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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 January 29, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-13, 15-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-12, 15, 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable by Miao et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2017/0127217).
Consider claim 1; Miao discloses a paging response method performed by first UE comprised in a terminal, comprising:
receiving a paging message (e.g. setup message) from a network device (e.g. core network) (par. 76, lines 1-5, 46-50):
sending (par. 76, lines 50-54), to the network device (e.g. core network), a service request message (e.g. call confirmed message) in response to receiving the paging message (par. 76, lines 1-5, 46-50), wherein the service request message comprises a service type (e.g. call) for which a paging message will not be responded [e.g. busy (par. 76, lines 54-57)];
wherein the terminal is a multi-card terminal (par. 32), and the terminal further comprises at least one
wherein the method further comprises: releasing a radio resource control (RRC) connection when a predetermined condition is satisfied (par. 76, lines 57-60), the RRC connection having been established to send the service request message (e.g. call confirmed message) (par. 76, lines 46-57);
wherein the predetermined condition comprises:
receiving a response message of the service request message; or
after the service request message is sent, receiving an RRC connection release message [e.g. via the channel release procedure (par. 76, lines 57-60)].
Consider claim 2; Miao discloses the service request messag
Consider claim 3; Miao discloses the busy indication information comprises at least one of the following: a busy indication (par. 76, lines 54-57); a paging cause why a paging message will not be responded; or a duration of not responding to the paging cause or service.
Consider claim 4; Miao discloses the leaving message comprises at least one of the following: a busy indication (par. 76, lines 54-60); a paging cause why a paging message will not be responded; a duration of not responding to the paging cause or service; a leaving cause; a service type being executed; a leaving duration; or an identifier of the first UE.
Consider claim 5; Miao discloses sending at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) resume request message, an RRC resume request message 1 or an RRC resume complete message, wherein the RRC resume request message, the RRC resume request message 1 or the RRC resume complete message comprises at least one of the busy indication information or a specific value of a resume cause, and the specific value of the resume cause indicates that the first UE is busy; or sending at least one of an RRC setup request message or an RRC setup complete message (par. 40, lines 6-11; par. 76, lines 46-57), wherein the RRC setup request message or the RRC setup complete message comprises at least one of the busy indication information or a specific value of a setup cause (par. 40, lines 6-11; par. 76, lines 46-57), and the specific value of the setup cause indicates that the first UE is busy (par. 40, lines 6-11; par. 76, lines 46-57).
Consider claim 7; Miao discloses determining, according to at least one of an ongoing service or a paging cause [e.g. paging cause (par. 76, lines 46-50)], whether to respond to the paging message (par. 76, lines 54-57).
Consider claim 8; Miao discloses a paging response method performed by a network device, comprising:
sending a paging message to a first UE (par. 76, lines 46-50);
receiving a service request (e.g. call confirmed) message of first UE (par. 76, lines 50-54), wherein the service request message comprises a service type (e.g. call) for which a paging message will not be responded [e.g. busy (par. 76, lines 54-57)]; and;
determining whether to send a paging message to a terminal according to a service (e.g. call) that triggers paging (par. 76, lines 46-50), and a service type (e.g. call) comprised in the service request message [e.g. call confirmed (par. 76, lines 50-54)],
wherein the terminal comprises the first UE (par. 32); wherein the terminal is a multi-card terminal (par. 32), and the terminal further comprises at least one UE (par. 32);
wherein after receiving the service request message from the first UE (e.g. call confirmed message) (par. 76, lines 46-57), the method further comprises:
sending a response message of the service request message to the first UE:
or sending an RRC connection release message, and releasing the RRC connection with the first UE [e.g. via the channel release procedure (par. 76, lines 57-60)].
Consider claim 9; Miao discloses the service request messag
Consider claim 10; Miao discloses the busy indication information comprises at least one of the following: a busy indication (par. 76, lines 54-57); a paging cause why a paging message will not be responded; or a duration of not responding to the paging cause or service.
Consider claim 11; Miao discloses the leaving message comprises at least one of the following: a busy indication (par. 76, lines 54-60); a paging cause why a paging message will not be responded; a duration of not responding to the paging cause or service; a leaving cause; a service type being executed; a leaving duration; or an identifier of the first UE.
Consider claim 12; Miao discloses stopping sending the paging message to the first UE within a preset time [e.g. via the channel release procedure (par. 76, lines 57-60)]; wherein the paging message is at least one of the following: a paging message sent by the network device (e.g. core network) (par. 76, lines 46-50) before receiving the service request message [e.g. call confirmed (par. 76, lines 50-54)]; or a paging message that is indicated by the first UE and is corresponding to a paging cause that is not responded.
Consider claim 15; Miao discloses a terminal, comprising:
a processor (par. 47); and
a memory (par. 47), storing a computer program that is executable on the processor (par. 47), wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor (par. 47), causes a first UE comprised in the terminal to:
receiving a paging message (e.g. setup message) from a network device (e.g. core network) (par. 76, lines 1-5, 46-50):
sending (par. 76, lines 50-54), to the network device (e.g. core network), a service request message (e.g. call confirmed message) in response to receiving the paging message (par. 76, lines 1-5, 46-50), wherein the service request message comprises a service type (e.g. call) for which a paging message will not be responded [e.g. busy (par. 76, lines 54-57)];
wherein the terminal is a multi-card terminal (par. 32), and the terminal further comprises at least one
wherein the method further comprises: releasing a radio resource control (RRC) connection when a predetermined condition is satisfied (par. 76, lines 57-60), the RRC connection having been established to send the service request message (e.g. call confirmed message) (par. 76, lines 46-57);
wherein the predetermined condition comprises:
receiving a response message of the service request message; or
after the service request message is sent, receiving an RRC connection release message [e.g. via the channel release procedure (par. 76, lines 57-60)].
Consider claim 17; Miao discloses determining, according to at least one of an ongoing service or a paging cause [e.g. paging cause (par. 76, lines 46-50)], whether to respond to the paging message (par. 76, lines 54-57).
Consider claim 18; Miao discloses a network device, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing a computer program that is executable on the processor, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, causes the network device to perform steps of the paging response method according to claim 8 (par. 103).
Consider claim 19; Miao discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program when executed by a processor, perform steps of the paging response method according to claim 1 (par. 103).
Consider claim 20; Miao discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program when executed by a processor, perform steps of the paging response method according to claim 8 (par. 103).
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 6, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miao et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2017/0127217) in view of Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Number: 12,309,720).
Consider claim 6, as applied in claim 1; Miao discloses the claimed invention except: the predetermined condition further comprises at least one of the following: after the service request message is sent, receiving an acknowledgment (ACK) response of a radio link control (RLC) layer corresponding to the service request message; after the service request message is sent and the ACK response of the RLC layer corresponding to the service request message is received, starting a timer, wherein the timer times out; or when the service request message is sent or the service request message is delivered to a lower layer of the RRC, starting a timer, wherein the timer times out.
In an analogous art Zhou discloses the predetermined condition further comprises at least one of the following: after the service request message is sent (col. 34, line 66 – col. 35, line 6), receiving an acknowledgment (ACK) response of a radio link control (RLC) layer corresponding to the service request message (col. 34, line 66 – col. 35, line 6); after the service request message is sent and the ACK response of the RLC layer corresponding to the service request message is received, starting a timer, wherein the timer times out; or when the service request message is sent or the service request message is delivered to a lower layer of the RRC, starting a timer, wherein the timer times out.
It is an object of Miao’s invention to support simultaneous communication. It is an object of Zhou’s invention to provide primary and secondary cell communication. 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 the teaching of Miao by including RLC, as taught by Zhou, for the purpose of effectively managing communication in a telecommunications network.
Consider claim 16, as applied in claim 15; Miao discloses the claimed invention except: the predetermined condition further comprises at least one of the following: after the service request message is sent, receiving an acknowledgment (ACK) response of a radio link control (RLC) layer corresponding to the service request message; after the service request message is sent and the ACK response of the RLC layer corresponding to the service request message is received, starting a timer, wherein the timer times out; or when the service request message is sent or the service request message is delivered to a lower layer of the RRC, starting a timer, wherein the timer times out.
In an analogous art Zhou discloses the predetermined condition further comprises at least one of the following: after the service request message is sent (col. 34, line 66 – col. 35, line 6), receiving an acknowledgment (ACK) response of a radio link control (RLC) layer corresponding to the service request message (col. 34, line 66 – col. 35, line 6); after the service request message is sent and the ACK response of the RLC layer corresponding to the service request message is received, starting a timer, wherein the timer times out; or when the service request message is sent or the service request message is delivered to a lower layer of the RRC, starting a timer, wherein the timer times out.
It is an object of Miao’s invention to support simultaneous communication. It is an object of Zhou’s invention to provide primary and secondary cell communication. 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 the teaching of Miao by including RLC, as taught by Zhou, for the purpose of effectively managing communication in a telecommunications network.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miao et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2017/0127217) in view of Dao et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2018/0199398).
Consider claim 13, as applied in claim 8; Miao discloses the claimed invention except: sending an N2 message, wherein the N2 message comprises a release indication, and the release indication is used to indicate that a base station to release a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the first UE.
In an analogous art Dao discloses sending an N2 message, wherein the N2 message comprises a release indication (par. 241, lines 6-9, 12-14), and the release indication is used to indicate that a base station to release a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the first UE (par. 241, lines 6-9, 12-14).
It is an object of Miao’s invention to support simultaneous communication. It is an object of Dao’s to provide a method of handling connection management tasks. 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 the teaching of Miao by including a N2 message, as taught by Dao, for the purpose of effectively providing services in a telecommunications network.
Conclusion
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/JOEL AJAYI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646