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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 December 08, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 08, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. As stated below it is inherent that the UE in Meredith reports the problem to the network once a conflict of communication appears and then executes the request for a new ID. Although it is not explicitly disclosed, Chen does disclose this reporting of the conflict along with the IMSI, a unique SIM identifier, and a recommended solution. Chen also disclose a preset solution and has a predefined rule of priority on selecting the SIM at fault.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 4 and 21 recites the limitation "the following". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-6, 8-13, 15-18, and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meredith et al. (3 GPP “Study on system enablers for devices having multiple Universal Subscriber Identity Modules (USIM)” 3GP TR 23.761 V.4.0, hereinafter Meredith). in view of Chen et al. (US 20230189212 A1, hereinafter Chen).
Regarding claims 1, 12 and 21-22 Meredith discloses:
A method for reporting a problem, applicable for a terminal provided with a plurality of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, the method comprising: in response to determining that a problem of communication conflict exists between at least two SIM cards among the plurality of SIM cards (Page 62 line 5, “2. The Multi-USIM UE calculates Paging Occasion and it determines whether Paging Collision can happen”)
Meredith does not explicitly disclose:(NOTE: Meredith discloses the actions taken by the UE to resolve the problem of communication by requesting new ID and it is inherent that the UE reports the problem to the network to kickstarting this procedure but it is not explicitly disclosed.)
reporting the problem of communication conflict to one or more base stations
reporting at least one of the following to the one or more base stations: identity information of the SIM cards corresponding to the problem of communication conflict, or a recommended solution of the problem of communication conflict.
Chen discloses:
reporting the problem of communication conflict to one or more base stations (Paragraph [0109], “the UE may inform a network before/after a paging collision via MAC CE/UCI/lower-layer signal (e.g., upon a UE detects the paging collision or upon a UE has expected the paging collision).” UE reporting the collision.)
reporting at least one of the following to the one or more base stations:
identity information of the SIM cards corresponding to the problem of communication conflict, (Paragraph [0108], “a UE may provide assistance information (e.g., suggested/assisted paging parameters/paging information or the paging factors of another network) for a network to resolve paging collision… assistance information may include… a UE_ID, and an offset to the current UE_ID. The UE_ID may be a permanent subscription identifier (e.g., an IMSI)” IMSI is stored on a SIM and uniquely identifies it.)
or a recommended solution of the problem of communication conflict. (Paragraph [0107], “In some implementations, a UE may inform a network that a paging collision resolution procedure is initiated.” And paragraph [0084], “ a UE encounters a problem of paging collision (e.g., a PO of Network A may collide with a PO of Network B), a UE may initiate a paging collision resolution procedure.” Also as stated above UE may provide assistance information to the network to resolve the conflict.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Meredith’s steps for resolving PO collision in view of Chen to include steps of the UE reporting the problem. One would have been motivated to do this to provide standardization support for a multi-USIM UE. (Paragraph [0031], Chen).
Specifically, regarding claim 21 and 22 Meredith inherently discloses a processor; and a memory configured to store instructions executable by the processor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. There must be these components inherently within the UE described in this 3GPP report for it to even execute the methods disclosed within the report.
Regarding claim 2 Meredith discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein reporting the problem of communication conflict to the one or more base stations comprises: determining one or more a-target SIM card each having a communication link among the plurality of SIM cards, and one or more a-target base stations having the communication link(s with the one or more target SIM cards; (Fig. 6.14.3-1 depicts 2 sim cards having a communication link with a plurality of base station and network.)
and reporting the problem of communication conflict to the one or more target base stations through the one or more target SIM cards. (Page 69 lines 6-8, “4) When a MUSIM UE detects potential of paging conflict, it can indicate to one PLMN of one USIM (or, in >2 USIMs case, to all applicable PLMNs) assistance information to avoid paging conflict, e.g. a Replacement UE_ID for paging occasion computation.” When a problem occurs, the UE can report to one or all applicable networks and base stations.)
Regarding claim 3 Meredith disclose:
The method of claim 2, wherein reporting the problem of communication conflict to the one or more target base stations through the one or more target SIM cards comprises: in response to a plurality of target SIM cards having communication links with a plurality of target base stations respectively, reporting the problem of communication conflict to the corresponding target base stations through the plurality of target SIM cards respectively, or reporting the problem of communication conflict to the corresponding target base station through one target SIM card in the plurality of target SIM cards. (Page 69 lines 6-9, “4) When a MUSIM UE detects potential of paging conflict, it can indicate to one PLMN of one USIM (or, in >2 USIMs case, to all applicable PLMNs) assistance information to avoid paging conflict, e.g. a Replacement UE_ID for paging occasion computation. 5) The MUSIM Assistance Information may include the number of USIMs” When a problem occurs the UE may report/indicate to the network/base station through one of the USIM or all applicable USIMs and networks.)
Regarding claim 4 Meredith does not explicitly disclose:
(NOTE: Meredith discloses the actions taken by the UE to resolve the problem of communication by requesting new ID and it is inherent that the UE reports the problem to the network to kickstarting this procedure but it is not explicitly disclosed.)
reporting at least one of the following to the one or more base stations: a cause of the problem of communication conflict, time information at which the problem of communication conflict occurs, configuration information of SIM cards corresponding to the problem of communication conflict, identity information of the SIM cards corresponding to the problem of communication conflict, or a recommended solution of the problem of communication conflict.
Chen discloses:
reporting at least one of the following to the one or more base stations: a cause of the problem of communication conflict, time information at which the problem of communication conflict occurs, configuration information of SIM cards corresponding to the problem of communication conflict, identity information of the SIM cards corresponding to the problem of communication conflict, or a recommended solution of the problem of communication conflict.
(Paragraph [0109], “the UE may inform a network before/after a paging collision via MAC CE/UCI/lower-layer signal (e.g., upon a UE detects the paging collision or upon a UE has expected the paging collision).” And Paragraph [0108], “a UE may provide assistance information (e.g., suggested/assisted paging parameters/paging information or the paging factors of another network) for a network to resolve paging collision… In some implementations, assistance information may include an offset value for the current determined PO(s). The offset value may be in, but not limited to, the unit of ms, subframe, or slot… a UE_ID, and an offset to the current UE_ID. The UE_ID may be a permanent subscription identifier (e.g., an IMSI)” UE reporting the collision.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Meredith’s steps for resolving PO collision in view of Chen to include steps of the UE reporting the problem. One would have been motivated to do this to provide standardization support for a multi-USIM UE. (Paragraph [0031], Chen).
Regarding claim 5 Meredith discloses:
reporting capability information to the one or more base stations, wherein, the capability information is configured to indicate whether the terminal has a capability of reporting the problem of communication conflict. (Page 62 lines 1-4, “The Multi-USIM device registers to network-A and network-B respectively. During the registration procedure if the UE desires to have network assistance for collision avoidance (e.g. because the use has activated more than one USIM) the UE indicates Multi-USIM capabilities support and the networks indicate whether they support paging collision avoidance by changing of NAS parameters.” UE reports its capabilities.)
Regarding claim 6 Meredith discloses:
receiving a solution for solving the problem of communication conflict sent by the base station; (Page 62 lines 6 and 8-10 “3) If the Multi-USIM UE determines that Paging Collision can happen… The Registration Request includes a new UE ID request indication and includes information to assist the AMF for assignment of the new 5G-GUTI, e.g. requested UE- ID value or range. The assistance information can be in the format of UE_ID that provides the best timing of the paging.” And Page 62 line 16, “5) Upon receiving the new 5G-GUTI, the Multi-USIM UE re-calculates the Paging Occasion for network-B.” The UE receives a new GUTI from the base station/network).
and solving the problem of communication conflict based on the solution. (Page 62 lines 6 and 8-10 “3) If the Multi-USIM UE determines that Paging Collision can happen… The Registration Request includes a new UE ID request indication and includes information to assist the AMF for assignment of the new 5G-GUTI, e.g. requested UE- ID value or range. The assistance information can be in the format of UE_ID that provides the best timing of the paging.” And Page 62 line 16, “5) Upon receiving the new 5G-GUTI, the Multi-USIM UE re-calculates the Paging Occasion for network-B.” The UE receives a new GUTI from the base station/network and uses it to recalculate the occasion).
Regarding claim 8 Meredith discloses:
receiving type indication information sent by the base station, wherein, the type indication information is configured to indicate the terminal to report the problem of communication conflict to the base station when a type of the problem of communication conflict belongs to a target type; (Page 62 lines 1-4, “1. The Multi-USIM device registers to network-A and network-B respectively. During the registration procedure if the UE desires to have network assistance for collision avoidance (e.g. because the use has activated more than one USIM) the UE indicates Multi-USIM capabilities support and the networks indicate whether they support paging collision avoidance by changing of NAS parameters.” When the UE desires network assistance it will receive from the base station type indication information telling the UE if that certain conflict is support and if it occurs to report it to the base station because its supported.)
wherein, in response to determining the problem of communication conflict, the problem of communication conflict is reported to the base station when the type of the problem of communication conflict belongs to the target type. (Page 62 lines 1-4, “1. The Multi-USIM device registers to network-A and network-B respectively. During the registration procedure if the UE desires to have network assistance for collision avoidance (e.g. because the use has activated more than one USIM) the UE indicates Multi-USIM capabilities support and the networks indicate whether they support paging collision avoidance by changing of NAS parameters.” The terminal will indicate if it wants to have help from the network if a problem occurs and the network will tell the terminal if that is supported. From the information disclosed above if the conflict occurs the UE will report it to the PLMN.)
Regarding claim 9 Meredith discloses:
wherein, the problem of communication conflict is a problem of communication conflict to be occurred between the at least two SIMs among the plurality of SIM cards, or the problem of communication conflict is a problem of communication conflict having existed between the at least two SIMs among the plurality of SIM cards. (Page 69 lines 6-9, “4) When a MUSIM UE detects potential of paging conflict, it can indicate to one PLMN of one USIM (or, in >2 USIMs case, to all applicable PLMNs) assistance information to avoid paging conflict, e.g. a Replacement UE_ID for paging occasion computation.” “5) The MUSIM Assistance Information may include the number of USIMs” The paging conflict happens between at least two SIMs card.)
Regarding claim 10 Meredith discloses:
the problem of communication conflict comprises at least one of: a problem of paging collision, a problem of communication link interruption or a problem of failure connection for a service to be connected. (Page 69 lines 6-9, “4) When a MUSIM UE detects potential of paging conflict, it can indicate to one PLMN of one USIM (or, in >2 USIMs case, to all applicable PLMNs) assistance information to avoid paging conflict, e.g. a Replacement UE_ID for paging occasion computation.” “5) The MUSIM Assistance Information may include the number of USIMs” The paging conflict happens between at least two SIMs card.)
Regarding claim 11 Meredith discloses:
receiving first configuration information sent by the base station, wherein, the first configuration information is configured to indicate whether the terminal is allowed to report the problem of communication conflict; (Page 62 lines 1-4, “The Multi-USIM device registers to network-A and network-B respectively. During the registration procedure if the UE desires to have network assistance for collision avoidance (e.g. because the use has activated more than one USIM) the UE indicates Multi-USIM capabilities support and the networks indicate whether they support paging collision avoidance by changing of NAS parameters.” The terminal has a desire to have the network assist in case a collision happens the network sends a configuration information indicating if they support it to even allow the terminal to report the problem.)
wherein, in response to determining that the terminal is allowed to report the problem of communication conflict based on the first configuration information, the problem of communication conflict is reported to the base station when determining the problem of communication conflict between the at least two SIMs among the plurality of SIM cards. (Page 69 lines 6-9, “4) When a MUSIM UE detects potential of paging conflict, it can indicate to one PLMN of one USIM (or, in >2 USIMs case, to all applicable PLMNs) assistance information to avoid paging conflict, e.g. a Replacement UE_ID for paging occasion computation.” When the UE wants support of the network/base station, the base station will indicate, as disclosed above, support for collision avoidance. Now that the UE knows, when a paging conflict occurs it can report the problem to the base station and network.)
Regarding claim 13 Meredith does not fully disclose:
The method of claim 12, further comprising: sending the solution to the terminal.
Chen discloses:
The method of claim 12, further comprising: sending the solution to the terminal. (Paragraph [0109], “the UE may inform a network before/after a paging collision via MAC CE/UCI/lower-layer signal (e.g., upon a UE detects the paging collision or upon a UE has expected the paging collision).” And Paragraph [0108], “a UE may provide assistance information (e.g., suggested/assisted paging parameters/paging information or the paging factors of another network) for a network to resolve paging collision… In some implementations, assistance information may include an offset value for the current determined PO(s). The offset value may be in, but not limited to, the unit of ms, subframe, or slot… a UE_ID, and an offset to the current UE_ID. The UE_ID may be a permanent subscription identifier (e.g., an IMSI)” UE reporting the collision.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Meredith’s steps for resolving PO collision in view of Chen to include steps of the UE reporting the problem. One would have been motivated to do this to provide standardization support for a multi-USIM UE. (Paragraph [0031], Chen).
Regarding claim 15 Meredith discloses:
The method of claim12 further comprising: receiving capability information sent by the terminal, wherein, the capability information is configured to indicate whether the terminal has a capability of reporting the problem of communication conflict. (Page 62 lines 1-4 “The Multi-USIM device registers to network-A and network-B respectively. During the registration procedure if the UE desires to have network assistance for collision avoidance (e.g. because the use has activated more than one USIM) the UE indicates Multi-USIM capabilities support and the networks indicate whether they support paging collision avoidance by changing of NAS parameters.” If the terminal wants to get assistance in collision avoidance, then it will send its capability to tell the network if it can report the problem or not.)
Regarding claim 16 Meredith discloses:
The method of claim 15, further comprising: sending first configuration information to the terminal, wherein, the first configuration information is configured to indicate whether the terminal is allowed to report the problem of communication conflict. (Page 62 lines 1-4 “The Multi-USIM device registers to network-A and network-B respectively. During the registration procedure if the UE desires to have network assistance for collision avoidance (e.g. because the use has activated more than one USIM) the UE indicates Multi-USIM capabilities support and the networks indicate whether they support paging collision avoidance by changing of NAS parameters.” The terminal has a desire to have the network assist in case a collision happens the network sends a configuration information indicating if they support it to even allow the terminal to report the problem.)
Regarding claim 17 Meredith discloses:
The method of claim 15, further comprising: sending type indication information to the terminal, wherein, the type indication information is configured to indicate the terminal to report the problem of communication conflict to the base station when a type of the problem of communication conflict belongs to a target type. (Page 62 lines 1-4, “1. The Multi-USIM device registers to network-A and network-B respectively. During the registration procedure if the UE desires to have network assistance for collision avoidance (e.g. because the use has activated more than one USIM) the UE indicates Multi-USIM capabilities support and the networks indicate whether they support paging collision avoidance by changing of NAS parameters.” When the UE desires network assistance it will receive from the base station type indication information telling the UE if that certain conflict is support and if it occurs to report it to the base station because its supported.)
Regarding claim 18 Meredith discloses:
The method of claim 15, further comprising: sending second configuration information to the terminal; wherein, the second configuration information is configured to indicate at least one of: a resource for reporting the problem of communication conflict, a format of reporting the problem of communication conflict, or a cycle time for reporting the problem of communication conflict. (Page 62 Lines 12-15, “4. The AMF allocates a new 5G-GUTI for the Multi-USIM device in the Registration Accept. When the AMF allocates the new 5G-GUTI, the AMF shall consider the assistance information provided by the UE. AMF should not allocate a new 5G-GUTI which does not fulfill the assistance information The AMF may also change the DRX parameters.” The second configuration of changing the DRX parameters which contains DRX cycles.)
Regarding claim 23 Meredith does not disclose:
in response to determining that the terminal is allowed to report the problem of communication conflict based on the first configuration information, solving the problem of communication conflict based on a preset solution, or generating prompt information.
Chen discloses:
solving the problem of communication conflict based on a preset solution, or generating prompt information. (Paragraph [0086], “if a UE determines that at least one PO (or PF) of Network A may collide with a PO (of a PF) of Network B, the UE may apply the pre-defined (or dummy) paging parameters to derive one or more new POs (or PFs) of Network B to try to avoid paging collision.” The UE uses a preset solution to resolve the collision.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified Meredith’s resolution for PO collisions to include Chen’s preset solution. One would have been motivated to do this to provide standardization support for a multi-USIM UE. (Paragraph [0031], Chen).
Claims 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combined teachings of Meredith and Chen in view of TIWARI et al. (US 20200092836 A1, hereinafter Tiwari).
Regarding claim 7 Meredith and Chen does not disclose:
(NOTE: Chen does disclose the reporting of the problem as well as preset solution, but the mechanism of retrying is not disclosed in both Meredith and Chen)
The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to not receiving the solution for solving the problem of communication conflict sent by the base station within a preset duration
Tiwari does disclose:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to not receiving the solution for solving the problem of communication conflict sent by the base station within a preset duration for reporting the problem of communication conflict to the base station, solving the problem of communication conflict based on a preset solution, or generating prompt information, or reporting the problem of communication conflict to the base station again. (Paragraph [0034], “…At 104, the AMF sends Registration Accept message containing a new 5G-GUTI. (T)he UE cannot receive the Registration Accept message because of various reasons… When the timer T1 expires, as shown at 105, the UE aborts the registration procedure and releases the N1 NAS signaling connection if it exists. And then, at 105, the UE also starts another time T2…” and Fig.1. The solution of a new GUTI does not reach the UE for various reasons and the timer expires and anther time gets set up and retries the process.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the combined teachings of Meredith and Chen in view of Tiwari by incorporating a retry mechanism for getting/maintaining a valid and secure identity. One would be motivated to do this to increase the robustness and reliability of the system.
Conclusion
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/NAM P. CAO/Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479