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 .
Response to Amendment
This Action is in response to Applicant’s Amendment filed on February 19, 2026. Claims 16-23 and 25-34 are still pending in the present application. Claim 24 is cancelled. This Action is made Non-FINAL.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on April 16, 2026 has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
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.
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.
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.
Claims 16-23 and 25-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Kaur et al (WO 2016/073984) in view of Wu et al (US Pat. Pub. No. 2015/0036578).
Regarding claim 16, Kaur et al discloses a relay wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) (fig. 12 [1222, Relay]), comprising: a processor (fig. 1B) configured to: send a first message, wherein the first message indicates that the relay WTRU supports a multicast-broadcast service (MBS) (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1225] discloses Relay broadcasts MBMS absence/presence); receive a second message from a remote WTRU (fig. 12 [1221, Remote UE]) via a link, wherein the second message indicates a remote WTRU identity (ID (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1227] discloses Relay receiving monitoring request); determine one or more service parameters that are requested by the MBS SA request, wherein the one or more service parameters are associated with the MBS service (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1228] discloses creates or updates the TMGI-specific context); and send a third message to the remote WTRU via the link, wherein the third message indicates the one or more service parameters (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1229] discloses broadcasts announcement over PC5).
Kaur et al specifically does not disclose receive a second message from a remote WTRU via a link, wherein the second message indicates an MBS service announcement (SA) request, a remote WTRU identity (ID), and a description of an MBS service.
However, Wu et al from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches disclose receive a second message from a remote WTRU via a link, wherein the second message indicates an MBS service announcement (SA) request, a remote WTRU identity (ID), and a description of an MBS service (see at least paragraphs 31 and 46 discloses MBMS service announcement information includes ID and MBMS relay status).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Wu et al into the system of Kaur et al for purpose of broadcast service announcement information for MBMS.
Regarding claim 17, Kaur et al discloses for determining the one or more service parameters that are requested by the MBS SA request, the processor is further configured to: send a fourth message to a network, wherein the fourth message indicates the remote WTRU ID and the description of the MBS service; receive a fifth message from the network, wherein the fifth message indicates SA information, wherein the SA information is associated with the remote WTRU ID and with the description of the MBS service, and wherein the SA information indicates a content provider that is associated with the MBS service; and determine the one or more service parameters using the SA information (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12).
Regarding claim 18, Kaur et al discloses the fifth message is a SA message (see at least paragraph 187).
Regarding claim 19, Kaur et al discloses the one or more service parameters associated with the MBS service comprise at least one of: a data network name (DNN), an MBS service session ID, a target service WTRU group ID, an internet protocol (IP) multicast address, or a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12).
Regarding claim 20, Kaur et al discloses the third message further indicates an MBS SA response (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12).
Regarding claim 21, Kaur et al discloses the processor is configured to determine the one or more service parameters that are requested by the MBS SA request by determining the one or more service parameters using SA information associated with a previous request (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12).
Regarding claim 22, Kaur et al discloses the link is a PC5 unicast link (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12).
Regarding claim 23, Kaur et al discloses a method performed by a relay wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) (fig. 12 [1222, Relay]), comprising: sending a first message, wherein the first message indicates that the relay WTRU supports a multicast-broadcast service (MBS) (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1225] discloses Relay broadcasts MBMS absence/presence); receiving a second message from a remote WTRU (fig. 12 [1221, Remote UE]) via a link, wherein the second message indicates a remote WTRU identity (ID) (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1227] discloses Relay receiving monitoring request); determining one or more service parameters that are requested by the MBS SA request, wherein the one or more service parameters are associated with the MBS service (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1228] discloses creates or updates the TMGI-specific context); and sending a third message to the remote WTRU via the link, wherein the third message indicates the one or more service parameters (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1229] discloses broadcasts announcement over PC5).
Kaur et al specifically does not disclose receiving a second message from a remote WTRU via a link, wherein the second message indicates an MBS service announcement (SA) request, a remote WTRU identity (ID), and a description of an MBS service.
However, Wu et al from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches disclose receiving a second message from a remote WTRU via a link, wherein the second message indicates an MBS service announcement (SA) request, a remote WTRU identity (ID), and a description of an MBS service (see at least paragraphs 31 and 46 discloses MBMS service announcement information includes ID and MBMS relay status).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Wu et al into the system of Kaur et al for purpose of broadcast service announcement information for MBMS.
Regarding claims 25-29, see above rejection of claims 17-22.
Regarding claim 30, Kaur et al discloses a remote wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) (fig. 12 [1221, Remote UE]), comprising: a processor 118 (figure 1B) configured to: receive a first message, wherein the first message indicates that a relay WTRU (fig. 12 [1222, Relay]) supports a multicast-broadcast service (MBS) (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1225] discloses Relay broadcasts MBMS absence/presence); send a second message to the relay WTRU via a link, wherein the second message indicates a remote WTRU ID (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1227] discloses Relay receiving monitoring request); and receive a third message from the relay WTRU via the link, wherein the third message indicates one or more service parameters associated with the MBS service (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12 [1229] discloses broadcasts announcement over PC5).
Kaur et al specifically does not disclose send a second message to the relay WTRU via a link, wherein the second message indicates a remote WTRU ID and a description of an MBS service to be provided by a network.
However, Wu et al from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches disclose send a second message to the relay WTRU via a link, wherein the second message indicates a remote WTRU ID and a description of an MBS service to be provided by a network (see at least paragraphs 31 and 46 discloses MBMS service announcement information includes ID and MBMS relay status).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify to incorporate above mention feature as taught by Wu et al into the system of Kaur et al for purpose of broadcast service announcement information for MBMS.
Regarding claim 31, Kaur et al discloses the one or more service parameters associated with the MBS service comprise at least one of: a data network name (DNN), an MBS service session ID, a target service WTRU group ID, an internet protocol (IP) multicast address, or a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12).
Regarding claim 32, Wu et al discloses the second message further indicates an MBS SA request (see at least paragraph 31 and 46). Same motivation as claim 30.
Regarding claim 33, Kaur et al discloses the third message further indicates an MBS SA response (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12).
Regarding claim 34, Kaur et al discloses the link is a PC5 unicast link (see at least paragraph 191 and fig. 12).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed on February 19, 2026, with respect to claims 16, 23 and 30 have been considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Kaur et al and Wu et al.
Conclusion
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/LITON MIAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
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