Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/127,735

MULTICAST MOBILITY SUPPORT IN INACTIVE STATE

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Mar 29, 2023
Examiner
MADDOX, MICHAEL WAYNE
Art Unit
2463
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Parsa Wireless Communications LLC
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
100%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 100% — above average
100%
Career Allow Rate
21 granted / 21 resolved
+42.0% vs TC avg
Minimal +0% lift
Without
With
+0.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
44
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.7%
-39.3% vs TC avg
§103
53.6%
+13.6% vs TC avg
§102
30.5%
-9.5% vs TC avg
§112
15.2%
-24.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 21 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
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 Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 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. 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 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 10 recites the limitation "the one or more parameters" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear whether the "the one or more parameters" is intended to refer to “the configuration parameters” recited in claims 4 and 7, or the “multicast configuration parameters” recited in claim 7. Claim 11 is rejected as being dependent upon rejected claim 10. 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, 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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeon et al. (US 2022/0046661 A1)(hereinafter “Jeon”) in view of Fujishiro et al. (US 2023/0354465 A1) (hereinafter “Fujishiro”). Regarding claim 1, Jeon discloses a method of multicast mobility in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, comprising the acts of: receiving, by a user equipment (UE), an RRC release message indicating transitioning of the UE from an RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state ([¶0330]: the wireless device may receive, in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, a release message indicating a plurality of configured uplink resources. Each configured uplink resource, of the plurality of configured uplink resources, may be associated with a downlink reference signal (DL RS) of a plurality of DL RSs. The wireless device may transition, based on the release message, from the RRC connected state to an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state. The release message may be an RRC release message.); and changing, by the UE for receiving … data, an association to a beam from a first beam to a second beam (Fig. 25, [¶0284]: the wireless device 2502 may determine the beam failure of/on DL RS1, as shown in FIG. 25. The wireless device 2502 may determine a candidate beam (e.g., the DL RS3 as shown in FIG. 25). the beam failure detection indication and/or the beam failure recovery request 2504 may indicate an identity (e.g., C-RNTI, PUR-RNTI, and/or the like) of the wireless device 2502, an indication of the beam failure, and/or an identifier of the candidate beam (e.g., DL RS3). The wireless device 2502 may receive the response 2505 to the beam failure detection indication and/or the beam failure recovery request. The response 2505 may indicate one or more new beams (e.g., comprising the candidate beam, DL RS3) of the cell to be used for transmission and/or reception during/in the non-connected state. The wireless device 2502 may perform the transmission and/or the reception using the one or more new beams, for example, after or in response to receiving the response 2505. The response 2505 may be a second RRC message. The second RRC message may (re-)configures transmission and/or reception during/in the non-connected state with one or more new beams of the cell. The wireless device 2502 may receive the second RRC message that (re-)configures transmission and/or reception during/in the non-connected state via/with one or more new beams of the cell. The second RRC message may indicate a beam used for the transmission and/or reception to be switched from a first beam (e.g., DL RS1) of the cell to a second beam (e.g., DL RS3) of the cell.). Although Jeon discloses receiving data in an RRC inactive state and that received data may include multicast data (See [¶0207]), Jeon fails to specifically disclose receiving multicast data in an RRC inactive state. However, Fujishiro discloses a UE receiving multicast data after transitioning to an RRC inactive state (Fig. 11; [¶0126]- [¶0127]: in Step S209, the UE 100 continues to receive multicast broadcast service (MBS) traffic in the RRC inactive state using a basic reception configuration). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for a UE to change an association of a beam from a first beam to a second beam for receiving data in an RRC inactive state, as taught by Jeon, to receive multicast data, as taught by Fujishiro. Doing so allows for more efficient transmission of data to multiple recipients within the communication system. Regarding claim 2, Jeon in view of Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 1 as outlined above. Jeon further discloses: receiving first configuration parameters that are associated with receiving … services based on the first beam ([¶0210]: the wireless device 1702 may receive an RRC message comprising the radio resource configuration parameters of the one or more radio resources for a time that the wireless device is in the RRC_CONNECTED state (e.g., at step 1710).); and receiving second configuration parameters that are associated with receiving … services based on the second beam ([¶0210] the wireless device 1702 may receive radio resource configuration parameters associated with one or more radio resources (e.g., uplink radio resources, the resources 1703, etc.) that the wireless device 1702 may use in the Non-RRC_CONNECTED state.). Although Jeon discloses receiving first configuration parameters that are associated with receiving … services based on the first beam, and receiving second configuration parameters that are associated with receiving … services based on the second beam, Jeon fails to specifically disclose the services are multicast services. However, Fujishiro discloses that the configuration parameters are associated with multicast services (Fig. 11; [¶0126]- [¶0127]: in Step S209, the UE 100 continues to receive multicast broadcast service (MBS) traffic in the RRC inactive state using a basic reception configuration). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive first and second configuration parameters that are associated with receiving services based on respective first and second beams, as taught by Jeon, in which the configuration parameters include configuration parameters associated with multicast services, as taught by Fujishiro. Doing so allows for more efficient transmission of data to multiple recipients within the communication system. Regarding claim 3, Jeon in view of Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 2 as outlined above. Jeon fails to disclose wherein the first configuration parameters comprise first point to multipoint (PTM) configuration parameters, and the second configuration parameters comprise second PTM configuration parameters. However, Fujishiro discloses wherein: the first configuration parameters comprise first point to multipoint (PTM) configuration parameters ([¶0062]: the MBS data to the UE may be Point To Multipoint (PTM)); and the second configuration parameters comprise second PTM configuration parameters ([¶0062]: the MBS data to the UE may be Point To Multipoint (PTM)). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive first and second configuration parameters based on respective beams, as taught by Jeon, to include point to multipoint (PTM) configuration parameters within the configuration parameters, as taught by Fujishiro. Doing so allows for more efficient transmission of data to multiple recipients within the communication system. Regarding claim 4, Jeon in view of Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 1 as outlined above. Jeon further discloses wherein the receiving includes receiving configuration parameters that are associated with receiving … services: based on the first beam or the second beam ([¶0210]: the wireless device 1702 may receive an RRC message comprising the radio resource configuration parameters of the one or more radio resources for a time that the wireless device is in the RRC_CONNECTED state (e.g., at step 1710). The wireless device 1702 may receive radio resource configuration parameters associated with one or more radio resources (e.g., uplink radio resources, the resources 1703, etc.) that the wireless device 1702 may use in the Non-RRC_CONNECTED state.). Although Jeon discloses wherein the receiving includes receiving configuration parameters that are associated with receiving … services: based on the first beam or the second beam, Jeon fails to specifically disclose the services are multicast services. However, Fujishiro discloses that the configuration parameters are associated with receiving multicast services (Fig. 11; [¶0126]- [¶0127]: in Step S209, the UE 100 continues to receive multicast broadcast service (MBS) traffic in the RRC inactive state using a basic reception configuration). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive first and second configuration parameters that are associated with receiving services based on respective first and second beams, as taught by Jeon, in which the configuration parameters include configuration parameters associated with multicast services, as taught by Fujishiro. Doing so allows for more efficient transmission of data to multiple recipients within the communication system. Regarding claim 5, Jeon in view of Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 4 as outlined above. Jeon fails to disclose wherein the configuration parameters are point to multipoint (PTM) configuration parameters. However, Fujishiro discloses wherein the configuration parameters are point to multipoint (PTM) configuration parameters ([¶0062]: the MBS data to the UE may be Point To Multipoint (PTM)). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive configuration parameters based on respective beams, as taught by Jeon, to include point to multipoint (PTM) configuration parameters within the configuration parameters, as taught by Fujishiro. Doing so allows for more efficient transmission of data to multiple recipients within the communication system. Regarding claim 6, Jeon in view of Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 4 as outlined above. Jeon further discloses wherein the configuration parameters including that one or more … configuration parameters are: applicable to the first beam or the second beam ([¶0210]: the wireless device 1702 may receive an RRC message comprising the radio resource configuration parameters of the one or more radio resources for a time that the wireless device is in the RRC_CONNECTED state (e.g., at step 1710). The wireless device 1702 may receive radio resource configuration parameters associated with one or more radio resources (e.g., uplink radio resources, the resources 1703, etc.) that the wireless device 1702 may use in the Non-RRC_CONNECTED state.). Jeon fails to specifically disclose the configuration parameters are multicast configuration parameters. However, Fujishiro discloses that the configuration parameters are multicast configuration parameters (Fig. 11; [¶0126]- [¶0127]: in Step S209, the UE 100 continues to receive multicast broadcast service (MBS) traffic in the RRC inactive state using a basic reception configuration). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention wherein the configuration parameters applicable to the first beam or second beam, as taught by Jeon, are multicast configuration parameters, as taught by Fujishiro. Doing so allows for more efficient transmission of data to multiple recipients within the communication system by enabling multicast data transmission. Regarding claim 7, Jeon in view of Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 4 as outlined above. Jeon further discloses wherein the configuration parameters indicate that multicast configuration parameters are extensible from the first beam to the second beam ([¶0290]: the configuration parameters for the new beam may be the same as those of the previous beam.) or, in a case where the first beam and the second beam are associated with a first network node and a second network node, respectively, the multicast configuration parameters are extensible from the first network node to the second network node (an alternative limitation not given mapping in the claim.) Alternately, Jeon fails to disclose the alternative limitation of in a case where the first beam and the second beam are associated with a first network node and a second network node, respectively, the multicast configuration parameters are extensible from the first network node to the second network node. However, Fujishiro discloses in a case where the first beam and the second beam are associated with a first network node and a second network node, respectively, the multicast configuration parameters are extensible from the first network node to the second network node (Fig. 11; [¶0105]; [¶0126]: in Step S202, the gNB 200a transmits, to the UE 100, an RRC Reconfiguration message including a basic reception configuration and an RRC connected dedicated configuration for receiving MBS data from the gNB 200a (“the first network node”) and the gNB 200b (“the second network node”); [¶0137]-[¶0138]: in Step S12, the gNB 200b determines whether to enable the RRC connected dedicated configuration held by the UE 100 and transmits an instruction indicating the determination result to the UE 100. When the UE 100 receives the instruction to enable the RRC connected dedicated configuration from the gNB 200b, the UE 100 enables the held RRC connected dedicated configuration. Therefore, the RRC connected dedicated configuration parameters are indicated as extensible from the gNB 200a to the gNB 200b. Examiner notes that each of nodes gNB 200a and gNB 200b inherently have at least one associated beam.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention wherein the configuration parameters applicable to the first beam or second beam, as taught by Jeon, are associated with a first network node and a second network node, respectively, and the multicast configuration parameters are extensible from the first network node to the second network node, as taught by Fujishiro. Doing so allows for more efficient use of radio resources by enabling reuse of the radio resources. Claim(s) 8-9 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujishiro et al. (US 2023/0354465 A1) (hereinafter “Fujishiro”) in view of Liu et al. (US 2021/0282114 A1)(hereinafter “Liu”). Regarding claim 8, Fujishiro discloses a method of multicast mobility in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, comprising the acts of: receiving, by a user equipment (UE), an RRC release message indicating transitioning of the UE from an RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state (Fig. 11; [¶0115]-[ ¶0116]; [¶0126]: in Step S206, the gNB 200a transmits an RRC Release message to the UE 100; in Step S207, the UE 100 transitions to the RRC inactive state based on the received RRC Release message); and changing, by the UE for receiving multicast data, an association to a beam or a network node from a first beam or a first network node to a second beam or a second network node (Fig. 11; [¶0126]- [¶0127]: in Step S209, the UE 100 continues to receive multicast broadcast service (MBS) traffic in the RRC inactive state using a basic reception configuration; in Step S210, the UE 100 in the RRC inactive state performs cell reselection from a cell of a gNB 200a (“a first network node”) to a cell of a gNB 200b (“a second network node”) for receiving MBS traffic); receiving configuration parameters that are associated with receiving multicast services based on the first beam or on the second beam or from the first network node or the second network node (Fig. 11; [¶0126]: in Step S202, the gNB 200a transmits, to the UE 100, an RRC Reconfiguration message including a basic reception configuration and an RRC connected dedicated configuration. [¶0105]: in Step S102, the gNB 200 transmits, to the UE 100, an MBS configuration, that is, an RRC Reconfiguration message including a basic reception configuration and an RRC connected dedicated configuration. The UE 100 receives the RRC Reconfiguration message.); wherein the configuration parameters indicate that multicast configuration parameters are extensible from the first beam to the second beam or are extensible from the first network node to the second network node (Fig. 11; [¶0105]; [¶0126]: in Step S202, the gNB 200a transmits, to the UE 100, an RRC Reconfiguration message including a basic reception configuration and an RRC connected dedicated configuration for receiving MBS data from the gNB 200a (“the first network node”) and the gNB 200b (“the second network node”); [¶0137]-[¶0138]: in Step S12, the gNB 200b determines whether to enable the RRC connected dedicated configuration held by the UE 100 and transmits an instruction indicating the determination result to the UE 100. When the UE 100 receives the instruction to enable the RRC connected dedicated configuration from the gNB 200b, the UE 100 enables the held RRC connected dedicated configuration. Therefore, the RRC connected dedicated configuration parameters are indicated as extensible from the gNB 200a to the gNB 200b ). Fujishiro does not disclose wherein the one or more parameters further indicate a bitmap comprising a plurality of bits, wherein each bit, in the plurality of bits, is associated with a beam or a network node. However, Liu discloses wherein the one or more parameters further indicate a bitmap comprising a plurality of bits, wherein each bit, in the plurality of bits, is associated with a beam or a network node ([¶0122] the base station 402 may dynamically configure beam activation and deactivation (e.g., deactivation may include inactivation) for broadcast or multicast SPS communication. The base station 402 may transmit information associated with the available beams 410a-d to the UEs 404a-c, e.g., so that the UEs 404a-c are able to provide measurements and/or other reporting associated with the available beams 410a-d to the base station 402. [¶0124] In some aspects, the signaling to indicate which of the available beams 410a-d is activated and/or deactivated may include a bitmap. The size of the bitmap is equal to the total number of available beams, where the total number of available beams may be predefined/configured by RRC for MCCH and then by MCCH for MTCH, or alternatively predefined/configured by RRC for both MCCH and MTCH. The base station 402 may generate the bitmap to include a respective bit that corresponds to each of the available beams 410a-d and/or corresponds to a respective transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state that may be associated with each of the available beams 410a-d and/or corresponds to respective quasi-colocation (QCL) information.). 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 RRC Reconfiguration message used to convey configuration parameters, as taught by Fujishiro, to convey the configuration parameters using bits of a bitmap as taught by Liu. Doing so allows for reducing the bandwidth required for conveying multicast configuration parameters between the gNB and the UE. Regarding claim 9, Fujishiro in view of Liu discloses all of the features of claim 8 as outlined above. Fujishiro further discloses wherein a plurality of beams or a plurality of network nodes … are neighbor beams or neighbor network nodes ([¶0185]-[¶0188]: providing neighbor cell information from the gNB to the UE 100, and the UE 100 performing cell reselection based on the received neighbor cell information when in the RRC inactive state). Fujishiro does not specifically disclose that the plurality of beams or the plurality of network nodes are associated with the plurality of bits. However, Liu discloses wherein a plurality of beams or a plurality of network nodes [are], associated with the plurality of bits ([¶0124] In some aspects, the signaling to indicate which of the available beams 410a-d is activated and/or deactivated may include a bitmap. The size of the bitmap is equal to the total number of available beams, where the total number of available beams may be predefined/configured by RRC for MCCH and then by MCCH for MTCH, or alternatively predefined/configured by RRC for both MCCH and MTCH. The base station 402 may generate the bitmap to include a respective bit that corresponds to each of the available beams 410a-d and/or corresponds to a respective transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state that may be associated with each of the available beams 410a-d and/or corresponds to respective quasi-colocation (QCL) information.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to associate the plurality of neighbor network nodes, as taught by Fujishiro, with a plurality bits as taught by Liu. Doing so allows for identifying neighboring cells to the UE to facilitate inter-cell switching. Regarding claim 16, Fujishiro in view of Liu discloses all of the features of claim 8 as outlined above. Fujishiro further discloses wherein changing the association is: from the first network node to the second network node; and for intra-network node mobility (Fig. 11; [¶0126]-[¶0127]: in Step S209, the UE 100 continues to receive multicast broadcast service (MBS) traffic in the RRC inactive state using a basic reception configuration; in Step S210, the UE 100 in the RRC inactive state performs cell reselection from a cell of a gNB 200a (“a first network node”) to a cell of a gNB 200b (“a second network node”) for receiving MBS traffic to provide for intra-network node mobility). Regarding claim 17, Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 16 as outlined above. Fujishiro further discloses wherein the first network node is a first distributed unit (DU), and the second network node is a second DU ([¶0047]: the gNB may include a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU). [¶0191]: The base station (gNB) may be a Distributed Unit (DU). Accordingly, each of gNB 200a and gNB 200b may be a DU). Regarding claim 18, Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 17 as outlined above. Fujishiro further discloses wherein the first distributed unit (DU) and the second DU are associated with the same base station ([¶0123]: The gNB 200 when the UE has transitioned to the RRC inactive state and the gNB 200 when the UE 100 returns to the RRC connected state may be the same). Regarding claim 19, Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 17 as outlined above. Fujishiro further discloses wherein the first network node is a first base station, and the second network node is a second base station ([¶0127]: in Step S210, the UE 100 in the RRC inactive state performs cell reselection from a cell of a gNB 200a (“a first base station”) to a cell of a gNB 200b (“a second base station”)). Regarding claim 20, Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 8 as outlined above. Fujishiro further discloses determining to change the association from the first beam to the second beam or from the first network node to the second network node (Fig. 11; [¶0127]: in Step S210, the UE 100 in the RRC inactive state performs cell reselection from a cell of a gNB 200a (“a first network node”) to a cell of a gNB 200b (“a second network node”); [¶0137]: in Step S12, the gNB 200b determines whether to enable the RRC connected dedicated configuration held by the UE 100 and transmits an instruction indicating the determination result to the UE 100). Claim(s) 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeon in view of Fujishiro and in further view of Shrivastava et al. (US 2024/0214988 A1)(hereinafter “Shrivastava”). Regarding claim 10, Jeon in view of Fujishiro discloses all of the features of claim 7 as outlined above. Jeon in view of Fujishiro does not disclose wherein the one or more parameters further indicate a table comprising a plurality of fields, wherein each field, in the plurality of fields, is associated with a beam or a network node. However, Shrivastava discloses wherein the one or more parameters further indicate a table comprising a plurality of fields, wherein each field, in the plurality of fields, is associated with a beam ([¶0112]; [¶0221]; [¶0242]; [¶0255]; [¶0296]; [¶0305]-[¶0307]: MBS/multicast session parameters may be conveyed through a table comprising fields within an RRC message). 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 RRC Reconfiguration message used to convey configuration parameters as taught by Jeon to convey the configuration parameters using fields as taught by Shrivastava. Doing so allows for providing a structured format for conveying multicast configuration parameters between the gNB and the UE. Regarding claim 11, Jeon in view of Fujishiro and in further view of Shrivastava discloses all of the features of claim 10 as outlined above. Jeon and Shrivastava fail to disclose wherein a plurality of beams, associated with the plurality of fields, are neighbor beams. However, Fujishiro discloses wherein a plurality of beams … are neighbor beams. ([¶0185]-[ ¶0188]: providing neighbor cell information from the gNB to the UE 100, and the UE 100 performing cell reselection based on the received neighbor cell information when in the RRC inactive state). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to associate the plurality of beams and plurality of fields, as taught by Jeon and Shrivastava, with neighbor beams of neighbor nodes, as taught by Fujishiro. Doing so allows for identifying neighboring cells to the UE to facilitate inter-cell switching Claim(s) 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujishiro in view of Liu and in further view of Löhr et al. (WO 2024/139460) (hereinafter “Löhr”). Regarding claim 12, Fujishiro in view of Liu discloses all of the features of claim 8 as outlined above. Fujishiro does not disclose wherein: changing the association is from the first beam to the second beam; the first beam and the second beam are associated with the same network node; and the association is changed for inter-beam mobility. However, Löhr discloses wherein: changing the association is from the first beam to the second beam; the first beam and the second beam are associated with the same network node; and the association is changed is for inter-beam mobility (Fig. 7: [¶0117]-[¶0118]: at 702, a UE may trigger transmission of beam information to a base station in response to a current serving beam (“the first beam”) for transmitting data between the UE and the base station having changed while the UE is in an RRC Inactive state to provide for inter-beam mobility. The beam information indicates a new serving beam (“the second beam”). [¶0120]: at 706, the beam information is transmitted to the base station (i.e., “the same network node”) as part of a random access procedure). 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 RRC Reconfiguration message used to convey configuration parameters as taught by Fujishiro to a change in a first beam to a second beam as taught by Löhr. Doing so allows for providing for conveying an indication of a best beam for transmitting and receiving multicast data (Löhr: [¶0070]). Regarding claim 13, Fujishiro in view of Liu and further in view of Löhr discloses all of the features of claim 12 as outlined above. Fujishiro further discloses wherein the first network node is a first distributed unit (DU), and the second network node is a second DU ([¶0047]: the gNB may include a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU). [¶0191]: The base station (gNB) may be a Distributed Unit (DU). Accordingly, each of gNB 200a and gNB 200b may be a DU). Regarding claim 14, Fujishiro in view of Liu and further in view of Löhr discloses all of the features of claim 13 as outlined above. Fujishiro further discloses wherein the first distributed unit (DU) and the second DU are associated with the same base station ([¶0123]: The gNB 200 when the UE has transitioned to the RRC inactive state and the gNB 200 when the UE 100 returns to the RRC connected state may be the same). Regarding claim 15, Fujishiro in view of Liu and further in view of Löhr discloses all of the features of claim 13 as outlined above. Fujishiro further discloses wherein the first network node is a first base station, and the second network node is a second base station ([¶0127]: in Step S210, the UE 100 in the RRC inactive state performs cell reselection from a cell of a gNB 200a (“a first base station”) to a cell of a gNB 200b (“a second base station”)). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL W MADDOX whose telephone number is (571)272-5834. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-5:00pm, 1st F 7:30am-4:00pm, 2nd F off. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Asad M Nawaz can be reached at 571-272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MICHAEL WAYNE MADDOX/Examiner, Art Unit 2463 /ASAD M NAWAZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 29, 2023
Application Filed
May 07, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §112
Aug 12, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 09, 2025
Final Rejection — §103, §112
Dec 15, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 06, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Feb 20, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §112 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
100%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+0.0%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
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