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 . Claim 1 is pending.
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.
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Claim 1 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 6 and 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,296,849 and 12,294,549, respectively. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the instant claim is merely a slightly broader version of the ‘849 and ‘549 claims and the differences are not patentably distinct:
Claim 1
‘849 Claims 1 & 6
‘549 Claim 1
A processor for wireless communication, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive a configuration of a set of subslots within a slot, each of one or more subslots of the set of subslots comprising a time interval within the slot;
…receiving configuration information of one or more subslots within the slot, where each of the one or more subslots comprises a time interval within the slot…
receive a configuration of a plurality of subslots of a slot;
receive an indication of a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information during the slot,
…determining, at the user equipment, a first physical uplink control channel resource assigned for Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request-Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information in a slot where one or more physical uplink control channels are scheduled to be transmitted;…
determine a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource that is within the slot and is allocated for a first PUCCH transmission associated with Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request-Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information during the slot,
the first PUCCH resource overlapping in time with at least one uplink channel resource scheduled for transmission during the slot,
…(Claim 6) identifying a physical uplink shared channel resource that overlaps with the second physical uplink control channel resource in time…
the first PUCCH resource overlapping with at least one second PUCCH resource within the slot for a second PUCCH transmission during the slot,
the indication indicating that transmission of the HARQ-ACK information ends within a subslot of the set of subslots, and a last symbol of the first PUCCH resource being within the subslot; and
determining the time instance as an end of a subslot of the one or more subslots, wherein a last symbol of the first physical uplink control channel resource is within the subslot, wherein the method further comprises receiving an indication that indicates transmission of the HARQ-ACK information ends within the subslot
wherein the first PUCCH transmission associated with the HARQ-ACK information ends during a subslot of the plurality of subslots, the subslot of the plurality of subslots assigned for a respective instance of HARQ-ACK feedback, andwherein a last symbol of the first PUCCH resource is within the subslot;
multiplex the HARQ-ACK information on a second PUCCH resource, the second PUCCH resource being in the subslot of the set of subslots within the slot.
…determining a second physical uplink control channel resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information from the group of physical uplink control channel resources; and transmitting the HARQ-ACK information based on the second physical uplink control channel resource…
select a third PUCCH resource within the subslot based on the first PUCCH transmission associated with the HARQ-ACK information ending during the subslot of the plurality of subslots and a last symbol of the third PUCCH resource being within the subslot; and multiplex the HARQ-ACK information with the second PUCCH transmission on the third PUCCH resource.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hosseini et al. (US# 2020/0145144 – which teaches of handling overlapping PUCCH/HARQ-ACK resources), Nemeth et al. (US# 2020/0106586 – which teaches of indicating number of sub-slot boundaries).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steve R Young whose telephone number is (571)270-7518. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chirag G Shah can be reached at (571) 272-3144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVE R YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
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