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
This Action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed March 07, 2025. Claims 1-12 and 15-25 are still pending in the present application. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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. Claims 1-12 and 15-26 are now pending in the present application.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or
1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims 1-12 and 15-26 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-19 and 23 of Patent 11,689,993. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because they are obvious variants.
Application 18/195,104
Patent 11,689,993
1. An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
obtain provisioning information, from a home network, to enable selection of an access node for access between at least a first access node comprising an interworking function, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function for accessing a first core network via a non-3GPP access, and a second access node comprising an evolved packet data gateway for accessing a second core network via a non-3GPP access;
wherein the provisioning information comprises at least a non-3GPP access network node configuration information to enable selection of the access node, wherein an internet protocol (IP) address of the first access node has the same IP version as a local IP address of the apparatus, wherein the non-3GPP access network node configuration information comprises
access node selection information comprising at least access node type preference for a particular access node type among a plurality of access node types for a particular public land mobile network (PLMN) and a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) format configuration of a list of public land mobile network (PLMNs);
home network non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) access node configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); and
home network evolved packet data gateway access node (EPDG) configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN);
determine configuration information to be used for selection of the access node for an accessing network;
select, based on at least one of the provisioning information or determined configuration information, the access node for the access, wherein the access is at least one of non-3GPP access or non-cellular access; and
connect to the selected access node for access to the first core network or the second core network,
wherein the first core network is accessed if the first access node is selected, or the second core network is accessed if the second access node is selected, and
wherein the apparatus is not located in its home country, and wherein to determine the configuration information, the apparatus is further caused to perform a domain name system (DNS) name authority pointer (NAPTR) query using a FQDN of the visited country, to determine whether the visited country mandates the selection of the N3IWF in the visited country, the response including a list of one or more interworking function nodes, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function, supporting the lawful interception of communications.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to support only one access node type and a home network access node configuration information of the HPLMN corresponding to the supported access node type is used for selecting the access node.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the access node type is a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF), and the home network non-3GPP interworking function access node configuration of the HPLMN is used to obtain N3IWF address information, and the apparatus connects to the selected N3IWF for access to a core network.
4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the access node type is an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG), and the home network evolved packet data gateway access node configuration of the HPLMN is used to obtain ePDG address information, and the apparatus connects to the selected ePDG for access to a core network.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to only support one access node type and the access node selection information of the visited PLMN is used for obtaining the access node address information.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to support the plurality of access node types as the access node and the access node selection information of the visited PLMN is used for obtaining the access node type preference information.
7. A method comprising: obtaining, at a user equipment, provisioning information from a home network of the user equipment, to enable selection of an access node for access between at least a first access node comprising an interworking function, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function for accessing a first core network via a non-3GPP access, and a second access node comprising an evolved packet data gateway for accessing a second core network via a non-3GPP access; wherein the provisioning information comprises at least a non-3GPP access node configuration information to enable selection of the access node, wherein an internet protocol (IP) address of the first access node has the same IP version as a local IP address of the user equipment, wherein the non-3GPP access network node configuration information comprises access node selection information comprising at least access node type preference for a particular access node type among a plurality of access node types for a particular public land mobile network (PLMN) and a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) format configuration of a list of public land mobile network (PLMNs); home network non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) access node configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); and home network evolved packet data gateway access node (EPDG) configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); determining configuration information to be used for the selection of the access node for an accessing network; selecting, based on at least one of the provisioning information or determined configuration information, the access node for the access, wherein the access is at least one of non-3GPP access or non-cellular access; and connecting to the selected access node for access to the first core network or the second core network, wherein the first core network is accessed if the first access node is selected, or the second core network is accessed if the second access node is selected, and wherein the user equipment is not located in its home country, and to determine the configuration information,
the method further comprises performing a domain name system (DNS) name authority pointer (NAPTR) query using a FQDN of the visited country, to determine whether the visited country mandates the selection of the N3IWF in the visited country, the response including a list of one or more interworking function nodes, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function, supporting the lawful interception of communications.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the access node type is a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF), and the home network non-3GPP interworking function access node configuration of the HPLMN is used to obtain N3IWF address information, and the user equipment connects to the selected N3IWF for access to a core network.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the access node type is an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG), and the home network evolved packet data gateway access node configuration of the HPLMN is used to obtain ePDG address information, and the user equipment connects to the selected ePDG for access to a core network.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the user equipment is not located in its home country.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the user equipment supports the plurality of access node types as the access node and the access node selection information of the visited PLMN is used for obtaining the access node type preference information.
12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including program code which when executed by at least one processor causes operations comprising: receiving provisioning information, from a user equipment's home network, to enable selection of an access node for access between at least a first access node comprising an interworking function, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function for accessing a first core network via a non-3GPP access, and a second access node comprising an evolved packet data gateway for accessing a second core network via a non-3GPP access; wherein the provisioning information comprises at least a non-3GPP access network node configuration information to enable selection of the access node, wherein an internet protocol (IP) address of the first access node has the same IP version as a local IP address of the user equipment, wherein the non-3GPP access network node configuration information comprises access node selection information comprising at least access node type preference for a particular access node type among a plurality of access node types for a particular public land mobile network (PLMN) and a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) format configuration of a list of public land mobile network (PLMNs); home network non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) access node configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); and home network evolved packet data gateway access node (EPDG) configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); determining configuration information to be used for the selection of the access node for an accessing network; selecting, based on at least one of the provisioning information or determined configuration information, the access node for the access, wherein the access is at least one of non-3GPP access or non-cellular access; and connecting to the selected access node for access to the first core network or the second core network, wherein the first core network is accessed if the first access node is selected, or the second core network is accessed if the second access node is selected, and
wherein the user equipment is not located in its home country, the program code which when executed by the at least one processor further causes operations comprising, and
wherein to determine the configuration information, performing a domain name system (DNS) name authority pointer (NAPTR) query using a FQDN of the visited country, to determine whether the visited country mandates the selection of the N3IWF in the visited country and receiving a response to the query, the response including a list of one or more interworking function nodes, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function, supporting the lawful interception of communications.
15. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the home N3IWF identifier contains only FQDN instead of IP address, and the apparatus is further caused to initiate DNS query to retrieve N3IWF's IP address by constructing an N3IWF FQDN based on the configured FQDN of the home N3IWF identifier.
16. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the home N3IWF identifier information is not provisioned in the non-3GPP access network node configuration information, the apparatus is then further caused to initiate DNS query to retrieve N3IWF's IP address by constructing an N3IWF FQDN based on FQDN format of the HPLMN configured in the access node selection information using the PLMN ID of the HPLMN stored in the universal subscriber identity module.
17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to only support one access node type as the access node and the access node configuration information of the HPLMN is not configured, wherein the apparatus is further caused to select home N3IWF node for access to a core network.
18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to only support one access node type and has no configuration of the access node selection information, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to only support one access node type, use WLAN and not be registered to a PLMN via 3GPP access, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to support the plurality of access node types as the access node and has no configuration of the access node selection information, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to support the plurality of access node types as the access node, use WLAN and not be registered to a PLMN via 3GPP access, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
22. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the access node selection information of the visited PLMN indicates preference of one access node type, the apparatus is then further caused to initiate DNS query to retrieve the IP address information of the preferred access node type by constructing a FQDN based on the FQDN format of the visited PLMN configured in the access node selection information using the PLMN ID of the visited PLMN.
23. The method of claim 10, wherein the user equipment only supports one access node type and the access node selection information of the visited PLMN is used for obtaining the access node address information.
24. The method of claim 10, wherein the user equipment only supports one access node type and has no configuration of the access node selection information, and wherein the user equipment is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
25. The method of claim 10, wherein the user equipment only supports one access node type, use WLAN and not be registered to a PLMN via 3GPP access, and wherein the user equipment is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the access node type is a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF), and the home network non-3GPP interworking function access node configuration of the HPLMN is used to obtain N3IWF address information, and the user equipment connects to the selected N3IWF for access to a core network.
1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
obtain provisioning information, from a home network, to enable selection of an access node for access between at least a first access node comprising an interworking function, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function for accessing a first core network via a non-3GPP access, and a second access node comprising an evolved packet data gateway for accessing a second core network via a non-3GPP access;
wherein the provisioning information comprises at least a non-3GPP access network node configuration information to enable selection of the access node, wherein an internet protocol (IP) address of the first access node has the same IP version as a local IP address of the apparatus, wherein the non-3GPP access network node configuration information comprises
access node selection information comprising at least access node type preference for a particular access node type among a plurality of access node types for a particular public land mobile network (PLMN) and a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) format configuration of a list of public land mobile network (PLMNs);
home network non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) access node configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); and
home network evolved packet data gateway access node (EPDG) configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN);
determine configuration information to be used for selection of the access node for an accessing network;
select, based on at least one of the provisioning information or determined configuration information, the access node for the access, wherein the access is at least one of non-3GPP access or non-cellular access; and
connect to the selected access node for access to the first core network or the second core network,
wherein the first core network is accessed if the first access node is selected, or the second core network is accessed if the second access node is selected, and
wherein the apparatus is not located in its home country, and wherein to determine the configuration information, the apparatus is further caused to query a server to determine whether a country at which the access node is located requires lawful interception, the response including a list of one or more interworking function nodes, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function, supporting the lawful interception of communications.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to support only one access node type and a home network access node configuration information of the HPLMN corresponding to the supported access node type is used for selecting the access node.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the access node type is a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF), and the home network non-3GPP interworking function access node configuration of the HPLMN is used to obtain N3IWF address information, and the apparatus connects to the selected N3IWF for access to a core network.
6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the access node type is an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG), and the home network evolved packet data gateway access node configuration of the HPLMN is used to obtain ePDG address information, and the apparatus connects to the selected ePDG for access to a core network.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to only support one access node type and the access node selection information of the visited PLMN is used for obtaining the access node address information.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus is further caused to support the plurality of access node types as the access node and the access node selection information of the visited PLMN is used for obtaining the access node type preference information.
15. A method comprising: obtaining, at a user equipment, provisioning information from a home network of the user equipment, to enable selection of an access node for access between at least a first access node comprising an interworking function, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function for accessing a first core network via a non-3GPP access, and a second access node comprising an evolved packet data gateway for accessing a second core network via a non-3GPP access; wherein the provisioning information comprises at least a non-3GPP access node configuration information to enable selection of the access node, wherein an internet protocol (IP) address of the first access node has the same IP version as a local IP address of the user equipment, wherein the non-3GPP access network node configuration information comprises access node selection information comprising at least access node type preference for a particular access node type among a plurality of access node types for a particular public land mobile network (PLMN) and a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) format configuration of a list of public land mobile network (PLMNs); home network non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) access node configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); and home network evolved packet data gateway access node (EPDG) configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); determining configuration information to be used for the selection of the access node for an accessing network; selecting, based on at least one of the provisioning information or determined configuration information, the access node for the access, wherein the access is at least one of non-3GPP access or non-cellular access; and connecting to the selected access node for access to the first core network or the second core network, wherein the first core network is accessed if the first access node is selected, or the second core network is accessed if the second access node is selected, and wherein the user equipment is not located in its home country, and to determine the configuration information,
the method further comprises querying a server to determine whether a country at which the access node is located requires lawful interception, the response including a list of one or more interworking function nodes, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function, supporting the lawful interception of communications.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the access node type is a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF), and the home network non-3GPP interworking function access node configuration of the HPLMN is used to obtain N3IWF address information, and the user equipment connects to the selected N3IWF for access to a core network.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the access node type is an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG), and the home network evolved packet data gateway access node configuration of the HPLMN is used to obtain ePDG address information, and the user equipment connects to the selected ePDG for access to a core network.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein the user equipment is not located in its home country.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the user equipment supports the plurality of access node types as the access node and the access node selection information of the visited PLMN is used for obtaining the access node type preference information.
23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including program code which when executed by at least one processor causes operations comprising: receiving provisioning information, from a user equipment's home network, to enable selection of an access node for access between at least a first access node comprising an interworking function, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function for accessing a first core network via a non-3GPP access, and a second access node comprising an evolved packet data gateway for accessing a second core network via a non-3GPP access; wherein the provisioning information comprises at least a non-3GPP access network node configuration information to enable selection of the access node, wherein an internet protocol (IP) address of the first access node has the same IP version as a local IP address of the user equipment, wherein the non-3GPP access network node configuration information comprises access node selection information comprising at least access node type preference for a particular access node type among a plurality of access node types for a particular public land mobile network (PLMN) and a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) format configuration of a list of public land mobile network (PLMNs); home network non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) access node configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); and home network evolved packet data gateway access node (EPDG) configuration of the home public land mobile network (HPLMN); determining configuration information to be used for the selection of the access node for an accessing network; selecting, based on at least one of the provisioning information or determined configuration information, the access node for the access, wherein the access is at least one of non-3GPP access or non-cellular access; and connecting to the selected access node for access to the first core network or the second core network, wherein the first core network is accessed if the first access node is selected, or the second core network is accessed if the second access node is selected, and
wherein the user equipment is not located in its home country, the program code which when executed by the at least one processor further causes operations comprising, and
wherein to determine the configuration information, querying a server to determine whether a country at which the access node is located requires lawful interception and receiving a response to the query, the response including a list of one or more interworking function nodes, being at least one of a non-3GPP interworking function or a non-cellular interworking function, supporting the lawful interception of communications.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the home N3IWF identifier contains only FQDN instead of IP address, and the apparatus is further caused to initiate DNS query to retrieve N3IWF's IP address by constructing an N3IWF FQDN based on the configured FQDN of the home N3IWF identifier.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the home N3IWF identifier information is not provisioned in the non-3GPP access network node configuration information, the apparatus is then further caused to initiate DNS query to retrieve N3IWF's IP address by constructing an N3IWF FQDN based on FQDN format of the HPLMN configured in the access node selection information using the PLMN ID of the HPLMN stored in the universal subscriber identity module.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to only support one access node type as the access node and the access node configuration information of the HPLMN is not configured, wherein the apparatus is further caused to select home N3IWF node for access to a core network.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to only support one access node type and has no configuration of the access node selection information, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to only support one access node type, use WLAN and not be registered to a PLMN via 3GPP access, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to support the plurality of access node types as the access node and has no configuration of the access node selection information, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to support the plurality of access node types as the access node, use WLAN and not be registered to a PLMN via 3GPP access, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the access node selection information of the visited PLMN indicates preference of one access node type, the apparatus is then further caused to initiate DNS query to retrieve the IP address information of the preferred access node type by constructing a FQDN based on the FQDN format of the visited PLMN configured in the access node selection information using the PLMN ID of the visited PLMN.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to only support one access node type and the access node selection information of the visited PLMN is used for obtaining the access node address information.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to only support one access node type and has no configuration of the access node selection information, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to only support one access node type, use WLAN and not be registered to a PLMN via 3GPP access, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform a DNS query to determine if the selection of N3IWF is mandatory.
See claim 16.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed March 07, 2025 are found to be persuasive. However, there is a double patenting issue involving Patent 11,689,993 (see Double Patenting section above). On March 02, 2026, the Examiners contacted Applicant’s representative, Mr. Alex E. Wolcott leaving a voice message indicating a filing of a terminal disclaimer places this Application in condition for allowance. However, as of March 5, 2026, no response regarding the issue was received. Accordingly, this Office Action was issued.
Conclusion
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/QUOC THAI N VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642