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`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`PO. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 2231371450
`www.uspto.gov
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`15/862,429
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`01/04/2018
`
`Atsushi Matsumoto
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`733456.403C6
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`4535
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`Seed IP Law Group LLP/Panason1e
`701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5400
`Seattle, WA 98104
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`CHOUDHURY' FAISAL
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`ART UNIT
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`2478
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`PAPER NUMBER
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`NOTIFICATION DATE
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`DELIVERY MODE
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`03/05/2020
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`ELECTRONIC
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`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
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`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
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`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above—indicated "Notification Date" to the
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`following e—mail address(es):
`US PTOeACtion @ SeedIP .Com
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`pairlinkdktg @ seedip .eom
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`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
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`
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`017/09 A0170” Summary
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`Application No.
`15/862,429
`Examiner
`FAISAL CHOUDHURY
`
`Applicant(s)
`Matsumoto et al.
`Art Unit
`AIA (FITF) Status
`2478
`N0
`
`- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet wit/7 the correspondence address -
`Period for Reply
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`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE g MONTHS FROM THE MAILING
`DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing
`date of this communication.
`|f NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from 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, even if timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term
`adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
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`Status
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`1). Responsive to communication(s) filed on 1/21/2020.
`CI A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
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`2a)[:] This action is FINAL.
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`2b)
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`This action is non-final.
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`3)[:] An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview
`on
`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
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`4):] 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 Expade Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
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`Disposition of Claims*
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`5)
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`Claim(s) fl is/are pending in the application.
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`5a) Of the above Claim(s)
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`is/are withdrawn from consideration.
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`
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`[:1 Claim(ss)
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`is/are allowed.
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`8)
`Claim(s 126 Is/are rejected
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`D Claim(ss_) is/are objected to.
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`) ) ) )
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`S)
`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement
`[:1 Claim(s
`* If any claims have been determined aflowable. you may be eligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
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`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
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`http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init events/pph/index.jsp or send an inquiry to PPeredback@uspto.gov.
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`Application Papers
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`10)|:l The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
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`is/are: a)[] accepted or b)l:] objected to by the Examiner.
`11)[:] The drawing(s) filed on
`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).
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`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
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`12)D Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).
`Certified copies:
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`a)I:l All
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`b)|:] Some**
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`c)l:i None of the:
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`1C] Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
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`2C] Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
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`3D Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage
`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
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`** See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
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`Attachment(s)
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`1) [3 Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
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`2) C] Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date_
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
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`3) E] Interview Summary (PTO-413)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date
`4) CI Other-
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`PTOL-326 (Rev. 11-13)
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`Office Action Summary
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`Part of Paper No./Mai| Date 20200302
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 15/862,429
`Art Unit: 2478
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`Page 2
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`1.
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`The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
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`Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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`Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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`1.
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`A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR
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`1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued
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`examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the
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`finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's
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`submission filed on 1/21/2020 has been entered.
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`Remarks
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`1.
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`On pages 7-9 of the remarks, Applicant argues prior art fails to teach the claimed limitation ”
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`one or more frequency resources are uniformly distributed in the frequency band and a time
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`domain according to the variable transmission bandwidth”
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`In response, examiner respectfully disagrees. Prior art 3GPP R1-073116 at Fig.1 shows
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`frequency in X axis and 1.0 ms sub-frame in the Y axis. Here 1.0 ms sub-frame in the Y axis corresponds
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`to time domain. Prior art Fig.1 also shows 25 R35. Fig.1 also shows time-frequency RBs also includes
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`different types of RS (i.e CS-RS, DM RS etc) and also shows of including PUCCH in the both end of the
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`system bandwidth SMHz. 3GPP also discloses of using different transmission bandwidth (i.e 1.25 MHz,
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`2.5 MHz etc) for transmitting RS and PUCCH. In the claim, Applicant does not further clarify how the
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`frequency resources are uniformly distributed. Fig.1 also shows 23 R35 of 25 R35 are allocated to CS-RS
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`and DM RS means they are uniformly distributed.
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`Application/Control Number: 15/862,429
`Art Unit: 2478
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`Page 3
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`For the above reasons, examiner maintains the rejection.
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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`1.
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`The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 that
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`form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
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`(e) the invention was described in (1) an application for patent, published under section
`122(b), by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent or
`(2) a patent granted on an application for patent by another filed in the United States before
`the invention by the applicant for patent, except that an international application filed under
`the treaty defined in section 351 (a) shall have the effects for purposes of this subsection of an
`application filed in the United States only if the international application designated the United
`States and was published under Article 21(2) of such treaty in the English language.
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`2.
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`Claim(s) 1, 3-12, 14 and 16-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (e) as being anticipated by
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`NFL 3GPP R1-073116 to Samsung et al. (hereinafter Samsung).
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`As to claims 1 and 14, Samsung discloses an integrated circuit to control a process, the process
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`comprising:
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`mapping, in at least a first mode of operation, one or more reference signals to one or more
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`frequency resources in a frequency band, the frequency band having a variable transmission bandwidth
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`within a system bandwidth, the variable transmission bandwidth being provided between control
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`channels mapped to both ends of the system bandwidth, wherein each of the one or more frequency
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`resources is of a fixed bandwidth and the one or more frequency resources are uniformly distributed in
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`the frequency band and a time domain according to the variable transmission bandwidth (Samsung;
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`Section 1 and section 6 discloses a uplink transmission corresponds to first mode; Fig.1-2; Section 2 and
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`section 4 shows and discloses of mapping RS (=reference signal) to a frequency resource in a frequency
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`band. Fig.2; section 4 shows and discloses variable transmission bandwidth 1.25 MHz and 5 MHz in a
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`system bandwidth 5MHz. Fig.1 shows transmission bandwidth is between two PUCCH. Fig.1 shows
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 15/862,429
`Art Unit: 2478
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`Page 4
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`frequency in X axis and 1.0 ms sub-frame in the Y axis. Here 1.0 ms sub-frame in the Y axis corresponds
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`to time domain. Prior art Fig.1 also shows 25 RBs. Fig.1 also shows time-frequency RBs also includes
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`different types of RS (i.e CS-RS, DM RS etc) and also shows of including PUCCH in the both end of the
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`system bandwidth 5MHz. SGPP also discloses of using different transmission bandwidth (i.e 1.25 MHz,
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`2.5 MHz etc) for transmitting RS and PUCCH. In the claim, Applicant does not further clarify how the
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`frequency resources are uniformly distributed in frequency band and time domain. Fig.1 shows 23 RBs
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`of 25 R35 are allocated to CS-RS and DM RS means they are uniformly distributed in frequency band and
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`time domain)
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`transmitting, in at least the first mode of operation, the one or more reference signals
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`(Samsung; Fig.1; Section 2 shows and discloses wherein RS is transmitted in PUSCH).
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`As to claims 3 and 16, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition
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`Samsung discloses wherein a number of the one or more frequency resources varies according to the
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`variable transmission bandwidth (Samsung; Fig.2-3 and section 4).
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`As to claims 4 and 17, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition
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`Samsung discloses the process comprising mapping, in a second mode of operation, a reference signal to
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`a single frequency resource, the single frequency resource having a bandwidth equal to the transmission
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`bandwidth (Samsung; Fig.1-2 and Sections 2-4).
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`As to claims 5 and 18, the rejection of claim 3 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition
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`Samsung discloses wherein the number of the one or more frequency resources is one (Samsung; Fig.1-2
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`and Sections 2-4).
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 15/862,429
`Art Unit: 2478
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`Page 5
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`As to claims 6 and 19, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition
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`Samsung discloses the process comprising receiving, in at least the first mode of operation, control
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`information associated with the one or more frequency resources, wherein the mapping includes
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`mapping the one or more reference signals to the one or more frequency resources based on the
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`control information (Samsung; Fig.1-2 and Sections 2-4).
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`As to claims 7 and 20, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition
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`Samsung discloses wherein the variable transmission bandwidth is equal to the system bandwidth minus
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`a band to which the control channels are mapped (Samsung; Fig.1-2 and Sections 2-4).
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`As to claims 8 and 21, the rejection of claim 3 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition
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`Samsung discloses wherein when the number is greater than one, the mapping includes mapping a
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`plurality of reference signals to a plurality of frequency resources using frequency hopping to transmit a
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`reference signal on each of the plurality of frequency resources (Samsung; Fig.1-2 and Sections 2-4).
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`As to claims 9 and 22, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition
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`Samsung discloses wherein the transmission bandwidth is one of a plurality of different transmission
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`bandwidths (Samsung; Fig.1-2 and Sections 2-4).
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`As to claims 10 and 23, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In
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`addition Samsung discloses wherein each of the one or more frequency resources is a unit of
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`transmission of a reference signal (Samsung; Fig.1-2 and Sections 2-4)
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 15/862,429
`Art Unit: 2478
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`Page 6
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`As to claims 11 and 24, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In
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`addition Samsung discloses wherein the one or more reference signals are one or more sounding
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`reference signals (Samsung; Fig.1-2 and Sections 2-4)
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`As to claims 12 and 25, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In
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`addition Samsung discloses wherein the one or more frequency resources are different time resources
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`(Samsung; Fig.1-2 and Sections 2-4)
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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`1.
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`The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness
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`rejections set forth in this Office action:
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`(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described
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`as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to
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`be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been
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`obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which
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`said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the
`invention was made.
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`2.
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`The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere C0,, 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966),
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`that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are
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`summarized as follows:
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`PENN!“
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`Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
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`Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
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`Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
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`Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or
`nonobviousness.
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 15/862,429
`Art Unit: 2478
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`Page 7
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`3.
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`Claim(s) 2, 13, 15 and 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over NPL
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`SGPP R1-073116 to Samsung et al. (hereinafter Samsung) in view of U.S. Pre-Grant Publication US
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`2008/0242245 A1 to Aparin et al. (hereinafter Aparin)
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`As to claims 2 and 15, Samsung discloses of transmitting and receiving signal. Samsung fails to
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`discloses a circuitry including input and output. However, Aprain discloses the integrated circuit
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`comprising:
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`circuitry, which, in operation, controls the process (Aprain; [0007]);
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`at least one input coupled to the circuitry, wherein the at least one input, in operation, inputs
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`data (Aprain; [0007]); and
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`at least one output coupled to the circuity, wherein the at least one output, in operation,
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`outputs data (Aprain; [0007]).
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`It is obvious for person of ordinary skilled in the art to combine teachings before the invention,
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`because both of the references discloses of transmitting and receiving information. One would be
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`motivated to combine the teachings in order to transmit and receive the signal by using transmitter and
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`receiver and thus provide a QoS.
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`As to claims 13 and 26, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In
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`addition Samsung-Aprain discloses wherein the at least one output and the at least one input, in
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`operation, are coupled to an antenna (Aprain; [0007]).
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 15/862,429
`Art Unit: 2478
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`Page 8
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`Conclusion
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`1.
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`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
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`should be directed to FAISAL CHOUDHURY whose telephone number is (571)270-3001. The examiner
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`can normally be reached on M-F SAM-6PM.
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`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor,
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`Derrick Ferris can be reached on 5712723123. The fax phone number for the organization where this
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`application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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`from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available
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`
`/FAISAL CHOUDHURY/
`
`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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`