DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to Applicant’s RCE submission filed on 11/26/2025. Claims 1, 14 and 15 were amended. Claims 1-15 are pending in the application of which Claims 1, 14, and 15 are independent and have been examined.
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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/26/lambert2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed in the Amendment filed 11/26/2025 (herein “Amendment”) with respect to the 35 USC §103 rejection raised in the previous office action have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant's arguments, regarding the rejection of the independent claims 1, 14 and 15 under 35 U.S.C. 103, have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection (citing the new references of Stokking et al. (US20170213567 A1) and Hara et al. (US 11869496 B2), which do not rely on any reference combination applied in the prior rejection of the record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Please see prior art section below for more detail including updated citations and obviousness rationale.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 2, 12, 14, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stokking et al. (US20170213567A1)(herein " Stokking"), and in further view of Hara et al. (US 11869496 B2)(herein "Hara").
Regarding claims 1, 14, and 15 Stokking teaches [An audio signal processing method performed by an audio signal processing device, the audio signal processing method comprising: - claim 1], [An audio signal processing method performed by an audio signal processing device, which includes an internal microphone, the audio signal processing method comprising: - claim 14], and [An audio signal processing device, comprising: a speaker to output an audio signal; a memory to store one or more instructions; and a processor configured to execute the one or more instructions stored in the memory to: - claim 15] (Stokking, Par. 0001:” … a computer program product comprising instructions for causing a processing system to perform the method.”, and Par. 0009:” a play-out device for playing out an audio signal via a speaker to provide a sound signal;”, and Par. 0063:” … a computer program product comprising instructions for causing a processing system to perform the method. “, and Par. 0071:” speaker:”, and Par. 0072:” 140 microphone:”, and Pat. 0136:” … device may comprise a processor for processing the audio signal prior to inclusion in the noise suppression data. Such processing may comprise, e.g., simulating the characteristics of the speaker. For example, if the play-out device knows the characteristics of the speaker, the audio signal may be processed so as to apply the characteristics of the speaker also to the audio signal.”, and Par. 0149:” … a computer program which comprises instructions for causing a processor system to perform the method.
obtaining a first audio signal by generating a pattern in an audio signal to be output, outputting the first audio signal; (Stokking, Par. 0040:” In an embodiment, the audio signal obtained by the noise suppression subsystem may comprise one or more watermarks [pattern] matching one or more watermarks in the recorded signal, the noise suppression subsystem may comprise a watermark detector for detecting the one or more watermarks in the audio signal and in the recorded signal, and the timing manager may be configured for synchronizing the audio signal with the recorded signal by aligning in time the one or more watermarks in the audio signal and in the recorded signal.”, and Par. 0045:” a watermark inserter for inserting one or more watermarks in the audio signal prior to play-out and/or transmission via the communication channel to the recording device; …”) Note: Stokking teaches pattern (watermark) generation/insertion into the signal where it splices off, one as audio signal with the water mark, and the other as recorded signal. At the receiving end the watermark (pattern) is used to synchronize (aligning in time) the two signals.
a second audio signal including the output first audio signal; (Stokking, Par. 0117:” … Here, two or more parties may view the same TV program at different locations and at the same time communicate with each other via an audio communication channel. In this use case, each respective party may hear the TV audio of the other party through the audio communication channel in addition to the TV audio of their own TV. … The system may be employed here to suppress the TV audio in the recorded [second] signal at one, or more parties, prior to transmitting the recorded signal to another party.”)
detecting the pattern from the second audio signal; and (Stokking, Par. 0036:” … the noise suppression subsystem may comprise a watermark [pattern] detector for detecting the one or more watermarks in the recorded signal, and the timing manager may be configured for synchronizing the audio signal with the recorded signal by correlating the one or more watermark timestamps in time with the one or more content timestamps. A watermark is a form of persistent identification. By providing watermarks as part of the played-out audio signal and by providing the noise suppression subsystem with a watermark detector, the noise suppression subsystem may detect the watermarks in the recorded signal. … Accordingly, by correlating the watermark timestamps with the content timestamps, the audio signal may be synchronized with the recorded signal.”)
synchronizing the second audio signal with the first audio signal based on the pattern detected from the second audio signal and the pattern included in the first audio signal. (Stokking, Par. 0036:” … the noise suppression subsystem may comprise a watermark [pattern] detector for detecting the one or more watermarks in the recorded signal, and the timing manager may be configured for synchronizing the audio signal with the recorded signal by correlating the one or more watermark timestamps in time with the one or more content timestamps. A watermark is a form of persistent identification. By providing watermarks as part of the played-out audio signal and by providing the noise suppression subsystem with a watermark detector, the noise suppression subsystem may detect the watermarks in the recorded signal. … Accordingly, by correlating the watermark timestamps with the content timestamps, the audio signal may be synchronized with the recorded signal.”)
[claim 14 only] detecting the pattern from the third audio signal; and (Stokking, Par. 0036:” … the noise suppression subsystem may comprise a watermark [pattern] detector for detecting the one or more watermarks in the recorded signal, and the timing manager may be configured for synchronizing the audio signal with the recorded signal by correlating the one or more watermark timestamps in time with the one or more content timestamps. A watermark is a form of persistent identification. By providing watermarks as part of the played-out audio signal and by providing the noise suppression subsystem with a watermark detector, the noise suppression subsystem may detect the watermarks in the recorded signal. … Accordingly, by correlating the watermark timestamps with the content timestamps, the audio signal may be synchronized with the recorded signal.”) Note: watermark detection implies pattern detection on the third signal. Furthermore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the processing of Stokking for the third audio signal as doing so would be a mere duplication of parts having predictable results. See MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B).
Stokking, does not teach, however Hara teaches in response to an external voice input device being used to receive an external audio signal, (Hara, Col. 3, ll. 62-67:” FIG. 1 illustrates a living room 1 as an example of an applicable environment for the technology disclosed in the present description. A television receiver 11 and an agent device 12 are installed on a sideboard 13. As described later, the television receiver 11 has an agent application residing thereon, and is also capable of operating as an agent device.”) Note: HARA teaches the separate device next to the TV.
receiving, through the external voice input device while the external voice input device is communicatively connected to the audio signal processing device, (Hara, Col. 7, ll. 18-22:” The external agent device 320 corresponds to the agent device 12 in FIG. 1. The external agent device 320 is a device used exclusively for voice agents, and is provided with a voice input unit 321 and a voice output unit 322 which are used to interact with a user.”, and Col. 7, ll. 11-13:” The TV agent 310 is an agent that resides in the information apparatus 100 (corresponding to the television receiver 11 in FIG. 1),”, and Col. 8, ll. 4-14:”The voice data is transmitted to the TV agent 310, and is voice-output from the voice output unit 106 to a user who is an inquiry source. … In addition, the TV agent 310 may be adapted to output a response to an inquiry from a user by using together an output function of other CE apparatuses or other IoT devices that are connected to the television receiver 11 via a home network, for example.”)
[Claim 14 only] receiving, through the internal microphone, a third audio signal including the output first audio signal; (Hara, Col. 7, ll. 18-22:” The external agent device 320 corresponds to the agent device 12 in FIG. 1. The external agent device 320 is a device used exclusively for voice agents, and is provided with a voice input unit 321 and a voice output unit 322 which are used to interact with a user.”, and Col. 7, ll. 11-13:” The TV agent 310 is an agent that resides in the information apparatus 100 (corresponding to the television receiver 11 in FIG. 1),”, and Col. 5, ll. 7-11:” The voice input unit 105 is configured by a sound collection element such as a microphone, and is used to input a voice occurring in a room in which the information apparatus 100 is installed.”, and Col. 8, ll. 4-14:”The voice data is transmitted to the TV agent 310, and is voice-output from the voice output unit 106 to a user who is an inquiry source. … In addition, the TV agent 310 may be adapted to output a response to an inquiry from a user by using together an output function of other CE apparatuses or other IoT devices that are connected to the television receiver 11 via a home network, for example.”) Note: It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the processing of Hara for the third audio signal as doing so would be a mere duplication of parts having predictable results. See MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B).
Hara is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking further in view of Hara to in response to an external voice input device being used to receive an external audio signal, receiving, through an external voice input device while the external voice input device is connected to the audio signal processing device, a second audio signal including the output first audio signal; receiving, through the internal microphone, a third audio signal including the output first audio signal. Motivation to do so would provide a user interface including voice input that accepts a voice uttered by a user, and voice output that responds to an inquiry from the user (Hara, Col.1, ll.38-41).
Regarding claim 2, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 1.
Stokking, as modified above, further teaches removing an overlapping signal from the first audio signal and the second audio signal, which are synchronized with each other. (Stokking, Par. 0032:” … The noise suppression subsystem may further comprise a noise suppressor for processing the recorded signal based on said synchronized audio signal to obtain a processed signal in which the recording of the sound signal is suppressed. For example, the synchronized audio signal may be subtracted [removed] from the recorded signal.”) Note: once the two signals are synchronized, in the process of subtraction, the similar (overlapped) signal is removed.
Regarding claim 12, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 1.
Stokking, as modified above, further teaches wherein the synchronizing of the first audio signal with the second audio signal comprises synchronizing the first audio signal with the second audio signal by shifting a point at which the pattern is generated in the first audio signal, to a point at which the pattern is detected from the second audio signal. (Stokking, Par. 0030:” The play-out device may be configured for generating and externally outputting noise suppression data. The noise suppression data may comprise the audio signal itself, or a reference to the audio signal which enables the audio signal to be accessed. .... The noise suppression data may additionally comprise timing information for enabling the audio signal to be correlated in time with the recorded signal. Here, the term ‘correlated in time’ refers to the relation in time between both signals having been determined, or at least to an approximate degree, thereby enabling the recording of the sound signal to be aligned [shifted] in time with the audio signal from which it originated.”)
Claims 3, and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stokking and Hara, and in further view of Perret (US20130171926A1).
Perret was applied in the previous Office Action.
Regarding claim 3, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 1.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Perret teaches wherein the obtaining of the first audio signal comprises generating the pattern in the audio signal to be output by modifying a magnitude of the audio signal to be output, at a certain frequency and a certain time point of the audio signal. (Perret, Par. 0029:” the watermark of the audio signal is a pattern made in a frequency band of an initial audio signal by modifying the amplitude of an initial audio signal in this frequency band, the parameters for the detection being relevant frequency bands describing the variations of the pattern and threshold for identifying the variations;”, and Par. 0030:” the pattern is made by attenuating at least one frequency of the initial audio signal in the frequency band;”, and Par. 0031:” the pattern is obtained by amplifying the audio signal in at least one frequency band of the initial audio signal;”)
Perret is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Perret to wherein the obtaining of the first audio signal comprises generating the pattern in the audio signal to be output by modifying a magnitude of the audio signal to be output, at a certain frequency and a certain time point of the audio signal. Motivation to do so would improve the detection of the watermark in the audio signal (Perret, Par. 0095).
Regarding claim 5, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 3.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Perret further teaches modifying the magnitude of the audio signal to be output at each of a plurality of frequencies. (Perret, Par. 0029:” the watermark of the audio signal is a pattern made in a frequency band of an initial audio signal by modifying the amplitude of an initial audio signal in this frequency band, the parameters for the detection being relevant frequency bands describing the variations of the pattern and threshold for identifying the variations;”, and Par. 0030:” the pattern is made by attenuating at least one frequency of the initial audio signal in the frequency band;”, and Par. 0031:” the pattern is obtained by amplifying the audio signal in at least one frequency band of the initial audio signal;”)
Claims 4, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stokking, Hara, and Perret, and in further view of Blesser (US9311924B1).
Blesser was applied in the previous Office Action.
Regarding claim 4, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 3.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Blesser teaches wherein the certain frequency is a frequency at which the magnitude of the audio signal to be output is greater than or equal to a certain value. (Blesser, Col. 13, ll. 41-56:” At 540, if the amplitude of the portion of the audio signal corresponding to the frequency band and the time range determined for the watermark to be inserted in the audio signal is higher than a threshold, at 550, the method 500 creates a spectral well as disclosed above. At 560, the method 500 inserts the watermark signal in the spectral well.”)
Blesser is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Blesser to wherein the certain frequency is a frequency at which the magnitude of the audio signal to be output is greater than or equal to a certain value. Motivation to do so would increase the ability of the decoder to later effectively decode the watermark (Blesser, Col. 6, ll. 33-34).
Regarding claim 6, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 3.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Blesser teaches generating the pattern by decreasing the magnitude of the audio signal to be output at the certain frequency to be less than or equal to a reference value. (Blesser, Col. 4, ll. 17-29:” FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary frequency domain representation of the audio signal at the time selected for insertion of the watermark. In FIG. 3, in contrast with FIG. 2, a spectral well SW has been created in the frequency band between the frequencies f1 and f2. The curve labeled E and shown dashed corresponds to that of FIG. 2 above, the curve prior to the creation of the spectral well SW. The curve labeled E′ and shown solid corresponds to the new curve in which the spectral well SW has been created. The spectral well SW corresponds to a reduction or attenuation of energy of the audio signal created in the frequency band between the frequencies f1 and f2 at the time determined for insertion of the watermark. “)
Blesser is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Blesser to generate the pattern by decreasing the magnitude of the audio signal to be output at the certain frequency to be less than or equal to a reference value. Motivation to do so would increase the ability of the decoder to later effectively decode the watermark (Blesser, Col. 6, ll. 33-34).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stokking, Hara, and Perret, and in further view of Zitzmann (US20130261778A1).
Zitzmann was applied in the previous Office Action.
Regarding claim 7, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 3.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Zitzmann teaches generating the pattern by increasing the magnitude of the audio signal to be output at the certain frequency to be greater than or equal to a reference value. (Zitzmann, Par. 0097:” … The masking thresholds indicate the amount of energy which can be hidden in the audio signal for each subband and time block. The last block in the psychoacoustical processing module 102 depicts the amplitude calculation module 503. This module determines the amplitude gains to be used in the generation of the watermark signal so that the masking thresholds are satisfied, i.e., the embedded energy is less or equal to the energy defined by the masking thresholds.”)
Zitzmann is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Zitzmann to generate the pattern by increasing the magnitude of the audio signal to be output at the certain frequency to be greater than or equal to a reference value. Motivation to do so would allow for an easier decoding at a receiver side, without raising the energy of the watermark signal (Zitzmann, Par. 0018).
Claims 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stokking, Hara, and in further view of Sharifi (US9202472B1).
Sharifi was applied in the previous Office Action.
Regarding claim 8, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 1.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Sharifi teaches detecting, as the pattern, a section including a certain number of points at which a magnitude of the second audio signal is less than or equal to a reference value. (Sharifi, Col. 4, ll. 9-21:” Descriptors can be generated as a function of information contained in the audio clip's time-frequency spectrogram. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary non-limiting time-frequency spectrogram 102 for an audio clip. Time-frequency spectrogram 102 is a three-dimensional time-frequency representation of the audio signal plotted in terms of time, frequency, and magnitude. Time-frequency spectrogram 102 plots the frequencies present in the audio clip for a range of times, as well as the magnitude of the frequencies at the respective times (where the magnitude is a measure of the amount of a given frequency at a given time). For clarity, time-frequency spectrogram 102 is a simplified spectrogram depicting only a single frequency for each point in time.”, and Col. 4, line 66 – Col. 5, line 12:” Point detection component 208 can be configured to identify interest points within the time-frequency representation of the audio clip. The point detection component 208 can employ any suitable technique for selecting the interest points. In a non-limiting example, point detection component 208 can employ an algorithm that identifies local magnitude peaks in the audio clip's time-frequency spectrogram, and selects these peaks as the interest points (interest points 1041-N of FIG. 1 are an example of such local peaks). In another example, point detection component 208 can identify points in the time-frequency spectrogram determined to have a relatively high degree of stability even if the audio signal is pitch shifted and/or time stretched, or that are determined to be relatively resistant to noise.”) Note: Sharifi teaches choosing peaks based on the descriptor definition (magnitude above or below certain value), interest points can be identified for the definition of the pattern.
Sharifi is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Sharifi to detect, as the pattern, a section including a certain number of points at which a magnitude of the second audio signal is less than or equal to a reference value. Motivation to do so would ensure accurate and reliable descriptor matching, the audio descriptors should be generated in a manner that is largely resistant to noise (Sharifi, Col. 4, ll. 1-3).
Regarding claim 9, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 1.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Sharifi teaches detecting, as the pattern, a section including a certain number of points at which a magnitude of the second audio signal is greater than or equal to a reference value. (Sharifi, Col. 4, ll. 9-21:” Descriptors can be generated as a function of information contained in the audio clip's time-frequency spectrogram. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary non-limiting time-frequency spectrogram 102 for an audio clip. Time-frequency spectrogram 102 is a three-dimensional time-frequency representation of the audio signal plotted in terms of time, frequency, and magnitude. Time-frequency spectrogram 102 plots the frequencies present in the audio clip for a range of times, as well as the magnitude of the frequencies at the respective times (where the magnitude is a measure of the amount of a given frequency at a given time). For clarity, time-frequency spectrogram 102 is a simplified spectrogram depicting only a single frequency for each point in time.”, and Col. 4, line 66 – Col. 5, line 12:” Point detection component 208 can be configured to identify interest points within the time-frequency representation of the audio clip. The point detection component 208 can employ any suitable technique for selecting the interest points. In a non-limiting example, point detection component 208 can employ an algorithm that identifies local magnitude peaks in the audio clip's time-frequency spectrogram, and selects these peaks as the interest points (interest points 1041-N of FIG. 1 are an example of such local peaks). In another example, point detection component 208 can identify points in the time-frequency spectrogram determined to have a relatively high degree of stability even if the audio signal is pitch shifted and/or time stretched, or that are determined to be relatively resistant to noise.”) Note: Sharifi teaches choosing peaks based on the descriptor definition (magnitude above or below certain value), interest points can be identified for the definition of the pattern.
Sharifi is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Sharifi to detect, as the pattern, a section including a certain number of points at which a magnitude of the second audio signal is greater than or equal to a reference value. Motivation to do so would ensure accurate and reliable descriptor matching, the audio descriptors should be generated in a manner that is largely resistant to noise (Sharifi, Col. 4, ll. 1-3).
Claim 10, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stokking, Hara, and in further view of Bundalo et al. (US 20190005953 A1)(herein:” Bundalo”), and Perret.
Regarding claim 10, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 1.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Bundalo teaches identifying whether a human voice is included in the second audio signal, (Bundalo, Par. 0013:” … If the voice detection circuit determines that human voice is present, the voice detection circuit may output a switch signal. Additionally, if it is determined that human voice is present, the first memory buffer circuit may output the digital audio signal. Similar to the description above, if the voice detection circuit determines that human voice is not present, the portable electronic device remains in standby mode.”)
Bundalo is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Bundalo to identify whether a human voice is included in the second audio signal. Motivation to do so would provide information or a command to be executed in response to a user query (Bundalo, Par. 0122).
Stokking as modified above does not teach, however Perret teaches wherein the detecting of the pattern from the second audio signal is performed based on determining that the human voice is not included in the second audio signal. (Perret, Par. 0107:” Encoding and Detecting the Audio Watermark in Frequency Between 15 to 16 kHz”, and Par. 0108:”Most of the audio signals transmit few energy in these high frequency bands. Contrary to the preceding case, the watermark is based on increasing the amplitude of some frequency bands of an initial audio signal. The amplification should concern frequencies over 10 kHz because the human auditory system (HAS) is less sensitive to the high frequency components of the audio signal (preferably over 15 kHz because the HAS is quasi insensitive to theses frequencies). The amplification is low and is based on a thin frequency band such that the audio signal is inaudible by the user. “) Note: detecting audio watermark implies pattern detection which is at higher frequency than human auditory system, as such watermark detection reads on no human voice.
Perret is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Perret to wherein the detecting of the pattern from the second audio signal is performed based on determining that the human voice is not included in the second audio signal. Motivation to do so would improve the detection of the watermark in the audio signal (Perret, Par. 0095).
Claim 11, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stokking, Hara, Perret, Bundalo and in further view of Ichimura (US20190179147A1).
Ichimura was applied in the previous Office Action
Regarding claim 11, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 10.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Ichimura teaches wherein the identifying of whether the human voice is included in the second audio signal is performed based on whether a signal of a certain frequency band with a certain magnitude or more is included in the second audio signal. (Ichimura, Par. 0089:” Next, voice detector 14 detects a voice from the sound received by sound receiver 11 (voice detection step S11). To be specific, in the signal output from sound receiver 11, if the power in the voice frequency band exceeds a threshold value for a predetermined length of time, voice detector 14 determines that the signal output from sound receiver 11 indicates a voice, and notifies response detector 17 of the fact that a voice has been detected. ")
Ichimura is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Ichimura to wherein the identifying of whether the human voice is included in the second audio signal is performed based on whether a signal of a certain frequency band with a certain magnitude or more is included in the second audio signal. Motivation to do so would distinguish human voice based on the voice frequency band and the power of it (Ichimura, Par. 0080).
Claim 13, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stokking, Hara, and in further view of Yang (US9595997B1).
Yang was applied in the previous Office Action.
Regarding claim 13, Stokking, as modified above, teaches the audio signal processing method of claim 1.
Stokking, as modified above, does not teach, however Yang teaches receiving noise through the external voice input device and storing the noise; and (Yang, Col. 18, ll. 47-50:” The signal may be delayed 906 due to any processing (e.g., beamforming, echo cancellation, noise reduction, etc.) that is being performed with respect to the initially detected signal.”) Note: Such post processing activity, implies storage of the signal.
removing the noise from the second audio signal, wherein the synchronizing of the second audio signal with the first audio signal is performed after the noise is removed from the second audio signal. (Yang, Col. 11, ll. 33-42:” The output of the acoustic echo cancellation module 302 may be an AEC (acoustic echo cancellation) output 310, which may correspond to the audio signal 304 minus the amount of acoustic echo and/or noise that was removed from the audio signal 304 by the acoustic echo cancellation module 302. That is, the AEC output 310 may represent the resulting audio signal 304, without any acoustic echo and/or noise that has been reduced, canceled, or eliminated by the beamforming module 140 and/or the acoustic echo cancellation module 302.”, and Col. 18, ll. 47-58:” The signal may be delayed 906 due to any processing (e.g., beamforming, echo cancellation, noise reduction, etc.) that is being performed with respect to the initially detected signal. Accordingly, the delay may reflect an amount of time associated with such processing such that the signal 902 and the output 904 are aligned and synchronized. After the delay 906, the signal 902 may be referred to as a desired signal 908 and the output 904 may be referred to the input signal 910 that is to be processed by an adaptive filter 912. Moreover, following the delay 906, the desired signal 908 and the input signal 910 may be synchronized.”)
Yang is considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Stokking, as modified above, further in view of Yang to synchronize the first audio signal with the second audio signal by shifting a point at which the pattern is generated in the first audio signal, to a point at which the pattern is detected from the second audio signal. Motivation to do so would allow to increase the accuracy of automatic speech recognition (Yang, Col. 1, ll. 46-47).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. Shih et al. (US20170262255A1) teaches in Par. 0004:” an audio synchronization method comprises: receiving a first audio signal from a first recording device; receiving a second audio signal from a second recording device; performing a correlation operation upon the first audio signal and the second audio signal to align a first pattern of the first audio signal and the first pattern of the second audio signal; after the first patterns of the first audio signal and the second audio signal are aligned, calculating a difference between a second pattern of the first audio signal and the second pattern of the second audio signal; and obtaining a starting-time difference between the first audio signal and the second audio signal for audio synchronization according to the difference between the second pattern of the first audio signal and the second pattern of the second audio signal.”)
Examiner's Note: Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers and/or paragraph numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
In the case of amending the Claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARIOUSH AGAHI whose telephone number is (408)918-7689. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday and alternate Fridays, 7:30-4:30 PT.
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, Bhavesh Mehta can be reached on 571-272-7453. 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.
DARIOUSH AGAHI, P.E.
Primary Examiner
/DARIOUSH AGAHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2656