DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-4 have been examined and are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/02/2026 has been found to be in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
3. In response to the amendments received in the Office on 3/31/2026, the Office acknowledges the current status of the claims: claims 1 and 3 have been amended, and no new matter appears to be included.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant's arguments filed 3/31/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Examiner addresses each of Applicant’s concerns in the following response.
Applicant argues Kim does not expressly disclose or teach “when the transmission and reception unit receives an allowed Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI), the controller is configured to remove a mapped S-NSSAI of the allowed NSSAI from rejected NSSAI for a failed or revoked Network Slice-Specific Authentication and Authorization (NSSAA) stored at the storage unit” (Remarks, pages 4-5). In support of this amendment, Applicant argues “Kim describes that, when an NSSAA procedure is completed for a pending NSSAI, S-NSSAI is moved to an allowed NSSAI or a rejected NSSAI”, and that “Kim does NOT disclose a mapped S-NSSAI of an allowed NSSAI being removed when the allowed NSSAI is received” (Remarks, page 5, emphasis Applicant). Examiner respectfully disagrees. The features cited from Kim include [0155-0156], [0204-0229], and [0257-0263], wherein upon the completion of an NSSAA procedure for a pending NSSAI (S-NSSAI in the pending NSSAI), the S-NSSAI that is mapped to allowed NSSAI is removed, such as in the case when a new allowed NSSAI is received from the network (Kim: [0257-0263]). That is, when the transmission and reception unit receives an allowed Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI), the controller is configured to remove a mapped S-NSSAI of the allowed NSSAI from rejected NSSAI for a failed or revoked Network Slice-Specific Authentication and Authorization (NSSAA) stored at the storage unit.
Examiner respectfully maintains the rejection(s).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
7. Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by United States Patent Application Publication 2022/0232507 A1 to Kim et al. (hereinafter “Kim”).
Regarding Claim 1, Kim discloses a User Equipment (UE) (Kim: Figure 4 with [0017]) comprising:
a transmission and reception unit (Kim: Figure 4, element 106);
a controller (Kim: Figure 4, element 102); and
a storage unit (Kim: Figure 4, element(s) 104 and 118), wherein when the transmission and reception unit receives allowed Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI) (Kim: [0204-0229], [0155-0156] – UE receives and stores allowed NSSAI information. See also [0257-0263] – the UE receives a new NSSAI.), the controller is configured to:
remove a Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) included in the allowed NSSAI from rejected NSSAI for a current Public land mobile network (PLMN) stored at the storage unit (Kim: [0257-0263] – corresponds to removing an S-NSSAI from the stored rejected S-NSSAI included in a new allowed NSSAI for the current PLMN.), and
remove a S-NSSAI of the allowed NSSAI from rejected NSSAI for a failed or revoked Network Slice-Specific Authentication and Authorization (NSSAA) stored at the storage unit (Kim: [0227-0229] – “The rejected NSSAI for the failed or revoked NSSAA includes one or more S-NSSAIs for which the NSSAA have been failed or revoked, and are applicable for the whole registered PLMN or SNPN.” See also [0243-0254], [0257-0263].), and
the mapped S-NSSAI is an S-NSSAI of a Home PLMN (HPLMN) mapped to an S-NSSAI of a registered PLMN (Kim: [0243-0254], [0256-0263] - the S-NSSAI is mapped between a current PLMN (a home PLMN) and a registered PLMN. See also [0299-0305].).
Regarding Claim 2, Kim discloses the UE according to claim 1, wherein the UE is in a roaming state (Kim: [0301-0311] – corresponds to the UE being in a roaming state.).
Claims 3 and 4, directed to a method embodiment of claims 1 and 2, recite similar features as claims 1 and 2, and are therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claims 1 and 2. Please see above rejections of claims 1 and 2.
Conclusion
8. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV whose telephone number is (571)270-7163. The examiner can normally be reached M, T, R, F 5:00 AM-5:00 PM, W 5:00 AM-3:00 PM (EDT).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached at (571) 272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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BENJAMIN H. ELLIOTT IV
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 May 4, 2026
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