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 communication is response to claims filed on 10/28/24 via a preliminary amendment, which is considered by the examiner.
Claims 1-18 are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement’s
4. The information disclosure statement(s) submitted on 10/28/24, 01/08/25 & 03/20/25 have being considered by the examiner and made of record in the application file.
Priority
5. Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawing
6. The drawings filed on 10/28/24 are accepted by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
7. 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 –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
8. Claims 1 & 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nishant et al. (hereinafter referred as Nishant) International Publication No. WO 2021/060937 A1 (as disclosed in the IDS).
Regarding claims 1 & 13: Nishant discloses a first edge configuration server (ECS) repository (See FIG. 1; ECS 116)/ method for discovering application services in a federation of operators in a wireless network (See FIG. 6 & Para. 0106; a sequential diagram (600) representing various steps of the distributed discovery and notification method for publishing EAS information profile across EDNs (106)), the first ECS repository comprising:
a memory (See FIG. 1; ECS 116 includes a memory 930);
a communicator (See FIG. 1; ECS 116 includes a communication interface 920); and
a processor (See FIG. 1; ECS 116 includes a processor 910) coupled with the memory and the communicator, and configured to:
receive a registered edge application server (EAS) publish request or a registered EAS unpublish request from a first edge enabler server (EES) (See FIG. 6 & Para. 0079; the source EES (114A) sends a publish request to the ECS (116). The publish request contains the EAS information profile including details of the EAS (112) along with the details of the source EES (114A) and the source EDN (106A));
authorize the registered EAS publish request or the registered EAS unpublish request upon receiving the registered EAS publish request or the registered EAS unpublish request from the first EES (See Para. 0081; upon receiving the publish request, the ECS (116) checks if the source EES (114A) is authorized to publish the EAS information profile or not. If the source EES (114A) is authorized, the ECS (116) stores the EAS information profile provided in the publish request); and
send a registered EAS publish response or a registered EAS unpublish response to the first EES in case that the registered EAS publish request or the registered EAS unpublish request is authorized (See Para. 0081; the ECS (116) sends a publish response to the source EES (114A) indicating success or failure of the publish request).
9. Claims 5-6, 14 & 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by 3GPP et al. (hereinafter referred as 3GPP) NPL Document, “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects: (Release 17)” (as disclosed in the IDS).
Regarding claims 5 & 14: 3GPP discloses an edge configuration server (ECS) repository/a method (See FIG. 8.5.2.3.5-1 & Page 72; EES) for supporting a federation of edge computing service providers (ECSPs) in a wireless network (See FIG. 6 & Para. 0106; a sequential diagram (600) representing various steps of the distributed discovery and notification method for publishing EAS information profile across EDNs (106)), the ECS repository comprising:
a memory (See FIG. 8.5.2.3.5-1 & Page 72; EES is equipped with a memory/storage);
a communicator (See FIG. 8.5.2.3.5-1 & Page 72; EES is equipped with a transceiver); and
a processor (See FIG. 8.5.2.3.5-1 & Page 72; EES is equipped with a processor/storage) coupled with the memory and the communicator, and configured to:
receive a request from an ECS (See FIG. 8.5.2.3.5-1 & Page 72-73; receive EAS discovery unsubscribed request from EES);
determine whether the ECS is authorized or not upon receiving the request from the ECS (See FIG. 8.5.2.3.5-1 & Page 72; upon receiving the request, the EES perform authorization check to verify when the EEC has authorization to perform the operation); and
perform one of: send a successful response to the ECS in case that the ECS is authorized; or send a failure response to the ECS in case that the ECS is not authorized (See FIG. 8.5.2.3.5-1 & Page 72; the EES responds with an EAS discovery unsubscribed response).
Regarding claim 6: 3GPP discloses a method, wherein the request comprises an ECS identifier and security parameters (See Table 8.3.3.3.4-1; Identifier and security credential).
Regarding claim 16: 3GPP discloses a method, wherein the request further comprises an ECSP identifier (See Table 8.3.3.3.4-1; Identifier).
Regarding claim 17: 3GPP discloses the ECS repository, wherein the request comprises an ECS identifier and security parameters (See Table 8.3.3.3.4-1; Identifier and security credential).
Regarding claim 18: 3GPP discloses the ECS repository, wherein the request further comprises an ECSP identifier (See Table 8.3.3.3.4-1; Identifier).
Allowable Subject Matter
10. Claims 2-4, 7-12 & 15 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
11. The prior art of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
A. XU et al. 2025/0287294 A1 (Title: Method and apparatus for edge application service….) (See Abstract, Para. 0012 & 0037-0038).
B. Kim et al. 2025/0106297 A1 (Title: Method and apparatus for supporting edge application server) (See abstract, Para. 0006 & 00813-0016).
C. Yao et al. 2025/0062967 A1 (Title: Network resource models and technologies .) (See FIG. 1, Para. 0046, 0050 & 0160).
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MEWALE A AMBAYE whose telephone number is (571)270-1076. The examiner can normally be reached M.F 8a.m.-4p.m..
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, Ian Moore can be reached at (571)272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MEWALE A AMBAYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
Prosecution Insights