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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/20/2026 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of 31-38 and 45-50 in the reply filed on 06/13/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 39-44 are withdrawn. The applicant is reminded to file the claims with the correct status in the next response. Claims have not been filed with the response to restriction showing the proper claim status.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because of the new grounds of rejection.
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 31-38 and 45-50 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.
Claims 31 and 45 were amended to recite that the first operation and the second operation are each selected based on the received cause value "independently of any timer value included in the feedback message" (claim 31), and that the processor is configured to "select the first operation or the second operation based on the received cause value independently of any timer value included in the feedback message" (claim 45). This is a negative limitation, and it constitutes new matter. Any negative limitation must have basis in the original disclosure (MPEP 2173.05(i)).
The original disclosure, including the original claims, does not describe the exclusion of a timer value included in the feedback message from the selection of the first operation or the second operation. The specification describes the feedback message as including a cause value of a user plane resource establishment failure (0006, 0047, 0111. 0115, 0220), and Table 1 lists the information elements of the feedback message without any timer or timer value (0113). Each disclosed timer is set by the terminal device to time a process of using the second communications network (0022, 0037, 0049, 0056, 0167-0169), and is not included in the feedback message or used in choosing between the first operation and the second operation. Original claims 31 and 45 recite performing the first operation or the second operation according to the received cause value or cause value type, and original claims 33 and 47 recite only the terminal-side timer for the second communications network; no original claim recites a timer value in the feedback message or independence from one. The specification neither discloses a timer value in the feedback message nor states any basis for excluding one, and silence in the original disclosure does not provide support for the negative limitation. Claims 32-38 depend from claim 31, and claims 46-50 depend from claim 45; each therefore includes the new matter of the parent claim and is rejected on the same basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 31-35 and 45-49 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2016/0113053 A1 herein Chuang.
Claim 31, Chuang discloses a communication method implemented by a terminal device (Abstract, Method), the communication method comprising:
sending, to a network device, a user plane resource establishment request message (0021, to establish an EPS bearer in the 4G system, the UE sends a PON connectivity request message to the eNodeB);
receiving, from the network device in response to the user plane resource establishment request message, a feedback message comprising a received cause value of a user plane resource establishment failure (0021, upon receipt of the PON connectivity request message, the network may reject the request with a cause code; 0007, the UE receives a PON connectivity reject message from the network, the PDN connectivity reject message comprises a cause code);
performing a first operation when the received cause value is a first cause value (0053, if the cause code is #50, then the UE modifies the PDN type to be IPv4); and
performing a second operation when the received cause value is a second cause value (0053, if the cause code is #51, then the UE modifies the PDN type to be IPv6),
wherein the first cause value is different from the second cause value (0039-0040, #50: PDN type IPv4 only allowed; #51: PDN type IPv6 only allowed),
wherein the first operation and the second operation are each selected based on the received cause value independently of any timer value included in the feedback message (0051, if the ESM cause code is #50 "PDN type IPv4 only allowed" or #51 "PDN type 1Pv6 only allowed", the UE shall ignore the Back-off timer value IE and Re-attempt indicator IE provided by the network, if any; FIG. 4, ignore backoff timer and re-attempt indicator),
wherein the first operation is different from the second operation (0053, IPv4 for cause code #50 and IPv6 for cause code #51), and
wherein each of the first operation and the second operation establishes a communication link between the terminal device and the network device (0052, the UE does not violate the network restrictions and is able to retry to establish an EPS bearer for data service; 0053, the UE retries the same PDN procedure under the same APN and PLMN/EPLMN combination; 0051, the UE shall ignore the Back-off timer value IE and Re-attempt indicator IE provided by the network, if any; FIG. 4, ignore backoff timer and re-attempt indicator).
Claim 32, Chuang discloses the communication method of claim 31.
Chuang discloses wherein each of the first operation and second operation comprises at least one of: updating a communication link route configuration; resending, to the network device, the user plane resource establishment request message (0022, the UE retries the PDN connectivity procedure by sending a subsequent PDN connectivity request to the eNodeB using the altered factor);
releasing a communication session resource and sending, to the network device, a session establishment request message; sending, to the network device, a first deregistration request message to cancel registration with a first communications network and sending, to the network device, a first registration request message for the first communications network to establish the communication link using the first communications network; enabling an offline mode and disabling the offline mode; and sending, to the network device, a second deregistration request message to cancel registration with a third communications network and sending, to the network device, a second registration request message for a second communications network to establish the communication link using the second communications network.
Claim 33, Claim 33 further limits an alternative of claim 32. Since Chuang discloses resending an establishment request message, all the claim limitations of claim 33 have been met.
Claim 34, Claim 34 further limits an alternative of claim 32. Since Chuang discloses resending an establishment request message, all the claim limitations of claim 34 have been met.
Claim 35, Claim 35 further limits an alternative of claim 32. Since Chuang discloses resending an establishment request message, all the claim limitations of claim 35 have been met.
Claim 45, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 31.
Chuang discloses a terminal device (Abstract, UE):
a transmitter (0024, the RF transceiver converts baseband signals from the processor and sends out to the antenna);
a receiver (0024, the RF transceiver receives RF signals from the antenna, converts them to baseband signals and sends them to the processor); and
a processor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver and configured to (0024, the processor processes the received baseband signals and invokes different functional modules to perform features in the mobile station).
Claim 46, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 32.
Claim 47, Claim 47 further limits an alternative of claim 46. Since Chuang discloses resending an establishment request message, all the claim limitations of claim 47 have been met.
Claim 48, Claim 48 further limits an alternative of claim 46. Since Chuang discloses resending an establishment request message, all the claim limitations of claim 47 have been met.
Claim 49, Claim 49 further limits an alternative of claim 46. Since Chuang discloses resending an establishment request message, all the claim limitations of claim 47 have been met.
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.
Claim(s) 36-38 and 50 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chuang in view of 3GPP TS 24.008 V16.3.0 (2019-12) Technical Specification 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Mobile radio interface Layer 3 specification; Core network protocols; Stage 3 (Release 16) herein 3gpp.
Claim 36, Chuang discloses The communication method of claim 31.
Chuang may not explicitly disclose wherein the first operation comprises K sub-operations, wherein the K sub-operations are in a one-to-one correspondence with K priorities, and wherein the communication method further comprises performing, based on the K priorities, the K sub-operations.
3gpp discloses wherein the first operation comprises K sub-operations, wherein the K sub-operations are in a one-to-one correspondence with K priorities (Pg. 170-173, priorities with actions after receiving cause codes), and wherein the communication method further comprises performing, based on the K priorities, the K sub-operations (Pg. 170-173, performing actions based on priority). 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 Chuang to include other cause values as taught by so as to adhere to well established standards.
Claim 37, Chuang discloses The communication method of claim 31.
Chuang may not explicitly disclose wherein the first operation comprises cyclically performing a target sub-operation M times, wherein the second operation comprises cyclically performing the target sub-operation N times, wherein both M and N are positive integers, and wherein M is not equal to N.
3gpp discloses wherein the first operation comprises cyclically performing a target sub-operation M times (Pg. 170-173, performing actions while the timer is active), wherein the second operation comprises cyclically performing the target sub-operation N times, wherein both M and N are positive integers, and wherein M is not equal to N (Pg. 170-173, performing actions while the timer is active). ). 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 Chuang to include other cause values as taught by so as to adhere to well established standards.
Claim 38, Chuang discloses the communication method of claim 31.
Chuang may not explicitly disclose wherein the first cause value belongs to a first cause value type, wherein the first cause value type comprises one or more of a cause value #65, a cause value #67, a cause value #69, or a cause value #92, wherein the second cause value belongs to a second cause value type, and wherein the second cause value type comprises one or more of a cause value #95, a cause value #96, a cause value #97, a cause value #100, or a cause value #101.
3GPP discloses wherein the first cause value belongs to a first cause value type, wherein the first cause value type comprises one or more of a cause value #65, a cause value #67, a cause value #69, or a cause value #92 (Section 6.1.3.1.3.3, if the SM cause value is #65 maximum number of PDP context reached, the MS shall determine the PLMN's maximum number of PDP contexts in A/Gb or lu mode as the number of active PDP contexts it has, and the MS shall ignore the Back-off timer value IE and Re-attempt indicator IE provided by the network),
wherein the second cause value belongs to a second cause value type, and wherein the second cause value type comprises one or more of a cause value #95, a cause value #96, a cause value #97, a cause value #100, or a cause value #101 (Section 6.1.3.6, the MS shall take different actions depending on the received SM cause value; #97 message type non-existent or not implemented, the MS shall abort any ongoing SM procedure related to the received transaction identifier value and stop any related timer). 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 Chuang to include the first cause value type and the second cause value type, as taught by 3GPP, so as to take different actions depending on the received session management cause value (Section 6.1.3.6).
Claim 50, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 36.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20190254089 A1 - Aspects of the disclosure can provide an apparatus and method for communicating with core network of a fifth generation system. The method includes transmitting, by a processing circuitry of a user equipment, a non-access stratum transport message to the core network to initiate a non-access stratum transport procedure with the core network, and receiving an indication message from the core network when a network function of the core network is unable to process the non-access stratum transport message, wherein the indication message includes at least one of a payload type, a cause value, and timer information. When the payload type of the indication message is a fifth generation system session management message, a short message service message or a long term evolution positioning protocol message, the processing circuitry of the user equipment performs at least one of: re-initiating a non-access stratum transport procedure based on timer information, aborting the non-access stratum transport procedure, and releasing a protocol data unit session.
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, Asad Nawaz can be reached at (571) 272-3988. 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 2463
