Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
2. The drawings are objected to because Figure 1 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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 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 nonobviousness.
5. Claims 1, 9, 10, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al CN 113645573 A (see Google translation CN113645573A - Earphone configuration data sharing method, earphone and storage medium - Google Patents) in view of Lo et al US 20210385886 A1.
Consider claim 10. Lin (fig 9 and 300 in fig 1) teaches a Low Energy (LE) (from Lin…. the embodiment uses BLE low power consumption Bluetooth for communication…) audio headset for call sharing (after sharing the configuration data between headsets…. receiving/sending the voice data of the user and so on. ), the LE audio headset (300) comprising: a memory (102); a processor (101); and a call sharing controller (reads on communication module 103) coupled to the memory and the processor, configured for: receiving a request message (reads on first trigger signal at S210 in fig 6, which at that point after sharing the configuration can start the shared call) for sharing a call received at a user device (electronic device) with at least one second LE audio headset (400). Although Lin teaches connecting the first and second headsets though a NFC connection (from Lin …In this embodiment, when the sharing user wants to share the configuration data to the shared user, sharing the user pressing key triggers the first trigger signal, the first earphone opens the NFC initiating connection request. the shared user only needs to close the second earphone close to the first earphone, the first earphone and the second earphone establish communication connection through the NFC, so that the first earphone can send configuration data to the second earphone. the second earphone sets the configuration data in the earphone after receiving the configuration data….), Lin fails to teach wherein the LE audio headset is connected with the user device over a first Connected Isochronous Group (CIG), and establishing a combined call between the LE audio headset and the at least one second LE audio headset using a second CIG to connect the LE audio headset with the at least one second LE audio headset. However, Lo et al teaches plural devices can use plural CIG channels (0113) for teleconference calls (0105). It would have been obvious, before the effective date, to use a second CIG channel for the second headset taught by Lin et al in order to enhance the synchronization between the headsets thus reducing any signal delays.
6. Method claim 1 and CRM claim 16 are rejected for the same reasons as apparatus claim 10 as the recited elements would perform the claimed steps.
7. Regarding claim 9, Lin teaches wherein the call received at the user device is an incoming call (from Lin…. audio module 104 can be used for managing audio data, realizing wireless earphone 100 input and output audio signal. For example, the audio module 104 can obtain the audio signal from the wireless communication module 103, or transmitting the audio signal to the wireless communication module 103, realizing the call through the Bluetooth earphone….).
8. Claims 1, 9, 10, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Spittle US 2012-0269359 A1(cited by applicant) in view of Tong CN 114979900 (see Google translation CN114979900A - Wireless earphone and audio sharing method - Google Patents.)
9. Consider claim 1. Spittle discloses a method for enabling two users to participate in a shared telephone call (see 0052), the method comprises the steps of receiving by the first headset (81) connected with a mobile telephone (80), a request for a second connection with a second connection between the first (81) headset and the second (83) headset (see 0039, 0040, 0051 0052 and figs 8 and 9), and connecting by the first headset (see button in 0040) to a second headset (83) for establishing a combined call between the first (81) and second (38) headset (see conference call at 0054). Spittle fails to teach his headsets are low energy headsets and that the Bluetooth connection between the mobile and first headset is a CGI connection and the Bluetooth connection between the first and second headsets is a second CGI connection. However, Tong teaches such (see fig 4a which shows to CGI connections established through two different CIG connections. It would have been obvious, before the effective date, to substitute low energy headsets and their connections as taught by Tong for those taught by Spittle in order to have a lower profile and more current system for teleconferencing. Apparatus claim 10 and CRM claim 16 structure is taught by the combination of Spittle and Tong and would follow from the method described in claim 1.
10. Regarding claim 9, Spittle teaches wherein the call received at the user device is an incoming call (see conference call in the abstract).
Claim Objections
11. Claims 2-8, 11-15 and 17-20 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.
12. Regarding claims 2, 11 and 17, the prior art of record fails to teach or make obvious
receiving, by the first LE audio headset, a first synchronization delay of the first CIG from the user device; and receiving, by the first LE audio headset, the request message, wherein the request message comprises a list of the at least one second LE audio headset in proximity of the first LE audio headset from the user device for creation of the second CIG.
13. Regarding claims 3, 12 and 18. The prior art of record fails to teach or make obvious creating, by the first LE audio headset, the second CIG between the first LE audio headset, the at least one second LE audio headset, and the user device; determining, by the first LE audio headset, a second synchronization delay of the second CIG based on a number of the at least one second LE audio headset; sending, by the first LE audio headset, the second synchronization delay of the second CIG to the at least one second LE audio headset and the user device; and rendering, by the first LE audio headset, audio received from the user device in the first LE audio headset and the at least one second LE audio headset based on the second synchronization delay of the second CIG. Dependent claims 3-6 and 12-15 are objected to since they depend upon claims 3 and 12. Dependent claims 19 and 20 are objected to since the depend on claim 18.
14. Regarding claim 7. The prior art of record does not teach or make obvious optimizing, by the first LE audio headset, codec configuration settings and Quality of Service (QoS) parameters in the second CIG based on a number of the at least one second LE audio headset to reduce latency in LE audio communication.
15. Regarding claim 8. The prior art of record does not teach or make obvious
receiving, by the first LE audio headset, a gesture from a user; sending, by the first LE audio headset, a call sharing enable request message to the user device, wherein the user device automatically selects the at least one second LE audio headset pre-configured at the user device and located in proximity of the first LE audio headset in response to receiving the call sharing enable request message and sends the request message; and receiving, by the first LE audio headset, the request message from the user device.
16. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wang CN 111447600 A teaches in fig 2 sharing method of a wireless earphone, which comprises the following steps: after receiving connection information sent by connected electronic equipment, the first pair of wireless earphones are connected with the second pair of wireless earphones according to the connection information; and after receiving the audio data sent by the electronic equipment, the first pair of wireless earphones sends the audio data to the second wireless earphone.
Shruthi WO-2022270904-A1 teaches in fig 19 using two headsets with two different (BIG and CIG) channels for each of the two headsets. When there is an incoming/outgoing call to/from Phone which is already acting as a broadcast source, the data stream corresponding to music broadcast from Phone will continue on existing BIG to user A. There is a new data stream for call audio that is created from Phone to user B. Now, there are essentially two separate data streams. Audio streams from Phone for call and music are not mixed but routed to different devices using CIG & BIG respectively. Call data stream is routed to User B Broadcasted music data stream is routed to the user A.
Fu et al Cn 113301544 A teaches in fig 12 the mobile phone 1210 and the first headset 1221, the second headset 1222 and the third headset 1223 established CIG. When the first user 1231 wearing the first earphone 1221 is speaking (e.g., the first user 1231 to the second user 1232 and the third user 1233), the first user 1231 and the third user 1233 the microphone of the first earphone 1221 can receive the first user 1231 speaking sound and converted into voice data, then mobile phone 1210 can through scheduling CIG mode, the first earphone 1221 the voice data is synchronized to the second earphone 1222 and the third earphone 1223; Finally, the second earphone 1222 and the third earphone 1223 receiving the voice data can respectively for converting the voice data to the second user 1232 and the third user 1233 through the respective loudspeakers. so that the second user 1232 and the third user 1233 can be worn by the second headset 1222 and the third headset 1223 hearing the first user 1231 to the speaking, lifting the first user 1231 and the second user 1232 and the third user 1233 voice communication effect.
Conclusion
17. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CURTIS A KUNTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7499. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th from 530am to 3pm and Fri from 530am to 10am.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew D Anderson, can be reached at telephone number 5712724177. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CURTIS A KUNTZ/Primary examiner, Art Unit 2646