CTNF 18/626,013 CTNF 80691 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 The IDS has been considered by the examiner. The specification and drawings have been accepted by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-4, 6-9, 11-14 and 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Consideration on CHO enhancement for NES” ( CATT , R2-2300822, IDS document submitted 05/08/2026, hereinafter CATT) in view “ Discussion on CHO enhancement in NES” ( Apple , R2-2300702, IDS document submitted 10/04/2024, hereinafter Apple ) . Referring to claim 1 , CATT discloses a method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system (Introduction, “UE switching from a source cell in NES mode and UE avoiding a target cell in NES mode”, note that the UE is equivalent to a terminal in a wireless communication system. Specifically, a UE is a terminal in a 4G (or above) wireless/cellular communication described in the 3GPP discussion, thus, it includes a transceiver, controller/processor and memory to communicate RF signals with a network), the method comprising: receiving, from a base station, configuration information for a conditional handover (CHO) including trigger condition information for the CHO (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, “The gNB sends RCReconfiguration signaling including conditinalReconfiguraton to UE”, “trigger condition”, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution”. “UE starts CHO evaluation”, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution” Note that gNB is equivalent to base station and UE is equivalent to terminal. Further, note that the “RCReconfiguration signaling including conditinalReconfiguraton” is equivalent to configuration information. Further note that trigger condition is included and if trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution. Here, the UE decides cell selection based on trigger condition); identifying whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, proposal 2 and 3, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell”. CondEvent A3 (Neighbour becomes offset better than SpCell), CondEvent A4 (Neighbour becomes better than threshold), and CondEvent A5 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2) are introduced. In addition, CondEvent T1 (Time measured at UE is within a duration from threshold) … if both CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1 are configured, CHO can be executed only when the two events are fulfilled”, note that there are multiple trigger conditions exist, e.g., CondEvent A3, CondEvent A4 (Neighbour becomes better than threshold), and CondEvent A5 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2) and CondEvent T1. The UE selects a cell based on trigger condition identified ); and in case that the event for the trigger condition is satisfied, performing a CHO procedure ( Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, proposal 2 and 3, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell”, “if both CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1 are configured, CHO can be executed only when the two events are fulfilled”, note that if trigger conditions (e.g., CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1) are fulfilled, the UE selects a cell based on trigger condition identified, which reads on in case that the event for the trigger condition is satisfied, performing a CHO procedure. It is also noted that this limitation is a conditional limitation and it may not happen). CATT is not relied on for disclosing identifying whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) ; in case that the trigger condition information includes the information, identifying whether an indication for a NES mode is received from the base station and in case that the indication for the NES mode is received, identifying whether the event for the trigger condition is satisfied based on a reception of the indication. Apple discloses identifying whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) ; in case that the trigger condition information includes the information, identifying whether an indication for a NES mode is received from the base station; in case that the indication for the NES mode is received, identifying whether the event for the trigger condition is satisfied based on a reception of the indication ( Apple , FIG. 1, Page 5, “NES specific CHO-Config”, “NES CHO conditions (Meas IDS)”, “NES CHO threshold offset”. Note that the NES specific CHO-Config contains CHO-triggerConfig. Also note that the UE receives “RRCReconfiguration (CHO)” message and UE determines (or identifies) if the message is “ CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas ”. Here, “ NES CHO Meas” is associated with NES and “CHO Meas” is not associated with NES. The UE receives one of the messages and based on whether it is “CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas”, it identifies whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) ). Further, note that if the message included “NES CHO Meas” it indicate NES mode and if the message include “CHO Meas” without the word “NES”, it does not indicate NES mode. This indication of “CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas” satisfies the UE to perform conditional handover implementing NES (network energy saving) or not), which reads on the claim language. Further, it is noted that the limitation includes the phrase “in case” which makes it conditional, thus, the identification of association of CHO with NES is only conditional based on whether or not the UE receives the indication). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 2 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is received via a radio resource control (RRC) message (CATT, section 2.1, under proposal 1, “gNB sends RRC Reconfiguration signaling”, note that RRCReconfiguratin signaling is an RRC message ) and wherein the event for the trigger condition is associated with a specific NES mode ( CATT, section 2.1, under proposal 1, “signaling to UEs for CHO evaluation/execution when the cell enters NES mode … UE should execute CHO when a cell enters NES mode. For example, it can be performed by a NES mode indication”). CATT is not relied on for wherein the indication for the NES mode is received via a downlink control information (DCI). Apple discloses wherein the indication for the NES mode is received via a downlink control information (DCI) ( Apple, section 6.5.2, under proposal 5, “RRC signaling to apply Cell DTX/DRX”, “ UE group common DCI”, note that a group DCI is designed to send the RRC message). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 3 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the method of claim 2, wherein the specific NES mode includes a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), or a second mode that a candidate cell comes out of the DTX or the DRX ( CATT , section 2.1, “Cell DTX/DRX”, “To avoid decreasing UE’s QoS experience, the Cell DTX/DRX active period may need to be configured to cope with those UEs with highest demand on data traffic. It will decrease the efficiency of network power saving accordingly. In addition, that cell may serve UEs which are not Cell DTX/DRX capable, making it even trickier for the network to serve those during Cell DTX/DRX … CHO can be considered with the cell DTX/DRX mechanism”, note that the NES mode is implemented in a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), thus, NES mode includes a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), or a second mode that a candidate cell comes out of the DTX or the DRX). Referring to claim 4 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the base station, NES mode status information associated with a serving cell and a candidate cell, wherein the NES mode status information includes at least one of information on a cell identity (ID), information on a NES mode for a corresponding cell, or information on a NES mode operation state for the corresponding cell (CATT, section 2. 1, under “Proposal 1”, “The gNB sends RRCReconfiguration signaling including conditionalReconfiguration to UE”, “enhancement for NES is to offload the UEs when the source cell is switched to NES mode ”. Also see Apple, figure 1, “NES CHO Meas”, note that gNB sends NES CHO Meas that indicates NES CHO status or mode which also include information on a NES mode ). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 6 , CATT discloses a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system (Section 2 under Discussion, “ gNB , “make the gNB serve specific UE(s) in an efficient way. For the UEs with specific CSI-RSs, measurement and report including CHO evaluation should be studied in the topic of spatial/power domain enhancement”, note that the gNB is equivalent to a base station in a wireless communication system. Specifically, a gNB is a base station in a 5G (or above) wireless/cellular communication described in the 3GPP discussion), the method comprising: transmitting, to a terminal, configuration information for a conditional handover (CHO) including trigger condition information for the CHO (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, “The gNB sends RCReconfiguration signaling including conditinalReconfiguraton to UE”, “trigger condition”, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution”. “UE starts CHO evaluation”, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution”. Note that gNB is equivalent to base station and UE is equivalent to terminal. Further, note that the “RCReconfiguration signaling including conditinalReconfiguraton” is equivalent to configuration information. Further note that trigger condition is included and if trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution. Here, the UE decides cell selection based on trigger condition); and in case that the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, proposal 2 and 3, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell”. CondEvent A3 (Neighbour becomes offset better than SpCell), CondEvent A4 (Neighbour becomes better than threshold), and CondEvent A5 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2) are introduced. In addition, CondEvent T1 (Time measured at UE is within a duration from threshold) … if both CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1 are configured, CHO can be executed only when the two events are fulfilled”, note that there are multiple trigger conditions exist, e.g., CondEvent A3, CondEvent A4 (Neighbour becomes better than threshold), and CondEvent A5 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2) and CondEvent T1. The UE selects a cell based on trigger condition identified ) and in case that the event for the trigger condition is satisfied, a CHO procedure is performed (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, proposal 2 and 3, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell”, “if both CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1 are configured, CHO can be executed only when the two events are fulfilled”, note that if trigger conditions (e.g., CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1) are fulfilled, the UE selects a cell based on trigger condition identified, which reads on in case that the event for the trigger condition is satisfied, performing a CHO procedure. It is also noted that this limitation is a conditional limitation and it may not happen). CATT is not relied on for disclosing identifying whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) , transmitting, to the terminal, an indication for a NES mode, wherein whether the event for the trigger condition is satisfied is identified based on the indication. In an analogous art, Apple discloses identifying whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) , transmitting, to the terminal, an indication for a NES mode, wherein whether the event for the trigger condition is satisfied is identified based on the indication ( Apple , FIG. 1, Page 5, “NES specific CHO-Config”, “NES CHO conditions (Meas IDS)”, “NES CHO threshold offset”. Note that the NES specific CHO-Config contains CHO-triggerConfig. Also note that the UE receives “RRCReconfiguration (CHO)” message and UE determines (or identifies) if the message is “ CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas ”. Here, “ NES CHO Meas” is associated with NES and “CHO Meas” is not associated with NES. The UE receives one of the messages and based on whether it is “CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas”, it identifies whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) ). Further, note that if the message included “NES CHO Meas” it indicate NES mode and if the message include “CHO Meas” without the word “NES”, it does not indicate NES mode. This indication of “CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas” satisfies the UE to perform conditional handover implementing NES (network energy saving) or not), which reads on the claim language. Further, it is noted that the limitation includes the phrase “in case” which makes it conditional, thus, the identification of association of CHO with NES is only conditional based on whether or not the UE receives the indication). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 7 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the method of claim 6, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is received via a radio resource control (RRC) message (CATT, section 2.1, under proposal 1, “gNB sends RRC Reconfiguration signaling”, note that RRCReconfiguratin signaling is an RRC message ) and wherein the event for the trigger condition is associated with a specific NES mode ( CATT, section 2.1, under proposal 1, “signaling to UEs for CHO evaluation/execution when the cell enters NES mode … UE should execute CHO when a cell enters NES mode. For example, it can be performed by a NES mode indication”). CATT is not relied on for wherein the indication for the NES mode is received via a downlink control information (DCI). Apple discloses wherein the indication for the NES mode is received via a downlink control information (DCI) ( Apple, section 6.5.2, under proposal 5, “RRC signaling to apply Cell DTX/DRX”, “ UE group common DCI”, note that a group DCI is designed to send the RRC message). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 8 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the method of claim 6, wherein the specific NES mode includes a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), or a second mode that a candidate cell comes out of the DTX or the DRX ( CATT , section 2.1, “Cell DTX/DRX”, “To avoid decreasing UE’s QoS experience, the Cell DTX/DRX active period may need to be configured to cope with those UEs with highest demand on data traffic. It will decrease the efficiency of network power saving accordingly. In addition, that cell may serve UEs which are not Cell DTX/DRX capable, making it even trickier for the network to serve those during Cell DTX/DRX … CHO can be considered with the cell DTX/DRX mechanism”, note that the NES mode is implemented in a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), thus, NES mode includes a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), or a second mode that a candidate cell comes out of the DTX or the DRX). Referring to claim 9 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the method of claim 6, further comprising: obtaining, from a candidate cell, information on a NES mode status for the candidate cell; and transmitting, to the terminal, NES mode status information associated with a serving cell of the base station and the candidate cell based on the information on the NES mode status for the candidate cell, wherein the NES mode status information includes at least one of information on a cell identity (ID), information on a NES mode for a corresponding cell, or information on a NES mode operation state for the corresponding cell (CATT, section 2. 1, under “Proposal 1”, “The gNB sends RRCReconfiguration signaling including conditionalReconfiguration to UE”, “enhancement for NES is to offload the UEs when the source cell is switched to NES mode ”. Also see Apple, figure 1, “NES CHO Meas”, note that gNB sends NES CHO Meas that indicates NES CHO status or mode which also include information on a NES mode ). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 11 . CATT discloses a terminal (UE) in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising: a transceiver; and a controller configured to: control the transceiver (CATT, Introduction, “CHO enhancement has been identified in NES WID Error! Reference source not found. and more agreements in SID have been captured in Error! Reference source not found. . There are two aspects that need to be considered: UE switching from a source cell in NES mode and UE avoiding a target cell in NES mode”, note that the UE is equivalent to a terminal in a wireless communication system. Specifically, a UE is a terminal in a a 4G (or above) wireless/cellular communication described in the 3GPP discussion, thus, it includes a transceiver, controller/processor and memory to communicate RF signals with a network) to: receive, from a base station, configuration information for a conditional handover (CHO) including trigger condition information for the CHO (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, “The gNB sends RCReconfiguration signaling including conditinalReconfiguraton to UE”, “trigger condition”, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution”. “UE starts CHO evaluation”, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution”. Note that gNB is equivalent to base station and UE is equivalent to terminal. Further, note that the “RCReconfiguration signaling including conditinalReconfiguraton” is equivalent to configuration information. Further note that trigger condition is included and if trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution. Here, the UE decides cell selection based on trigger condition); identify whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, proposal 2 and 3, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell”. CondEvent A3 (Neighbour becomes offset better than SpCell), CondEvent A4 (Neighbour becomes better than threshold), and CondEvent A5 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2) are introduced. In addition, CondEvent T1 (Time measured at UE is within a duration from threshold) … if both CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1 are configured, CHO can be executed only when the two events are fulfilled”, note that there are multiple trigger conditions exist, e.g., CondEvent A3, CondEvent A4 (Neighbour becomes better than threshold), and CondEvent A5 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2) and CondEvent T1. The UE selects a cell based on trigger condition identified ); and in case that the event for the trigger condition is satisfied, perform a CHO procedure (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, proposal 2 and 3, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell”, “if both CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1 are configured, CHO can be executed only when the two events are fulfilled”, note that if trigger conditions (e.g., CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1) are fulfilled, the UE selects a cell based on trigger condition identified, which reads on in case that the event for the trigger condition is satisfied, performing a CHO procedure. It is also noted that this limitation is a conditional limitation and it may not happen). CATT is not relied on for disclosing identifying whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) ; in case that the trigger condition information includes the information, identifying whether an indication for a NES mode is received from the base station; in case that the indication for the NES mode is received, identifying whether the event for the trigger condition is satisfied based on a reception of the indication. Apple discloses identifying whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) ; in case that the trigger condition information includes the information, identifying whether an indication for a NES mode is received from the base station; in case that the indication for the NES mode is received, identifying whether the event for the trigger condition is satisfied based on a reception of the indication ( Apple , FIG. 1, Page 5, “NES specific CHO-Config”, “NES CHO conditions (Meas IDS)”, “NES CHO threshold offset”. Note that the NES specific CHO-Config contains CHO-triggerConfig. Also note that the UE receives “RRCReconfiguration (CHO)” message and UE determines (or identifies) if the message is “ CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas ”. Here, “ NES CHO Meas” is associated with NES and “CHO Meas” is not associated with NES. The UE receives one of the messages and based on whether it is “CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas”, it identifies whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) ). Further, note that if the message included “NES CHO Meas” it indicate NES mode and if the message include “CHO Meas” without the word “NES”, it does not indicate NES mode. This indication of “CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas” satisfies the UE to perform conditional handover implementing NES (network energy saving) or not), which reads on the claim language. Further, it is noted that the limitation includes the phrase “in case” which makes it conditional, thus, the identification of association of CHO with NES is only conditional based on whether or not the UE receives the indication). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 12 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the terminal of claim 1, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is received via a radio resource control (RRC) message (CATT, section 2.1, under proposal 1, “gNB sends RRC Reconfiguration signaling”, note that RRCReconfiguratin signaling is an RRC message ) and wherein the event for the trigger condition is associated with a specific NES mode ( CATT, section 2.1, under proposal 1, “signaling to UEs for CHO evaluation/execution when the cell enters NES mode … UE should execute CHO when a cell enters NES mode. For example, it can be performed by a NES mode indication”). CATT is not relied on for wherein the indication for the NES mode is received via a downlink control information (DCI). Apple discloses wherein the indication for the NES mode is received via a downlink control information (DCI) ( Apple, section 6.5.2, under proposal 5, “RRC signaling to apply Cell DTX/DRX”, “UE group common DCI”, note that a group DCI is designed to send the RRC message). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 13 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the terminal of claim 12, wherein the specific NES mode includes a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), or a second mode that a candidate cell comes out of the DTX or the DRX ( CATT , section 2.1, “Cell DTX/DRX”, “To avoid decreasing UE’s QoS experience, the Cell DTX/DRX active period may need to be configured to cope with those UEs with highest demand on data traffic. It will decrease the efficiency of network power saving accordingly. In addition, that cell may serve UEs which are not Cell DTX/DRX capable, making it even trickier for the network to serve those during Cell DTX/DRX … CHO can be considered with the cell DTX/DRX mechanism”, note that the NES mode is implemented in a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), thus, NES mode includes a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), or a second mode that a candidate cell comes out of the DTX or the DRX). Referring to claim 14 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the terminal of claim 11, further comprising: receiving, from the base station, NES mode status information associated with a serving cell and a candidate cell, wherein the NES mode status information includes at least one of information on a cell identity (ID), information on a NES mode for a corresponding cell, or information on a NES mode operation state for the corresponding cell (CATT, section 2. 1, under “Proposal 1”, “The gNB sends RRCReconfiguration signaling including conditionalReconfiguration to UE”, “enhancement for NES is to offload the UEs when the source cell is switched to NES mode ”. Also see Apple, figure 1, “NES CHO Meas”, note that gNB sends NES CHO Meas that indicates NES CHO status or mode which also include information on a NES mode ). Referring to claim 16 , CATT discloses a base station (Secion 2 under Discussion, “gNB”) in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising: a transceiver; and a controller configured to: control the transceiver (Secion 2 under Discussion, “gNB, “make the gNB serve specific UE(s) in an efficient way. For the UEs with specific CSI-RSs, measurement and report including CHO evaluation should be studied in the topic of spatial/power domain enhancement. If gNB wants to offload other UEs for power saving, considering other UEs cannot get the beam management status of gNB”, note that the gNB is equivalent to a base station in a wireless communication system. Specifically, a gNB is a base station in a GG (or above) wireless/cellular communication described in the 3GPP discussion, thus, it includes a transceiver, controller/processor and memory to communicate RF signals with a network) to: transmit, to a terminal, configuration information for a conditional handover (CHO) including trigger condition information for the CHO (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, “The gNB sends RCReconfiguration signaling including conditinalReconfiguraton to UE”, “trigger condition”, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution”. “UE starts CHO evaluation”, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution”. Note that gNB is equivalent to base station and UE is equivalent to terminal. Further, note that the “RCReconfiguration signaling including conditinalReconfiguraton” is equivalent to configuration information. Further note that trigger condition is included and if trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell as the selected cell for conditional reconfiguration execution. Here, the UE decides cell selection based on trigger condition); and in case that the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, proposal 2 and 3, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell”. CondEvent A3 (Neighbour becomes offset better than SpCell), CondEvent A4 (Neighbour becomes better than threshold), and CondEvent A5 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2) are introduced. In addition, CondEvent T1 (Time measured at UE is within a duration from threshold) … if both CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1 are configured, CHO can be executed only when the two events are fulfilled”, note that there are multiple trigger conditions exist, e.g., CondEvent A3, CondEvent A4 (Neighbour becomes better than threshold), and CondEvent A5 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2) and CondEvent T1. The UE selects a cell based on trigger condition identified ) and in case that the event for the trigger condition is satisfied, a CHO procedure is performed (Section 2.1 under Proposal 1, proposal 2 and 3, “If trigger condition for one or more cells are fulfilled, UE selects one target cell”, “if both CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1 are configured, CHO can be executed only when the two events are fulfilled”, note that if trigger conditions (e.g., CondEvent A4 and CondEvent T1) are fulfilled, the UE selects a cell based on trigger condition identified, which reads on in case that the event for the trigger condition is satisfied, performing a CHO procedure. It is also noted that this limitation is a conditional limitation and it may not happen). CATT is not relied on for disclosing identify whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) , and transmit, to the terminal, an indication for a NES mode, wherein whether the event for the trigger condition is satisfied is identified based on the indication. In an analogous art, Apple discloses identify whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) , and transmit, to the terminal, an indication for a NES mode, wherein whether the event for the trigger condition is satisfied is identified based on the indication ( Apple , FIG. 1, Page 5, “NES specific CHO-Config”, “NES CHO conditions (Meas IDS)”, “NES CHO threshold offset”. Note that the NES specific CHO-Config contains CHO-triggerConfig. Also note that the UE receives “RRCReconfiguration (CHO)” message and UE determines (or identifies) if the message is “ CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas ”. Here, “ NES CHO Meas” is associated with NES and “CHO Meas” is not associated with NES. The UE receives one of the messages and based on whether it is “CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas”, it identifies whether the trigger condition information includes information indicating that an event for a trigger condition is associated with network energy saving (NES) ). Further, note that if the message included “NES CHO Meas” it indicate NES mode and if the message include “CHO Meas” without the word “NES”, it does not indicate NES mode. This indication of “CHO Meas” or “NES CHO Meas” satisfies the UE to perform conditional handover implementing NES (network energy saving) or not), which reads on the claim language. Further, it is noted that the limitation includes the phrase “in case” which makes it conditional, thus, the identification of association of CHO with NES is only conditional based on whether or not the UE receives the indication). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 17 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the base station of claim 16, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is received via a radio resource control (RRC) message (CATT, section 2.1, under proposal 1, “gNB sends RRC Reconfiguration signaling”, note that RRCReconfiguratin signaling is an RRC message ) and wherein the event for the trigger condition is associated with a specific NES mode ( CATT, section 2.1, under proposal 1, “signaling to UEs for CHO evaluation/execution when the cell enters NES mode … UE should execute CHO when a cell enters NES mode. For example, it can be performed by a NES mode indication”). CATT is not relied on for wherein the indication for the NES mode is received via a downlink control information ( DCI). Apple discloses wherein the indication for the NES mode is received via a downlink control information (DCI) ( Apple, section 6.5.2, under proposal 5, “RRC signaling to apply Cell DTX/DRX”, “UE group common DCI”, note that a group DCI is designed to send the RRC message). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 18 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the base station of claim 16, wherein the specific NES mode includes a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), or a second mode that a candidate cell comes out of the DTX or the DRX ( CATT , section 2.1, “Cell DTX/DRX”, “To avoid decreasing UE’s QoS experience, the Cell DTX/DRX active period may need to be configured to cope with those UEs with highest demand on data traffic. It will decrease the efficiency of network power saving accordingly. In addition, that cell may serve UEs which are not Cell DTX/DRX capable, making it even trickier for the network to serve those during Cell DTX/DRX … CHO can be considered with the cell DTX/DRX mechanism”, note that the NES mode is implemented in a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), thus, NES mode includes a first mode that a serving cell goes into a discontinuous transmission (DTX) or a discontinuous reception (DRX), or a second mode that a candidate cell comes out of the DTX or the DRX). Referring to claim 19 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the base station of claim 16, further comprising: obtaining, from a candidate cell, information on a NES mode status for the candidate cell; and transmitting, to the terminal, NES mode status information associated with a serving cell of the base station and the candidate cell based on the information on the NES mode status for the candidate cell, wherein the NES mode status information includes at least one of information on a cell identity (ID), information on a NES mode for a corresponding cell, or information on a NES mode operation state for the corresponding cell (CATT, section 2. 1, under “Proposal 1”, “The gNB sends RRCReconfiguration signaling including conditionalReconfiguration to UE”, “enhancement for NES is to offload the UEs when the source cell is switched to NES mode ”. Also see Apple, figure 1, “NES CHO Meas”, note that gNB sends NES CHO Meas that indicates NES CHO status or mode which also include information on a NES mode ). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify the invention of CATT by incorporating the teachings of Apple for the purpose of allowing the terminal to know that the CHO is NES associated so the terminal would select the conditional handover type that supports Network Energy Saving and thus using energy resources efficiently. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143 . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 5, 10, 15 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Consideration on CHO enhancement for NES” ( CATT , R2-2300822, IDS document submitted 05/08/2026, hereinafter CATT) in view “ Discussion on CHO enhancement in NES” ( Apple , R2-2300702, IDS document submitted 10/04/2024, hereinafter Apple ) and further in view of Qualcomm (US 20240114417) . Referring to claim 5 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the method of claim 1. The above combination is not relied on for disclosing transmitting, to the base station, capability information indicating that the terminal supports the CHO, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is received based on the capability information, and wherein, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on a reception of the configuration information for the CHO. In an analogous art, Qualcomm discloses transmitting, to the base station, capability information indicating that the terminal supports the CHO, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is received based on the capability information, and wherein, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on a reception of the configuration information for the CHO (Par. 178, “NE may receive a UE capability report from a UE indicating that the UE supports triggering by the indication of conditional handover. The NE may send the indication based on the UE capability report … e.g., send an indication if the UE has indicated a capability to perform indication-triggered CHO”, note that NE is network element that communicates with the UE. The NE could be a base station or at least it communicates with the UE via the base station. UE sends it capability of conditional handover (CHO). With regards to the phrase, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on a reception of the configuration information for the CHO, it is noted that the phrase is conditional because of the phrase “in case” and it may not happen). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify combination by incorporating the teachings of Qualcomm for the purpose of allowing the network to know the capabilities of the terminal of tha the network would allocate resources based on the terminal capability. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 10 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the method of claim 6. The combination is not relied on for receiving, from the terminal, capability information indicating that the terminal supports the CHO, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is transmitted based on the capability information, and wherein, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on the configuration information for the CHO. In an analogous art, Qualcomm discloses receiving, from the terminal, capability information indicating that the terminal supports the CHO, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is transmitted based on the capability information, and wherein, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on the configuration information for the CHO (Par. 178, “NE may receive a UE capability report from a UE indicating that the UE supports triggering by the indication of conditional handover. The NE may send the indication based on the UE capability report … e.g., send an indication if the UE has indicated a capability to perform indication-triggered CHO”, note that NE is network element that communicates with the UE. The NE could be a base station or at least it communicates with the UE via the base station. UE sends it capability of conditional handover (CHO). With regards to the phrase, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on a reception of the configuration information for the CHO, it is noted that the phrase is conditional because of the phrase “in case” and it may not happen). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify combination by incorporating the teachings of Qualcomm for the purpose of allowing the network to know the capabilities of the terminal of tha the network would allocate resources based on the terminal capability. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 15 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the terminal of claim 11. The above combination is not relied on for disclosing transmitting, to the base station, capability information indicating that the terminal supports the CHO, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is received based on the capability information, and wherein, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on a reception of the configuration information for the CHO. In an analogous art, Qualcomm discloses transmitting, to the base station, capability information indicating that the terminal supports the CHO, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is received based on the capability information, and wherein, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on a reception of the configuration information for the CHO (Par. 178, “NE may receive a UE capability report from a UE indicating that the UE supports triggering by the indication of conditional handover. The NE may send the indication based on the UE capability report … e.g., send an indication if the UE has indicated a capability to perform indication-triggered CHO”, note that NE is network element that communicates with the UE. The NE could be a base station or at least it communicates with the UE via the base station. UE sends it capability of conditional handover (CHO). With regards to the phrase, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on a reception of the configuration information for the CHO, it is noted that the phrase is conditional because of the phrase “in case” and it may not happen). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify combination by incorporating the teachings of Qualcomm for the purpose of allowing the network to know the capabilities of the terminal of tha the network would allocate resources based on the terminal capability. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Referring to claim 20 , the combination of CATT/Apple discloses the base station of claim 16. The combination is not relied on for receiving, from the terminal, capability information indicating that the terminal supports the CHO, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is transmitted based on the capability information, and wherein, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on the configuration information for the CHO. In an analogous art, Qualcomm discloses receiving, from the terminal, capability information indicating that the terminal supports the CHO, wherein the configuration information for the CHO is transmitted based on the capability information, and wherein, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on the configuration information for the CHO (Par. 178, “NE may receive a UE capability report from a UE indicating that the UE supports triggering by the indication of conditional handover. The NE may send the indication based on the UE capability report … e.g., send an indication if the UE has indicated a capability to perform indication-triggered CHO”, note that NE is network element that communicates with the UE. The NE could be a base station or at least it communicates with the UE via the base station. UE sends it capability of conditional handover (CHO). With regards to the phrase, in case that trigger condition information does not include the information, an evaluation for the event is performed based on a reception of the configuration information for the CHO, it is noted that the phrase is conditional because of the phrase “in case” and it may not happen). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention , to modify combination by incorporating the teachings of Qualcomm for the purpose of allowing the network to know the capabilities of the terminal of that the network would allocate resources based on the terminal capability. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRED A CASCA whose telephone number is (571)272-7918. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. 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, Kathy Wang-Hurst, can be reached at (571) 270-5371 . 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). /FRED A CASCA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 2 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 3 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 4 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 5 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 6 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 7 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 8 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 9 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 10 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 11 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 12 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 13 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 14 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 15 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 16 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 17 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 18 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 19 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 20 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 21 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 22 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 23 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 24 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/626,013 Page 25 Art Unit: 2644
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