The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Applicant’s election of Species I (Figures 1-3, 5, and 8), claims 1-7 readable thereon, in the reply filed on August 10, 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
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 1, 4, 5, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takashi (JP 2005-142632A, in view of the English Language Translation (ELT)).
Regarding claim 1, Takashi discloses a sound field control apparatus for producing a sound field by controlling sound pressures and sound pressure gradients at predetermined control points (see figures 1 and 2), comprising: a filtering unit 20 configured to perform filtering on input audio signals in accordance with coefficients set for a plurality of audio outputs, respectively (see ELT, para. 0013, regarding “the input sound signal X(t) input from the frequency division unit 10 is convolved with the filter coefficient Wi(t) of the filter unit 21, and the result yi(t) is the sound reproduction unit 30 is output”); and a plurality of speakers 32 configured to output audio in response to audio signals filtered for the plurality of audio outputs by the filtering unit 20. The filtering unit 20 is configured to perform the filtering on the input audio signals in accordance with the coefficients adjusted so that sound pressures and sound pressure gradients at a plurality of control points 4 set on a boundary plane of an enclosed space surrounding the plurality of speakers 32 reach values corresponding to a desired sound field (see ELT, para. 0013, regarding “it is also possible to obtain the filter coefficient Wi(t) so that the sound pressure becomes zero in each sound pressure/sound pressure gradient sensor 4 by a point radiation type sound pressure control device”; see also, para. 0014, regarding “the input sound signal convolved with the filter coefficient Wi(t) for each frequency band obtained by frequency division is reproduced and output from the secondary sound source unit 32, so that sound pressure/sound pressure gradient sensors 41 to 4n are arranged. Sound is reproduced with a sufficient sound pressure over a wide frequency band in a reproduction area having a boundary at a certain position”).
Regarding claim 4, the enclosed space comprises one enclosed space surrounding the plurality of speakers 32. See figure 2, regarding boundary of shaded circle surrounding the plurality of speakers 32 as claimed. The filtering unit 20 is configured to perform the filtering on the input audio signals in accordance with the coefficients adjusted so that both the sound pressures and the sound pressure gradients at the plurality of control points 4 set on the boundary plane of the enclosed space become zero. See ELT, para. 0013, regarding “it is also possible to obtain the filter coefficient Wi(t) so that the sound pressure becomes zero in each sound pressure/sound pressure gradient sensor 4 by a point radiation type sound pressure control device”.
Regarding claim 5, the filtering unit 20 is configured to perform the filtering on the input audio signals in accordance with the coefficients adjusted so that the sound pressures and the sound pressure gradients at the plurality of control points 4 set on the boundary plane of the enclosed space reach values corresponding to the desired sound field and that a sound pressure at one or more control points 4 set in the enclosed space reaches a desired sound pressure. See ELT, para. 0013, regarding “it is also possible to obtain the filter coefficient Wi(t) so that the sound pressure becomes zero in each sound pressure/sound pressure gradient sensor 4 by a point radiation type sound pressure control device”. See also, para. 0014, regarding “the input sound signal convolved with the filter coefficient Wi(t) for each frequency band obtained by frequency division is reproduced and output from the secondary sound source unit 32, so that sound pressure/sound pressure gradient sensors 41 to 4n are arranged. Sound is reproduced with a sufficient sound pressure over a wide frequency band in a reproduction area having a boundary at a certain position”.
Regarding claim 7, the plurality of speakers 32 are arranged in a non-movable portion of an electronic device. Note that the examiner is considering the device (elements 10, 20, 30, 40) of figure 1 as the claimed electronic device, wherein the plurality of speakers 32 are arranged in a non-movable portion of the electronic device as claimed.
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 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takashi (JP 2005-142632A, in view of the English Language Translation (ELT)), as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of Hiroshi (JP 2019-029825A, in view of the English Language Translation (ELT)).
Takashi discloses the invention as claimed, including that the enclosed space comprises a first enclosed space surrounding the plurality of speakers 32 (see figure 2, regarding boundary of shaded circle surrounding the plurality of speakers 32 as claimed) and that the filtering unit 20 is configured to perform the filtering on the input audio signals in accordance with the coefficients adjusted so that sound pressures and sound pressure gradients at a plurality of control points 4 set on a boundary plane of the first enclosed space reach values corresponding to the desired sound field, but fails to specifically teach that the enclosed space further includes a second enclosed space surrounding the first enclosed space and that the filtering unit 20 is configured to perform the filtering on the input audio signals in accordance with the coefficients adjusted so that sound pressures and sound pressure gradients at a plurality of control points set on a boundary plane of the second enclosed space reach values corresponding to the desired sound field.
Hiroshi discloses a sound field control apparatus for producing a sound field by controlling sound pressures and sound pressure gradients at predetermined control points set on a boundary plane BH of a first enclosed space and at predetermined control points set on a boundary plane BL of a second enclosed space, wherein the second enclosed space surrounds the first enclosed space (see figure 1). Hiroshi discloses such a sound field control apparatus having the first enclosed space and the second enclosed space surrounding the first enclosed space, in the same field of endeavor, for the purpose of “control[ling] the interval of the control points by switching the boundary surface according to the frequency of the sound, [so that] there is no need to dispose many control points on one boundary surface… [and] boundary sound field control of sound in a wide frequency range can be performed without inviting a remarkable increase in calculation amount” (para. 0007).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Takashi, in view of Hiroshi, such that the enclosed space further includes a second enclosed space surrounding the first enclosed space and that the filtering unit 20 is configured to perform the filtering on the input audio signals in accordance with the coefficients adjusted so that sound pressures and sound pressure gradients at a plurality of control points set on a boundary plane of the second enclosed space reach values corresponding to the desired sound field. A practitioner in the art would have been motivated to do this for the purpose of controlling the interval of the control points by switching the boundary surface according to the frequency of the sound, so that there is no need to dispose many control points on one boundary surface and boundary sound field control of sound in a wide frequency range can be performed without inviting a remarkable increase in calculation amount.
Regarding claim 3, the filtering unit 20 is configured to perform the filtering on the input audio signals in accordance with the coefficients adjusted so that both the sound pressures and the sound pressure gradients at the plurality of control points 4 set on the boundary plane of the first enclosed space become zero and that both the sound pressures and the sound pressure gradients at the plurality of control points set on the boundary plane of the second enclosed space become zero. See Takashi, ELT, para. 0013, regarding “it is also possible to obtain the filter coefficient Wi(t) so that the sound pressure becomes zero in each sound pressure/sound pressure gradient sensor 4 by a point radiation type sound pressure control device”.
Claim 6 is 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Maeno et al. discloses a sound field control apparatus.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL W HUBER whose telephone number is (571)272-7588.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Duc Nguyen, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-7503. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL W HUBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
pwh
September 9, 2026
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