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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on June 9, 2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kannan et al (US 20210127221 A1) in view of Iseberg (US 20220360919).
With respect to claim 1, Kannan discloses an earbuds cradle (fig.2 #200) comprising:
a body (fig.2 #202);
a pair of earbud accommodating grooves (fig.2 #222) provided on a upper surface of the body and configured to accommodate a pair of earbuds, each of the pair of earbud accommodating grooves comprising a respective bottom surface, wherein the respective bottom surfaces are separate from each other such that the pair of earbud accommodating grooves do not share a common bottom cavity or bottom passage connecting the pair of earbud accommodating grooves (Par.[0027] housing #202 comprises a pair of grooves or cavities #222 for accommodating earbuds #212,214, wherein each groove comprises a bottom surface, shown below microphones #208,210 in figure 2);
a sound reflection deformation portion provided at the bottom surface of each of the pair of earbud accommodating grooves (Par.[0027] cavities #264,248 comprise a bottom wall “sound reflection deformation portion” at the bottom surface of each groove #222)(Examiner's Note: the term "sound reflection deformation portion" is a relative term has no well-recognized meaning in the art. Due to the breadth of the term the Examiner has interpreted the "sound reflection deformation portion" as any portion of the earbud cradle, such as a wall, provided at the bottom surface of each accommodating groove, as defined by the claim); and
a lid (fig.2 #204) disposed on the body and configured to cover the pair of earbuds (Par.[0026]),
wherein each of the pair of earbuds comprises:
a distal end including a passage (fig.1 #110) configured to emit sound (Par.[0024]); and
an ear tip (#108) coupled to the distal end (Par.[0024]), and
wherein the sound reflection deformation portion is provided to face the ear tip (As shown in figure 2, the bottom wall of cavities #264,248 face the eartip portion of earbuds #212,214 when placed in grooves #222).
Kannan does not disclose expressly wherein the eartip is detachable from the distal end, and wherein the ear tip includes any one of a large ear tip, a medium ear tip, and a small ear tip.
Iseberg discloses an eartip that is detachable from a distal end of and earphone via an earphone insertion end (figs.1-9 #104; Par.[0038]) and wherein the ear tip includes any one of a large ear tip, a medium ear tip, and a small ear tip (Par.[0048]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the present invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the detachable eartip of Iseberg as the eartip of Kannan. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a user with multiple different exchangeable sizes of eartips for matching the size of an ear canal of the user, thereby providing a better fitting earbud.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 and 7-8 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON R KURR whose telephone number is (571)270-5981. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivian Chin 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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JASON R. KURR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2695
/JASON R KURR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695
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