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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the amendments filed on 04/16/2026.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Claims 1-20 are rejected.
Claims 1, 11 and 19 are independent claims.
Response to Amendment
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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 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.
6. 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 of this title, 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.
7. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
8. Claims 1, 6-11 and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ankur Dauneria et al. (US 2024/0064863 A1), hereinafter Dauneria, in view of Svante ALNAS et al. (US 2021/0058773 A1), hereinafter ALNAS.
For claim 1, Dauneria teaches a method implemented by a session management function network element, wherein the method comprises:
initiating a first procedure of a first operation for a first session (Dauneria, Fig. 1a step 11 and paragraph 38. See also Fig. 1b step 3b and paragraph 91.)
ALNAS further teaches receiving, from an access and mobility management function network element, a request to establish user-plane resources for the first session in a process of performing the first operation (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.); and
determining, according to whether the first operation is a modification of the first session or a release of the first session, a subsequent procedure for the first session (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Dauneria with receiving, from an access and mobility management function network element, a request to establish user-plane resources for the first session in a process of performing the first operation; and determining, according to whether the first operation is a modification of the first session or a release of the first session, a subsequent procedure for the first session taught in ALNAS. Because both references disclose PDU session establishment in 5G system via AMF and SMF.
For claims 6-10, instant claim is proviso upon limitation “a release of the first session” not required by the claim 1; therefore, the limitation of instant claims do not come into force.
For claim 11, Dauneria teaches an apparatus (Dauneria, Fig. 25.) comprising:
a memory (Dauneria, Fig. 25 item 8023.) configured to store instructions; and
one or more processors (Dauneria, Fig. 25 item 8021.) coupled to the memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:
initiate a first procedure of a first operation for a first session (Dauneria, Fig. 1a step 11 and paragraph 38. See also Fig. 1b step 3b and paragraph 91.)
ALNAS further teaches receiving, from an access and mobility management function network element, a request to establish user-plane resources for the first session in a process of performing the first operation (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.); and
determining, according to whether the first operation is a modification of the first session or a release of the first session, a subsequent procedure for the first session (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Dauneria with receiving, from an access and mobility management function network element, a request to establish user-plane resources for the first session in a process of performing the first operation; and determining, according to whether the first operation is a modification of the first session or a release of the first session, a subsequent procedure for the first session taught in ALNAS. Because both references disclose PDU session establishment in 5G system via AMF and SMF.
For claims 15-18, instant claim is proviso upon limitation “a release of the first session” not required by the claim 11; therefore, the limitation of instant claims do not come into force.
For claim 19, Dauneria teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Dauneria, Fig. 25 item 8023.) comprising computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to:
initiate a first procedure of a first operation for a first session (Dauneria, Fig. 1a step 11 and paragraph 38. See also Fig. 1b step 3b and paragraph 91.)
ALNAS further teaches receiving, from an access and mobility management function network element, a request to establish user-plane resources for the first session in a process of performing the first operation (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.); and
determining, according to whether the first operation is a modification of the first session or a release of the first session, a subsequent procedure for the first session (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Dauneria with receiving, from an access and mobility management function network element, a request to establish user-plane resources for the first session in a process of performing the first operation; and determining, according to whether the first operation is a modification of the first session or a release of the first session, a subsequent procedure for the first session taught in ALNAS. Because both references disclose PDU session establishment in 5G system via AMF and SMF.
9. Claims 2-5, 12-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ankur Dauneria et al. (US 2024/0064863 A1), hereinafter Dauneria, in view of Svante ALNAS et al. (US 2021/0058773 A1), hereinafter ALNAS, and Jaehyun KIM et al. (US 20210307101 A1), hereinafter KIM
For claim 2, Dauneria and ALNAS further teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first operation is the modification of the first session, wherein the procedure of the first operation is a procedure of the modification of the first session (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.). and wherein determining the second subsequent procedure comprises:
performing a procedure of establishing the user-plane resources for the first session (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.). Dauneria and ALNAS do not explicitly teach aborting the procedure of the modification of the first session.
However, KIM explicitly teaches aborting the procedure of the modification of the first session (KIM, Fig. 10 step S1010 and paragraph 231 teach If the UE transmits a PDU session establishment/modification request for LADN Service Area 1 to the network system outside of LADN Service Area 1, an SMF may reject the PDU session establishment/modification request (S1010). The SMF may transmit a Reject message indicating the Reject for the PDU session establishment/modification request to the UE. The Reject message may include a cause value indicating the Reject reason. The cause value may indicate that the reason of the Reject is that the PDU session establishment/modification request for LADN Service Area 1 has been transmitted outside of LADN Service Area 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Dauneria and ALNAS with aborting the procedure of the modification of the first session taught in KIM in order to minimizes transmission delay with a more improved data transmission capability [KIM: background].
For claim 3, Dauneria, ALNAS and KIM further teach the method of claim 2, further comprising re-initiating the procedure of the modification of the first session after completing the procedure of establishing the user-plane resources for the first session (Dauneria, Fig. 1a step 16a and paragraph 49 teach the SMF initiates an N4 Session Modification procedure with the UPF. The SMF provides AN Tunnel Info to the UPF as well as the corresponding forwarding rules. See also ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.).
For claim 4, Dauneria, ALNAS and KIM further teach the method of claim 2, wherein performing the procedure of establishing the user-plane resources for the first session comprises sending, to the access and mobility management function network element, a first message indicating that the user-plane resources are successfully established (Dauneria, Fig. 1a step 17 and paragraph 55 teach SMF to AMF: Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Response (Cause). See also ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.).
For claim 5, Dauneria, ALNAS and KIM further teach the method of claim 4, wherein the first message is a session management context update response message, and wherein the session management context update response message comprises one or more of: user plane context status information indicating that the user-plane resources are being activated; or session management information comprising a related parameter for establishing the user- plane resources (Dauneria, Fig. 1a step 17 and paragraph 55 teach SMF to AMF: Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Response (Cause). Dauneria, Fig. 1b step 11 paragraph 88 teach if the User Plane connection of the PDU Session is activated, the message sent by the SMF to the AMF shall include N2 SM Resource Release request. See also ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.).
For claim 12, Dauneria and ALNAS further teaches the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first operation is the modification of the first session, wherein the procedure of the first operation is a procedure of the modification of the first session (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.). and wherein determining the second subsequent procedure comprises:
performing a procedure of establishing the user-plane resources for the first session (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.). Dauneria and ALNAS do not explicitly teach aborting the procedure of the modification of the first session.
However, KIM explicitly teaches aborting the procedure of the modification of the first session (KIM, Fig. 10 step S1010 and paragraph 231 teach If the UE transmits a PDU session establishment/modification request for LADN Service Area 1 to the network system outside of LADN Service Area 1, an SMF may reject the PDU session establishment/modification request (S1010). The SMF may transmit a Reject message indicating the Reject for the PDU session establishment/modification request to the UE. The Reject message may include a cause value indicating the Reject reason. The cause value may indicate that the reason of the Reject is that the PDU session establishment/modification request for LADN Service Area 1 has been transmitted outside of LADN Service Area 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Dauneria and ALNAS with aborting the procedure of the modification of the first session taught in KIM in order to minimizes transmission delay with a more improved data transmission capability [KIM: background].
For claim 13, Dauneria, ALNAS and KIM further teach the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to re-initiate the procedure of the modification of the first session after completing the procedure of establishing the user- plane resources for the first session (Dauneria, Fig. 1a step 16a and paragraph 49 teach the SMF initiates an N4 Session Modification procedure with the UPF. The SMF provides AN Tunnel Info to the UPF as well as the corresponding forwarding rules. See also ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.).
For claim 14, Dauneria, ALNAS and KIM further teach the apparatus of claim 12, wherein when performing the procedure of establishing the user-plane resources for the first session, the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to send, to the access and mobility management function network element, a first message indicating that the user-plane resources are successfully established (Dauneria, Fig. 1a step 17 and paragraph 55 teach SMF to AMF: Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Response (Cause). See also ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.).
For claim 20, Dauneria and ALNAS further teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein when the first operation is the modification of the first session (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.). and wherein determining the second subsequent procedure comprises:
performing a procedure of establishing the user-plane resources for the first session (ALNAS, Fig. 22 and paragraph 249-250.). Dauneria and ALNAS do not explicitly teach aborting the procedure of the modification of the first session.
However, KIM explicitly teaches aborting the procedure of the modification of the first session (KIM, Fig. 10 step S1010 and paragraph 231 teach If the UE transmits a PDU session establishment/modification request for LADN Service Area 1 to the network system outside of LADN Service Area 1, an SMF may reject the PDU session establishment/modification request (S1010). The SMF may transmit a Reject message indicating the Reject for the PDU session establishment/modification request to the UE. The Reject message may include a cause value indicating the Reject reason. The cause value may indicate that the reason of the Reject is that the PDU session establishment/modification request for LADN Service Area 1 has been transmitted outside of LADN Service Area 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Dauneria and ALNAS with aborting the procedure of the modification of the first session taught in KIM in order to minimizes transmission delay with a more improved data transmission capability [KIM: background].
Dauneria and ALNAS teach wherein when the first operation is the release of the first session, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
continue to perform the procedure of the release of the first session (Dauneria, Fig. 1b step 2a and paragraph 82 teach The SMF sends an N4 Session Release Request (N4 Session ID) message to the UPF(s) of the PDU Session. The UPF(s) shall drop any remaining packets of the PDU Session and release all tunnel resource and contexts associated with the N4 Session.)
Dauneria and ALNAS do not explicitly teach reject the request to establish the user-plane resources for the first session.
However, KIM explicitly teaches reject the request to establish the user-plane resources for the first session (KIM, Fig. 10 step S1010 and paragraph 231 teach If the UE transmits a PDU session establishment/modification request for LADN Service Area 1 to the network system outside of LADN Service Area 1, an SMF may reject the PDU session establishment/modification request (S1010). The SMF may transmit a Reject message indicating the Reject for the PDU session establishment/modification request to the UE. The Reject message may include a cause value indicating the Reject reason. The cause value may indicate that the reason of the Reject is that the PDU session establishment/modification request for LADN Service Area 1 has been transmitted outside of LADN Service Area 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Dauneria and ALNAS with reject the request to establish the user-plane resources for the first session taught in KIM in order to minimizes transmission delay with a more improved data transmission capability [JKIM: background].
Response to Arguments
10. Applicant's arguments filed 04/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot because of the new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
11. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILL W LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-8749. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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 Jiang can be reached at 571-270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILL W LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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