DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to the application 18/603,140 filed on March 12, 2024.
Claims 23-44 are pending.
Claims 23-32 and 39-44 are rejected.
Claims 33-38 are objected to.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 17, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 23, 26, 28 and 42-44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patel et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0167114, hereinafter Patel, in view of Leung U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0133908, hereinafter Leung.
Regarding Claim 23, Patel discloses an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor (Abstract; Figure 1-5), cause the apparatus at least to:
detect, by a device configured to communicate based on a fixed wireless access service, an event (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0060] Reception of a network service related request);
perform, by the device in response to the event, a determination as to whether a current location of the device is within an approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0060] Determination of location of the device in response to the event and determining whether the device is within the geo-fencing area for the fixed wireless access device designated service address to enable an end device to access a network service);
and perform, by the device based on a determination that the current location of the device is outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service, activation of a captive portal configured to control communications of the device using the fixed wireless access service and initiation of a service access process configured to support use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0068] Determination of location of the device in response to the event and determining whether the device is within the geo-fencing area for the fixed wireless access device designated service address to enable an end device to access a network service; Enforcement and enabling network services when the device is within the geo-fencing area of the FWA and denying, disabling, restricting services when outside the geo-fencing in which case the network connection may be disabled or redirected, for example, to a particular web portal, and/or data usage associated with requested network services may be restricted and/or bandwidth throttled).
Patel readily discloses the limitations of the independent claim but may not explicitly disclose activation of a captive portal configured to control communications of the device using the fixed wireless access service and initiation of a service access process configured to support use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service
However, Leung more specifically teaches activation of a captive portal configured to control communications of the device using the fixed wireless access service and initiation of a service access process configured to support use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Abstract; Paragraph [0005-0014 and 0061-0105] If the MCD is outside of the wireless coverage area of the fixed sensor node, information may be provided to the MCD by all the other components in the system and texted to a mobile phone whose number is bound to the MCD by the SMS server. While online, the MCD 1000 may connect to the communication portal 1001 for data upload, such as transaction data, step data, vibration sensor data, etc., for selected data download, such as instant-information, ready-alert, security, daily-alert, service-request etc; for software upgrade; for battery charging; and for serving as a fixed sensor node 500, as a few non-exhaustive examples; The communication portal 1001 may enable an administrator to control the access right of the MCD 1000 users; That is outside of the approved region for the device a captive portal is provided to support the use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region).
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 teachings of Patel with the teachings of Leung. The system is integrated with mobile phone network e.g. global system for mobile communication network, to enhance the coverage area of the system to facilitate launching more comprehensive applications. The portability of the mobile communication device is improved to avoid the user from carrying so many electronic devices at a time when he/she goes out. The system uses communication portal released software and released standardized hardware to allow an interested party to develop his own application to highly improve and encourage different parties to join in the system development, so that system applications can become more comprehensive, and the communication portal can have higher accessing rate, thus facilitating the extendibility and flexibility of the system (Leung Abstract; Paragraph [0001-0025]).
Regarding Claim 26, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 23. Patel in view of Leung further disclose wherein the determination as to whether the current location of the device is within the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service is based on approved region information configured to describe the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Patel Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0068] Determination of location of the device in response to the event and determining whether the device is within the geo-fencing area for the fixed wireless access device designated service address to enable an end device to access a network service).
Regarding Claim 28, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 26. Patel in view of Leung further disclose wherein at least one of a portion of the approved region information is preconfigured on the device or a portion of the approved region information is received by the device from a service provider device associated with the fixed wireless access service (Patel Paragraph [0010-0012] In other implementations, geo-fencing may be provisioned for the FWA services to control the customer's access to network services based on the designated service location. In some implementations, the geo-fencing may correspond to a geographic location of varying granularity corresponding to, for example, GPS data obtained for the UE device and/or FWA device, secure user plane location (SUPL) data obtained for the UE device and/or FWA device, LTE positioning protocol annex (LPPa) data obtained for the UE device and/or FWA device, etc. In other implementations, the geo-fencing may correspond to a geographic location associated with a cell sector that is identified by a cell ID such as an extended Cell Global Identifier (eCGI) or NR Cell Global Identifier (NCGI). In other implementations, the geo-fencing may correspond to a geographic location associated with a tracking area that is identified by a Tracking Area Identifier (TAI) that may include a PLMN ID and a Tracking Area Code (TAC)).
Regarding Claim 42, Patel discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer program code which, when executed by an apparatus (Abstract; Figure 1-5), causes the apparatus at least to:
detect, by a device configured to communicate based on a fixed wireless access service, an event (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0060] Reception of a network service related request);
perform, by the device in response to the event, a determination as to whether a current location of the device is within an approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0060] Determination of location of the device in response to the event and determining whether the device is within the geo-fencing area for the fixed wireless access device designated service address to enable an end device to access a network service);
and perform, by the device based on a determination that the current location of the device is outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service,
activation of a captive portal configured to control communications of the device using the fixed wireless access service and initiation of a service access process configured to support use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0068] Determination of location of the device in response to the event and determining whether the device is within the geo-fencing area for the fixed wireless access device designated service address to enable an end device to access a network service; Enforcement and enabling network services when the device is within the geo-fencing area of the FWA and denying, disabling, restricting services when outside the geo-fencing in which case the network connection may be disabled or redirected, for example, to a particular web portal, and/or data usage associated with requested network services may be restricted and/or bandwidth throttled).
Patel readily discloses the limitations of the independent claim but may not explicitly disclose activation of a captive portal configured to control communications of the device using the fixed wireless access service and initiation of a service access process configured to support use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service
However, Leung more specifically teaches activation of a captive portal configured to control communications of the device using the fixed wireless access service and initiation of a service access process configured to support use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Abstract; Paragraph [0005-0014 and 0061-0105] If the MCD is outside of the wireless coverage area of the fixed sensor node, information may be provided to the MCD by all the other components in the system and texted to a mobile phone whose number is bound to the MCD by the SMS server. While online, the MCD 1000 may connect to the communication portal 1001 for data upload, such as transaction data, step data, vibration sensor data, etc., for selected data download, such as instant-information, ready-alert, security, daily-alert, service-request etc; for software upgrade; for battery charging; and for serving as a fixed sensor node 500, as a few non-exhaustive examples; The communication portal 1001 may enable an administrator to control the access right of the MCD 1000 users; That is outside of the approved region for the device a captive portal is provided to support the use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region).
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 teachings of Patel with the teachings of Leung. The system is integrated with mobile phone network e.g. global system for mobile communication network, to enhance the coverage area of the system to facilitate launching more comprehensive applications. The portability of the mobile communication device is improved to avoid the user from carrying so many electronic devices at a time when he/she goes out. The system uses communication portal released software and released standardized hardware to allow an interested party to develop his own application to highly improve and encourage different parties to join in the system development, so that system applications can become more comprehensive, and the communication portal can have higher accessing rate, thus facilitating the extendibility and flexibility of the system (Leung Abstract; Paragraph [0001-0025]).
Regarding Claim 43, Patel discloses a method (Abstract; Figure 1-5), comprising:
detecting, by a device configured to communicate based on a fixed wireless access service, an event (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0060] Reception of a network service related request);
performing, by the device in response to the event, a determination as to whether a current location of the device is within an approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0060] Determination of location of the device in response to the event and determining whether the device is within the geo-fencing area for the fixed wireless access device designated service address to enable an end device to access a network service);
and performing, by the device based on a determination that the current location of the device is outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service, activation of a captive portal configured to control communications of the device using the fixed wireless access service and initiation of a service access process configured to support use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0068] Determination of location of the device in response to the event and determining whether the device is within the geo-fencing area for the fixed wireless access device designated service address to enable an end device to access a network service; Enforcement and enabling network services when the device is within the geo-fencing area of the FWA and denying, disabling, restricting services when outside the geo-fencing in which case the network connection may be disabled or redirected, for example, to a particular web portal, and/or data usage associated with requested network services may be restricted and/or bandwidth throttled).
Patel readily discloses the limitations of the independent claim but may not explicitly disclose activation of a captive portal configured to control communications of the device using the fixed wireless access service and initiation of a service access process configured to support use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service
However, Leung more specifically teaches activation of a captive portal configured to control communications of the device using the fixed wireless access service and initiation of a service access process configured to support use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Abstract; Paragraph [0005-0014 and 0061-0105] If the MCD is outside of the wireless coverage area of the fixed sensor node, information may be provided to the MCD by all the other components in the system and texted to a mobile phone whose number is bound to the MCD by the SMS server. While online, the MCD 1000 may connect to the communication portal 1001 for data upload, such as transaction data, step data, vibration sensor data, etc., for selected data download, such as instant-information, ready-alert, security, daily-alert, service-request etc; for software upgrade; for battery charging; and for serving as a fixed sensor node 500, as a few non-exhaustive examples; The communication portal 1001 may enable an administrator to control the access right of the MCD 1000 users; That is outside of the approved region for the device a captive portal is provided to support the use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region).
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 teachings of Patel with the teachings of Leung. The system is integrated with mobile phone network e.g. global system for mobile communication network, to enhance the coverage area of the system to facilitate launching more comprehensive applications. The portability of the mobile communication device is improved to avoid the user from carrying so many electronic devices at a time when he/she goes out. The system uses communication portal released software and released standardized hardware to allow an interested party to develop his own application to highly improve and encourage different parties to join in the system development, so that system applications can become more comprehensive, and the communication portal can have higher accessing rate, thus facilitating the extendibility and flexibility of the system (Leung Abstract; Paragraph [0001-0025]).
Regarding Claim 44, Patel discloses an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor (Abstract; Figure 1-5), cause the apparatus at least to:
detect, by a device configured to communicate based on a fixed wireless access service, an event (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0060] Reception of a network service related request);
and support, by the device based on a determination in response to the event that a current location of the device is outside of an approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service, enforcement of mobility of the device with respect to the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Figure 5; Paragraph [0054-0068] Determination of location of the device in response to the event and determining whether the device is within the geo-fencing area for the fixed wireless access device designated service address to enable an end device to access a network service; Enforcement and enabling network services when the device is within the geo-fencing area of the FWA and denying, disabling, restricting services when outside the geo-fencing in which case the network connection may be disabled or redirected, for example, to a particular web portal, and/or data usage associated with requested network services may be restricted and/or bandwidth throttled).
Patel readily discloses the limitations of the independent claim but may no explicitly disclose how the enforcement of mobility of the device with respect to the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access.
However, Leung more specifically teaches enforcement of mobility of the device with respect to the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access (Abstract; Paragraph [0005-0014 and 0061-0105] If the MCD is outside of the wireless coverage area of the fixed sensor node, information may be provided to the MCD by all the other components in the system and texted to a mobile phone whose number is bound to the MCD by the SMS server. While online, the MCD 1000 may connect to the communication portal 1001 for data upload, such as transaction data, step data, vibration sensor data, etc., for selected data download, such as instant-information, ready-alert, security, daily-alert, service-request etc; for software upgrade; for battery charging; and for serving as a fixed sensor node 500, as a few non-exhaustive examples; The communication portal 1001 may enable an administrator to control the access right of the MCD 1000 users; That is outside of the approved region for the device a captive portal is provided to support the use of the fixed wireless access service by the device outside of the approved region).
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 teachings of Patel with the teachings of Leung. The system is integrated with mobile phone network e.g. global system for mobile communication network, to enhance the coverage area of the system to facilitate launching more comprehensive applications. The portability of the mobile communication device is improved to avoid the user from carrying so many electronic devices at a time when he/she goes out. The system uses communication portal released software and released standardized hardware to allow an interested party to develop his own application to highly improve and encourage different parties to join in the system development, so that system applications can become more comprehensive, and the communication portal can have higher accessing rate, thus facilitating the extendibility and flexibility of the system (Leung Abstract; Paragraph [0001-0025]).
Claim 24 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patel in view of Leung as applied to claim 23 and 26 above, and further in view of Rodriguez Bravo et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0218751, hereinafter Rodriguez.
Regarding Claim 24, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 23. Patel in view of Leung fail to explicitly disclose wherein the event is a reboot of the device, a reset of the device, or a mobility event related to mobility of the device.
However, Rodriguez teaches wherein the event is a reboot of the device, a reset of the device, or a mobility event related to mobility of the device (Paragraph [0013-0017] As an embodiment example, the enablement of a factory reset feature of the smartphone requires the device to be located within a geofence of a predetermined GPS location. If the smartphone location is determined to be outside the geofence area, then check is performed to determine whether a connection condition between the smartphone and a designated docking or charging station of the device exists, and absent the detection of the designated docking or charging connection, embodiments prevent activation of the factory reset feature of the device).
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 teachings of Patel in view of Leung with the teachings of Rodriguez. The smartphone receives instruction to determine the current location of the smartphone and send the location in a message or other communication, to a designated recipient, and perform additional locking of access to features and data of the smartphone (Rodriguez Abstract; Paragraph [0001-0004]).
Regarding Claim 27, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 26. Patel in view of Leung fail to explicitly disclose wherein the approved region information includes at least one of an indication of one or more base stations approved for the device, an indication of one or more cells approved for the device, one or more global positioning system coordinates for one or more locations approved for the device, or an indication of a class of service for the device.
However, Rodriguez teaches wherein the approved region information includes at least one of an indication of one or more base stations approved for the device, an indication of one or more cells approved for the device, one or more global positioning system coordinates for one or more locations approved for the device, or an indication of a class of service for the device (Paragraph [0013-0017] In some embodiments, the rare need for a user to initiate a factory reset action is authorized by establishing a pre-defined location and detection by the smart device (by global positioning system (GPS) function) of whether the device is located within a geofence of the pre-defined location).
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 teachings of Patel in view of Leung with the teachings of Rodriguez. The smartphone receives instruction to determine the current location of the smartphone and send the location in a message or other communication, to a designated recipient, and perform additional locking of access to features and data of the smartphone (Rodriguez Abstract; Paragraph [0001-0004]).
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patel in view of Leung as applied to claim 23 above, and further in view of Saha et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2015/0141037, hereinafter Saha.
Regarding Claim 25, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 23. Patel in view of Leung disclose physical movement of devices but may not explicitly disclose wherein the event is an association of the device with a new base station, an association of the device with a new cell of a base station, or a physical movement of the device to a new geographic location.
However, Saha more specifically teaches wherein the event is an association of the device with a new base station, an association of the device with a new cell of a base station, or a physical movement of the device to a new geographic location (Paragraph [0103] the region monitor 620 may create a boundary geo-fence (e.g., 710) with a radius corresponding to a distance between a current location of the computing device and an edge of a geo-fence (e.g., 708) in the subset of geo-fences that is furthest from the current location of the computing device. At 906, upon detecting a geo-fence event associated with a new location of the computing device in relation to the boundary geo-fence (e.g., new device location at time t2 triggers monitored region reload), the region monitor 620 may re-load a new subset of geo-fences (e.g., new monitored region is formed including geo-fences 812-822), and may create a new boundary geo-fence (e.g., 804) based on the new location of the computing device).
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 teachings of Patel in view of Leung with the teachings of Saha. The scalability and reliability of hardware geo-fencing with failover support is effectively improved. The device resource utilization and performance characteristics are effectively improved (Saha Abstract; Paragraph [0001-0007]).
Claim 29 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patel in view of Leung as applied to claim 26 above, and further in view of Faltyn et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2017/0118333, hereinafter Faltyn.
Regarding Claim 29, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 23. Patel in view of Leung fail to explicitly disclose wherein at least a portion of the approved region information is received at the device without a corresponding firmware update for the device.
However, Faltyn teaches wherein at least a portion of the approved region information is received at the device without a corresponding firmware update for the device (Paragraph [0011 and 0050] Operation may be configured by individual users (for example, to configure privacy settings or to input specific contact details for use), or by an organization for large-scale deployment without consistent configuration across a user base. Operation may be always on, using mobile features such as geofencing to detect changes and react accordingly without user interaction and without needing to keep a particular software application running on their device (which may negatively impact user experience, for example draining battery) .
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 teachings of Patel in view of Leung with the teachings of Faltyn. Faltyn provides a solution or efficient operation avoiding negatively impacting user experience and thus allowing telephony control systems to adapt to subscribers and to improve their operation without necessarily requiring explicit user intervention is provided (Faltyn Abstract; Paragraph [0003-0011]).
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patel in view of Leung as applied to claim 23 above, and further in view of Parla et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0358770, hereinafter Parla.
Regarding Claim 30, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 23. Patel in view of Leung discloses the use of a captive portal but may not explicitly disclose wherein the captive portal is configured to intercept and redirect web-based traffic and block other internet traffic.
However, Parla more specifically teaches wherein the captive portal is configured to intercept and redirect web-based traffic and block other internet traffic (Paragraph [0016-0022] a typical captive portal network intercepts all web traffic from devices attached to it. In other words, network traffic is redirected to the captive portal remediation page by the captive portal network upon accessing any Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Since access to other Internet websites 124 is available and remains open, the endpoint device 110 may connect to a rogue device (not shown) using the web browser 114. That is, a rogue captive portal network may redirect the browser to a malicious Internet web site, relying on the fact that all outgoing web traffic must be permitted on the device in order to remediate the captive portal).
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 teachings of Patel in view of Leung with the teachings of Parla. The captive portal often requires the user to accept some terms and conditions, and sometimes require a payment for use of the public network. The process of connecting to a public network through a captive portal is called remediation. The user gains access to the public network and is able to use that network connectivity to engage in personal or business activities, by remediating with the captive portal (Parla Abstract; Paragraph [0001-0002 and 0009-0011]).
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patel in view of Leung as applied to claim 23 above, and further in view of Hopkins et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2015/0269827, hereinafter Hopkins.
Regarding Claim 31, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 23. Patel in view of Leung fail to explicitly disclose wherein the service activation process is configured to initiate presentation of a notification that the fixed wireless access service is suspended based on a determination that the device has moved outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service.
However, Hopkins teaches wherein the service activation process is configured to initiate presentation of a notification that the fixed wireless access service is suspended based on a determination that the device has moved outside of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service (Paragraph [0089] Alert notification using a user interface where based on a determination the device has moved outside the geofence approved region for the device in a fixed wireless area a user is alerted the service is suspended).
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 teachings of Patel in view of Leung with the teachings of Hopkins. The system is mobile and easy to use and capable of detecting crisis situations without user command. The system allows a caregiver to set up a safe zone to prevent a client from wandering away from a safe location and provide a notification to the caregiver if the client does leave the safe zone. The system includes the safe zone to prevent the client from wandering away from the safe location (Hopkins Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0013]).
Claim 32 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patel in view of Leung as applied to claim 23 above, and further in view of Olshansky U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0266319, hereinafter Olshansky.
Regarding Claim 32, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 23. Patel in view of Leung fail to explicitly disclose wherein the service activation process is configured to initiate presentation of an option for a customer of the fixed wireless access service to request use of the fixed wireless access service by the device at the current location of the device.
However, Olshansky teaches wherein the service activation process is configured to initiate presentation of an option for a customer of the fixed wireless access service to request use of the fixed wireless access service by the device at the current location of the device (Abstract; Paragraph [0047 and 0066] t the user device 602 should be directed to a captive portal, the user device 602 accesses a network resource the network management device 606 causes the user device 602 to another network resource (e.g., the captive portal configured to receive the user's additional input required by the network management server 606 in order for the user device 602 to be granted network access) different from that requested by the user device 602).
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 teachings of Patel in view of Leung with the teachings of Olshansky. The method enables allowing a network management system to provide access to multiple users and corresponding network capable user devices in an effective manner. The method allows the network management systems to manage hundreds or thousands of user devices requesting content from the Internet in an efficient manner (Olshansky Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0003]).
Claims 39 and 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patel in view of Leung as applied to claim 23 above, and further in view of Ovadia et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0084117, hereinafter Ovadia.
Regarding Claim 39, Patel in view of Leung disclose the apparatus of Claim 23. Patel in view of Leung fail to explicitly disclose wherein the apparatus further includes: a containerized application configured to detect the event and perform the activation of the captive portal and the initiation of the service access process.
However, Ovadia teaches wherein the apparatus further includes: a containerized application configured to detect the event and perform the activation of the captive portal and the initiation of the service access process (Abstract; Paragraph [0006-0010, 0026, 0079 and 0095-0103] Fixed wireless access container engine software to support plurality of containerized applications and captive portal operated and maintained by a service provider).
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 teachings of Patel in view of Leung with the teachings of Ovadia. Ovadia provides a solution in which the installation of individual applications or platforms with incipient or deployed devices is directly allowed by the network operator/service provider, thus eliminating the client needs to understand and maintain the multiple platforms. The time, effort and complexity associated with installation, storage testing, launching, feature or service change, and maintenance of the user's premises devices is reduced significantly through use of the portal. The users can modify any file, and the easy installation of additional software is enabled (Ovadia Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0020]).
Regarding Claim 40, Patel in view of Leung and Ovadia disclose the apparatus of Claim 39. Patel in view of Leung and Ovadia further disclose wherein the apparatus further includes a set of firmware configured to cause the apparatus to perform a set of functions, wherein the containerized application is maintained separate from the set of firmware (Ovadia Abstract; Paragraph [0006-0010, 0026, 0079 and 0095-0103] Fixed wireless access container engine software to support plurality of containerized applications and captive portal operated and maintained by a service provider).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 33-38 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 33, the prior art fail to disclose alone, or in any reasonable combination, as required by the dependent claims, “wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: send, toward a network configured to provide the fixed wireless access service, a query to determine whether the network has sufficient capacity to support operation of the device at the current location of the device; and initiate, based on a response indicative that the network has sufficient capacity to support operation of the device at the current location of the device, presentation of the option for the customer of the fixed wireless access service to request use of the fixed wireless access service by the device at the current location of the device.”
The Examiner notes the above limitation(s) are not taken alone but in view of the entirety of the claim language including any preceding claim limitations, any proceeding claim limitations, and any intervening claim limitations.
Regarding Claim 34, the prior art fail to disclose alone, or in any reasonable combination, as required by the dependent claims, “wherein the option for the customer of the fixed wireless access service to request use of the fixed wireless access service by the device at the current location of the device includes an option for the customer of the fixed wireless access service to request a change of the approved region for the device for the fixed wireless access service to include the current location of the device.”
The Examiner notes the above limitation(s) are not taken alone but in view of the entirety of the claim language including any preceding claim limitations, any proceeding claim limitations, and any intervening claim limitations.
Claims 34 would also be allowable since they depend upon indicated allowable base claim.
Regarding Claim 36, the prior art fail to disclose alone, or in any reasonable combination, as required by the dependent claims, “wherein the option for the customer of the fixed wireless access service to request use of the fixed wireless access service by the device at the current location of the device includes an option for the customer of the fixed wireless access service to purchase a roaming plan that permits use of the device at the current location of the device.”
The Examiner notes the above limitation(s) are not taken alone but in view of the entirety of the claim language including any preceding claim limitations, any proceeding claim limitations, and any intervening claim limitations.
Claims 37 and 38 would also be allowable since they depend upon indicated allowable base claim.
Conclusion
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IVAN O. LATORRE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2409
/IVAN O LATORRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409