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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 09/09/2025, 01/30/2026, and 03/05/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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 1-3, 7-10, 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dharmadhikari; Neeraj (EP 4184962 A1), hereinafter Dharmadhikari in view of Liu et al. (WO 202318490 A1), hereinafter Liu and Mariyani et al. (US 11689915 B1), hereinafter Mariyani.
Re. Claims 1, 8, and 15, Dharmadhikari teaches a system comprising: one or more processors (Pg. 3, Line 40 - Apparatus comprising: one or more processors, and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform); and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions executable by one or more processors, wherein the instructions (Pg. 4, Line 40 - there is provided a computer program product comprising a set of instructions which, when executed on an apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to any of the third and fourth aspects), when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a home subscriber server (HSS), a query from a short message service center (SMSC) to send a short message service (SMS) message to a user equipment (UE) (Pg. 2, Line 19 - SMSC queries the HSS(HLR) over MAP-C/S6c SRI_SM/SRR to get the registered domain address); sending, by the HSS and to a unified data repository (UDR), a request for UE network status information (Pg. 2, Line 31 - The HSS queries the EPS-UDR via Ud to read the registered MME/MSC, the registered SGSN, and the UE-not-reachable flags for SMS in MME/MSC, SGSN and UDM); receiving, by the HSS and from the UDR, short message service function (SMSF) registration status data and access and mobility function (AMF) registration status data (Fig. 3, step 1 & Pg. 3, Line 25 - The UDM receives a Notification from the AMF/SMSF Registration); and based on the SMSF registration status data and the AMF registration status data, sending, to the SMSC, at least one of: first location data associated with a mobility management entity (MME) (Fig. 3, steps 2-3 and fig. 4, steps 4-5 & Pg. 6, Line 19 - UDM queries 5G-UDR to fetch UE reachability information and reachability info for SMS including SMSF address and/or SMS subscription. Additionally, Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features needs to be mapped because of the presence of “Or”); OR second location data associated with the SMSF
Yet, Dharmadhikari does not expressly teach determining, based on the SMSF registration status data and the AMF registration status data, whether the UE is active in a fourth generation (4G) radio network or a fifth generation (5G) radio network.
However, Liu explicitly teaches determining, based on the SMSF registration status data and the AMF registration status data, whether the UE is active in a fourth generation (4G) radio network or a fifth generation (5G) radio network (Pg. 7, Line 23 - When the user terminal 60 is turned on and off, moved, or switched between networks (for example, 4G network/5G network switching), the terminal registration/deregistration process will be triggered and reach the SMSF network element via the AMF network element 50 . During the terminal registration process, the SMSF network element will record the AMF network element 50 where the user terminal 60 is located; when receiving a short message from the SMS-SC network element calling the user terminal 60, the SMSF network element can correctly forward it to The nearest AMF network element where the user terminal 60 is located).
Yet, the combination of Dharmadhikari and Liu do not expressly teach the SMSF refrains from sending a deregistration message and an unsubscribe message to a unified data management function node (UDM) in response to receiving, at the SMSF, a deregistration notification from the AMF during a handover by the UE from the 5G radio network to the 4G radio network.
However, Mariyani explicitly teaches wherein the SMSF refrains from sending a deregistration message and an unsubscribe message to a unified data management function node (UDM) in response to receiving, at the SMSF, a deregistration notification from the AMF during a handover by the UE from the 5G radio network to the 4G radio network (Fig. 1, Column 6, Line 50 - the one or more network functions in method 400 can include at least one of access and mobility management function (AMF), short message service function (SMSF), session management function (SMF), and authentication server function (AUSF). Furthermore, communication from the one or more network functions can be associated with a UE accessing a different network slice, a handover operation of the UE, roaming of the UE in a home network, or roaming of the UE in a partner network. The communication from the one or more network functions in method 400 can additionally or alternatively include one of the following call events: register, subscribe, deregister, unsubscribe, update, or notify).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Mariyani to the teaching of Dharmadhikari and Liu. The motivation for such would be as Liu provides determining whether the UE is active in 4G or 5G based on the SMSF and AMF status (Liu, Pg. 7, Line 23) and Mariyani teaches that a deregistration message does not need to be sent when handoff occurs (Mariyani, Column 6, Line 50). All of the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements, as claimed by known methods, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention.
Re. Claims 2, 9, and 16, Dharmadhikari and Liu 1, 8, and 15.
Additionally, Dharmadhikari wherein the SMSC causes the SMS message to be sent to the UE based at least in part on the first location data or the second location data (Pg. 2, Line 16 - The SMs are served by a SMSC, e.g. (but not limiting) by a GW-SMSC at the edge of a network receiving SMS from another network than the home network. For the delivery of SM, SMSC needs to know the domain on which the subscriber is currently available).
Re. Claims 3, 10, and 17, Dharmadhikari and Liu teach Claim 1, 8, and 15.
Additionally, Dharmadhikari further teaches receiving, in response to the request for UE status information, SMSF location data indicating at the UE is registered in the 5G radio network and the AMF registration status data indicating that the UE is active in the 4G radio network; and based on the AMF registration status data, sending the first location data to the SMSC (Pg. 2, Line 24 - if HSS needs to know the availability/reachability of the UE in 5G SMSF (which may be combined with AMF to AMF/SMSF), HSS needs to fetch the SMSF address from UDM, and then HSS sends it to SMSC).
Re. Claims 7, and 14, Dharmadhikari and Liu teach Claim 1, 8, and 15.
Additionally, Dharmadhikari further teaches wherein determining that the UE is registered in the 4G radio network comprises determining that the SMSF registration status data is set to not active and the AMF registration status data is set to not active (Pg. 3, Line 13 - The UDM checks that the UE is registered in an AMF and SMSF. The UDM then queries the 5GS-UDR to see whether the UE-Reachability event has already been subscribed at the registered AMF(s) (i.e. whether URRP-AMF flag is set). Additionally, examiner interprets that by performing this check to see if the AMF and SMSF are registered, the check is implicitly checking whether they are active or not active, and as such if the AMF and SMSF are not active then the UE is likely registered in 4G rather than 5G).
Re. Claims 5, 10, and 19, Dharmadhikari, Liu, and Mariyani teach Claim 4, 9, and 18.
Additionally, Dharmadhikari teaches wherein the second location data of the SMSF associated with the UE is maintained at the UDR while the UE is connected to the 4G radio network (Pg. 2, Line 13 - dynamic information of 5G is managed and stored independently from the storage for the 2G/3G/4G subscription and some dynamic information of 2G/3G/4G (UDM .fwdarw. 5G-UDR, HSS.fwdarw. EPS-UDR)).
Re. Claims 6, 11, and 20, Dharmadhikari, Liu, and Mariyani teach Claim 4, 9, and 18.
Yet, the combination of Dharmadhikari and Liu do not expressly teach wherein the second location data of the SMSF associated with the UE is maintained at the UDR for a configurable period of time after the UE performs the handover from the 5G radio network to the 4G radio network
However, Mariyani explicitly teaches wherein the second location data of the SMSF associated with the UE is maintained at the UDR for a configurable period of time after the UE performs the handover from the 5G radio network to the 4G radio network (Column 4, Line 63 - The UDM 110 can be configured to communicate, for example, a message to the UDR 112, with the message comprising a timestamp indicating to the UDR 112 a time that the message was transmitted by the UDM 110. The UDM 110 and the UDR 112 are configured for sending and receiving of messages between each other. The UDM 110 is configured to communicate a first message 120 to the UDR 112 in response to receiving a second message 122 from one of the network functions 102-108. For example, the second message 122 can be any communication the UDM 110 receives from the AMF 102, the SMSF 104, the SMF 106, or the AUSF 108. Upon receipt of the first message 120 from the UDM 110, the UDR 112 is configured to write the first message, including the timestamp, into memory or a database of the UDR 112).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Mariyani to the teaching of Dharmadhikari and Liu. The motivation for such would be as Mariyani teaches that a deregistration message does not need to be sent when handoff occurs (Mariyani, Column 4, Line 63). All of the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements, as claimed by known methods, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/30/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the combination of Dharmadhikari and Liu does not teach or suggest the recitations of claim 4, to which Examiner agrees due to the grounds of the previous mapping. However, Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant’s interpretation of Mariyani. The full quote cited from Mariyani is:
Column 6, Line 50 - the one or more network functions in method 400 can include at least one of access and mobility management function (AMF), short message service function (SMSF), session management function (SMF), and authentication server function (AUSF). Furthermore, communication from the one or more network functions can be associated with a UE accessing a different network slice, a handover operation of the UE, roaming of the UE in a home network, or roaming of the UE in a partner network. The communication from the one or more network functions in method 400 can additionally or alternatively include one of the following call events: register, subscribe, deregister, unsubscribe, update, or notify.
Examiner interprets the claim language of “refrain” to act as a form of negative claim, wherein the Applicant is seeking to claim the absence of an action rather that the performance of an action. As such, Examiner has provided this citation which states that “The communication… CAN additionally or alternatively include…” [emphasis added]. Further, figure 1 shows that an unsubscribe message can be sent from a SMSF (104) to a UDM (110), when taken in accordance with the above stated citation, the SMSF conducts communications with the UDM, but said communication is not required to happen. As such, Examiner interprets that the negative claim language has been satisfied and has amended the rejection of Claims 1-3, 5-10, 12-17, and 19-20 to include the references used to reject previous claims 4, 11, and 18 in order to maintain the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sridharan et al. (2022/0201462) - ¶0002-0006, ¶0015-0026
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/N.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475
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