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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/23/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With regards to applicant’s argument that the teachings of Lindemann, Beckhardt and Rajapakse fail to disclose having two audio streams each comprising a subset in input channels, the examiner maintains. The Beckhardt reference is relied upon to teach the concept of multiple channel streams, where each individual channel stream comprises multiple subchannels (Beckhardt, para 0035); where channel streams are assigned to different satellite playback devices located in different locations within a location (i.e. house) (Beckhardt, fig. 1M: each location within the house includes a channel stream with multiple subchannels; abstract; paras 0014, 0081).
With regards to applicant’s argument that the teachings of Lindemann, Beckhardt and Rajapakse fail to disclose modifying at least the first compression scheme while continuing to transmit the first compressed audio stream to the first satellite playback device and continuing to transmit the second compressed audio stream to the second satellite playback device, the examiner disagrees. Rajapakse discloses a system that teaches the concept of different compression encodings for transmission of audio content from a source to different audio rendering devices (Rajapakse, para 0046), where the music is played at step 807 of fig. 8 of Rajapakse (Rajapakse, fig. 8: 807; para 0047). As per the aforementioned applicant’s argument/amendment, the Rajapakse reference does not state or disclose that the music being played based on the configuration will be stopped while further configurations are carried out, as such one can conclude that further configurations could be carried out i.e. adding and removing more speakers, while the music is being played back at the previously set configurations particularly because the playback of music is done so to ascertain ideal configurations therefore adjusting the configurations while the music is being played to perceive the change in configurations to decide whether the subsequent configuration is desired will be ideal.
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.
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 1-19 & 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beckhardt, US Patent Pub. 20200396542 A1, in view of Lindemann et al, US Patent Pub. 20040223622 A1, and further in view of Rajapakse, US Patent Pub. 20170317877 A1. (The Beckhardt reference is cited in IDS filed 10/6/2023)
Re Claim 1, Lindemann et al discloses a playback device comprising: one or more processors (para 0068: digital audio processing); and data storage having instructions stored thereon that are executable by the one or more processors to cause the playback device to perform operations comprising: receiving, at the playback device an audio input stream comprising a plurality of input channels, wherein the playback device is wirelessly coupled to at least a first satellite playback device and a second satellite playback device (abstract: digital wireless multichannel system where multiple channels are compressed and wirelessly transmitted to respective devices; paras 0014, 0077); generating a first audio stream comprising a first subset of the input channels (para 0078: audio channels of different audio streams are compressed at different compression factors/compression scheme); generating a second audio stream comprising a second subset of the input channels (para 0078: audio channels of different audio streams are compressed at different compression factors/compression scheme); but fails to disclose a network interface; transmitting, from the playback device to the first satellite playback device, the first compressed audio stream; and transmitting, from the playback device to the second satellite playback device, the second compressed audio stream. However, Beckhardt discloses a system that teaches the concept of wireless network playback devices within different rooms, where each wireless playback device can output different media audio contents (Beckhardt, para 0003). Since Lindemann et al teaches where there are group of loudspeakers in different spaces within a housing structure i.e. group of loudspeakers in the living room and another group in the kitchen (Lindemann et al, para 0064), it would have been obvious to modify the Lindemann et al system such that its differently compressed audio signals can be wirelessly transmitted to different wireless playback devices/loudspeakers in different rooms as taught in Beckhardt for the purpose of outputting different audio steams in different rooms according to user preferences.
The combined teachings of Lindemann et al and Beckhardt fail to explicitly disclose compressing the first audio stream according to a first compression scheme; compressing the second audio stream according to a second compression scheme different from the first compression scheme. However, Rajapakse discloses a system that teaches the concept of different compression encodings for transmission of audio content from a source to different audio rendering devices (Rajapakse, para 0046). It would have been obvious to modify Lindemann et al such that it utilizes different compressions for its different output speaker devices as taught in Rajapakse for the purpose of accommodating the output speaker devices by utilizing compressions that are supported by each individual output speaker type.
Re Claim 2, the combined teachings of Lindemann et al, Beckhardt and Rajapakse disclose the playback device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving, at the playback device, an input parameter (Rajapakse, paras 0040-0041, 0047: user input where the user can select which channel is output to which output speaker(channel is associated with loudspeaker location i.e. front channel, rear channel etc), thereby controlling the compression since the compression is different based on output device as per (para 0046)); and after receiving the input parameter, modifying at least the first compression scheme (Rajapakse, paras 0040-0041, 0047: user input where the user can select which channel is output to which output speaker(channel is associated with loudspeaker location i.e. front channel, rear channel etc), thereby controlling the compression since the compression is different based on output device as per (para 0046)) while continuing to transmit the first compressed audio stream to the first satellite playback device and continuing to transmit the second compressed audio stream to the second satellite playback device (Rajapakse discloses a system that teaches the concept of different compression encodings for transmission of audio content from a source to different audio rendering devices (Rajapakse, para 0046), where the music is played at step 807 of fig. 8 of Rajapakse (Rajapakse, fig. 8: 807; para 0047). The Rajapakse reference does not state or disclose that the music being played based on the configuration will be stopped while further configurations are carried out, as such one can conclude that further configurations could be carried out i.e. adding and removing more speakers, while the music is being played back at the previously set configurations particularly because the playback of music is done so to ascertain ideal configurations therefore adjusting the configurations while the music is being played to perceive the change in configurations to decide whether the subsequent configuration is desired will be ideal).
Re Claim 3, the combined teachings of Lindemann et al, Beckhardt and Rajapakse disclose the playback device of claim 2, wherein the input parameter comprises one or more of: a device location parameter, a listener location parameter, a network condition parameter, an environmental acoustics parameter, or an audio content parameter (Rajapakse, paras 0040-0041, 0047: user input where the user can select which channel is output to which output speaker(channel is associated with loudspeaker location i.e. front channel, rear channel etc), thereby controlling the compression since the compression is different based on output device as per (para 0046); wherein device location parameter is selected from the Markush claim language).
Re Claim 4, the combined teachings of Lindemann et al, Beckhardt and Rajapakse disclose the playback device of claim 2, but fail to explicitly disclose wherein modifying at least the first compression scheme comprises increasing a compression power of the first compression scheme. Since Rajapakse teaches that there are different levels of compression factor being utilized based on the output speaker (Rajapakse, paras 0040-0041, 0047: user input where the user can select which channel is output to which output speaker(channel is associated with loudspeaker location i.e. front channel, rear channel etc), thereby controlling the compression since the compression is different based on output device as per (para 0046)), it would have been obvious to modify the compression of Rajapakse, as used to modify Lindemann et al such that compression power is increased/decreased based on the output speaker for the purpose of enabling the system to utilize power efficiently.
Re Claim 5, the combined teachings of Lindemann et al, Beckhardt and Rajapakse disclose the playback device of claim 1, wherein the first subset of the input channels and the second set of the input channels differ from one another, the operations further comprising: decompressing, at the first satellite playback device, the first compressed audio stream (Lindemann et al, paras 0034, 0077: uncompressing the compressed audio stream at the output playback device for output playback); playing back, via the first satellite playback device, the first decompressed audio stream (Lindemann et al, paras 0034, 0077: uncompressing the compressed audio stream at the output playback device for output playback); decompressing, at the second satellite playback device, the second compressed audio stream (Lindemann et al, paras 0034, 0077: uncompressing the compressed audio stream at the output playback device for output playback); and playing back, via the second satellite playback device and in synchrony with the first satellite playback device, the second decompressed audio stream (Lindemann et al, para 0087: synchronizing the uncompressed data).
Re Claim 6, the combined teachings of Lindemann et al, Beckhardt and Rajapakse disclose the playback device of claim 1, but fail to explicitly disclose wherein the operations further comprise: generating at least third and fourth audio streams comprising third and fourth subsets, respectively, of the input channels; compressing the third and fourth audio streams according to third and fourth compression schemes, respectively; and transmitting, from the playback device to third and fourth satellite playback devices, the third and fourth compression schemes, respectively, wherein each of the first, second, third, and fourth subsets includes at least four input channels. Since Beckhardt teaches the concept of multiple input audio streams and multiple satellite playback devices to output from respective input audio streams (Beckhardt, para 0003), it would have been obvious to modify the Beckhardt system to include at least 4 input audio streams along with respective satellite playback devices to output the input audio streams, as used to modify Lindemann et al where each respective input audio stream/output playback device utilizes respective compression factors such that each of the at least four input audio streams comprise respective compression factors as taught in Lindemann et al for the purpose of incorporating at least 4 or more audio input streams being output to respective output devices thus satisfying more listeners with varied listening preferences.
Re Claim 7, the combined teachings of Lindemann et al, Beckhardt and Rajapakse disclose the playback device of claim 1, wherein the first compression scheme and the second compression scheme differ from one another (Rajapakse, para 0046: different compression encodings for transmission of audio content from a source to different audio rendering devices).
Claim 8 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 1.
Claim 9 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 2.
Claim 10 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 3.
Claim 11 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 4.
Claim 12 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 5.
Claim 13 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 6.
Claim 14 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 7.
Claim 15 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 1.
Claim 16 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 2.
Claim 17 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 3.
Claim 18 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 4.
Claim 19 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 5.
Re Claim 21, the combined teachings of Lindemann et al, Beckhardt and Rajapakse disclose the playback device of claim 1, wherein the first audio stream comprising the first subset of the input channels is a multichannel audio stream (Beckhardt, para 0035: soundbar processes incoming surround sound(multiple channels) content to generate a plurality of channel streams for organizing multiple channels of surround sound content), and wherein the second audio stream comprising the second subset of the input channels is a multichannel audio stream (Beckhardt, para 0035: soundbar processes incoming surround sound(multiple channels) content to generate a plurality of channel streams for organizing multiple channels of surround sound content).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 GEORGE C MONIKANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1190. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri., 9AM-5PM, ALT. Fridays off.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn R Edwards can be reached at 571-270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GEORGE C MONIKANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692 4/22/2026
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