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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Applicant is advised that the new art unit number is 2692. Please use the new art unit number for all future communications.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/8/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 21, 23, 24, 26-29, 33-35, 37, 38, 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zurek et al. (US 2015/0131966).
Regarding claim 21, Zurek discloses an audio system (Fig. 1, and note that the speakers 106 can be physically distinct speakers as taught in ¶ 0023), comprising:
a first speaker (Fig. 1: one of the 106’s) configured to generate a first audio signal in an environment (¶ 0021);
a second speaker (Fig. 1: another one of the 106’s) configured to generate a second audio signal in the environment (¶ 0021); and
a processor communicatively coupled to the first speaker and the second speaker (inherent that processor is communicatively coupled to the speakers in order to perform the method as stated in ¶ 0084), the processor configured to perform or control performance of operations comprising (¶ 0084: “an embodiment can be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium having computer readable code stored thereon for programming a computer (e.g., comprising a processor) to perform a method as described and claimed herein”):
obtaining a first location of the first speaker in the environment and a second location of the second speaker in the environment (¶ 0054-0055);
obtaining first acoustic properties of the first speaker and second acoustic properties of the second speaker (¶ 0054-0055: e.g., size or frequency response of each speaker); and
generating operational parameters (coefficients of audio mixing matrix) of the first audio signal and the second audio signal based on the first location, the second location, the first acoustic properties, and the second acoustic properties (¶ 0056, 0075).
Regarding claim 23, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21, wherein the first location comprises a location of the first speaker relative to other objects in the environment (¶ 0054: relative to each other).
Regarding claim 24, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21, wherein the first location comprises a global location of the first speaker (¶ 0054: relative to a known reference point or position).
Regarding claim 26, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21, wherein the first acoustic properties comprise one or more of a size of the first speaker, a wattage of the first speaker, or a frequency response of the first speaker (¶ 0054).
Regarding claim 27, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21, wherein the operational parameters comprise one or more of a volume level, a frequency content, dynamics, a playback speed, or a playback duration (¶ 0075: coefficients based on desired volume).
Regarding claim 28, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21, wherein the operations further comprise storing the first location and the second location in a speaker map (¶ 0054: positions/locations of the speakers relative to a known reference point/position can be considered a map).
Regarding claim 29, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21, further comprising a controller configured to send the first location, the second location, the first acoustic properties, and the second acoustic properties to the processor (¶ 0055).
Regarding claim 33, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21, wherein the operations further comprise obtaining third acoustic properties of the environment, and generating the operational parameters comprises generating the operational parameters based on the first location, the second location, the first acoustic properties, the second acoustic properties, and the third acoustic properties (¶ 0054: “the positions or locations of the speakers relative to each other and/or relative to a known reference point or position” which can be considered information about sources of sound within the environment or a map of the environment).
Regarding claim 34, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 33, wherein the third acoustic properties comprise one or more of information about sources of sound from outside the environment, information about sources of sound within the environment, information about how sound propagates in the environment, or a map of the environment (¶ 0054: “the positions or locations of the speakers relative to each other and/or relative to a known reference point or position” which can be considered information about sources of sound within the environment or a map of the environment).
Claims 35, 37, 38, 40 recite similar limitations as claims 21, 33, 21, 33, respectively, and are rejected for the same reasons set forth above in the rejections of claims 21, 33, 21, 33, respectively.
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.
Claim(s) 22, 25, 30, 31, 32, 36, 39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zurek in view of Mehta et al. (US 2015/0223002).
Regarding claim 22, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21.
Zurek is not relied upon to disclose wherein the first speaker is configured to send the first location to the processor, and the second speaker is configured to send the second location to the processor.
In a similar field of endeavor, Mehta discloses wherein the first speaker is configured to send the first location to the processor, and the second speaker is configured to send the second location to the processor (¶ 0088, 0077, 0096-0097).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to: wherein the first speaker is configured to send the first location to the processor, and the second speaker is configured to send the second location to the processor, the motivation being to make the audio system adaptive and/or to enhance configurability and/or accuracy of the audio system (Mehta - ¶ 0088) and/or to enable automatic configuration and calibration of the renderer (Mehta - ¶ 0096).
Regarding claim 25, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21.
Zurek is not relied upon to disclose wherein the first speaker is configured to send the first acoustic properties to the processor, and the second speaker is configured to send the second acoustic properties to the processor.
In a similar field of endeavor, Mehta discloses wherein the first speaker is configured to send the first acoustic properties to the processor, and the second speaker is configured to send the second acoustic properties to the processor (¶ 0092, 0091).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to: wherein the first speaker is configured to send the first acoustic properties to the processor, and the second speaker is configured to send the second acoustic properties to the processor, the motivation being to allow for a speaker discovery process in which speakers are queried by the sound source for their profile (Mehta - ¶ 0092) which allows for reconfiguration of the system when speakers are connected or disconnected (Mehta - ¶ 0097).
Regarding claim 30, Zurek discloses the audio system of claim 21.
Zurek is not relied upon to disclose further comprising a first sensor and a second sensor.
In a similar field of endeavor, Mehta discloses a first sensor and a second sensor for obtaining locations of speakers (¶ 0088).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to: to provide a sensor for each of the speakers (106’s of Zurek),
which also would result in: further comprising a first sensor and a second sensor for the third speaker and fourth speaker, respectively,
the motivation being to make the audio system adaptive and/or to enhance configurability and/or accuracy of the audio system (Mehta - ¶ 0088).
Regarding claim 31, Zurek-Mehta discloses the audio system of claim 30, wherein the operations further comprise obtaining a third location of the first sensor (of Mehta) in the environment (location of third speaker 106 of Zurek) and a fourth location of the second sensor (of Mehta) in the environment (location of fourth speaker 106 of Zurek) (¶ 0088), and generating the operational parameters comprises generating the operational parameters based on the first location, the second location, the third location, the fourth location, the first acoustic properties, and the second acoustic properties (Zurek - ¶ 0056, 0075).
The teachings of Mehta relied upon above are combinable with Zurek-Mehta for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 30 rejection.
Regarding claim 32, Zurek-Mehta discloses the audio system of claim 31, wherein the operations further comprise storing the third location and the fourth location in a sensor map (Zurek - ¶ 0054: positions/locations of the speakers relative to a known reference point/position can be considered a map, and since each sensor is in each speaker, it can also be considered a sensor map).
The teachings of Mehta relied upon above are combinable with Zurek-Mehta for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 30 rejection.
Claims 36, 39 recite similar limitations as claims 31, 31, respectively, and are rejected for the same reasons set forth above in the rejections of claims 31, 31, respectively.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/MARK FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
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