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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 May 18, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 2 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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (3GPP TSG-SA WG2 Meeting #143-e; Dated March 09, 2021; Hereinafter “S2-2100357”) in view of Kedalagudde et al. (2021/0058784; Cited in IDS).
Regarding claim 1 and 2, S2-2100357 discloses a User Equipment (UE) and a communication control method performed by the UE, the communication control method comprising, in a case that the UE is configured with preconfigured information (Clause 5.30.x.2.5.1; e.g., the UE may be preconfigured with a list of O-SNPN network selection information (e.g., O-SNPN network identifiers) that helps the UE in selecting an appropriate O-SNPN)):
selecting a Stand-alone Non-Public Network (SNPN) as an Onboarding Network based on the preconfigured information (Clause 5.30.x.2.5.1: If the UE is pre-configured with O-SNPN network selection information, the UE selects and attempts to register to an -O-SNPN according to the pre-configured information as described in clause 5.30.x.2.5.2).
S2-2100357 fails to specifically disclose performing a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment procedure with the SNPN.
However, Kedalagudde discloses performing a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment procedure with the SNPN (paragraphs [0092]-[0093], [0099]; e.g., The UE 502 establishes a Configuration PDU session. This PDU Session may be established either to a well-known or pre-configured S-NSSAI or DNN, or a combination of S-NSSAI and DNN sent by the UE 502).
Therefore, taking the teachings of S2-2100357 in combination of Kedalagudde as a whole, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention by applicant to performing a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment procedure with the SNPN in order to allow UEs to get network connectivity to an onboarding server and/or onboarding NPN so that the UEs can be provisioned with subscription credentials and configuration information for establishing connectivity with the NPN (Kedalagudde: Abstract).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY X PHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7115. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 8:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Resha Desai can be reached at 571-270-7792. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY X PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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