DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 2-3 and 6-10 have been withdrawn (election selection).
Claims 11-28 have been cancelled.
Status of Claims
2. This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 04/20/2026. Claims 1 and 4-5 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
3. 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.
Claim Objections
4. Claims 4-5 are objected to because of the following informalities: The claims 4-5 preamble begins with “Method..”. The preamble of claims 4-5 must begin with “the method…”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Decarreau et al. (US 2020/0187067 Al).
For claim 1 Decarreau teaches a method performed by a first network node of a wireless communication network, the first network node being of a first radio access network technology, the wireless communication network further comprising a second network node of a second radio access technology, the first network node having a direct signaling connection to a core network whereas the second network node is signaling-connected to the core network via the first network node (Fig. 1 “UE 105 is connected to the base station 101 in cell 111 and is reeving a signal from base station 102 in cell 112” and paragraph 9 “3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.11 and the like networks”), the method comprising:
receiving, from a User Equipment, UE, that has a primary connection to the first network node, a Physical Cell Identity, PCI, that matches a PCI of a cell controlled by the second network node (paragraph 13 “base station 101 receives from UE 105 reports including PCI neighboring cells”);
in response to the reception of the PCI, sending a request to the second network node initiating the second network node to set-up a secondary connection with the UE (paragraphs 17-18 “gNB request to set up beam measurement (initiate set-up a secondary connection) for the UE 305”), and
receiving, from the second network node, an acknowledgement of a performed secondary connection set-up with the UE, the acknowledgement comprising an ID of the UE, or, obtaining information on a secondary connection set-up failure with the UE (paragraphs 17-18 “gNB can be sure (an acknowledgement ) that this cell is the right target cell of the handover and start the handover procedure or gNB receives radio link (RLF) indication (set-up failure)”).
For claim 4 Decarreau teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
monitoring any response from the second network node to the request sent to the second network node, and receiving the acknowledgement of performed secondary connection or obtaining the information on secondary connection set-up failure as a result of the monitoring (as discussed in claim 1).
For claim 5 Decarreau teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
selectively acting in response to whether the acknowledgement of performed secondary connection set-up was received or whether the information on secondary connection set-up failure was obtained (as discussed in claim 1).
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David M OVEISSI whose telephone number is (571)270-3127. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8Am-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, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached at (571) 270-1215. 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.
/MANSOUR OVEISSI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
Prosecution Insights