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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 7/24/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 7/24/2026 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, Claims 1 and 7 have been amended.
Claims 1-12 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-12 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 § 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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Won et al. (US 2021/0136673 A1), hereinafter referred to as Won, and in view of 3GPP TS 23.122 V17.6.0 Release 17 (2022-03), hereinafter referred to as TS 23.122, and further in view of Tiwari et al. (US 2021/0314848 A1), hereinafter referred to as Tiwari.
Claims 1-6 are directed to method claims that recite similar limitations to device claims 7-12. Therefore, the rejections for claims 1-6 are the same as the rejections put forth for claims 7-12.
Re. Claim 7, Won teaches:
A User Equipment (UE), (¶0007 For each public land mobile network identity, there may be an indication that the user equipment is only allowed to access a 5G system via closed access group cells & ¶0049 Fig. 3 illustrates an example of a terminal 300, such as the terminal illustrated on FIG. 1. The terminal 300 may be a user equipment)
comprising: a Closed Access Group (CAG) information handling circuit that maintains a CAG related configuration for network selection, (¶0054 In some cases, manual CAG selection may be permitted. In manual CAG selection, a user may be allowed to manually choose a CAG ID that is not in an allowed CAG list. & ¶0065 if the UE supports the CAG feature, and the allowed CAG list comprises at least one entry [i.e. a CAG related configuration used for network selection], then for each PLMN/radio access technology combination of NG-RAN access technology, the UE may display the PLMN/radio access technology combination and a list of one or more CAG identifiers (IDs), & ¶0078 embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as circuitry [i.e. circuitry for CAG information handling])
wherein the UE is registered in a first PLMN using a Manual Network Selection Mode, (¶0002 The present disclosure relates to… an apparatus, methods and computer programs for manually selecting a network. & ¶0074 If the UE has initiated the registration procedure due to manual CAG selection and receives a REGISTRATION ACCEPT message and the UE has initiated the registration procedure in a CAG cell, then the UE may add the selected CAG-ID in the allowed CAG list for the current PLMN (if not already included) [i.e. current PLMN is a first PLMN where UE is registered using a manual network selection mode].)
and a network selection circuit that initiates a Manual Network Selection Mode Procedure by presenting available PLMNs and CAGs . (¶0058-¶0059 At step 602, the method comprises displaying the public land mobile network identity to a user. At step 604, the method comprises receiving user input selecting the public land mobile network identity. [i.e. describes a manual network selection mode procedure] & ¶0065 if the UE supports the CAG feature, and the allowed CAG list comprises at least one entry [i.e. a predefined condition is met], then for each PLMN/radio access technology combination of NG-RAN access technology, the UE may display the PLMN/radio access technology combination and a list of one or more CAG identifiers (IDs) [i.e. displays available PLMNs and CAGs as part of a manual network selection procedure being initiated when the condition is met] & ¶0078 embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as circuitry [i.e. circuitry for network selection])
Yet, Won does not teach: and wherein the CAG related configuration comprises an Allowed CAG list of a second PLMN; a control circuit that determines that the first PLMN is not available after the UE is switched on, and the control circuit further determines that the second PLMN is a most preferred home network and a cell of the second PLMN is available;
However, in the analogous art, TS 23.122 teaches such limitations:
and wherein the CAG related configuration comprises an Allowed CAG list of a second PLMN; (Pg. 29 Section 3.8 CAG selection (n1 mode only): The MS may support CAG. the MS can be provisioned by the network with a “CAG information list” [i.e. CAG related configuration], consisting of zero or more entries, each containing: a) a PLMN ID; [i.e. a second PLMN, which is implied by an ID indicating any of multiple potential PLMNs] b) an “Allowed CAG list”. [i.e. an allowed CAG list of a second PLMN, or any of the multiple potential PLMNs] The “Allowed CAG list” contains zero or more CAG-IDs)
a control circuit that determines that the first PLMN is not available after the UE is switched on, (Pg. 37 Section 4.4.3.1 At switch-on or recovery from lack of coverage & bottom of page, 4th EXCEPTION: At switch on, [i.e. after MS/UE is switched on] if the MS is in manual mode and neither registered PLMN nor PLMN that is equivalent to it is available [i.e. MS/UE which implicitly contains control circuitry determines the first PLMN is not available after being switched on])
and the control circuit further determines that the second PLMN is a most preferred home network and a cell of the second PLMN is available; (Pg. 15 Section 2 Ln. 4-7 The MS looks for a suitable cell of the chosen PLMN or SNPN and chooses that cell to provide available services… This choosing is known as “camping on the cell”. & Pg. 36 Section 4.4.2 Registration on a PLMN In both automatic and manual modes, the concept of registration on a PLMN is used. An MS successfully registers on a PLMN if: a) the MS has found a suitable cell of the PLMN to camp on; [i.e. choosing the PLMN involves determining a suitable cell of the available PLMN] & Pg. 37 Section 4.4.3.1 At switch-on or recovery from lack of coverage… & bottom of page, 4th EXCEPTION: At switch on, if the MS is in manual mode and neither registered PLMN nor PLMN that is equivalent to it is available but EHPLMN is available [i.e. the second PLMN is available, therefore the suitable cell chosen is also being determined as available] the MS may select and attempt registration on the highest priority EHPLMN [i.e. second PLMN being selected for attempted registration interpreted as being determined as the most preferred home network].)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Won’s invention of a method and apparatus for manually selecting a network to include 3GPP TS 23.122’s teaching of the CAG related configuration comprising an allowed CAG list of a second PLMN, because it would enable the system to determine if a CAG is allowed based on PLMN ID information, and store such information in memory for future reference. (see Pg. 29-30 Section 3.8: CAG selection)
Although Won does teach presenting the available PLMNs and CAGs during a manual network selection procedure, the references do not explicitly teach: and the control circuit further determines based on the CAG related configuration for the second PLMN and a CAG characteristic of the cell of the second PLMN, that a predefined condition for initiating a Manual Network Selection Mode Procedure is met; and a network selection circuit that initiates a Manual Network Selection Mode Procedure by presenting available PLMNs and CAGs when the predefined condition is met.
However, in the analogous art, Tiwari et al. (US 2021/0314848 A1) teaches:
the control circuit further determines based on the CAG related configuration for the second PLMN (¶0014 Another aspect of the disclosure is to provide send a new CAG information list with complete CAG subscription information associated with a plurality of PLMNs by the UDM controller to the UE, when the serving PLMN is the HPLMN. & ¶0098 The CAG information list consists of at least one of the following: [0099] 1. allowed CAG ID list, [i.e. allowed CAG ID list for plurality of PLMNs equivalent to CAG related configuration for a second PLMN])
and a CAG characteristic of the cell of the second PLMN, that a predefined condition for initiating a Manual Network Selection Mode Procedure is met; (¶0098 The CAG information list consists of at least one of the following: [0099] 1. allowed CAG ID list, [0100] 2. Indication that the UE (200) is only allowed to access 5GS via CAG cells, or [0101] 3. For each CAG ID present in the allowed CAG list an indication whether the user can manually select the CAG ID or not during manual PLMN selection procedure or not. If the CAG ID is allowed to select the during the manual PLMN selection procedure, then the UE (200) will display the CAG ID to the user if the CAG cell broadcasting the CAG ID is found at the location and if the user selects the CAG ID then the UE (200) shall initiate the registration procedure if the CAG ID is not in the allowed list [i.e. the “allowed CAG ID list” is equivalent to the allowed CAG list of a second PLMN as the CAG information pertains to a plurality of PLMNs. The indication that access is allowed only on CAG cells is equivalent to a CAG characteristic of the cell of a second PLMN being met as a predefined condition. Using this information, the UE determines if manual network selection will proceed and thus display the selection information])
and a network selection circuit that initiates a Manual Network Selection Mode Procedure by presenting available PLMNs and CAGs when the predefined condition is met. (¶0098 The CAG information list consists of at least one of the following: [0099] 1. allowed CAG ID list, [0100] 2. Indication that the UE (200) is only allowed to access 5GS via CAG cells, or [0101] 3. For each CAG ID present in the allowed CAG list an indication whether the user can manually select the CAG ID or not during manual PLMN selection procedure or not. If the CAG ID is allowed to select the during the manual PLMN selection procedure, then the UE (200) will display the CAG ID to the user if the CAG cell broadcasting the CAG ID is found at the location and if the user selects the CAG ID then the UE (200) shall initiate the registration procedure if the CAG ID is not in the allowed list [i.e. as the previous conditions have been met through receiving the CAG information list, Manual Network Selection Procedure occurs and available CAGs are displayed (presented), though PLMNs are not disclosed as being presented, it would be necessary for them to be presented during a manual PLMN selection procedure, where ¶0106 further discloses this manual PLMN selection 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 combine Won’s invention of a method and apparatus for manually selecting a network to include Tiwari’s teaching of initiating manual network selection procedure when a predefined condition is met, because it would enable the UE to decide whether the CAG ID is allowed to be selected during the manual PLMN selection procedure or not. (see Tiwari ¶0098-¶0101)
Re. Claim 8, Won combined with TS 23.122, and Tiwari teaches the UE of Claim 7.
TS 23.122 further teaches:
wherein the most preferred home network is an equivalent home PLMN (EHPLMN) with a highest priority when an EHPLMN list configuration is available. (Pg. 37 Section 4.4.3.1 At switch-on or recovery from lack of coverage: at bottom of page, 4th EXCEPTION: At switch on, if the MS is in manual mode and neither registered PLMN nor PLMN that is equivalent to it is available but EHPLMN is available [i.e. in this context “available” is referring to the list being available, as below it refers to an EHPLMN list not being available as the alternative to this scenario], then instead of performing the manual network selection mode procedure of clause 4.4.3.1.2 the MS may select and attempt registration on the highest priority EHPLMN [i.e. second PLMN being highest priority interpreted as being determined as the most preferred home network].)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Won and Tiwari’s invention of a method and apparatus for manually selecting a network to include 3GPP TS 23.122’s teaching of the most preferred home network being a highest priority EHPLMN when the list configuration is available, because it the device to choose between multiple options for recovering from lack of coverage or at switch-on. (see TS 23.122 Pg. 37 section 4.4.3.1 4th exception)
Re. Claim 9, Won combined with TS 23.122, and Tiwari teaches the UE of Claim 7.
TS 23.122 further teaches:
wherein the most preferred home network is a home PLMN (HPLMN) when an equivalent home PLMN (EHPLMN) list is empty or not available. (Pg. 37 Section 4.4.3.1 At switch-on or recovery from lack of coverage: at bottom of page, 4th EXCEPTION: At switch on, if the MS is in manual mode and neither registered PLMN nor PLMN that is equivalent to it is available but EHPLMN is available, then instead of performing the manual network selection mode procedure of clause 4.4.3.1.2 the MS may select and attempt registration on the highest priority EHPLMN. If the EHPLMN list is not available or is empty and the HPLMN is available, then the MS may select and attempt registration on the HPLMN. [i.e. HPLMN becomes the most preferred when the EHPLMN is not available] The MS shall remain in manual mode.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Won and Tiwari’s invention of a method and apparatus for manually selecting a network to include 3GPP TS 23.122’s teaching of the most preferred home network being an HPLMN when the EHPLMN list configuration is not available, because it the device to choose between multiple options for recovering from lack of coverage or at switch-on. (see TS 23.122 Pg. 37 section 4.4.3.1 4th exception)
Re. Claim 10, Won combined with TS 23.122, and Tiwari teaches the UE of Claim 7.
TS 23.122 further teaches:
wherein the cell of the second PLMN is a non-CAG cell, (Pg. 43 Ln. 8-9, 20-21 if the MS supports CAG, for each PLMN/access technology combination of NG-RAN access technology [i.e. if MS supports CAG for each PLMN, as in first and second PLMN], the MS shall present to the user: b) the PLMN/access technology combination without a list of CAG-IDs, if there is an available NG-RAN cell which is not a CAG cell for the PLMN. [i.e. available cell is a non-CAG cell])
and the CAG related configuration contains an indication that the UE is only allowed to access 5GS via CAG cells. (Pg. 43 Ln. 21-23 If there exists an entry for the presented PLMN in the "CAG information list" [i.e. CAG related configuration] and the entry includes an "indication that the MS is only allowed to access 5GS via CAG cells", the MS may indicate to the user that the MS is only allowed to access the PLMN via CAG cells.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Won and Tiwari’s invention of a method and apparatus for manually selecting a network to include 3GPP TS 23.122’s teaching of the CAG related configuration containing an indication that the UE is only allowed to access 5GS via CAG cells, because it would enable the device to use CAG cells exclusively to connect to the network for limited service state scenarios. (see TS 23.122 Pg. 28 section 3.5 i-k)
Re. Claim 11, Won combined with TS 23.122 and Tiwari teaches the UE of Claim 7.
TS 23.122 further teaches:
wherein the cell of the second PLMN is a CAG cell broadcasting a CAG-ID for the second PLMN, (Pg. 43 Ln. 8-11 if the MS supports CAG, for each PLMN/access technology combination of NG-RAN access technology [i.e. if MS supports CAG for each PLMN, as in first and second PLMN], the MS shall present to the user: a) the PLMN/access technology combination and a list of CAG-IDs composed of one or more CAG-ID: [i.e. a CAG-ID for the second PLMN])
and the CAG-ID is not included in the allowed CAG list. (Pg. 43 Ln. 18-19 For each of the presented CAG-ID, the MS may indicate to the user whether the CAG-ID is present in the "Allowed CAG list" [i.e. indicating whether is present or not implies there is a scenario in which the CAG-ID is not included in the allowed CAG list] stored in the UE;)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Won and Tiwari’s invention of a method and apparatus for manually selecting a network to include 3GPP TS 23.122’s teaching of the most preferred home network being a highest priority EHPLMN when the list configuration is available, because it would enable the device to use CAG cells to connect to the network for limited service state scenarios. (see TS 23.122 Pg. 28 section 3.5 i-k)
Re. Claim 12, Won combined with TS 23.122 and Tiwari teaches the UE of Claim 7.
TS 23.122 further teaches:
wherein the cell also broadcasts an indication that the second PLMN allows manually selection of the CAG-ID. (Pg. 43 Ln. 8-11, 16-17 if the MS supports CAG, for each PLMN/access technology combination of NG-RAN access technology [i.e. if MS supports CAG for each PLMN, as in first and second PLMN], the MS shall present to the user: the available CAG cell broadcasting the CAG-ID for the PLMN also broadcasts that the PLMN allows a user to manually select the CAG-ID. [i.e. indicating that the second PLMN allows manual selection of the CAG-ID])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Won and Tiwari’s invention of a method and apparatus for manually selecting a network to include 3GPP TS 23.122’s teaching of an indication that the PLMN allows manual selection of the CAG-ID, because it would enable the device to use CAG cells to connect to the network for limited service state scenarios. (see TS 23.122 Pg. 28 section 3.5 i-k)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY A MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-4423. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8 to 5.
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, Rebecca Song can be reached at 571-270-3667. 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.
/G.A.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
Prosecution Insights