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 .
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.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 2-8, 10-14 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.
Claim 2, line 3, recites “the IMS AS” which renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear which of the “one or more application servers, IMS ASs” of claim 1 is being referenced.
Claim 3, line 4, recites “the IMS AS” which renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear which of the “one or more application servers, IMS ASs” of claim 1 is being referenced.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the home subscriber server” in line 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5, line 3, recites “an IMS AS” which renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear if this references the “one or more application servers, IMS ASs” of claim 1 or a different IMS AS.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the first message" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the home subscriber server” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 8, line 4, recites “an IMS AS” which renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear if this references the “one or more application servers, IMS ASs” of claim 9 or a different IMS AS.
Claim 10, line 3, recites “an IMS AS” which renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear if this references the “one or more application servers, IMS ASs” of claim 9 or a different IMS AS.
Claim 11, line 4, recites “the IMS AS” which renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear which of the “one or more application servers, IMS ASs” of claim 9 is being referenced.
Claim 12, line 4, recites “the IMS AS” which renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear which of the “one or more application servers, IMS ASs” of claim 1 is being referenced.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) steps which are considered a mental process.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception – See analysis below.
Step 2A prong One: Does the claim recite a judicial exception (i.e. an abstract idea enumerated in the 2019 PEG, a law of nature, or a natural phenomenon)? --- Yes
The claimed “sending…an IMS profile comprising one or more parameters matching the one or more target parameters” is an evaluation which is considered a mental processes (MPEP 2106.04 (a)(2)III).
For example, a person on a computer can compare and information based on a determination that data values match. It is noted that even mental processes which may need the use of a computer does not prevent the function from being a mental process (see MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)(C)). As result, the limitation recites a mental process.
Step 2A, prong Two: Does the claim recite additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application – NO
The additional elements are:
Receiving one or more IMS profiles,
Storing the received one or more IMS profiles,
Receiving a second message,
An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory.
The receiving and storing steps can be considered to be insignificant extra solution activity and do not integrate the abstract idea into the practical application. See MPEP §2106.05(g).
The apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory can be considered to be generic components to implement the abstract idea and do not integrate the abstract idea into the practical application. See MPEP §2106.05(f).
Alternatively, the apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory. See MPEP §2106.05(h).
Step 2B - Does the claim recite additional elements that amount to an inventive concept (aka “significantly more”) than the recited judicial exception. -- NO
The additional elements when reconsidered individually and as an ordered combination do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea because the at least one processor and memory are generic computer components recited at a high level of generality and the receiving and storing steps are well understood, routine and conventional (WURC). For example, the courts have indicated that receiving or transmitting data over a network is well-understood, routine and conventional. See Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information); TLI Communications LLC V. AV Auto. LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 610, 118 USPQ2d 1744, 1745 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (using a telephone for image transmission); OIP Techs., Inc., V. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network); buySAFE, Inc. V. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350, 1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (computer receives and sends information over a network) - MPEP 2106.05(d).
Claim groupings of 1, 9, 15 -- are transmitting and receiving data messages which do not cite significantly more on generic computers that are claimed.
Claims 2-7, 10-14, 16-20 – describe the types and format of the data messages being transmitted of data and generic computers or mere instructions to implement the abstract idea and is not significantly more. See MPEP $2106.05(f).
Claim 8 – describes analyzing the received profile data, generating new data and receiving updated data which is considered data gathering and analysis and thus an insignificant extra solution activity under step 2A, prong two. See MPEP 2106.05(g).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-5. 8-15, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Astrom et al. (Astrom) (US 2008/0215736).
As to claim 1, Astrom discloses an apparatus (HSS) comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
receiving one or more internet protocol multimedia subsystem, IMS, profiles from one or more IMS application servers, IMS ASs, each IMS profile comprising IMS AS identifying information and one or more parameters of a respective IMS AS of the one or more IMS ASs (HSS receiving and storing database of AS services; paragraph 7-8, 56-57, 69, and/or FE-DIST; Fig. 8, paragraph 70, 78, 105-109);
storing the received one or more IMS profiles (HSS and/or FE-DIST receiving and storing database of AS services; paragraph 7-8, 56-57, 69-70, 78; Fig. 8, paragraph 70, 78, 105-109);
receiving, from a consumer network function, a second message comprising a discovery request indicating a target network function type as IMS AS and one or more target parameters (request for given service including user identifier; Fig. 9-10, paragraph 56-57, 60-62, 109); and
sending, to the consumer network function, an IMS profile comprising one or more parameters matching the one or more target parameters (message indicating selected AS for request; paragraph 56-57, 60-62, 109, 116-117).
As to claim 2, Astrom discloses wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of the following:
information indicating one or more IMS services provided by the IMS AS;
information indicating one or more users for which the IMS AS supports IMS services (HSS/FE-DIST storing indication of users already assigned/registered to AS; Fig. 6, 10-11, paragraph 89-93, 117-118);
information indicating one or more groups of users for which the IMS AS supports IMS services;
information indicating one or more user categories for which the IMS AS supports IMS services; or
information indicating one or more events and services that can be exposed by the IMS AS (paragraph 107, Fig. 8).
As to claim 3, Astrom discloses wherein the IMS AS identifying information comprises at least one of the following:
an IMS AS instance identifier or IMS AS set identifier (paragraph 107, Fig. 8).
a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier via which the IMS AS can be reached (paragraph 107, Fig. 8); or
an IMS AS diameter address of the IMS AS.
As to claim 4, Astrom discloses wherein the one or more IMS profiles are stored at the home subscriber server or unified data management function and associated to one or more user identifiers (paragraph 61, 65, 67-70).
As to claim 5, Astrom discloses wherein the one or more target parameters comprises at least one of the following:
information indicating one or more target IMS services provided by an IMS AS;
information indicating one or more target users for which an IMS AS supports IMS services (HSS/FE-DIST storing indication of users already assigned/registered to AS; Fig. 6, 10-11, paragraph 89-93, 117-118);
information indicating one or more target groups of users for which an IMS AS supports IMS services; or
information indicating one or more target events and services exposed by an IMS AS (paragraph 107, Fig. 8).
As to claim 8, Astrom discloses wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform:
determining that no IMS profile comprising one or more parameters matching the one or more target parameters is stored at the home subscriber server or unified data management function (determining there is no AS allocated to the user identifier; Fig. 7, 9; paragraph 94-97, 116);
creating a subscription associated with the consumer network function based on the one or more target parameters (Fig. 7, 9; paragraph 94-102, 116);
receiving a further IMS profile from an IMS AS, wherein the further IMS profile comprises one or more parameters matching the one or more target parameters (Fig. 7, 9; paragraph 94-102, 116); and
sending a notification message to the consumer network function including the IMS profile comprising one or more parameters matching the one or more target parameters (Fig. 7, 9; paragraph 94-102, 116).
As to claim 9, Astrom discloses an apparatus comprising (Fig. 3, paragraph 59, subscriber terminal):
at least one processor (inherently present within subscriber terminal/mobile phone; Fig. 3, paragraph 59);
at least one memory storing instructions (Fig. 3, paragraph 59) that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
sending, to a home subscriber server or unified data management function, a second message comprising a discovery request indicating a target network function type as internet protocol multimedia subsystem application server, IMS AS, and one or more filter parameters defining one or more target parameters (request for given service including user identifier; Fig. 9-10, paragraph 56-57, 60-62, 109); and
receiving, from the home subscriber server or unified data management function, an IMS profile based on the one or more filter parameters (message indicating selected AS for request; paragraph 56-57, 60-62, 109, 116-117); and
connecting to the IMS AS based on the received IMS profile (accessing AS address for service; Fig. 9, paragraph 79, 109-110).
As to claim 10, Astrom discloses wherein the one or more target parameters comprises at least one of the following:
information indicating one or more target IMS services provided by an IMS AS;
information indicating one or more target users for which an IMS AS supports IMS services (HSS/FE-DIST storing indication of users already assigned/registered to AS; Fig. 6, 10-11, paragraph 89-93, 117-118);
information indicating one or more target groups of users for which an IMS AS supports IMS services; or
information indicating one or more target events and services exposed by an IMS AS (paragraph 107, Fig. 8).
As to claim 11, Astrom discloses wherein the received IMS profile comprises at least one of the following:
IMS AS identifying information (identifying name/address; paragraph 107, Fig. 8-9);
information indicating one or more IMS services provided by the IMS AS;
information indicating one or more users for which the IMS AS supports IMS services (HSS/FE-DIST storing indication of users already assigned/registered to AS; Fig. 6, 10-11, paragraph 89-93, 117-118);
information indicating one or more groups of users for which the IMS AS supports IMS services;
information indicating one or more user categories for which the IMS AS supports IMS services; or
information indicating one or more events and services that can be exposed by the IMS AS (paragraph 107, Fig. 8).
As to claim 12, Astrom discloses wherein the IMS AS identifying information comprises at least one of the following:
an IMS AS instance identifier or IMS AS set identifier (paragraph 107, Fig. 8).
a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier via which the IMS AS can be reached (paragraph 107, Fig. 8); or
an IMS AS diameter address of the IMS AS.
As to claim 13, Astrom discloses wherein the IMS AS identifying information comprises the IMS AS instance identifier or the IMS AS set identifier an IMS AS instance identifier or IMS AS set identifier (paragraph 107, Fig. 8).
a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier via which the IMS AS can be reached (paragraph 107, Fig. 8-10); or an IMS AS diameter address of the IMS AS, and wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform:
sending, to a network repository function, a third message comprising a further discovery request indicating the IMS AS instance identifier or IMS AS set identifier (see Fig. 10-11, paragraph 117-118);
receiving, from the network repository function, an IMS AS address based on the third message (receiving updated address for assigned IMS AS; see Fig. 10-11, paragraph 117-118); and
connecting to the IMS AS based on the received IMS AS address (accessing AS address for service; Fig. 9, paragraph 79, 109-110).
As to claim 14, Astrom discloses wherein the further discovery request further comprises at least one of the following:
an indication that service exposure via a network exposure function is supported;
information indicating the supported capabilities of the IMS AS;
information identifying one or more users of the IMS AS (updated user information for the IMS AS; see Fig. 10-11, paragraph 117-118);
information identifying one or more groups of users of the IMS AS; or
information indicating one or more user categories supported by the IMS AS.
As to claim 15, Astrom discloses an apparatus (IMS application server; Fig. 3, paragraph 59-61) comprising:
at least one processor (inherently present within application server; Fig. 3, paragraph 59-61); and
at least one memory storing instructions (Fig. 3, paragraph 59-61) that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
providing IMS services to one or more users or one or more groups of users (address of IMS AS for providing service; Fig. 9, paragraph 79, 109-110); and
sending, to a home subscriber server or unified data management function, a first message comprising an IMS profile of the IMS AS (HSS receiving and storing database of AS services; paragraph 7-8, 56-57, 69, and/or FE-DIST; Fig. 8, paragraph 70, 78, 105-109).
As to claim 18, Astrom discloses wherein the IMS profile comprises at least one of the following:
IMS AS identifying information (identifying name/address; paragraph 107, Fig. 8-9);
information indicating one or more IMS services provided by the IMS AS;
information indicating one or more users for which the IMS AS supports IMS services (HSS/FE-DIST storing indication of users already assigned/registered to AS; Fig. 6, 10-11, paragraph 89-93, 117-118);
information indicating one or more groups of users for which the IMS AS supports IMS services;
information indicating one or more user categories for which the IMS AS supports IMS services; or
information indicating one or more events and services that can be exposed by the IMS AS (paragraph 107, Fig. 8).
As to claim 19, Astrom discloses wherein the IMS AS identifying information comprises at least one of the following:
an IMS AS instance identifier or IMS AS set identifier (paragraph 107, Fig. 8).
a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier via which the IMS AS can be reached (paragraph 107, Fig. 8); or
an IMS AS diameter address of the IMS AS.
As to claim 20, Astrom discloses wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform: sending, to a network repository function, a registration message (paragraph 107, Fig. 8) comprising at least one of the following:
information indicating whether the IMS AS supports service exposure via a network exposure function;
information indicating one or more IMS services provided by the IMS AS (paragraph 107, Fig. 8);
information identifying one or more users of the IMS AS (updated user information for the IMS AS; see Fig. 10-11, paragraph 117-118);
information identifying one or more groups of users of the IMS AS; or
information indicating one or more user categories for which the IMS AS supports IMS services; or information indicating one or more events and services exposed by the IMS AS.
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 6, 7, 16, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Astrom in view of Sheth et al. (Sheth) (US 2011/0131177).
As to claim 6, Astrom fails to specifically disclose wherein the first message and/or second message comprises one of: a diameter protocol message or a service based interface message.
In an analogous art, Sheth discloses an IMS network system (Fig. 1, paragraph 11-17) where IMS application servers will transmit a diameter protocol message to an HSS (paragraph 39, 45) comprising a profile update request (IMS AS message indicating profile updates to HSS; paragraph 38-40) so as to efficiently update profiles in a shorter time and reduced messaging requirements (paragraph 33).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Astrom’s system to include wherein the first message and/or second message comprises one of: a diameter protocol message or a service based interface message, as taught in combination with Sheth, for the typical benefit of providing more efficient updating of profiles in a shorter time and reduced messaging requirements (paragraph 33).
As to claim 7, Astrom and Sheth disclose wherein the first message and/or second message comprises one of: a diameter protocol message or a service based interface message (see Sheth at paragraph 39, 45).
As to claim 16, Astrom fails to specifically disclose wherein the first message comprises one of: a diameter protocol message or a service based interface message.
In an analogous art, Sheth discloses an IMS network system (Fig. 1, paragraph 11-17) where IMS application servers will transmit a diameter protocol message to an HSS (paragraph 39, 45) comprising a profile update request (IMS AS message indicating profile updates to HSS; paragraph 38-40) so as to efficiently update profiles in a shorter time and reduced messaging requirements (paragraph 33).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Astrom’s system to include wherein the first message comprises one of: a diameter protocol message or a service based interface message, as taught in combination with Sheth, for the typical benefit of providing more efficient updating of profiles in a shorter time and reduced messaging requirements (paragraph 33).
As to claim 17, Astrom and Sheth disclose wherein the diameter protocol message comprises a profile update request or a server assignment request (see Sheth at paragraph 38-40).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Igarashi (US 2009/0100147)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James R Sheleheda whose telephone number is (571)272-7357. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-5 pm CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin Bruckart can be reached at (571) 272-3982. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James R Sheleheda/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424