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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/12/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 34, 36, 38, 43-49, 51, and 53 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over QUALCOMM INCORPORATED ET AL: "Avoidance of paging collisions to minimize outage of services", 3GPP DRAFT; S2-174243; 2017-06-25, XP051303098 herein D1 in view of US 11665668 B2 herein Ryu.
Claim 34, D1 discloses a method implemented by a terminal device (Steps shown in document performed by a UE) or a chip in the terminal device, wherein the method comprises:
determining a first paging occasion (PO) based on a parameter broadcast by a serving cell in a first network of at least two network and a first International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of the terminal device (section 2.1, a UE monitors the paging frame and pacing occasion that is allocated based on IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity); section 2.1, observation 1: paging frame and paging occasion to be monitored by a UE is a specific time instance calculated as a function of IMSI; section 2.2, Fig. 1: 2, On frequency F1, UE expect to receive paging from network, PLMN1);
sending, to a first network device in a first network of at least two networks (Fig. 1: two networks; section 2.2, frequency 1 of PLMN1 and frequency 2 of PLMN2), first indication information indicating that the first (PO) needs to be updated when the first PO overlap occurs during monitoring paging of the at least two network (Fig. 1: overlapping of paging occasions in two networks; Fig. 2: paging offset calculated by the terminal is transmitted to the MME of PLMN1); and
receiving, from the first network device in response to the first indication information, second indication information comprising a second offset of the first IMSI (Fig. 2, "3. New PO position to monitor = PO based on IMSI + accepted paging offset);
determining a second PO based on the first IMSI and the second offset of the first IMSI to monitor a paging message on the second PO (Fig. 2 of D1 when it depicts the step "3. New PO position to monitor= PO based on IMSI + accepted paging offset'; clearly showing a second PO based on a second offset and identifier, which provides for monitoring a second paging message; section 2.1, UE_ID is IMSI).
D1 may not explicitly disclose sending an IMIS offset upon determining an overlap in paging occasion; wherein the first indication information comprises a first offset of the first IMSI.
Ryu discloses sending an IMIS offset upon determining an overlap in paging occasion (Claim 1, IMSI offset sent to the network when an overlap occurs; Col 31: 65-67, In an example, subscription permanent identity (SUPI) may be a globally unique UE identity to each subscriber in a 5G system and SUPI may be the IMSI, Col 38: 46-54, the UE_ID in FIG. 19C and FIG. 19D may be incremented based on the paging UE identity offset, in response to the paging adjustment parameter being the paging UE identity offset. In an example, IMSI of the UE is ‘1234123412341234’ and the paging UE identity offset is ‘1021’ then the UE_ID for calculation of the paging frame and the paging occasion may be the IMSI (1234123412341234) plus the paging UE identity offset (1021) and the UE_ID may be ‘12341234123412342255’); wherein the first indication information comprises a first offset of the first IMSI (Claim 1, IMSI offset sent to the network). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify D1 to include sending an IMSI offset as taught by Ryu so as to enable more efficient radio signaling.
Claim 36, D1 discloses the method of claim 35, wherein before receiving the second indication information, the method further comprises sending, to the first network device, a first identifier of the terminal device (section 3: TAU Request' is sent it comprises a "first identifier of the terminal device" in the form of a GUTI).
D1 may not explicitly disclose a first IMSI.
Ryu discloses a first IMSI (Claim 1, IMSI offset sent to the network when an overlap occurs; Col 31: 65-67, In an example, subscription permanent identity (SUPI) may be a globally unique UE identity to each subscriber in a 5G system and SUPI may be the IMSI, Col 38: 46-54, the UE_ID in FIG. 19C and FIG. 19D may be incremented based on the paging UE identity offset, in response to the paging adjustment parameter being the paging UE identity offset. In an example, IMSI of the UE is ‘1234123412341234’ and the paging UE identity offset is ‘1021’ then the UE_ID for calculation of the paging frame and the paging occasion may be the IMSI (1234123412341234) plus the paging UE identity offset (1021) and the UE_ID may be ‘12341234123412342255’). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify D1 to include sending an IMSI offset as taught by Ryu so as to enable more efficient radio signaling.
Claim 38, D1 discloses the method of claim 36, wherein the second indication information comprises second offset indication information (Fig. 2: 3. New PO position to monitor= PO based on IMSI + accepted paging offset).
Claim 43, D1 discloses the method of claim 34, wherein the first indication information comprises first offset range indication information (Fig. 2 step 3 that the "New PO position to monitor= PO based on IMS/+ accepted paging offset because the IMSI reads onto the "first identifier').
Claim 44, D1 discloses the method of claim 34, further comprising(changes to the tracking area triggers TAU procedure, Fig. 2: "2a. TAU Request (paging offset)"; tracking area change, and different PO is a repetition of Fig. 2 procedure); identifying that the terminal device needs to receive a signal on a second network on the third PO (tracking area change, and different PO is a repetition of Fig. 2 procedure); and sending, in response to the identifying and to a second network device in the first network or a third network device in the second network, third indication information indicating that the third PO needs to be updated (Fig. 2, "3. New PO position to monitor= PO based on IMSI + accepted paging offset).
Claim 45, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 34.
D1 discloses a method implemented by a first network device (processes and steps performed by eNB) or a chip in the first network device, wherein the method comprises: making a determination, based on the first indication information, that the first PO overlap occurs when the terminal device monitors paging of at least two networks (Section 2.2, Fig. 1, PO conflict of different services).
Claim 46, D1 discloses the method of claim 45, further comprising sending, to the terminal device during the second PO, a paging message (Fig. 1, implied since paging occurs in determined PO).
Claim 47, D1 discloses the method of claim 46, wherein before sending the second indication information, the method further comprises receiving, from the terminal device, a first identifier (Fig. 2: GUTI sent from terminal).
Claim 48, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 37.
Claim 49, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 38.
Claim 51, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 43.
Claim 53, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 34. D1 discloses A communications apparatus (section 2.1-2.3, UE), comprising: a memory configured to store instructions (since a UE is a computing cellular device with programs and instructions for operation, thus a memory); and a processor coupled to the memory (since a UE is a computing cellular device with processes for communications, thus a processor), wherein the instructions cause the processor to be configured (conventional operations performed by UEs with processors and instructions) to:
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20140378172 A1 - Disclosed are a method for transceiving a paging message in a wireless communication system that supports a multiple radio access network and an apparatus for the method. In detail, the method comprises: a step of receiving, from a terminal, a paging redirection request message for requesting redirection of a paging message transmission path of a cellular network through a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) in the event the terminal accessed to a base station of the cellular network has switched the access thereof to the WLAN AP; a step of transmitting a paging redirection response message indicating whether the redirection of the paging message is authenticated or not to the terminal through the WLAN AP; and a step of transmitting a paging message to the terminal through the WLAN AP.
WO 2021102786 A1 – A user equipment (UE) includes a first subscriber identification module (SIM) and a second SIM. The UE is configured to establish a first cellular network connection based on, at least, the first SIM and a second cellular network connection based on, at least, the second SIM. The UE detects a collision between i) multiple paging occasions or ii) multiple paging frames. The UE then initiates a procedure for updating a paging occasion for the first cellular network connection. The UE monitors for a page over the first cellular network connection during the paging occasion.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mehmood B. Khan whose telephone number is (571)272-9277. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am-6:30 pm.
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, Nishant Divecha can be reached on (571) 270-3125. 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.
/Mehmood B. Khan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2419