CTNF 18/706,920 CTNF 90814 DETAILED ACTION 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. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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 – 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 1-4 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al (US20230328512) . Regarding claim 1 , the cited reference Li discloses a computer-implemented method, performed by a first node, for handling information in a communications system, the first node operating in the communications system (¶0004 discloses methods and apparatus for integrating NF discovery and application layer service discovery in a communications network) , the method comprising: obtaining, directly, or indirectly, from a second node operating in the communications system information corresponding to a subscriber linked to a device operating in the communications system (¶0204 discloses UE provides "service capability(ies) for which the UE is requesting discovery " at registration, which are sent to AMF (¶0211) as "first node", where "UE" is the "subscriber linked to a device"; "AMF may send the desired service capability information received from the UE to the NRF" (¶0231), the NRF being the "second node") , the information indicating: i. a third node operating in the communications system having a capability to expose one or more services available at the communications system (¶0229 discloses "in the response to the UE, the AMF may include information, such as some or all of the information listed in Table 2, for any discovered service capabilities meeting the search criteria provided by the UE in its request" and table 2 ("provider ID", being the "third node")) , and ii. at least a subset of the one or more services, allowed in the communications system to the subscriber (table 2 discloses "service capability ID") , and providing the obtained information towards the device (¶0229 discloses from AMF to the UE …the AMF may include information, such as some or all of the information listed in Table 2, for any discovered service capabilities meeting the search criteria provided by the UE in its request) . Regarding claim 2 , the cited reference Li discloses all limitations of claim 1. Li further discloses storing the obtained information in a storage (¶0175 discloses information may be stored) , and receiving a connection request from the device, and wherein the obtained information is retrieved from the storage and provided to the device in response to the received connection request (¶0178 discloses that the UE to send discovery requests to the network and receive discovery results from the network) . Regarding claim 3 , the cited reference Li discloses all limitations of claim 1. Li further discloses wherein the information indicates at least one of : a. address information of the third, and b. a list of the one or more services in the subset allowed to the subscriber, per respective application (¶0229 discloses that the AMF may include the subscription ID, notification target address, and NRF ID) . Regarding claim 4 , the cited reference Li discloses all limitations of claim 1. Li further discloses wherein at least one of : a. the first node is one of: i) a User Plane Function, UPF, a Packet Data Network Gateway User plane function, PGW-U, or a Traffic Detection Function User plane, TDF-U, operating in the communications system , ii) an Application Function, AF, or a Service Capability Server/Application Server, SCS/AS, operating in the communications system, and iii) a Session Management Function, SMF, a Packet Data Network Gateway Control plane function, PGW-C, or a Traffic Detection Function Control plane, TDF-C, operating in the communications system, b. the second node is a Policy Charging Function, PCF, or a Policy and Charging Rule Function, PCRF, operating in the communications system, c. the third node is a Network Exposure Function, NEF, or a Service Capability Exposure Function, SCEF, operating in the communications system, and d. the device is a user equipment (See Fig. 15) . Regarding claim 13 , the claim is drawn to a computer-implemented method performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 1. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 1. Regarding claim 14 , the claim is drawn to computer-implemented method performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 3. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 3. Regarding claim 15 , the claim is drawn to computer-implemented method performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 4. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 4 . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 5-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al (US20230328512), in view of Dung et al (US20200045753) . Regarding claim 5 , the claim is drawn to a computer-implemented method performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 1. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 1. However, Li does not explicitly teach the additional limitation of providing the obtained information to an endpoint of a data session with the device, wherein the endpoint operates outside of the communications system. In an analogous art Dung teaches providing the obtained information to an endpoint of a data session with the device, wherein the endpoint operates outside of the communications system (¶0050 discloses that a Network Exposure Function (NEF) 314 can be deployed in the 5GCN/NGCN/NCN to allow servers, functions and other entities such as those outside a 3GPP network domain to have exposure to services and capabilities within the network… an NEF 314 can act much like a proxy between an Application Function (AF) and/or Application Server (AS) outside the 5GCN/NGCN/NCN… provide information that may be of use in the setup of the parameters associated with a data session) . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Dung to facilitate communications between endpoints that utilize different communication and/or networking protocols. Regarding claim 6 , the combination of Li and Dung discloses all limitation of 5. Li further discloses sending a connection request to the first node, and wherein the information is obtained in response to the sent connection request (¶0178 discloses that the UE to send discovery requests to the network and receive discovery results from the network) . Regarding claim 7 , the combination of Li and Dung discloses all limitation of 6. Li further discloses wherein the connection request indicates a first application, and wherein the information indicates at least one of :a. address information of the third node, and b. a first list of the one or more services comprised in the subset, the one or more services being allowed to the subscriber for the indicated first application (¶0229 discloses that the AMF may include the subscription ID, notification target address, and NRF ID) . Regarding claim 8 , the combination of Li and Dung discloses all limitation of 5. Li further discloses the obtained information being further based on a request to establish a session having been sent by the device to another node operating in the communications system (See Fig. 17 discloses a flow illustrating a method by which a UE may initiate service discovery as part of a UE-initiated session establishment procedure, such as the PDU session establishment procedure from the request sent by the UE to sending and receiving data from the network node) . Regarding claim 9 , the combination of Li and Dung discloses all limitation of 5. Li further discloses wherein at least one of : a. the first node is one of: i) a User Plane Function, UPF, a Packet Data Network Gateway User plane function, PGW-U, or a Traffic Detection Function User plane, TDF-U, operating in the communications system, ii) an Application Function, AF, or a Service Capability Server/Application Server, SCS/AS, operating in the communications system , and iii) a Session Management Function, SMF, a Packet Data Network Gateway Control plane function, PGW-C, or a Traffic Detection Function Control plane, TDF-C, operating in the communications system, b. the second node is a Policy Charging Function, PCF, or a Policy and Charging Rule Function, PCRF, operating in the communications system, c. the third node is a Network Exposure Function, NEF, or a Service Capability Exposure Function, SCEF, operating in the communications system, d. the endpoint is another AS, or another AF, and e. the device is a user equipment (See Fig. 15) . Regarding claim 10 , the claim is drawn to a computer-implemented method performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 5. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 5. Regarding claim 11 , the claim is drawn to computer-implemented method performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 7. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 7. Regarding claim 12 , the claim is drawn to computer-implemented method performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 9. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 9. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABDELILLAH ELMEJJARMI whose telephone number is (571)270-1656. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri: 8AM-5PM EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached on (571)272-3927. 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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. Respectfully submitted, /ABDELILLAH ELMEJJARMI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/706,920 Page 2 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/706,920 Page 3 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/706,920 Page 4 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/706,920 Page 5 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/706,920 Page 6 Art Unit: 2462
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