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 .
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.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 2024/0172024) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2024/0260052 as supported by the corresponding passages of US provisional application No. 63/270,420). For dependent claims herein, the motivation to combine is the same as the parent claim unless otherwise noted.
Regarding claim 1, Zhang ‘024 discloses a method, comprising: determining, by a processor of an apparatus (figs. 1, item 1200; fig. 7), whether a measurement gap (fig. 3A, item MG) is needed for performing a non-terrestrial network (NTN) (paras. 30-32; note: network device (base station) as a satellite) inter-frequency measurement (para. 114); determining, by the processor, whether a data interruption (fig. 3A, VIL for NCSG; para. 76; note: short data interruption time) is needed for performing the NTN inter-frequency measurement in an event that the measurement gap is not needed (paras. 114 and 122; note: the MG and NCSG are unneeded and the measurement is performed outside both gaps; paras. 200-202 and Table 8, “measurement conducted outside gaps” when the SMTC is fully non-overlapping with the MG and NCSG); and reporting, by the processor, a user equipment (UE) capability
However, Zhang ‘024 fails to disclose reporting, by the processor, a user equipment (UE) capability to a network node according to a determination result. Zhang ‘052 discloses this feature (paras. 60 and 64-65; note: determined conditions affecting a capability and reporting the capability). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to reporting, by the processor, a user equipment (UE) capability to a network node according to a determination result in the invention of Zhang ‘024. The motivation to have the modification and/or well-known benefits of the modification include, but are not limited to, providing an appropriate supported operation parameter based on operational conditions as is known in the art (Zhang ‘052, paras. 60 and 64-65; MPEP 2143(I)(A)(B)(C)(D) - note: e.g., applying known techniques having predictable results).
Regarding claim 2, Zhang ‘024 in view of Zhang ‘052 teaches and makes obvious the method of Claim 1, wherein the UE capability is reported
Regarding claim 3, Zhang ‘024 in view of Zhang ‘052 teaches and makes obvious the method of Claim 1, further comprising: performing, by the processor, the NTN inter-frequency measurement outside the measurement gap in an event that the measurement gap is not needed (Zhang ‘024, paras. 114, 122 and 200-202; Table 8).
Regarding claims 11-13, these limitations are rejected on the same ground as claims 1-3, respectively. In addition, Zhang ‘024 discloses an apparatus, comprising: a transceiver (fig. 7) which, during operation, wirelessly communicates with at least one network node of a wireless network (fig. 1; paras. 3-4); and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver (fig. 7) such that, during operation, the processor performs operations (para. 246) of the method of claims 1-3.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-10 and 14-20 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and citations not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Zhang ‘024 discloses a DRX cycle related to measurements (para. 51, Table 3; para. 60, Table 4) similar to fig. 5 of the instant application. Zhang ‘052 discloses an undetermined drift of a target cell (fig. 3).
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/Kevin C. Harper/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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