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 .
Election/Restrictions
In response to the office action mailed on 06/20/2025 , applicant elect group 1 which includes claims 1-7 and 11-19 without traverse. Claims 8-10 are withdrawn.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) has considered and placed of record in file.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
Claim(s) 1 and 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2016/0212522)(hereafter Lee) in view of Shin (US 2015/0078574) (hereafter Shin) .
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses a safety system comprising:
a plurality of communications devices, each of the communications devices configured to be in communication with one or more of other ones of the communications devices (see, para [0040], the position sensing unit 113 may sense whether a preset external device, for example, a control device of a specific vehicle, is within a preset distance, and may sense whether the ear set device 100 is within the specific vehicle or within a predetermine distance from the specific vehicle according to the sensing result), wherein each of the communications devices comprises a transceiver (see, Fig. 1A, communication unit, 112 and Fig. 2A, vehicle with transceiver, para, [0066], transmit and receive information, see, para [0181], the warning may be audio or vibration signal, Fig. 3, the current position is within the preset distance, the activate hearing corresponding to the position within vehicle); wherein each of the communications devices is adapted to determine an approximate distance to the one or more of the other ones of the communications devices and to generate a warning when one of the approximate distances is less than a predetermined distance (see, para [0040], the position sensing unit 113 may sense whether a preset external device, for example, a control device of a specific vehicle, is within a preset distance, and may sense whether the ear set device 100 is within the specific vehicle or within a predetermine distance from the specific vehicle according to the sensing result. In a case in which the control device of the specific vehicle is sensed within the preset distance according to the sensing result, the position sensing unit 113 calculates a distance between the control device of the specific vehicle and the main body 110 of the ear set device 100, and sense whether the ear set device 100 is within the specific vehicle according to the calculated distance); and But, does not explicitly disclose wherein a determination of the approximate distance to the one or more of the other ones of the communications devices is based, at least in part, on one or both of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or global positioning system (GPS), depending on the predetermined distance However, in same field of endeavor, Shin teaches [0042] In the general communication environment, if the separation distance between the mobile communication terminal 100 and the headset 200 is 1 m, it is assumed that, on average, the RSSI signal value is 5. If the standard loss distance was set to 1 m, the first breakaway analyzing unit 120 may determine that the headset 200 is out of the range of the standard loss distance if the value of the RSSI signal received via the first communication module 110 exceeds 5. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to combine the teaching of the Shin with the Lee, as a whole, so as to use the RSSI values to determine the distance between the communication devices, the motivation is to check the reception sensitivity.
Regarding claim 3, Lee further discloses the safety system, wherein one or more of the communications devices are carried by users (see, Fig. 1A, the earphone device, 100, abstract, earphones are attached to the user) and one or more of the communications devices are configured to be mounted in vehicles (see, Fig. 2A, para, [0066], see, Fig. 3, the current position within the preset vehicle, S300 and activate hearing aid corresponding to the position of the vehicle, para [0066], transmit and receiver audio data).
Regarding claim 4, Lee further discloses the safety system, wherein the vehicles comprise a display configured to display a relative location of other ones of the communications devices (see, para [0052], Meanwhile, in a case in which a current location is not within the vehicle according to the result of detecting a current location, the control unit 111 may detect whether there is a preset vehicle from the current location of the ear set device 100).
Regarding claim 5, Lee further discloses the safety system, further comprising a server, wherein the server is configured to communicate with one or more of the communications devices and to receive from the one or more of the communications devices (see, para [0032], the communication unit 112 may include one or more modules enabling wireless communication between the earphone 150 and the main body 110 or between a preset external server or various external devices and the main body 110) a respective location of each of the one or more of the communications devices (see, para [0052], in a case in which a current location is not within the vehicle according to the result of detecting a current location, the control unit 111 may detect whether there is a preset vehicle from the current location of the ear set device 100, para [0090], the control unit 111 may receive weather information of an area corresponding to a current location of the vehicle from the server providing the weather information. the control unit 111 may receive traffic condition information corresponding to a current location of the vehicle from the server providing the traffic information).
8. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Shin and further in view of Bladizzi et al. (US2022/0266874) (hereafter Bladizzi).
Regarding claim 2, the combined teaching does not disclose the safety system wherein the communications device is further adapted to use machine learning techniques and RSSI to determine the approximate distance. However, in same field of endeavor, Blandizzi teaches in para [0071], Each cost curve 902, 904, 906 is generated by obtaining a set of pre-defined or machine-learned cost functions for the type of object which was previous determined in 606. The set of pre-defined or machine-learned cost functions includes, but is not limited to, a first cost function representing a distance from the object 700 to a left lane boundary 808, a second cost function representing a distance from the object 700 to a right lane boundary 810. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to combine the teachings of Blandizzi with the Lee and Shin, as a whole, so as to use the machine learning technique to determine the distance between the communication devices, the motivation is to determine the location based on such distance information.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
9. 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 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
10. Claim(s) 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US2016/0212522)(hereafter Lee).
Regarding claim 11, Lee discloses a system for communications, the system comprising: a server; one or more communications devices (see, para [0032]),
each of the communications devices comprising (see, para [0032]):
audio input and output (see, para [0005], [0007]); and
a transceiver (see, Fig. 1A, communication unit, 112) configured to communicate with the server (see, para [0032], [0037], [0048]) and with other ones of the communications devices (see, Fig. 1A, communication unit, 112, Fig. 2A);
wherein the communications devices are configured to communicate with other ones of the communications devices either (a) directly, when the communications devices are within a certain distance of each other, or (b) through the server ([0040] the position sensing unit 113 may sense whether a preset external device, for example, a control device of a specific vehicle, is within a preset distance, and may sense whether the ear set device 100 is within the specific vehicle or within a predetermine distance from the specific vehicle according to the sensing result. In a case in which the control device of the specific vehicle is sensed within the preset distance according to the sensing result, the position sensing unit 113 calculates a distance between the control device of the specific vehicle and the main body 110 of the ear set device 100, and sense whether the ear set device 100 is within the specific vehicle according to the calculated distance).
Regarding claim 12, Lee further discloses the system, wherein the communications devices are configured to allow for selection between communicating with other ones of the communications devices directly or through the server (see, para [0124], when the user, who wears the earphone 150, gets in the vehicle, the control unit 111 may be connected to various devices within the vehicle, and may allow the user to be provided with various types of information through the earphone 150 according to a user selection, para [0037], the main body 110 may receive information related to an operation of a vehicle from a navigation device or a control device of the vehicle through the communication unit 112. Also, the main body 110 may be wirelessly connected to a preset external server through the communication unit 112, and may receive various types of information from the connected server, [0124], one 150, gets in the vehicle, the control unit 111 may be connected to various devices within the vehicle, and may allow the user to be provided with various types of information through the earphone 150 according to a user selection).
Regarding claim 13, Lee further discloses the system, wherein the communications devices are configured to communicate with other ones of the communications devices directly using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) when the communications devices are within the certain distance of each other (see, para [0035], The short-range communication module is configured to facilitate short-range communications. Suitable technologies for implementing such short-range communications include BLUETOOTH™).
Regarding claim 14, Lee further discloses the system, wherein the communications devices are configured to communicate with other ones of the communications devices through the server using one or both of cellular networks or Wi-Fi ([0035] The short-range communication module is configured to facilitate short-range communications. Suitable technologies for implementing such Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi Direct, Wireless USB (Wireless Universal Serial Bus)).
Regarding claim 15, Lee further discloses the system, further comprising one or more radio transmitters in radio communications with each other, wherein one or more of the radio transmitters (see, para [0030], the ear set device 100 may include a main body 110 and an earphone 150 connected to the main body 110. The earphone 150 may be connected to the main body 110 wirelessly or wired by, and may output audio data transmitted from the main body 110 as an audio signal according to a control signal input from the main body 110 or output vibration under the control of the main body 110 are coupled to one or more of the communications devices to relay communications among the radio transmitters and other ones of the communications devices (see, Fig. 2A, para [0066]).
Allowable Subject Matter
11. Claims 6,7 and 16-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
12. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Homayounfar et al. (US 2022/0383505) discloses high quality instance segmentation.
Mukundan et al. (US2022/0269836) discloses agent conversions in driving simulations.
Smith et al. (US2021/0019108) discloses multi-application control of augmented reality audio.
Campbell (US10687145) discloses theatre noise cancelling headphones.
Awiszus et al. (US2017/0374436) discloses personal protective equipment with analytical stream processing for safety event detection.
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/DHAVAL V PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631