DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/23/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Status
Applicant’s amendment to claim 8 overcome the 112(b) rejection to claim 8.
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: “an authorization mechanisms” should read “an authorization mechanism”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 –
(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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 11-13, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (US 20190230556 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a method performed by a Network Function, NF, comprising:
sending, to another network function, information that indicates whether a particular type of authorization is required per Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, for a particular NF service instance associated with the NF. ([0006]-[0008]: receiving, by a network function repository function (NRF) (e.g., the other network function), a registration request from a management system in response to deploying of a new NF instance; adding, by the NRF, an NF profile of the new NF instance in response to the registration request. The NF profile may include at least one of an NF instance ID, an NF type, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an Internet protocol (IP) address of an NF, a public land mobile network (PLMN) ID, a network slice related identifier, NF capacity information, NF specific service authorization information, identification of stored information, names of supported services, and endpoint information of instance of each supported service. [0512]-[0513]: The NF profile may be registered/updated/deregistered to the NRF by two different types of 3GPP entities: The NF instance itself and NF instance lifecycle management entity.)
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches the method of claim 1.
Lee teaches wherein the other network function is a Network Repository Function, NRF. ([0006]-[0008]: receiving, by a network function repository function (NRF) (e.g., the other network function), a registration request from a management system in response to deploying of a new NF instance.)
Regarding claim 3, Lee teaches the method of claim 1.
Lee teaches wherein the information is comprised in a NF profile of the NF. ([0006]-[0008]: receiving, by a network function repository function (NRF) (e.g., the other network function), a registration request from a management system in response to deploying of a new NF instance; adding, by the NRF, an NF profile of the new NF instance in response to the registration request.)
Regarding claim 11, Lee teaches a method performed by a Network Function, NF, comprising:
receiving, from another network function, information that indicates whether a particular type of authorization is required per Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, for a particular NF service instance associated with the NF. ([0006]-[0008]: receiving, by a network function repository function (NRF) (e.g., a network function), a registration request from a NF instance/a management system (e.g., another network function) in response to deploying of a new NF instance; adding, by the NRF, an NF profile of the new NF instance in response to the registration request. The NF profile may include at least one of an NF instance ID, an NF type, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an Internet protocol (IP) address of an NF, a public land mobile network (PLMN) ID, a network slice related identifier, NF capacity information, NF specific service authorization information, identification of stored information, names of supported services, and endpoint information of instance of each supported service. [0512]-[0513]: The NF profile may be registered/updated/deregistered to the NRF by two different types of 3GPP entities: The NF instance itself and NF instance lifecycle management entity.)
Same rationales apply to claim 12 (method) because it is substantially similar to claim 2 (method).
Same rationales apply to claim 13 (method) because it is substantially similar to claim 3 (method).
Regarding claim 19, Lee teaches the method of claim 11.
Lee teaches storing the information. ([0006]-[0008]: adding, by the NRF, an NF profile of the new NF instance in response to the registration request. The NF profile may include at least one of an NF instance ID, an NF type, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an Internet protocol (IP) address of an NF, a public land mobile network (PLMN) ID, a network slice related identifier, NF capacity information, NF specific service authorization information, identification of stored information, names of supported services, and endpoint information of instance of each supported service.)
Regarding claim 20, Lee teaches the method of claim 11.
Lee teaches receiving a discovery request from a NF service consumer; ([0473]: an NF service consumer may intend to discover services available in a network based on a service name and a target NF type. The NF service consumer may invoke Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request (e.g., expected NF service name, NF type of the expected NF instance, NF type of the NF consumer) from an appropriate configured NRF in the same PLMN.)
determining that the particular NF service instance satisfies the discovery request; ([0475]: the NRF may determine whether the NF service consumer is allowed to discover the expected NF instance(s).)
determining a particular authorization requirement for the NF service consumer based on the information that indicates whether the particular type of authorization is required per PLMN for the particular NF service instance and one or more relevant PLMN IDs; and ([0475]: the NRF may authorize the Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request. Based on a profile of the expected NF/NF service and the type of the NF service consumer. [0006]-[0008]: The NF profile may include at least one of an NF instance ID, an NF type, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an Internet protocol (IP) address of an NF, a public land mobile network (PLMN) ID, a network slice related identifier, NF capacity information, NF specific service authorization information, identification of stored information, names of supported services, and endpoint information of instance of each supported service..)
sending a discovery response to the NF service consumer; wherein the discovery response comprises information that indicates the particular authorization requirement for the NF service consumer. ([0476]: if allowed, the NRF may determine the discovered NF instance(s) or NF service instance(s) and may provide information of a set of discovered NF instance(s) or NF service instance(s) to the NF service consumer via an Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request Response message.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 4-10 and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 20190230556 A1) in view of 3GPP (Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; 5G System; Network Function Repository Services; Stage 3 (Release 17), TS 29.510 V17.2.0), provided by IDS.
Regarding claim 4, Lee teaches the method of claim 1.
Lee does not explicitly disclose wherein the information is comprised in a NF Service object that is comprised in a NF profile of the NF.
However, 3GPP teaches wherein the information is comprised in a NF Service object that is comprised in a NF profile of the NF. (Page 70: nfServiceList : map(NFService) - Map of NF Service Instances, where the “serviceInstancedId” attribute of the NF Service object shall be used as the key of the map.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include above limitation into Lee. One would have been motivated to do so because 3GPP defines the global standards for 5G networks, ensuring compatibility and interoperability between different devices and operators worldwide. The 3GPP technical specifications are used worldwide.
Regarding claim 5, Lee and 3GPP teach the method of claim 4.
Lee teaches wherein sending the information comprises sending a NF profile of the NF to the other network node. ([0006]-[0008])
Lee does not explicitly disclose wherein the NF profile comprises a list of NF Service objects for respective NF service instances associated with the NF and the information is comprised in the NF Service object for the particular NF service instance.
However, 3GPP teaches wherein the NF profile comprises a list of NF Service objects for respective NF service instances associated with the NF and the information is comprised in the NF Service object for the particular NF service instance. (Page 70: nfServiceList : map(NFService) - Map of NF Service Instances, where the “serviceInstancedId” attribute of the NF Service object shall be used as the key of the map.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include above limitation into Lee. One would have been motivated to do so because 3GPP defines the global standards for 5G networks, ensuring compatibility and interoperability between different devices and operators worldwide. The 3GPP technical specifications are used worldwide.
Regarding claim 6, Lee and 3GPP teach the method of claim 4.
Lee teaches wherein the information is comprised in a new attribute of the NF Service object, where the new attribute indicates whether the particular NF service instance requires specific authorization per consumer PLMN ID and/or producer PLMN ID. ([0006]-[0008]. [0460]: an NF service consumer, for example, an AMF instance, may send an Nnrf_NFManagement_NFRegister_Request message, for example, an NF profile of NF service consumer, to NRF to inform the NRF of its NF profile when the NF service consumer becomes operative for the first time.)
Lee does not explicitly disclose wherein the specific authorization is Oauth2-based authorization.
However, 3GPP teaches wherein the specific authorization is Oauth2-based authorization. (Page 76: oauth2Required – It indicates whether the NF Service Instance requires Oauth2-based authorization.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include above limitation into Lee. One would have been motivated to do so because 3GPP defines the global standards for 5G networks, ensuring compatibility and interoperability between different devices and operators worldwide. The 3GPP technical specifications are used worldwide.
Regarding claim 7, Lee teaches the method of claim 1.
Lee does not explicitly disclose wherein the particular type of authorization is Oauth2-based authorization.
However, 3GPP teaches wherein the particular type of authorization is Oauth2-based authorization. (Page 76: oauth2Required – It indicates whether the NF Service Instance requires Oauth2-based authorization.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include above limitation into Lee. One would have been motivated to do so because 3GPP defines the global standards for 5G networks, ensuring compatibility and interoperability between different devices and operators worldwide. The 3GPP technical specifications are used worldwide.
Regarding claim 8, Lee teaches the method of claim 1.
Lee teaches receiving, from a NF service consumer, a service request for the particular NF service instance. ([0473]-[0475]: an NF service consumer may intend to discover services available in a network based on a service name and a target NF type. The NF service consumer may invoke Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request (e.g., expected NF service name, NF type of the expected NF instance, NF type of the NF consumer) from an appropriate configured NRF in the same PLMN.)
Lee does not explicitly disclose determining which of two or more authorization mechanisms to use for the NF service consumer based on the information that indicates whether the particular type of authorization is required per PLMN for the particular NF service instance and one or more relevant PLMN IDs.
However, 3GPP teaches determining which of two or more authorization mechanisms to use for the NF service consumer based on the information that indicates whether the particular type of authorization is required per PLMN for the particular NF service instance and one or more relevant PLMN IDs. (Section 6.1.8 Security: If Oauth2 authorization is used, an NF Service Consumer, prior to consuming services offered by the Nnrf_NFManagement API, shall obtain a "token" from the authorization server, by invoking the Access Token Request service, as described in clause 5.4.2.2.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include above limitation into Lee. One would have been motivated to do so because 3GPP defines the global standards for 5G networks, ensuring compatibility and interoperability between different devices and operators worldwide. The 3GPP technical specifications are used worldwide.
Regarding claim 9, Lee and 3GPP teach the method of claim 8.
Lee teaches wherein the one or more relevant PLMN IDs comprise a PLMN ID of a PLMN of the NF service consumer and/or a PLMN ID of a PLMN of the particular NF service instance. ([0480]: The NF service consumer may invoke Nnrf_NFDiscovery_Request (e.g., expected service name, NF type of the expected NF, home PLMN ID, serving PLMN ID, NF type of the NF service consumer).
Regarding claim 10, Lee and 3GPP teach the method of claim 8.
3GPP teaches proceeding with processing the service request based on the determined authorization mechanism. (Section 6.1.8 Security: If Oauth2 authorization is used, an NF Service Consumer, prior to consuming services offered by the Nnrf_NFManagement API, shall obtain a "token" from the authorization server, by invoking the Access Token Request service, as described in clause 5.4.2.2.)
Same rationales apply to claim 14 (method) because it is substantially similar to claim 4 (method).
Same rationales apply to claim 15 (method) because it is substantially similar to claim 5 (method).
Regarding claim 16, Lee and 3GPP teach the method of claim 15.
Lee teaches storing the NF profile. ([0006]: adding, by the NRF, an NF profile of the new NF instance in response to the registration request.)
Same rationales apply to claim 17 (method) because it is substantially similar to claim 6 (method).
Same rationales apply to claim 18 (method) because it is substantially similar to claim 7 (method).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 5-7, filed 03/23/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 and 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pages 6-7, applicant submits that the prior art of record, Lee fails to teach “sending, to another network function, information that indicates whether a particular type of authorization is required per Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, for a particular NF service instance associated with the NF.” Applicant submits that Lee fails to teach claim1, especially "a relationship between PLMN ID and authorization type. Lee shows only one PLMN ID, representing the home PLMN of the NF instance. There is no mapping of multiple PLMN IDs to different authorization modes.”
In response to applicant’s arguments, claim 2 recites wherein the other network function is a Network Repository Function, NRF. Claim 3 recites wherein the information is comprised in a NF profile. Under the BRI and in view of claims 2-3, claim 1 is interpreted as “sending, to an NRF, a NF profile that including information of whether a particular type of authorization is required per Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, for a particular NF service instance associated with the NF.” Lee teaches in [0006]-[0008]: receiving, by a network function repository function (NRF) (e.g., the other network function), a registration request from a management system in response to deploying of a new NF instance; adding, by the NRF, an NF profile (e.g., information) of the new NF instance in response to the registration request. The NF profile may include at least one of an NF instance ID, an NF type, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an Internet protocol (IP) address of an NF, a public land mobile network (PLMN) ID (e.g., per PLMN), a network slice related identifier, NF capacity information, NF specific service authorization information (e.g., a particular type of authorization), identification of stored information, names of supported services, and endpoint information of instance of each supported service. In addition, it is noted that the claim limitation does not explicitly recite there are multiple PLMN IDs and multiple authorization types. Based on the BRI, claim 1 simply recites an association between a PLMN ID and a type of authorization which Lee teaches. Therefore, Lee teaches claim 1.
Same rationales apply to arguments (pages 3-4 of Remarks) regarding dependent claims of claim 1.
Conclusion
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/ZI YE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2455
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