Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . See 35 U.S.C. § 100 (note).
Continued Examination
A request for continued examination under 37 C.F.R. § 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 1.17(e), was filed in this Application on 31 March 2026 after Final Rejection (27 January 2026). Since this Application is eligible for continued examination under 37 C.F.R. § 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 31 March 2026 has been entered.
Art Rejections
Anticipation
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.
Claims 10–14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication 2017/0325039 (published 09 November 2017) (“Khwaja”).
Claim 10 is drawn to “a somatosensory vibrator for a wearable device.” The following table illustrates the correspondence between the claimed vibrator and the Khwaja reference.
Claim 10
The Khwaja Reference
“10. A somatosensory vibrator for a wearable device including a wearing element, comprising:
The Khwaja reference similarly describes a sound device 10 that is part of a tactile sound device that is worn on a user’s body as a backpack, for example. Khwaja at Abs., ¶¶ 4, 63, FIG.1. Sound device 10 is configured to communicate with an electronic device that acts as a source device to provide input signals. Id. at ¶¶ 4, 67, 95.
“a casing used as a base and having a joint part configured to be combined with the wearing element;
Khwaja’s sound device 10 includes a back region enclosure 10a corresponding to the claimed casing. Id. at ¶ 62, FIGs.1–3. Back region enclosure 10a further includes joints that couple to straps 10b–10e and buckle 10f to secure back region 10a to the user’s body. Id. Back region enclosure 10a is defined by an exterior membrane 18 and a primary membrane 14 that defines an internal cavity 10f. Id. at ¶¶ 63–64, FIGs.1, 4. Primary membrane 14 forms a base for a transducer 20, discussed below. Id. at ¶ 68, FIGs.1, 4.
“a resonant speaker having a diaphragm and fixed to the casing, wherein the diaphragm is fixed to the base; and
Inside cavity 10f, Khwaja describes a transducer 20, or resonant speaker. Id. at ¶ 68, FIGs.1, 4. Transducer 20 includes a secondary membrane 16 corresponding to the claimed diaphragm since it is fixed to primary membrane 14 of the back region enclosure 10a. Id. Primary membrane 14 corresponds to the claimed base and is fixed to secondary membrane 16. Id.
Khwaja does not describe the transducer 20 as a resonant speaker, but all transducers inherently have a resonant frequency defined by the transducer’s device characteristics (e.g., mass, elasticity).
“a communication device electrically connected to the resonant speaker, and configured to drive the resonant speaker in response to a first signal,
Khwaja describes PCB 32 as including a transducer control system 90 corresponding to the claimed communication device, and including an ADC 1202, DSP 1203, DAC 1204 and amplifier 1205 that drives transducer 20. Id. at ¶ 92.
“so that the diaphragm vibrates in a direction perpendicular to the diaphragm and the resonant speaker resonates with the casing,
Khwaja similarly describes transducer 20 as vibrating perpendicularly with respect to membrane 16. Id. at ¶ 68, FIG.4.
Khwaja does not describe transducer 20 as resonating with casing portion 14. However, Khwaja indicates that transducer 20 vibrates casing portion 14 and that the material of casing portion 14 will influence the frequency response. See id. at ¶ 68 (describing the role of speaker enclosures on frequency response) Thus, transducer 20 and casing portion 14 are a joint vibrating system that will vibrate at a resonant frequency influenced by the device characteristics of transducer 20 and casing portion 14.
“wherein the communication device is configured to convert the first signal into a second signal and a third signal, the first signal is a digital signal, and the second signal and the third signal both are analog signals;
Similarly, transducer control system 90 receives an input digital source signal 1201 corresponding to a first signal. Id. at ¶ 92, FIG.12. System 90 then splits signal 1201 into two bands and converts them into analog signals. Id.
“the communication device further includes a filter and an amplifier;
DSP 1203 corresponds to the claimed filter since it splits signal 1201 into two bands. Id. Amplifier 1205 corresponds to the claimed amplifier. Id.
“the second signal is received by an earphone and
Khwaja provides a second signal corresponding to a band greater than 200 Hz to a pair of headphones 1210. Id.
“the wearable device excludes the
Similarly, device 10 does not include an earphone; rather, earphones 26 are provided separately from device 10. Khwaja at ¶ 67, FIG.1.
Table 1
For the foregoing reasons, the Khwaja reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Claim 11 depends on claim 10 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the somatosensory vibrator is configured to communicate with an electronic device including at least one of a mobile device, a desktop computer, a laptop and an audio source device.”
Similarly, Khwaja’s device 10 communicates with an audio source 22. Khwaja at ¶ 67, FIG.1. For the foregoing reasons, the Khwaja reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Claim 13 depends on claim 10 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the wearing element is configured to fasten the casing so as to fix and attach the somatosensory vibrator to a user;
“the casing has an internal resonant cavity, and is configured to generate a resonance phenomenon depending on a material of the casing; and
“in response to the resonance phenomenon, the resonant speaker is configured to produce at least one of a specific vibration amplitude, a specific acoustic effect and a specific sound quality characteristic through the resonant cavity.”
Similarly, Khwaja’s sound device 10 includes a back region enclosure 10a corresponding to the claimed casing. Id. at ¶ 62, FIGs.1–3. Back region enclosure 10a further includes joints that couple to straps 10b–10e and buckle 10f to secure back region 10a to the user’s body. Id.
Back region enclosure 10a is defined by an exterior membrane 18 and a primary membrane 14 that defines an internal cavity 10f. Khwaja at ¶¶ 63–64, FIGs.1, 4. This will inherently define an internal resonant cavity that will vary based on the choice of material for membrane 14 since that will influence the mass and stiffness of membrane 14 and how membrane 14 loads transducer 20. See id. at ¶¶ 5, 6, 71, (describing the frequency response of a transducer as the cumulative effect of all forces acting on the transducer and describing the effect of loading on the transducer, including the loading of membrane 14 and the user’s body). The resulting vibration and taction of the user’s skin will produce a specific vibration amplitude, a specific acoustic effect (e.g., deep bass) and a specific sound quality (e.g., frequency response). See id.; Cf. Biggs at ¶¶ 109, 121, 129, 131, 221, 296, FIGs.40, 42, 47. For the foregoing reasons, the Khwaja reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Claim 14 depends on claim 10 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the casing includes a first casing part having a first shape and a second casing part having a second shape, and
“the first shape and the second shape collaboratively satisfy one of the following conditions:
“the first shape conforms to the resonant speaker, and the second shape conforms to the circuit board; and
“one of the first shape and the second shape is configured to correspond to a shape of a stack of the resonant speaker and the circuit board.”
Khwaja’s sound device 10 includes a back region enclosure 10a corresponding to the claimed casing. Khwaja at ¶ 62, FIGs.1–3. Back region enclosure 10a is defined by an exterior membrane 18 and a primary membrane 14 that defines an internal cavity 10f. Id. at ¶¶ 63–64, FIGs.1, 4. And membranes 14 and 18 are shaped so that they collaboratively correspond to the shape of the stack of transducer 20 and PCB 32. Id. at FIGs.4, 6B. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Obviousness
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. § 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1–4, 6, 9, 16, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Khwaja and US Patent Application Publication 2019/0378385 (published 12 December 2019) (“Biggs”).
Claims 5, 15 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Khwaja; Biggs and US Patent Application Publication 2017/0134869 (published 11 May 2017) (“Renken”).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Khwaja and US Patent Application Publication 2010/0158288 (published 24 June 2010) (“Winter”).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Khwaja, Biggs and Winter.
Claim 1 is drawn to “a somatosensory vibrator for a wearable device.” The following table illustrates the correspondence between the claimed vibrator and the Khwaja reference.
Claim 1
The Khwaja Reference
“1. A somatosensory vibrator for a wearable device including a wearing element and configured to communicate with an electronic device, comprising:
The Khwaja reference similarly describes a sound device 10 that is part of a tactile sound device that is worn on a user’s body as a backpack, for example. Khwaja at Abs., ¶¶ 4, 63, FIG.1. Sound device 10 is configured to communicate with an electronic device that acts as a source device to provide input signals. Id. at ¶¶ 4, 67, 95.
“a casing used as a base and having a joint part configured to be combined with the wearing element;
Khwaja’s sound device 10 includes a back region enclosure 10a corresponding to the claimed casing. Id. at ¶ 62, FIGs.1–3. Back region enclosure 10a further includes joints that couple to straps 10b–10e and buckle 10f to secure back region 10a to the user’s body. Id. Back region enclosure 10a is defined by an exterior membrane 18 and a primary membrane 14 that defines an internal cavity 10f. Id. at ¶¶ 63–64, FIGs.1, 4. Primary membrane 14 forms a base for a transducer 20, discussed below. Id. at ¶ 68, FIGs.1, 4.
“a resonant speaker having a diaphragm and fixed to the casing, wherein the diaphragm is fixed to the base; and
Inside cavity 10f, Khwaja describes a transducer 20, or resonant speaker. Id. at ¶ 68, FIGs.1, 4. Transducer 20 includes a secondary membrane 16 corresponding to the claimed diaphragm since it is fixed to primary membrane 14 of the back region enclosure 10a. Id. Primary membrane 14 corresponds to the claimed base and is fixed to secondary membrane 16. Id.
Khwaja does not describe the transducer 20 as a resonant speaker, but all transducers inherently have a resonant frequency defined by the transducer’s device characteristics (e.g., mass, elasticity).
“a circuit board supplying an electric power to the resonant speaker and including:
Transducer 20 is provided with a printed circuit board (PCB) 32 corresponding to the claimed circuit board. Id. at ¶ 73, FIG.6B. PCB 32 provides power to drive a transducer voice coil 28. Id.
“a communication device disposed on the circuit board, electrically connected to the resonant speaker, and configured to drive the resonant speaker in response to a first signal from the electronic device,
Khwaja describes PCB 32 as including a transducer control system 90 corresponding to the claimed communication device, and including an ADC 1202, DSP 1203, DAC 1204 and amplifier 1205 that drives transducer 20. Id. at ¶ 92.
“so that the diaphragm vibrates in a direction perpendicular to the diaphragm and the resonant speaker resonates with the casing,
Khwaja similarly describes transducer 20 as vibrating perpendicularly with respect to membrane 16. Id. at ¶ 68, FIG.4.
Khwaja does not describe transducer 20 as resonating with casing portion 14. However, Khwaja indicates that transducer 20 vibrates casing portion 14 and that the material of casing portion 14 will influence the frequency response. See id. at ¶ 68 (describing the role of speaker enclosures on frequency response) Thus, transducer 20 and casing portion 14 are a joint vibrating system that will vibrate at a resonant frequency influenced by the device characteristics of transducer 20 and casing portion 14.
“wherein: the communication device is configured to convert the first signal into a second signal and a third signal, the first signal is a digital signal, and the second signal and the third signal both are analog signals;
Similarly, transducer control system 90 receives an input digital source signal 1201 corresponding to a first signal. Id. at ¶ 92, FIG.12. System 90 then splits signal 1201 into two bands and converts them into analog signals. Id.
“the communication device further includes a filter and an amplifier;
DSP 1203 corresponds to the claimed filter since it splits signal 1201 into two bands. Id. Amplifier 1205 corresponds to the claimed amplifier. Id.
“the second signal is received by an earphone, and the wearable device excludes the earphone; and
Khwaja provides a second signal corresponding to a band greater than 200 Hz to a pair of headphones 1210. Id.
“the third signal is filtered by the filter to output a fourth signal, and the fourth signal is amplified by the amplifier and then received by the resonant speaker.”
While Khwaja describes filtering signal 1201 to produce an analog output signal corresponding to a band less than 200 Hz and amplifying an analog version of the filtered signal, Khwaja performs digital filtering in a DSP, not analog filtering as claimed. Id.
Table 2
The table above shows that the Khwaja reference describes a sound device 10 that corresponds closely to the claimed somatosensory vibrator. Khwaja does not describe the claimed analog filtering of an analog third signal with a filter to output a fourth signal.
The differences between the claimed invention and the Khwaja reference are such that the invention as a whole would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time this Application was effectively filed. In particular, the Biggs reference, like Khwaja, describes receiving a digital input audio signal from a smart phone, performing a crossover filtering to produce a high-frequency signal and a low-frequency signal and converting the signals into analog signals for driving a conventional speaker and a set of tactors 204. Biggs at ¶¶ 141–149, 163, 165, 339, 379, FIGs.7–11. Biggs further describes performing the filtering either in the digital or analog domain. Id. One of ordinary skill would have understood that filtering the signal in the digital domain would require analog conversion in order to drive the conventional speaker and the set of tactors. See id. One of ordinary skill would have further understood that filtering the signal in the analog domain would require analog conversion from the digital input format, such as Bluetooth or USB. See id. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to perform Khwaja’s crossover function in either the digital domain or the analog domain. In the analog domain, the output of DSP 1203 would be converted to analog (e.g., using DAC 1 1204) and then filtered by an analog low-pass filter to produce an output for transducer 1206. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 2 depends on claim 1 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the wearing element is configured to fasten the casing, so as to fix and attach the somatosensory vibrator to a user.”
Similarly, Khwaja’s sound device 10 includes a back region enclosure 10a corresponding to the claimed casing. Id. at ¶ 62, FIGs.1–3. Back region enclosure 10a further includes joints that couple to straps 10b–10e and buckle 10f to secure back region 10a to the user’s body. Id. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 3 depends on claim 1 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the casing has an internal resonant cavity, and is configured to generate a resonance phenomenon depending on a material of the casing; and
“in response to the resonance phenomenon, the resonant speaker produces at least one of a specific vibration amplitude, a specific acoustic effect and a specific sound quality characteristic through the resonant cavity.”
Back region enclosure 10a is defined by an exterior membrane 18 and a primary membrane 14 that defines an internal cavity 10f. Khwaja at ¶¶ 63–64, FIGs.1, 4. This will inherently define an internal resonant cavity that will vary based on the choice of material for membrane 14 since that will influence the mass and stiffness of membrane 14 and how membrane 14 loads transducer 20. See id. at ¶¶ 5, 6, 71, (describing the frequency response of a transducer as the cumulative effect of all forces acting on the transducer and describing the effect of loading on the transducer, including the loading of membrane 14 and the user’s body). The resulting vibration and taction of the user’s skin will produce a specific vibration amplitude, a specific acoustic effect (e.g., deep bass) and a specific sound quality (e.g., frequency response). See id.; Cf. Biggs at ¶¶ 109, 121, 129, 131, 221, 296, FIGs.40, 42, 47. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 4 depends on claim 1 and further requires the following:
wherein: the casing includes a first casing part having a first shape and a second casing part having a second shape, the first casing part has the joint part, and
“the first shape and the second shape collaboratively satisfy one of the following conditions:
the first shape conforms to the resonant speaker and the second shape conforms to the circuit board; and
“one of the first shape and the second shape corresponds to a shape of a stack of the resonant speaker and the circuit board.”
Khwaja’s sound device 10 includes a back region enclosure 10a corresponding to the claimed casing. Khwaja at ¶ 62, FIGs.1–3. Back region enclosure 10a is defined by an exterior membrane 18 and a primary membrane 14 that defines an internal cavity 10f. Id. at ¶¶ 63–64, FIGs.1, 4. And membranes 14 and 18 are shaped so that they collaboratively correspond to the shape of the stack of transducer 20 and PCB 32. Id. at FIGs.4, 6B. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 5 depends on claim 1 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the circuit board further includes a power supply configured to supply the electric power to the resonant speaker; and
“the power supply includes:
“a charging unit;
“a battery electrically connected to the charging unit and configured to be charged by the charging unit; and
“a power management system electrically connected to the battery and the communication device, and configured to receive a power output from the battery to power the communication device.”
Khwaja’s PCB 32 further includes a battery. Khwaja at ¶ 73. However, Khwaja does not describe the connection between the battery and circuit board 4820.
The Renken reference, however, describes a hearing aid that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize as related to Khwaja’s device since both devices are head-worn devices for reproducing audio with self-contained power supplies. Renken at Abs., ¶¶ 1–10, FIGs.1, 2A. Renken’s hearing aid, like Khwaja’s device, includes a battery 202. Id. at ¶¶ 46–47, FIG.3. Renken teaches and suggests implementing battery 202 as a rechargeable battery to avoid the need to frequently replace the battery. Id. at ¶¶ 4, 5. In order to recharge battery 202, Renken teaches fixing a circuit board 214 to battery 202. Id. at ¶¶ 46–47, FIGs.3, 4. Circuit board 214 includes a voltage regulator 216 and a reed switch 218. Id. Voltage regulator 216 corresponds to the claimed power management system since it regulates the output voltage from the battery and supplies the regulated voltage to all the hearing aid’s electronics. Id. And reed switch 218 corresponds to the claimed charging unit since it enables application of a charging voltage across the terminals of battery 202. Id.
Read together, Khwaja and Renken reasonably suggest modifying Khwaja device to include a rechargeable battery and associated charging and management circuitry. The battery would be fixed to Khwaja circuit board 32 in order to power the circuit board. Circuit board 32 would include a reed switch to charge the battery. Circuit board 32 would also include a voltage regulator to manage the output voltage from the battery and to power all the electronics in Khwaja’s device. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja, the Biggs and the Renken references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 6 depends on claim 1 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the communication device includes: one of an antenna and a passive amplifier configured to receive the first signal;
“a communication module configured to demodulate the first signal into an audio code, and including at least one of a blue tooth module and a wireless network module;
“an audio transcoder configured to decode the audio code; and
“an interface electrically connected to a control interface, a USB interface and a circuit expansion interface of the casing,
“wherein the circuit expansion interface includes at least one of a debug interface, a general asynchronous transceiver transmission interface, a serial interface and a chip interconnection interface.”
Khwaja’s device similarly includes communication circuitry to receive signals from audio sources. Khwaja at ¶¶ 4, 67, 70. The circuitry may include wireless communication circuitry, like WiFI or Bluetooth circuitry, to receive audio from a source 22 (or another source, like a smartphone). Id. One of ordinary skill would have understood that the wireless communication circuitry inherently includes an antenna to receive radio signals, a Bluetooth/802.11 communication module to demodulate the radio signals and recover a Bluetooth/802.11 message and an audio transcoder to decode the audio from the demodulated Bluetooth/802.11 message. Cf. Biggs at ¶¶ 379, 402, 430, 433.
Khwaja does not describe the claimed interface, control interface, USB interface and circuit expansion interface as part of its audio device. Biggs, however, describes a similar audio device that includes a user control interface to enable/disable features, adjust volume and mute sounds. Biggs at ¶¶ 405, 409. Biggs describes a USB interface. Id. at ¶ 379. Biggs describes an audio amplifier interface, which corresponds to the claimed circuit expansion interface, or debug interface, since the amplifier interface allows a user to debug device operation when another interface fails. See id. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to simply modify Khwaja to include similar interfaces. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 9 depends on claim 1 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the resonant speaker is a low frequency resonant speaker capable of emitting a low frequency wave.”
Similarly, Khwaja’s transducer 20 operates over a low frequency, such as frequencies less than 200 Hz. Khwaja at ¶ 92, FIG.12. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 12 depends on claim 10 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the somatosensory vibrator is configured to communicate with a wireless bridge device;
“the wireless bridge device has one of an antenna and a passive amplifier, a wireless network module, and a USB interface,
“wherein: the wireless bridge device is connected to an electronic device without a wireless network connection through the USB interface,
“wherein the electronic device without the wireless network connection is connected to the communication device through one of the wireless bridge device and an audio cable.”
Khwaja’s device similarly includes communication circuitry to receive signals from audio sources. Khwaja at ¶¶ 4, 67, 70. The circuitry may include wireless communication circuitry, like WiFI or Bluetooth circuitry, to receive audio from a source 22 (or another source, like a smartphone). Id. This means that the headset is configured to communicate with a wireless bridge device.
The remainder of this claim recites details of a wireless bridge device. The wireless bridge device is not positively recited in this claim or its parent claim as an element of a somatosensory vibrator. Further, the scope of base claim 10 is limited to a somatosensory vibrator for a wearable device, and not a combination of a somatosensory vibrator and a wireless bridge device. This dependent claim cannot broaden the scope of its base claim. Accordingly, the details of a wireless bridge in communication with the claimed somatosensory vibrator cannot limit the structure of the vibrator itself.
Notwithstanding the lack of patentable weight given to the claimed structure of a wireless bridge device, one of ordinary skill would have found it obvious to embody a wireless bridge device as claimed and to use the bridge as an alternative mechanism for routing wireless audio signals between a source device and Khwaja’s device 10. See Khwaja at ¶ 67; Winter at Abs., ¶¶ 19–23, 30–34, FIG.3. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Winter references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 15 depends on claim 10 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the somatosensory vibrator further includes:
“a power supply configured to supply an electric power to the resonant speaker through the communication device; and
“a circuit board mounting thereon the power supply and the communication device;
“the power supply includes:
“a charging unit;
“a battery electrically connected to the charging unit and configured to be charged by the charging unit; and
“a power management system electrically connected to the battery and the communication device, and configured to receive a power output from the battery to power the communication device.”
Khwaja’s PCB 32 further includes a battery. Khwaja at ¶ 73. However, Khwaja does not describe the connection between the battery and circuit board 4820.
The Renken reference, however, describes a hearing aid that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize as related to Khwaja’s device since both devices are head-worn devices for reproducing audio with self-contained power supplies. Renken at Abs., ¶¶ 1–10, FIGs.1, 2A. Renken’s hearing aid, like Khwaja’s device, includes a battery 202. Id. at ¶¶ 46–47, FIG.3. Renken teaches and suggests implementing battery 202 as a rechargeable battery to avoid the need to frequently replace the battery. Id. at ¶¶ 4, 5. In order to recharge battery 202, Renken teaches fixing a circuit board 214 to battery 202. Id. at ¶¶ 46–47, FIGs.3, 4. Circuit board 214 includes a voltage regulator 216 and a reed switch 218. Id. Voltage regulator 216 corresponds to the claimed power management system since it regulates the output voltage from the battery and supplies the regulated voltage to all the hearing aid’s electronics. Id. And reed switch 218 corresponds to the claimed charging unit since it enables application of a charging voltage across the terminals of battery 202. Id.
Read together, Khwaja and Renken reasonably suggest modifying Khwaja device to include a rechargeable battery and associated charging and management circuitry. The battery would be fixed to Khwaja circuit board 32 in order to power the circuit board. Circuit board 32 would include a reed switch to charge the battery. Circuit board 32 would also include a voltage regulator to manage the output voltage from the battery and to power all the electronics in Khwaja’s device. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Renken references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 16 depends on claim 10 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the communication device is electrically connected to a power supply;
“the communication device includes: one of an antenna and a passive amplifier configured to receive the first signal;
“a communication module configured to demodulate the first signal into an audio code, and including at least one of a blue tooth module and a wireless network module;
“an audio transcoder configured to decode the audio code; and
“an interface electrically connected to one of a control interface, a USB interface and a circuit expansion interface of the casing,
“wherein the circuit expansion interface includes at least one of a debug interface, a general asynchronous transceiver transmission interface, a serial interface and a chip interconnection interface; and
“
“
“
“
“the resonant speaker is a low frequency resonant speaker capable of emitting low frequency wave.”
This claim recites limitations found in claims 1 and 6–9. The same findings and reasoning established in the rejections of claims 1 and 6–9 is equally applicable here, and are incorporated by reference. Accordingly, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs reference makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 17 is drawn to “a somatosensory vibrator for a wearable device.” The following table illustrates the correspondence between the claimed vibrator and the Khwaja reference.
Claim 17
The Khwaja Reference
“17. A somatosensory vibrator for a wearable device including a wearing element, comprising:
The Khwaja reference similarly describes a sound device 10 that is part of a tactile sound device that is worn on a user’s body as a backpack, for example. Khwaja at Abs., ¶¶ 4, 63, FIG.1. Sound device 10 is configured to communicate with an electronic device that acts as a source device to provide input signals. Id. at ¶¶ 4, 67, 95.
“a casing used as a base and having a coupling portion configured to couple with the wearing element;
Khwaja’s sound device 10 includes a back region enclosure 10a corresponding to the claimed casing. Id. at ¶ 62, FIGs.1–3. Back region enclosure 10a further includes joints that couple to straps 10b–10e and buckle 10f to secure back region 10a to the user’s body. Id. Back region enclosure 10a is defined by an exterior membrane 18 and a primary membrane 14 that defines an internal cavity 10f. Id. at ¶¶ 63–64, FIGs.1, 4. Primary membrane 14 forms a base for a transducer 20, discussed below. Id. at ¶ 68, FIGs.1, 4.
“a speaker unit having a diaphragm arranged to the casing , wherein the diaphragm is fixed to the base; and
Inside cavity 10f, Khwaja describes a transducer 20, or resonant speaker. Id. at ¶ 68, FIGs.1, 4. Transducer 20 includes a secondary membrane 16 corresponding to the claimed diaphragm since it is fixed to primary membrane 14 of the back region enclosure 10a. Id. Primary membrane 14 corresponds to the claimed base and is fixed to secondary membrane 16. Id.
“a communication device electrically connected to the speaker unit, and
Khwaja describes PCB 32 as including a transducer control system 90 corresponding to the claimed communication device, and including an ADC 1202, DSP 1203, DAC 1204 and amplifier 1205 that drives transducer 20. Id. at ¶ 92.
“configured to cause the speaker unit to generate a vibration in response to a first signal in a direction perpendicular to the diaphragm,
Khwaja similarly describes transducer 20 as vibrating perpendicularly with respect to membrane 16. Id. at ¶ 68, FIG.4.
Khwaja does not describe transducer 20 as resonating with casing portion 14. However, Khwaja indicates that transducer 20 vibrates casing portion 14 and that the material of casing portion 14 will influence the frequency response. See id. at ¶ 68 (describing the role of speaker enclosures on frequency response) Thus, transducer 20 and casing portion 14 are a joint vibrating system that will vibrate at a resonant frequency influenced by the device characteristics of transducer 20 and casing portion 14.
“wherein the communication device is configured to convert the first signal into a second signal and a third signal, the first signal is a digital signal, and the second signal and the third signal both are analog signals;
Similarly, transducer control system 90 receives an input digital source signal 1201 corresponding to a first signal. Id. at ¶ 92, FIG.12. System 90 then splits signal 1201 into two bands and converts them into analog signals. Id.
“the communication device further includes a filter and an amplifier;
DSP 1203 corresponds to the claimed filter since it splits signal 1201 into two bands. Id. Amplifier 1205 corresponds to the claimed amplifier. Id.
“the second signal is received by an earphone and
Khwaja provides a second signal corresponding to a band greater than 200 Hz to a pair of headphones 1210. Id.
“the wearable device excludes the ;
Similarly, device 10 does not include an earphone; rather, earphones 26 are provided separately from device 10. Khwaja at ¶ 67, FIG.1.
“the third signal is filtered by the filter to output a fourth signal, and the fourth signal is amplified by the amplifier and then received by the speaker unit.”
While Khwaja describes filtering signal 1201 to produce an analog output signal corresponding to a band less than 200 Hz and amplifying an analog version of the filtered signal, Khwaja performs digital filtering in a DSP, not analog filtering as claimed. Id.
Table 3
The table above shows that the Khwaja reference describes a sound device 10 that corresponds closely to the claimed somatosensory vibrator. Khwaja does not describe the claimed analog filtering of an analog third signal with a filter to output a fourth signal.
The differences between the claimed invention and the Khwaja reference are such that the invention as a whole would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time this Application was effectively filed. In particular, the Biggs reference, like Khwaja, describes receiving a digital input audio signal from a smart phone, performing a crossover filtering to produce a high-frequency signal and a low-frequency signal and converting the signals into analog signals for driving a conventional speaker and a set of tactors 204. Biggs at ¶¶ 141–149, 163, 165, 339, 379, FIGs.7–11. Biggs further describes performing the filtering either in the digital or analog domain. Id. One of ordinary skill would have understood that filtering the signal in the digital domain would require analog conversion in order to drive the conventional speaker and the set of tactors. See id. One of ordinary skill would have further understood that filtering the signal in the analog domain would require analog conversion from the digital input format, such as Bluetooth or USB. See id. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to perform Khwaja’s crossover function in either the digital domain or the analog domain. In the analog domain, the output of DSP 1203 would be converted to analog (e.g., using DAC 1 1204) and then filtered by an analog low-pass filter to produce an output for transducer 1206. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 18 depends on claim 17 and further requires the following:
“wherein:
“
“the speaker unit is a resonant speaker;
“the resonant speaker is configured to be fixed to the casing;
“the communication device is configured to drive the resonant speaker in response to the first signal, so that the resonant speaker resonates with the casing;
“the wearing element is configured to fasten the casing so as to fix and attach the somatosensory vibrator to a user;
“the casing has an internal resonant cavity,
“the casing is configured to generate a resonance phenomenon depending on a material of the casing;
“in response to the resonance phenomenon, the resonant speaker is configured to produce at least one of a specific vibration amplitude, a specific acoustic effect and a specific sound quality characteristic through the resonant cavity;
“the casing includes a first casing part having a first shape and a second casing part having a second shape, and the first shape and the second shape collaboratively satisfy one of the following conditions:
“the first shape conforms to the resonant speaker, and the second shape conforms to the circuit board; and
“one of the first shape and the second shape corresponds to a shape of a stack of the resonant speaker and the circuit board;
“the somatosensory vibrator is configured to communicate with an electronic device, wherein the electronic device includes at least one of a mobile device, a desktop computer, a laptop and an audio source device;
“the somatosensory vibrator is configured to communicate with a wireless bridge device;
“the wireless bridge device has one of an antenna and a passive amplifier, a wireless network module, and a USB interface; and
“the wireless bridge device is connected to the electronic device through the USB interface, wherein the electronic device is connected to the communication device through one of the wireless bridge device and an audio cable.”
This claim recites limitations found in claims 1–4, 11 and 12. The same findings and reasoning established in the rejections of claims 1–4, 11 and 12 are equally applicable here, and are incorporated by reference. Accordingly, the combination of the Khwaja, the Biggs and the Winter references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 19 depends on claim 17 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the somatosensory vibrator further includes:
“a power supply configured to supply an electric power to the resonant speaker through the communication device, and
“a circuit board mounting thereon the power supply and the communication device;
“the power supply includes:
“a charging unit;
“a battery electrically connected to the charging unit and configured to be charged by the charging unit; and
“a power management system electrically connected to the battery and the communication device, and configured to receive a power output from the battery to power the communication device.”
Khwaja’s PCB 32 further includes a battery. Khwaja at ¶ 73. However, Khwaja does not describe the connection between the battery and circuit board 4820.
The Renken reference, however, describes a hearing aid that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize as related to Khwaja’s device since both devices are head-worn devices for reproducing audio with self-contained power supplies. Renken at Abs., ¶¶ 1–10, FIGs.1, 2A. Renken’s hearing aid, like Khwaja’s device, includes a battery 202. Id. at ¶¶ 46–47, FIG.3. Renken teaches and suggests implementing battery 202 as a rechargeable battery to avoid the need to frequently replace the battery. Id. at ¶¶ 4, 5. In order to recharge battery 202, Renken teaches fixing a circuit board 214 to battery 202. Id. at ¶¶ 46–47, FIGs.3, 4. Circuit board 214 includes a voltage regulator 216 and a reed switch 218. Id. Voltage regulator 216 corresponds to the claimed power management system since it regulates the output voltage from the battery and supplies the regulated voltage to all the hearing aid’s electronics. Id. And reed switch 218 corresponds to the claimed charging unit since it enables application of a charging voltage across the terminals of battery 202. Id.
Read together, Khwaja and Renken reasonably suggest modifying Khwaja device to include a rechargeable battery and associated charging and management circuitry. The battery would be fixed to Khwaja circuit board 32 in order to power the circuit board. Circuit board 32 would include a reed switch to charge the battery. Circuit board 32 would also include a voltage regulator to manage the output voltage from the battery and to power all the electronics in Khwaja’s device. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Khwaja, the Biggs and the Renken references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 20 depends on claim 17 and further requires the following:
“wherein: the communication device is electrically connected to a power supply, and
“includes: one of an antenna and a passive amplifier configured to receive the first signal;
“a communication module configured to demodulate the first signal into an audio code, and including at least one of a blue tooth module and a wireless network module;
“an audio transcoder configured to decode the audio code; and
“an interface electrically connected to one of a control interface, a USB interface and a circuit expansion interface of the casing,
“wherein the circuit expansion interface includes at least one of a debug interface, a general asynchronous transceiver transmission interface, a serial interface and a chip interconnection interface; and
“
“
“
“
“the resonant speaker is a low frequency resonant speaker capable of emitting low frequency wave.”
This claim recites limitations found in claims 7–9. The same findings and reasoning established in the rejections of claims 7–9 is equally applicable here, and are incorporated by reference. Accordingly, the combination of the Khwaja and the Biggs references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Summary
Claims 1–6 and 9–20 are rejected under at least one of 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 103 as being unpatentable over the cited prior art. 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.
Additional Citations
The following table lists additional references that were identified during a search relating to this Application. While the Office action does not rely on these references, they are considered relevant to the subject matter disclosed and claimed in this Application. Applicant is advised to consider these references in preparing a response.
Citation
Relevance
US 20230254634
BCT with diaphragm and resonance defined by housing.
CN 113556658
Wristwatch with low-frequency musical vibration
KR 20100093910
Wristwatch with low-frequency musical vibration
US 2006/0114751
Watch with vibrator function
Table 4
Response to Applicant’s Arguments
Applicant’s Reply (31 March 2026) has substantively amended all the claims. This Office action has updated the rejections accordingly.
Applicant’s Reply at 16–22 further includes comments pertaining to the rejections presented in the Final Rejection (27 January 2026). Those comments have been considered, but are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 1, Applicant comments that Khwaja’s secondary membrane 16 is not the equivalent of the claimed diaphragm since it has a function of dampening and dissipating vibration generated by transducer 20. Applicant supports this view with reference to Khwaja at ¶ 68, which describes the function of membrane 16. Khwaja at ¶ 68 does describe secondary membrane 16 as dampening vibrations. But in context, the dampening and dissipation is a beneficial effect that causes the vibrations of transducer 20 to be spread out over a wide area that is in contact with the user’s body. In this way, secondary membrane 16, along with primary membrane 14, acts as a diaphragm by transferring vibrations from transducer 20 to the user’s body. Applicant has not proffered any explanation as to how this vibration transference does not correspond to the claimed diaphragm.
Applicant further comments that Khwaja and Biggs do not fairly describe, teach or suggest the claimed processing of signals, including the analog filtering of a third signal into a fourth signal. Applicant notes that Khwaja includes an ADC 1202, indicating that the purpose of DSP 1203 is to perform digital filtering. However, the Khwaja reference does not require using ADC 1202 in every case. In some cases, DSP 1203 receives digital signals, such as when receiving a Bluetooth or WiFi signal. In that case, the rejection posits modifying Khwaja by performing cross-over filtering in an analog circuit rather than in a digital circuit. In that case, a first digital signal is generated by a DSP (e.g., in response to receiving a WiFi or Bluetooth audio signal) and in order to process the first signal in an analog domain, the first signal would need to be converted into an analog signal—namely second and third signals (e.g., low-band audio and high-band audio). The third signal would then be low-pass filtered to produce a fourth signal to drive Khwaja’s transducer 20.
Conclusion
All claims are identical to or patentably indistinct from, or have unity of invention with claims in the application prior to the entry of the submission under 37 C.F.R. § 1.114 (that is, restriction (including a lack of unity of invention) would not be proper) and all claims could have been finally rejected on the grounds and art of record in the next Office action if they had been entered in the application prior to entry under 37 C.F.R. § 1.114. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL even though it is a first action after the filing of a request for continued examination and the submission under 37 C.F.R. § 1.114. See MPEP § 706.07(b). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 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 C.F.R. § 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 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 WALTER F BRINEY III whose telephone number is (571)272-7513. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-4:30 pm.
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/Walter F Briney III/
Walter F Briney IIIPrimary ExaminerArt Unit 2692
5/26/2026
Prosecution Insights