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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of the amendment filed on September 12, 2025, in which:
Claims 1-20 are cancelled, and
Claims 21-40 are newly presented.
Claims 21-40 are currently pending and an Office action on the merits follows.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 21-40 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 21-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pub No.: US-20200053643-A1 (herein “Lee”).
Claims 21, 26, 31, and 36
Consider claim 21, Lee teaches A method performed by an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, a registration request message including information on a user equipment (UE) capability, wherein the information on the UE capability indicates that the UE supports a network slice access stratum (AS) group (NSAG) (see Lee Fig. 6, [0107]-[0108], note RAN 615 transmits Registration Request with SG ID to the AMF 620);
transmitting, to a network slice selection function (NSSF) entity, at least one subscribed single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) (see Lee Fig. 6, [0114]-[0116] note subscription check inquiry by the AMF 620 to the UDM 630 to determine if the slices in the slice group ID may be used by the UE 610 and the AMF 620 transmitting reallocation request message to NSSF 625 including the slice group ID for the one or more S-NSSAIs that are requested by the UE 610);
receiving, from the NSSF entity, NSAG information for the at least one subscribed S- NSSAI (see Lee Fig. 6, [0114]-[0117] note AMF 620 receiving the response to the subscription check confirming the subscription that the AMF may use the requested slices from the UDM 630 and/or receiving the AMF reallocation response message indicating AMF information belonging to the same slice group as the slice group requested by the UE from the NSSF 625); and
transmitting, to the UE, a registration accept message including the NSAG information (see Lee Fig. 6, [0013], [0118] note AMF 620 transmitting registration accept to the UE 610 including the allowed NSSAIs that maybe be used by the UE and network slice group identification information corresponding to the network slice identification information).
Claims 22, 27, 32, and 37
Consider claim 22, Lee teaches further comprising: transmitting, to the NSSF entity, the information indicating that the UE supports the NSAG (see Lee Fig. 6, [0114]-[0116] note subscription check inquiry by the AMF 620 to the UDM 630 to determine if the slices in the slice group ID may be used by the UE 610 and the AMF 620 transmitting reallocation request message to NSSF 625 including the slice group ID for the one or more S-NSSAIs that are requested by the UE 610).
Claims 23, 27, 33, and 38
Consider claim 23, Lee teaches wherein the NSAG information includes at least one of identifier (ID) of the NSAG, information on at least one S-NSSAI associated with the NSAG, or information on a priority associated with the NSAG (see Lee Fig. 6, [0114]-[0116] note slice group ID for the one or more S-NSSAIs that are requested by the UE 610).
Claims 24, 29, 34, and 39
Consider claim 24, Lee teaches wherein the information on a UE capability includes a UE mobility management (MM) core network capability (see Lee [008] note registration request including the requested NSSAI and slice group ID to which the S-NSSAIs included in the requested NSSAI allow the BS to select the AMF).
Claims 25, 30, 35, and 40
Consider claim 25, Lee teaches wherein the registration accept message further includes at least one of a configured NSSAI or a mapping of the configured NSSAI (see Lee Fig. 6, [0013], [0118] note AMF 620 transmitting registration accept to the UE 610 including the allowed NSSAIs that maybe be used by the UE and network slice group identification information corresponding to the network slice identification information).
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM-6:00PM.
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, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647