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 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 September 22, 2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5 – 7, 10, 12, 14 – 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 11,265,226) in view Duan (US 2020/0336911)
Regarding Claim 1, Hu teaches a method for providing and/or using services for a user equipment (UE), the services being provided at least indirectly by a network operator, the method comprising: after the UE has registered to a network of the network operator (in order to initiate an activation request message (Col. 13 lines 6 – 10) the UE would need to go through a handshaking or registration process with the network), communicating, by the UE, with the network or the network operator via a communication link between the network of the network operator and the UE (Figure 2, gateway, which comprises gateway control planes and gateway user planes enables a communication link between the UE network operator, which is the internet service provider (ISP)); receiving by the UE, a first communication address of a service controller of the network operator (Col. 13 lines 38 – 42, communication address of gateway), wherein the service controller manages access to services that can be used by the UE (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, gateway provides the network slice information, which the services are based on, thus the gateway effectively manages access to the services), and wherein the service controller de-registers or updates available services; receiving, by the UE, a list of possible available services from the service controller; selecting, by the UE, a service from the list (Col. 18 lines 55 – 57, searching network slices thus there will be a list of available slices); sending, by the UE, a request to access the selected service to the first communication address of the service controller (Col. 15 lines 1 – 12, session connection create request); receiving, by the UE, a message from the service controller in response to the request to access the selected service sent to the first communication address of the service controller (Cols. 17 lines 26 – 33, 18 lines 44 – 60, service policy info comprises network slice connection policy, performs a service based on network slice, this happens as a result of session connection create request (Col. 15 lines 1 – 12)); and starting, by the UE, the selected service based on the UE requesting the selected service via the second communication address of the selected service (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, establishing and initiating the connection for the service, which is starting the service).
Hu does not teach receiving, by the UE, a message comprising a second communication address of the selected service from the service controller in response to the request to access the selected service sent to the first communication address of the service controller, wherein the second communication address of the selected service comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the selected.
Duan, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches receiving, by the UE, a message comprising a second communication address of the selected service from the service controller in response to the request to access the selected service sent to the service controller, wherein the second communication address of the selected service comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the selected (Sections 0111, 0112).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system Hu with the above features of Duan for the purpose of controlling privileges of different UEs to access different services as taught by Duan.
Regarding Claim 14, Hu teaches a communication system, comprising: a service controller of a network operator (Figure 2, gateway, which comprises gateway control planes and gateway user planes); and a user equipment (UE) (Figure 2); wherein the service controller is configured to: after the UE has registered to a network of the network operator (in order to initiate an activation request message (Col. 13 lines 6 – 10) the UE would need to go through a handshaking or registration process with the network), provide a communication link between the network of the network operator and the UE (Figure 2, gateway, which comprises gateway control planes and gateway user planes enables a communication link between the UE network operator, which is the internet service provider (ISP)); transmit a first communication address of the service controller of the network operator to the UE (Col. 13 lines 38 – 42, communication address of gateway); manage access to services that can be used by the UE (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, gateway provides the network slice information, which the services are based on, thus the gateway effectively manages access to the services); and de-register or update available services; wherein the UE is configured to receive a list of possible available services from the service controller; select a service from the list (Col. 18 lines 55 – 57, searching network slices thus there will be a list of available slices); and send a request to access the selected service to the first communication address of the service controller (Col. 15 lines 1 – 12, session connection create request); wherein the service controller is further configured to transmit a message from the service controller to the UE in response to the request to access the selected service sent to the first communication address of the service controller (Cols. 17 lines 26 – 33, 18 lines 44 – 60, service policy info comprises network slice connection policy, performs a service based on network slice, this happens as a result of session connection create request (Col. 15 lines 1 – 12)); and wherein the UE is further configured to start the selected service based on the UE requesting the selected service via the second communication address of the selected service (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, establishing and initiating the connection for the service, which is starting the service).
Hu does not teach wherein the service controller is further configured to transmit a message comprising a second communication address of the selected service from the service controller to the UE in response to the request to access the selected service sent to the first communication address of the service controller, wherein the second communication address of the selected service comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the selected service.
Duan, which also teaches wherein the service controller is further configured to transmit a message comprising a second communication address of the selected service from the service controller to the UE in response to the request to access the selected service sent to the service controller, wherein the second communication address of the selected service comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the selected (Sections 0111, 0112).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system Hu with the above features of Duan for the purpose of controlling privileges of different UEs to access different services as taught by Duan.
Regarding Claim 16, Hu teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon for providing and/or using services for a user equipment (UE), the services being provided at least indirectly by a network operator, wherein the processor- executable instructions (Figure 3, UE comprises a processor, typical processors run executable code stored in memory), when executed, facilitate performance of the following: after the UE has registered to a network of the network operator (in order to initiate an activation request message (Col. 13 lines 6 – 10) the UE would need to go through a handshaking or registration process with the network), communicating, by the UE, with the network of the network operator via a communication link between the network of the network operator and the UE (Figure 2, gateway, which comprises gateway control planes and gateway user planes enables a communication link between the UE network operator, which is the internet service provider (ISP)); receiving, by the UE, a first communication address of a service controller of the network operator (Col. 13 lines 38 – 42, communication address of gateway), wherein the service controller manages access to services that can be used by the UE (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, gateway provides the network slice information, which the services are based on, thus the gateway effectively manages access to the services), and wherein the service controller de-registers or updates available services; receiving, by the UE, a list of possible available services from the service controller; selecting, by the UE, a service from the list (Col. 18 lines 55 – 57, searching network slices thus there will be a list of available slices); sending, by the UE, a request to access the selected service to the first communication address of the service controller(Col. 15 lines 1 – 12, session connection create request); receiving, by the UE, a message from the service controller in response to the request to access the selected service sent to the first communication address of the service controller (Cols. 17 lines 26 – 33, 18 lines 44 – 60, service policy info comprises network slice connection policy, performs a service based on network slice, access type is the address of the service, this happens as a result of session connection create request (Col. 15 lines 1 – 12)); and starting, by the UE, the selected service based on the UE requesting the selected service via the second communication address of the selected service (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, establishing and initiating the connection for the service, which is starting the service).
Hu does not teach receiving, by the UE, a message comprising a second communication address of the selected service from the service controller in response to the request to access the selected service sent to the first communication address of the service controller, wherein the second communication address of the selected service comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the selected service.
Duan, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches receiving, by the UE, a message comprising a second communication address of the selected service from the service controller in response to the request to access the selected service sent to the service controller, wherein the second communication address of the selected service comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the selected (Sections 0111, 0112).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system Hu with the above features of Duan for the purpose of controlling privileges of different UEs to access different services as taught by Duan.
Regarding Claim 2, Hu in view of Duan teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hu further teaches wherein the first communication address of the service controller is transmitted upon a request by the UE and/or by a network controller upon the UE registering to the network (Col. 13 line 13, UE sends an attach request message).
Regarding Claim 5, Hu teaches in view of Duan all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hu further teaches wherein the message comprises parameters characterizing the service (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, network slice information characterizes the service).
Regarding Claim 6, Hu in view of Duan teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 5. Hu further teaches wherein the message comprises a list with respective second communication addresses of several different implementations of a respective service (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, access types are the addresses, plurality of network slices thus there will be a list), wherein: the UE selects one of the implementations based on the parameters and/or the service controller performs a pre-selection of the implementations based on a second criteria (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, selection based on the desired service).
Regarding Claim 7, Hu in view of Duan teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hu further teaches wherein a service provider registers the service, wherein the service is known to the service controller, and wherein the service controller keeps the service available for requests (Figure 2, Cols. 17 lines 26 – 33, 18 lines 44 – 60, typical ISPs register the services they offer, gateway provides network slice information, which is service information thus gateway keeps slices available).
Regarding Claim 10, Hu in view of Duan teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hu further teaches wherein the service is set up in the network of the network operator or in a further network of a further network operator (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, the service will be set up in the network of the ISP (Figure 2)).
Regarding Claim 15, Hu in view of Duan teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 14. Hu further teaches a service handling engine; a service database; a service monitoring engine; a life cycle management engine; and/or a trust relation management engine (Col. 18 lines 44 – 60, gateway provides the network slice information, which the services are based on thus the entity of said gateway that handles the network slice information is the service handling engine).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 11,265,226) in view Duan (US 2020/0336911) in view of Yoshizawa (US 2016/0044544).
Regarding Claim 3, Hu in view of Duan teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 2. Hu in view of Duan does not teach wherein the network controller selects, from among a plurality of service controllers, the service controller whose first communication address it transmits to the UE according to a first criterion.
Yoshizawa, which also teaches the use of gateways, teaches wherein the network controller selects, from among a plurality of service controllers, the service controller whose first communication address it transmits to the UE according to a first criterion (Sections 0017, 0018, appropriate gateway is selected to accommodate handoff based on a handoff request).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hu in view of Duan with the above features of Yoshizawa for the purpose of preserving calls when changing networks as taught by Yoshizawa.
Claim(s) 8, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 11,265,226) in view Duan (US 2020/0336911) in view of Agarwal et al. (US 2017/0171818)
Regarding Claim 8, Hu in view of Duan teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hu in view of Duan does not teach wherein in case that the service is not available yet, the service controller sets up the service.
Agarwal, which also teaches wireless communications, teaches wherein in case that the service is not available yet, the service controller sets up the service (Section 0090, in DRX the mobile can be sleep during inactive periods while remaining connected to the network, the connection has been established or set up).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hu in view of Duan with the above features of Agarwal for the purpose of providing an efficient use of power as taught by Agarwal.
Regarding Claim 9, Hu in view of Duan in view of Agarwal teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 8. Hu in view of Duan does not teach wherein the service controller for setting up the service obtains execution-relevant information from a provider of the service and/or an internal service database of the network operator.
Agarwal, which also teaches wireless communications, teaches wherein the service controller for setting up the service obtains execution-relevant information from a provider of the service and/or an internal service database of the network operator (Section 0090, device can wake up and monitor for activity which comprises execution relevant information).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hu in view of Duan with the above features of Agarwal for the purpose of providing an efficient use of power as taught by Agarwal.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 11,265,226) in view Duan (US 2020/0336911) in view of Govindassamy (US 10,531,361)
Regarding Claim 11, Hu in view of Duan teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Hu in view of Duan does not teach wherein the service is set up in a distributed manner in the network of the network operator and in a further network of a further network operator.
Govindassamy, which also teaches use of internet services, teaches wherein the service is set up in a distributed manner in the network of the network operator and in a further network of a further network operator (Col. 4 lines 18 – 36, distribution of internet services across access networks).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hu in view of Duan with the above features of Govindassamy for the purpose of enabling a client device to get internet service from multiple sources as taught by Govindassamy.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hammer et al. (US 2016/0105787) Section 0018 teaches DHCP and Koen et al. (US 2023/0388287) Section 0012 teaches available services provided by a federation.
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/RAYMOND S DEAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean
September 28, 2026
