CTNF 18/716,913 CTNF 80103 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 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. The Office Action is responsive to the communication filed on 06/05/2024. Claims 1-30 are pending in the application. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/05/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Drawings 06-37 AIA The drawings were received on 06/05/2024 . These drawings are reviewed and accepted by the Examiner . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1, 11, 18 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stanczak et al (2024/0323797) in view of Zhang et al (EP 3324678) . Regarding claim 1, Stanczak discloses an apparatus for of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (terminal device 110-1, Figure 2), comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor is configured to: perform a handover to a target cell ( … cause the terminal device to upon a successful handover to a first target cell … , [0005] ); store target cell information for the target cell in database ( a first target cell in an ordered list of target cells configured for the terminal device to initiate handover in order, determine information for assessing a validity of the ordered list, [0005]) of target cells to which the UE has performed the handover ( determine information for assessing a validity of the ordered list; and transmit, to a first network device providing the first target cell, a first message comprising the information for assessing the validity of the ordered list, [0005] ). Stanczak discloses handover to a first target cell in an ordered list of target cells. Stanczak does not expressly disclose detect a handover condition based on a number of instances of the target cell in the database of the target cells to which the UE has performed the handover. However, Zhang discloses handover condition based on a number of instances of the target cell in the database of the target cells to which the UE has performed the handover ( if the terminal is residing in a current serving cell, whether a neighboring cell meets a cell reselection condition is determined, [0033]; if the neighboring cell meets the cell reselection condition, cell reselection information corresponding to the neighboring cell is obtained , [0035]; whether the cell reselection information matches a history ping-pong reselection record is determined. … cell reselection information includes at least a current cell reselection time, and each history ping-pong reselection record includes at least a history cell reselection time corresponding to the ping-pong reselection record, [0036]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Stanczak with the teachings of Zhang, the rationale being to prevent ping-pong effects, thus enhancing mobility. Regarding claim 11, Stanczak discloses apparatus of claim 1, wherein the database of the target cells to which the UE has performed the handover is maintained while the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state and an RRC connected state ([0051]: The terminal device 110 may be configured with an ordered list of target cells via RRC reconfiguration message, which indicates a chain of handover to be performed in next few hops ). Regarding claim 18, Stanczak discloses the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the handover is for a sub 6 GHz primary component carrier (PCC) cell handover ([0057] Communications in the communication network 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of … the fourth generation (4G) and the fifth generation (5G) and on the like). Claim 21 contains subject matter similar to claim 1, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale. (Stanczak, Abstract, “A method”) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 2-10, 12-17 and 22-29 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. 13-03-01 AIA The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 2-10, 12-17 and 22-29 would be allowable because the closest prior art Stanczak et al (2024/0323797) in view of Zhang et al (EP 3324678), either alone or in combination fail to anticipate or render obvious wherein, to detect the handover condition, the at least one processor is configured to: detect the handover condition if a same target cell has a threshold number of instances in the database within a period of time (claim 2); wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: exclude an intra-frequency same cell handover from the number of instances on which the handover condition is detected (claim 5); wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: exclude a blind cell handover from the number of instances on which the handover condition is detected (claim 6); wherein the target cell information is stored in the database based on at least one of: the handover being an intra-frequency handover that is not a same cell handover or a blind handover, or the handover being an inter-frequency handover that is not the blind handover (claim 7); wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: remove an earliest target cell entry in the database in response to the database reaching a threshold amount of entries (claim 8); and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: remove each entry of the target cell from the database in response to detecting the handover condition (claim 9), as defined in the specification, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant . 12-151-07 AIA 07-97 12-51-07 Claim s 19-20 and 30 are allowed. 13-03 AIA The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Claims 19-20 and 30 are allowed because the closest prior art Stanczak et al (2024/0323797) in view of Zhang et al (EP 3324678), fail to anticipate or render obvious transmitting the list of cells associated with at least one of a threshold number of instances of a target cell or a period of time for detecting the handover condition, wherein the handover condition is based on the threshold number of instances of the target cell in a database of target cells to which a user equipment (UE) has performed the handover within the period of time , as defined in the specification, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant . Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.” Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 12082063 to Yao et al: The terminal device meets a first condition for performing measurement, and measuring, by the terminal device. US 20230224790 to Lee: The device may determine a second time period to travel the second distance, and may determine a handover time period based on the first time period and the second time period. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIO R PEREZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7846. The examiner can normally be reached 10Am - 6PM EST M-F. 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, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 5712705371. 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. /JULIO R PEREZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/716,913 Page 2 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/716,913 Page 3 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/716,913 Page 4 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/716,913 Page 5 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/716,913 Page 6 Art Unit: 2644 Application/Control Number: 18/716,913 Page 7 Art Unit: 2644
Prosecution Insights