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
The examiner greatly appreciate the representative discussion(s) and corresponding amended claim(s) which mentioned some of the inventive concept related to “pair of speaker being configured side by side” , thus, after additional search, the claim(s) have now been rejected over new ground of rejections.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 a (1) as being anticipated by Corynen (US 11, 503,407 B2).
Claim 1, Corynen disclose of an acoustic system comprising: a directivity control device including at least one directivity control unit that generates a first processed acoustic signal from an acoustic signal (hereinafter, referred to as a first acoustic signal) of a predetermined sound source and generates a second processed acoustic signal from an acoustic signal (hereinafter, referred to as a second acoustic signal) having an opposite phase to the first acoustic signal by executing predetermined signal processing (fig.9 (152); col.28 line 40-67; col.25 line 5-12/the signal is processed with having signal of opposite phase); and a speaker system including at least one speaker unit pair including a speaker unit (hereinafter, referred to as a positive speaker unit) that emits a sound based on the first processed acoustic signal and a speaker unit (hereinafter, referred to as a negative speaker unit) that emits a sound based on the second processed acoustic signal (fig.9 (110); fig.11-12; col.28 line 15-40); , wherein the signal processing executed by the directivity control unit is processing of causing a sound emitted from the positive speaker unit of the speaker unit pair and a sound emitted from the negative speaker unit of the speaker unit pair to be audible in an area to be made audible near the speaker unit pair and to be inaudible in an area to be made inaudible (fig.11-12; col.4 line 35-50; col.5 line 20-45), the speaker unit pair is configured as the positive speaker unit and the negative speaker unit side by side, and the positive speaker unit emits the sound based on the first processed acoustic signal toward the user direction and the negative speaker unit emits the sound based on the second processed acoustic signal toward the user direction (fig.2; 11-12; col.28 line 20-67).
[Claim 2] The acoustic system according to claim 1, wherein the area to be made audible includes a point that is equidistant from the positive speaker unit of the speaker unit pair and the negative speaker unit of the speaker unit pair such that a sound emitted from the positive speaker unit of the speaker unit pair and a sound emitted from the negative speaker unit of the speaker unit pair cancel each other (see fig.11-12; 14; col.29 line 45-67; col.30 line 35-50).
Claim 3, Corynen disclose of an acoustic system comprising: a reproduction device including an n-th reproduction unit (n = 1,..., N) that outputs a (2n - 1)-th acoustic signal that is an acoustic signal of a predetermined sound source and a 2n-th acoustic signal that is an acoustic signal having an opposite phase to the (2n - 1)-th acoustic signal (fig.9 (152); col.28 line 40-67; col.25 line 5-12); a directivity control device including an n-th directivity control unit (n = 1,..., N) that generates a (2n - 1)-th processed acoustic signal from the (2n - 1)-th acoustic signal and generates a 2n-th processed acoustic signal from the 2n-th acoustic signal by executing predetermined signal processing (fig.9 (152); col.28 line 40-67; col.25 line 5-12); and a speaker system including an n-th speaker unit pair 29(n = 1,..., N) including a speaker unit (hereinafter, referred to as a positive speaker unit) that emits a sound based on the (2n - 1)-th processed acoustic signal and a speaker unit (hereinafter, referred to as a negative speaker unit) that emits a sound based on the 2n-th processed acoustic signal, N being an integer of 1 or more (fig.9 (110); fig.11-12; col.28 line 15-40); wherein the signal processing executed by the n-th directivity control unit (n = 1,..., N) is processing of causing a sound emitted from the positive speaker unit of the n-th speaker unit pair and a sound emitted from the negative speaker unit of the n-th speaker unit pair to be audible in an area to be made audible near the n-th speaker unit pair and to be inaudible in an area to be made inaudible (fig.11-12; col.4 line 35-50; col.5 line 20-45), the nth- speaker unit pair is configured as the positive speaker unit and the negative speaker unit side by side, and the positive speaker unit of the n speaker unit emits the sound based on the first processed acoustic signal toward the user direction and the negative speaker unit emits the sound based on the second processed acoustic signal toward the user direction (fig.2; 11-12; col.28 line 20-67).
[Claim 4] The acoustic system according to claim 3, wherein the area to be made audible includes a point that is equidistant from the positive speaker unit of the n-th speaker unit pair and the negative speaker unit of the n-th speaker unit pair such that a sound emitted from the positive speaker unit of the n-th speaker unit pair and a sound emitted from the negative speaker unit of the n-th speaker unit pair cancel each other (see fig.11-12; 14; col.29 line 45-67; col.30 line 35-50).
[Claim 5]The acoustic system according to claim 3, wherein N = 2, and a first speaker unit pair and a second speaker unit pair are installed in a headrest of a seat of an automobile (see fig.21-28; col.21 line 30-45).
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) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Corynen (US 11, 503,407 B2) and Yokota (US 2010/0041443 A1).
[Claim 6] The acoustic system according to claim 3, wherein N = 2, and a first speaker unit pair and a second speaker unit pair are respectively, however, the prior art never specify as the speaker unit as being installed on two arms attached to a seat of an automobile so as to sandwich a head of a user who uses the seat.
However, Yokota disclose of the similar system wherein the speaker unit as being installed on two arms attached to a seat of an automobile so as to sandwich a head of a user who uses the seat (fig.6; 8; 25-26). Thus, one of the ordinary skills in the art could have modified the prior art by installing the speaker unit as being installed on two arms attached to a seat of an automobile so as to sandwich a head of a user who uses the seat so as to provide proper adjustment for the desired audio and corresponding cancel out to a user in the vehicle.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 DISLER PAUL whose telephone number is (571)270-1187. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-6:00 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chin, Vivian can be reached at (571)272-7848. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DISLER PAUL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695