CTNF 18/671,032 CTNF 86552 DETAILED ACTION This is in response to applicant's communication filed on 05/22/2024, wherein: Claim 1-20 are pending. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-08-aia AIA (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15 AIA Claim 1-3, 6-8, 14-15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Shi et al. (US 20230337175 A1) . Regarding claim 1 , Shi discloses a reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE) (Fig. 3 and ¶0098-0102 – “For example, a high-capability terminal device may support aggregation of more PFLs, and a low-capability terminal device may support aggregation of less PFLs”, wherein the low capacity UE is corresponding to RedCap UE), comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination (Fig. 7 discloses schematic of terminal device including processor, transceiver, and memory components) , configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a position estimation entity, UE-specific information comprising a first capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more frequency ranges, or a RedCap wireless wide area network (WWAN) cell identifier of a cell on which the RedCap UE is camped, a battery level information associated with the RedCap UE, or a combination thereof (Fig. 3 step 301 and ¶[0052-0054; 0072-0080; 0098-0102 disclose transmitting, to a network device, UE-specific information comprising a UE capability associated with support by the terminal device for a maximum number of positioning frequency layers, PFL, where each PFL is located in a specific frequency resource or carrier of said UE. It should be also noted that the frequency resources or carriers corresponding to the PFL supported by the UE are considered one or more frequency ranges. ¶0078 discloses that the network device is a location server that is considered a position estimation entity. ¶0080 discloses that the signaling of the UE capability is carried in the resource capability per band in a DL positioning reference signal, DL-PRS-ResourcesCapabilityPerBand, Information Element, IE, and which is specific for a frequency band - i.e. a frequency range, supported by the UE. ¶0102 discloses that a low-capability terminal device, that is considered a reduced capability – i.e. RedCap- , user equipment, UE, supports less positioning frequency layers, PFL, and therefore has reduced capabilities with respect to a high-capability terminal device supporting a larger number of PFL) ; and receive, via the one or more transceivers, from the position estimation entity, assistance data that is associated with a position estimation session of the RedCap UE and is based on the UE-specific information (Fig. 3 step 302 and ¶0245-0247 disclose receiving from the network device, configuration information according to the UE capability, ¶0102 discloses that a low-capability terminal device, that is considered a reduced capability – i.e. RedCap- , user equipment, UE, supports less positioning frequency layers, PFL, and therefore has reduced capabilities with respect to a high-capability terminal device supporting a larger number of PFL). Regarding claim 2 , Shi discloses the RedCap UE of claim 1, however, wherein the position estimation entity corresponds to a location management function (LMF) (Fig. 2 and ¶0068 – “The network device may also be a device such as a server (for example, a location server)”; ¶0031-0032 disclose location server including LMF). Regarding claim 3 , Shi discloses the RedCap UE of claim 1, wherein the UE-specific information further comprises: a second capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more radio access technologies (RATs), or a third capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more position estimation techniques (¶0160-0165, 0173-0174 disclose band aggregation capability) , or a fourth capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for a non-standalone (NSA) operation mode, or a fifth capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more band combinations, or a sixth capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for carrier aggregation, or a seventh capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), or any combination thereof. Regarding claim 6, Shi discloses the RedCap UE of claim 1, wherein the UE-specific information comprises the first capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for the one or more frequency ranges (Fig. 3 step 301 and ¶[0052-0054; 0072-0080; 0098-0102 disclose transmitting, to a network device, UE-specific information comprising a UE capability associated with support by the terminal device for a maximum number of positioning frequency layers, PFL, where each PFL is located in a specific frequency resource or carrier of said UE. It should be also noted that the frequency resources or carriers corresponding to the PFL supported by the UE are considered one or more frequency ranges). Regarding claim 7 , Shi discloses the RedCap UE of claim 6, wherein the first capability comprises a first indication of whether a first frequency range (FR1) associated with a 20 MHz channel bandwidth is supported by the RedCap UE, or wherein the first capability comprises a second indication of whether a second frequency range (FR2) associated with a 100 MHz channel bandwidth is supported by the RedCap UE, or a combination thereof (¶0135-0136 disclose supported bandwidth such as FR1/FR2 including 20 MHz and 100MHz). Regarding claim 8 , Shi discloses the RedCap UE of claim 1, wherein the position estimation session is based on measurement information associated with one or more uplink positioning reference signals (UL-PRSs), one or more downlink PRSs (DL-PRS), one or more sidelink PRSs (SL-PRSs), or any combination thereof (Shi - ¶0042-0044 – “3) The UE receives the positioning signal PRS and performs measurements. With regard to different positioning methods, the measurement results required by the UE is different. 4) The UE feeds back the measurement result to the location server. The UE feeds back the measurement result to the location server via a base station. 5) The location server calculates location related information”). Regarding claim 14 , Shi discloses a position estimation entity, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors (Fig. 3 and Fig. 8 disclose – network device comprising transceiver and memory; ¶0078 discloses network device is a location server, which would include processor), either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, user equipment (UE)-specific information that is associated with a reduced capability (RedCap) UE and comprises a first capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more frequency ranges, or a RedCap wireless wide area network (WWAN) cell identifier of a cell on which the RedCap UE is camped, a battery level information associated with the RedCap UE, or a combination thereof; and determine assistance data associated with a position estimation session of the RedCap UE based on the UE-specific information (Fig. 3 step 301 and ¶[0052-0054; 0072-0080; 0098-0102 disclose receiving, from UE, UE-specific information comprising a UE capability associated with support by the terminal device for a maximum number of positioning frequency layers, PFL, where each PFL is located in a specific frequency resource or carrier of said UE. It should be also noted that the frequency resources or carriers corresponding to the PFL supported by the UE are considered one or more frequency ranges. ¶0078 discloses that the network device is a location server that is considered a position estimation entity. ¶0080 discloses that the signaling of the UE capability is carried in the resource capability per band in a DL positioning reference signal, DL-PRS-ResourcesCapabilityPerBand, Information Element, IE, and which is specific for a frequency band - i.e. a frequency range, supported by the UE. ¶0102 discloses that a low-capability terminal device, that is considered a reduced capability – i.e. RedCap- , user equipment, UE, supports less positioning frequency layers, PFL, and therefore has reduced capabilities with respect to a high-capability terminal device supporting a larger number of PFL) ; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the assistance data to the RedCap UE (Fig. 3 step 302 and ¶0245-0247 disclose transmitting to UE, configuration information according to the UE capability, ¶0102 discloses that a low-capability terminal device, that is considered a reduced capability – i.e. RedCap - user equipment, UE, supports less positioning frequency layers, PFL, and therefore has reduced capabilities with respect to a high-capability terminal device supporting a larger number of PFL). Regarding claim 15 , Shi discloses the position estimation entity of claim 14, wherein the UE-specific information is received from the RedCap UE (Fig. 3 step 301 and ¶[0052-0054; 0072-0080; 0098-0102 discloses receiving, from UE, UE-specific information comprising a UE capability associated with support by the terminal device for a maximum number of positioning frequency layers, PFL, where each PFL is located in a specific frequency resource or carrier of said UE, ¶0102 discloses “a low-capability terminal device may support aggregation of less PFLs” – i.e. RedCap UE). Regarding claim 18 , Shi discloses the position estimation entity of claim 14, wherein the UE-specific information further comprises: a second capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more radio access technologies (RATs), or a third capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more position estimation techniques (¶0160-0165, 0173-0174 disclose band aggregation capability) , or a fourth capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for a non-standalone (NSA) operation mode, or a fifth capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more band combinations, or a sixth capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for carrier aggregation, or a seventh capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), or any combination thereof. Regarding claim 19 , Shi discloses the position estimation entity of claim 14, wherein the UE-specific information comprises the first capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for the one or more frequency ranges, or wherein the first capability comprises a first indication of whether a first frequency range (FR1) associated with a 20 MHz channel bandwidth is supported by the RedCap UE, or wherein the first capability comprises a second indication of whether a second frequency range (FR2) associated with a 100 MHz channel bandwidth is supported by the RedCap UE, or a combination thereof (Shi - ¶0135-0136 disclose supported bandwidth such as FR1/FR2 including 20 MHz and 100MHz). Regarding claim 20 , the scope and content of the claim recites a method performed by the UE of claim 1, therefore, being addressed as in claim 1 . 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-21-aia AIA Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al. (US 20230337175 A1) in view of Lee et al. (US 20250286681 A1) . Regarding claim 4, Shi discloses the RedCap UE of claim 1, however, silent on further details of claim 4. Lee discloses wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, a request for the UE-specific information, wherein the UE-specific information is transmitted in response to the request (¶0163 – “Specifically, the LMF may transmit a request for capability information to the UE and the UE may transmit the capability information to the LMF. Here, the capability information may include information about a positioning method supportable by the LFM or the UE, information about various aspects of a particular positioning method”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Shi to incorporate ability to request capability information from UE from Lee because doing so would apply a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (MPEP §2141 -III) to allow network to obtain necessary information from UE for positioning procedure . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al. (US 20230337175 A1) in view of Edge et al. (US 10477340 B2) . Regarding claim 5 , Shi discloses the RedCap UE of claim 1, however, silent on further detail of claim 5. Edge discloses wherein the UE-specific information is transmitted via long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) control plane signaling or user plane signaling (Fig. 2 step 205 and col. 17 ln 11-49 – “The AMF 115 may include the LPP/NPP Request Capabilities message within a 5G NAS transport message, at action 203, which is sent to the UE 105 (e.g., via the serving gNB 110-1, as illustrated in FIG. 1A). The UE 105 responds to the AMF 115 with an LPP/NPP Provide Capabilities message at action 204, also sent within a 5G NAS transport message”, wherein the NAS message is a control plane signaling protocol). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Shi to incorporate LPP signaling for obtaining capability from Edge because doing so would combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (MPEP §2141 -III) to utilize known protocol for obtaining capability from UE . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 9-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shreevastav et al. (US 20220221548 A1) in view of Shi et al. (US 20230337175 A1) . Regarding claim 9, Shreevastav discloses a network component, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors (Fig. 13 – AMF performing the procedure shown in Fig. 13 which indicated that the AMF having sufficient computer architecture such as processor, transmitter, and memory component to perform the procedure) , either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, user equipment (UE)-specific information (Fig. 13 - step 1, Fig. 21 step 1 and ¶0110, 0155 disclose AMF receiving from UE a request for assistance data, wherein the request includes ) ; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the UE-specific information to a position estimation entity (Fig. 13 step 1 and Fig. 21 step 3 disclose AMF relaying request to LMF – position estimation entity – including UE specific information such as subscription data or capability information- since the capability information from the request from UE indicated in ¶0118 is relayed to LMF). However, the reference is silent on details about UE specific information that is associated with a reduced capability (RedCap) UE and comprises a first capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more frequency ranges, or a RedCap wireless wide area network (WWAN) cell identifier of a cell on which the RedCap UE is camped, a battery level information associated with the RedCap UE, or a combination thereof Shi discloses UE specific information that is associated with a reduced capability (RedCap) UE and comprises a first capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more frequency ranges, or a RedCap wireless wide area network (WWAN) cell identifier of a cell on which the RedCap UE is camped, a battery level information associated with the RedCap UE, or a combination thereof (Fig. 3 step 301 and ¶[0052-0054; 0072-0080; 0098-0102 disclose receiving, from UE, UE-specific information comprising a UE capability associated with support by the terminal device for a maximum number of positioning frequency layers, PFL, where each PFL is located in a specific frequency resource or carrier of said UE. It should be also noted that the frequency resources or carriers corresponding to the PFL supported by the UE are considered one or more frequency ranges. ¶0078 discloses that the network device is a location server that is considered a position estimation entity. ¶0080 discloses that the signaling of the UE capability is carried in the resource capability per band in a DL positioning reference signal, DL-PRS-ResourcesCapabilityPerBand, Information Element, IE, and which is specific for a frequency band - i.e. a frequency range, supported by the UE. ¶0102 discloses that a low-capability terminal device, that is considered a reduced capability – i.e. RedCap- , user equipment, UE, supports less positioning frequency layers, PFL, and therefore has reduced capabilities with respect to a high-capability terminal device supporting a larger number of PFL). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Shreevastav to incorporate ability to notify network UE being a RedCap device from Shi because doing so would make use of known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way (MPEP §2141 -III) to provide sufficient UE information for network to customize assistance data. Regarding claim 10, the combined teaching of Shreevastav and Shi discloses the network component of claim 9, wherein the network component corresponds to an access management function (AMF) and the position estimation entity corresponds to a location management function (LMF) (Shreevastav - Fig. 13 and Fig. 21 disclose AMF and LMF). Regarding claim 11 , the combined teaching of Shreevastav and Shi discloses the network component of claim 9, wherein the UE-specific information further comprises: a second capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more radio access technologies (RATs), or a third capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more position estimation techniques (Shi - ¶0160-0165, 0173-0174 disclose band aggregation capability) , or a fourth capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for a non-standalone (NSA) operation mode, or a fifth capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for one or more band combinations, or a sixth capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for carrier aggregation, or a seventh capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), or any combination thereof. The combined teaching would be obvious for the same reason indicated in claim 9. Regarding claim 12 , the combined teaching of Shreevastav and Shi discloses the network component of claim 9, wherein the UE-specific information comprises the first capability associated with support by the RedCap UE for the one or more frequency ranges (Shi - Fig. 3 step 301 and ¶[0052-0054; 0072-0080; 0098-0102 discloses transmitting, to a network device, UE-specific information comprising a UE capability associated with support by the terminal device for a maximum number of positioning frequency layers, PFL, where each PFL is located in a specific frequency resource or carrier of said UE. It should be also noted that the frequency resources or carriers corresponding to the PFL supported by the UE are considered one or more frequency ranges). The combined teaching would be obvious for the same reason indicated in claim 9. Regarding claim 13 , the combined teaching of Shreevastav and Shi discloses the network component of claim 12, wherein the first capability comprises a first indication of whether a first frequency range (FR1) associated with a 20 MHz channel bandwidth is supported by the RedCap UE, or wherein the first capability comprises a second indication of whether a second frequency range (FR2) associated with a 100 MHz channel bandwidth is supported by the RedCap UE, or a combination thereof (Shi - ¶0135-0136 disclose supported bandwidth such as FR1/FR2 including 20 MHz and 100MHz). The combined teaching would be obvious for the same reason indicated in claim 9 . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al. (US 20230337175 A1) in view of Shreevastav et al. (US 20220221548 A1) . Regarding claim 16 , Shi discloses the position estimation entity of claim 15, however, silent on further details of claim 16. Shreevastav discloses wherein the UE-specific information is received from a network component (Fig. 13 step 1 and Fig. 21 step 3 disclose AMF relaying request to LMF – position estimation entity – including UE specific information such as subscription data or capability information- since the capability information from the request from UE indicated in ¶0118 is relayed to LMF). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Shi to incorporate the ability to share UE specific information between network component from Shreevastav because doing so would apply a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (MPEP §2141 -III) to enable LMF to obtain various specific information about UE such as subscription information for customizing assistance data. Regarding claim 17 , the combined teaching of Shi and Shreevastav discloses the position estimation entity of claim 16, wherein the network component corresponds to an access management function (AMF) and the position estimation entity corresponds to a location management function (LMF) (Shreevastav - Fig. 13 and Fig. 21 disclose AMF and LMF), the combined teaching would be obvious for the same reason indicated in claim 16. Contact Information 07-101 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUNG HONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7928 . The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. 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.usp to. gov/interviewpractice . If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, JINSONG HU , can be reached on (571) 272-3965 . 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). /DUNG HONG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 2 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 3 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 4 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 5 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 6 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 7 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 8 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 9 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 10 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 11 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 12 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 13 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 14 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 15 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 16 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 17 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 18 Art Unit: 2643 Application/Control Number: 18/671,032 Page 19 Art Unit: 2643