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 filed on 1/8/2025 and 3/3/2026 have been considered.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 1/8/2025 are accepted.
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 1-3, 5-8 and 10-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kavanagh et al. (US-8,189,567 hereinafter, Kavanagh).
Regarding claim 1, Kavanagh teaches a gateway apparatus (Fig. 3 [210]) for wireless communication (Col. 4 lines 44-50), comprising:
at least one memory; (Fig. 6 [630]) and
at least one processor (Fig. 6 [620]) coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the gateway apparatus to:
receive a connection request from a user equipment (UE); (Col. 5 lines 48-49)
determine an identifier associated with the UE; (Col. 5 lines 59-60)
transmit a data session request comprising the identifier; (Col. 7 lines 15-26) and
route traffic of the UE via the data session. (Col. 7 lines 15-26, see also Col. 6 lines 39-46)
Regarding claim 2, Kavanagh teaches wherein the identifier is associated with a profile of the UE (Col. 6 lines 60-65), wherein the profile indicates a quality of service (QoS) for traffic of the UE. (Col. 6 lines 60-65)
Regarding claim 3, Kavanagh teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the gateway apparatus to assign a local IP address to the UE and route the traffic of the UE via the local IP address. (Col. 4 lines 2-7)
Regarding claim 5, Kavanagh teaches wherein the data session comprises a session establishment request (Col. 7 lines 15-26), and wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the gateway apparatus to establish a data session with a network on behalf of the UE. (Col. 2 lines 57-60)
Regarding claim 6, the limitations of claim 6 are rejected as being the same reasons set forth above in claim 1.
Regarding claims 7, 8 and 10, the limitations of claims 7, 8 and 10 are rejected as being the same reasons set forth above in claims 2, 3 and 5.
Regarding claim 11, Kavanagh teaches a network apparatus (Fig. 3 [240]) for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory; (Fig. 5 [530]) and
at least one processor (Fig. 5 [520]) coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the network apparatus to:
receive, from a network node (Fig. 3 [210]), a request to establish a policy association (Fig. 3 [305] and Fig. 4 [400]), wherein the request comprises an identifier; (Fig. 4 [400])
retrieve user-specific policy information for a user equipment (UE) based at least in part on the identifier; (Col. 6 lines 60-65)
determine a set of policy rules for the UE based at least in part on the user-specific policy information; (Col. 6 lines 60-65 and Col. 7 lines 17-26)
transmit the set of policy rules to the network node, wherein the set of policy rules indicates how traffic of the UE is to be directed. (Col. 7 lines 1-3 and 17-26)
Regarding claim 12, Kavanagh teaches wherein to retrieve the user-specific policy information, the at least one processor is configured to cause the network apparatus to:
transmit, to a second network node (Fig. 2 [260 or 270], see Col. 6 lines 4-6), a second request for user profile information associated with the identifier; (Col. 6 lines 57-64) and
receive, from a second network node (Fig. 2 [260 or 270] i.e. 3GPP network), the user profile information comprising the user-specific policy control data associated with the UE. (Col. 6 lines 57-64 and Col. 7 lines 19-26)
Regarding claim 13, Kavanagh teaches wherein the identifier is associated with a profile of the UE (Col. 5 lines 49-59), and wherein the user-specific policy information comprises session management data associated with the profile of the UE. (Col. 6 lines 60-64)
Regarding claims 14-16, the limitations of claims 14-16 are rejected as being the same reasons set forth above in claim 11-13.
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 4 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kavanagh in view of Del Rio et al. (US-2017/0048652 hereinafter, Del Rio).
Regarding claim 4, Kavanagh teaches the limitations of claim 1 above, but differs from the claimed invention by not explicitly reciting wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the gateway apparatus to register as a gateway UE with the network prior to receipt of the connection request.
In an analogous art, Del Rio teaches a system and method for enabling cellular data network access to portable devices via a smartwatch (i.e. the gateway UE, see Abstract) that includes a gateway apparatus (Fig. 1 [100]) that registers as a gateway UE with the network (Fig. 3 [220] and Page 2 [0010-0012] i.e. operating as a gateway UE is part of the subscription with the service provider) prior to receipt of the connection request. (Fig. 3 [230] and Page 3 [0026])
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to be motivated to implement the invention of Kavanagh after modifying it to incorporate the ability to register as a gateway UE with the network of Del Rio since this enables the UE to serve as a single, common portal for the user’s many other devices without requiring subscriptions for all the devices. (Del Rio Page 2 [0011])
Regarding claim 9, the limitations of claim 9 are rejected as being the same reasons set forth above in claim 4.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US-12,082,080 to Sharma et al. which discloses a dynamic subscriber profile management system that includes prioritizing device-specific features and location of use
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW C SAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-8099. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5 EST.
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/Matthew C Sams/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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