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 .
Objection with respect to claim 1 is withdrawn in view of current amendment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3 and 4 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection. Thus, Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action.
Applicant argues that the combination of Shaheen and Palle does not disclose transmit, to the base station and based on the configuration information, a UEAssistanceInformation message including the assistance information assisting the base station to configure the gaps in the first network.” Remarks, pages 5-6.
Examiner respectfully disagrees and points out that Shaheen discloses, transmit, to the base station and based on the configuration information a UEAssistanceInformation message ([0081] … “For example, in FIG. 3, after UE 302 determines that USIM1 and USIM2 based operations belong to same or different networks/operators, gNB-1 304 may receive a registration message from USIM1 in action 316”) [including the assistance information requesting configuration of gaps ([0131] states that “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging] messages for USIM2 based operations with gNB-B 706.)] in the first network ([0076] In action 466, the UE may, optionally, send an RRC reconfiguration message to its serving base station to request to reconfigure the paging resources. ), and
receive, from the base station, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including the a configuration of the gaps according to in accordance with the assistance information ([0131] discloses “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging]). Hence, the examiner interprets the “configuration of the gaps” as the “operation gaps” or “gap intervals,” which is known in the art as “measurement gaps” or “time intervals.”).
With respect to Applicant's argument that Shaheen in view of and Palle does not discuss receive, from the base station, configuration information configuring the user equipment to provide assistance information assisting the base station to configure gaps in the first network (Remarks, page 6, fourth paragraph).
The Examiner respectfully disagrees and notes that the added limitation is taught by the newly cited reference to Kim (2023/0262446) in view of Shaheen and Palle, as shown below.
Applicant employs broad language, which includes the use of word, and phrases, which have broad meanings in the art.
In addition, Applicant has not argued any narrower interpretation of the claim language, nor amended the claims significantly enough to cite a narrower meaning to the limitations. As the claims area allows multiple interpretations and meanings, which are broader than Applicant's disclosure, the Examiner is urged to interpret the claim limitations as broadly as reasonable in determining patentability of the disclosed invention.
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 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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shaheen (US 20230033096) in view of Palle et al (US 20210120524) further in view of Kim et al (2023/0262446).
Regarding claim 1, Shaheen discloses a user equipment (Fig. 1, multi-USIM UE (102)) configured to communicate with a plurality of networks using a plurality of subscriber identity modules ([0037] “FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multi-USIM UE supporting different operators), the user equipment comprising:
a communicator configured to:
As shown in FIG. 1, multi-USIM UE 102 may include multiple RFs 150, …. Each of the RFs 150 may include a transmitter (e.g., transmitting/transmission circuitry) and a receiver (e.g., receiving/reception circuitry)) The UE may perform a Multi-USIM registration procedure using a current access network (e.g., 5G NR network). … . Thus, communicates with a base station) included in the plurality of networks ([0049] “In one or more implementations of the present disclosure, when the multi-USIM based operations belong to different networks/operators, the UE may report the presence and support of multi-USIM based operations and their associated information to the networks/operators.”),
transmit, to the base station and based on the configuration information a UEAssistanceInformation message ([0081] … “For example, in FIG. 3, after UE 302 determines that USIM1 and USIM2 based operations belong to same or different networks/operators, gNB-1 304 may receive a registration message from USIM1 in action 316”) [including the assistance information ([0131] states that “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging] messages for USIM2 based operations with gNB-B 706.)] in the first network ([0076] In action 466, the UE may, optionally, send an RRC reconfiguration message to its serving base station to request to reconfigure the paging resources. ), and
receive, from the base station, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including a configuration of the gaps in accordance with the assistance information ([0131] discloses “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging]). Hence, the examiner interprets the “configuration of the gaps” as the “operation gaps” or “gap intervals,” which is known in the art as “measurement gaps” or “time intervals.”).
Shaheen discloses the configuration of the gaps ([0131] states that “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging]), but does not expressly to include a gap length, a gap repetition period and a gap offset, for each of the gaps
However, in a similar endeavor of receiving configuration information from a base stations, Palle discloses MGL measurement Gap Length, and MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period ([0296], page 27, right column, ll. 11-12, counting from bottom), and paging cycle and offset ([0222], ll. 8-9).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the configuration of the gaps of Shaheen with the mechanisms of Palle to include configuration of the gaps that includes gap length, a gap repetition period and a gap offset as taught by Palle in order to enhance configurability for measurements on neighboring cells and to help network operators or providers balance the needs of mobility, system performance and power efficiency.
Shaheen, in view of Palle, discloses the configuration of the gaps ([0131] states that “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging]), but does not expressly receive, from the base station, configuration information configuring the user equipment to provide assistance information assisting the base station to configure gaps in the first network.
However, in a similar endeavor of receiving configuration information from a base stations, Kim discloses receive, from the base station, configuration information configuring the user equipment to provide assistance information assisting the base station to configure gaps in the first network (See Kim, Figure 10, [0098] “The base station provides configuration information necessary for the UE to request … using a predetermined IE (OtherConfig) of a predetermined RRC message (RRCReconfiguration) (1j-25).” And, Figure 10 and [[0101] “The preferred periodic gap information includes at least an offset value and a length value of the gap pattern. The offset value is used for deriving a time point at which the periodic gap pattern starts, and the network stops transmitting and receiving data during a length of the gap pattern”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the configuration of the gaps of Shaheen and Palle with the mechanisms of Kim to include receiving from the base station, configuration information configuring the user equipment to provide assistance information assisting the base station to configure gaps as taught by Kim in order to optimize handover procedures and improve network reliability in multiple network communication situations.
Regarding claim 2, Shaheen discloses the user equipment according to claim 1, wherein: the communicator is configured to transmit capability information to support the plurality of subscriber identity modules (Fig. 3 and [0051] “As shown in FIG. 3, in diagram 300, UE 302 may report or register the presence and capabilities of multi-USIM based operations to Mobility Management Function (AMF) 308”).
Regarding claim 3, Shaheen discloses a base station of a first network (Fig. 3, gNB-1 (304)), the base station comprising: a receiver configured to receive ([0081] … “For example, in FIG. 3, after UE 302 determines that USIM1 and USIM2 based operations belong to same or different networks/operators, gNB-1 304 may receive a registration message from USIM1 in action 316”), from a user equipment (Fig. 3, 316, “Access Procedure (USIM, indication of Multi-USIM), a UEAssistanceInformation message ([0081] … “For example, in FIG. 3, after UE 302 determines that USIM1 and USIM2 based operations belong to same or different networks/operators, gNB-1 304 may receive a registration message from USIM1 in action 316”) [including information requesting configuration of gaps ([0131] states that “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging] messages for USIM2 based operations with gNB-B 706.)] in the first network ([0076] In action 466, the UE may, optionally, send an RRC reconfiguration message to its serving base station to request to reconfigure the paging resources.), and a transmitter configured to transmit, to the user equipment, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including configuration of the gap in accordance with the information ([0131] discloses “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging]). Hence, the examiner interprets the “configuration of the gaps” as the “operation gaps” or “gap intervals,” which is known in the art as “measurement gaps” or “time intervals.”).
Shaheen discloses the configuration of the gaps ([0131] states that “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging]), but does not expressly wherein the configuration of the gap includes a gap length, a gap repetition period and a gap offset.
However, in a similar endeavor of receiving configuration information from a base stations, Palle discloses MGL measurement Gap Length, and MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period ([0296], page 27, right column, ll. 11-12, counting from bottom), and paging cycle and offset ([0222], ll. 8-9).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the configuration of the gaps of Shaheen with the mechanisms of Palle to include configuration of the gaps that includes a gap length, a gap repetition period and a gap offset as taught by Palle in order to enhance configurability for measurements on neighboring cells and to help network operators or providers balance the needs of mobility, system performance and power efficiency.
Shaheen, in view of Palle, discloses the configuration of the gaps ([0131] states that “In the RRC-Reconfiguration message, gNB-1 704 may indicate information of one or more operation gaps (e.g., gap intervals during which USIM1 based operations need not monitor paging from gNB-A 704)) for monitoring paging]), but does not expressly receive, from the base station, configuration information configuring the user equipment to provide assistance information assisting the base station to configure gaps in the first network.
However, in a similar endeavor of receiving configuration information from a base stations, Kim discloses receive, from the base station, configuration information configuring the user equipment to provide assistance information assisting the base station to configure gaps in the first network (See Kim, Figure 10, [0098] “The base station provides configuration information necessary for the UE to request … using a predetermined IE (OtherConfig) of a predetermined RRC message (RRCReconfiguration) (1j-25).” And, Figure 10 and [[0101] “The preferred periodic gap information includes at least an offset value and a length value of the gap pattern. The offset value is used for deriving a time point at which the periodic gap pattern starts, and the network stops transmitting and receiving data during a length of the gap pattern”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the configuration of the gaps of Shaheen and Palle with the mechanisms of Kim to include receiving from the base station, configuration information configuring the user equipment to provide assistance information assisting the base station to configure gaps as taught by Kim in order to optimize handover procedures and improve network reliability in multiple network communication situations.
Claim 4 contains subject matter similar to claim 1, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale. (Shaheen, “[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communication, and more particularly, to systems and methods for supporting multiple-universal subscriber identity module (multi-USIM) based operations in a user equipment (UE) supporting same or different operators”).
Claim 5 contains subject matter similar to claim 2, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20250287195 to Kim: Supporting UE supporting multiple SIMS in wireless communication networks.
US 20200374864 to Kuanet al: If remote user equipment is configured with discontinuous reception (Discontinuous Reception, DRX), a gap (such as a measurement gap measurement gap), or another configuration with a time limit on sidelink data receiving.
US 20200359251 to Gunnarsson et al: System Frame Number (SFN) Frame Time Difference (SFTD) reporting are disclosed. Embodiments of a method of operation of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network to perform SFTD measurements between a Primary Cell (PCell) of the UE and one or more other cells is provided.
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 JULIO R PEREZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7846. The examiner can normally be reached 10Am - 6PM EST M-F.
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, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 5712705371. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JULIO R PEREZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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