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 .
Response to Amendment
This Action is in response to Applicant’s Amendment filed on April 6, 2026. Claims 2-12, 14-21 and 25 are still pending in the present application. This Action is made FINAL.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 2-12, 14-21 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiao et al (US Pat. Pub. No. 2019/0335392) in view of Baek et al (WO 2020/204475) further in view of Ophir et al (US Pat. Pub. No. 2008/0280605).
Regarding claim 2, Qiao et al discloses a method performed by a wireless communication device (fig. 8 [100, UE]), the method comprising: sending a registration request to a network node in a visited network (see at least paragraph 204-206 and fig. 8 discloses registration request); receiving a registration response in response to the registration request (see at least paragraph 212 and fig. 8 discloses UE receiving response), the registration response comprising: information that indicates one or more network slices in the visited network that can be used by the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 206 discloses registration procedure) and a link that can be activated by the wireless communication device to obtain a client that treats the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 313), client to enable the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network (see at least paragraph 318-319 discloses P-CSCF supports RLOS to access service); establishing a session with the visited network using one of the one or more network slices indicated by the information comprised in the registration response (see at least paragraph 215 registration complete); and executing the client at the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 321).
Qiao et al fails to explicitly disclose the wireless communication device as a stand-alone non-public network, SNPN; activating the link using the session with the visited network; responsive to activating the link, downloading the client that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network. However, in the same field of endeavor, Baek et al discloses the wireless communication device (fig. 5 [UE]) as a stand-alone non-public network, SNPN (see at least paragraph 50 and fig. 5); activating the link using the session with the visited network (see at least paragraph 10); responsive to activating the link, downloading the client that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network (see at least paragraph 10). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Baek et al into the system of Qiao et al, for purpose of allowing to making/receiving calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network without having to change SIM card in the wireless communication device.
Qiao et al and Baek et al fails to explicitly disclose to obtain a client application, downloading the client application that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls and executing the client application. However, in the same field of endeavor, Ophir et al discloses to obtain a client application, downloading the client application that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls and executing the client application (see at least paragraph 17 discloses installation SIP/VoIP [skype] client application on the mobile device, calls can be made using the VoIP client such as skype). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Ophir et al into the system of Qiao et al and Baek et al, for purpose of installing SIP client application to make/receive calls; it would make low cost calls.
Regarding claim 3, Qiao et al discloses the method further comprises, as a result of executing the client, establishing an Internet Protocol, IP, Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, Protocol Data Unity, PDU, session with an IMS of the visited network acting as an SNPN client (see at least paragraph 321).
Qiao et al and Baek et al fails to explicitly disclose executing the client application. However, in the same field of endeavor, Ophir et al discloses executing the client application (see at least paragraph 17 discloses installation SIP/VoIP [skype] client application on the mobile device, calls can be made using the VoIP client such as skype). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Ophir et al into the system of Qiao et al and Baek et al, for purpose of installing SIP client application to make/receive calls; it would make low cost calls.
Regarding claim 4, Qiao et al discloses establishing the IMS PDU session with the IMS of the visited network acting as the SNPN client comprises obtaining an identity to be used by the wireless communication device for making and/or receiving calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network (see at least paragraph 321).
Regarding claim 5, Qiao et al discloses establishing the IMS PDU session with the IMS of the visited network acting as the SNPN client comprises: sending an IMS registration request to an IMS node in the IMS of the visited network, the IMS registration request comprising an NPN identity associated to the wireless communication device; and receiving an IMS registration response comprising an IMS identity associated to the NPN identity, the IMS identity being an identity to be used by the wireless communication device for making and/or receiving calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network (see at least paragraph 321).
Regarding claim 6, Qiao et al discloses the IMS identity associated to the NPN identity of the wireless communication device is at least one of a Tel-uniform resource indicator, Tel-URI, and a Session Initiation Protocol, SIP, Uniform Resource Indicator, URI, comprising a telephone number; or the IMS identity associated to the NPN is an IMS Public User Identity, IMPU (see at least paragraph 321).
Regarding claim 7, Qiao et al discloses the IMS identity associated to the NPN identity of the wireless communication device is one of an allocated IMS identity and a manually configured IMS identity (see at least paragraph 321).
Regarding claim 8, Qiao et al discloses the NPN identity of the wireless communication device is a Session Initiation Protocol, SIP, Uniform Resource Indicator, URI (see at least paragraph 321).
Regarding claim 9, Qiao et al discloses activating the link comprising activating the link autonomously (see at least paragraph 138).
Regarding claim 10, Qiao et al discloses activating the link comprising activating the link responsive to input received via a user input component of the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 138).
Regarding claim 11, Qiao et al discloses displaying at least some of the information about the one or more network slices and/or the link via a display component of the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 138).
Regarding claim 12, Qiao et al discloses a wireless communication device adapted to: send a registration request to a network node in a visited network (see at least paragraph 204-206 and fig. 8 discloses registration request); receive a registration response in response to the registration request (see at least paragraph 212 and fig. 8 discloses UE receiving response), the registration response comprising: information that indicates one or more network slices in the visited network that can be used by the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 206 discloses registration procedure) and a link that can be activated by the wireless communication device to obtain a client that treats the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 313), client to enable the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network (see at least paragraph 318-319 discloses P-CSCF supports RLOS to access service); establish a session with the visited network using one of the one or more network slices indicated by the information comprised in the registration response (see at least paragraph 215 registration complete); and execute the client at the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 321).
Qiao et al fails to explicitly disclose the wireless communication device as a stand-alone non-public network, SNPN ; activating the link using the session with the visited network; responsive to activating the link, downloading the client that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network. However, in the same field of endeavor, Baek et al discloses the wireless communication device (fig. 5 [UE]) as a stand-alone non-public network, SNPN (see at least paragraph 50 and fig. 5); activating the link using the session with the visited network (see at least paragraph 10); responsive to activating the link, downloading the client that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network (see at least paragraph 10). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Baek et al into the system of Qiao et al, for purpose of allowing to making/receiving calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network without having to change SIM card in the wireless communication device.
Qiao et al and Baek et al fails to explicitly disclose to obtain a client application, downloading the client application that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls and executing the client application. However, in the same field of endeavor, Ophir et al discloses to obtain a client application, downloading the client application that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls and executing the client application (see at least paragraph 17 discloses installation SIP/VoIP [skype] client application on the mobile device, calls can be made using the VoIP client such as skype). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Ophir et al into the system of Qiao et al and Baek et al, for purpose of installing SIP client application to make/receive calls; it would make low cost calls.
Regarding claim 14 Qiao et al discloses a method performed by a network node in a visited network of a wireless communication device, the method comprising: receiving a registration request from the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 204-206 and fig. 8 discloses registration request); determining that the wireless communication device is a roaming wireless communication device based on information comprised in the registration request (see at least paragraph 204 and fig. 8 discloses roaming scenarios); and responsive to determining that the wireless communication device is a roaming wireless communication device, sending a registration response to the wireless communication device in response to the registration request (see at least paragraph 212 and fig. 8 discloses UE receiving response), the registration response comprising: information that indicates one or more network slices in the visited network that can be used by the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 206 discloses registration procedure) and a link that can be activated by the wireless communication device to obtain a client that treats the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 313), client to enable the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network (see at least paragraph 318-319 discloses P-CSCF supports RLOS to access service).
Qiao et al fails to explicitly disclose the wireless communication device as a stand-alone non-public network, SNPN. However, in the same field of endeavor, Baek et al discloses the wireless communication device (fig. 5 [UE]) as a stand-alone non-public network, SNPN (see at least paragraph 50 and fig. 5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Baek et al into the system of Qiao et al, for purpose of allowing to making/receiving calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network without having to change SIM card in the wireless communication device.
Qiao et al and Baek et al fails to explicitly disclose to obtain an executing the client application that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls. However, in the same field of endeavor, Ophir et al discloses to obtain an executing the client application that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls (see at least paragraph 17 discloses installation SIP/VoIP [skype] client application on the mobile device, calls can be made using the VoIP client such as skype). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Ophir et al into the system of Qiao et al and Baek et al, for purpose of installing SIP client application to make/receive calls; it would make low cost calls.
Regarding claims 15-19, see above rejection of claims 3-7.
Regarding claim 20, Qiao et al discloses the visited network is a Visited Public Land Mobile Network, VPLMN, comprising a Fifth Generation Core, 5GC, and the network node is an Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF, in the 5GC of the VPLMN (see at least paragraph 208).
Regarding claim 21, Qiao et al discloses a network node in a visited network of a wireless communication device, the network node adapted to: receive a registration request from the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 204-206 and fig. 8 discloses registration request); determine that the wireless communication device is a roaming wireless communication device based on information comprised in the registration request; and responsive to determining that the wireless communication device is a roaming wireless communication device, send a registration response to the wireless communication device in response to the registration request (see at least paragraph 212 and fig. 8 discloses UE receiving response), the registration response comprising: information that indicates one or more network slices in the visited network that can be used by the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 206 discloses registration procedure) and a link that can be activated by the wireless communication device to obtain a client that treats the wireless communication device (see at least paragraph 313), client to enable the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network (see at least paragraph 318-319 discloses P-CSCF supports RLOS to access service).
Qiao et al fails to explicitly disclose the wireless communication device as a stand-alone non-public network, SNPN. However, in the same field of endeavor, Baek et al discloses the wireless communication device (fig. 5 [UE]) as a stand-alone non-public network, SNPN (see at least paragraph 50 and fig. 5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Baek et al into the system of Qiao et al, for purpose of allowing to making/receiving calls to/from local wireless communication devices in the visited network without having to change SIM card in the wireless communication device.
Qiao et al and Baek et al fails to explicitly disclose to obtain an executing the client application that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls. However, in the same field of endeavor, Ophir et al discloses to obtain an executing the client application that enables the wireless communication device to make and/or receive calls (see at least paragraph 17 discloses installation SIP/VoIP [skype] client application on the mobile device, calls can be made using the VoIP client such as skype). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Ophir et al into the system of Qiao et al and Baek et al, for purpose of installing SIP client application to make/receive calls; it would make low cost calls.
Regarding claim 7, Qiao et al discloses the IMS identity associated to the NPN identity of the wireless communication device is a free individual identity allocated from a wildcarded identity of a defined or configured NPN domain (see at least paragraph 321).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed on April 6, 2026, with respect to claims 2, 12, 14 and 21 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection, necessitated by applicant’s amendment. See the above rejection of claims 2-12, 14-21 and 25 for the relevant citations found in Qiao et al, Baek et al and Ophir et al disclosing the limitations.
Conclusion
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/LITON MIAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
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