DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the pending claims, 1, 3-5, 8-12, 14-16, 18-20 received 22 August 2025. Accordingly, the detailed action of claims 1, 3-5, 8-12, 14-16, 18-20 is as follows:
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 22 August 2025 has been entered.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
Claims 1, 3, 18 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Godin et al (US 20230048803 A1, hereafter referred to as Godin) in view of Murray et al (US 20230156583 A1, hereafter referred to as Murray).
Regarding claim 1, Godin teaches a cell selection method, performed by a terminal (Godin [0007-0008] teaches obtaining information and selecting a cell supporting a network slice [00038] wherein the selection is performed by a user equipment [0041]), comprising:
obtaining cell assistance information of an access network (Godin [0007, 0030, 0079 and 0108] teaches obtaining information, including identifiers, supported by a cell); and
based on the cell assistance information (Godin [0034 and 0108] teaches receiving information from the cell or access node) and slice assistance information (Godin [0032-0033 and 0106-0107] teaches receiving information from the core network node), performing a cell selection, wherein the slice assistance information is used to assist in performing the cell selection (Godin [0035 and 0109-0110] teaches selecting a cell based on the received slice assistance information and broadcast identifier information),
wherein:
the slice assistance information comprises at least one of the following:
a cell identity list (Godin [0106-0107] teaches the core network generating a list of cell supported IDs for each slice for assisting the UE in slice selection [0079]); a correspondence between the slice and a tracking area; a tracking area identity list; a correspondence between the slice and a core network routing function; a core network routing function index list.
However, Godin does not explicitly teach the cell assistance information comprises at least one of the following: tracking area identity information; core network routing function index information; slice index information; slice group index information.
Murray, in an analogous art, teaches wherein:
the slice assistance information comprises at least one of the following:
A cell identity list (Murray [0123] teaches signaling to inform the UE of the availability of a slice, cells and TAs that support a given network slice. Additionally, Murray [0133, 02366] teaches providing an indication of which tracking areas or cells a slice is available); a correspondence between the slice and a tracking area (Murray [0123] teaches signaling to inform the UE of the availability of a slice, cells and TAs that support a given network slice. Additionally, Murray [0133, 0236] teaches providing an indication of which tracking areas or cells a slice is available); a tracking area identity list (Murray [0123] teaches signaling to inform the UE of the availability of a slice, cells and TAs that support a given network slice. Additionally, Murray [0133, 0236] teaches providing an indication of which tracking areas or cells a slice is available); a correspondence between the slice and a core network routing function; a core network routing function index list; and
the cell assistance information comprises at least one of the following:
tracking area identity information (Murray [0123] teaches signaling to inform the UE of the availability of a slice, cells and TAs that support a given network slice. Additionally, Murray [0133, 0236] teaches providing an indication of which tracking areas or cells a slice is available, wherein the TA code is broadcast in SIB1 by the AN [0216]); core network routing function index information; slice index information; slice group index information.
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Godin in view of Murray in order to configure the cell assistance information, as taught by Godin, to include at least one of the following: tracking area identity information; core network routing function index information; slice index information; slice group index information, as taught by Murray.
KSR rationale B, simple substitution of one known element (cell assistance information including tracking area identity information, as taught by Murray) for another known element (cell assistance information, as taught by Godin) in order to yield predictable results (slice selection based received cell assistance information) supports the conclusion of obviousness.
Regarding claim 3, Godin-Murray teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
Additionally, Godin-Murray teaches the cell selection method wherein the cell selection comprises at least one of the following: selecting an accessed cell in a first cell, wherein cell assistance information of the first cell overlaps slice related information, and the slice related information comprises part or all of the slice assistance information (Godin [0102-0103 and 0099-0100] teaches determining a match or no match, wherein a match indicates a correspondence of the received cell assistance information and slice assistance details in the slice assistance information [0035 and 0038]); or setting a second cell as an access-forbidden cell, or setting a frequency of the second cell as an access-forbidden frequency, wherein non-intersection is between cell assistance information of the second cell and the slice related information.
Regarding claim 18, it does not teach or further limit over the limitations presented above with respect to claim 1.
Therefore, claim 18 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above regarding claim 1.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3 and 18 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4-5, 8-10, 11-12, 14-16, 19-20 allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ma (US 20210119860 A1);
Lee et al (US 20210136675 A1)
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SHEAN TOKUTA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2446
/SHEAN TOKUTA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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