DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to the Amendments and Arguments filed on 2/18/2026.
Claims 1, 3-11, 13-20 are pending and have been examined.
All previous objections / rejections not mentioned in this Office Action have been withdrawn by the examiner.
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 .
Response to Amendments
Applicant has
Regarding the Applicant’s arguments for the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103, applicant has amended independent claims 1 and 11 by bringing in limitations from claim 2. The newly amended language include “determining that the user utterance includes a keyword for registering at least one external electronic device”, and “detecting the same user utterance including the keyword”. Applicant asserts that the prior art references Kwon, Sakar, and Moore in combination does not teach the independent claim limitations. First, applicant asserts that prior art Kwon does not disclose executing, in response to detecting a user utterance, a function for receiving a signal for a designated time from an external device that has detected the same user utterance. Second, applicant asserts that prior art Sakar does not disclose whether voiceprints match directly and the use of a keyword for registration. Third, applicant asserts that prior art Moore does not disclose executing a function during the specified time. The prior art references, in combination, teaches the broad interpretation of the claim limitations. During patent examination, pending claims must be “given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification.” MPEP 2111. Also, claims "must particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention." MPEP 2173. Moreover, limitations of the specification cannot be brought into a claim, "to thereby narrow the scope of the claim by implicitly adding disclosed limitations which have no express basis in the claim." In re Prater, 415 F.2d 1393, 1404-05, 162 USPQ 541, 550-51 (CCPA 1969). Here, prior art Kwon teaches the use of a keyword for registering an external device (Kwon P0075) and teaches the function to “detect an electronic signal which is transmitted from at least one respective external electronic device” by establishing a communication connection between devices (Kwon P0111) and transmitting the identification information (Kwon P0112). Sakar teaches whether the utterance of a “predefined word or password” (Sakar P0058) in two devices match. (Sakar P0062). While Sakar does not directly compare the utterances, it teaches the broad claim limitation of “detecting the same user utterance”. Lastly, Moore teaches “during a specified time” by disclosing a timeout period (Moore P0103). The prior art references, in combination, work to read on the broad interpretation of the claim limitations.
Therefore, the claims as currently recited does not overcome the prior art reference.
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 1, 2, 7-11, 12, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon et al. (U.S. PG Pub No. 20200184952), hereinafter Kwon, in view of Sakar et al. (U.S. PG Pub No. 20140046664), hereinafter Sakar, and further view of Moore et al. (U.S. PG Pub No. 20190149987).
Regarding claim 1 and 11 Kwon teaches:
(Claim 1) An electronic device comprising: (P0039, The electronic apparatus according to various embodiments may include at least one of a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a mobile phone.)
(Claim 1) a microphone; a communication circuit; a memory configured to store one or more instructions; and at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, configured, individually or collectively, to execute the one or more instructions and to control the electronic device to: (P0011, The electronic apparatus includes a communication circuit, a microphone, a memory for storing computer executable instructions, and at least one processor configured to execute the computer executable instructions.)
(Claim 11) A method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising: (P0013, The controlling method of an electronic apparatus.)
detect a user utterance through the microphone; (P0075, Referring to FIG. 3, the user speaks to register the first device, and the user's voice is received through a microphone of the second device in operation S310. For example, if the first device is a refrigerator, the user can say “register refrigerator.”)
based on determining that the user utterance includes a keyword for registering at least one external electronic device, execute a function to detect an electronic signal which is transmitted from at least one respective external electronic device detecting the same user utterance including the keyword during a specified time, the electronic signal including identification information and device information, including a device type, of the respective external electronic device; (P0075, User speaks to register the first device, and the user's voice is received through a microphone of the second device in operation S310. For example, if the first device is a refrigerator, the user can say “register refrigerator.” Alternatively, the user may include a trigger word to activate a voice command function of the first device. For example, a user can say “Bixby, register a refrigerator.”; P0111, Establish a communication connection with the first device.; P0112, The first device may transmit the identification information of the first device to the second device.; P0076, The second device acquires information about a device to be registered by the user from the received voice in operation S320.; P0066, The processor may acquire information on an external device that the user desires to register from the voice received through the microphone.; P0078, The second device can communicate with the first device based on the information about a device which the user wishes to register that is acquired by the user from the voice in operation S330.; P0082, When the first device is, for example, a smart home device (a device supporting the IoT function), the SSID can be generated based on a smart home protocol (SHP), which is an indicator indicating that the smart home device, types of a device, a production date, a version and so on. For example, if the first device is a refrigerator that supports smart home functionality and is produced in 2014, the SSID of the first device may be configured as “SHP.Fridge.2014. … The second device may receive a value corresponding to a service protocol type from the first device)
identify the at least one external electronic device based on the electronic signal; (P0094, Communication is established between the first device and the second device, and the first device may transmit identification information of the first device to the second device. The identification information of the first device is information for allowing another device to identify the first device and may include information such as a type, a. name, a description, a manufacturer, a model ID, serial number, a sales location, versions, and so on.)
determine an external electronic device to be registered from among the at least one external electronic device based on the device information included in the electronic signal and device information extracted from the utterance; (P0100, The first device may transmit to the server a registration request using the server authentication information in operation S390. The transmitted registration request may include identification information of the first device.; P0101, When the registration request received from the second device and the registration request received from the first device correspond to each other, the server may register the first device to a user account logged in by voice in operation S395.)
based on determining correspondence between the first voiceprint and the second voiceprint, authenticate the external electronic device to be registered; and (P0052, The account server can perform user authentication. In particular, the account server can perform user authentication based on voice recognition.; P0093, The second device may transmit the server authentication information to the first device. The server authentication information is information used by the first device to make a registration request to the server.)
initiate registration of the authenticated external electronic device in an external server. (P0101, When the registration request received from the second device and the registration request received from the first device correspond to each other, the server may register the first device to a user account logged in by voice in operation S395. Here, the server, if identification information of the first device included in the registration request received from the second device and the first identification information of the first device included in the registration request from the first device are the same from each other, may register the first device to a user account.)
Kwon does not specifically teach:
based on determining that the user utterance includes a keyword for registering at least one external electronic device, execute a function to detect an electronic signal which is transmitted from at least one respective external electronic device detecting the same user utterance including the keyword during a specified time, the electronic signal including identification information and device information, including a device type, of the respective external electronic device;
obtain a first voiceprint of the user utterance;
determine whether the first voiceprint corresponds to a second voiceprint obtained from the at least one external electronic device;
Sakar, however, teaches:
based on determining that the user utterance includes a keyword for registering at least one external electronic device, execute a function to detect an electronic signal which is transmitted from at least one respective external electronic device detecting the same user utterance including the keyword during a specified time, the electronic signal including identification information and device information, including a device type, of the respective external electronic device; (P0026, the pairing mechanism requires that the headset and audio gateway are in close proximity (i.e., next to each other) so that they can capture the same voice sample.; P0030, The same user voice input may be used to authenticate the user identity.)
obtain a first voiceprint of the user utterance; (P0060, At block 308, an electronic device 4 numeric code is generated from the received user voice input.)
determine whether the first voiceprint corresponds to a second voiceprint obtained from the at least one external electronic device; (P0058, At block 307, an electronic device 2 numeric code is generated from the received user voice input. In one example, the electronic device 2 numeric code is generated by generating a voiceprint from the user voice input, and generating the electronic device 2 numeric code from the voiceprint.; P0061, At block 309, electronic device 2 transmits the electronic device 2 numeric code to electronic device 4. At block 310, electronic device 4 receives the electronic device 2 numeric code.; P0062, At block 312, electronic device 4 compares the electronic device 2 numeric code and electronic device 4 numeric code and confirms a numeric match. If there is a numeric match, at block 314, electronic device 4 proceeds with completing the pairing process with electronic device 2.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to utilize voiceprint analysis on the utterance in two devices and utilize a comparison to authenticate the connected external device. Kwon and Sarkar are analogous art because they are from a similar field of endeavor in connecting or installing an external device. It would have been obvious to combine the references because authentication of an external device where the devices are in close proximity, so that they can capture the same voice sample, prevents a user outside immediate voice range from breaking into the connection process. (Sarkar P0026)
Kwon in view of Sakar does not specifically teach:
based on detecting the user utterance, execute a function to detect an electronic signal which is transmitted from at least one respective external electronic device within a specified time based on at least one respective external electronic device detecting the same user utterance, the signal including identification information and device information, including a device type, of the respective external electronic device;
Moore, however, teaches:
based on detecting the user utterance, execute a function to detect an electronic signal which is transmitted from at least one respective external electronic device within a specified time based on at least one respective external electronic device detecting the same user utterance, the signal including identification information and device information, including a device type, of the respective external electronic device; (P0103, At 1112, the first device 102(1) may determine whether a timeout has occurred since the initial broadcast at block 1110. The timeout monitored at block 1112 may be measured in any suitable manner, such as by monitoring a predetermine period of time since the initial broadcast at block 1112.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to detect transmission of a signal within a specified time. Kwon and Moore are analogous art because they are from a similar field of endeavor in connecting or installing an external device. It would have been obvious to combine the references because a timeout period takes into account the situations where the second device fails to receive the broadcast due to noise or interference when receiving the device setup information. (Moore P0072)
Regarding claim 7 and 17 Kwon in view of Sakar and further view of Moore teach claim 1 and 11.
Kwon further teaches:
establish a communication connection with the external electronic device, determined and to be registered, through the communication circuit; (P0078, The second device can communicate with the first device based on the information about a device which the user wishes to register that is acquired by the user from the voice in operation S330.)
Kwon does not specifically teach:
receive information about a second voiceprint from the connected external electronic device; and
authenticate the connected external electronic device based on whether the first voiceprint is identical to the second voiceprint.
Sarkar, however, teaches:
receive information about a second voiceprint from the connected external electronic device; and (Fig. 3. Voiceprint transmission from device 2 to device 4.; P0057, At block 303, voice detection begins at electronic device 2. In one example, prior to voice detection at electronic device 2, electronic device 2 transmits a start voice receive signal to the electronic device 4 operable to synchronize reception or recording of the user voice input at both electronic device and the electronic device.; P0058, At block 307, an electronic device 2 numeric code is generated from the received user voice input. In one example, the electronic device 2 numeric code is generated by generating a voiceprint from the user voice input, and generating the electronic device 2 numeric code from the voiceprint.; P0061, At block 309, electronic device 2 transmits the electronic device 2 numeric code to electronic device 4. At block 310, electronic device 4 receives the electronic device 2 numeric code.)
authenticate the connected external electronic device based on whether the first voiceprint is identical to the second voiceprint. (P0021, Receiving a user voice input operable to authenticate an identity of a user at a first device, and authenticating the first device with a second device for pairing utilizing the user voice input.; P0062, At block 312, electronic device 4 compares the electronic device 2 numeric code and electronic device 4 numeric code and confirms a numeric match. If there is a numeric match, at block 314, electronic device 4 proceeds with completing the pairing process with electronic device 2.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to utilize voiceprint analysis on the utterance in two devices and utilize a comparison to authenticate the connected external device. Kwon and Sarkar are analogous art because they are from a similar field of endeavor in connecting or installing an external device. It would have been obvious to combine the references because authentication of an external device where the devices are in close proximity, so that they can capture the same voice sample, prevents a user outside immediate voice range from breaking into the connection process. (Sarkar P0026)
Regarding claim 8 and 18 Kwon in view of Sakar and further view of Moore teach claim 7 and 17.
Kwon does not specifically teach, but Sarkar teaches:
wherein the received information includes audio data corresponding to the user utterance received by the external electronic device through a microphone of the external electronic device or the second voiceprint. (P0035, In one example, the pairing application is configured to generate a voiceprint from the user voice input, where the authentication code is generated from the voiceprint. In a further example, a Fourier transform of the voice input 3 is performed to obtain a distribution of voice frequencies, which are then converted to the authentication code by counting the distribution across certain frequency bands.)
Regarding claim 9 and 19 Kwon in view of Sakar and further view of Moore teach claim 7 and 17.
Kwon further teaches:
based on the first voiceprint being identical to the second voiceprint, determine whether the user utterance includes a keyword for registering an external electronic device; and (P0075, the user speaks to register the first device, and the user's voice is received through a microphone of the second device in operation S310. For example, if the first device is a refrigerator, the user can say “register refrigerator.”)
Kwon does not specifically teach:
based on the first voiceprint being identical to the second voiceprint, determine whether the user utterance includes a keyword for registering an external electronic device; and
based on determining that theuser utterance includes the keyword, transmit encrypted personal information to the authenticated external electronic device.
Sarkar, however, teaches:
based on the first voiceprint being identical to the second voiceprint, determine whether the user utterance includes a keyword for registering an external electronic device; and (P0058, At block 305, a user voice input is received. In one example, the user voice input is a predefined word or password.; P0062, At block 312, electronic device 4 compares the electronic device 2 numeric code and electronic device 4 numeric code and confirms a numeric match.)
based on determining that the user utterance includes the keyword, transmit encrypted personal information to the authenticated external electronic device. (P0093, When connection between the first device and the second device is established, the second device may transmit information about the pre-stored access point (AP) to the first device in operation S340.)
Regarding claim 10 and 20 Kwon in view of Sakar and further view of Moore teach claim 9 and 19.
Kwon does not specifically teach, but Sarkar teaches:
wherein the encrypted personal information includes information for Internet connection for use by the authenticated external electronic device to register the authenticated external electronic device in the external server. (P0093, When connection between the first device and the second device is established, the second device may transmit information about the pre-stored access point (AP) to the first device in operation S340. The information about the AP may be information about the AP to which the second device has previously been connected. The information on the AP may include an SSID and a security type of the AP, an encryption type, a security key, and the like. In addition, the second device may transmit the server authentication information to the first device. The server authentication information is information used by the first device to make a registration request to the server.)
Claims 3-6 and 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon in view Sakar, in view of Moore, and further view of Yoon et al. (U.S. PG Pub No. 20200059522), hereinafter Yoon.
Regarding claim 3 and 13 Kwon in view of Sakar and further view of Moore teach claim 1 and 11.
Kwon further teaches:
wherein each of the device information included in the electronic signal and the device information extracted from the user utterance includes a device type, and wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to: (P0082, When the first device is, for example, a smart home device (a device supporting the IoT function), the SSID can be generated based on a smart home protocol (SHP), which is an indicator indicating that the smart home device, types of a device, a production date, a version and so on. For example, if the first device is a refrigerator that supports smart home functionality and is produced in 2014, the SSID of the first device may be configured as “SHP.Fridge.2014.”)
determine whether a device type included in the electronic signal matches a device type extracted from the user utterance; (P0082, The second device may receive a value corresponding to a service protocol type from the first device and if the received value corresponds to the device information acquired from the voice, the second device may determine that the first device is a device the user wishes to register.)
determine whether the at least one external electronic device is included in a device list registered in the external server; and (P0177, The user terminal device may display a control screen including a list of devices registered to the account of the first user (Mike).; P0178, The server can manage status information through periodic communication with devices registered in the account.; P0150, It has been described that the devices already registered in the accounts of the first user A are registered as common devices, but it is also possible to register a new device not registered in any user's account as a common device.)
Kwon in view of Sakar and further view of Moore does not specifically teach:
determine that an external electronic device, not included in the registered device list, is the external electronic device to be registered.
Yoon, however, teaches:
determine that an external electronic device, not included in the list, is the external electronic device to be registered. (P0125, At operation S22, the first processor of the electronic apparatus determines whether the external device has been registered as the control target. When it is identified that the external device has already been registered as the control target (S22, YES), the process for the registration is terminated.; P0126, When the external device has not been registered as the control target (S22, NO), it is determined whether to register the external device as a control target in operation S23.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to register a device that is not in the list of registered devices. It would have been obvious to combine the references because the correct device, that has not already been registered, has to be registered given an utterance to register a device. (Yoon P0036)
Regarding claim 4 and 14 Kwon in view of Sakar, in view of Moore, and further view of Yoon teach claim 3 and 13.
Kwon further teaches:
based on there being a plurality of external electronic devices not being included in the registered device list, determine a connection priority for the plurality of external electronic devices; and (P0165, The second device, when a plurality of external devices corresponding to the information acquired from the voice are searched, may establish communication connection with a device having greatest signal intensity (for example, beacon) and transmit control information to output to the connected external device information indicating that an external device is to be registered.)
establish a communication connection with one of the plurality of external electronic devices through the communication circuit based on the connection priority. (P0166, The first device receiving the control information from the second device may output information indicating that the first device is ready for connection.)
Regarding claim 5 and 15 Kwon in view Sakar, in view of Moore, and further view of Yoon teach claim 3 and 13.
Kwon further teaches:
establish a communication connection with an external electronic device having a highest connection priority. (P0165, The second device, when a plurality of external devices corresponding to the information acquired from the voice are searched, may establish communication connection with a device having greatest signal intensity (for example, beacon) and transmit control information to output to the connected external device information indicating that an external device is to be registered.)
Regarding claim 6 and 16 Kwon in view Sakar, in view of Moore, and further view of Yoon teaches claim 3 and 13.
Kwon further teaches:
based on device type being unextractable from the user utteranc; (P0167, If a voice (for example, “yes” “register, please”, etc.) to agree to the inquiry voice is received through the microphone 210, the second device 200 may transmit the information on the AP 400 and the server authentication information to the external device 100. Then, the registration procedure can then be performed as described in FIG. 3.)
generate a device list, to be registered and including an external electronic device not included in the registered device list; (P0165, The second device, when a plurality of external devices corresponding to the information acquired from the voice are searched, may establish communication connection with a device having greatest signal intensity (for example, beacon) and transmit control information to output to the connected external device information indicating that an external device is to be registered.; P0168, Alternatively, if several devices are searched, communication connection can be established with a device having signal intensity which is second largest and have the same check process as described above.; P0177, The user terminal device may display a control screen including a list of devices registered to the account of the first user (Mike).; P0178, The server can manage status information through periodic communication with devices registered in the account.)
based on a plurality of external electronic devices being included in the device list to be registered, determine a connection priority between the plurality of external electronic devices; and (P0168, Alternatively, if several devices are searched, communication connection can be established with a device having signal intensity which is second largest and have the same check process as described above.)
sequentially establish a communication connection with each of the plurality of external electronic devices based on the connection priority. (P0186, When information with respect to the plurality of devices which a user wishes to register is acquired from the voice received through the microphone, the information on the AP can be transmitted sequentially to the plurality of external devices and a registration request with respect to the plurality of external devices to the server.)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL WONSUK CHUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-1345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday (7am-4pm)[PT].
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/DANIEL W CHUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2659
/PIERRE LOUIS DESIR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2659