Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 19/265,691

METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR HARQ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FEEDBACK REGARDING DTX AND DRX

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jul 10, 2025
Examiner
DEWAN, SANJAY K
Art Unit
2472
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Nokia Technologies Oy
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
2-3
OA Rounds
2y 5m
To Grant
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
487 granted / 552 resolved
+30.2% vs TC avg
Minimal +3% lift
Without
With
+3.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
53 currently pending
Career history
605
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.9%
-36.1% vs TC avg
§103
54.7%
+14.7% vs TC avg
§102
18.4%
-21.6% vs TC avg
§112
10.2%
-29.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 552 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Drawings 2. The text(description) labeling missing in Figs. 4, 5, 8A, and 8B has been introduced. The objection of these figures has overcome. Response to Arguments 3. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. 4. The rejection of claims 1-6 and 13-16 under 35 U.S.C. 101 overcomes in view of persuasive arguments/remarks. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 8. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khoshnevisan et al., (Pub. No.: US 2021/0029641 A1), in view of (3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #112, Athens, Greece, February 27th – March 3rd, 2023, R1-2301048, Source: ETRI, Title: Enhancements on cell DTX/DRX mechanism, Agenda Item: 9.7.2, Enhancements on cell DTX/DRX mechanism, hereinafter Document ETRI). Regarding Claim 1, (Original) Khoshnevisan discloses an apparatus comprising: (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] UE 115, the apparatus here is being interpreted as an user equipment (UE)) at least one processor; (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0007] processor, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] processor 740) and at least one memory (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] memory 730) comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0007] processor, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] processor 740), cause the apparatus to perform at least: (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0007] processor, memory, instructions stored in the memory. The instructions be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus, Fig. 7, paragraph [0158]) receiving at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation for the apparatus; (Khoshnevisan, paragraphs [0112], [0117] disclose receiving the PDSCH) Khoshnevisan does not explicitly disclose following: obtaining information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is obtained based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell; determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook based at least in part on the determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. However, Khoshnevisan in view of Document ETRI disclose following: obtaining information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is obtained based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; (Document ETRI, section 1. Introduction discloses cell DTX/DRX pattern, DTX is discontinuous transmission pattern, section 2 discusses network DTX/DRX operation, section 2 discloses DTX/DRX Cell non-active periods, It was agreed in RAN 2 that UE-specific and common L1/L2 signaling be considered for activation and deactivation of cell DTX/DRX patterns) determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell; (Document ETRI, page 4, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook based at least in part on the determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. (Document ETRI, page 4, DL HARQ-ACK feedback: One useful solution is to apply Type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook and enhanced Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook introduced in Rel-16 NR-U, In NR-U, UE be instructed to withhold a HARQ-ACK feedback by the non-numerical K1 value indication, and later be triggered to report the pending HARQ-ACK(s); discuss how to prevent DL HARQ-ACK feedback the cell DTX/DRX inactive time, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to be motivated to combine the teachings of Khoshnevisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with that of Document ETRI so that obtaining information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is obtained based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell; determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook based at least in part on the determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell be included in an apparatus (i.e. user equipment UE). The motivation to combine the teachings of Document ETRI includes developing cell DTX/DRX mechanism which is identified as an efficient time domain technique. It would provide high flexibility and controllability. One useful solution to apply Type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook and enhanced Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook introduced in Rel-16 NR-U. Such potential enhancements would increase the efficiency. (Document ETRI, entire document, emphasis section 2, and page 4) Regarding Claim 2, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 1 (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] UE 115, the apparatus here is being interpreted as an user equipment (UE)), wherein the one or more resources comprises one or more slots or one or more symbols. (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0077]-[0078] a slot be divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols) Regarding Claim 3, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 1 (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] UE 115, the apparatus here is being interpreted as an user equipment (UE)), wherein the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation comprises a semi-static physical downlink shared channel resource allocation which comprises one or more of: a physical downlink shared channel time domain resource allocation, a semi-persistent scheduling resource allocation, or a semi-persistent scheduling group resource allocation. (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0103], [0105], [0110], [0112] disclose PDSCH: PDSCH 225-a, Fig. 3, paragraph [0116] disclose PDSCH 315-a, Fig. 3b, paragraph [0125] discloses PDSCH 315-b, the paragraphs [0110]-[0111], [0113] disclose and discuss PDSCH group, paragraphs [0077]-[0078] disclose time domain) Regarding Claim 4, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 1 (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] UE 115, the apparatus here is being interpreted as an user equipment (UE)), wherein the one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation overlap, in time, fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. (Document ETRI, section 2 discloses non-active periods of the cell, page 4, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) Regarding Claim 5, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 1 (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] UE 115, the apparatus here is being interpreted as an user equipment (UE)), wherein the cell discontinuous transmission pattern is indicative of a cell discontinuous transmission cycle. (Document ETRI, section 1, cell DTX pattern, section 2, DTX operation, cell DTX/DRX patterns, cell DTX/DRX cycle) Regarding Claim 6, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 1 (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] UE 115, the apparatus here is being interpreted as an user equipment (UE)), wherein the apparatus is or comprises a gNodeB. (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] base station 105 which is gNodeB, Fig. 1, paragraph [0073] discloses gNBs) Regarding Claim 7, (Original) Khoshnevisan discloses an apparatus comprising: (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 1, paragraph [0073] discloses gNBs, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] discloses base station 105, here the apparatus is being interpreted as a base station or gNB) at least one processor; (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] processor 840) and at least one memory (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] memory 830) comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] processor 840), cause the apparatus to perform at least: (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 8, paragraph [0172] The processor 840 be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (the memory 830) to cause the device 805 to perform various functions) transmitting, to a user equipment (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0096] downlink data transmission (i.e. physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions), transmitting at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation for the user equipment; (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0096] downlink data transmission(i.e. physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions) and Khoshnevisan does not explicitly disclose following: information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is transmitted based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; receiving a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook from the user equipment, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined based at least in part on one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. However, Khoshnevisan in view of Document ETRI disclose following: information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is transmitted based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; (Document ETRI, section 2 discloses non-active periods of the cell, and activation and deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission (CDTX/C-DRX) pattern) receiving a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook from the user equipment, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined based at least in part on one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. (Document ETRI, section 2 discloses non-active periods of the cell, page 4, DL HARQ-ACK feedback: One useful solution is to apply Type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook and enhanced Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook introduced in Rel-16 NR-U, In NR-U, UE be instructed to withhold a HARQ-ACK feedback by the non-numerical K1 value indication, and later be triggered to report the pending HARQ-ACK(s); discuss how to prevent DL HARQ-ACK feedback the cell DTX/DRX inactive time, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to be motivated to combine the teachings of Khoshnevisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with that of Document ETRI so that information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is transmitted based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; receiving a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook from the user equipment, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined based at least in part on one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell be included in an apparatus (i.e. gNB/BS). The motivation to combine the teachings of Document ETRI includes developing cell DTX/DRX mechanism which is identified as an efficient time domain technique. It would provide high flexibility and controllability. One useful solution to apply Type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook and enhanced Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook introduced in Rel-16 NR-U. Such potential enhancements would increase the efficiency. (Document ETRI, entire document, emphasis section 2, and page 4) Regarding Claim 8, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 7 (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 1, paragraph [0073] discloses gNBs, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] discloses base station 105, here the apparatus is being interpreted as a base station or gNB), wherein the one or more resources comprises one or more slots or one or more symbols. (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0077]-[0078] a slot be divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols) Regarding Claim 9, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 7 (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 1, paragraph [0073] discloses gNBs, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] discloses base station 105, here the apparatus is being interpreted as a base station or gNB), wherein the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation comprises a semi-static physical downlink shared channel resource allocation which comprises one or more of: a physical downlink shared channel time domain resource allocation; a semi-persistent scheduling resource allocation; or a semi-persistent scheduling group resource allocation. (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0103], [0105], [0110], [0112] disclose PDSCH: PDSCH 225-a, Fig. 3, paragraph [0116] disclose PDSCH 315-a, Fig. 3b, paragraph [0125] discloses PDSCH 315-b, the paragraphs [0110]-[0111], [0113] disclose and discuss PDSCH group, paragraphs [0077]-[0078] disclose time domain) Regarding Claim 10, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 7 (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 1, paragraph [0073] discloses gNBs, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] discloses base station 105, here the apparatus is being interpreted as a base station or gNB), wherein the one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation overlap, in time, fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. (Document ETRI, section 2 discloses non-active periods of the cell, page 4, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) Regarding Claim 11, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 7 (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 1, paragraph [0073] discloses gNBs, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] discloses base station 105, here the apparatus is being interpreted as a base station or gNB), wherein the cell discontinuous transmission pattern is indicative of a cell discontinuous transmission cycle. (Document ETRI, section 1, cell DTX pattern, section 2, DTX operation, cell DTX/DRX patterns, cell DTX/DRX cycle) Regarding Claim 12, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is or comprises a gNodeB. (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 1, paragraph [0073] discloses gNBs, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] discloses base station 105, here the apparatus is being interpreted as a base station or gNB) Regarding Claim 13, (Original) Khoshnevisan discloses a method comprising: obtaining, by an apparatus (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 7, paragraph [0152] UE 115, the apparatus here is being interpreted as an user equipment (UE)), receiving at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation for the apparatus; (Khoshnevisan, paragraphs [0112], [0117] disclose receiving the PDSCH) Khoshnevisan does not explicitly disclose following: information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is obtained based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell; determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook based at least in part on the determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. However, Khoshnevisan, in view of Document ETRI disclose following. information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is obtained based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; (Document ETRI, section 2 discloses non-active periods of the cell, and activation and deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission (C-DRX) pattern) determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell; (Document ETRI, page 4, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) and determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook based at least in part on the determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. (Document ETRI, page 4, DL HARQ-ACK feedback: One useful solution is to apply Type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook and enhanced Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook introduced in Rel-16 NR-U, In NR-U, UE be instructed to withhold a HARQ-ACK feedback by the non-numerical K1 value indication, and later be triggered to report the pending HARQ-ACK(s); discuss how to prevent DL HARQ-ACK feedback the cell DTX/DRX inactive time, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to be motivated to combine the teachings of Khoshnevisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with that of Document ETRI so that information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is obtained based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell; determining a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook based at least in part on the determining one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell be included in a method. The motivation to combine the teachings of Document ETRI includes developing cell DTX/DRX mechanism which is identified as an efficient time domain technique. It would provide high flexibility and controllability. One useful solution to apply Type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook and enhanced Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook introduced in Rel-16 NR-U. Such potential enhancements would increase the efficiency. (Document ETRI, entire document, emphasis section 2, and page 4) Regarding Claim 14, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the method of claim 13, wherein the one or more resources comprises one or more slots or one or more symbols. (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0077]-[0078] a slot be divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols) Regarding Claim 15, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the method of claim 13, wherein the one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation overlap, in time, fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. (Document ETRI, section 2 discloses non-active periods of the cell, page 4, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) Regarding Claim 16, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the method of claim 13, wherein the cell discontinuous transmission pattern is indicative of a cell discontinuous transmission cycle. (Document ETRI, section 1, cell DTX pattern, section 2, DTX operation, cell DTX/DRX patterns, cell DTX/DRX cycle) Regarding Claim 17, (Original) Khoshnevisan discloses a method comprising: transmitting, by an apparatus (Khoshnevisan, Fig. 1, paragraph [0073] discloses gNBs, Fig. 8, paragraph [0165] discloses base station 105, here the apparatus is being interpreted as a base station or gNB), to a user equipment, transmitting, by the apparatus, at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation for the user equipment; (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0096] downlink data transmission (i.e. physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions) and Khoshnevisan does not explicitly disclose following: information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is transmitted based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; receiving, at the apparatus, from the user equipment, a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined based at least in part on one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. However, Khoshnevisan, in view of Document ETRI disclose following. information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is transmitted based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; (Document ETRI, section 1, cell DTX pattern, section 2, DTX operation, cell DTX/DRX patterns) receiving, at the apparatus, from the user equipment, a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined based at least in part on one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. (Document ETRI, page 4, DL HARQ-ACK feedback: One useful solution is to apply Type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook and enhanced Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook introduced in Rel-16 NR-U, In NR-U, UE be instructed to withhold a HARQ-ACK feedback by the non-numerical K1 value indication, and later be triggered to report the pending HARQ-ACK(s); discuss how to prevent DL HARQ-ACK feedback the cell DTX/DRX inactive time, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to be motivated to combine the teachings of Khoshnevisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with that of Document ETRI so that information of one or more non-active periods of a cell, wherein the information of the one or more non-active periods of the cell is transmitted based on a cell discontinuous transmission pattern configured for the cell and an indication of activation or deactivation of the cell discontinuous transmission pattern; receiving, at the apparatus, from the user equipment, a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined based at least in part on one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell, wherein the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement codebook is determined by omitting the one or more resources that overlap fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell be included in a method. The motivation to combine the teachings of Document ETRI includes developing cell DTX/DRX mechanism which is identified as an efficient time domain technique. It would provide high flexibility and controllability. One useful solution to apply Type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook and enhanced Type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook introduced in Rel-16 NR-U. Such potential enhancements would increase the efficiency. (Document ETRI, entire document, emphasis section 2, and page 4) Regarding Claim 18, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the method of claim 17, wherein the one or more resources comprises one or more slots or one or more symbols. (Khoshnevisan, paragraph [0077]-[0078] a slot be divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols) Regarding Claim 19, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the method of claim 17, wherein the one or more resources of the at least one physical downlink shared channel resource allocation overlap, in time, fully or in part with the one or more non-active periods of the cell. (Document ETRI, section 2 discloses non-active periods of the cell, page 4, there may not be an available UL resource when UE should report PDSCH HARQ-ACK. In other words, the PUCCH resource for a PDSCH HARQ-ACK may fall outside the cell DTX/DRX active time. Here, the interpretation is that the HARQ-ACK is selected based on the PDSCH resource because it is instructing the UE to withhold a HARQ-ACK) Regarding Claim 20, (Original) The combination of Khoshnevisan, and Document ETRI disclose the method of claim 17, wherein the cell discontinuous transmission pattern is indicative of a cell discontinuous transmission cycle. (Document ETRI, section 1, cell DTX pattern, section 2, DTX/DRX operation, cell DTX/DRX patterns, cell DTX/DRX cycle) Conclusion 9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (a) MOON et al., (Pub. No.: US 2024/0267985 A1) (b) XU et al., (Pub. No.: US 2024/0324058 A1) (c) Muruganathan et al., (Patent No.: US 12,101,194 B2) (d) Gerami et al., (Pub. No.: US 2023/0239077 A1) (e) LEI, (Pub. No.: US 2023/0319843 A1) (f) LI et al., (Pub. No.: US 2023/0091988 A1) 10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANJAY K DEWAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4086. The examiner can normally be reached 9 AM to 5:30 PM M-F. 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, Nicholas A. Jensen can be reached at (571)270-5443. 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. /S.K.D./Examiner, Art Unit 2472 /NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 10, 2025
Application Filed
Sep 13, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Dec 16, 2025
Response Filed
Feb 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12598522
Sidelink Radio Link Management
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12574814
Optimized S1-X2 Handovers
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12543118
Methods for Low Energy Movement Detection in Wireless Communication Devices
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 03, 2026
Patent 12531659
METHOD AND DEVICE IN NODES USED FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION
2y 5m to grant Granted Jan 20, 2026
Patent 12531668
ENHANCED ONE-SHOT HARQ-ACK CODEBOOK TRANSMISSION
2y 5m to grant Granted Jan 20, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+3.1%)
2y 5m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 552 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month