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 .
Applicant’s amendment filed 6/11/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1 and 11 are amended.
Clams 2 and 12 are cancelled.
Claims 6-10, and 16-20 are withdrawn.
Claims 1,3-11, and 13-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1,3-5,11, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. As amended, claims 1 and 11 recite: in case that the handover is successfully performed, identifying whether a T311 timer is running before entering the cell without a cell selection; and in case that the T311 timer is not running before entering the cell without the cell selection, storing link failure information to a variable of a RLF report.
After carefully examining the instant disclosure, the examiner respectfully submits that support for this amendment is lacking and the addition of said limitation is new matter. The specification does not disclose (i) in case that the handover is successfully performed, identifying whether a T311 timer is running before entering the cell without a cell selection; and (ii) in case that the T311 timer is not running before entering the cell without the cell selection, storing link failure information to a variable of a RLF report. Regarding (i) the T311 timer is associated with handover failure and thus the specification does not disclose identifying a T311 timer when handover is successful. Regarding (ii), the specification only discloses stopping a T311 timer after selection has been performed and thus the specification does not disclose the timer T311 is not running before entering the cell without the cell selection.
Claims 3-5 and 13-15 are rejected because they depend from a rejected claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1,3-5,11, and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Choi (US 20240430967).
Re claim 1:
Choi discloses a method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: identifying whether a radio link failure (RLF) for a cell is detected (Para.[0273] radio link failure is detected);
in case that the RLF for the cell is detected, identifying whether a handover from a previous cell to the cell is successfully performed (Para.[0273] 3> if the last executed RRCReconfiguration message including the reconfigurationWithSync concerned an intra NR handover and it was received while connected to the previous PCell to which the UE was connected before connecting to the PCell where radio link failure is detected); and
in case that the handover is successfully performed, identifying whether a T311 timer is running before entering the cell without a cell selection (Para.[0274] 3> if the PCell in which the radio link failure was detected was a result of cell selection and the T311 was not running at the time of PCell selection); and
in case that the T311 timer is not running before entering the cell without the cell selection, storing link failure information to a variable of a RLF report (Para.[0275] 4> include the nrPreviousCell in previousPCellId and set it to the global cell identity and the tracking area code of the PCell where the last executed RRCReconfiguration message including reconfigurationWithSync was received and Para.[0268] 1> else if the failure is detected due to radio link failure, set the fields in VarRLF-report as follows).
Re claim 3:
Choi discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the storing the link failure information comprises: including information on the previous cell in a field for the previous cell; and setting the information on the previous cell to a global cell identity and a tracking area code of the previous cell (Para.[0275] 4> include the nrPreviousCell in previousPCellId and set it to the global cell identity and the tracking area code of the PCell where the last executed RRCReconfiguration message including reconfigurationWithSync was received).
Re claim 4:
Choi discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the storing the link failure information comprises: identifying whether handover is a dual active protocol stack (DAPS) handover; and in case that the handover is the DAPS handover, setting a field for a last handover type to DAPS (Para. [0277] reconfigurationWithSync was concerning a DAPS handover and Para. [0278] 5> set lastHO-Type to daps);
identifying whether handover is a CHO handover; in case that the handover is the CHO handover, setting the field for the last handover type to CHO (Para. [0279] 4> else if the last executed RRCReconfiguration message including reconfigurationWithSync was concerning a conditional handover and Para. [0280] 5> set lastHO-Type to cho); and
setting a field for a time to an elapsed time since the handover is successfully performed until the RLF for the cell is detected (Para.[0281] 4> set the timeConnFailure to the elapsed time since the execution of the last RRCReconfiguration message including the reconfiguration WithSync).
Re claim 5:
Choi discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising performing a radio resource control (RRC) connection re-establishment procedure (Para. [0312] In step S1107, if the network is able to find and verify a valid UE context, the UE may receive RRCReestablishment message from the network).
Re claim 11: Claim 11 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1. A transceiver and at least one processor are inherent components in a UE.
Re claim 13: Claim 13 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 3.
Re claim 14: Claim 14 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 4.
Re claim 15: Claim 15 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 5.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 11 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.
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 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 MOHAMMAD SAJID ADHAMI whose telephone number is (571)272-8615. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy Kundu can be reached at (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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