Ex Parte Noldus

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Jul 25, 2016

13128722 (P.T.A.B. Jul. 25, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
13/128,722 05/11/2011
27045 7590
ERICSSON INC
6300 LEGACY DRIVE
MIS EVR 1-C-11
PLANO, TX 75024
07/27/2016
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Rogier Noldus
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
P25422 USl 2939
EXAMINER
FOUD, HICHAM B
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2467
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
07/27/2016 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
kara.coffman@ericsson.com
kathryn.lopez@ericsson.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte ROGIER NOLDUS
Appeal2014-006343
Application 13/128,722
Technology Center 2400
Before DAVID M. KOHUT, LINZY T. McCARTNEY, and
MONICA S. ULLAGADDI, Administrative Patent Judges.
McCARTNEY, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a rejection of claims
1-12 and 14--21. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We AFFIRM.
Appeal2014-006343
Application 13/128,722
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
The present application concerns "providing access for devices to a
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network." Spec. 1 :5---6. Claim 1
illustrates the claimed subject matter:
1. A method for providing a device access to a General
Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network, wherein the device
belongs to a group of devices having a single group profile, the
GPRS network comprising a control node for controlling the
access, the control node performing the steps of:
obtaining a group profile comprising a subscriber
identifier and a device identifier, associated with a plurality of
devices;
receiving a service request from the device, the service
request comprising a device individual subscriber identity and
individual device identifier;
selecting the group profile for attaching the device to the
GPRS network, if said individual device identifier corresponds
to the device identifier in said group profile; and,
establishing a connection based on the group profile in
accordance with the service request.
REJECTIONS
Claims 1-5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 stand rejected under 35
U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Qian et al. (US 2007/0002868 Al; Jan.
4, 2007) ("Qian") and Bleckert et al. (US 2007 /0032232 Al; Feb. 8, 2007)
("Bleckert").
Claims 6, 9, 10, 15, 17, 19, and 21 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as unpatentable over Qian and Bleckert and one of Robins (US
2007/0238456 Al; Oct. 11, 2007), Kim et al. (US 2006/0023663 Al; Feb. 2,
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Application 13/128,722
2006), Cho (US 6,871,069 Bl; Mar. 22, 2005), and Niven et al. (US
2002/0161833 Al; Oct. 31, 2002).
ANALYSIS
Appellant argues the Examiner failed to give patentable weight to the
following limitation recited in claim l's preamble: "[a] method for
providing a device access to a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
network, wherein the device belongs to a group of devices having a single
group profile." App. Br. 8-12; see also Reply Br. 1--4. Appellant contends
Qian fails to teach or suggest this limitation because "Qian is directed to the
control of location based quality of service, not to a method for providing
access to a GPRS network." App. Br. 6 (emphases omitted). Moreover,
Appellant argues "Qian describes the application of one of a plurality of
[Quality of Service or "QoS"] profiles to a [single] mobile terminal based on
its location," not "a single group profile (i.e., subscription) for a group of
devices" as required by claim 1. Id. at 7 (emphases omitted). Appellant also
contends Qian's QoS profile does not teach or suggest the claimed "group
profile" because the QoS profile does not include both a "subscriber
identifier and a device identifier, associated with a plurality of devices." See
Reply Br. 5 (emphases omitted). Appellant argues Bleckert fails to remedy
these deficiencies. App. Br. 8; Reply Br. 7-8.
We find Appellant's arguments unpersuasive. Although the Examiner
found claim l's preamble is not entitled to patentable weight, the Examiner
also found Qian teaches or suggests the disputed preamble limitations. See
Ans. 7-8. In particular, the Examiner found Qian's method of determining
QoS for mobile terminals entering a mobile network suggests this limitation.
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Id. at 8. Although Appellant argues this "reads too much" into the cited
portion of Qian, Appellant has not persuasively explained why this is the
case. Reply Br. 4--5.
In any event, Qian provides sufficient evidence to support the
Examiner's finding. Qian claims "computer instructions" that "define[] the
operation of QoS selection logic for assigning a QoS profile to a
GPRS/UMTS mobile terminal seeking access to a wireless packet routing
network." Qian claim 11 (emphasis added); see also id. claim 18.
Moreover, Qian teaches that the disclosed method determines a QoS rating
"for a GPRS/UMTS mobile terminal" and provides, "[in] a GPRS/UMTS
network, ... QoS negotiation between the mobile terminal and the network."
Qian i-f 12. Qian indicates this process occurs "[u]pon entering a network,"
"[w]hen [the] mobile terminal ... enters a routing area," or when "the
network element detects that the mobile terminal is roaming into a new
routing area." See id. i-fi-114, 27, 35, Abstract. In light of this, we agree with
the Examiner that Qian suggests "[a] method for providing a device access
to a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network."
With respect to the "wherein the device belongs to a group of devices
having a single group profile" aspect of the preamble, the Examiner found
Qian's method of placing devices into "QoS groups" that are each associated
with a QoS profile teaches or suggests the recited "single group profile"
See, e.g., Ans. 8. Qian discloses that "mobile terminals are classified into
different mobile terminal QoS groups based on their International Mobile
Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and their routing area identification" and that a
selection block "maps the received routing area identification and IMSI to
the range of values assigned to each of the mobile terminal groups." Qian
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Application 13/128,722
iii! 26, 36 (emphasis added). This suggests that multiple mobile terminals
are mapped to the same QoS group, or in the language of claim 1, that "the
device belongs to a group of devices having a single group profile."
Similarly, Qian discloses that "QoS profiles are assigned based on the
routing area and a range of IMS!s." Id. if 35 (emphasis added). This
suggests each QoS profile also includes multiple mobile devices. Even if
this were not the case, Qian indicates that each QoS group corresponds to a
QoS profile. See id. Thus, each device belongs to a group of devices that
indirectly has a single QoS profile.
As for "group profile comprising a subscriber identifier and a device
identifier, associated with a plurality of devices" recited in claim 1, the
Examiner found a combination of Qian's and Bleckert's teachings suggest
this limitation. Specifically, the Examiner found Qian discloses mapping
mobile terminals to QoS groups using an IMSI ("a subscriber identifier")
and a routing area identification and associating the QoS groups with a QoS
profile. See Final Act. 2-3 (citing Qian iii! 26, 27, 35); Ans. 9-11. The cited
portions of Qian also disclose "[t]he QoS profiles are assigned based on the
routing area and a range of IMS Is so that routing area congestion and
available bandwidth, among others, is kept with predetermined limits." Qian
if 3 5. These mapping and assignment processes suggest that both Qian' s
QoS groups and Qian's QoS profiles include IMSI and routing area
identification information.
The Examiner noted, however, that Qian does not disclose using a
"device identifier" to perform the mapping and assigning processes
described above. See Final Act. 2-3; Ans. 9-11. The Examiner found
Bleckert discloses a request that includes both an IMSI and an International
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Application 13/128,722
Mobile Equipment Identification (lMEl) ("the device identifier"). Id. The
Examiner concluded it would have been obvious to use Bleckert's IMEI as
another identifier in Qian' s processes "for the purpose of at least identifying
the validity of each terminal/device [to] ... stop[] stolen/unauthorized
devices ... from accessing the network." Ans. 10-11. Appellant's
arguments against Qian and Bleckert individually have not persuaded us the
Examiner erred. "[O]ne cannot show non-obviousness by attacking
references individually where, as here, the rejections are based on
combinations of references." In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 426 (CCPA 1981).
Finally, Appellant argues the Examiner's combination of Qian and
Bleckert fails to teach or suggest "selecting the group profile for attaching a
device to a GPRS network if an individual device identifier corresponds to
the device identifier in the group profile." App. Br. 7 (emphases omitted).
Appellant contends "Qian describes a QoS profile that is defined for a
mobile terminal group. The QoS profile, however, is not used in any manner
to control access to a GPRS network." Id. (emphases omitted). Appellant
also points out that when Qian's mobile terminals do not "map to a QoS
profile, a QoS rating based on [a] default profile is used, meaning that the
mobile terminal has access to the network using the default QoS profile."
Id. at 7-8. In contrast, Appellant argues the claimed invention "is utilized to
control access to a GPRS network based on a single group profile (i.e.,
subscription) for a group of devices; if the claimed criteria for access are not
met, a devices does not gain access to the GPRS network based on the group
profile." Id.
We find Appellant's arguments unpersuasive. As an initial matter,
claim 1 does not recite "control access to a GPRS network" or "if the
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Application 13/128,722
claimed criteria for access are not met, a devices does not gain access to the
GPRS network based on the group profile." Rather, claim 1 simply recites
"[a] method for providing a device access to" a GPRS network that includes,
among other things, "selecting the group profile for attaching the device to
the GPRS network, if said individual device identifier corresponds to the
device identifier in said group profile." For the reasons discussed above, we
agree with the Examiner that Qian suggests "[a] method for providing a
device access to a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network." As for
the "selecting" step, the Examiner found a combination of Qian' s and
Bleckert's disclosures teaches or suggest this limitation. See Ans. 9-10. In
particular, the Examiner found Qian teaches selecting a QoS group and QoS
profile for a device entering (i.e., accessing) a network based on an IMSI
and routing area identification but does not teach that this selecting is based
on an "individual device identifier." Id. at 9-11. However, as noted above,
the Examiner found Bleckert discloses a request that includes both an IMSI
and an IMEI and concluded it would have been obvious to combine Qian's
and Bleckert's teachings in the claimed manner. Id. Appellant's arguments
against these references individually have not persuaded us the Examiner
erred. Keller, 642 F .2d at 426.
For the above reasons we sustain the Examiner's rejection of claim 1.
Because Appellant has not presented separate, persuasive patentability
arguments for the claims 2-12 and 14--21, we also sustain the Examiner's
rejections of these claims.
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DECISION
For the above reasons, we affirm the Examiner's rejections of claims
1-12 and 14--21.
No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with
this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(l )(iv).
AFFIRMED
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