DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-18 have been examined and are pending.
Priority
2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/16/2025 has been found to be in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
4. In response to the amendments received in the Office on 12/05/2025, the Office acknowledges the current status of the claims: claims 1-18 have been amended, and no new matter appears to be included.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
6. Claims 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication 2023/0247721 A1 to Kim et al. (hereinafter “Kim1”) in view of United States Patent Application Publication 2021/0037403 A1 to Kim et al. (hereinafter “Kim2”).
Regarding Claim 1, Kim discloses an electronic device (Kim1: Figure 15, element 1502) comprising:
a communication circuit (Kim1: Figure 15, elements 1520, 1522); and
at least one processor operatively connected to the communication circuit (Kim1: Figure 15, element 1518); and
memory storing instructions (Kim: Figure 15, element 1524), wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:
receive a message related to release of a radio resource control (RRC) connection of the electronic device to a network (Kim1: Abstract – “A wireless device may receive, from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) release message that includes a measurement configuration for one or more measurements by the wireless device while the wireless device is in an RRC inactive state and a small data transmission (SDT) configuration of a SDT procedure for transmission by the wireless device while the wireless device is in the RRC inactive state.” See also [0099] (defining RRC control plane control messages), [0101] (types of measurements by the UE), [0159-0167] (signals that may be measured), [0216-0218], [0416-0420] (RRC idle/inactive message configurations for measuring different types of signals).);
in case that the received message includes information related to measurement, identify first frequency information related to cell reselection included in a first system information block (SIB) and second frequency information related to a carrier aggregation (CA) function and/or a dual connectivity (DC) function included in a second SIB received from the network while the electronic device is in an RRC idle or an RRC inactive state with the network (Examiner respectfully notes the limitations following “in case of” include interpretations that are not required to be performed by the apparatus, since “in case of” is conditional in nature.);
generate at least part of a frequency list from at least one of the frequency information or the second frequency information based on a priority of a frequency used for access between the electronic device and the network and a channel state between the electronic device and the network (Kim1: [0416-0421] – corresponds to a carrier (or frequency) list for measurement in RRC inactive/idle state(s) of the UE, which are frequencies the UE is required to measure (a priority) as per configuration (RRC). The UE may also measure qualities of signals (channel state) including RSRP and RSRQ. See also [0145-0148] for reporting other types of channel state information as per RRC.); and
in a case that an RRC state is transitioned from the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state, transmit, via the communication circuit, a result of the measurement to the network (Examiner respectfully notes the limitations following “in case of” include interpretations that are not required to be performed by the apparatus, since “in case of” is conditional in nature.).
Although Kim1 discloses determining a priority of the frequencies, Kim1 does not expressly disclose perform measurement on at least one frequency included in the generated frequency list while the electronic device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with the network.
However, this feature cannot be considered new or novel in the presence of Kim2. Kim2 is similarly concerned with frequency measurements (Kim2: [0002]). Kim2 discloses perform measurement on at least one frequency included in the generated frequency list while the electronic device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with the network (Kim2: [0127-0129], [0243-0245], [0315-0332] – corresponds to prioritizing a frequency from the frequency over another frequency, or prioritizing a first frequency configuration over another frequency configuration. This measurement would measure a first frequency then a second frequency of the frequency list (as an example, which is representative of a sequential operation) wherein the frequency list is a configuration while in an RRC inactive state or idle state.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Kim1 in view of the method of Kim2 to sequentially perform measurement based on a priority of at least one frequency included in the frequency list while the electronic device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with the network for the reasons of quickly configuring a terminal for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity based on feedback measured by the terminal in an RRC inactive or idle state (Kim2: [0006-0007]).
Claim 10, directed to a method embodiment of claim 1, recites similar features as claim 1 and is therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claim 1. Please see above rejection of claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 2-9 and 11-18 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
8. 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.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV whose telephone number is (571)270-7163. The examiner can normally be reached M, T, R, F 5:00 AM-5:00 PM, W 5:00 AM-3:00 PM (EDT).
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BENJAMIN H. ELLIOTT IV
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 February 23, 2026