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 Amendment
1. The amendment filed January 23, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-4, 6-17 are pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
3. Claim(s) 1, 6, 7 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (Chinese Pub. No. CN 102543068 A) in view of Zhang et al. (Chinese Pub. No. CN 111510765 A, hereinafter "Zhang") in view of Sathsahayaraman et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0343269 A1, hereinafter "Sathsahayaraman), and further in view of Kalisky et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20180032309 A1, hereinafter "Kalisky").
Regarding Claim 1, Fan teaches an audio conversion method (audio conversion method, Figs. 5-7, Paras. [0052]-[0085]), comprising:
receiving an audio acquisition request corresponding to a target chapter (audio acquisition request for target text information [chapter or paragraph] is made by user, Paras. [0054] and [0074]);
segmenting the target chapter to obtain a plurality of text segments (text information is segmented into two or more sub-text information, steps 601-606, Paras. [0061]-[0067] and [0082]);
generating an audio file corresponding to a first text segment among the plurality of text segments by converting the first text segment into the audio file (a first text segment is generating by conversion of the segmented sub-texts, Para. [0056]);
storing the combined audio file as a first audio file (audio files are stored, Para. [0040]);
generating a second audio file corresponding to an other text segment among the plurality of text segments, wherein the other text segment is different from the first text segment and the at least one subsequent text segment (a second audio file is generated by converting two or more sub-text segments into audio, Para. [0056]; the second audio can be different form the first text segment and the subsequent text segment), and
storing the second audio file (audio files are stored, Para. [0040]).
Fan fails to explicitly teach detecting whether a duration of the audio file converted from the first text segment is less than a predetermined threshold;
generating a combined audio file by combining the audio file with at least one subsequent audio file generated based on at least one subsequent text segment among the plurality of text segments in response to detecting that the duration of the audio file is less than the predetermined threshold, wherein a duration of the combined audio file is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold;
a duration of the second audio file is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold;
determining identification information of a plurality of audio files corresponding to the text segments of the target chapter based on a typesetting order of the text segments in the target chapter, wherein the plurality of audio files comprises the first audio file and the second audio file;
generating an audio list based on the plurality of audio files and the identification information of the plurality of audio files, wherein the identification information indicates an order of playing the plurality of audio files;
determining an estimated total audio playing duration corresponding to the target chapter based on a number of characters contained in the target chapter; and
sending the audio list and the estimated total audio playing duration to a user terminal.
However, Zhang teaches detecting whether a duration of the audio file converted from the first text segment is less than a predetermined threshold (audio file segment duration is detected to be less than a preset threshold, Para. [0068]);
generating a combined audio file by combining the audio file with at least one subsequent audio file generated based on at least one subsequent text segment among the plurality of text segments in response to detecting that the duration of the audio file is less than the predetermined threshold (combined audio file can be generated by combining audio file with subsequent audio file in response to detecting the duration of the audio file is less than the preset threshold, Para. [0068]), wherein a duration of the combined audio file is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold (duration of combined audio file is equal to the threshold, Para. [0068]),
a duration of the second audio file is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold (a second audio file is generated with a duration equal to the threshold, Para. [0068]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the audio conversion method (as taught by Fan) to include the combined audio file with duration greater than or equal to a threshold in response to detecting the duration of the audio file is less than a threshold (as taught by Zhang). Doing so reduces overhead, simplifying file management and improving content flow.
However, Sathsahayaraman teaches determining identification information of a plurality of audio files corresponding to the text segments of the target chapter based on a typesetting order of the text segments in the target chapter, wherein the plurality of audio files comprises the first audio file and the second audio file (manifest 1280 for a plurality of audio segments 1236 includes a segment identifier and/or a retrieval location identifier associated with audio segments 1236 to be included in audio presentation 1220, Fig. 12, Para. [0175]; audio segments can be identified based on their respective position or order of retrieval location identifier within an ordered sequence, list, or predefined configuration of manifest 1280. For example, a first byte range or network address (e.g., 1292) in an ordered list of manifest 1280 can denote audio segment 1238 of a first conversation thread (e.g., 470 of FIG. 4), while a second byte range or network address (e.g., 1294) in the ordered list can denote another of audio segments 1236 of second conversation thread (e.g., 472 of FIG. 4), and a third byte range or network address (e.g., 1296) in the ordered list can denote yet another of audio segments 1296 of a third conversation thread or subsequent portion of audio presentation 1220, Para. [0177]; i.e. based on a typesetting order for the first and second audio file; see also Figs. 4-6 and Paras. [0180]-[0184]);
generating an audio list based on the plurality of audio files and the identification information of the plurality of audio files, wherein the identification information indicates an order of playing the plurality of audio files (as part of generating the manifest at 1118, the server system may identify, for each of the plurality of audio segments, a presentation order of the audio segment within the audio presentation. The server system may generate a data structure for the manifest that indicates the presentation order, Figs. 13A-13E, Para. [0159]);
sending the audio list and the estimated total audio playing duration to a user terminal (server system sends the manifest to the client computing system, Para. [0160]; a presentation roadmap may be presented as an audible output. The presentation roadmap may identify one or more of: a time estimate of the audio presentation for presenting the conversation threads that include unreviewed electronic communications, Para. [0048).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the audio conversion method (as taught by Fan in view of Zhang) to include the identification information based on typesetting order of the text segment, generating list based on audio files and identification information and sending the audio list with estimated total playing time to user terminal (as taught by Sathsahayaraman). Doing so provides an improved user experience over visual consumption, while enabling users to simultaneously perform other task (Sathsahayaraman Para. [0021]).
However, Kalisky teaches determining an estimated total audio playing duration corresponding to the target chapter based on a number of characters contained in the target chapter (calculating the entire reading time of a text by being proportionally to multiplying the average time required to read a character by the total characters in the text, Figs. 2b-7, Para. [0041]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the audio conversion (as taught by Fan in view of Zhang in view of Guo, and further in view of Sathsahayaraman) to include determining audio file duration based on number of characters (as taught by Kalisky). Doing so, enables audio files of suitable file size for ease of transmission.
Regarding Claim 6, Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky teach wherein the determining an estimated total audio playing duration corresponding to the target chapter comprises:
determining an estimated total duration of the audio files corresponding to the target chapter based on the number of characters contained in the target chapter (Kalisky, calculating the entire reading time of a text by being proportionally to multiplying the average time required to read a character by the total characters in the text, Figs. 2b-7, Para. [0041]).
Regarding Claim 7, Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky teach wherein the determining an estimated total duration of the audio files corresponding to the target chapter based on the number of characters contained in the target chapter comprises:
determining a target voice type selected by a user terminal (Fan, user can select voice type, Paras. [0031], [0054], and [0074]); and
based on the number of characters contained in the target chapter and a reading speed coefficient corresponding to the target voice type, determining the estimated total duration of the audio files corresponding to the target chapter (Kalisky, estimated total duration of audio files is determined based on number of characters and the TTS engine reading speed, Para. [0083]).
Regarding Claim 16, it is similarly rejected as Claim 1. The audio conversion apparatus can be found in Fan (Figs. 1-4, Paras. [0026]-[0044] and [0086]).
4. Claim(s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (Chinese Pub. No. CN 102543068 A) in view of Zhang et al. (Chinese Pub. No. CN 111510765 A, hereinafter "Zhang") in view of Sathsahayaraman et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0343269 A1, hereinafter "Sathsahayaraman) in view of Kalisky et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20180032309 A1, hereinafter "Kalisky"), and further in view of Cabral (U.S. Pub. No. 2012/0204110 A1).
Regarding Claim 2, Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky fail to explicitly teach wherein the segmenting the target chapter to obtain a plurality of text segments, comprising:
segmenting the target chapter based on punctuation marks or line breaks in the target chapter to obtain the plurality of text segments.
However, Cabral teaches segmenting the target chapter based on punctuation marks or line breaks in the target chapter to obtain the plurality of text segments (Paras. [0087]-[0096]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the audio conversion (as taught by Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky) to include segmenting based on punctuation marks (as taught by Cabral). Doing so, enables the creation of short and logically self-contained audio files (Cabral Para. [0082]).
5. Claim(s) 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (Chinese Pub. No. CN 102543068 A) in view of Zhang et al. (Chinese Pub. No. CN 111510765 A, hereinafter "Zhang") in view of Sathsahayaraman et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0343269 A1, hereinafter "Sathsahayaraman) in view of Kalisky et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20180032309 A1, hereinafter "Kalisky"), and further in view of Yu et al. (Chinese Pub. No. CN 111459445 A, hereinafter "Yu").
Regarding Claim 3, Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky fail to explicitly teach wherein the method further comprises:
sending each of the plurality of text segments to an audio conversion server so that the audio conversion server generates a corresponding audio file based on each of the plurality of text segments; and
receiving the corresponding audio file returned by the audio conversion server, and sending the corresponding audio file to a content delivery network server so that the content delivery network server stores the corresponding audio file.
However, Yu teaches wherein the method further comprises:
sending each of the plurality of text segments to an audio conversion server so that the audio conversion server generates a corresponding audio file based on each of the plurality of text segments (text segments are sent to text-to-speech server which generates the audio files based on text segments, Paras. [0120], [0121], [0125] and [0126]); and
receiving the corresponding audio file returned by the audio conversion server, and sending the corresponding audio file to a content delivery network server so that the content delivery network server stores the corresponding audio file (text-to-speech server sends generated audio files to the web backend server [content delivery network server] where files are stored before playback, Para. [0120]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the audio conversion (as taught by Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky) to include the audio conversion server and content delivery network server (as taught by Yu). Doing so, reduces the waiting time for audio generation (Yu Para. [0126]).
Regarding Claim 4, Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Kalisky, and further in view of Yu teach wherein the generating an audio list comprises:
adding a link pointing to a storage location of each of the plurality of audio files in the content delivery network server to identification information corresponding to each of the plurality of audio files, so that each of the plurality of audio files is acquired from the corresponding storage location when the identification information of the audio file is triggered (Sathsahayaraman, a manifest 1280 is generated for the various audio segments generated which identifies respective retrieval locations of the audio segments including one or more network addresses of network resources, byte ranges of those network resources, and/or segment identifiers, Para. [0159]).
6. Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (Chinese Pub. No. CN 102543068 A) in view of Zhang et al. (Chinese Pub. No. CN 111510765 A, hereinafter "Zhang") in view of Sathsahayaraman et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0343269 A1, hereinafter "Sathsahayaraman) in view of Kalisky et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20180032309 A1, hereinafter "Kalisky"), and further in view of Yang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0262783 A1, hereinafter "Yang").
Regarding Claim 8, Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky fail to explicitly teach wherein after the sending the audio list and the estimated total audio playing duration to a user terminal, the method further comprises:
sending polling indication information to the user terminal, and updating the audio list based on the audio file generated in real time; and
after receiving a polling request sent by the user terminal, sending the updated audio list to the user terminal.
However, Yang teaches wherein after the sending the audio list and the estimated total audio playing duration to a user terminal, the method further comprises:
sending polling indication information to the user terminal, and updating the audio list based on the audio file generated in real time (polling indication information is sent to user terminal [a partial playlist is transmitted based on viewer request and the playlist is continuously updated as the segments are received and stored], Para. [0082]); and
after receiving a polling request sent by the user terminal, sending the updated audio list to the user terminal (playlist is updated when viewer's player reloads playlist, Para. [0082]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the audio conversion (as taught by Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky) to include polling indication and updating audio list (as taught by Yang). Doing so, reduces waiting time compared to waiting for the complete audio files, enhancing real-time interactions of the user.
7. Claim(s) 9-14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (Chinese Pub. No. CN 102543068 A) in view of Sathsahayaraman et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0343269 A1, hereinafter "Sathsahayaraman) in view of Zhang et al. (Chinese Pub. No. CN 111510765 A, hereinafter "Zhang"), and further in view of Kalisky et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20180032309 A1, hereinafter "Kalisky").
Regarding Claim 9, Fan teaches an audio playing method (audio playing method, Figs. 5-7, Paras. [0052]-[0085]), comprising:
initiating an audio acquisition request corresponding to a target chapter to a server (audio acquisition request for target text information [chapter or paragraph] is made by user, Paras. [0054] and [0074]);
wherein the first audio file and the second audio file are generated by:
segmenting the target chapter to obtain a plurality of text segments (text information is segmented into two or more sub-text information, steps 601-606, Paras. [0061]-[0067] and [0082]),
generating an audio file corresponding to a first text segment among the plurality of text segments by converting the first text segment into the audio file (a first text segment is generating by conversion of the segmented sub-texts, Para. [0056]),
storing the combined audio file as the first audio file (audio files are stored, Para. [0040]),
generating the second audio file corresponding to an other text segment among the plurality of text segments, wherein the other text segment is different from the first text segment and the at least one subsequent text segment (a second audio file is generated by converting two or more sub-text segments into audio, Para. [0056]; the second audio can be different form the first text segment and the subsequent text segment), and
storing the second audio file (audio files are stored, Para. [0040]).
Fan fails to explicitly teach receiving an audio list and an estimated total audio playing duration corresponding to the target chapter returned by the server, wherein the audio list includes a plurality of audio files and identification information of the plurality of audio files that indicates an order of playing the plurality of audio files, wherein the plurality of audio files comprises a first audio file and a second audio file,
detecting whether a duration of the audio file converted from corresponding to the first text segment is less than a predetermined threshold,
generating a combined audio file by combining the audio file with at least one subsequent audio file generated based on at least one subsequent text segment among the plurality of text segments in response to detecting that the duration of the audio file is less than the predetermined threshold, wherein a duration of the combined audio file is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold,
a duration of the second audio file is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold,
controlling a player to play the plurality of audio files based on the audio list; and playing the plurality of audio files based on the identification information of the plurality of audio files, and displaying audio playing progress based on the estimated total audio playing duration, wherein the identification information of the plurality of audio files is determined based on a typesetting order of the text segments in the target chapter, and wherein the estimated total audio playing duration is determined based on a number of characters contained in the target chapter.
However, Sathsahayaraman teaches receiving an audio list and an estimated total audio playing duration corresponding to the target chapter returned by the server (server system sends the manifest to the client computing system, Para. [0160]; a presentation roadmap may be presented as an audible output. The presentation roadmap may identify one or more of: a time estimate of the audio presentation for presenting the conversation threads that include unreviewed electronic communications, Para. [0048), wherein the audio list includes a plurality of audio files and identification information of the plurality of audio files that indicates an order of playing the plurality of audio files, wherein the plurality of audio files comprises a first audio file and a second audio file (as part of generating the manifest at 1118, the server system may identify, for each of the plurality of audio segments, a presentation order of the audio segment within the audio presentation. The server system may generate a data structure for the manifest that indicates the presentation order, Figs. 13A-13E, Para. [0159]),
controlling a player to play the plurality of audio files based on the audio list (client computing system outputs the text-to-speech audio segment in the identified presentation order, Para. [0161]); and playing the plurality of audio files based on the identification information of the plurality of audio files (client computing system: identifies a presentation order of the text-to-speech audio segment within the audio presentation; sends to the server system a segment request for the text-to-speech audio segment at the segment-specific retrieval location for that text-to-speech audio segment; receives from the server system the text-to-speech audio segment responsive to the segment request for that text-to-speech audio segment; and outputs the text-to-speech audio segment in the identified presentation order, Para. [0161]), wherein the identification information of the plurality of audio files is determined based on a typesetting order of the text segments in the target chapter (manifest 1280 for a plurality of audio segments 1236 includes a segment identifier and/or a retrieval location identifier associated with audio segments 1236 to be included in audio presentation 1220, Fig. 12, Para. [0175]; audio segments can be identified based on their respective position or order of retrieval location identifier within an ordered sequence, list, or predefined configuration of manifest 1280. For example, a first byte range or network address (e.g., 1292) in an ordered list of manifest 1280 can denote audio segment 1238 of a first conversation thread (e.g., 470 of FIG. 4), while a second byte range or network address (e.g., 1294) in the ordered list can denote another of audio segments 1236 of second conversation thread (e.g., 472 of FIG. 4), and a third byte range or network address (e.g., 1296) in the ordered list can denote yet another of audio segments 1296 of a third conversation thread or subsequent portion of audio presentation 1220, Para. [0177]; i.e. based on a typesetting order for the first and second audio file; see also Figs. 4-6 and Paras. [0180]-[0184]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the audio conversion method (as taught by Fan) to include receiving the audio list and total audio duration, playing the audio files based on the list, and the identification information based on a typesetting order (as taught by Sathsahayaraman). Doing so provides an improved user experience over visual consumption, while enabling users to simultaneously perform other task (Sathsahayaraman Para. [0021]).
However, Zhang teaches detecting whether a duration of the audio file converted from the first text segment is less than a predetermined threshold (audio file segment duration is detected to be less than a preset threshold, Para. [0068]),
generating a combined audio file by combining the audio file with at least one subsequent audio file generated based on at least one subsequent text segment among the plurality of text segments in response to detecting that the duration of the audio file is less than the predetermined threshold (combined audio file can be generated by combining audio file with subsequent audio file in response to detecting the duration of the audio file is less than the preset threshold, Para. [0068]), wherein a duration of the combined audio file is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold (duration of combined audio file is equal to the threshold, Para. [0068]),
a duration of the second audio file is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold (a second audio file is generated with a duration equal to the threshold, Para. [0068]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the audio conversion method (as taught by Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman) to include the combined audio file with duration greater than or equal to a threshold in response to detecting the duration of the audio file is less than a threshold (as taught by Zhang). Doing so reduces overhead, simplifying file management and improving content flow.
However, Kalisky teaches displaying audio playing progress based on the estimated total audio playing duration (portraying a time indicator to reflect the text that already been processed up to the new position, wherein the time indicator indicating on the proportion of the text that has already been processed compared to said calculated entire reading time, Figs. 2b-7, Para. [0042]),
and wherein the estimated total audio playing duration is determined based on a number of characters contained in the target chapter (calculating the entire reading time of a text by being proportionally to multiplying the average time required to read a character by the total characters in the text, Figs. 2b-7, Para. [0041]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the audio conversion (as taught by Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Zhang) to include displaying audio playing progress and determining audio file duration based on number of characters (as taught by Kalisky). Doing so, enables audio files of suitable file size for ease of transmission.
Regarding Claim 10, Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky teach wherein the playing the plurality of audio files based on the identification information of the plurality of audio files comprises:
determining a target audio file to be played (Sathsahayaraman, a target audio segment for the navigation is identified by the client computing system, Para. [0169]); and
detecting if the target audio file has been pre-downloaded to a local user terminal (Sathsahayaraman, the client computing system receives the one or more audio segments, and stores or buffers those streams in a data storage device of the client computing system at 1136, Para. [0167]).
Regarding Claim 11, Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky teach wherein the displaying the audio playing progress based on the estimated total audio playing duration comprises:
determining a first duration of an audio file that has been played and a second current play time of an audio file being played currently (Kalisky, Timeline 217 represents the duration it will take reading through the entire text, the knob 214 represent the current time of the text being read. Time indication by moving the knob 214 to the respective point in time of that word in the entire reading sequence. Also the time elapsed 220, time remaining 221, and page number 215 is updated accordingly, Fig. 2b, Para. [0060]);
determining a played time length based on the first duration and the second current play time (Kalisky, Timeline 217 represents the duration it will take reading through the entire text, the knob 214 represent the current time of the text being read. Time indication by moving the knob 214 to the respective point in time of that word in the entire reading sequence. Also the time elapsed 220, time remaining 221, and page number 215 is updated accordingly, Fig. 2b, Para. [0060]); and
displaying the audio playing progress based on the played time length and the estimated total audio playing duration (Kalisky, Timeline 217 represents the duration it will take reading through the entire text, the knob 214 represent the current time of the text being read. Time indication by moving the knob 214 to the respective point in time of that word in the entire reading sequence. Also the time elapsed 220, time remaining 221, and page number 215 is updated accordingly, Fig. 2b, Para. [0060]).
Regarding Claim 12, Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky teach wherein the displaying audio playing progress based on the played time length and the estimated total audio playing duration comprises:
if the audio list received comprises file information and identification information of the audio files corresponding to a part of the text segments of the target chapter, displaying the audio playing progress based on the played time length and the estimated total audio playing duration (Kalisky, Timeline 217 represents the duration it will take reading through the entire text, the knob 214 represent the current time of the text being read. Time indication by moving the knob 214 to the respective point in time of that word in the entire reading sequence. Also the time elapsed 220, time remaining 221, and page number 215 is updated accordingly, Fig. 2b, Para. [0060]), and
wherein the method further comprises:
if the audio list received comprises file information and identification information of the audio files corresponding to all the text segments of the target chapter, determining a standard duration corresponding to the target chapter based on the duration of the audio files corresponding to all the text segments (Kalisky, Timeline 217 represents the duration it will take reading through the entire text, the knob 214 represent the current time of the text being read. Time indication by moving the knob 214 to the respective point in time of that word in the entire reading sequence. Also the time elapsed 220, time remaining 221, and page number 215 is updated accordingly, Fig. 2b, Para. [0060]); and
displaying the audio playing progress based on the played time length and the standard duration (Kalisky, Timeline 217 represents the duration it will take reading through the entire text, the knob 214 represent the current time of the text being read. Time indication by moving the knob 214 to the respective point in time of that word in the entire reading sequence. Also the time elapsed 220, time remaining 221, and page number 215 is updated accordingly, Fig. 2b, Para. [0060]).
Regarding Claim 13, Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky teach wherein after the displaying audio playing progress based on the estimated total audio playing duration, the method further comprises:
adjusting the playing progress of the audio file being played currently in response to a triggering operation for the audio playing progress (Kalisky, knob 214 is also used for navigation by scrolling the knob 214 along the time line the user can access any point in the text, Fig. 2b, Para. [0061]).
Regarding Claim 14, Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky teach wherein the adjusting the playing progress of the audio file being played currently in response to a triggering operation for the audio playing progress comprises:
determining a playback time point corresponding to an end operation point of the triggering operation (Kalisky, knob 214 is also used for navigation by scrolling the knob 214 along the time line the user can access any point in the text, Fig. 2b, Para. [0061]);
if detecting that the audio file corresponding to the playback time point is comprised in the audio list, determining a first target playback time point corresponding to the playback time point in the audio file corresponding to the playback time point (Kalisky, knob 214 is also used for navigation by scrolling the knob 214 along the time line the user can access any point in the text, Fig. 2b, Para. [0061]; timeline 217 represents the duration it will take reading through the entire text, the knob 214 represent the current time of the text being read. Time indication by moving the knob 214 to the respective point in time of that word in the entire reading sequence. Also the time elapsed 220, time remaining 221, and page number 215 is updated accordingly, Fig. 2b, Para. [0060]); and
controlling the player to start playing the audio file corresponding to the playback time point from the first target playback time point (Kalisky, knob 214 is also used for navigation by scrolling the knob 214 along the time line the user can access any point in the text, Fig. 2b, Para. [0061]; timeline 217 represents the duration it will take reading through the entire text, the knob 214 represent the current time of the text being read. Time indication by moving the knob 214 to the respective point in time of that word in the entire reading sequence. Also the time elapsed 220, time remaining 221, and page number 215 is updated accordingly, Fig. 2b, Para. [0060]).
Regarding Claim 17, it is similarly rejected as Claim 9. The audio conversion apparatus can be found in Fan (Figs. 1-4, Paras. [0026]-[0044] and [0086]).
8. Claim(s) 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (Chinese Pub. No. CN 102543068 A) in view of Sathsahayaraman et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0343269 A1, hereinafter "Sathsahayaraman) in view of Zhang et al. (Chinese Pub. No. CN 111510765 A, hereinafter "Zhang") in view of Kalisky et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 20180032309 A1, hereinafter "Kalisky"), and further in view of Nandakumar et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2012/0290688 A1, hereinafter "Nandakumar").
Regarding Claim 15, Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky fail to explicitly teach wherein if detecting that the audio file corresponding to the playback time point is not comprised in the audio list, the method further comprises:
playing the audio file based on the playing progress before the triggering operation is executed.
However Nandakumar teaches wherein if detecting that the audio file corresponding to the playback time point is not comprised in the audio list, the method further comprises:
playing the audio file based on the playing progress before the triggering operation is executed (using the seek operation, if the audio file does not exist, the audio file can be generated and sent to the media player to be played based on the playing progress before the triggering operation is executed Paras. [0113]-[0120]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the audio conversion (as taught by Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky) to include playing the audio file based on the playing progress before trigger for audio not on the list (as taught by Nandakumar). Doing so, required audio files can be dynamically generated on demand (Nandakumar Para. [0027]).
Response to Arguments
9. Applicant's arguments filed January 23, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding independent Claims 1 and 16, Applicant argues (see applicant’s remark, pages 10-16), It is impermissible, however, simply to engage in a hindsight reconstruction of the claimed invention, using the applicant's structure as a template and selecting elements from the references to fill the gaps." In re Gorman, 983 F.2d 982, 987 (Fed.Cir. 1991).
Zhang segments audio of a teaching video into preset lengths and then converts the audio segments into text. Zhang does not disclose detecting whether a duration of "the audio file converted from the first text segment" is less than a predetermined threshold as required by claim 1.
In response to applicant's argument that the examiner's conclusion of obviousness is based upon improper hindsight reasoning, it must be recognized that any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based upon hindsight reasoning. But so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill at the time the claimed invention was made, and does not include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant's disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971).
In response to applicant’s argument against Zhang, Zhang teaches detecting audio file is less than a predetermined threshold (Para. [0068]). Fan teaches segmenting target chapter into text segments and generating audio file corresponding to the first text segment (Paras. [0056], [0061]-[0067] and [0082]). The teachings of Fan in view of Zhang renders the limitation “detecting whether a duration of "the audio file converted from the first text segment is less than a predetermined threshold” obvious.
Independent Claims 1 and 16 have been rejected on a new ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky.
The rejections of Claims 1 and 16 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky are maintained.
Independent Claims 9 and 17 are rejected on a new ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky.
The rejections of Claims 9 and 17 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky are maintained.
Dependent Claim 2 is rejected on a new ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Kalisky, and further in view of Cabral.
The rejection of Claim 2 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Kalisky, and further in view of Cabral is maintained.
Dependent Claims 3 and 4 have been rejected on a new ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Kalisky, and further in view of Yu.
The rejections of Claims 3 and 4 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Kalisky, and further in view of Yu are maintained.
Dependent Claims 6 and 7 have been rejected on a new ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky.
The rejections of Claims 6 and 7 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman, and further in view of Kalisky are maintained.
Dependent Claims 10-14 are rejected on a new ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky.
The rejections of Claims 10-14 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang, and further in view of Kalisky are maintained.
Dependent Claim 15 is rejected on a new ground of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Zhang in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Kalisky, and further in view of Cabral.
The rejection of Claim 15 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan in view of Sathsahayaraman in view of Zhang in view of Kalisky, and further in view of Nandakumar is maintained.
Conclusion
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHIMEZIE E BEKEE whose telephone number is (571)272-0202. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7.30-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Duc Nguyen can be reached at 571-272-7503. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHIMEZIE EZERIWE BEKEE/Examiner, Art Unit 2691
/DUC NGUYEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2691