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 .
This office action is in response to the applicant’s filing on 08/29/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1, 8, and 15 are independent.
Priority
Priority Acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claiming of priority to U.S. Provisional application No. 63/535,352 filed on 08/30/2023.
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 18 be found allowable, claim 19 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claims 1, 5-6, 8, 12-13, 15, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI et al. (US PGPub No. 2022/0022014; hereinafter “LI”) in view of Di Claudio et al. (US PGPub No. 2005/0130654; hereinafter “Di Claudio”) in view of Ma (US PGPub No. 2012/0110658; hereinafter “Ma”).
As per claim 1: Li discloses a method comprising:
accessing an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) value corresponding to a mobile device and stored in hardware of the mobile device (Multiple IMEI values can be stored on the mobile wireless device, e.g., securely in the baseband module, and mapping to various pSIMs and/or eSIMs on the mobile wireless device [LI ¶ 0005]; the mobile wireless device 102 securely stores IMEI values in an eUICC 108 of the mobile wireless device 102 [LI ¶ 0037]; a mobile wireless device 102 dynamically informs one or more MNO servers of IMEI values assigned to SIMs/eSIMs … IMEI information for one or more SIMs and/or one or more eSIMs of the mobile wireless device 102 are aggregated to include both IMEI values assigned during manufacturing and IMEI values dynamically assigned post-manufacture [LI ¶ 0032]; a mobile wireless device 102 can dynamically provision IMEI values after manufacture. A network-based server can include logic to determine whether to assign one or more new IMEI values to the mobile wireless device 102. An eUICC 108 of the mobile wireless device 102 can send signed payloads to the network-based server, providing attestation to possession by the mobile wireless device 102 of an active eUICC 108. The network-based service can use eUICC identifier (EID) information included in a certificate provided by the eUICC 108 to determine whether the eUICC 108 is associated with a particular original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The mobile wireless device 102 can send a list of meta-data to the network-based server to use as an input for IMEI assignment logic executing on the network-based server. Representative meta-data can include a device serial number and information about one or more IMEI values presently stored on the mobile wireless device 102 [LI ¶ 0035]);
[selecting a managed IMEI value from] a pool of candidate IMEI values (The dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504 can return one or more IMEI values … storing the IMEI values for use on the mobile wireless device [LI ¶ 0028]);
[replacing the] IMEI value stored by the mobile device (storing the IMEI values for use on the mobile wireless device [LI ¶ 0028]) [with the managed IMEI value];
in response to receiving an IMEI request from a wireless entity, providing the managed IMEI value to the wireless entity (telephony module 302 can subsequently send a command, e.g., a CheckAvailableOptions command, that includes a value indicating a request to check for IMEI values and/or for acquiring one or more new IMEI values for the mobile wireless device 102. The CheckAvailableOptions command can also include an eUICC signed payload for verification by the dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504. The dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504 can return one or more IMEI values [LI ¶ 0028, Fig. 1, Fig. 5]; a mobile wireless device 102, which can also be referred to as a wireless device, a wireless device, a mobile device, a user equipment (UE) and the like, a group of base stations 112-1 to 112-N that are managed by different Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) 114, and a set of provisioning servers 116 that are in communication with the MNOs 114 [LI ¶ 0020-0021, Fig. 1]; a value indicating a request to check for IMEI values and/or for acquiring one or more new IMEI values for the mobile wireless device 102 … in some embodiments, a request for new IMEI values returns one or more newly assigned IMEI values for use by the mobile wireless device 102 [LI ¶ 0028]; the mobile wireless device 102 creates application programming interfaces (APIs) and notifications to inform MNOs of assigned IMEI values. In some embodiments, IMEI information for one or more SIMs and/or one or more eSIMs of the mobile wireless device 102 are aggregated to include both IMEI values assigned during manufacture and IMEI values dynamically assigned post-manufacture [LI ¶ 0038]); [and
in response to receiving an IMEI request from an authentication service, providing the IMEI value corresponding to the mobile device to the authentication service].
LI discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above but does not explicitly disclose selecting a managed IMEI value from a pool of candidate IMEI values; replacing the IMEI value stored by the mobile device with the managed IMEI value. However, Di Claudio teaches selecting a managed IMEI value from a pool of candidate IMEI values (During the entire remaining part of the mobile station registration procedure, the system VIM associates the ordered set of data, which define the identity profile of the SIM card of origin owned by the roamer user and present in its mobile station, a second set of data, formally similar to the first and representing the identity profile of a SIM card issued by the operator of the visited network and adopts one of the IMEI codes it has available to replace the IMEI code of origin of the mobile terminal. From this moment onwards, the roamer user will be distinguished, for the GSM public mobile radio network, from the new set of data provided by the system VIM [Di Claudio ¶ 0027, ¶ 0023, ¶ 0026]); replacing the IMEI value stored by the mobile device with the managed IMEI value (In this step, the user is informed of its new identity, adopted for the exchange of the signaling information with the public mobile radio network, through the transmission of a message (for example an SMS short message) by the system VIM, which attests to the completion of the registration of the user provided with a new profile assigned to him/her by the VIM. In particular, the message transmitted by the VIM notifies the user not only of his/her new identity, contained in the corresponding profile, but also the identifying parameters of his/her interest, such as the new MSISDN number [Di Claudio ¶ 0035, ¶ 0027]; formally similar to the first and representing the identity profile of a SIM card issued by the operator of the visited network and adopts one of the IMEI codes it has available to replace the IMEI code of origin of the mobile terminal. From this moment onwards, the roamer user will be distinguished, for the GSM public mobile radio network, from the new set of data provided by the system VIM [Di Claudio ¶ 0027]). LI and Di Claudio are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless device identifier management. Therefore, based on LI in view of Di Claudio, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Di Claudio to the system of LI in order to reduce traffic costs (¶ 0006). Hence, it would have been obvious to combine the references above to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
LI in view of Di Claudio discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above but does not explicitly disclose and in response to receiving an IMEI request from an authentication service, providing the IMEI value corresponding to the mobile device to the authentication service. However, Ma teaches and in response to receiving an IMEI request from an authentication service, providing the IMEI value corresponding to the mobile device to the authentication service (After judging the terminal to access is a mobile communication terminal, the identity of the mobile communication terminal needs to be authenticated. As described above, the characteristic information of the mobile communication terminal is used for authentication, wherein the characteristic information may be any information which can uniquely identify the mobile communication terminal. In the embodiment of the present invention, the international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) of the mobile communication terminal is used for identity authentication. However it should be understood that the IMEI which is used herein as the information to identify the mobile terminal is given only by way of detailed description to the present invention, and thus is not limitative of the present invention [Ma ¶ 0060]; The IMEI of the mobile communication terminal which is allowed to access and the IMEI of the mobile communication terminal which is not allowed to access are stored in a database [Ma ¶ 0061]; After judging the terminal to access is a mobile communication terminal, the second characteristic information of the terminal to access needs to be obtained whose process will be detailed hereafter, comprises step A1-step A3: [Ma ¶ 0069]; Step A1, the VPN authentication server sending a message for requesting identity authentication to the terminal to access [Ma ¶ 0070]; Step A2, the terminal to access sending an identity authentication request responding message to the VPN authentication server, wherein the identity authentication request responding message includes the IMEI [Ma ¶ 0071]; Step A3, the authentication server parsing the identity authentication request responding message and obtaining the IMEI included in the identity authentication request responding message [Ma ¶ 0072]; In the above step A2, after receiving the identity authentication request responding message from the VPN authentication server, the mobile communication terminal reads its IMEI and then packages the IMEI into the identity authentication request responding message, and sends it to the authentication server of the private network [Ma ¶ 0073]). LI in view of Di Claudio and Ma are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless device management. Therefore, based on LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ma to the system of LI in view of Di Claudio in order to identify the device as a mobile device for VPN connection and ensure its allowed to access the service (¶ 0059, ¶ 0060-0061). Hence, it would have been obvious to combine the references above to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
As per claim 5: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 1. Furthermore, LI and Di Claudio disclose wherein the managed IMEI value is selected based on a geographic location of the mobile device (described technical problems are solved by the system for managing the identities of mobile stations roaming between mobile radio networks, provided by the present invention, which allows the user roaming between mobile radio networks to access the services made available by an operator of a visited mobile network, benefiting from the aforesaid services without having to replace, in the telephone set, the card of the original subscription with a card of the network of the visited country [Di Claudio ¶ 0006, Examiner’s Note: visited country is a different geographic location from that of original country]; a user of the mobile adio service, in his/her capacity as an employee of a company with several branches situated in different locations of the same countries or abroad [Di Claudio ¶ 0002, Examiner’s Note: multiple geographic boundaries as locations in the country or abroad]; The dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504 can return one or more IMEI values … storing the IMEI values for use on the mobile wireless device [LI ¶ 0028]; the system VIM associates the ordered set of data, which define the identity profile of the SIM card of origin owned by the roamer user and present in its mobile station, a second set of data, formally similar to the first and representing the identity profile of a SIM card issued by the operator of the visited network and adopts one of the IMEI codes it has available to replace the IMEI code of origin of the mobile terminal [Di Claudio ¶ 0027]; Consequently, in the complex of the international network of system VIMs, the GSM registration procedure, optionally activated by the private mobile radio network of origin, allows to locate the internationally roaming user connected with the visited private mobile radio coverage of another nation. This location can be performed by the private mobile radio network of origin in all cases in which the system VIM of the visited private mobile radio network has previously replaced the identity profile of the original SIM card with the identity profile of a SIM card owned by the network operator of the visited nation [Di Claudio ¶ 0029]).
As per claim 6: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 1. Furthermore, LI and Di Claudio disclose wherein each of one or more geographic boundaries is associated with a candidate IMEI value from the pool of candidate IMEI values (System for managing the identities of mobile stations roaming between mobile radio networks [Di Claudio, abstract]; a user of the mobile radio service, in his/her capacity as an employee of a company with several branches situated in different locations of the same countries or abroad [Di Claudio ¶ 0002, Examiner’s Note: multiple geographic boundaries as locations in the country or abroad]; managing the identities of mobile stations roaming between mobile radio networks … which allows the user roaming between mobile radio networks to access the services made available by an operator of a visited mobile network [Di Claudio ¶ 0006, Examiner’s Note: user moving between networks of the boundaries and accessing services of the visited network]; During the entire remaining part of the mobile station registration procedure, the system VIM associates the ordered set of data, which define the identity profile of the SIM card of origin owned by the roamer user and present in its mobile station, a second set of data, formally similar to the first and representing the identity profile of a SIM card issued by the operator of the visited network and adopts one of the IMEI codes it has available to replace the IMEI code of origin of the mobile terminal. From this moment onwards, the roamer user will be distinguished, for the GSM public mobile radio network, from the new set of data provided by the system VIM [Di Claudio ¶ 0027, ¶ 0023, ¶ 0026, Examiner’s Note: changing profile and IMEI to value for current network region]; The dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504 can return one or more IMEI values … storing the IMEI values for use on the mobile wireless device [LI ¶ 0028]; IMEI values assigned to the mobile wireless device can be used with different profiles when the profiles are active [LI ¶ 0011]; the mobile wireless device 102 securely stores IMEI values in an eUICC 108 of the mobile wireless device 102 [LI ¶ 0037]; a mobile wireless device 102 dynamically informs one or more MNO servers of IMEI values assigned to SIMs/eSIMs … IMEI information for one or more SIMs and/or one or more eSIMs of the mobile wireless device 102 are aggregated to include both IMEI values assigned during manufacturing and IMEI values dynamically assigned post-manufacture [LI ¶ 0032]; a group of base stations 112-1 to 112-N that are managed by different Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) 114, and a set of provisioning servers 116 that are in communication with the MNOs 114 [LI ¶ 0020]), and wherein the managed IMEI value comprises the candidate IMEI value associated with the geographic boundary in which the mobile device is located (During the entire remaining part of the mobile station registration procedure, the system VIM associates the ordered set of data, which define the identity profile of the SIM card of origin owned by the roamer user and present in its mobile station, a second set of data, formally similar to the first and representing the identity profile of a SIM card issued by the operator of the visited network and adopts one of the IMEI codes it has available to replace the IMEI code of origin of the mobile terminal. From this moment onwards, the roamer user will be distinguished, for the GSM public mobile radio network, from the new set of data provided by the system VIM [Di Claudio ¶ 0027, ¶ 0023, ¶ 0026]).
As per claim 8: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 1. Furthermore, LI discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising memory with instructions encoded thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to perform operations, the instructions comprising instructions to (The computing device 600 also includes a storage device 640, which can comprise a single disk or a plurality of disks (e.g., hard drives), and includes a storage management module that manages one or more partitions within the storage device 640. In some embodiments, storage device 640 can include flash memory, semiconductor (solid state) memory or the like. The computing device 600 can also include a Random Access Memory (RAM) 620 and a Read-Only Memory (ROM) 622. The ROM 622 can store programs, utilities or processes to be executed in a non volatile manner [LI ¶ 0030, ¶ 0042]; the mobile wireless device 102 can include processing circuitry, which can include one or more processor(s) 104 and a memory 106 [LI ¶ 0021, Fig. 1, Fig. 6]): The limitations of claim 8 are substantially similar to claim 1 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
As per claim 12: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 8. The limitations of claim 12 are substantially similar to claim 5 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
As per claim 13: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 12. The limitations of claim 13 are substantially similar to claim 6 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
As per claim 15: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 1. Furthermore, LI discloses a system comprising: a processor (the mobile wireless device 102 can include processing circuitry, which can include one or more processor(s) 104 and a memory 106 [LI ¶ 0021, Fig. 1, Fig. 6]); and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to (The computing device 600 also includes a storage device 640, which can comprise a single disk or a plurality of disks (e.g., hard drives), and includes a storage management module that manages one or more partitions within the storage device 640. In some embodiments, storage device 640 can include flash memory, semiconductor (solid state) memory or the like. The computing device 600 can also include a Random Access Memory (RAM) 620 and a Read-Only Memory (ROM) 622. The ROM 622 can store programs, utilities or processes to be executed in a non volatile manner [LI ¶ 0030, ¶ 0042]): The limitations of claim 15 are substantially similar to claim 1 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
As per claim 20: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 15. The limitations of claim 20 are substantially similar to claim 5 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
Claims 2-3, 9-10, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns et al. (US PGPub No. 2015/0373778; hereinafter “Holtmanns”).
As per claim 2: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 1. Furthermore, LI and Di Claudio disclose wherein selecting the managed IMEI value from the pool of candidate IMEI values (The dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504 can return one or more IMEI values … storing the IMEI values for use on the mobile wireless device [LI ¶ 0028]; During the entire remaining part of the mobile station registration procedure, the system VIM associates the ordered set of data, which define the identity profile of the SIM card of origin owned by the roamer user and present in its mobile station, a second set of data, formally similar to the first and representing the identity profile of a SIM card issued by the operator of the visited network and adopts one of the IMEI codes it has available to replace the IMEI code of origin of the mobile terminal. From this moment onwards, the roamer user will be distinguished, for the GSM public mobile radio network, from the new set of data provided by the system VIM [Di Claudio ¶ 0027, ¶ 0023, ¶ 0026]) comprises [querying an IMEI server configured to check out the managed IMEI value from the pool of candidate IMEI values such that the managed IMEI value cannot be used by another mobile device until the managed IMEI value is checked in by the mobile device via the IMEI server].
LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above but does not explicitly disclose querying an IMEI server configured to check out the managed IMEI value from the pool of candidate IMEI values such that the managed IMEI value cannot be used by another mobile device until the managed IMEI value is checked in by the mobile device via the IMEI server. However, Holtmanns teaches querying an IMEI server configured to check out the managed IMEI value from the pool of candidate IMEI values such that the managed IMEI value cannot be used by another mobile device until the managed IMEI value is checked in by the mobile device via the IMEI server (Similar to keeping a pool of identities in the UE, the pool of identities may be stored in the secure element. Thus, in some example embodiments, the secure element may have a pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) and assign a free identity (for example, an unused IMEI or certificate) from the pool of unused identities to the subscription [Holtmanns ¶ 0060]; In the flexible approach, the identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) are requested from a trusted entity, for example, the secure application manager as shown at S305 in FIG. 3, or a server operated by the UE manufacturer that keeps the pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certficates) [Holtmanns ¶ 0064, Fig. 3]; a remote entity from which the pool of identities are downloadable to the UE [Holtmanns ¶ 0050]; It is to be understood that in some embodiments in which the UE and the secure application manager both have respective pools of identities, any new subscriptions downloaded to the UE would need to request an IMEI from the secure application manager if the pool of the UE becomes exhausted [Holtmanns ¶ 0050]; Further, by checking whether the subscription has been assigned a free identity (for example, IMEI or certificate), the pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) can be effectively used and therefore efficient utilization of the identity could be achieved [Holtmanns ¶ 0031, Examiner’s Note: assigned a free identity, an identity not in use and therefore they can only be assigned an available identity not in use by another device]). LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma and Holtmanns are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless device management. Therefore, based on LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Holtmanns to the system of LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in order to achieve efficient utilization of identities (¶ 0031). Hence, it would have been obvious to combine the references above to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
As per claim 3: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns teach all the limitations of claim 2. Furthermore, LI, Di Claudio, and Holtmanns disclose wherein the IMEI server is configured to: check out a set of IMEI values from the pool of candidate IMEI values (The dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504 can return one or more IMEI values [LI ¶ 0028]); and provide the set of IMEI values to the mobile device (The dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504 can return one or more IMEI values … storing the IMEI values for use on the mobile wireless device [LI ¶ 0028]; formally similar to the first and representing the identity profile of a SIM card issued by the operator of the visited network and adopts one of the IMEI codes it has available to replace the IMEI code of origin of the mobile terminal. From this moment onwards, the roamer user will be distinguished, for the GSM public mobile radio network, from the new set of data provided by the system VIM [Di Claudio ¶ 0027, ¶ 0023, ¶ 0026]; Similar to keeping a pool of identities in the UE, the pool of identities may be stored in the secure element. Thus, in some example embodiments, the secure element may have a pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) and assign a free identity (for example, an unused IMEI or certificate) from the pool of unused identities to the subscription [Holtmanns ¶ 0060]; In the flexible approach, the identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) are requested from a trusted entity, for example, the secure application manager as shown at S305 in FIG. 3, or a server operated by the UE manufacturer that keeps the pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certficates) [Holtmanns ¶ 0064, Fig. 3]; a remote entity from which the pool of identities are downloadable to the UE [Holtmanns ¶ 0050]; It is to be understood that in some embodiments in which the UE and the secure application manager both have respective pools of identities, any new subscriptions downloaded to the UE would need to request an IMEI from the secure application manager if the pool of the UE becomes exhausted [Holtmanns ¶ 0050]) such that none of the set of IMEI values is provided to any other mobile device until checked in by the mobile device (Further, by checking whether the subscription has been assigned a free identity (for example, IMEI or certificate), the pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) can be effectively used and therefore efficient utilization of the identity could be achieved [Holtmanns ¶ 0031, Examiner’s Note: assigned a free identity, an identity not in use and therefore they can only be assigned an available identity not in use by another device]), wherein the managed IMEI value is selected by the mobile device from the set of IMEI values (Similar to keeping a pool of identities in the UE, the pool of identities may be stored in the secure element. Thus, in some example embodiments, the secure element may have a pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) and assign a free identity (for example, an unused IMEI or certificate) from the pool of unused identities to the subscription [Holtmanns ¶ 0060]; The IMEI binding logic 316 of the baseband module 308 can send an ES10c proprietary command bindIMEIRequest to the eUICC 108 indicating a request to bind a particular SIM/eSIM (identified by an ICCID value) with a particular IMEI value [LI ¶ 0024]).
As per claim 9: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 8. The limitations of claim 9 are substantially similar to claim 2 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
As per claim 10: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns teach all the limitations of claim 9. The limitations of claim 9 are substantially similar to claim 3 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
As per claim 16: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 15. The limitations of claim 16 are substantially similar to claim 2 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
As per claim 17: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns teach all the limitations of claim 16. The limitations of claim 17 are substantially similar to claim 3 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
Claims 4, 11, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns in view of SO (CN 107770767 A, citations refer to the English translation; hereinafter “SO”).
As per claim 4: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 1. Furthermore, LI and Di Claudio disclose wherein the managed IMEI value (The dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504 can return one or more IMEI values … storing the IMEI values for use on the mobile wireless device [LI ¶ 0028]) is [selected randomly] from the pool of candidate IMEI values (The dynamic IMEI provisioning front end server 504 can return one or more IMEI values [LI ¶ 0028]), and [wherein the managed IMEI value, once selected, is not used by any other mobile device].
LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above but does not explicitly disclose wherein the managed IMEI value, once selected, is not used by any other mobile device. However, Holtmanns teaches wherein the managed IMEI value, once selected, is not used by any other mobile device (Similar to keeping a pool of identities in the UE, the pool of identities may be stored in the secure element. Thus, in some example embodiments, the secure element may have a pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) and assign a free identity (for example, an unused IMEI or certificate) from the pool of unused identities to the subscription [Holtmanns ¶ 0060]; In the flexible approach, the identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) are requested from a trusted entity, for example, the secure application manager as shown at S305 in FIG. 3, or a server operated by the UE manufacturer that keeps the pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certficates) [Holtmanns ¶ 0064, Fig. 3]; a remote entity from which the pool of identities are downloadable to the UE [Holtmanns ¶ 0050]; It is to be understood that in some embodiments in which the UE and the secure application manager both have respective pools of identities, any new subscriptions downloaded to the UE would need to request an IMEI from the secure application manager if the pool of the UE becomes exhausted [Holtmanns ¶ 0050]; Further, by checking whether the subscription has been assigned a free identity (for example, IMEI or certificate), the pool of identities (for example, IMEIs or certificates) can be effectively used and therefore efficient utilization of the identity could be achieved [Holtmanns ¶ 0031, Examiner’s Note: assigned a free identity, an identity not in use and therefore they can only be assigned an available identity not in use by another device, A “free identity” also indicates the identity is not in use by any other device]). LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma and Holtmanns are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless device management. Therefore, based on LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Holtmanns to the system of LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in order to achieve efficient utilization of identities (¶ 0031). Hence, it would have been obvious to combine the references above to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above but does not explicitly disclose selected randomly. However, SO teaches selected randomly (the virtual SIM card data to virtual SIM card data set from one randomly selected the number corresponding to the virtual SIM card data corresponding as the IMEI number of the mobile terminal according to the preset rule [SO, Page 9, full para. 5]). LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns and SO are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless device management. Therefore, based on LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns in view of SO, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of SO to the system of LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of Holtmanns in order to reduce collision probability (abstract). Hence, it would have been obvious to combine the references above to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
As per claim 11: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 8. The limitations of claim 11 are substantially similar to claim 4 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
As per claim 18: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 15. The limitations of claim 18 are substantially similar to claim 4 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
As per claim 19: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 15. The limitations of claim 19 are substantially similar to claim 4 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
Claims 7 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of ÖZATAKAN (TR 201512595 A, citations refer to the English translation; hereinafter “ÖZATAKAN”).
As per claim 7: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 6. Furthermore, Di Claudio discloses wherein [one or more geographic boundaries are defined by a user of the mobile device], and wherein the managed IMEI value changes as the mobile device moves from a first geographic boundary to a second geographic boundary (During the entire remaining part of the mobile station registration procedure, the system VIM associates the ordered set of data, which define the identity profile of the SIM card of origin owned by the roamer user and present in its mobile station, a second set of data, formally similar to the first and representing the identity profile of a SIM card issued by the operator of the visited network and adopts one of the IMEI codes it has available to replace the IMEI code of origin of the mobile terminal. From this moment onwards, the roamer user will be distinguished, for the GSM public mobile radio network, from the new set of data provided by the system VIM [Di Claudio ¶ 0027, ¶ 0023, ¶ 0026, Examiner’s Note: moves from origin to the visited network]; System for managing the identities of mobile stations roaming between mobile radio networks [Di Claudio, abstract]; a user of the mobile radio service, in his/her capacity as an employee of a company with several branches situated in different locations of the same countries or abroad [Di Claudio ¶ 0002, Examiner’s Note: multiple geographic boundaries as locations in the country or abroad]; managing the identities of mobile stations roaming between mobile radio networks … which allows the user roaming between mobile radio networks to access the services made available by an operator of a visited mobile network [Di Claudio ¶ 0006, Examiner’s Note: user moving between networks of the boundaries and accessing services of the visited network]).
LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above but does not explicitly disclose one or more geographic boundaries are defined by a user of the mobile device. However, ÖZATAKAN teaches one or more geographic boundaries are defined by a user of the mobile device (a third e-SIM is active when a second rule is assigned to the coordinates of a user-specified location [ÖZATAKAN, Page 2, 6th full para.]; it is ensured that these e-SIMs defined in the device are activated in accordance with the dynamically defined rules. Said rules can be determined by various parameters, such as location, application, or user to search for. In addition, rules can be changed dynamically or new ones can be added in accordance with the requirements and requirements [ÖZATAKAN, Page 3, 4th full para]). LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma and ÖZATAKAN are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless device management. Therefore, based on LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in view of ÖZATAKAN, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of ÖZATAKAN to the system of LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma in order to dynamically change the eSIM profile based on parameters and rules defined by the user such as a location. Hence, it would have been obvious to combine the references above to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
As per claim 14: LI in view of Di Claudio in view of Ma teach all the limitations of claim 13. The limitations of claim 14 are substantially similar to claim 7 above, and therefore the claim is likewise rejected.
Conclusion
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/JAMES P MOLES/Examiner, Art Unit 2494
/JUNG W KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2494