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 .
The amendment filed on 08/05/26 has been acknowledged.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 08/05/26 has been entered.
Amendment Summary
Claims 1, 7, 15 are amended.
Claims 6, 12, 18 and 19 are canceled.
Response to Arguments/Amendments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims # 1-5, 7-11, 13-17 and 20 have been considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims # 1-5, 7-11, 13-17 and 20 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the combination of the references being used for the current rejection of the above claim.
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) 1-5, 7-17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Namiranian (US 2019/0028884 A1) in view of Kim (US 2024/0147216 A1)
Regarding Claim 1,
Namiranian discloses a method (See [Abstract]; a method for reusing eSIM profile in case of a deletion event) comprising:
receiving, by an entitlement server (Fig.1(110)), a request for an eSIM (See [0013]; [0024]; [0029]; the subscription management service receives a request for an eSIM profile from a specific user device with a particular eUICC) from a user equipment (UE) (Fig.1(104));
determining, by the entitlement server (Fig.1(110)), that the UE (Fig.1(104)) is associated with an allocated eSIM (See [0013]; [0021-0022]; the subscription management service may associate the IMSI of the eSIM profile with a subscriber account of the subscriber that is affiliated with the specific user device) in an eSIM server (Fig.1(112)) based at least on an active subscriber status (See [0025-0026]; The billing status 120 of the eSIM profile 108 may be an active status 122 when the corresponding subscriber associated with the eSIM profile 108 is enrolled to receive telecommunication services from the wireless communication carrier 102) from a billing server (Fig.1(114)) and a quarantine status for the allocated eSIM (See [0024-0025]; [0024] In operation, the SM-DP+ of the wireless communication carrier 102 may receive a notification from the user device 104 indicating that the eSIM profile 108 is deleted from the eUICC 106);
instructing, by the entitlement server (Fig.1(110)), the eSIM server (Fig.1(112)) to update the quarantine status for the allocated eSIM to a released status (See [0025-0026]; the billing function 114 may request that the SM-DP+ transition the profile state of the eSIM profile 108 to release by the eUICC, meaning that the eSIM profile 108 is released for reuse solely by the eUICC with the specific EID); and
instructing, by the entitlement server (Fig.1(110)), the UE (Fig.1(104)) to retrieve the allocated eSIM (See [0029]; In a scenario in which the deletion of the eSIM profile 108 was accidental, the SM-DP+ may locate such an eSIM profile, i.e., the eSIM profile 108, and initiate the provision of the eSIM profile to the eUICC 106. Accordingly, the new eSIM profile 132 that is provisioned to the eUICC 106 in response to the request is in fact a duplicate of the previously provisioned eSIM profile 108) from the eSIM server (Fig.1(112)).
instructing the UE to retrieve the allocated eSIM from the eSIM server (See [0029]; Accordingly, the new eSIM profile 132 that is provisioned to the eUICC 106 in response to the request is in fact a duplicate of the previously provisioned eSIM profile 108)
But Namiranian fails to explicitly recite that
the instruction comprises
instructing the UE to receive the eSIM in a pushed transmission from the eSIM server.
However in an analogous art,
Kim teaches about a wireless device being provisioned with eSIM profile through a push model from a backend server (See [0055]).
Namiranian and Kim are analogous art because they all pertain to cellular wireless telecommunication technology. Namiranian teaches about a system where a UE by deleting its eSIM profile can retrieve the eSIM profile through an eSIM server after checking the status of the eSIM profile from a billing server. Kim teaches about a wireless device being provisioned with eSIM profile through a push model from a backend server. Namiranian could use Kim features of pushing transmission message in order for the eSIM server server to provide eSIM profile to the UE without a request. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filing of the application to combine Namiranian and Kim as to obtain an efficient cellular provisioning eSIM profile.
Regarding Claim 2,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to Claim 1 and Namiranian further teaches
wherein the request for the eSIM from the UE indicates that the UE previously retrieved and deleted the allocated eSIM (See [Abstract]; [0012]; A notification is received from a user device indicating that an embedded subscriber identity module ( eSIM) profile is deleted from an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) of the user device, in which the eUICC has a particular eUICC identifier (ID)) .
Regarding Claim 3,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to Claim 1 and Namiranian further teaches
wherein the request for the eSIM from the UE is a request to retrieve the allocated eSIM (See [0012]; [0014]; [0029]; UE sends notice to subscription management server in order to retrieve deleted eSIM profile without purchasing a new one).
Regarding Claim 4,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to Claim 1 and Namiranian further teaches
wherein the determining comprises:
determining that the request for the eSIM from the UE includes a subscriber identifier (See [0011]; [0019]; [0025]; eSIM profile comprises IMSI (international module subscriber identification)); and
interacting with the billing server to determine that a subscriber associated with the subscriber identifier is active (See [0012]; the subscription management service may contact a billing function of the wireless communication carrier to determine whether the eSIM profile is active or inactive for billing the subscriber for telecommunication services).
Regarding Claim 5,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to Claim 4 and Namiranian further teaches
determining that the subscriber identifier is associated with the allocated eSIM (See [0012]; [0019]; [0025]; eSIM profile comprise IMSI) and the quarantine status by interacting with the eSIM server (See [0012]; [0025]; Billing function determines inactive status of eSIM profile) .
Regarding Claim 7,
Namiranian discloses an eSIM server (Fig.1(112)) comprising:
one or more processors (Fig.2(204)); and a plurality of programming instructions (See [0033]; server comprises instruction to perform operations) that, when executed by the one or more processors(Fig.2(204)), cause the one or more processors (Fig.2(204)) to perform operations including:
receiving a notification of a deletion of an eSIM from a user equipment (UE) (See [0012]; the subscription management service may receive a notification from a user device of a subscriber that the eSIM profile is deleted from the eUICC of the user device);
setting a status for the eSIM to a quarantine status (See [0012]; the subscription management service may transition a profile state of the eSIM profile from a state of in use to a state of suspended in response to the notification);
checking with a billing server (Fig.1(114)) to determine whether the UE is associated with an active subscription (See [0012]; the subscription management service may contact a billing function of the wireless communication carrier to determine whether the eSIM profile is active or inactive for billing the subscriber for telecommunication services);
while the UE is associated with the active subscription (See [0012]; [0029]; the eSIM profile can be deleted while the UE is associated with active subscription) or until instructed by an entitlement server to update the status of the eSIM (See [0012]; [0029]; Billing server check subscription if the account is active or not and inform subscription management servicer server about status of UE eSIM), maintaining the status for the eSIM as the quarantine status (See [0012]; [0029]; eSIM profile status is maintained suspended if subscription account is not active);
receiving an instruction from the entitlement server to update the status of the eSIM to a released status (See [0012]; [0029]; if the eSIM profile is active for billing the subscriber, the subscription management service may transition the profile state of the eSIM profile to a state of released); and
following the instruction from the entitlement server, providing the eSIM to the UE (See [0029]; [0045]; the SM-DP+ may use the EID of the eUICC 106 to search the available pool of eSIM profiles for an eSIM profile whose profile status indicates that the eSIM profile is released for reuse solely by an eUICC with the EID)
But Namiranian fails to explicitly recite that
providing the eSIM to the UE in a pushed transmission
However in an analogous art,
Kim teaches about a wireless device being provisioned with eSIM profile through a push model from a backend server (See [0055]).
Namiranian and Kim are analogous art because they all pertain to cellular wireless telecommunication technology. Namiranian teaches about a system where a UE by deleting its eSIM profile can retrieve the eSIM profile through an eSIM server after checking the status of the eSIM profile from a billing server. Kim teaches about a wireless device being provisioned with eSIM profile through a push model from a backend server. Namiranian could use Kim features of pushing transmission message in order for the eSIM server server to provide eSIM profile to the UE without a request. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filing of the application to combine Namiranian and Kim as to obtain an efficient cellular provisioning eSIM profile.
Regarding Claim 8,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 7 and Namiranian further teaches
checking on a repeated basis until a billing server status changes to canceled (See [0028]; SM-DP+ perform additional check for active or inactive subscription from the billing function before changing status of eSIM profile) or the status of the eSIM changes to the released status (See [0028]; SIM profile can be release if billing function deem subscription still active).
Regarding Claim 9,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 8 and Namiranian further teaches
when the billing server status changes to canceled (See [0029-0030]; subscription billing function may not be activated) and after period of time (See [0030-0031]; SM-DP+ communicate with Billing server for update status), updating the status of the eSIM to delete an association with the UE (See [0030-0031]; status of eSIM profile change to suspend).
Regarding Claim 10,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 7 and Namiranian further teaches
receiving, from the entitlement server, a request for a status of any eSIM associated with the UE (See [0028-0029]; eSIM server received request from SM-DP+ about availability of eSIM profile in database store) and providing the status of the eSIM in response to the request (See [0028-0029]; providing availability of eSIM profile).
Regarding Claim 11,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 7 and Namiranian further teaches
wherein the providing the eSIM to the UE (See [0029]; provisioning UE) comprises:
based on a configuration to push the eSIM to the UE (See [0029]; request UE to retrieve eSIM profile )and
upon receiving the instruction from entitlement server to update the status of the eSIM to the released status (See [0012]; [0026]; status of eSIM profile is released with information of billing server) providing the eSIM to the UE (See [0029]; after verification initiate provisioning of eSIM to UE).
Regarding Claim 12,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 11 and Namiranian further teaches
receiving the request from the UE for the eSIM (See [0024]; [0029]; the request may be initiated by an input from an administrator or the billing function 114 in response to a report from a subscriber that an existing eSIM profile on the eUICC 106 has been accidentally deleted).
Regarding Claim 13,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 7 and Namiranian further teaches
wherein the eSIM server includes an orchestration service (Fig.1(112); [0022]; coordinate eSIM profile) and an eSIM storage (See Fig.1(112); [0022]; store eSIM profile).
Regarding Claim 14,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 7 and Namiranian further teaches
maintaining a list of eSIM statuses (See [0027-0028]; update and maintain profile state until further billing event) and associated subscriber identifiers (See [0028-0029]; an IMSI is associated with each eSIM profile).
Regarding Claim 15,
Namiranian discloses a method (See (See [Abstract]; a method for reusing eSIM profile in case of a deletion event) comprising:
deleting ((See [Abstract]; [0012]; A notification is received from a user device indicating that an embedded subscriber identity module ( eSIM) profile is deleted from an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) of the user device, in which the eUICC has a particular eUICC identifier (ID)), by a user equipment (UE) (Fig.1(104)), an eSIM stored (See [[Abstract]; [0012]; eSIM is stored in the eUICC of the UE) on the UE (Fig.1(104));
determining, by the UE (Fig.1(104)), that the UE (Fig.1(104)) is using a feature that requires an eSIM for access to a telecommunications network (See [0011-0012]; UE needs subscription identification and authentication to access cellular network);
providing, by the UE (Fig.1(104)), a user of the UE (Fig.1(104)) with an option to retrieve the deleted eSIM (See [Abstract]; [0012]; [0026]; UE is provided with features to restore deleted eSIM);
requesting, by the UE (Fig.1(104)), the deleted eSIM from the telecommunications network (See [0024]; carrier 102 may receive a notification from the user device 104 indicating that the eSIM profile 108 is deleted from the eUICC 106) ; and receiving, by the UE (Fig.1(104)), the deleted eSIM (See [0012];[0029]; received duplicate copy of the deleted eSIM) .
But Namiranian fails to explicitly recite that
wherein the receiving comprises receiving the deleted eSIM from an eSIM server of the telecommunications network in a pushed transmission from the eSIM server.
However in an analogous art,
Kim teaches about a wireless device being provisioned with eSIM profile through a push model from a backend server (See [0055]).
Namiranian and Kim are analogous art because they all pertain to cellular wireless telecommunication technology. Namiranian teaches about a system where a UE by deleting its eSIM profile can retrieve the eSIM profile through an eSIM server after checking the status of the eSIM profile from a billing server. Kim teaches about a wireless device being provisioned with eSIM profile through a push model from a backend server. Namiranian could use Kim features of pushing transmission message in order for the eSIM server server to provide eSIM profile to the UE without a request. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filing of the application to combine Namiranian and Kim as to obtain an efficient cellular provisioning eSIM profile.
Regarding Claim 16,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 15 and Namiranian further teaches
wherein the UE is
a watch (See [0019]; smartwatch),
a mobile device (See {0019]; smartphone),
goggles,
a wearable device (See [0019]; smartwatch), or
an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device.
(The term “or” is used for multiple option in complete examination)
Regarding Claim 17,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 15 and Namiranian further teaches
sending a request to an entitlement server of the telecommunications network (See [0024]; In operation, the SM-DP+ of the wireless communication carrier 102 may receive a notification from the user device 104 indicating that the eSIM profile 108 is deleted from the eUICC 106) and indicating in the request that the request is for the deleted eSIM (See [0024]; In operation, the SM-DP+ of the wireless communication carrier 102 may receive a notification from the user device 104 indicating that the eSIM profile 108 is deleted from the eUICC 106) .
Regarding Claim 20,
Namiranian and Kim teach all the features with respect to claim 15 and Namiranian further teaches
wherein the deleting of the deleted eSIM was accidental, unintentional, or a program error (See [0014]; [0029]; eSIM can be deleted accidentally through human error).
Conclusion
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.
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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.
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/GARY LAFONTANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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