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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/25/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With respect to claim 1, line 1, “TWS earphones” is unclear. Acronyms must first be spelled out with support from the specification before they can be used throughout claims.
Claims 2-10 depend from claim 1 and are rejected for the same reasons.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zou [US 2021/0368253].
With respect to claim 1, Zou discloses a charging device for neck hanging TWS earphones [Fig. 1], comprising an earphone charging control portion [Fig. 3; 152], a neck hanging piece [14], charging wires [13], and charging bases [150], wherein the earphone charging control portion is electrically connected to the neck hanging piece [151]: the charging wires are connected to the earphone charging control portion [as depicted]: and the charging bases are connected to end parts of the charging wires and provided with charging jacks matched with TWS earphones in a pluggable manner [Fig. 2].
With respect to claim 2, Zou further discloses a battery portion [1511], wherein the earphone charging control portion and the battery portion are correspondingly electrically connected to two ends of the neck hanging piece and are electrically connected to each other by the neck hanging piece [151 via 14 and 150]: there are two charging wires and two charging bases [i.e. 150 and 13 are a pair]: the two charging wires are correspondingly connected to the earphone charging control portion and the battery portion [13 is between 150 and 152]; and the two charging bases are correspondingly connected to the end parts of the two charging wires and are provided with the charging jacks, respectively [150 is between 11 and 13],
With respect to claim 3, Zou further discloses wherein arc-shaped extension portions matched with outer walls of the TWS earphones are provided at upper ends of the charging jacks [14 is an arc] and a plurality of heat dissipation holes are formed in a side wall of each of the charging jacks [Fig. 4; the charging jacks are comprised of components 1200,1201,1211,1220 to create the housing with gaps/hole which is equated to allowing heat dissipation].
With respect to claim 4, Zou further discloses the neck hanging piece is a memory type steel wire and is arc-shaped as a whole [par. 0047].
With respect to claim 5, Zou further discloses wherein a projection on a side surface of the neck hanging piece is also are-shaped [i.e. the projection closer to the charging base 151 is also arc shaped]
With respect to claim 6, Zou further discloses wherein the earphone charging control portion comprises a first housing [see Fig. 3, housing of 152], a micro-controller unit (MCU) mounted in the first housing [1512], a mode switching button configured to switch charging and discharging statuses of the TWS earphones [1524], a charging interface configured to supply power to the battery portion and the charging bases [1513], and a switch button configured to supply power to the battery portion and the charging bases [1523]; the switch button, the charging interface, the mode switching button, the battery portion, and the charging bases are connected to the MCU [part of 152]; the battery portion and the charging bases are connected to the charging interface and the battery portion is connected to the charging bases [i.e. all parts of 152].
With respect to claim 7, Zou further discloses wherein the charging jacks are matched with the TWS earphones in a magnetic suction manner [par. 0062].
With respect to claim 8, Zou further discloses wherein elastic silica gel layers are provided on inner walls of the charging jacks and the TWS earphones are matched with the elastic silica gel layers in a pluggable manner [1134].
With respect to claim 9, Zou further discloses wherein the TWS earphones are charged by the charging bases in a wireless charging or contact charging manner [par. 0049].
With respect to claim 10, Zou further discloses wherein the battery portion comprises a second housing and a rechargeable lithium battery located inside the second housing; the rechargeable lithium battery is electrically connected to the earphone charging control portion by the neck hanging piece; the two charging wires are correspondingly connected to side walls, facing outward, of upper ends of the first housing and the second housing; and the mode switching button, the charging interface, and the switch button are arranged on an outer wall of one side, facing outward, of the first housing [see figure 3 and the housing 152 with all buttons on the housing and internal rechargeable battery].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL R PELTON whose telephone number is (571)270-1761. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian Huffman can be reached at 571-272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATHANIEL R PELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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