DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 amendments and arguments filed 12/09/2025, with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been fully considered.
Priority documents have been successfully electronically retrieved by office and receipt of the certified copy of the foreign priority document is acknowledged.
Applicant’s arguments filed 12/09/2025, with respect to claim(s) 1, 8 and 14, under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argued that Villette fails to disclose at least the features of “generating an embedded audio signal by embedding signal components of a second frequency band of the input audio signal in a first frequency band of the input audio signal; generating additional information associated with the first frequency band and the second frequency band”, as recited in independent claim 1. Applicant cited the details from the publication, para.[0076],[0077], [0008] regarding the claimed features which recites “ generate the embedded audio signal by folding a spectrum of the second frequency band into the first frequency band” and “generate the embedded audio signal by selectively embedding signal components of the second frequency band in at least one frequency bin having small energy among frequency bins of the first frequency band” and argued that presently claimed subject matter does not merely embed signal components of the second frequency band in the first frequency band, but efficiently compresses the input audio signal by selectively embedding the signal components of the second frequency band in the first frequency band based on an energy distribution of the first frequency band. Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claim language in claim 1 is broad. The limitation in claim 1 didn’t encompass all the features that the applicant described in the arguments. Also the claim language recites “ second frequency band of the input audio signal in a first frequency band of the input audio signal”, but the specification recites “ second frequency band into the first frequency band”, where “in” and “into” doesn’t have the same meaning. The cited reference Villette in para.[0136]-[0138], Fig. 5, teaches that higher frequency component 506 is provided to the high band modeling block/module 512 which may encode or model the first signal 506 based on the data 514 ( coded excitation from the narrowband coder 518, which code the lower frequency components 508) and produce watermark data/embedded data 516. So Villette does teach the claimed feature.
Applicant again argued that the publication recites in para.[0062], "additional information" recited in claim 1 as information on frequency bands of the first frequency band and the second frequency band, information on a frequency bin, and information such as the energy difference, phase difference, and correlation. Since the claim language just mentioned “ additional information” and didn’t mention any types of information that can be, Examiner believes Villette in para.[0139], does teach the generating of additional watermark data 522, which is similar to additional information.
Applicant is advised to amend the claim language to further clarify the claimed invention. For the above reasons, previous rejections of claims 1-20 have been maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 8 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Villette et al. (US 20120203556 A1 ), hereinafter referenced as Villette.
Regarding Claim 1, Villette teaches an encoding apparatus ( Villette : Para.[0136], Fig. 5, encoder 510) comprising:
a memory configured to store instructions ( Villette : Para.[0199], Fig. 10, memory 1079);
and a processor electrically connected to the memory and configured to execute the instructions, wherein the processor is configured to perform a plurality of operations, when the instructions are executed by the processor ( Villette : Para.[0199], Fig. 10, memory 1079 is in electronic communication with the processor 1097 (i.e., the processor 1097 can read information from and/or write information to the memory 1079)),
wherein the plurality of operations comprises: obtaining an input audio signal ( Villette: Para.[0136], Fig. 5, obtaining wideband speech signal 504);
generating an embedded audio signal by embedding signal components of a second frequency band of the input audio signal in a first frequency band of the input audio signal ( Villette: Para.[0136]-[0138], Fig. 5, an analysis filter bank 564 divides the signal 504 into a first signal 506 or higher frequency component (e.g., 4-8 kHz) and a second signal 508 or lower frequency component (e.g., 0-4 kHz). Higher frequency component 506 is provided to the high band modeling block/module 512 which may encode or model the first signal 506 based on the data 514 ( coded excitation from the narrowband coder 518, which code the lower frequency components 508) and produce watermark data/embedded data 516 );
generating additional information associated with the first frequency band and the second frequency band ( Villette: Para.[0139], Fig. 5, The watermark error check coding block/module 520 may add error check coding to the watermark data 516 to produce watermark data with error check coding 562 that may be embedded into the second signal 508. The coded second signal 508 with the embedded watermark information may be referred to as a watermarked second signal 522 ( additional information));
generating an encoded audio signal by encoding the embedded audio signal ( Villette: Para.[0139], Fig. 5, The watermark error check coding block/module 520 may add error check coding to the watermark data 516 to produce watermark data with error check coding 562 that may be embedded into the second signal 508);
and formatting the encoded audio signal and the additional information into a bitstream ( Villette: Para.[0140], Fig.5, The modified narrowband coder 518 may embed the watermark data with error check coding 562 ( e.g., high band bits) as a watermark in the second signal 508 and generates signal 522 ( bitstream)).
Regarding Claim 8, Villette teaches a decoding apparatus ( Villette: Para.[0141], Fig. 6, decoder 640) comprising:
a memory configured to store instructions ( Villette : Para.[0199], Fig. 10, memory 1079);
and a processor electrically connected to the memory and configured to execute the instructions, wherein the processor is configured to perform a plurality of operations, when the instructions are executed by the processor ( Villette : Para.[0199], Fig. 10, memory 1079 is in electronic communication with the processor 1097 (i.e., the processor 1097 can read information from and/or write information to the memory 1079)),
wherein the plurality of operations comprises: obtaining a bitstream ( Villette: Para.[0141], Fig. 6, obtaining bitstream 638 (e.g., a watermarked second signal) );
parsing an encoded audio signal and additional information associated with a first frequency band and a second frequency band of the encoded audio signal from the bitstream (Villette: Para.[0141], [0142], Fig. 6, received bitstream 638 is analyzed in narrowband decoding block 650, high band decoding block 642 and water mark detection block 652);
generating an embedded audio signal by decoding the encoded audio signal (Villette: Para.[0145], if the watermark detection block/module 652 indicates that watermark information is embedded in the received bitstream 638, the mode indicator 648 provided by the mode selection block/module 666 may cause the high band modeling block/module 642 to decode the watermark information embedded in the received bitstream 638 );
separating signal components of the second frequency band embedded in the first frequency band from the embedded audio signal using the additional information ( Villette: Para.[0141], [0142], Fig. 6, decoded second signal 658 is obtained from narrowband decoding block 650, decoded first signal 654 is obtained from high band decoding block 642 and watermark information ( additional information) is obtained from block 652);
and generating an output audio signal by synthesizing the signal components separated from the embedded audio signal ( Villette: Para.[0146], Fig. 6, The decoded first signal 654 and the decoded second signal 658 may be combined by a synthesis filter bank 646 to obtain a wideband (e.g., 0-8 kHz, 16 kHz sampled) output speech signal 656).
Claim 14 is a method claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 1 above and as such, claim 14 is similar in scope and content to claim 1 and therefore, claim 14 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 1 above.
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 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 of this title, 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 2, 9 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Villette et al. (US 20120203556 A1 ), hereinafter referenced as Villette, in view of Laaksonen et al. (US 20100274555 A1), hereinafter referenced as Laaksonen.
Regarding Claim 2, Villette teaches the encoding apparatus of claim 1. Villette fails to teach the claimed, wherein the first frequency band comprises a frequency band having greater energy than the second frequency band.
However, Laaksonen does teach the claimed, wherein the first frequency band comprises a frequency band having greater energy than the second frequency band ( Laaksonen: Para.[0106], [0111], low frequency ( second frequency) region represents the frequency components from 0 to 7 kHz and the high frequency ( first frequency) region represents the frequency components from 7 kHz to 14 kHz. High energy region is 7.75-8.25 kHz ( first frequency)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Laaksonen’s teaching of an audio coding apparatus and method, into the system and method of encoding and detecting a watermarked signal, taught by Villette, because, by using correlation between the low and high frequency bands or regions of an audio signal coding efficiency can be improved. (Laaksonen [ Para.[0005]-[0009]).
Claim 9 is a decoding apparatus claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 2 above and as such, claim 9 is similar in scope and content to claim 2 and therefore, claim 9 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 2 above.
Claim 15 is a method claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 2 above and as such, claim 15 is similar in scope and content to claim 2 and therefore, claim 15 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 2 above.
Claims 3 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Villette et al. (US 20120203556 A1 ), hereinafter referenced as Villette, in view of Choo et al. (US 10,468,035 B2), hereinafter referenced as Choo.
Regarding Claim 3, Villette teaches the encoding apparatus of claim 1. Villette fails to explicitly teach the claimed, wherein the generating of the embedded audio signal comprises generating the embedded audio signal by folding a spectrum of the second frequency band into the first frequency band based on a boundary frequency of the first frequency band and the second frequency band.
However, Choo does teach the claimed, wherein the generating of the embedded audio signal comprises generating the embedded audio signal by folding a spectrum of the second frequency band into the first frequency band based on a boundary frequency of the first frequency band and the second frequency band ( Choo: Column 15, lines 47-67, Fig. 14, the spectrum combining unit 1410 may combine the decoded low band ( second) spectrum and the generated high band ( first) spectrum, by folding the low frequency spectrum to a high band, based on the bit allocation information. When a bit is allocated to a sub-band located at a boundary of low band and a high band, combining may be performed based on the those).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Choo’s teaching of a method and system of high band decoding of audio signal, into the system and method of scalable and embedded codec for speech and audio signal, taught by Aguilar, because, this would improve the sound quality of a reconstructed signal by incorporating important spectral information. (Choo, Column 2, lines 1-26).
Claim 16 is a method claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 3 above and as such, claim 16 is similar in scope and content to claim 3 and therefore, claim 16 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 3 above.
Claims 4 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Villette et al. (US 20120203556 A1 ), hereinafter referenced as Villette, in view of Slater et al. (US 20100057231 A1), hereinafter referenced as Slater.
Regarding Claim 4, Villette teaches the encoding apparatus of claim 1. Villette fails to teach the claimed, wherein the generating of the embedded audio signal comprises, based on energy of frequency bins of the first frequency band, generating the embedded audio signal by embedding the signal components of the second frequency band in at least one bin of the frequency bins.
However, Slater does teach the claimed, wherein the generating of the embedded audio signal comprises, based on energy of frequency bins of the first frequency band, generating the embedded audio signal by embedding the signal components of the second frequency band in at least one bin of the frequency bins ( Slater: Para.[0038], [0039], Fig. 2 illustrates a watermarking unit and the embedding in the audio data. The input audio data may be in the form of blocks of input audio data of a predetermined length. Each input audio block is sent to a first band filter 21 which divides the block into a number of frequency bands and outputs a corresponding number of band divided blocks. Each band divided block represents the energy within a particular frequency band range).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Slater’s teaching of an audio watermarking apparatus, into the system and method of encoding and detecting a watermarked signal, taught by Villette, because, this would achieve robustness and acoustic imperceptibility of the produced watermarks, while reducing cost and complexity. (Slater, Para.[0004]-[0006]).
Claim 17 is a method claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 4 above and as such, claim 17 is similar in scope and content to claim 4 and therefore, claim 17 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 4 above.
Claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Villette et al. (US 20120203556 A1 ), hereinafter referenced as Villette, in view of Aguilar et al. (US 9,047,865 B2 ), hereinafter referenced as Aguilar.
Regarding Claim 5, Villette teaches the encoding apparatus of claim 1. Villette fails to explicitly teach the claimed, wherein the additional information comprises at least one of first information on frequency bands of the first frequency band and the second frequency band, second information on a frequency bin comprising signal components of the first frequency band and the signal components of the second frequency band, or third information on a degree of mixing of the signal components of the first frequency band and the signal components of the second frequency band.
However, Aguilar does teach the claimed, wherein the additional information comprises at least one of first information on frequency bands of the first frequency band and the second frequency band, second information on a frequency bin comprising signal components of the first frequency band and the signal components of the second frequency band, or third information on a degree of mixing of the signal components of the first frequency band and the signal components of the second frequency band ( Aguilar: Column 8, lines 38-49, Fig. 1A, each embedded encoder may provide information in its particular band of the input signal, or may apportion some of its output to more accurately encode information contained in the lower band(s) of the encoder, or both ( first information) ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Aguilar’s teaching of scalable and embedded codec for speech and audio signals, into the system and method of encoding and detecting a watermarked signal, taught by Villette, because, scalable and embedded coding would produce good communication-quality speech. (Aguilar, Column 2, lines 1-48).
Claim 10 is a decoding apparatus claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 5 above and as such, claim 10 is similar in scope and content to claim 5 and therefore, claim 10 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 5 above.
Claim 18 is a method claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 5 above and as such, claim 18 is similar in scope and content to claim 5 and therefore, claim 18 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 5 above.
Regarding Claim 6, Villette teaches the encoding apparatus of claim 1. Villette fails to explicitly teach the claimed, wherein the additional information comprises the at least one information and phase information on the input audio signal.
However, Aguilar does teach the claimed, wherein the additional information comprises the at least one information and phase information on the input audio signal ( Aguilar: Column 10, lines 15-37, Fig. 3A, embedded signal coding generate additional information from the input signal ( first and second frequency band divided by band splitter 5), such as amplitude, frequency, phase).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Aguilar’s teaching of scalable and embedded codec for speech and audio signals, into the system and method of encoding and detecting a watermarked signal, taught by Villette, because, scalable and embedded coding would produce good communication-quality speech. (Aguilar, Column 2, lines 1-48).
Claim 11 is a decoding apparatus claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 6 above and as such, claim 11 is similar in scope and content to claim 6 and therefore, claim 11 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 6 above.
Claim 19 is a method claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 6 above and as such, claim 19 is similar in scope and content to claim 6 and therefore, claim 19 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 6 above.
Claims 7, 12 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Villette et al. (US 20120203556 A1 ), hereinafter referenced as Villette, Aguilar et al. (US 9,047,865 B2 ), hereinafter referenced as Aguilar, further in view of Choo et al. (US 2016/0118056 A1), hereinafter referenced as Choo.
Regarding Claim 7, Villette in view of Aguilar teach the encoding apparatus of claim 5. Villette in view of Aguilar fail to explicitly teach the claimed, wherein the third information comprises at least one of an energy difference, a phase difference, or a correlation between frequency bands comprising the signal components of the first frequency band and the signal components of the second frequency band.
However, Choo does teach the claimed, wherein the third information comprises at least one of an energy difference, a phase difference, or a correlation between frequency bands comprising the signal components of the first frequency band and the signal components of the second frequency band ( Choo: Para.[0106]-[0109], Fig. 3, phase determination unit 340 determines whether or not useful information is included in the temporal envelope generated by the temporal envelope generation unit 320 by calculating the difference of temporal envelope as time passes and comparing with a threshold and the phase determination unit 340 may obtain the random phase flag as the phase information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Choo’s teaching of a method and system for encoding and decoding audio signal, into the system and method of scalable and embedded codec for speech and audio signal, taught by Aguilar, because, this would improve the encoding efficiency by accurately correcting phase by using phase information from the phase correction unit. (Choo [ Para.[0022]-[0025]).
Claim 12 is a decoding apparatus claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 7 above and as such, claim 12 is similar in scope and content to claim 7 and therefore, claim 12 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 7 above.
Claim 20 is a method claim performing the steps in encoding apparatus claim 7 above and as such, claim 20 is similar in scope and content to claim 7 and therefore, claim 20 is rejected under similar rationale as presented against claim 7 above.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Villette et al. (US 20120203556 A1 ), hereinafter referenced as Villette, in view of Choo et al. (US 2016/0118056 A1), hereinafter referenced as Choo, further in view of Atti et al. (US 20190103118 A1), hereinafter referenced as Atti.
Regarding Claim 13, Villette in view of Choo teaches the decoding apparatus of claim 12. Villette in view of Choo fail to teach the claimed, wherein the separating comprises dividing energy of the first frequency band and energy of the second frequency band by a ratio of energies.
However, Atti does teach the claimed, wherein the separating comprises dividing energy of the first frequency band and energy of the second frequency band by a ratio of energies ( Atti: Para.[0022], [0076], Fig. 1, 3, Codec 102 includes a stream selection module 115 that is configured to select a subset of received audio streams that will be encoded by an audio encoder and one of the characteristics of the signals are Spectral tilt which is estimated in a frequency domain as a ratio between the energy concentrated in low frequencies and the energy concentrated in high frequencies).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Atti’s teaching of multi stream audio coding, into the system and method, taught by Villette in view of Choo, because, this would enhance the operation of computing devices by encoding and decoding multiple audio streams in particular audio format. ( Atti, Para.[0003]-[0004]).
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NADIRA SULTANA whose telephone number is (571)272-4048. The examiner can normally be reached M-F,7:30 am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paras D. Shah can be reached on (571) 270-1650. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NADIRA SULTANA/Examiner, Art Unit 2653
/Paras D Shah/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2653
02/11/2026