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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 February 20, 2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 3, 7-8, 10, 16, and 18-20 have been amended. Claims 2, 4-5, and 17 have been cancelled. Claims 1, 3, 6-16, and 18-20 remain pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3, 6-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 16 recite “wherein the first audio comprises at least one of a counterpart’s voice, a user’s voice, surrounding noise and a sound output from the least one speaker,” thus requiring only one of the recited elements. However, the claims further recite “cancelling the sound output from the acquired first audio via an acoustic echo canceller (AEC) using the sound output from the at least one speaker..” and also recites “extract, based on the second audio data, the counterpart’s voice from the first audio as a first target voice by cancelling the user’s voice and the surrounding noise from the first audio data.” Given the broadest reasonable interpretation, the first audio is only one of the sources of data and it is unclear how any other audio sources are cancelled if only one audio source is acquired.
Dependent claims incorporate the limitations by dependency and are additionally rejected under similar 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.
Claims 1, 3, 6, 8-16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki et al (US Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0027579), hereinafter Suzuki, in view of Boesen (US Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0115068).
Suzuki discloses a translation device and method. Regarding claims 1 and 16, Suzuki teaches an electronic device [Fig. 11, (20)] comprising: at least one microphone (21/23); at least one speaker (22/24); a communication module [fig. 11; para 0399-0400]; a display (25/26); a memory storing instructions [fig. 11; para 0399-0400]; and a processor [201], wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor individually or collectively cause the electronic device to:
acquire first audio through the at least one microphone being connected the external device through the communication module, wherein the first audio comprises at least one of a counterpart’s voice, a user’s voice, surrounding noise, and a sound output from the least one speaker [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- assisting conversations between two or more speakers while stably recognizing voices by removing acoustic noise including echo, even in the case where voices of a plurality of speakers and a plurality of synthesized voices are present simultaneously overlapping one another, the synthesized voices being output as a result of recognizing and translating the voice of each speaker into a language on the other end and synthesizing resultant voices];
generate first audio by cancelling the sound output from the acquired first audio via an acoustic echo canceller (AEC) using the sound output from the at least one speaker as a first audio reference [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- echo cancelling/cross talk AEC processing];
transmit the first audio data to the external device through the communication module [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0400];
receive second audio data acquired through a microphone of the external device from the external device [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- assisting conversations between two or more speakers while stably recognizing voices by removing acoustic noise including echo, even in the case where voices of a plurality of speakers and a plurality of synthesized voices are present simultaneously overlapping one another, the synthesized voices being output as a result of recognizing and translating the voice of each speaker into a language on the other end and synthesizing resultant voices];
extract, based on the second audio data, the counterpart’s voice from the first audio as a first target voice by cancelling the user’s voice and the surrounding noise from the first audio data [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- echo cancelling/cross talk AEC processing];
obtain first translation information by translating the first audio data and [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- first/second translation circuit];
obtain second translation information by translating the second audio data [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- first/second translation circuit];
transmit the first translation information to the external device [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- assisting conversations between two or more speakers while stably recognizing voices by removing acoustic noise including echo, even in the case where voices of a plurality of speakers and a plurality of synthesized voices are present simultaneously overlapping one another, the synthesized voices being output as a result of recognizing and translating the voice of each speaker into a language on the other end and synthesizing resultant voices]; and
output the second translation information to a user of the electronic device via a speaker or display [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- assisting conversations between two or more speakers while stably recognizing voices by removing acoustic noise including echo, even in the case where voices of a plurality of speakers and a plurality of synthesized voices are present simultaneously overlapping one another, the synthesized voices being output as a result of recognizing and translating the voice of each speaker into a language on the other end and synthesizing resultant voices].
Suzuki fails to teach a user wears an external device. In a similar field of endeavor, Boesen teaches a voice communication device with foreign language translations, providing an earpiece [Fig 1] with front, side and rear microphones [para 0022] that transmits signals to a translation unit which translates the voice communication and transmits the resulting translation back to the earpiece, the earpiece receives the translation and transduces the translated voice sound information through a speaker disposed within the earpiece [para 0013; 0025] that can be used with PDAs, embedded computers or other electronic devices [para 0025] and suggests the system is advantageous in allowing reception of voice communications in positions or orientations relative to the microphones and the wearer [para 0013]. Therefore, one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention would have recognized the advantages of implementing the earpiece with multidirectional microphone processing, suggested by Boesen, and the results would have been predictable and resulted in improved communications amongst the speakers in different locations other than facing each other, ensuring the conversation can be correctly conducted and thereby improving the users’ experience with the translation system.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches based on a second audio for which the AEC is not processed being received from the external device, generate the second audio data from which a portion of echoes is cancelled by processing the AEC [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- echo cancelling/cross talk AEC processing].
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches the processor is further configured to extract the first target voice from the first audio, based on information of a user's voice, the information being stored in the memory [Suzuki’s facial recognition specifies speaker -- para 0202; 0287-0288].
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches the processor is further configured to: detect a start of the first target voice and an end of the first target voice[Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- echo cancelling/cross talk AEC processing]; perform automatic speech recognition (ASR) on the first target voice, based on the start of the first target voice and the end of the first target voice [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- first/second voice recognition circuits]; and acquire first translation information by translating first text for which the ASR has been performed [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- translation circuit].
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches convert the first translation information into a first translation voice by using text-to-speech (TTS) [Suzuki para 0007 -- receives input of a first voice of the first speaker, a first voice recognition circuit that recognizes the first voice to output a first character string, a first translation circuit that translates the first character string output from the first voice recognition circuit into a language of the second speaker to output a third character string, a first voice synthesis circuit that converts the third character string output from the first translation circuit into a first translated voice, a first loudspeaker that amplifies a sound level of the first translated voice, a second microphone that receives input of a second voice of the second speaker, a second voice recognition circuit that recognizes the second voice to output a second character string, a second translation circuit that translates the second character string output from the second voice recognition circuit into a language of the first speaker to output a fourth character string, a second voice synthesis circuit that converts the fourth character string output from the second translation circuit into a second translated voice, a second loudspeaker that amplifies a sound level of the second translated voice]; and output the first translation voice through a speaker of the external device by transmitting the first translation voice to the external device [Suzuki Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398].
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches the processor is further configured to receive a second target voice extracted from the second audio data and a start of the second target voice and an end of the second target voice from the external device [Suzuki Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- echo cancelling/cross talk AEC processing].
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches wherein the second target voice comprises a user's voice improved by cancelling at least a portion of sounds except for the user's voice from the second audio data [Suzuki Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- echo cancelling/cross talk AEC processing], and wherein the start of the second target voice and the end of the second target voice are detected through a voice pick-up (VPU) sensor of the external device [Boesen’s bone conduction sensor para 0030].
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches the processor is further configured to: perform ASR on the second target voice, based on the start of the second target voice and the end of the second target voice [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- first/second voice recognition circuits]; and acquire second translation information by translating a second text on which the ASR is performed [Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- translation circuit].
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches the processor is further configured to: convert the second translation information into a second translation voice by using text-to-speech (TTS) [Suzuki para 0007 -- receives input of a first voice of the first speaker, a first voice recognition circuit that recognizes the first voice to output a first character string, a first translation circuit that translates the first character string output from the first voice recognition circuit into a language of the second speaker to output a third character string, a first voice synthesis circuit that converts the third character string output from the first translation circuit into a first translated voice, a first loudspeaker that amplifies a sound level of the first translated voice, a second microphone that receives input of a second voice of the second speaker, a second voice recognition circuit that recognizes the second voice to output a second character string, a second translation circuit that translates the second character string output from the second voice recognition circuit into a language of the first speaker to output a fourth character string, a second voice synthesis circuit that converts the fourth character string output from the second translation circuit into a second translated voice, a second loudspeaker that amplifies a sound level of the second translated voice]; and display the second translation information on the display or output the second translation voice to the at least one speaker [Suzuki para 0390].
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches the processor is further configured to: acquire third audio through the at least one microphone [Suzuki/Boesen microphone inputs, where the third audio is obtained via ongoing communications between the two parties]; and obtain a first translation voice by translating the first audio is output through the external device [Suzuki Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- translation circuit].
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen teaches the processor is further configured to output second translation information obtained by translating the second audio through the at least one speaker [Suzuki Fig 1/Fig 11; para 0012; 0027-0032; 0033-055; 0108-0129; 0134-0156; 0190-0198; 0201-0209; 0390-0398 --- translation circuit that provides for the output via the loudspeakers] when the external device acquires fourth audio [Suzuki/Boesen microphone inputs, where the fourth audio is obtained via ongoing communications between the two parties].
Claims 7 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki in view of Boesen as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, and further in view of Yoshimine (US Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0204033).
Regarding claims 7 and 18-19, the combination of Suzuki and Boesen fails to teach capturing the counterpart through the camera and analyzing lip reading of the captured counterpart image. In a similar field of endeavor, Yoshimine teaches a conversation assisting device and method that implements a lip-reading function, which analyzes a picture of the user in particular the motion of the lips of the user captured by the camera into character information or sound information [para 0034] and specifically teaches the system allows the users to effectively and smoothly converse with each other [para 0006]. One having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention would have recognized the advantages of implementing the lip-reading analysis processing suggested by Yoshimine, in the system of Suzuki/Boesen, for the purpose of allowing the users to effectively and smoothly converse with each other, as taught by Yoshimine, thereby enhancing and improving the user’s experience with the translation system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELA A ARMSTRONG whose telephone number is (571)272-7598. The examiner can normally be reached M,T,TH,F 11:30-8:00.
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ANGELA A. ARMSTRONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2659
/ANGELA A ARMSTRONG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2659
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