DETAILED ACTION
Applicant's response filed on 01/16/2026 has been entered and made of record.
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 .
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 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.
Claim Status
Claims 4 and 5 are amended.
No claims are cancelled nor added.
Claims 4 and 5 are currently pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Remarks (on page 4), filed 01/16/2026, with respect to Objection to Title have been fully considered and Applicant has amended the title. The objection to Specification has been withdrawn in view of the amendment to the title.
Applicant's Remarks (on page 4), filed 01/16/2026, with respect to Objection to Claims have been fully considered and Applicant has amended claim 4 to delete the “/” operator. The objection to claim 4 has been withdrawn in view of the amendment.
Applicant's arguments, filed 01/16/2026, with respect to claims 4 and 5 have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. The amendments to the claims necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection discussed below.
This Office action is made Final.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by TSAI (US 2022/0264686 A1) hereinafter “Tsai”.
Regarding claims 4 and 5, Tsai discloses Claim 4 of a terminal (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0057], user equipment) comprising: and Claim 5 of a communication method using a terminal apparatus, the communication comprising:
processing circuitry (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0057] [0062], a controller/processor) configured to communicate with a base station device using a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG) (see ¶ [0039], the UE may be communicatively connected to a Master Cell Group (MCG) and a Secondary Cell Group (SCG)); and
reception circuitry (see FIG. 2; see ¶ [0057], a wireless transceiver) configured to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message (see FIG. 3; see ¶ [0073-74], the UE receives an RRC message),
wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
determine to perform SCG deactivation from a state in which the SCG is activated in a case that the RRC message includes an indication of the SCG deactivation (see FIG. 3; see ¶ [0073-74] [0077-80], the UE determines whether the indicator is for suspension/deactivation of the SCG, the UE may further deactivate the PSCell and all SCells of the SCG in response to the RRC message including an indicator for suspension/deactivation of the SCG),
determine not to perform the SCG deactivation in a case that the RRC message does not include the indication of the SCG deactivation (see FIG. 3; see ¶ [0081], if the indicator is for resumption of the SCG or activation of the PSCell, then the UE will not perform the SCG deactivation), and
in a case that the SCG deactivation is determined to be performed, stop an ongoing random access procedure in the SCG (see FIG. 3; see ¶ [0079-80], the UE suspends SCG transmission for all radio bearers and stop PDCCH monitoring i.e., stop on going random access procedure).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record (see attached PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Min (US 2024/0147543 A1) teaches “A terminal receives a message including a reconfiguration instruction of the secondary cell group. When the secondary cell group is in an inactive state and the secondary cell is added or changed, the terminal stops the random access procedure for a prescribed time even if the secondary cell is reconfigured based on the reconfiguration instruction” (see Abstract).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7241. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.
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, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at (571) 272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462