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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim (US 2023/0093248)
Regarding Claim 13, Kim teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, from a base station, system information associated with a number of subgroups for UE identity (ID) based subgrouping and a number of subgroups for a core network (CN) assigned subgrouping (system information (Sections 0172, 0173), UE_ID based subgrouping and CN assigned subgrouping (Section 0219)); and determining a subgroup ID, based on the system information (subgroup ID based on UE_ID based subgrouping or CN assigned subgrouping (Section 0219)).
Regarding Claim 19, Kim teaches a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled with the transceiver (Figure 2, UE (100)) and configured to: receive, from a base station via the transceiver, system information associated with a number of subgroups for UE identity (ID) based subgrouping and a number of subgroups for a core network (CN) assigned subgrouping (system information (Sections 0172, 0173), UE_ID based subgrouping and CN assigned subgrouping (Section 0219)); and determine a subgroup ID, based on the system information (subgroup ID based on UE_ID based subgrouping or CN assigned subgrouping (Section 0219)).
Regarding Claims 14, 20, Kim teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 13, 19. Kim further teaches wherein the UE is in a cell supporting the UE ID based subgrouping (Section 0219, renders a scenario wherein a UE with UE_ID based subgrouping can communicate in cells thus rendering a further scenario wherein the cells support UE_ID based subgrouping).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 15 – 18, 21 – 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2023/0093248) in view of Nagano et al. (US 2024/0073863).
Regarding Claims 15, 21, Kim teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 13, 19. Kim does not teach receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including bit information associated with paging early indication (PEI), wherein each bit in the bit information indicates one subgroup.
Nagano, which also teaches PEI, teaches receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including bit information associated with paging early indication (PEI), wherein each bit in the bit information indicates one subgroup (Section 0092).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kim with the above features of Nagano for the purpose of controlling monitoring of PEI appropriately as taught by Nagano.
Regarding Claims 16, 22, Kim combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 15, 21. Kim does not teach wherein a length of the bit information is determined based on a number of subgroups.
Nagano, which also teaches PEI, teaches wherein a length of the bit information is determined based on a number of subgroups (Section 0092).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kim with the above features of Nagano for the purpose of controlling monitoring of PEI appropriately as taught by Nagano.
Regarding Claims 17, 23, Kim combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 15, 21. Kim does not teach identifying that a corresponding bit for a subgroup of the UE in the bit information is set to 1.
Nagano, which also teaches PEI, teaches identifying that a corresponding bit for a subgroup of the UE in the bit information is set to 1 (Sections 0096, 0097, bits can be 0 or 1 thus rendering a scenario wherein a bit for a subgroup of the UE is set to 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kim with the above features of Nagano for the purpose of controlling monitoring of PEI appropriately as taught by Nagano.
Regarding Claim 18, 24, Kim combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 17, 23. Kim does not teach monitoring a paging occasion (PO) for receiving a paging message, based on the identification.
Nagano, which also teaches PEI, teaches monitoring a paging occasion (PO) for receiving a paging message, based on the identification (Section 0096, 0097).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kim with the above features of Nagano for the purpose of controlling monitoring of PEI appropriately as taught by Nagano.
Conclusion
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/RAYMOND S DEAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean
February 13, 2026