DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for domestic priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 and 119(e) is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the lines, numbers, and letters are not durable, clean, black, sufficiently dense and dark, and uniformly thick and well-defined in Figures 1-3 and 5-8. Figures 1-3 and 5-8 are all in grayscale which cause the lines, numbers, and letters to not be durable, clean, black, sufficiently dense and dark, and uniformly thick and well-defined. Additionally, drawings must be black and white (monochrome) except when another form (grayscale or color) is the only practicable medium for illustrating the claimed invention. For Figures 1-3 and 5-8, black and white drawings are sufficient to illustrate the claimed invention. Black and white drawings should be created and filed in monochrome, black only, no gray.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description:
On figure 7, reference numbers 716a, 716b, 716c, 717a, 717b, and 717c are not
mentioned in the specification; and
On figure 8, reference numbers 116, 810, 811, 812, 813, 814, 815, and 818 are not
mentioned in the specification.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description:
On line 4 of paragraph 0049, reference numbers 605, 606, and 607 are not shown in
figure 6;
On lines 13-15 of paragraph 0051, reference numbers 712a, 712b, 712c, 713a,
713b, and 713c are not shown in figure 7; and
On lines 16-18 of paragraph 0053 and on lines 1-3 of paragraph 0054, reference
numbers 830, 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, and 838 are not shown in figure 8;
The drawings are objected to because on reference number 300 on figure 6 should be reference number 604 to properly match the description of figure 6 on the specification.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office Action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended”. If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the Examiner, the Applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office Action. If a response to the present Office Action fails to include proper drawing corrections, corrected drawings or arguments therefor, the response can be held NON-RESPONSIVE and/or the application could be ABANDONED since the objections/corrections to the drawings are no longer held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
On lines 1 and 2 of paragraph 0001, replace “16/788,304, filed February 11, 2020,
which is a continuation of U.S. Application No. 16/788,304, filed February 11, 2020,” with --17/831,904, filed June 3, 2022, now U.S. Patent 11,974,142, which is a continuation of U.S. Application No. 16/788,304, filed on February 11, 2020, now U.S. Patent 11,356,859,--;
On line 5 of paragraph 0007, replace “core;” with --core.--;
On line 2 of paragraph 0009, replace “5GC.” with --5GC,--;
On line 4 of paragraph 0010 and on line 5 of paragraph 0013, replace “The” with
--the--;
On line 1 of paragraph 0011, replace “incldues” with --includes--;
On line 4 of paragraph 0025, replace “net- works” with --networks--;
On line 2 of paragraph 0026, the acronyms “CAPEX” and “OPEX” must be spelled
out;
On line 7 of paragraph 0026, replace “hard- ware” with --hardware--;
On line 10 of paragraph 0026, replace “mind- ed” with --minded--;
On line 12 of paragraph 0026, replace “cre- ate” with --create--;
On line 14 of paragraph 0026, replace “re- configured” with --reconfigured--;
On line 13 of paragraph 0031, replace “Massive” with --massive--;
On line 4 of paragraph 0034, replace “104” with --105-- in order to match
figure 1;
On line 5 of paragraph 0034, replace “105” with --104-- in order to match
figure 1;
On line 7 of paragraph 0034, replace “106includes” with --106 includes--;
On line 7 of paragraph 0034, replace “(i.e.” with –(i.e.,--;
On line 11 of paragraph 0052, replace “706-108-109” with --706-708-709--;
On line 13 of paragraph 0053, replace “circuit” with --packet--;
On line 5 of paragraph 0058, replace “910” with --914-- in order to match
figure 9; and
On line 2 of paragraph 0062, replace “932” with --933-- in order to match
figure 9.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 4, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
On line 1 of claims 4, 12, and 14, replace “the all” with --an all-- in order to provide
proper antecedent basis for “all G software platform”;
On line 13 of claims 9 and 17, replace “the coordination” with --a coordination-- in
order to provide proper antecedent basis for “coordination node”;
On line 1 of claim 10, replace “incldues” with --includes--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on June 26, 2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Patent Nos. 11,356,859 and 11,974,142 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Double Patenting
A rejection based on double patenting of the “same invention” type finds its support in the language of 35 U.S.C. 101 which states that “whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process... may obtain a patent therefor...” (Emphasis added). Thus, the term “same invention,” in this context, means an invention drawn to identical subject matter. See Miller v. Eagle Mfg. Co., 151 U.S. 186 (1894); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Ockert, 245 F.2d 467, 114 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1957).
A statutory type (35 U.S.C. 101) double patenting rejection can be overcome by canceling or amending the claims that are directed to the same invention so they are no longer coextensive in scope. The filing of a terminal disclaimer cannot overcome a double patenting rejection based upon 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claims 1-3 and 6-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as claiming the same invention as
that of claims 1-3 and 6-20, respectively, of prior U.S. Patent No. 11,974,142 B2. This is a
statutory double patenting rejection.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s
disclosure.
Rosa de Sousa Teixeira et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2016/0127169 A1) disclose a system and method for providing dynamic radio access network orchestration.
Agarwal et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2017/0048710 A1) disclose virtualization of the evolved packet core to create a local EPC.
Zhang et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2017/0054595 A2) disclose a method and apparatus for network slicing.
Mistry et al. (U.S. Patent # 9,588,815 B1) disclose an architecture for data collection and event management supporting automation in service provider cloud environments.
Faccin et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2017/0289868 A1) disclose interworking with legacy radio access technologies for connectivity to next generation core network.
Leitao et al. (WO 2018/006985 A1) disclose system, devices, and methods for
interworking between a legacy 3GPP mobile telecommunications network (4G) and a next generation network (5G).
Mildh et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0075496 A1) disclose a method for enabling new radio (NR) integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes to operate in non-standalone (NSA) cells.
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Rafael Pérez-Gutiérrez
R.P.G./rpg
/Rafael Pérez-Gutiérrez/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2642
October 3, 2025