Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/464,527

METHOD TO TRACK VARIOUS ATTACH TYPES ON UDM & UDR

Final Rejection §102§103
Filed
Sep 11, 2023
Examiner
LAFONTANT, GARY
Art Unit
2646
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
T-Mobile USA Inc.
OA Round
2 (Final)
73%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
74%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 73% — above average
73%
Career Allowance Rate
340 granted / 465 resolved
+11.1% vs TC avg
Minimal +1% lift
Without
With
+1.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
27 currently pending
Career history
495
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.7%
-38.3% vs TC avg
§103
75.2%
+35.2% vs TC avg
§102
19.8%
-20.2% vs TC avg
§112
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 465 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Receipt is acknowledged of claims filed on 04/15/2026 The amendment filed on 04/15/2026 has been acknowledged. Amendment Summary Claims 1, 3, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 are amended. Response to Arguments/Amendments Applicant has amended the independent claims and associated dependent claims. The following OA examination reflect the new amended claims submitted herein. The arguments regarding previous claim submittal are moot since the amended claim has modified the scope of the previous claim. The amended claims are examined below. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1, 8, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park (US 2022/0240152 A1). Regarding Claim 1, 8, 15 Park discloses a system (See Fig.2), the system comprising: one or more hardware processors (See Fig.2; The devices in the system merely comprises processor) configured by machine-readable instructions (See [0039-0040]; devices comprises computer program instructions) to: receive, at an Access, Mobility and Management Function (AMF) (Fig.7(702)), an initial attach request (See [0076-0078]; [0085-0086]; the UE 701 may transmit a control message requesting an initial attach to the network) from a wireless device (See Fig.2(201)); [0076-0078]; [0085-0086]; UE) determine, at the AMF (Fig.7(702)), and from the initial attach request (See [0085-0086]; the UE 701 may transmit a control message requesting an initial attach to the network) an originating radio access technology (RAT) (See [0085-0086]; AMF of the network determine first RAT) and a destination radio access technology (RAT) (See [0085-0086]; AMF of the network determine second RAT) for the initial attach request (See [0085-0086]; in the message request) and transmit, by the AMF (Fig.7(702)), a message including the originating RAT and destination RAT for the initial attach request (See [0076-0078]; [0085-0086]; the UE 701 may transmit a control message requesting an initial attach to the network) to a subscriber profile (See [0086]; the first RAT network, for example, the MME (AMF in the case of 5G RAT network) 702 of the 4G RAT network, may request subscription information of the UE 701 from the HSS+UDM 704, and may receive the subscription information of the UE 701 from the HSS+UDM 704 in response to the subscription information request) associated with the wireless device (See Fig.2(201)); [0085]; UE) wherein the message corresponds to a handover type for the initial attach request (See [0076-0078]; [0085-0086]; a UE can decide to switch to a 5G network after previously been attached to 4G network). 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. Claim(s) 2-7, 9-14, 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Park (US 2022/0240152 A1) in view of Ahmadi (US 2021/0092586 A1) Regarding Claim 2, 9, 16, Park teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, 8, 15 But Park fails to explicitly recite wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured by machine-readable instructions to generate a service base interface (SBI) HTTP2 message for 5G. However in an analogous art, Ahmadi teaches about a network that uses service base interface (SBI) HTTP2 message for 5G in order to authenticate UE (See [0026-0027]). Park and Ahmadi are analogous art because they all pertain to cellular wireless technology where multiple RAT can be used to establish communication. Park teaches about a network determining a UE originating RAT and destination RAT through an initial attach request. Ahmadi teaches about a network that uses service base interface (SBI) HTTP2 message for 5G in order to authenticate UE through internetwork system. Park could use Ahmadi features in order to authenticate a UE through its subscription for use of other RAT network in UDM database. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling of the application to combine Park and Ahmadi as to obtain an efficient cellular internetworking system. Regarding Claim 3, 10, 17 Park and Ahmadi teach all the features with respect to claim 2, 9, 16 and Park further teaches wherein the one or more hardware processors (See Fig.2; The devices in the system merely comprises processor) are further configured by machine-readable instructions (See [0039-0040]; devices comprises computer program instructions) to assign attributes for the initial attach request (See [0091-0092]; assigned attributes by receiving attach request from UE and from requesting subscription information from UDM/HSS) wherein the attributes comprise a member (See [0091-0092]; support mobility between RATs), string value (See [0091-0092]; text data or integer is used to indicate mobility) value (See [0091-0092]; using handover for mobility between 4G and 5G) Regarding Claim 4, 11 Park and Ahmadi teach all the features with respect to claim 3, 10 and Ahmadi further teaches wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured by machine-readable instructions to transmit the SBI HTTP2 message to a unified data management of a mobile network operator (See [0026-0027]; SBI HTTP2 message is transmitted to the UDM). Regarding Claim 5, 12 Park and Ahmadi teach all the features with respect to claim 4, 11 and Park further teaches wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured by machine-readable instructions to update the subscriber profile for the wireless device (See [0087]; MME/AMF store updated requested subscription information from UDM/HSS) maintained in a unified data repository (See [0087]; UDM/HSS fetched subscription information from UDR) with corresponding fields for the attributes for the initial attach request (See [0091-0092]; assigned attributes by receiving attach request from UE and from requesting subscription information from UDM/HSS). Regarding Claim 6, 13 Park and Ahmadi teach all the features with respect to claim 3, 10 and Park further teaches wherein the member is handover type (See fig.5; [0076]; [0091]; an attach request comprising a handover type like RAT support for 4G/5G) . Regarding Claim 7, 14 Park and Ahmadi teach all the features with respect to claim 6, 13 and Bakker further teaches wherein the string value is handover (See fig.5; [0091]; [0113]; mobility support from 4G-5G is attributed through indication). Regarding Claim 18, Park and Ahmadi teach all the features with respect to claim 17 and Park further teaches wherein the value identifies the originating RAT and the destination RAT (See [0091-0092]; the values of RATs 4G/5G are stored in AMF/MME). Claim(s) 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 2022/0240152 A1) in view of Ahmadi (US 2021/0092586 A1) and further in view of Chin (US 2021/0329514 A1). Regarding Claim 19, Park and Ahmadi teach all the features with respect to claim 15 But fail to explicitly recite performing an audit of handovers for a subscriber based on the origination RAT and the destination RAT maintained in the subscriber profile associated with the wireless device. However in analogous art, Chin teaches a UE configured to track or monitor the quantity of handoffs that are performed between a first RAT and a second RAT during a time period (See [0028]). Park and Ahmadi are analogous art because they all pertain to cellular wireless technology where multiple RAT can be used to establish communication. Park teaches about a network determining a UE originating RAT and destination RAT through an initial attach request. Ahmadi teaches about a network that uses service base interface (SBI) HTTP2 message for 5G in order to authenticate UE through internetwork system. Chin teaches a UE configured to track or monitor the quantity of handoffs that are performed between a first RAT and a second RAT during a time period. Park and Ahmadi could use Chin features in order to evaluate area with signal degradation that result in multiple signal exchange between RATs. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling of the application to combine Park, Ahmadi and Chin as to obtain an efficient cellular internetworking system. Regarding Claim 20, Park and Ahmadi teach all the features with respect to claim 15 But fail to explicitly recite utilizing the origination RAT and destination RAT maintained in the subscriber profile for determining poor overage areas due to frequent handovers from the origination RAT to the destination RAT. However in analogous art, Chin teaches about a UE with multiple RATs (LTE/NR) that is experiencing many RAT handovers due to degradation of signal throughput in creatin coverage area (See [0028]) Park and Ahmadi are analogous art because they all pertain to cellular wireless technology where multiple RAT can be used to establish communication. Park teaches about a network determining a UE originating RAT and destination RAT through an initial attach request. Ahmadi teaches about a network that uses service base interface (SBI) HTTP2 message for 5G in order to authenticate UE through internetwork system Chin teaches about a UE with multiple RATs (LTE/NR) that is experiencing many RAT handovers due to degradation of signal throughput in creatin coverage area. Park and Ahmadi could use Chin features in order to evaluate area with signal degradation using originating RAT and destination RAT that result in multiple signal exchange between them. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling of the application to combine Park, Ahmadi and Chin as to obtain an efficient cellular internetworking system. 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 GARY LAFONTANT whose telephone number is (571)272-3037. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00AM -6:00PM. 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, Jeanette Parker can be reached at 571-2703647. 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. /GARY LAFONTANT/Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 11, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 15, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103
Apr 15, 2026
Response Filed
May 05, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
73%
Grant Probability
74%
With Interview (+1.0%)
2y 5m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 465 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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