Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/298,301

SUBSCRIBER IDENTITY MODULE APPLICATION-BASED NETWORK REGISTRATION FAILURE RESOLUTION

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Apr 10, 2023
Examiner
MAMUN, ABDULLAH AL
Art Unit
2646
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
At&T Mobility Ii LLC
OA Round
2 (Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allow Rate
12 granted / 17 resolved
+8.6% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+25.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
36
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§103
69.5%
+29.5% vs TC avg
§102
23.6%
-16.4% vs TC avg
§112
5.2%
-34.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 17 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . 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. 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. Claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 16, 17, 20, 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) in view of CHAUHAN et al. (WO 2018029567 A1 dated 2018-02-15), Yang et al. (US 20210282080 A1 dated 2021-09-09) and Matolia et al. (US 20220312306 A1 dated 2022-09-29), hereinafter Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia As to claim 1, Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) discloses A method comprising: obtaining, by an application provided by a subscriber identity module of a cellular endpoint device, a notification of a network rejection from a first cellular network (Page 5, lines 1-3: “If the network rejection information and UE's location information is received by the SIM application, then the application can swap the Home IMSI with Global IMSI and vice versa.”); Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, CHAUHAN et al. (WO 2018029567 A1 dated 2018-02-15) discloses selecting, by the application, at least one update to at least one operational parameter of the subscriber identity module, in response to the notification of the network rejection, wherein the selecting is according to a selection logic of the application (Page 2 line 31 to Page 3 line 4: “When the user equipment having the home IMSI sends the attach request to the international roaming network and receives an attach reject with reject Cause such as "PLMN Not Allowed", the user equipment updates the Forbidden PLMN list in the USI M FPLMN elementary file (EF.sub.FPLMN) with the PLMN value of the roamed network from which it received the reject message resulting in triggering of the Auto IMSI Switch SIM application to replace the home I MSI by global I MSI.”); Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to selecting update for the Forbidden PLMN as taught by wireless network of CHAUHAN et al. in order to remove the network from the list of PLMNs with which the UE should attempt to register bringing the registration attempts successful. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Yang et al. (US 20210282080 A1 dated 2021-09-09) discloses wherein the at least one update to the at least one operational parameter of the subscriber identity module is to cause a change in a network registration attempt sequence as compared to the network registration attempt sequence without the at least one update (Paragraph [0136] – “the server 2 dynamically configures OPLMN and UPLMN in the SIM card to be registered according to the prioritization of the PLMN list corresponding to the obtained location information, so that the communication terminal 1 can perform network search and registration in sequence according to prioritization of the OPLMN and the UPLMN when user uses the communication terminal 1 to perform roaming communication at the roaming place, the prioritization of the OPLMN and the UPLMN obtained each time when network is searched and registered are optimal and the newest”), Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to a change in a network registration attempt sequence as taught by wireless network of Yang et al. in order to realize a fast registration of optimal network. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Yang et al. (US 20210282080 A1 dated 2021-09-09) discloses and wherein the at least one update is to cause a reattempt to register with the first cellular network (Fig. 8, Paragraph [0170] – “In a step of S703, searching and registering network for the SIM card to be registered correspondingly according to the UPLMN parameter or the OPLMN parameter, when searching and registering network for the SIM card to be registered according to the RPLMN parameter is failed and the communication terminal 1 is determined to be located at a roaming place according to the location information.” Fig. 8, Paragraph [0181] – “In a step of S705, searching and registering network of high priority for the SIM card to be registered again according to parameters of HPPLMN search timer, after the time determined by the HPPLMN search timer is reached.” Here, the Examiner interprets that the SIM card is registering again with the network that is failed in the step of S703) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to reattempting to register with the first cellular network as taught by wireless network of Yang et al. in order to increase the registration success rate with the first cellular network. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, CHAUHAN et al. (WO 2018029567 A1 dated 2018-02-15) discloses applying, by the application, the at least one update to the at least one operational parameter of the subscriber identity module, in accordance with the selecting (Page 2 line 31 to Page 3 line 4: “When the user equipment having the home IMSI sends the attach request to the international roaming network and receives an attach reject with reject Cause such as "PLMN Not Allowed", the user equipment updates the Forbidden PLMN list in the USI M FPLMN elementary file (EF.sub.FPLMN) with the PLMN value of the roamed network from which it received the reject message resulting in triggering of the Auto IMSI Switch SIM application to replace the home I MSI by global I MSI.”); and Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to applying updates for the Forbidden PLMN as taught by wireless network of CHAUHAN et al. in order to remove the network from the list of PLMNs with which the UE should attempt to register bringing the registration attempts successful. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Matolia et al. (US 20220312306 A1 dated 2022-09-29) discloses generating, by the application, a refresh instruction to the subscriber identity module (Paragraph [0073] – “For example, the UE 110 may update the manual network selection list after a universal SIM (USIM)/SIM application toolkit (SAT) refresh.”) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to refreshing SIM by SIM application as taught by wireless network of Matolia et al. in order to achieve faster roaming network registrations. As to claim 2, Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) discloses The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing, by the application to the subscriber identity module, an event list comprising one or more event types for which the application is to be notified (Page 5, lines 1-3: “If the network rejection information and UE's location information is received by the SIM application, then the application can swap the Home IMSI with Global IMSI and vice versa.” Here network rejection, location information are event types and they form an event list). As to claim 3, Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) discloses The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more event types include a network rejection event type, and wherein the network rejection from the first cellular network is of the network rejection event type (Page 5, lines 1-3: “If the network rejection information and UE's location information is received by the SIM application, then the application can swap the Home IMSI with Global IMSI and vice versa.” Here network rejection type is an event type). As to claim 4, Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) discloses The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more event types further include a location status event type (Page 5, lines 1-3: “If the network rejection information and UE's location information is received by the SIM application, then the application can swap the Home IMSI with Global IMSI and vice versa.” Here location information type is a location status event type). As to claim 16, Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) discloses A method comprising: obtaining, by a processing system including at least one processor deployed in a first cellular network from a subscriber identity module -based application of a cellular endpoint device, a notification of a network rejection by a second cellular network (Abstract – “The user equipment [110] then receives a rejection message or an acceptance message from the second network based on the attach request.” Page 5, lines 1-3: “If the network rejection information and UE's location information is received by the SIM application, then the application can swap the Home IMSI with Global IMSI and vice versa.”); Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, CHAUHAN et al. (WO 2018029567 A1 dated 2018-02-15) discloses selecting, by the processing system, an update to a selection logic of the subscriber identity module-based application of the cellular endpoint device, wherein the selection logic is for selecting updates to operational parameters of a subscriber identity module of the cellular endpoint device (Page 2 line 31 to Page 3 line 4: “When the user equipment having the home IMSI sends the attach request to the international roaming network and receives an attach reject with reject Cause such as "PLMN Not Allowed", the user equipment updates the Forbidden PLMN list in the USI M FPLMN elementary file (EF.sub.FPLMN) with the PLMN value of the roamed network from which it received the reject message resulting in triggering of the Auto IMSI Switch SIM application to replace the home I MSI by global I MSI.”); and Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to selecting update for the Forbidden PLMN as taught by wireless network of CHAUHAN et al. in order to remove the network from the list of PLMNs with which the UE should attempt to register bringing the registration attempts successful. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Yang et al. (US 20210282080 A1 dated 2021-09-09) discloses wherein the update to the selection logic of thethe subscriber identity module-based application is to cause a change in a network registration attempt sequence as compared to the network registration attempt sequence without the at least one update(Paragraph [0136] – “the server 2 dynamically configures OPLMN and UPLMN in the SIM card to be registered according to the prioritization of the PLMN list corresponding to the obtained location information, so that the communication terminal 1 can perform network search and registration in sequence according to prioritization of the OPLMN and the UPLMN when user uses the communication terminal 1 to perform roaming communication at the roaming place, the prioritization of the OPLMN and the UPLMN obtained each time when network is searched and registered are optimal and the newest”), Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to a change in a network registration attempt sequence as taught by wireless network of Yang et al. in order to realize a fast registration of optimal network. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Yang et al. (US 20210282080 A1 dated 2021-09-09) discloses and wherein the at least one update is to cause a reattempt to register with the first cellular network (Fig. 8, Paragraph [0170] – “In a step of S703, searching and registering network for the SIM card to be registered correspondingly according to the UPLMN parameter or the OPLMN parameter, when searching and registering network for the SIM card to be registered according to the RPLMN parameter is failed and the communication terminal 1 is determined to be located at a roaming place according to the location information.” Fig. 8, Paragraph [0181] – “In a step of S705, searching and registering network of high priority for the SIM card to be registered again according to parameters of HPPLMN search timer, after the time determined by the HPPLMN search timer is reached.” Here, the Examiner interprets that the SIM card is registering again with the network that is failed in the step of S703) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to reattempting to register with the first cellular network as taught by wireless network of Yang et al. in order to increase the registration success rate with the first cellular network. Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) discloses transmitting, by the processing system, to the subscriber identity module the update to the selection logic ((Page 2 lines 28-31: “An USIM application residing in the SIM file system, contains elementary files (EF) such as EF.sub.L0Ci, EF.sub.PSLoci, EF.sub.E PSLOCI, E F.sub.UST, E F.sub.fplmn, etc. along with application specific files such as context and configuration files of Auto IMSI Switch SIM application used by SI M applications running on the SIM.” Here SIM uses configuration files of auto IMSI switch. (Page 5 lines 16-17: “In one of the conventional approaches, IMSI is an integral part of APN selection “) (Page 5 lines 23-25: “On selection of the APN settings, the UE establishes a PDP connection using the APN of the global IMSI.”) Here IMSI is an integral part of APN. ) As to claim 17, Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) discloses The method of claim 16, wherein the notification is obtained via: the second cellular network; or a third cellular network (Abstract – “The user equipment [110] then receives a rejection message or an acceptance message from the second network based on the attach request.”). As to claim 20, Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) discloses A method comprising: obtaining, by an application operating on a processing system of a cellular endpoint device, a notification of a network rejection from a first cellular network (Page 5, lines 1-3: “If the network rejection information and UE's location information is received by the SIM application, then the application can swap the Home IMSI with Global IMSI and vice versa.”); Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, CHAUHAN et al. (WO 2018029567 A1 dated 2018-02-15) selecting, by the application, at least one update to at least one operational parameter of a subscriber identity module of the cellular endpoint device, in response to the notification of the network rejection, wherein the selecting is according to a selection logic of the application (Page 2 line 31 to Page 3 line 4: “When the user equipment having the home IMSI sends the attach request to the international roaming network and receives an attach reject with reject Cause such as "PLMN Not Allowed", the user equipment updates the Forbidden PLMN list in the USI M FPLMN elementary file (EF.sub.FPLMN) with the PLMN value of the roamed network from which it received the reject message resulting in triggering of the Auto IMSI Switch SIM application to replace the home I MSI by global I MSI.”); Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to selecting update for the Forbidden PLMN as taught by wireless network of CHAUHAN et al. in order to remove the network from the list of PLMNs with which the UE should attempt to register bringing the registration attempts successful. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Yang et al. (US 20210282080 A1 dated 2021-09-09) discloses wherein the at least one update to the at least one operational parameter of the subscriber identity module is to cause a change in a network registration attempt sequence as compared to the network registration attempt sequence without the at least one update (Paragraph [0136] – “the server 2 dynamically configures OPLMN and UPLMN in the SIM card to be registered according to the prioritization of the PLMN list corresponding to the obtained location information, so that the communication terminal 1 can perform network search and registration in sequence according to prioritization of the OPLMN and the UPLMN when user uses the communication terminal 1 to perform roaming communication at the roaming place, the prioritization of the OPLMN and the UPLMN obtained each time when network is searched and registered are optimal and the newest”), Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to a change in a network registration attempt sequence as taught by wireless network of Yang et al. in order to realize a fast registration of optimal network. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Yang et al. (US 20210282080 A1 dated 2021-09-09) discloses and wherein the at least one update is to cause a reattempt to register with the first cellular network (Fig. 8, Paragraph [0170] – “In a step of S703, searching and registering network for the SIM card to be registered correspondingly according to the UPLMN parameter or the OPLMN parameter, when searching and registering network for the SIM card to be registered according to the RPLMN parameter is failed and the communication terminal 1 is determined to be located at a roaming place according to the location information.” Fig. 8, Paragraph [0181] – “In a step of S705, searching and registering network of high priority for the SIM card to be registered again according to parameters of HPPLMN search timer, after the time determined by the HPPLMN search timer is reached.” Here, the Examiner interprets that the SIM card is registering again with the network that is failed in the step of S703) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to reattempting to register with the first cellular network as taught by wireless network of Yang et al. in order to increase the registration success rate with the first cellular network. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, CHAUHAN et al. (WO 2018029567 A1 dated 2018-02-15) discloses applying, by the application, the at least one update to the at least one operational parameter of the subscriber identity module, in accordance with the selecting; (Page 2 line 31 to Page 3 line 4: “When the user equipment having the home IMSI sends the attach request to the international roaming network and receives an attach reject with reject Cause such as "PLMN Not Allowed", the user equipment updates the Forbidden PLMN list in the USI M FPLMN elementary file (EF.sub.FPLMN) with the PLMN value of the roamed network from which it received the reject message resulting in triggering of the Auto IMSI Switch SIM application to replace the home I MSI by global I MSI.”); and Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to applying updates for the Forbidden PLMN as taught by wireless network of CHAUHAN et al. in order to remove the network from the list of PLMNs with which the UE should attempt to register bringing the registration attempts successful. Mote et al. does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Matolia et al. (US 20220312306 A1 dated 2022-09-29) discloses generating, by the application, a refresh instruction to the subscriber identity module (Paragraph [0073] – “For example, the UE 110 may update the manual network selection list after a universal SIM (USIM)/SIM application toolkit (SAT) refresh.”) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote et al to include the means to refreshing SIM by SIM application as taught by wireless network of Matolia et al. in order to achieve faster roaming network registrations. As to claim 21, Mote et al. (WO 2019049052 A1 dated 2019-03-14) discloses (New) The method of claim 20, further comprising: providing, by the application to the subscriber identity module, an event list comprising one or more event types for which the application is to be notified (Page 5, lines 1-3: “If the network rejection information and UE's location information is received by the SIM application, then the application can swap the Home IMSI with Global IMSI and vice versa.” Here network rejection, location information are event types and they form an event list). Claim 5, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al. as applied in claim 2 and further in view of An et al. (US 20120178474 A1 dated 2012-07-12) As to claim 5, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, An et al. (US 20120178474 A1 dated 2012-07-12) discloses The method of claim 2, wherein the subscriber identity module is configured to request notification of events of the one or more event types from a component of the cellular endpoint device (Paragraph [0010] – “Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method and apparatus for providing a normal service to a user by preventing reject of a location update intermittently generated by a network problem even though the user uses a normal SIM card and a normal mobile communication terminal” Paragraph [0013] – “In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for performing a location update of a mobile communication terminal is provided. The apparatus includes a modem for communicating with a different node and a controller for trying the location update through the modem” Here it is interpreted that the modem is part of the cellular endpoint device.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to location update through the modem as taught by wireless network of An et al. in order to get an event type notification such as location update through the modem of the cellular endpoint device for increasing the registration success. As to claim 6, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, An et al. (US 20120178474 A1 dated 2012-07-12) discloses The method of claim 5, wherein the component comprises a cellular modem (Paragraph [0010] – “Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method and apparatus for providing a normal service to a user by preventing reject of a location update intermittently generated by a network problem even though the user uses a normal SIM card and a normal mobile communication terminal” Paragraph [0013] – “In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for performing a location update of a mobile communication terminal is provided. The apparatus includes a modem for communicating with a different node and a controller for trying the location update through the modem”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to location update through the cellular modem as taught by wireless network of An et al. in order to use the cellular modem for communicating wirelessly with the networks. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al. as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Long et al. (US 10433156 B1 dated 2019-10-01) As to claim 7, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Long et al. (US 10433156 B1 dated 2019-10-01) discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the refresh instruction causes the subscriber identity module to issue a refresh command to the cellular endpoint device (Col 4, lines 40-45 – “After building the SIM profile, the SIM card sends a proactive command to the mobile communication device to refresh the SIM profile, and the mobile communication device reads at least some of the information stored in the SIM card”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to sending a command to the cellular endpoint device by the SIM card as taught by wireless network of Long et al. in order to control the cellular endpoint device by the SIM card for registering with the networks. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al. as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Prakasam et al. (US 20220053313 A1 dated 2022-02-17) As to claim 8, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Prakasam et al. (US 20220053313 A1 dated 2022-02-17) discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the refresh instruction comprises: a steering of roaming refresh command; or a universal integrated circuit card reset command (Paragraph [0153] – “In some instances of current implementations, the UE may receive an SoR container via a secure packet and perform a USIM refresh after an OPLMN overwrite based on the SoR container. However, there is a possibility of a USIM refresh with an OPLMN write failure, thereby causing, loss of the SoR list. Further, retransmission of the SoR container and/or lower layer failure causing multiple reception of same the SoR container may cause the UE to continue to perform a USIM refresh and thus, may cause no service durations to during roaming. For example, FIG. 9B illustrates an issue with SoR list update due to SoR container retransmission. As shown, a UE (e.g., UE 910) may be camped on an OPLMN (e.g., OPLMN 912a). At 930, the OPLMN may trigger an SoR update, and, in response, may send an SoR container 932 to the UE.” Here steering of roaming is interpreted as scanning the available roaming networks in a sequence). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al. to include the means to USIM refresh and SoR update as taught by wireless network of Prakasam et al. in order to have the UE successfully attempt or reattempt to write the contents of the SoR container to the USIM to avoid no service condition [0153]. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al. as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Luo et al. (US 20230024741 A1 dated 2023-01-26) As to claim 9, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Luo et al. (US 20230024741 A1 dated 2023-01-26) discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the notification of the network rejection includes at least one type of rejection, and wherein the at least one type of rejection comprises at least one of: a location update rejection; an attach rejection; a routing area update rejection; a tracking area update rejection; or an initial registration rejection (Paragraph [0169] – “Alternatively, the LTE core network device 111 may not perform an attach operation on the terminal device 131 based on the attach request message, and send an attach reject message to the LTE access network device 121, where the attach reject message is used to indicate that no attach operation is performed on the terminal device 131.”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al. to include the means to sending an attach reject message as taught by wireless network of Luo et al. in order to indicate that no attach operation is performed on the terminal device. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al. as applied in claim 1 and further in view of An et al. (US 20120178474 A1 dated 2012-07-12) As to claim 10, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, An et al. (US 20120178474 A1 dated 2012-07-12) discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one update to the at least one operational parameter of the subscriber identity module comprises at least one of: at least one change to a user-controlled public land mobile network table; at least one change to an operator-controlled public land mobile network table; at least one change to a forbidden public land mobile network table; at least one change to an equivalent home public land mobile network table; at least one change to a last registered public land mobile network record; a change to a higher priority public land mobile network search period setting; or at least one change to a location information record (Paragraph [0013] – “In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for performing a location update of a mobile communication terminal is provided. The apparatus includes a modem for communicating with a different node and a controller for trying the location update through the modem”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to location information update through the modem as taught by wireless network of An et al. in order to control the registration process by using operational parameters of the SIM card. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mote-CHAUHAN-Matolia et al. as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Lee et al. (US 20200374949 A1 dated 2020-11-26) As to claim 11, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Lee et al. (US 20200374949 A1 dated 2020-11-26) discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one update to the at least one operational parameter of the subscriber identity module comprises a change to a priority of a type of radio access technology from a plurality of radio access technologies of the cellular endpoint device (Paragraph [0091] – “For example, the subscriber identification module 496 may store a PLMN access technology identifier ATI indicating access technology information about each PLMN in priority information, together with the PLMN.”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to priority of a type of radio access technology as taught by wireless network of Lee et al. in order to gain access to better technology faster way. Claim 13, 14, 18, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al. as applied in claim 1, 16 and further in view of Naqvi et al. (US 20020159420 A1 dated 2002-10-31) As to claim 13, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Naqvi et al. (US 20020159420 A1 dated 2002-10-31) discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the selection logic is provided by a home cellular network, wherein the selection logic is based on a plurality of performance metrics of a plurality of cellular networks including the first cellular network (Paragraph [0040] – “FIG. 6 shows another embodiment in which the GGSN selection logic 605 is run periodically as a batch-like job as part of network management utility. GGSNs may be selected for association with MSs based on network performance and reliability information.”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to selection logic based on network performance as taught by wireless network of Naqvi et al. in order to realize a fast and reliable registration of optimal network. As to claim 14, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Naqvi et al. (US 20020159420 A1 dated 2002-10-31) discloses The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of performance metrics is obtained from a plurality of subscriber identity module-based applications of a plurality of cellular endpoint devices (Paragraph [0040] – “GGSNs may be selected for association with MSs based on network performance and reliability information.”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to network performance on respective mobile stations as taught by wireless network of Naqvi et al. in order to realize a fast and reliable registration of optimal network. As to claim 18, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Naqvi et al. (US 20020159420 A1 dated 2002-10-31) discloses The method of claim 16, wherein the update to the selection logic is selected based on a plurality of performance metrics of a plurality of cellular networks including the second cellular network (Paragraph [0040] – “FIG. 6 shows another embodiment in which the GGSN selection logic 605 is run periodically as a batch-like job as part of network management utility. GGSNs may be selected for association with MSs based on network performance and reliability information.”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to selection logic based on network performance as taught by wireless network of Naqvi et al. in order to realize a fast and reliable registration of optimal network. As to claim 19, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Naqvi et al. (US 20020159420 A1 dated 2002-10-31) discloses The method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of performance metrics is obtained from a plurality of subscriber identity module-based applications of a plurality of cellular endpoint devices (Paragraph [0040] – “GGSNs may be selected for association with MSs based on network performance and reliability information.”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to network performance on respective mobile stations as taught by wireless network of Naqvi et al. in order to realize a fast and reliable registration of optimal network. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al. as applied in claim 1 and further in view of Baskaran et al. (US 20250175797 A1 Filed on Feb 16, 2023) and Ophir et al. (US 20060052113 A1 dated 2006-03-09) As to claim 15, The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Baskaran et al. (US 20250175797 A1 Filed on Feb 16, 2023) discloses The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a report of the network rejection to a home cellular network (Paragraph [0040] – “The system 200 describes an example implementation in which a UE and visited serving network can report to a home network (e.g., an actual service provider with whom the UE has subscribed for services) about a service rejection related to a UE's subscribed service in a secure manner.”); and Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to network rejection report to a home network as taught by wireless network of Yang et al. in order to resolve the network rejection issue. The combination of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia does not explicitly recite but in an analogous art, Ophir et al. (US 20060052113 A1 dated 2006-03-09) discloses obtaining, from the home cellular network, an update to the selection logic (Paragraph [0061] – “The client comprises selection logic to select a network based on data stored in the client database. The data is preferably updated by the server during the course of a connection.” Here the server can be part of home cellular network). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wireless network of Mote- CHAUHAN-Yang-Matolia et al to include the means to update the selection logic based on the data updated by the server as taught by wireless network of Ophir et al. in order to realize a fast and reliable registration of optimal network. Remarks/Arguments All the remarks and arguments posted on 02/16/2026 have been reviewed. Applicant’s arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references. Applicant argues that Mote, Chauhan and Matolia fail to describe or suggest limitations of claim 1, 16 and 20. However, the Applicant fails to point out specifically how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references. In response to the amendment, “wherein the at least one update is to cause a reattempt to register with the first cellular network”, Yang et al. (US 20210282080 A1 dated 2021-09-09) discloses the amendment. The details are given under the respective claims. Conclusion 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 extension fee 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 ABDULLAH AL MAMUN whose telephone number is (703)756-1273. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. 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, Matthew Anderson can be reached on (571)272-4177. 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. /ABDULLAH AL MAMUN/Examiner, Art Unit 2646 /MATTHEW D. ANDERSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 10, 2023
Application Filed
Nov 10, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Feb 16, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 10, 2026
Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+25.7%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
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