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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 04/20/2026 has been entered. Claims 7 and 9-10 have been amended. No New Claim has been canceled in this amendment. No New Claim has been added in this amendment. Claims 7 and 9-10 are pending in this application, with claims 7 and 9-10 being independent.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 April 20, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to rejection of Claims 7 and 9-10 under 35 U.S.C. §103 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Objections
Claims 7 and 9-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 7, the claim recites “. . a predetermined timer . .” which is unclear to relate to random access procedure
In claim 9, the claim recites “. . a predetermined timer . .” which is unclear to relate to random access procedure
In claim 10, the claim recites “. . a predetermined timer . .” which is unclear to relate to random access procedure
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 7 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2022/0132624 Al, hereinafter referred to as “Wu”) in view of Chang et al. (WO2022127731A1, hereinafter referred to as “Chang”) and further in view of KIM et al. (US 2021/0258844 Al, hereinafter referred to as “Kim”) .
Regarding Claims 7 and 9-10, Wu discloses a terminal (Wu Fig.2 Para[0043-44] A terminal), a base station (Wu Fig.2 Para[0043-44] A base station), a method and a system (Wu Fig.2 Para[0043-44] A System) comprising: a receiver that receives a message including a reconfiguration instruction for a secondary cell group (Wu Fig.10 Para[0075-76] A RRC setup-cell group configuration (i.e. ReconfigurationWithsync) message is received from the base station); and a processor that, when adding the secondary cell while the secondary cell group is in an inactive state (Wu Fig.10 Para[0002,0075-76] The cell group configuration message includes special cell or secondary cell configuration (i.e. addition), The UE can be in RRC_inactive state), determines whether or not execution of a random access is required for activation of the secondary cell group based on a predetermined timer expires (Wu Fig.10 Para[0029,0075-76] The random access is performed after receiving the cell group configuration from the base station and when the UE determines that an uplink is not synchronized based on time alignment timer expired).
Wu does not explicitly disclose the predetermined timer is configured by a network through radio resource control layer, wherein the processor activates the secondary cell group without executing the random access when the timer is not expired, and activates the secondary cell group with executing the random access when the timer is expired.
However, Chang from the same field of invention discloses the predetermined timer is configured by a network through radio resource control layer (Chang Para[0056] The timers are provided to the UE via RRC message).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Wu to have the feature of “the predetermined timer is configured by a network through radio resource control layer” as taught by Chang. The motivation would have been to reduce power consumption of a terminal (Chang Para[0002]).
Wu in view of Chang does not explicitly disclose herein the processor activates the secondary cell group without executing the random access when the timer is not expired, and activates the secondary cell group with executing the random access when the timer is expired.
However, Kim from the same field of invention discloses wherein the processor activates the secondary cell group without executing the random access when the timer is not expired, and activates the secondary cell group with executing the random access when the timer is expired (Kim Para[0126-138] The random access during PSCell modification which can be addition or modification uses timer T313 or T307 (i.e. predetermined timer) to perform or skip RACH).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Wu and Chang to have the feature of “wherein the processor activates the secondary cell group without executing the random access when the timer is not expired, and activates the secondary cell group with executing the random access when the timer is expired” as taught by Kim. The motivation would have been to prevent cell group change failure and terminal service delay (Kim Para[0010]).
Specifically for claims 7 and 10, Wu discloses the terminal that includes a processor (Wu Fig.2 Para[0043-44] A processor) and a receiver (Wu Fig.2 Para[0043-44] A transceiver).
Although specific columns, figures, reference numerals, lines of the reference(s), etc. have been referred to, Applicant should consider the entire applied prior art reference(s).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sudesh M. Patidar whose telephone number is (571)272-2768. The examiner can normally be reached M-F:: 10AM-6:30PM ET.
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, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached at (571) 270-1215. 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.
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
Prosecution Insights