Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/501,742

ONBOARDING A DEVICE WITH NO HOME NETWORK

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Nov 03, 2023
Examiner
TROST IV, WILLIAM GEORGE
Art Unit
2641
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc.
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
63%
Grant Probability
Moderate
2-3
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
28%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 63% of resolved cases
63%
Career Allow Rate
17 granted / 27 resolved
+1.0% vs TC avg
Minimal -35% lift
Without
With
+-35.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
27 currently pending
Career history
54
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.5%
-36.5% vs TC avg
§103
60.4%
+20.4% vs TC avg
§102
26.4%
-13.6% vs TC avg
§112
7.6%
-32.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 27 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-14 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 § 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. Claims 1-4, 6-11, 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Shin (11197137) in view of Wang (2023/0413049). The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). Regarding claim 1, Shin discloses a method implemented by a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) – User equipment 100 is the equivalent of a WTRU comprising: sending a registration request message to a network, wherein the registration request message indicates that the WTRU does not have a home network (the registration request includes a preconfigured temporary ID (bIMSI) which indicates that the UE does not have a home network, Col; 10-23-33 and Col 17;4-15 and Figure 4, step 405) Shin further discloses receiving a registration accept message, wherein the registration accept message includes an address of a provisioning server (Col 10;60-Col. 11;5 and Col 17;45-50, receiving the provisioning profile include the second server id after the initial access/registration attempt, Figure 4, step 411). Shin discloses the use of temporary credentials which are received (Figure 4, step 413) but does not disclose sending a request for temporary credentials to the provisioning server using the address of the provisioning server. However, Wang teaches in an analogous art, the use of a WTRU (102)in which a registration request (LTS subscription request) includes temporary credentials (para 110-112) and that the request for registration involves receiving a provisioning server’s address (para 157, PVS address returned to the UE) and using that address for temporary credentials (para 160-162). Also see Figure 6, steps S608 and S610. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a request for temporary credentials to allow for a user to temporarily register in a local network, as taught by Wang. Regarding claim 8, Shin discloses a WTRU (user equipment 200, Figure 2) comprising a processor (processing unit 210) and a transceiver (network interface 250) for performing the registration process as discussed above with respect to claim 1. Regarding claims 2 and 9, Shin discloses registering with the onboarding network using the temporary credentials (Co; 11;5-45 – use of temporary credentials/bIMSI for registration, i.e. – PLMN selection). Regarding claims 3 and 10, Shin discloses wherein the WTRU is authenticated with a default credentials server prior to receiving the registration accept message (Figure 4, Step 409, authentication and authorization for the UE is performed before the obtaining of the second server/temporary profile). Regarding claims 4 and 11, Wang further teaches that the sending the request message for the temporary credentials occurs after the WTRU establishes a user plane connection (Figure 7, para 135 refers to PDU session establishment which is a user plane connection initially for LTS network registration/temporary credentials. Regarding claims 6, and 13 Wang further teaches wherein the WTRU is an IoT device (para 26). Regarding claims 7 and 14, Wang further teaches wherein the temporary credentials are dynamically created by the network based on the registration request message (para 81 and 87 subscription information is dynamically provisioned and provisioning is based on the registration request/onboarding). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02. Claim(s) 5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin and Wang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Shan (2019/0182718). Regarding claims 5 and 12, the combination of Shin and Wang discloses all the limitations except wherein the registration request message includes a WTRU identifier, including a SUPI or SUCI (permanent or concealed identifier). However, Shan in an analogous art, teaches the use of registration messages in which a WTRU (UE 204) use a SUPI or SUCI (subscriber permanent or concealed identifier – paragraph 28). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include SUPI or SUCI identifiers in order to allow for 5g compatibility for registration process. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Salmela (2009/0217364) discloses the managing of credentials for temporary access. Slavov (2009/0253409) disclose the use of a subscription and provisioning server for registration using a identifier without a home network (PMSI). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM GEORGE TROST IV whose telephone number is (571)272-7872. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7a-4p, Fridays 7a-2p. 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, Charles Appiah can be reached at 571-272-7904. 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. WILLIAM GEORGE TROST IV Primary Patent Examiner Art Unit 2641 /WILLIAM G TROST IV/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2641
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 03, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 03, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Nov 20, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Feb 26, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12574720
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR END DEVICE CONFIGURATION BASED ON SUBSCRIBER ATTRIBUTES AND AVAILABILITY
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12477509
WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, REPEATER, AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONMETHOD
2y 5m to grant Granted Nov 18, 2025
Patent 12452818
Handling PLMN Prioritization
2y 5m to grant Granted Oct 21, 2025
Patent 12446080
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DATA COMMUNICATION AT A PRIMARY WIRELESS COMMUNICATION APPARATUS IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN AUXILIARY WIRELESS COMMUNICATION APPARATUS
2y 5m to grant Granted Oct 14, 2025
Patent 7791481
LIGHT ACTIVATED RFID TAG
2y 5m to grant Granted Sep 07, 2010
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
63%
Grant Probability
28%
With Interview (-35.4%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 27 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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