Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This Office action is in response to Applicant’s amendment submitted on May 6, 2026.
Claims 1-2, 5-16, 19-22 are pending in the application.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 May 6, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments/Remarks
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 22 was rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The amendment to claim 22 has addressed the rejection. Accordingly, the rejection has been withdrawn
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1, 3, 6-8, 11, 14-15, 17, 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. US Patent Publication No. 2023/0082718 in view of Verma et al. US Patent Publication No. 2020/0145432 and Kim et al. US Patent Publication No. 2018/0234942.
The amendments to claims 1, 15, and 20 have overcome the rejections. Accordingly, the rejections of the claims have been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-2, 5-16, 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Claims 1, 15, and 20 have been amended to recite, “wherein the Remote UE Report includes a Remote UE Context Connected message and a Remote UE Context Disconnected message.” Applicant has indicated that paragraphs [0108] and [0109] provide support for the amendments to claims 1, 15, and 20. The specification, on paragraphs [0108] and [109] describes a “Remote UE Report,” and security platform configured to extract “(1) Remote UE Context Connected message” and (2) Remote UE Context Disconnected message” from the “Remote UE Report.” The specification, on paragraph [0077], discloses that the security platform is configured to process the “Remote UE Report Notification” as specified in the document, 3GPP Technical Specification 29.274 version 17.9.0.
3GPP TS 29.274 version 17.9.0 (“3GPP TS” hereinafter) states in part,
7.2.26 Remote UE Report Notification
The direction of this message shall be from MME to SGW and from SGW to the PGW (see Table 6.1-1). This message is used by an MME to notify that at least one remote UE is newly connected to or disconnected from a ProSe UE-to-Network Relay when the MME receives such notification from the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay via the PDN connection established by the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay as specified in 3GPP TS 23.303 [72].
Table 7.2.26-1: Information Elements in Remote UE Report Notification
Information elements
P
Condition / Comment
IE Type
Ins.
Remote UE Context Connected
C
This IE shall be sent on the S11 interface and S5/S8 interface when the MME receives a report from the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay that a remote UE is newly connected.
The SGW shall forward this IE to the PGW.
Several IEs with the same type and instance value may be included as necessary to represent a list of remote UEs newly connected.
Remote UE Context
0
Remote UE Context Disconnected
C
This IE shall be sent on the S11 interface and S5/S8 interface when the MME receives a report from the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay that a remote UE is newly disconnected.
The SGW shall forward this IE to the PGW.
Several IEs with the same type and instance value may be included as necessary to represent a list of remote UEs newly disconnected.
Remote UE Context
1
Private Extension
O
Private Extension
VS
According to the 3GPP TS, the UE Report Notification is used to indicate when the remote UE is newly connected or newly disconnected. The Remote UE Context Connected is sent “when the MME receives a report from the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay that a remote UE is newly connected.” The Remote UE Context Disconnected is sent “when the MME receives a report from the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay that a remote UE is newly disconnected.” The UE Report Notification includes a Remote UE Context Connected message or a Remote UE Context Disconnected message. However, the claim requires that the Remote UE Report include both a Remote UE Context Connected message and a Remote UE Context Disconnected message. The remote UE cannot be both newly connected and newly disconnected, and the Remote UE Report does not include both a Remote UE Context Connected and Remote UE Context Disconnected. The specification does not provide any description of how the remote UE is both newly connected and newly connected such that the Remote UE Report includes a Remote UE Context Connected message and a Remote UE Context Disconnected message.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-2, 5-16, 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the claim recites, “a Remote UE Report associated with the Remote UE using the security platform, wherein the Remote UE Report includes a Remote UE Context Connected message and a Remote UE Context Disconnected message.” According to the claim, the Remote UE Report is associated with the Remote UE, and the Remote UE Report includes both a Remote UE Context Connected message and a Remote UE Context Disconnected message. It is not clear how the Remote UE is both newly connected and disconnected.
Claims 15 and 20 are rejected for the same reasons as claim 1.
Examiner’s Note
The following prior art is made of record and is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
3GPP TS 29.274 discloses: a Remote UE Report includes a Remote UE Context Connected message or a Remote UE Context Disconnected message, wherein the Remote UE Context Connected message; and/or the Remote UE Context Disconnected message comprising the one or more permanent identifiers, wherein the one or more permanent identifiers includes one or more of the following: International Mobile Subscription Identity (IMSI), International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN), and/or Network Access Identifier (NAI) (7.2.26 Remote UE Report Notification. Table 7.2.26-2. Remote UE Context Connected within Remote UE Report Notification. Remote User ID. 8.123 Remote User ID. The Remote User ID IE shall contain one IMSI identity and, if available, one IMEI identity and/or one MSISDN identity).
Kim et al. US Patent Publication No. 2018/0234942 discloses one or more permanent identifiers from a Remote UE Report associated with the Remote UE, wherein the one or more permanent identifiers includes one or more of the following: International Mobile Subscription Identity (IMSI), International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN), and/or Network Access Identifier (NAI) (para. [0152] The Remote UE Report procedure means a procedure performed by a UE operating as a UE-to-network relay to inform the network that the UE is connected to or disconnected from a remote UE. The Remote UE Report message includes information on a remote UE that is newly connected to or disconnected from the UE-to-network relay, and an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) as an ID of the remote UE. para. [0153] Remote UE Report Notification message. It is used by the MME to inform other network entities that a new remote UE is connected to the UE-to-network relay or disconnected from the UE-to-network relay. The Remote UE Report Notification message may include ID and IP information of the newly connected remote UE, and ID information of the disconnected remote UE.)
Kim et al. US Patent Publication No. 2022/0287116 discloses one or more permanent identifiers from a Remote UE Report associated with the Remote UE, wherein the one or more permanent identifiers includes one or more of the following: International Mobile Subscription Identity (IMSI), International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN), and/or Network Access Identifier (NAI) (para. [0383]-[0388] identifier information (or Remote UE ID) MSISDN. para. [0528] 5) The 5G ProSe UE-to-Network Relay may transmit a Remote UE Report message to the SMF for a PDU session related to the relay. The Remote UE Report message may basically include Remote User ID and IP information of the Remote UE).
Li et al. US Patent Publication No. 2020/0053802 discloses one or more permanent identifiers from a Remote UE Report associated with the Remote UE, wherein the one or more permanent identifiers includes one or more of the following: International Mobile Subscription Identity (IMSI), International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN), and/or Network Access Identifier (NAI) (para. [0064] ProSe UE-to-Network Relay 404 sends a Remote UE Report 402 (Remote User ID, IP info) message to the MME 502 for the PDN connection associated with the relay. para. [0299] (i) Remote UE ID: include IMSI, IMEI, or both).
Kim et al. US Patent Publication No. 2020/0077253 (para. [0188] UE may include information of a remote UE newly connected to or disconnected from the network in a REMOTE UE REPORT message).
Mladin et al. US Patent Publication No. 2024/0188014 (para. [0039] MME 304 may forward the remote UE report message to S-GW 305, and S-GW 305 may forward the message to P-GW 306 of the UE-to-network relay 302. MME 304 may report multiple remote UEs in one remote UE report message. Relayed traffic may then be transmitted and received).
Conclusion
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/JOSHUA JOO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445
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