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
Response to Arguments
1. Applicant's arguments, filed on 03/30/2026 with respect to claims 1 in the remarks, have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
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 1-3, 8-12 and 14-15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zong et al., (US 2019/0297148), (hereinafter, Zong).
Regarding claims 1 and 14, Zong discloses a method/network apparatus for handling registration of a user equipment (UE) (= when terminal moves to coverage area of 5G network, the terminal initiates a registration request including corresponding network slice information; and the registration request is sent to an AMF, see [0085]), the method comprising:
determining, by a mobility management function (AMF), at least one policy comprising an indication for one or more network slice selection information (S-NSSAI) in a list of configured NSSAI for the UE, wherein the indication is related to a registration procedure of the UE for the one or more S-NSSAI (= AMF obtains S-NSSAI, namely allowed NSSAI, corresponding to a network slice that the terminal is allowed to access, see [0093 and 0097]; AMF determines the allowed NSSAI based on information the PDN connection that the terminal needs to transfer, see [0095]); and
transmitting, by the AMF , information for the at least one policy to the UE
(= AMF requests NSSF entity to determine the allowed NSSAI, see [0098]; and AMF sends a registration response to the terminal, where the registration response includes the S-NSSAI corresponding to the network slice that the terminal is allowed to access, namely, the allowed NSSAI, see [0101]).
Regarding claim 2, as mentioned in claim 1, Zong further discloses the method, wherein the information for the at least one policy is included in at least one of a registration accept message or a UE configuration update message (= registration response includes S-NSSAI of a network slice that the terminal is allowed to access, see [0153]).
Regarding claim 3, as mentioned in claim 1, Zong further discloses the method, wherein the indication indicates that the UE needs to attempt to connect to that S-NSSAI at every opportunity by sending a requested NSSAI during a registration procedure (see, [0097]).
Regarding claim 8, as mentioned in claim 1, Zong further discloses that the method comprises at least one of: a registration accept message indicating whether the UE attempts to remain connected to a specific S-NSSAI; or a PDU session establishment response message indicating whether the UE attempts to remain connected to a specific DNN (see, [0105]).
Regarding claim 9, Zong discloses a method for handling registration of a user equipment (UE), (= when terminal moves to coverage area of 5G network, the terminal initiates a registration request including corresponding network slice information; and the registration request is sent to an AMF, see [0085]), the method comprising:
receiving, by the UE from a AMF, a message comprising information for at least one policy comprising an indication for one or more single-network slice selection information (S-NSSAI) in a list of configured NSSAI for the UE, wherein the indication is related to a registration procedure of the UE for the one or more S-NSSAI (= AMF obtains S-NSSAI, namely allowed NSSAI, corresponding to a network slice that the terminal is allowed to access, see [0093 and 0097]; AMF determines the allowed NSSAI based on information the PDN connection that the terminal needs to transfer, see [0095]); and
identifying, by the UE, at least one S-NSSAI from the list of configured NSSAI to accessing for at least one service during the registration procedure (= terminal determines a PDN connection that can be transferred to the 5G network based on the S-NSSAI corresponding to the network slice that the terminal is allowed to access, see [0102-103]).
Regarding claim 10, as mentioned in claim 9, Zong further discloses the method, wherein for an always-registered mode, the UE requests for a network slice by comprising required S- NSSAIs in a requested-NSSAI IE, even the UE is unable to determine whether at least one application running in the UE requires use of a registered network slice (see, [0087]).
Regarding claim 11, as mentioned in claim 9, Zong further discloses the method, wherein for an always-registered mode, the UE initiates an establishment of a PDU session, even the UE is unable to determine whether at least one application running in the UE requires an established PDU session to transmit or receive a user data (see, [0105]).
Regarding claim 12, as mentioned in claim 9, Zong further discloses the method, wherein for an on- demand mode, the UE requests for a network slice by including in a requested-NSSAI or initiates establishment of a PDU session when the UE confirms if at least one application running in the UE require network resources (see, [0103 and 0105]).
Regarding claim 15, Zong discloses a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a communicator; memory; and a processor coupled with the memory, configured to:
receive, through the communicator, a message comprising information for at least one policy comprising an indication for one or more single-network slice selection information (S-NSSAI) in a list of configured NSSAI for the UE, wherein the indication is related to a registration procedure of the UE for the one or more S-NSSAI identify at least one S-NSSAI from the list of configured NSSAI to accessing for at least one service during the registration procedure (= after receiving, from the control panel function entity, the corresponding network slice information used for transferring the established PDN connection to 5G, see [0086 and 0074]; one network slice instance may support one or more data networks, see [0075] and all PDU sessions in 5G network are associated with network slice, see [0075-76 and 0105] and table 4).
Allowable Subject Matter
3. Claims 4-7 and 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
CONCLUSION
4. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of 33the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kwasi Karikari whose telephone number is
571-272-8566.The examiner can normally be reached on M-Sat (6am – 10pm).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Charles Appiah can be reached on 571-272-7904.
The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8566.
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/Kwasi Karikari/
Primary Examiner: Art Unit 2641.
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