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`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
`
`17/441,262
`
`09/20/2021
`
`Tetsuya YAMAMOTO
`
`733456.659USPC
`
`8137
`
`Seed IP Law Group LLP/Panasonic (PIPCA)
`701 5th Avenue, Suite 5400
`Seattle, WA 98104
`
`MURPHY, RHONDAL
`
`ART UNIT
`
`2462
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`NOTIFICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`10/23/2024
`
`ELECTRONIC
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
`
`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
`following e-mail address(es):
`USPTOeAction @ SeedIP.com
`
`pairlinkdktg @seedip.com
`
`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`
`
`Disposition of Claims*
`12-16,18-26 and 28-31 is/are pending in the application.
`)
`Claim(s)
`5a) Of the above claim(s) _ is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`CL] Claim(s)__is/are allowed.
`Claim(s) 12-16,18-26 and 28-31 is/are rejected.
`(] Claim(s)__ is/are objectedto.
`C] Claim(s
`are subjectto restriction and/or election requirement
`)
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, you maybeeligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/index.jsp or send an inquiry to PPHfeedback@uspto.gov.
`
`) ) ) )
`
`Application Papers
`10)(C The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`11) The drawing(s)filed on 20 September 2021 is/are: a)(¥| accepted or b)L) objected to by the Examiner.
`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).
`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
`
`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
`12)(¥) Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d)or (f).
`Certified copies:
`_—_c)L) None ofthe:
`b)L) Some**
`a)Y) All
`1.) Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`2.1.) Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No. |
`3.2.) Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been receivedin this National Stage
`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
`*“ See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
`
`Attachment(s)
`
`1)
`
`Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`
`Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`2)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`
`3)
`
`4)
`
`(LJ Interview Summary (PTO-413)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date
`(Qj Other:
`
`PTOL-326 (Rev. 11-13)
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`Part of Paper No./Mail Date 20241019
`
`Application No.
`Applicant(s)
`171441,262
`YAMAMOTOetal.
`
`Office Action Summary Art Unit|AIA (FITF)StatusExaminer
`RHONDA L MURPHY
`2462
`Yes
`
`
`
`-- The MAILING DATEof this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
`Period for Reply
`
`A SHORTENED STATUTORYPERIOD FOR REPLYIS SET TO EXPIRE 3 MONTHS FROM THE MAILING
`DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensionsof time may be available underthe provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply betimely filed after SIX (6) MONTHSfrom the mailing
`date of this communication.
`If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHSfrom the mailing date of this communication.
`-
`- Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
`Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, evenif timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term
`adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
`
`Status
`
`1) Responsive to communication(s)filed on 15 July 2024.
`C) A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/werefiled on
`2a)[¥) This action is FINAL.
`2b) (J This action is non-final.
`3) An election was madeby the applicant in responseto a restriction requirement set forth during the interview
`on
`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
`4)(2) Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is
`closed in accordance with the practice under Exparte Quayle, 1935 C.D. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/441 ,262
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`Page 2
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`Notice of Pre-AlA or AIA Status
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`The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined
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`underthe first inventor to file provisions of the AIA.
`
`Status of Claims
`
`This office action is responsive to the amendmentfiled on 7/15/24. Claims 1 —
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`11, 17 and 27 have been canceled and claims 12 — 16, 18 — 26 and 28 — 31 are
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`pending.
`
`Responseto Arguments
`
`Applicant's arguments with respect to amended claims 12 and 22 have been
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`considered but are mootin light of the new rejection based on the amendedclaim
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`limitations.
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
`
`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
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`correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AlA) for the rejection will
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`not be considered a new ground ofrejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale
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`supporting the rejection, would be the same undereither status.
`
`The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basisfor all
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`obviousnessrejections 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
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/441 ,262
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`Page 3
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`been obvious before the effectivefiling 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.
`
`This application currently namesjoint inventors. In considering patentability of the
`
`claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was
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`commonly ownedasof the effectivefiling date of the claimed invention(s) absent any
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`evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to
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`point out the inventor andeffectivefiling dates of each claim that was not commonly
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`ownedasof the effectivefiling date of the later invention in order for the examiner to
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`considerthe applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2)
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`prior art against the later invention.
`
`Claims 12 — 16, 18 — 26 and 28 — 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being
`
`unpatentable overLim et al. (US 2022/0150973 A1) in view of Haghighatet al. (US
`
`2022/0190906 A1).
`
`Regarding claims 12 and 22, Lim teaches a terminal (Figs.
`
`1 and 12: UE), comprising:
`
`control circuitry (Fig. 12: application circuitry 1205), which, in operation, determines,
`
`based onafirst parameter included in message B whichis a responseto a transmission
`
`of arandom accesssignal, a resource used for transmission of a responsesignalto the
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`message B (paragraphs 70-73: One or more new MAC RAR (each new MAC RAR is
`
`responding to a UE and contains the contents of existing RAR and also include DL
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`assignmentfor the ContentionResolutionidentifier MAC CE and DL payload) to form a
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`RAR MAC PDUandthe ContentionResolutionidentifier MAC CE+MAC SDUs (DL
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`payload) of each of the UE are sent separately in another MAC PDUandis sent in L1
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`resources indicated in DL assignment; [0071] One or more new MAC CE(each new
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`MAC CEis responding to a UE and contains the C-RNTI, UL grant...; paragraph 73: the
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 17/441 ,262
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`Page 4
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`DL assignment can include one or more following parameters); and transmission
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`circuitry (Fig. 12: Radio Front End Module 1215).
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`Lim does not explicitly disclose in a case where the messageB includes
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`information on useridentity (UE ID) of the terminal, performs a transmission of the
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`responsesignal in the resource; and in a case where the message B requests
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`retransmission of a data part of the random accesssignal, performs a message 3
`
`transmission by using another resource indicated by the message B.
`
`However, Haghighat teaches transmission circuitry (Fig. 1B: transceiver 120),
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`which, in operation, in a case where the message B includesinformation on user
`
`identity (UE ID) of the terminal, performs a transmission of the response signalin the
`
`resource (paragraph 115: contention resolution for the WTRU has been successfully
`
`completed (e.g., the WIRU contention resolution identity transmitted in msgB matches
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`the WTRUID transmitted in msgA); and/or, the 2-Step Random Access procedure has
`
`been completed successfully); and in a case where the message B requests
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`retransmission of a data part of the random accesssignal, performs a message 3
`
`transmission by using another resource indicated by the message B (paragraph 120: At
`
`803, if the PDCCH associated with msgB carrying the uplink grant is addressed by the
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`RA-RNTI, then following may apply: the msg3 information part of msgA has not
`
`received successfully at the gNB (e.g., HARQ NACKfor msg3); uplink grantis for
`
`retransmission of msg3 on a PUSCH;this 2-Step Random Access procedureis
`
`unsuccessful; the gNB has switched the WTRUfrom a 2-Step RACHto a 4-Step RACH
`
`procedure).
`
`

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`Application/Control Number: 17/441 ,262
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`Page 5
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`In view of this, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the
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`effectivefiling date of the claimed invention to modify Lim’s terminal by incorporating the
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`teachings of Haghighat, for the purpose of performing transmission according to a
`
`specified technique given certain conditions.
`
`Regarding claims 13 and 23, Lim teaches the terminal according to claim 12, wherein
`
`the control circuitry determines the resource basedon the first parameter without using
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`bits of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a control channel element
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`(CCE) index (paragraph 102: The PDCCHuses CCEsto conveythe control information.
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`Before being mappedto resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may
`
`first be organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using a sub-block
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`interleaverfor rate matching. Each PDCCH maybe transmitted using one or more of
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`these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource
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`elements known as REGs.).
`
`Regarding claims 14 and 24, Lim teaches the terminal according to claim 12, wherein
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`the control circuitry determines the resource, based on the first parameter, from a
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`plurality of resources,the plurality of resources being indicated by a higher layer
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`signaling (paragraph 101: The PDSCHcarries user data and higher-layer signaling to
`
`the UEs 801. The PDCCHcarries information about the transport format and resource
`
`allocations related to the PDSCH channel).
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`Regarding claims 15 and 25, Lim teaches the terminal according to claim 12, wherein
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`the message B further includes transmission timing information used for the
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`transmission of the response signal (paragraph 71: One or more new MAC CE(each
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 17/441 ,262
`Art Unit: 2462
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`Page 6
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`new MAC CEis responding to a UE and contains the C-RNTI, UL grant, UL timing
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`advance value. Also described in paragraph 74: time window; and paragraph 52).
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`Regarding claims 16 and 26, Lim teaches the terminal according to claim 12, wherein
`
`the control circuitry considers a random access procedure is successfully completed in
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`the case wherethe UE ID of the terminalis included in the message B (paragraph 43: in
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`MsgB, the gNB sends a response message backto the UE, which can include the
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`preamble ID for identification and UE ID for contention resolution in case of contention
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`based random access. Also described in paragraph 111).
`
`Regarding claims 18 and 28, Lim teaches the terminal according to claim 12, wherein
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`the UE ID of the terminal is not included in the messageBin the case where the
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`message B requests retransmission of the data part of the random accesssignal
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`(paragraphs 55 — 56: In some embodiments (such as: cell radio network temporary
`
`identifier (C-RNTI)—which may be usedto differentiate/identify a connected UE in the
`
`cell; a specific radio channel; a group of UEsin case of paging, etc.), MsgB may not be
`
`neededby the UE...).
`
`Regarding claims 19 and 29, Lim teaches the terminal according to claim 12, wherein
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`the control circuitry starts a window relating to the messageBafter the transmission of
`
`the random accesssignal, and the transmission circuitry performs retransmission of the
`
`random accesssignal in a case where the message B is not received within the window
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`(paragraphs 73-74: Retransmission of MsgB MAC PDU can be scheduled by DL DC!
`
`with CRC scrambled by TC-RNTI or C-RNTI. [0074] Further, when DL assignmentfor
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`scheduling MsgB MAC PDUis indicated in the DCI, a time window maybe defined,
`
`where the starting slot and duration of the time window may be configured by SIB).
`
`

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`Application/Control Number: 17/441 ,262
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`Page 7
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`Regarding claims 20 and 30, Lim teaches the terminal according to claim 12, wherein
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`the message B doesnotinclude control information of one or more terminals, of which a
`
`preamble part of the random accesssignalis not detected at a base station (paragraph
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`43: In some embodiments, in MsgB, the gNB sends a response message backto the
`
`UE, which can include the preamble ID for identification and UE ID for contention
`
`resolution in case of contention based random access.In order to support the sending
`
`of the RRC Setup, Resume and Re-establishment message, the Msg2 also carries a
`
`payload for RRC messages. Further described in paragraphs 48-54).
`
`Regarding claims 21 and 31, Lim teachesthe terminal according to claim 12, wherein
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`the random accesssignal includes both of a Random access channel (RACH) preamble
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`and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (paragraph 29: In Step 1, a first
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`message (MsgA) comprising a preamble and a payload is sent by UE. The physical
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`random access channel (PRACH) preamble can be used as reference signals for
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`coherent detection of payload transmitted, as well as for time alignmentif needed. Also
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`described in paragraph 75: RACH and paragraph 98: PUSCH).
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`Conclusion
`
`Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in
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`this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP
`
`§ 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37
`
`CFR 1.136(a).
`
`A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE
`
`
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`MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the eventafirst reply is filed within
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`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/441 ,262
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`Page 8
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`TWO MONTHS ofthe mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not
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`mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTHshortenedstatutory period, then the
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`shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any
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`extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of
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`the advisory action.
`
`In no event, however,will the statutory period for reply expire later
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`than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
`
`Anyinquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
`
`examiner should be directed to RHONDA L MURPHYwhosetelephone numberis
`
`(571)272-3185. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00pm.
`
`Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video
`
`conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an
`
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`
`(AIR) at http:/Avwww.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
`
`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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`obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Centeris
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 17/441 ,262
`Art Unit: 2462
`
`Page 9
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`(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.
`
`/RHONDA L MURPHY/
`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
`
`