurality of component carriers including
a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier
(claim 3; col. 12; lines 54-55); and
sending a Media Access Control (MAC) control element to a user equipment
(UE)including a bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap corresponding to one
of the at least one secondary component carrier (claim 3; col. 12; lines 56-60),
wherein the MAC control element is configured with each bit of the bitmap,
corresponding to the one of the at least one secondary component carrier that the
UE is to monitor data, respectively set to "1" (claim 3; col. 12; lines 61-64),
wherein the data is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier
and the one of the at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at
least one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (claim 3; col. 12; lines 65-67), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one
secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among
the bitmap not set to "1" (claim 3; col. 13; lines 1-2).
524’ does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one of system information or paging information is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses wherein at least one of system information or paging information is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘524’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Regarding claim 4, ‘524 discloses:
A base station comprising (claim 4; col. 13; line 3):
at least one memory storing instructions (claim 4; col. 13; line 4); and
at least one processor configured to process the instructions to (claim 4; col. 13; lines 5-6):
perform communication over a plurality of component carriers including a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier (claim 4; col. 13; lines 7-8); and
send a Media Access Control (MAC) control element to a user
equipment (UE)including a bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap
corresponding to one of the at least one secondary component carrier (claim 4; col. 13; lines 9-11), wherein the MAC control element is configured with each bit of the bitmap,
corresponding to the one of the at least one secondary component carrier that the
UE is to monitor, respectively set to "1" (claim 4; col. 13; lines 12-15),
wherein the data is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier
and the one of the at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at
least one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (claim 4; col. 13; lines 16-19), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one
secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among
the bitmap not set to "1" (claim 4; col. 13; lines 20-22).
524’ does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one of system information or paging information is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses wherein at least one of system information or paging information is monitored by the UE on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify 524’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
4. Claims 1-4 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-2 of U.S. patent 11,147,054(hereinafter ‘054) in view of Kwak et al. (US 2003/0088695, hereinafter Kwak). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of the following:
Regarding claims 1 and 3, ‘054 discloses:
A method for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 17-18):
performing communication over a plurality of component carriers including
a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 19-21);
receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element including a
bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap corresponding to one of the at least
one secondary component carrier, wherein the bitmap indicates that the UE is to
monitor data on at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to at least
one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 22-25);
and monitoring the data on the primary component carrier and the at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at least one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 26-29), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among the bitmap not set to "1" (Claim 1; Col. 12; lines 30-33).
054’ does not explicitly disclose monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘054’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Claim 3 is a compliment of claim 1, therefore claim 3 has also been rejected for the same reasoning.
Regarding claims 2 and 4, ‘054 discloses:
A user equipment (UE) comprising (claim 2; col. 12; line 36):
at least one memory storing instructions (claim 2; col. 12; line 37); and
at least one processor configured to process the instructions to (claim 2; col. 12; lines 38-39):
perform communication over a plurality of component carriers
including a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier
(claim 2; col. 12; line 40-44);
receive a Media Access Control (MAC) control elementincluding a
bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap corresponding to one of the at least
one secondary component carrier, wherein the bitmap indicates that the UE is to
monitor data on at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to at least
one bit among the bitmap set to "1" (claim 2; col. 12; line 45-48); and
monitor the data on the primary component carrier and the at least
one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at least one bit among the
bitmap set to "1" (claim 2; col. 12; line 49-54), and
wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one
secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among
the bitmap not set to "1" (claim 2; col. 12; lines 45-60).
054’ does not explicitly disclose monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier.
In an analogous art, Kwak discloses monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier (para 0035-0036).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘054’s method/system by having Kwak’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Claim 4 is a compliment of claim 2, therefore claim 3 has also been rejected for the same reasoning.
There is no prior art rejection for claims 1-4.
Kwak et al. (US 2003/0088695, hereinafter Kwak) discloses “a Node B provides a first service through a primary carrier to a first UE within its cell area and a second service to at least two UEs including the first UE through a secondary carrier having a different frequency from the primary carrier. To page the first UE during the second service in progress through the secondary carrier, a PICH (Paging Indicator Channel) transmitter transmits paging indication information to the first UE through the primary carrier by oscillating the primary carrier as a transmission frequency” (para 0014).
Another closest prior art Gauvreau et al. (US 2010/0118720) that in an idle mode, the WTRU monitors and processes only a single component carrier. Idle mode procedures, such as system information (SI) acquisition and paging indication (PI) monitoring are transparent to the multiple carrier capability of the WTRU (para 0015).
Another prior art Lee et al. (US 2010/0316026) discloses “one MAC layer in each of a transmitting end and a receiving end may manage multiple carriers to efficiently use the multiple carriers. To effectively transmit and receive the multiple carriers, it is assumed that both the transmitting end and the receiving end can transmit and receive the multiple carriers. Since frequency carriers managed by one MAC layer do not need to be contiguous, the above method enables flexible resource management. More specifically, the frequency carriers may have contiguous aggregation or non-contiguous aggregation” (para 0015).
None of the prior art of record disclose or render obvious the claimed limitations including “receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element including a bitmap, each bit of at least part of the bitmap corresponding to one of the at least one secondary component carrier, wherein the bitmap indicates that the UE is to monitor data on at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to at least one bit among the bitmap set to "1"; monitoring at least one of system information or paging information on the primary component carrier; and monitoring the data on the primary component carrier and the at least one secondary component carrier corresponding to the at least one bit among the bitmap set to "1", and wherein the MAC control element causes the UE to deactive at least one secondary component carrier which corresponds to at least one respective bit among the bitmap not set to "1"” when considered as a whole along with other claimed limitations.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
3. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMINA CHOUDHRY whose telephone number is (571)270-7102. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday (7:30 a.m. to 5.00p.m.).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached on (571)272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAMINA F CHOUDHRY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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