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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/29/25, 9/5/25, and 6/1/26 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities: These claims recite alternative language in the preamble as to whether the method is applied to a user equipment or a chip in a user equipment. The examiner suggests removing the alternative language and ensuring the claim is positively drawn to the invention they intend to claim. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 4-7 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities: The claims contain “if” statements, which introduces ambiguity as to whether the limitations that follow actually occur. The examiner suggests replacing any “if” statements with “in response to”, as this removes the ambiguity and positively recites the limitations.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 9, 12-13, 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Agiwal et al. (US 2018/0368101 A1, hereinafter Agiwal).
Regarding claims 1, 17, and 18. Agiwal teaches a method, applied to first user equipment or a chip in the first user equipment (figure 1b primary smart device and figure 5 item 502, par. 10), one or more processors and one or more memories (par. 77, primary and secondary devices include processor module, memory module), wherein the one or more memories store programming instructions for execution by the one or more processors to:
receiving first request information from second user equipment (figure 1b and figure 5, secondary smart device, par. 65; the secondary smart device 503 may share its GUTI or S-TMSI with the primary smart device 502), wherein the first request information requests the first user equipment to receive information from a second network (figure 5, cellular network 501) for paging the second user equipment (par. 65 When the secondary smart device 503 is near the primary smart device 502, the secondary smart device 503 is paired with the primary smart device 502 using a proximity interface 503a, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (512). After the pairing procedure has been completed, the secondary smart device 503 may share its GUTI or S-TMSI with the primary smart device 502 on the secure proximity interface 503a. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the secondary smart device 503 shares its own UE identifier, such as GUTI or S-TMSI, with the primary smart device 502 on the secure proximity interface 503a. Further see par. 10; primary smart device having cellular radio capability may act as a proxy for a plurality of secondary smart devices, so as to perform one or more network procedures such as, monitoring paging…); and
in response to receiving the information from the second network for paging the second user equipment (figure 5, step 515, and par. 65, In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the secondary smart device 503 and the primary smart device 502 are linked and the linking information is available in the core network 501 (514), the paging message for the secondary smart device 503 is transmitted to the primary smart device 502 on behalf of the secondary smart device 503 (515)), sending, to the second user equipment, information indicating the second user equipment to respond to paging of the second network. (figure 5, step 517 and par. 65: Upon identifying the paging record associated with the secondary smart device 503, the primary smart device 502 transmits a page indication message including some pieces of assistance information to the secondary smart device 503 through a proximity interface 502b (516, 517, and 518).)
Regarding claims 12, 19, and 20. Agiwal teaches a method, applied to second user equipment or a chip in the second user equipment (figure 1b secondary smart device and figure 5 item 503, par. 10), one or more processors and one or more memories (par. 77, primary and secondary devices include processor module, memory module), wherein the one or more memories store programming instructions for execution by the one or more processors to:
sending first request information to first user equipment (figure 1b and figure 5, primary smart device, par. 65; the secondary smart device 503 may share its GUTI or S-TMSI with the primary smart device 502), wherein the first request information requests the first user equipment to receive information from a second network (figure 5, cellular network 501) for paging the second user equipment (par. 65 When the secondary smart device 503 is near the primary smart device 502, the secondary smart device 503 is paired with the primary smart device 502 using a proximity interface 503a, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (512). After the pairing procedure has been completed, the secondary smart device 503 may share its GUTI or S-TMSI with the primary smart device 502 on the secure proximity interface 503a. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the secondary smart device 503 shares its own UE identifier, such as GUTI or S-TMSI, with the primary smart device 502 on the secure proximity interface 503a. Further see par. 10; primary smart device having cellular radio capability may act as a proxy for a plurality of secondary smart devices, so as to perform one or more network procedures such as, monitoring paging…);
receiving, from the first user equipment, information indicating the second user equipment to respond to paging of the second network (figure 5, step 517 and par. 65: Upon identifying the paging record associated with the secondary smart device 503, the primary smart device 502 transmits a page indication message including some pieces of assistance information to the secondary smart device 503 through a proximity interface 502b (516, 517, and 518).); and
responding to the paging of the second network. (figure 5 item 520, par. 65; The page indication message is transmitted, as a container, through the proximity interface 502b. Upon receiving the page indication message and the assistance information, the secondary smart device 503 responds to the network paging message (520) by turning on cellular radio, camping on a suitable cell, and switching to connection mode (519).) Regarding claim 2. Agiwal teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first request information comprises: an identifier of the second user equipment (par. 65, GUTI) and a paging parameter of the second user equipment (par. 63, S-TMSI used in paging message is part of the GUTI).
Regarding claims 3 and 13. Agiwal teaches the method according to claims 1 and 12, wherein:
the first request information comprises:
information about a camped frequency of the second user equipment or (examiners note: this limitation uses alternative language, and thus only one of the alternatives is required for rejection purposes. (i.e. either camped frequency of camped cell)) information about a camped cell of the second user equipment (par. 60 and 65, the first request information includes the GUTI, which is an identifier of the second user equipment, but also reads on “information about a camped cell of the second user equipment” since the GUTI as noted in par. 60, is connected to the assigned MME, i.e. the cell the device is connected to, or camped on, thus reading on “information about a camped cell of the second user equipment”); or (examiner notes the limitations following this or statement are not required as they are not positively recited based on the preceding limitation being shown for rejection purposes)
the first request information comprises an identifier of the second network, the identifier of the second network is different from an identifier of a first network, and the method further comprises:
sending, to the second user equipment, a request for information about a camped frequency of the second user equipment or information
about a camped cell of the second user equipment. Regarding claim 9. Agiwal teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
determining, based on a service executed by the first user equipment, whether or not to receive the information from the second network for paging the second user equipment (par. 65, the primary smart device 502 monitors the paging channel during its own paging opportunity and the paging opportunity of the secondary smart device 503 (thus the device has inherently determined to receive the information based on its ability to forward it), which may differ from the paging opportunity of the primary smart device.); and
in response to determining to receive the information from the second network for paging the second user equipment, sending first response information to the second user equipment. (par. 65, Upon identifying the paging record associated with the secondary smart device 503, the primary smart device 502 transmits a page indication message including some pieces of assistance information to the secondary smart device 503 through a proximity interface 502b)
Regarding claim 16. Agiwal further teaches the method according to claim 12. Agiwal further teaches:
receiving first response information from the first user equipment, wherein the first response information indicates the first user equipment to accept a request that is from the second user equipment and that requests the first user equipment to receive the information from the second network for paging the second user equipment (figure 5, step 517 and par. 65: Upon identifying the paging record associated with the secondary smart device 503, the primary smart device 502 transmits a page indication message including some pieces of assistance information to the secondary smart device 503 through a proximity interface 502b (516, 517, and 518).).
in response to receiving the first response information from the first user equipment, suspending, by the second user equipment, receiving paging information from the second network. (par. 65, When the secondary smart device 503 is near the primary smart device 502, the secondary smart device 503 is paired with the primary smart device 502 using a proximity interface 503a, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (512). After the pairing procedure has been completed, the secondary smart device 503 may share its GUTI or S-TMSI with the primary smart device 502 on the secure proximity interface 503a. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the secondary smart device 503 shares its own UE identifier, such as GUTI or S-TMSI, with the primary smart device 502 on the secure proximity interface 503a. While the secondary smart device 503 is paired with the primary smart device 502, the cellular radio capability of the secondary smart device 503 can be turned off 513 to save power. Thus, if the radio capability has been turned off, the device has inherently stopped receiving the paging information from the second network as it will be receiving it via proxy of the other user device.)
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) 4-5, 10-11, and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agiwal in view of CN111372225 (provided by applicant on IDS filed 1/29/25, hereinafter CN’225).
Regarding claim 4. Agiwal teaches method according to claim 1.
He does not specifically disclose the limitations of claim 4.
CN’225, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches a communication method and device including a primary device and a secondary device including a wearable and thus similar to Agiwal. CN’225 teaches: wherein before the receiving first request information (CN’225 page 5 of document provided by applicant, see mode 2: the second terminal may actively send serving cell information…without the first terminal request), the method further comprises:
sending an identifier of a first network to the second user equipment, wherein the first user equipment is in the first network (CN’225 page 5 of document provided by applicant, see mode 2: the second terminal may actively send serving cell information), and wherein:
if the identifier of the first network is the same as an identifier of the second network, the first request information indicates that the identifier of the first network is the same as the identifier of the second network; (examiners note: this limitation uses alternative language, and thus only one of the alternatives is required for rejection purposes)
if the identifier of the first network is the same as an identifier of the second network, the first request information further comprises the identifier of the second network; (examiners note: this limitation uses alternative language, and thus only one of the alternatives is required for rejection purposes.) or
if the identifier of the first network is different from an identifier of the second network, the first request information further comprises the identifier of the second network, information about a camped frequency of the second user equipment, and information about a camped cell of the second user equipment. (CN’225 page 5 of document provided by applicant, see mode 2 where the cell identifier is different for the second terminal from where the first terminal resides…the second terminal may actively send serving cell information including cell ID, frequency point information, RAT information)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of (effective) filing to incorporate the notifying of network information of CN’225 into the method and system of Agiwal. The motivation for doing so would have been to preserve power of the device (CN’225 abstract). Regarding claim 5. Agiwal teaches the limitations of previous claim 3.
Agiwal does not specifically teach: wherein after the receiving first request information from second user equipment, and in response to determining that the first user equipment is in an idle state, the method further comprises:
if the identifier of the first network is different from the identifier of the second network, camping, by the first user equipment, on a first frequency or a first cell in the second network, and receiving, based on a paging parameter, the information broadcast by the second network for paging the second user equipment, wherein the first frequency or the first cell is a frequency or a cell that is able to receive the information for paging the second user equipment; or
if the identifier of the first network is the same as the identifier of the second network, receiving, based on the paging parameter, the information broadcast by the second network for paging the second user equipment.
CN’225, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches a communication method and device including a primary device and a secondary device including a wearable and thus similar to Agiwal. CN’225 teaches:
wherein after the receiving first request information from second user equipment, and in response to determining that the first user equipment is in an idle state (page 3-4 of CN’225 document provided by applicant explains the first terminal (i.e. wearable device) is in an RRC IDLE state), the method further comprises:
if the identifier of the first network is different from the identifier of the second network, camping, by the first user equipment, on a first frequency or a first cell in the second network (CN’225 page 5 of document provided by applicant, mode 2, second terminal has different serving cell as first terminal, first terminal may determine to select the serving cell of the second terminal for residence), and receiving, based on a paging parameter, the information broadcast by the second network for paging the second user equipment, wherein the first frequency or the first cell is a frequency or a cell that is able to receive the information for paging the second user equipment (CN’225 page 13, par. 3 of document provided by applicant, when the serving cell changes (thus different serving cell between devices) the receiver (of the second terminal) may be configured to detect a paging message sent by the network side at a paging location of the first terminal…thus a first cell or frequency that is able to receive the information for paging the second device); or (examiners note: this limitation uses alternative language, and thus only one of the alternatives is required for rejection purposes)
if the identifier of the first network is the same as the identifier of the second network, receiving, based on the paging parameter, the information broadcast by the second network for paging the second user equipment. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of (effective) filing to incorporate the teachings of CN’225 into the method and system of Agiwal. The motivation for doing so would have been to preserve power of the device (CN’225 abstract).
Regarding claims 10 and 14. CN’225 further teaches wherein the first request information further comprises: a tracking area list of the second user equipment (CN’225 pages 21-22 of document provided by applicant, tracing area update request).
Regarding claim 11. The combination of Agiwal and CN’225 teaches the method according to claim 10. CN’225 further teaches wherein after the receiving first request information from second user equipment, the method further comprises:
if an identifier of a first network is the same as the identifier of the second network, receiving, by the first user equipment, a first tracking area identity broadcast by the second network, and in response to determining that the tracking area list does not comprise the first tracking area identity, sending, by the first user equipment to the second user equipment, information indicating the second user equipment to update the tracking area list (CN’225 discloses the same procedure noted in the rejections above (for paging) for tracking area updates on pages 21-22 of the document provided by applicant); or (examiners note: this limitation uses alternative language, and thus only one of the alternatives is required for rejection purposes.)
if the identifier of the first network is different from the identifier of the second network, receiving, by the first user equipment, a second tracking area identity broadcast by the first network, and in response to determining that the tracking area list does not comprise the second tracking area identity, sending, by the first user equipment to the second user equipment, information indicating the second user equipment to update the tracking area list.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of (effective) filing to incorporate the teachings of CN’225 into the method and system of Agiwal. The motivation for doing so would have been to preserve power of the device (CN’225 abstract). Regarding claim 15. The combination of Agiwal and CN’225 teach claim 14, CN’225 further teaches wherein after the sending first request information to first user equipment, the method further comprises:
receiving information that is from the first user equipment and that indicates the second user equipment to update the tracking area list (page 22 of CN’225 document provided by applicant; tracking area update request);
updating the tracking area list (page 22 of CN’225 document provided by applicant; start tracking area updates); and
sending an updated tracking area list to the first user equipment (page 22 of CN’225 document provided by applicant; the second terminal listens to the paging message from the network after requesting the tracking area update).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of (effective) filing to incorporate the teachings of CN’225 into the method and system of Agiwal. The motivation for doing so would have been to preserve power of the device (CN’225 abstract).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 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 and correcting any objections noted above.
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/Michael Thier/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2474
Michael Thier
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2474
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