DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
1. Applicant's amendment filed on 09/17/25 has been received and entered in the case. The amendments to the claims do not distinguish patentably over the previously applied prior art, i.e., Ma et al, for the reasons set forth below.
Claim Objections
2. Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities:
On the first line of claim 12, "one of" should be deleted, i.e., when reciting two possible alternatives A and B in patent claims, the proper way of reciting such is "A or B" (or, alternatively, "one of A and B").
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
Claims 1, 2, 4-6 and 8-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0083374, in view of any one of Huang et al, Aliakseyeu, Zufi et al and Johnson, cited on the attached PTO-892 form.
As to claim 1, Ma et al discloses a computer-implemented method for analyzing sounds (note that in Ma et al the processor within controller 430 shown in figure 1 performs a computer-implemented method for analyzing sounds, i.e., music) within a vehicle interior (note that Ma et al's controller 430 is within the vehicle shown in figure 2) and controlling an ambient light system (note that the interior ambient lights disclosed by Ma et al in paragraph [0023] are controlled in response to the above-noted sounds, i.e., music) within the vehicle interior, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) connecting a software application to a vehicle network (note that the Ma et al computer-implemented method inherently connects a software application, i.e., the software application which carries out the method disclosed by Ma et al, to the inherent vehicle network in this reference), wherein the software application includes a memory having a plurality of different saved appearances for the ambient light system, wherein each of the plurality of different saved appearances of the ambient light system corresponds to at least one type of music being played within the vehicle interior (although not disclosed by Ma et al, this limitation would have been obvious to any person having ordinary skill in the art, the reason being that it was old and well-known in the art before the effective filing date of applicant's invention to use a software application including a memory having a plurality of different saved appearances for an ambient light system, wherein each of the plurality of different saved appearances of the ambient light system corresponds to at least one type of music being played, various examples of this well-known concept being disclosed by the four above-noted secondary references, note in particular paragraph [0044] of Huang et al, claim 1 of Aliakseyeu, paragraph [0039] of Zufi et al and the abstract of Johnson--note that any person having ordinary skill in the art would have easily recognized, from the disclosures in these four secondary references, that the ambient light system in Ma et al could obviously be controlled using a plurality of different saved appearances stored in a memory of a software application such that each of the different saved appearances of the ambient light could be activated in response to the particular type of music being played within the vehicle interior in Ma et al, the motivation for such a modification in Ma et al is to allow the driver and/or passengers within the vehicle to customize the light patterns within the interior of the vehicle or the lights on the exterior of the vehicle so that the light corresponds to specific music being played at any given point in time);
(b) capturing, by the software application, at least one sound within the vehicle interior (note the disclosure by Ma et al of using a microphone to capture the sound, i.e., music within the interior of the vehicle, see paragraphs [0016], lines 22-23, of Ma et al);
(c) analyzing, by the software application, the at least one sound within the vehicle interior (inherently in Ma et al the sound, i.e., music which is captured by the above-noted microphone, is analyzed by the controller 430 shown in figure 1 of Ma et al, note the disclosure in paragraphs [0021] through [0024] of this reference) and determining the type of music being played within the vehicle interior based on the at least one sound captured within the vehicle interior (inherently in Ma et al as modified by any one of the above-noted four secondary references, the controller will determine the type of music being played within the vehicle interior based on at least one sound, i.e., the particular music being played, captured within the vehicle interior); and
(d) changing an appearance of at least one portion of the ambient light system within the vehicle interior (note the disclosure by Ma et al in paragraph [0023] of changing the appearance of the interior ambient lights in response to the captured sound, i.e., music) in accordance with one saved appearance of the plurality of different saved appearances of the ambient light system based on the determined type of music being played within the vehicle interior (inherently in Ma et al as modified by any one of the above-noted four secondary references, the appearance of the ambient light system within the vehicle interior will be changed in accordance with the different saved appearances of the ambient light system based on the determined type of music being played within the vehicle interior).
As to claim 2, although Ma et al does not disclose that the interior ambient lights comprise LEDs provided around a dashboard, a center console, door handles, cupholders, door panels, or footwells of the vehicle, such would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, the reason being that it was old and well-known in the art before the effective filing of applicant's invention that interior ambient lights within a vehicle are typically provided as an LED dome light and additional LED lights provided around a dashboard, a center console, door handles, cupholders, door panels, or footwells of the vehicle, of which fact official notice is taken by the examiner.
As to claim 4, it also would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the software application in Ma et al could be stored either within the vehicle controller 430 or within a mobile device which interfaces with the vehicle controller, i.e., it was old and well-known in the art before the effective filing date of applicant's invention to use a smart phone which includes the same software application as that included in a vehicle such as, for example, Apple CarPlay, the motivation for this being so that the user can set up the music correspondence with the interior light control when the user is away from the vehicle. Note also that Ma et al appears to disclose that the software application can be stored on a mobile device, see lines 14-21 of paragraph [0038] and lines 8-14 of paragraph [0057] where this reference discloses transmitting information to a mobile end connected to the network and that the electronic apparatus can represent various forms of mobile devices.
As to claims 5 and 6, in the computer-implemented method of Ma et al as modified by any one of the above-noted secondary references, the above-noted plurality of different saved light settings will inherently or obviously comprise one or more different color settings, brightness settings, etc, and the LEDs which are used to produce such color settings, brightness settings, etc will inherently be in at least one of a plurality of zones within the vehicle, such plurality of zones are inherently a front right and left zones of the vehicle or rear right and left zones of the vehicle.
As to claims 8 and 9, note paragraphs [0021] through [0024] of Ma et al which disclose that the music captured by the above-noted microphone is analyzed by the vehicle controller 430 and the vehicle controller 430 detects a certain beat tempo and in response to this detected beat tempo, the controller 430 sends corresponding control signals to the interior ambient lights in order to change their settings.
As to claim 10, as noted above, Ma et al discloses using a microphone in paragraph [0016], lines 22-23.
As to claim 11, the claimed step of displaying the software application on a screen of the vehicle will be inherently or obviously performed on display device 450 shown in figure 1 of Ma et al.
As to claim 12, using display device 450 to either enable or disable the software application of Ma et al also would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, the reason being that it was old and well-known in the art before the effective filing date of applicant's invention to use the display device of an infotainment system in a vehicle in order to enable or disable a software application, of which fact official notice is taken by the examiner.
As to claims 13 and 14, note that the infotainment system of Ma et al which includes the above-noted software application for performing the computer-implemented method of this reference will be either inherently or obviously operatively coupled to Ma et al's interior ambient lights, and note further that Ma et al's software application can obviously be loaded onto a mobile device, e.g., smart phone, as noted above.
As to claim 15, the claimed vehicle network application programming interface will be either inherently or obviously be used to enter the user's preferred settings for controlling the music settings and corresponding interior light settings, i.e., either by the user via a smart phone or by the user entering the settings into the infotainment system of the vehicle.
As to claims 16 and 17, the computer-implemented method of Ma et al can obviously be performed via a computer program product, note that computer-implemented methods are typically performed by a computer program product, as is old and well-known in the art
As to claim 18, as noted above, the computer-implemented method of Ma et al can be performed on both the user's smart phone and also on the infotainment system of the user's vehicle, i.e., it was old and well-known in the art before the effective filing date of applicant's invention to pair a smart phone with a vehicle infotainment system. Note also that Ma et al appears to disclose that the software application can be stored on a mobile device, as noted above with regard to claim 4, again see lines 14-21 of paragraph [0038] and lines 8-14 of paragraph [0057] where Ma et al discloses transmitting information to a mobile end connected to the network and that the electronic apparatus can represent various forms of mobile devices.
4. Claims 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma et al, supra.
As to claim 19, all of the limitations of this claim are anticipated by Ma et al as indicated in paragraph five of the previous office action mailed on 07/22/25, except for the limitations (1) the brightness of the ambient light system changes in response to the captured sound and (2) a flash sequence of the ambient light system changes in response to the captured sound. Both of these limitations would have been obvious to any person having ordinary skill in the art because (1) it was old and well-known in the art before the effective filing date of applicant's invention to change the brightness of an ambient light system in response to music being played--official notice being taken by the examiner of this fact--and (2) Ma et al already discloses changing a flash sequence of the ambient light system in response to the music, note the last four lines of paragraph [0023] of this reference, and any person having ordinary skill in the art would have easily recognized that not just the exterior lights of the vehicle could be controlled so as to have changing flash sequences in response to the music being played, but also the interior lights could obviously be controlled so as to have changing flash sequences in response to the music being played as well, the motivation for changing a flash sequence of the interior lights in Ma et al being self-evident, i.e., so that the driver and/or passengers within the vehicle could experience changing flashing light sequences while they are within the vehicle--obviously the changing flashing light sequence of the exterior lights of the vehicle would not be readily visible to them during daylight hours, whereas changing the flash sequence of the interior lights would be readily visible to them.
As to claim 20, official notice is taken by the examiner that it was also old and well-known in the art before the effective filing date of applicant's invention for a software application to include a trained AI model configured to analyze captured sounds, note Huang et al's paragraphs [0041] and [0052] as one example of this well-known concept, and any person having ordinary skill in the art would have easily recognized that Ma et al's software application within the vehicle could be obviously modified so as to include such a trained AI model, for the purpose of improving the functioning thereof.
As to claim 21, official notice is also taken by the examiner that it was old and well-known in the art before the effective filing date of applicant's invention for a software application to apply a Fourier transform analysis in order to analyze captured sounds, e.g., music, and any person having ordinary skill in the art would have easily recognized that Ma et al's software application could obviously be modified so as to use such Fourier transform analysis for analyzing the captured sounds within the vehicle interior.
As to claim 22, any person having ordinary skill in the art also would have easily recognized that Ma et al's ambient light system could be changed in response to the captured music in any manner desired, i.e., it would have been obvious that the ambient light of all of the zones could be changed or, alternatively, the ambient light of only some of the zones could be changed or, alternatively, the ambient light of just one of the zones could be changed or, alternatively, the ambient light of none of the zones could be changed, note that these four options would all be easily recognized by any person having ordinary skill in the art upon reading the disclosure of Ma et al.
Action is Final
5. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 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 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 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.
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH B WELLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1757. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, LINCOLN DONOVAN can be reached at (571)272-1988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENNETH B WELLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2842 September 19, 2025
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