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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office Action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/20/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-3, 18, 21, and 25-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claims 1 and 18, the limitations, "identifying whether the first message includes second information on a UE paging list; and in case that the first message includes the second information on the UE paging list, transmitting a paging message for the multicast group paging of an MBS session corresponding to the MBS session ID in paging occasions identified based on the second information", introduce new matter because the specification of the present application fails to disclose, suggest, or otherwise support this limitation. The cited portions of Applicant’s specification specifically do not disclose or provide support for either determining whether the first message includes second information of a UE paging list or transmitting a paging message in case the first message includes the second information. Applicant’s specification does disclose, at paragraphs 0144 and 0145 as published, paging for the MBS multicast session activation notification is used in relevant POs for the UEs, but nothing in Applicant’s specification seems to disclose or support conditioning this paging on the first message including the second information on the UE paging list or even identifying whether the first message includes second information on a UE paging list.
Claims 2, 3, 21, and 25-27 are also rejected by virtue of their dependency on claims 1 and 18.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 18, 21, and 25-27 would be allowable if the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and (b) are overcome.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Considering claims 1 and 18, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Gan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0314523 A1) and Kim et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0104225 A1), fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of identifying whether the first message includes second information on a UE paging list; and in case that the first message includes the second information on the UE paging list, transmitting a paging message for the multicast group paging of an MBS session corresponding to the MBS session ID in paging occasions identified based on the second information in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claims 1 and 18.
Claims 2, 3, 21, and 25-27 are also allowed by virtue of their dependency on claims 1 and 18.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to MARK G. PANNELL whose telephone number is (303) 297-4245. The Examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (Mountain Time).
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, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on (571) 272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/Mark G. Pannell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
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