CTNF 18/659,289 CTNF 85634 DETAILED ACTION 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. Specification 06-16 AIA Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details. The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided. The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because “ Disclosure is in the Abstract in line 1 . A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b). 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-3,6-9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Puneet et al US 2024/0381282(FP May 9, 2023) in view of Stojanovski et al US 2022/0007182 . As per claim 1. Puneet discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: determining to include unavailability information in a deregistration request message ( [0050] If the N1 mode capability for 3GPP access was disabled due to the user equipment (UE) initiated de-registration procedure for 3GPP access or for 3GPP access and non-3GPP access and the user equipment (UE) is operating in single-registration mode (see subclause 5.5.2.2.3), and 0030 The user equipment (UE) in state 5GMM-DEREGISTERED shall initiate the registration procedure for initial registration by sending a REGISTRATION REQUEST message to the AMF [0042] In the step S 210 , whether the user equipment (UE) enables an N1 mode capability for 3GPP access again to come out of unavailability period and resume normal services. And 0044 if the user equipment (UE) disabled N1 mode capability due to deregistration, then when user equipment (UE) deactivates the unavailability period, then [0045] the user equipment (UE) shall enable N1 mode capability; and [0046] initiate the registration procedure for initial registration); and transmitting, to a network entity, the deregistration request message, wherein the unavailability information is included in the deregistration request message as non-cleartext information ( 0021 The user equipment (UE) 110 may initially be in wireless communication with wireless network 120 via a base station BS or network node (e.g., an eNB, gNB or transmit-receive point (TRP)). Fig. 1, In the network environment 100 , the user equipment (UE) 110 , the base station BS and the network 120 may implement various schemes pertaining to the user equipment (UE) behavior to activate an unavailability period during an active Non-Access Stratum (NAS) congestion in a wireless communication network ), wherein the deregistration request message includes a non-access stratum (NAS) message, wherein the unavailability information is included in the NAS message ( [0027] In the step S 120 , the user equipment (UE) is controlled in the deregistered state (i.e. the 5GMM-DEREGISTERED state) to initiate the registration procedure for initial registration by sending a REGISTRATION REQUEST message to an AMF, when the user equipment (UE) performs initial registration to come out of the unavailability period and resume the normal services), and wherein at least a part of the NAS message container IE is ciphered by the UE. Puneet does not disclose wherein at least a part of the NAS message container IE is ciphered by the UE . However, Stojanovski discloses wherein at least a part of the NAS message container IE is ciphered by the UE . (0031 an initial NAS message is the first NAS message that is sent after t he UE 302 transitions from the idle state. The UE 302 sends a limited set of information elements (IEs) that are called cleartext IEs in the first NAS message. The UE 302 may include additional IE s, i.e. the NAS message container, in a NAS Security Mode Complete message to provide ciphering protection of the IEs . The cleartext IEs may include IEs used to allow the AMF 304 to verify the message, establish security and/or enable the selection of the AMF 304 . The UE 302 may send all other IEs ciphered. The AMF 304 may use a hash value to protect the integrity of the unciphered IEs in case no security context is present in the UE 302 and [0035] If the UE 302 has a NAS security context, the initial message may contain the complete message using partial encryption. In this case, the information above may be sent in cleartext but the rest of the message (the remaining IEs) may be ciphered. With a NAS security context, the initial message may also be integrity protected. If the initial message was protected, the AMF 304 may have the same security context and successfully check the integrity. In this case, steps 2 to 4 may be omitted. The UE 302 may have a security context when, for example, the Initial NAS message is used as a registration request during periodic registration or a service request). Puneet and Stojanovski are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication network. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Puneet to incorporate the teachings of Stojanovski and provide encryption by the UE . Doing so would protect the communication, thereby increasing the prevention of the communication text. As per claim 2. Puneet and Stojanovski disclose the method of claim 1, Puneet discloses wherein the NAS message container IE is an unavailability period duration IE (Puneet [0027] In the step S 120 , the user equipment (UE) is controlled in the deregistered state (i.e. the 5GMM-DEREGISTERED state) to initiate the registration procedure for initial registration by sending a REGISTRATION REQUEST message to an AMF, when the user equipment (UE) performs initial registration to come out of the unavailability period and resume the normal services ). As per claim 3. Puneet and Stojanovski disclose The method of claim 1,Puneet discloses wherein the unavailability information indicates unavailability period duration of the UE( [0027] In the step S 120 , the user equipment (UE) is controlled in the deregistered state (i.e. the 5GMM-DEREGISTERED state) to initiate the registration procedure for initial registration by sending a REGISTRATION REQUEST message to an AMF, when the user equipment (UE) performs initial registration to come out of the unavailability period and resume the normal services ). As per claim 6. Puneet and Stojanovski disclose The method of claim 1, wherein de-registration type information in the deregistration request message is set to normal de-registration (Puneet, In the step S 120 , the user equipment (UE) is controlled in the deregistered state (i.e. the 5GMM-DEREGISTERED state) to initiate the registration procedure for initial registration by sending a REGISTRATION REQUEST message to an AMF, when the user equipment (UE) performs initial registration to come out of the unavailability period and resume the normal services and Stojanovski 0029 to transition from an Idle state to a Connected state with the 5G system, the UE may send an initial NAS message to the AMF. Depending on the context, the initial NAS message may be one of three NAS messages: a registration request, a service request, or a deregistration request. The registration request may be sent to register the UE with the 5G network, for example, during initial registration of the UE with the network, for a mobility registration update, or as part of a periodic registration update. The service request may start the establishment of an NAS signalling connection. The deregistration request may be sent to deregister the UE from the 5G network). As per claim 7. Puneet discloses a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE (0012 detecting whether a user equipment (UE) performs) comprising: a transceiver (0014 The user equipment (UE) includes a transceiver and a processor. ); memory storing one or more computer programs; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory (0053 The user equipment (UE) 110 may include at least some of those components shown in the FIG. 3 , such as a processor 111 , a transceiver 112 and a memory 113 ), wherein the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors(0053 the user equipment (UE) 110 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips such as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more complex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors, or one or more reduced-instruction-set-computing (RISC) processors and [0056] The memory 113 is coupled to the processor 111 and stores data therein. The memory 113 may include a type of random-access memory (RAM) ), cause the UE to: determining to include unavailability information in a deregistration request message ( [0050] If the N1 mode capability for 3GPP access was disabled due to the user equipment (UE) initiated de-registration procedure for 3GPP access or for 3GPP access and non-3GPP access and the user equipment (UE) is operating in single-registration mode (see subclause 5.5.2.2.3), and 0030 The user equipment (UE) in state 5GMM-DEREGISTERED shall initiate the registration procedure for initial registration by sending a REGISTRATION REQUEST message to the AMF [0042] In the step S 210 , whether the user equipment (UE) enables an N1 mode capability for 3GPP access again to come out of unavailability period and resume normal services. And 0044 if the user equipment (UE) disabled N1 mode capability due to deregistration, then when user equipment (UE) deactivates the unavailability period, then [0045] the user equipment (UE) shall enable N1 mode capability; and [0046] initiate the registration procedure for initial registration); and transmitting, to a network entity, the deregistration request message, wherein the unavailability information is included in the deregistration request message as non-cleartext information (0021 The user equipment (UE) 110 may initially be in wireless communication with wireless network 120 via a base station BS or network node (e.g., an eNB, gNB or transmit-receive point (TRP)). Fig. 1, In the network environment 100 , the user equipment (UE) 110 , the base station BS and the network 120 may implement various schemes pertaining to the user equipment (UE) behavior to activate an unavailability period during an active Non-Access Stratum (NAS) congestion in a wireless communication network), wherein the deregistration request message includes a non-access stratum (NAS) message container information element (IE), wherein the unavailability information is included in the NAS message container IE ( [0027] In the step S 120 , the user equipment (UE) is controlled in the deregistered state (i.e. the 5GMM-DEREGISTERED state) to initiate the registration procedure for initial registration by sending a REGISTRATION REQUEST message to an AMF, when the user equipment (UE) performs initial registration to come out of the unavailability period and resume the normal services), and wherein at least a part of the NAS message container IE is ciphered by the UE. Puneet does not disclose wherein at least a part of the NAS message container IE is ciphered by the UE . However, Stojanovski discloses wherein at least a part of the NAS message container IE is ciphered by the UE . (0031 The cleartext IEs may include IEs used to allow the AMF 304 to verify the message, establish security and/or enable the selection of the AMF 304 . The UE 302 may send all other IEs ciphered. The AMF 304 may use a hash value to protect the integrity of the unciphered IEs in case no security context is present in the UE 302 and [0035] If the UE 302 has a NAS security context, the initial message may contain the complete message using partial encryption. In this case, the information above may be sent in cleartext but the rest of the message (the remaining IEs) may be ciphered. With a NAS security context, the initial message may also be integrity protected. If the initial message was protected, the AMF 304 may have the same security context and successfully check the integrity. In this case, steps 2 to 4 may be omitted. The UE 302 may have a security context when, for example, the Initial NAS message is used as a registration request during periodic registration or a service request). Puneet and Stojanovski are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication network. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Puneet to incorporate the teachings of Stojanovski and provide encryption by the UE . Doing so would protect the communication, thereby increasing the prevention of the communication text. As per claims 8-9 and 12, those claims are rejected based on the same rationale set forth in the claims 2-3 and 6 respectfully . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 4 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Puneet et al US 2024/0381282(FP May 9, 2023) in view of Stojanovski et al US 2022/0007182 in view of Shan et al US 2019/0174449 . As per claim 4. Puneet and Stojanovski disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the UE is in a 5G mobility management (5GMM)-IDLE mode ( Puneet , par 0022 , the user equipment (UE) 110 supporting the Unavailability Period feature provides “Unavailability Period Support” indication as part of 5GMM Core Network Capability in Registration Request message for initial registration and for every mobility registration update procedure); The combination does explicitly not disclose a 5G mobility management (5GMM)-IDLE mode. However, Shan discloses a 5G mobility management (5GMM)-IDLE mode(0226] When the UE 101, 301 is in 5GMM-IDLE mode over 3GPP access and needs to transmit an initial NAS message, the UE 101, 301 requests the lower layer (e.g., RRC 955) to establish an RRC connection. Upon indication from the lower layers that the RRC connection has been established, the UE 101, 301 considers that the N1 NAS signaling connection over 3GPP access is established and enters the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode over 3GPP access. In various embodiments, the UE 301 may generate a NAS message to be included in an RRC message to establish the RRC connection and the AMF 321 may generate another NAS message to be included in an RRC message. Such NAS messages may have a format). Puneet and Stojanovski and Shan are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication network. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Puneet to incorporate the teachings of Stojanovski, including the teaching of Shan and provide encryption by the UE . Doing so would protect the communication, thereby increasing the prevention of the communication text. As per claim 10, this claim is rejected based on the same rationale set forth in the claim 4 . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 5 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Puneet et al US 2024/0381282(FP May 9, 2023) in view of Stojanovski et al US 2022/0007182 in view of NIEMI et al US 2022/0312171 . As per claim 5. Puneet and Stojanovski disclose the method of claim 1, the combination fails to disclose further comprising: starting a timer T3521 after transmitting the deregistration request message. However, NIEMI discloses starting a timer T3521 after transmitting the deregistration request message(0058 the UE may start a timer (e.g., T 3521 ) upon the initiation of the 5GMM de-registration procedure, and abort the 5GMM de-registration procedure at the expiry of the timer (i.e., not resend DEREGISTRATION REQUEST when the timer expires). Alternatively, the UE may set the counter of de-registration attempts to a value denoting that the next expiry of the timer is the fifth expiry, so that the 5GMM de-registration procedure may be aborted when the timer expires. ). Puneet and Stojanovski and NIEMI are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication network. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Puneet to incorporate the teachings of Stojanovski, including the teaching of NIEMI and provide encryption by the UE. Doing so would protect the communication, thereby increasing the prevention of the communication text. As per claim 11, this claim is rejected based on the same rationale set forth in the claim 5. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABU S SHOLEMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7314. The examiner can normally be reached EST: 9am-5pm. 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, JORGE ORTIZ CRIADO can be reached at 571-272-7624. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ABU S SHOLEMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 2 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 3 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 4 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 5 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 6 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 7 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 8 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 9 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 10 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 12 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 13 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/659,289 Page 14 Art Unit: 2496
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