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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of the restriction in the reply filed on 10/23/25 is acknowledged. The traversal is persuasive on the ground(s) that there is serious search and/or examination burden. The requirement is withdrawn.
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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN 217215005, IDS 1/17/24, see English translation).
Regarding claim 1, Sun teaches a speaker assembly, comprising:
a battery comprising a core (battery core, pg 6), a positive electrode tab (positive tab 112, fig 2), and a negative electrode tab (negative tab 113, fig 2), the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab being electrically connected to the core and being arranged on a first end face of the core (fig 2); an audio component comprising a second end face facing the first end face (speaker 300, fig 1, pg 3); and a magnetic field counteracting component arranged on the second end face (conductive structure 12, figs 1, 3, and 4, pg 3); wherein a counteracting current into the conductor forms a counteracting magnetic field acting on the audio component, and the counteracting magnetic field counteracts an interfering magnetic field acting by the battery on the audio component (the electromagnetic section 1111 of the battery cell 11 can be weakened by the electromagnetic field generated by the conductive structure 12, pg 9).
Although Sun does not explicitly teach a conductor and an insulating layer between the conductor and the second end face, Sun does teach that the epitaxial section 1111 and the conductive structure 12 mutually weaken each other (Sun, pg 7) and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to inspirated some form of insulating layer in order to allow the conductive structure to be meaningfully connected in series with the battery cell 11 as disclosed by Sun (Sun, pg 8).
Regarding claim 2, Sun teaches the speaker assembly according to claim 1, wherein: the conductor comprises a first end and a second end (first end 121 and second end 122, pg 9, fig 3); and in a thickness direction of the battery, the first end corresponds to a position of the positive electrode tab and the second end corresponds to a position of the negative electrode tab (fig 2 corresponds to the configuration of fig 5).
Regarding claim 3, Sun teaches the speaker assembly according to claim 2, wherein the core forms a main interference section between the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab (main battery core section is between positive tab 112 and negative tab 113, fig 2), and a projection of the conductor in the thickness direction of the battery coincides with the main interference section (conductive structure 12 follows the battery core shape, fig 3).
Regarding claim 4, Sun teaches the speaker assembly according to claim 2, wherein: an included angle between the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab comprises 90° and the conductor comprises a 1/4 circular ring assembled on the insulating layer; or an included angle between the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab is 180° and the conductor comprises a 1/2 circular ring assembled on the insulating layer (1/2 circular ring with 180°, figs 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 5, Sun teaches the speaker assembly according to claim 1, wherein the conductor is in an edge region of the second end face (edge region, fig 3).
Regarding claim 6, Sun teaches the speaker assembly according to claim 1, wherein the conductor comprises a flexible circuit board or a wire assembled on the insulating layer (realization form of the conductive structure 12 may be through a flexible circuit board, pg 8).
Regarding claim 7, Sun teaches the speaker assembly according to claim 1, wherein: the battery comprises a soft-packed battery (soft pack battery, pg 8), and the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab are exposed outside the core (positive and negative tabs are exposed as shown in figure 2); or the battery comprises a hard-packed battery, and the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab are arranged inside the core; and in a thickness direction of the battery, at least a portion of the conductor corresponds to positions of the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab (conductive structure 12 as shown in figure 3 aligns, in part, with positive tab 112 and negative tab 113, figs 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 8, Sun teaches the speaker assembly according to claim 1, wherein the conductor is connected in series with the battery (conductive structure 12 can be connected in series with the battery cell 11, Sun, pg 8), to obtain the counteracting current that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to a system current of the battery (conductive structure 12 generates magnetic field opposite to the magnetic field of the extension section 111, thereby canceling the interference magnetic field generated by the extension section 1112, pg 9).
Regarding claim 9, Sun teaches the speaker assembly according to claim 1.
Although Sun does not explicitly teach wherein: the insulating layer covers the second end face; or the insulating layer comprises a packaging structural member on the audio component; or the insulating layer comprises an insulating adhesive layer bonded to the audio component, it would have been obvious one of ordinary skill in the art to insulate the audio component from the battery with packaging the motivation of preventing shorting of the battery and the audio component.
Claim 10 is substantially similar to claim 1 except that claim 10 additionally recites that the speaker assembly is part of an earphone. Sun teaches that the electronic device can be an earphone (Sun, pg 17). Accordingly, claim 10 is rejected for the same reasons as claim 1 and also in view of the teaching of an earphone of Sun.
Claim 11 is substantially similar to claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claim 12 is substantially similar to claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claim 13 is substantially similar to claim 4 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claim 14 is substantially similar to claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claim 15 is substantially similar to claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 16, Sun teaches a magnetic field counteracting method (conductive structure 12 generates magnetic field opposite to the magnetic field of the extension section 111, thereby canceling the interference magnetic field generated by the extension section 1112, pg 9)), applied to a speaker assembly, wherein the speaker assembly comprises: a battery comprising a core (battery core, pg 6),, a positive electrode tab (positive tab 112, fig 2), and a negative electrode ta (negative tab 113, fig 2)b, the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab being electrically connected to the core and being arranged on a first end face of the core (fig 2); an audio component comprising a second end face facing the first end face (speaker 300, fig 1, pg 3); and a magnetic field counteracting component arranged on the second end face and comprising a conductor (conductive structure 12, figs 1, 3, and 4, pg 3), wherein a counteracting current into the conductor forms a counteracting magnetic field acting on the audio component, and the counteracting magnetic field counteracts an interfering magnetic field acting by the battery on the audio component (the electromagnetic section 1111 of the battery cell 11 can be weakened by the electromagnetic field generated by the conductive structure 12, pg 9), wherein the magnetic field counteracting method comprises: determining an assembly region of the conductor based on positions of the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab (conductive structure 12 as shown in figure 3 aligns, in part, with positive tab 112 and negative tab 113, figs 2 and 3); and arranging the magnetic field counteracting component on the second end face, fixing the conductor in the assembly region (fig 3).
Although Sun does not explicitly teach an insulating layer between the conductor and the second end face and arranging the insulating layer between the conductor and the second end face, Sun does teach that the epitaxial section 1111 and the conductive structure 12 mutually weaken each other (Sun, pg 7) and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to inspirated some form of insulating layer in order to allow the conductive structure to be meaningfully connected in series with the battery cell 11 as disclosed by Sun (Sun, pg 8).
Regarding claim 17, Sun teaches the magnetic field counteracting method according to claim 16, wherein determining the assembly region of the conductor based on the positions of the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab comprises: determining formation of a main interference section between the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab of the core (positive tab 112, and negative tab 113, fig 2); and determining the assembly region based on a projection of the main interference section in a thickness direction of the battery (conductive structure 12, fig 3).
Regarding claim 18, Sun teaches the magnetic field counteracting method according to claim 16.
Although Sun does not teach adjusting an intensity of the counteracting magnetic field based on an intensity of a magnetic field of the battery in a working state (the electromagnetic section 1111 of the battery cell 11 can be weakened by the electromagnetic field generated by the conductive structure 12, pg 9), wherein the working state at least comprises an audio playback state and a call state, Sun teaches that the device can be an earphone (Sun, pg 17) and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the earphone in a device for playback or phone calling since doing so is routine in the art.
Regarding claim 19, Sun teaches the magnetic field counteracting method according to claim 17, wherein arranging the magnetic field counteracting component on the second end face, fixing the conductor in the assembly region (the electromagnetic section 1111 of the battery cell 11 can be weakened by the electromagnetic field generated by the conductive structure 12, pg 9), and arranging the insulating layer between the conductor and the second end face comprises: arranging the insulating layer on the second end face; and determining the assembly region on the insulating layer, and fixing the conductor in the assembly region (conductive structure as shown in fig 3).
Regarding claim 20, Sun teaches the magnetic field counteracting method according to claim 17, further comprising: electrically connecting a first end of the conductor to the positive electrode tab, and electrically connecting a second end of the conductor to the negative electrode tab (conductive structure 12 as shown in figure 3 aligns, in part, with positive tab 112 and negative tab 113, figs 2 and 3, pg 20).
Conclusion
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/KILE O BLAIR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691