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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/30/2026 has been entered.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by UMTS; LTE; Network sharing (3GPP TS 23.251 version 17.0.0 Release 17, NPL Item No. 7 from IDS NPL, ETSI TS 123 251 v17.0.0, April 2022, hereinafter 3GPP_TS_23.251).
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 20, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches operating a mobile network operator (MNO) core network entity (Fig, 5 RNC) to initiate a user equipment (UE) interworking operation with a multiple system operator (MSO) core network by sending an initiate message communicating an attach request corresponding to a first UE to a first MSO core network entity (Fig. 5, MSC/SGSN A) which has access to first UE subscription data (see page 23, Fig, 5 as shown below, step 2 and step 3 Attach Request); and receiving at the at the MNO core network entity a message including a command from the first MSO core network entity, said command commanding the MNO core network entity to use a second MSO core network entity (Fig. 5, step 5a or step 9 Reroute Command), which is an MSO network interworking entity, as the source for UE policy information to be applied to service provided to the first UE (Fig. 5, step 8-Insert Subsc. Data).
PNG
media_image1.png
200
400
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claims 2 and 12, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches wherein the first MSO core entity stores subscription data corresponding to the first UE or has access to stored subscription data corresponding to the first UE (Fig. 5, step 8-MSC/SGSN B updates the HLR and receives subscriber data from HLR).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches the first MSO core network entity serves as a home subscription data service provider when the first UE is in the MSO network (Fig. 9).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches receiving, at MNO core network entity, prior to operating the MNO core network entity to initiate the UE interworking operation with the MSO core network, a message relating to first UE connection establishment at a radio access node (RAN) in the MNO network (Fig. 5. Steps 1 and 2).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches operating the first MSO core network entity to select from a plurality of interworking nodes in the MSO network the second MSO core network entity (Fig. 5 MSC/SGSN C) to serve as the interworking node for communication services provided to the first UE while the first UE is communicating via a RAN in the MNO network (Fig. 5 UE and RNC).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches operating the first MSO core network entity to communicate the attach request corresponding to the first UE to the second MSO core network entity (Fig. 5, step 3 Attach Request and step 5a Reroute Command).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches operating the second MSO core network entity to establish an MSO network connection with the first UE (Fig. 5, steps 9 and 10).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches operating the second MSO core network entity to establish the MSO network connection with the first UE includes: operating the second MSO network entity (Fig. 5, MSC/SGSN C) to send a reroute message (Fig. 5, step 9 Reroute Command) indicating that the reroute of the connection from the MNO network to the second MSO core network entity has been completed and accepted by the second MSO network entity (Fig. 5, step 13 Reroute Complete).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches: operating the MNO core network entity to communicate a message to the first UE indicating acceptance of the first UE by the second MSO network entity (Fig. 5, step 14 Attach accept).
Regarding claim 10, 3GPP_TS_23.251 teaches wherein operating the second MSO core network entity to establish the MSO network connection with the first UE further includes: operating the second MSO network entity to receive an attach complete message from the first UE (Fig. 5, step 15 Attach complete).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUNSOOK CHOI whose telephone number is (571)270-1822. The examiner can normally be reached on 8am-4:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hassan Phillips can be reached on 5712723940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/EUNSOOK CHOI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
Prosecution Insights