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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11 February 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s response, filed 11 February 2026, has been entered and carefully considered.
Claims 1-3 are amended.
Claims 4-6 are newly added.
Claims 1-6 are currently pending.
The outstanding rejection of Claims 1-3 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) is withdrawn in light of Applicant’s amendment to said claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-3 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.
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 4-6 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. These claims are considered new matter due to the claim language (emphasis added) “the primary secondary cell includes a special cell (SpCell) of the secondary cell group.” The relevant portion of paragraph 0035 of Applicant’s specification is replicated below for context (emphasis added):
“Each of the MCG and the SCG may include at least a Primary Cell (PCell), and one or more Secondary Cells (SCells). The PCell of the SCG is also called a Primary SCG Cell (PSCell). Further, the PCell of the MCG or the SCG is also called a Special Cell (SpCell).”
As shown in this paragraph, the term “Special Cell (SpCell)” appears to be a synonym for the PSCell. As such, there is no support in Applicant’s disclosure, as originally filed, for the “primary secondary cell includ(ing) a special cell (SpCell).”
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. These claims are unclear due to the claim language (emphasis added) “the primary secondary cell includes a special cell (SpCell) of the secondary cell group.” The relevant portion of paragraph 0035 of Applicant’s specification is replicated below for context (emphasis added):
“Each of the MCG and the SCG may include at least a Primary Cell (PCell), and one or more Secondary Cells (SCells). The PCell of the SCG is also called a Primary SCG Cell (PSCell). Further, the PCell of the MCG or the SCG is also called a Special Cell (SpCell).”
As shown in this paragraph, the term “Special Cell (SpCell)” appears to be a synonym for the PSCell. Therefore, the scope of the phrase “primary secondary cell includes a special cell (SpCell)” is indefinite, as it is not clear how one term can “include” a synonym for itself.
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 –
(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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hwang et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication 2022/0369172), hereinafter Hwang.
Regarding Claim 1, Hwang discloses a terminal which connects with a master node associated with a master cell group and a secondary node associated with a secondary cell group (Figure 18A, UE associated with master node (MN) and secondary node (SN)), the terminal comprising:
at least one processor (Figure 19 – multi-connection processor 19-42 as part of controller 19-40; refer also to paragraph 0292 ) with a memory storing computer program code (Figure 19 – storage unit 19-30; refer also to paragraph 0291), the at least one processor with the memory being configured to:
transmit a random access preamble on a primary secondary cell in a random access procedure, the primary secondary cell being included in the secondary cell group, and being configured for a primary secondary cell addition and/or change (Figure 18A and paragraphs 0272 – the UE performs random access in order to attempt a configured conditional PSCell (i.e., primary secondary cell) change to a target cell; paragraph 0160 – a random access operation includes transmitting a random access preamble to a target cell)); and
transmit, to the master node, secondary cell group failure information message in a case that the random access procedure for the primary secondary cell fails (Figure 18 at operation 18-50 and paragraph 0273 – the UE transmits a SCG failure information message to the MN when the random access fails to succeed (e.g., until a timer expires or the change is not successfully complete)),
wherein the secondary cell group failure information message includes a physical cell identifier of the primary secondary cell for which the random access procedure fails and information indicating the random access procedure for the primary secondary cell fails (Figure 18B and paragraphs 0273-0274 – the SCGFailureInformationNR element contains information regarding the failure type and failed cell info (including physical cell ID)).
Claim 3 is a method claim comprising the same operations as performed by the terminal in Claim 1. Therefore, Claim 3 is rejected for the same reasons as presented above for Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 2, Hwang discloses a master node associated with a master cell group, which connects with a terminal and a secondary node associated with a secondary cell group, the master node comprising:
at least one processor (Figure 20 – controller 20-50 comprises multi-connection processor 20-52; refer to paragraph 0300) with a memory storing computer program code (Figure 20 – storage unit 20-40; refer to paragraph 0299), the at least one processor with the memory being configured to:
control transmission of a random access preamble on a primary secondary cell in a random access procedure for a primary secondary cell included in the secondary cell group, the primary secondary cell being configured for a primary secondary cell addition and/or change (Figure 18A and paragraphs 0264 and 0272 – the MN transmits a NR RRCReconfiguration with conditional handover conditions and target cell configurations; the UE performs random access in order to attempt a configured conditional PSCell (i.e., primary secondary cell) change to a target cell; paragraph 0160 – a random access operation includes transmitting a random access preamble to a target cell)); and
receive, from the terminal, a secondary cell group failure information message in a case that the random access procedure for the primary secondary cell fails (Figure 18 at operation 18-50 and paragraph 0273 – the UE transmits a SCG failure information message to the MN when the random access fails to succeed (e.g., until a timer expires or the change is not successfully complete)),
wherein the secondary cell group failure information message includes a physical cell identifier of the primary secondary cell for which the random access procedure fails and information indicating the random access procedure for the primary secondary cell fails (Figure 18B and paragraphs 0273-0274 – the SCGFailureInformationNR element contains information regarding the failure type and failed cell info (including physical cell ID)).
Regarding Claims 4-6, Hwang discloses the primary secondary cell includes a special cell (SpCell) of the secondary cell group (paragraph 0273 – the terminal attempts a change to a primary secondary cell (PSCell), which is synonymous with SpCell as established in the rejection of Claims 4-6 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) above).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Susitaival et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication 2016/0302256) discloses the UE triggers failure indication in an RRC message to the MeNB. SCG MAC failure triggers the sending of a UE failure indication in an RRC message to the MeNB, if SCG change is not currently ongoing (i.e., if the SCG change failure timer is not running) SCG MAC failure occurs when the UE has repeated random access procedures and preamble transmissions more than a configurable threshold (paragraph 0008).
Jiang (United States Pre-Grant Publication 2021/0007132) is directed to reporting SCG failure information.
Agiwal (United States Pre-Grant Publication 2021/0068162) is directed to a beam failure recovery request on an SpCell.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW W. CHRISS whose telephone number is (571)272-1774. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm ET.
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/ANDREW W CHRISS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472