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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/03/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-8, 14, 16-21, 27, 30, 31, 33, and 34 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
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-8, 14, 16-21, 27, 30, and 31, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCracken, Jr. et al. (US Patent No. 11388567) in view of Uy et al. (US Publication No. 20160049975) and further in view of Milner et al. (US Patent No. 10546222).
As to claims 1, 14, and 27, McCracken, Jr. teaches a computer-implemented method, a system, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers (fig. 1, #102 and fig. 4) to perform operations comprising: receiving, at one or more processors of a mobile device, subscriber identity module (SIM) information associated with a SIM card inserted into the mobile device (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 2, lines 56-62, When executed by the processor, the customization application determines that a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) has been installed in the mobile communication device, reads identity information from the UICC, wherein the identity information is associated with a wireless communication service provider); identifying, by the one or more processors based on the SIM information, a wireless service provider associated with the SIM card (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 2, lines 56-62, When executed by the processor, the customization application determines that a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) has been installed in the mobile communication device, reads identity information from the UICC, wherein the identity information is associated with a wireless communication service provider); installing an application on the mobile device (fig. 1, fig. 2, installing the customization application update, col. 6, lines 47-53, an updated application in the application data store 116 that corresponds to an older application installed in the memory 106, the installer application 114 may download the updated application from the application data store 116 and install it in the place of the older application in the memory 106); launching the application for configuring the mobile device (fig. 1, #118, customization application, fig. 4, col. 7, lines 36-38, the customization application 118 is executed by the processor 104); and configuring the mobile device using the application in accordance with a set of specifications (manifests) associated with the wireless service provider (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 2 line 60 – col. 3, line 2, wherein the identity information is associated with a wireless communication service provider, and, based on the identity information, selects a customization manifest that is one of the plurality of customization manifests. The customization application further writes at least some of the contents of the selected customization manifest into non-volatile (NV) parameters in the non-transitory memory, whereby a user interface of the mobile communication device is customized for use with the wireless communication service provider), wherein the set of specifications are selected by the application from a plurality of sets of specifications, each corresponding to a particular wireless service provider (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 2 line 60 – col. 3, line 2, wherein the identity information is associated with a wireless communication service provider, and, based on the identity information, selects a customization manifest that is one of the plurality of customization manifests. The customization application further writes at least some of the contents of the selected customization manifest into non-volatile (NV) parameters in the non-transitory memory, whereby a user interface of the mobile communication device is customized for use with the wireless communication service provider, and col. 3, lines 65-67). However, fails to explicitly teach that installing the application on the mobile device is based on one or more files stored on the SIM card.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Uy teaches the concept of installing the application on the mobile device is based on one or more files stored on the SIM card (fig. 3, pp0041, upon insertion of a C9 branded UICC 114 into the mobile device 104, installing the proprietary software applications based on the GID1 number read from the UICC, pp0020, access a file in the UICC that contains a number of different values, and pp0021). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of McCracken, Jr. with the teachings of Uy to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing applications and feature services typically proprietary to, or for exclusive use by, the particular cellular carrier (Uy, pp0001). However, they failed to explicitly teach the concept of wherein the installing comprises: retrieving, from the SIM card, a file package that includes one or more files to install [an] application, and executing the one or more files of the retrieved file package to (i) install and (ii) launch [an] application.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Milner teaches the concept of wherein the installing comprises: retrieving, from the SIM card, a file package that includes one or more files to install [an] application (fig. 1, fig. 2, #146, one or more packages or sets of instructions 146 on UICC is selected and the instructions are executed to install and/or launch application to assist users in setting up and configuring the mobile communication device, col. 15, lines 10-20, and col. 7, lines 55-60) and executing the one or more files of the retrieved file package to (i) install and (ii) launch [an] application (fig. 1, fig. 2, #146, one or more packages or sets of instructions 146 on UICC is selected and the instructions are executed to install and/or launch application to assist users in setting up and configuring the mobile communication device, col. 15, lines 10-20, and col. 7, lines 55-60). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of McCracken, Jr. and Uy with the teachings of Milner to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing flexibility, avoiding costs, and avoiding managing a more complicated inventory of different UICCs in a communication system (Milner, col. 3, lines 25-33).
As to claims 3, 16, and 30, McCracken, Jr. in view of Uy and Milner teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. McCracken, Jr. further teaches wherein configuring the mobile device comprises operations of configuring one or more network parameters for communicating with a radio access network (RAN) associated with the wireless service provider (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 3, lines 65-67, read an MVNO name and/or APN defined by the UICC/SIM, use the MVNO name and/or APN to index into the manifest files to select a manifest file corresponding to the MVNO, and then customize the UE based on the contents of the selected manifest file, and col. 4, lines 1-18).
As to claims 4 and 17, McCracken, Jr. in view of Uy and Milner teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. McCracken, Jr. further teaches wherein the one or more network parameters comprise at least one mobile network operator (MNO) parameter (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 3, lines 65-67, read an MVNO name and/or APN defined by the UICC/SIM, use the MVNO name and/or APN to index into the manifest files to select a manifest file corresponding to the MVNO, and then customize the UE based on the contents of the selected manifest file, and col. 4, lines 1-18).
As to claims 5 and 18, McCracken, Jr. in view of Uy and Milner teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. McCracken, Jr. further teaches wherein the at least one MNO parameter comprises an access point name (APN) in the RAN of the wireless service provider (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 3, lines 65-67, read an MVNO name and/or APN defined by the UICC/SIM, use the MVNO name and/or APN to index into the manifest files to select a manifest file corresponding to the MVNO, and then customize the UE based on the contents of the selected manifest file, and col. 4, lines 1-18).
As to claims 6, 19, and 31, McCracken, Jr. in view of Uy and Milner teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. McCracken, Jr. further teaches wherein configuring the mobile device comprises operations of configuring one or more applications installed on the mobile device in accordance with the set of specifications associated with the wireless service provider (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 3, lines 56-63, the customization application can select an appropriate manifest file and customize the UE using the selected manifest file. The customizations may define ring tones, a power-on video, a power-off video, logos, a home screen, a wallpaper, a background theme, an MVNO home page, carrier applications, roaming plans, email boxes, and/or voicemail boxes).
As to claims 7 and 20, McCracken, Jr. in view of Uy and Milner teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. McCracken, Jr. further teaches wherein configuring the mobile device comprises operations of installing one or more applications associated with the wireless service provider (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 7, lines 14-20, it downloads the updated customization application and installs the updated customization application as the customization application 118 and customization manifests 120 in the memory 106. In this way, updates to the customization application 118 and new customization manifests can be added to the UE 102).
As to claims 8 and 21, McCracken, Jr. in view of Uy and Milner teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. McCracken, Jr. further teaches wherein configuring the mobile device comprises operations of launching an installer application configured to facilitate installation of one or more other applications on the mobile device (fig. 1, fig. 4, col. 7, lines 13-20, When the installer application detects the updated customization application in the application data store 116, it downloads the updated customization application and installs the updated customization application as the customization application 118 and customization manifests 120 in the memory 106. In this way, updates to the customization application 118 and new customization manifests can be added to the UE 102, and col. 6, lines 50-53, the installer application 114 may download the updated application from the application data store 116 and install it in the place of the older application in the memory 106).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 33 and 34 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMONIYI OBAYANJU whose telephone number is (571)270-5885. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thur 10:30-7pm.
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, ANTHONY S ADDY can be reached at (571) 272-7795. 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.
/OMONIYI OBAYANJU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645