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 .
This Office Action is in response to the submission filed July 21, 2025. Claims 1, 3-4, 9, 11-12, and 17 have been amended. Claim 18 has been added. Claims 1-18 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on September 9, 2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderson (US Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0007147), hereinafter Anderson, in view of Honeycutt (US Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0265533).
Anderson teaches performance analysis for combining remote audience responses. Regarding claim 1, Anderson teaches reproduction control method implemented by a computer [fig. 1, 2A, 2B; para 0012-0013; 0060-0065], the reproduction control method comprising: receiving, from a first terminal device, a first reproduction request in accordance with an instruction from a first user [para 0021-0022 – viewer 12, 14, 16 devices provide responses or feedback]; receiving, from a second terminal device, a second reproduction request in accordance with an instruction from a second user[para 0021-0022 – viewer 12, 14, 16 devices provide responses or feedback]; acquiring a first acoustic signal representing a first sound in accordance with the first reproduction request, and a second acoustic signal representing a second sound in accordance with the second reproduction request, the second sound having acoustic characteristics that differ from acoustic characteristics of the first sound represented by the first acoustic signal [para 0021-0023 – viewer 12, 14, 16 devices provide responses or feedback; 0027-0029; 0030-0034; 0035; 0042-0045; 0049; 0051-0053]; mixing the first acoustic signal and the second acoustic signal, thereby generating a third acoustic signal [combined user responses -- fig 1 (24 – combining module); fig 2 (122); para 0017; 0022]; and causing a reproduction system to reproduce a third sound represented by the third acoustic signal [performance rendering -- para 0017; 0021-0023; 0027-0029; 0030-0034; 0035; 0042-0045; 0049; 0051-0053]. Anderson teaches the first reproduction includes a first character string specified by the first user [viewers 12, 14, 16…user input or feedback can be via keyboard -- para 0022; 0049]; the second reproduction includes a second character string specified by the second user [viewers 12, 14, 16….user input or feedback can be via keyboard -- para 0022; 0049]. Andersen fails to teach the reproduction request includes attributes of the user to include age or gender of the user. In a similar field of endeavor, Honeycutt teaches voice assignment for text-to-speech output where text can be obtained from various forms of communication that identifies metadata to generate a speaker profile to determine voice characteristics such as age, gender or dialect that is used to generate the speech from the text having voice characteristics of the speaker profile [para 0019; 0021; 0023] and teaches the system can provide more enjoyable and entertaining experiences for the listener [para 0004]. One having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention would have recognized the advantages of implementing the text-to-speech with speaker profile characteristics techniques taught by Honeycutt, in the performance analysis system of Anderson, for the purpose of allowing a viewer that is an environment where providing audio feedback is not possible, to provide textual feedback responses to be generated into audio data that can be combined with audio input of other viewers, so to be combined and provided to the performer, thereby improving the viewer’s interaction and experience with the system.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Anderson and Honeycutt teaches the acoustic characteristics of the first and second sounds include one or more of a pitch, a volume, a sound quality, frequency characteristics, reverberation characteristics, a temporal change of pitch, a sound image localization position, and a sound duration [para 0049].
Regarding claims 3-5 the combination of Anderson and Honeycutt teaches fails generating the first acoustic signal that represents voice corresponding to the first character string and the age or gender of the first user by applying the first character string to a speech synthesis process, and generating the second acoustic signal that represents voice corresponding to the second character string and he age or gender of the second user by applying the second character string to the speech synthesis process [Honeycutt at para 0019; 0021; 0023].
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Anderson and Honeycutt teaches adjusting a first starting point of the first acoustic signal and a second starting point of the second acoustic signal within a specific period on a time axis, wherein in the mixing, the first acoustic signal for which the first starting point has been adjusted and the second acoustic signal for which the second starting point has been adjusted are mixed [mixing and synchronization para 0015-0017; 0020-0022; 0053; 0059].
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Anderson and Honeycutt teaches the adjusting is performed such that the first starting point and the second starting point are distributed within the specific period [mixing and synchronization para 0015-0017; 0020-0022; 0053; 0059].
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Anderson and Honeycutt teaches setting the specific period in accordance with a volume of sounds collected in an acoustic space in which the reproduction system is installed [mixing and synchronization para 0015-0017; 0020-0022; 0053; 0059].
Regarding claims 9-17, the claims are rejected under similar rationale as claims 1-8.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 18 is 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-17 have been considered but are moot because the arguments are not based on the new combination of references presented in the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELA A ARMSTRONG whose telephone number is (571)272-7598. The examiner can normally be reached M,T,TH,F 11:30-8:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pierre Desir can be reached at 571-272-7799. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
ANGELA A. ARMSTRONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2659
/ANGELA A ARMSTRONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2659