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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 6, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Applicant’s submission of prior art, Miklos, US Patent Application Publication Number 2012/0100848 (hereinafter Miklos).
Regarding claim 1, Miklos discloses a method for providing roaming radio access at a first Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, the method comprising: broadcasting, from a radio access node of the first PLMN, an indicator that the access node will provide connectivity service to subscribers of a second, different PLMN, despite the subscribers of the second PLMN having a forbidden PLMN list that includes the first PLMN [paragraph 0115].
Regarding claim 5, Miklos discloses a network entity of a Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, configured to provide roaming radio access from the PLMN in accordance with the method of claim 1 [paragraph 0115].
Regarding claim 6, Miklos discloses a method of accessing a first Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, at a subscriber of a second PLMN, the subscriber having a forbidden PLMN list that includes the first PLMN, the method comprising: receiving, at the subscriber, a broadcast from a radio access node of the first PLMN, the broadcast comprising an indicator that the access node will provide connectivity service to subscribers of the second PLMN [paragraph 0115]; and transmitting, from the subscriber, a registration request for the first PLMN [inherent].
Regarding claim 12, Miklos discloses a User Equipment, UE, configured to operate in accordance with the method of claim 6 [paragraph 0116].
Claim(s) 1, 5-7, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gruber et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 2023/0319756 (hereinafter Gruber).
Regarding claim 1, Gruber discloses a method for providing roaming radio access at a first Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, the method comprising: broadcasting, from a radio access node of the first PLMN, an indicator that the access node will provide connectivity service to subscribers of a second, different PLMN, despite the subscribers of the second PLMN having a forbidden PLMN list that includes the first PLMN [paragraph 0086].
Regarding claim 5, Gruber discloses a network entity of a Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, configured to provide roaming radio access from the PLMN in accordance with the method of claim 1 [paragraph 0086].
Regarding claim 6, Gruber discloses a method of accessing a first Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, at a subscriber of a second PLMN, the subscriber having a forbidden PLMN list that includes the first PLMN, the method comprising: receiving, at the subscriber, a broadcast from a radio access node of the first PLMN, the broadcast comprising an indicator that the access node will provide connectivity service to subscribers of the second PLMN [paragraph 0086]; and transmitting, from the subscriber, a registration request for the first PLMN [paragraph 0087].
Regarding claim 7, Gruber discloses wherein the registration request includes an identifier for the subscriber [paragraph 0087].
Regarding claim 12, Gruber discloses a User Equipment, UE, configured to operate in accordance with the method of claim 6 [paragraph 0086].
Claim(s) 1, 5-8, 11, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Vamanan et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 2022/0225214 (hereinafter Vamanan).
Regarding claim 1, Vamanan discloses a method for providing roaming radio access at a first Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, the method comprising: broadcasting, from a radio access node of the first PLMN, an indicator that the access node will provide connectivity service to subscribers of a second, different PLMN, despite the subscribers of the second PLMN having a forbidden PLMN list that includes the first PLMN [paragraphs 0099-0100].
Regarding claim 5, Vamanan discloses a network entity of a Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, configured to provide roaming radio access from the PLMN in accordance with the method of claim 1 [paragraph 0099].
Regarding claim 6, Vamanan discloses a method of accessing a first Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN, at a subscriber of a second PLMN, the subscriber having a forbidden PLMN list that includes the first PLMN, the method comprising: receiving, at the subscriber, a broadcast from a radio access node of the first PLMN, the broadcast comprising an indicator that the access node will provide connectivity service to subscribers of the second PLMN [paragraphs 0099-0100]; and transmitting, from the subscriber, a registration request for the first PLMN [paragraph 0104].
Regarding claim 7, Vamanan discloses wherein the registration request includes an identifier for the subscriber [paragraph 0106].
Regarding claim 8, Vamanan discloses wherein the identifier for the subscriber is an International Mobile Subscriber Identity, IMSI [paragraph 0106].
Regarding claim 11, Vamanan discloses following registration with the first PLMN, performing a PLMN search that indicates accessibility to the second PLMN; and initiating procedures to register with the second PLMN in response to the PLMN search indicating accessibility to the second PLMN [paragraph 0110].
Regarding claim 12, Vamanan discloses a User Equipment, UE, configured to operate in accordance with the method of claim 6 [paragraph 0099].
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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gruber.
Regarding claim 2, Gruber discloses receiving, at the radio access node, a registration request from a subscriber of the second PLMN, the registration request including an identifier for the subscriber [paragraph 0087]; determining a Home PLMN of the subscriber from the received identifier [paragraph 0087. What Gruber does not specifically disclose is if the determined Home PLMN is the second PLMN, interfacing from the first PLMN to an Interworking Function with the second PLMN, to receive data on the subscriber of the second PLMN. However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is well known in the art to incorporate an Interworking Function to exchange data between PLMNs. Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Gruber to include this further limitation. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gruber in view of Vamanan.
Regarding claim 4, Gruber does not specifically disclose wherein the identifier for the subscriber is an International Mobile Subscriber Identity, IMSI. However, Vamanan teaches this limitation [paragraph 0106]. Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Gruber to include the teaching n Vamanan. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vamanan.
Regarding claim 9, Vamanan does not specifically disclose delaying the step of transmitting the registration request in accordance with a randomly generated time value. However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is well known in the art to delay a registration request in order to avoid multiple requests at the same time. Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Vamanan to include this further limitation. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 10 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 not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Guo et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 20024/0089720, disclose a network selection method and apparatus.
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/EAW/
August 10, 2026
/ERIKA A WASHINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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