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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1 in the reply filed on February 5, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 15 – 17 and 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on February 5, 2026. Claims 1 – 14 and 18 – 19 are considered below.
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 November 14, 2024, IDS submitted on December 5, 2024, IDS submitted on September 4, 2025, and IDS submitted on February 27, 2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 4, 6, 8 – 10, 13, 18, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chumbly et al. (US 2006/0285701 A1), hereinafter Chumbly.
Claim 1: Chumbly discloses a method, applied to an electronic device (see at least, “A system and method for OS control of application access to audio hardware provides means for a user to specify in a
control panel applications from which sounds will be played through audio hardware,” Chumbly Abstract), wherein the method comprises: receiving audio output requests (see at least, “First, an application request to output audio data is received, step 90,” Chumbly [0017]) from M audio applications on the electronic device (see at least, “In FIG. 2 there is illustrated a control panel 35 of a computing device wherein a list of applications 37 is shown,” Chumbly [0014], Chumbly FIG. 2); selecting N target applications from the M audio applications in response to receiving the audio output requests (see at least, “A user selects from the list of application 37 each application from which the user wants to hear sound for a determined period of time,” Chumbly [0014], “Then a determination is made regarding whether to control sound output, step 91. If No, the process ends. If Yes, then a determination is made regarding whether requesting application is stored in configuration data, step 92. If No, the application request is denied, step 93, and the process ends. If Yes, the application request is granted, step 94, then volume setting for application from configuration data is applied, step 95, and the process ends,” Chumbly [0017]), wherein M is greater than N (see at least, Chumbly FIG. 2 which illustrates 6 applications with 3 application selected/enabled, therefore M=6, N=3, M>N); and outputting audio data of the N target applications in response to selecting the N target applications (see at least, “The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005]).
Claim 2: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 2 (see at least, Chumbly FIG. 2 which illustrates 3 application selected/enabled, therefore N=3).
Claim 3: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein selecting the N target applications from the M audio applications comprises: selecting the N target applications from the M audio applications based on a current working scenario of the electronic device (see at least, “Also shown is an indication 40 of whether audio settings are enabled or disabled,” Chumbly [0014], “If Yes, then a determination is made regarding whether requesting application is stored in configuration data, step 92,” Chumbly [0017], “The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005], Chumbly FIG. 2); selecting the N target applications from the M audio applications further based on preset application priority information (see at least, “Selection of one or more applications is received from user, step 83. Modifications for the one or more applications selected are received from user, step 84. Selections and modifications are stored as configuration data, step 85. Then the process of setting up audio settings and configurations for controlling sound output ends,” Chumbly [0016], “Also shown is an indication 40 of whether audio settings are enabled or disabled,” Chumbly [0014], “The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005], Chumbly FIG. 2); or selecting the N target applications from the M audio applications further based on a selection operation performed by a user on the M audio applications (see at least, “A user selects from the list of application 37 each application from which the user wants to hear sound for a determined period of time,” Chumbly [0014], Chumbly FIG. 2).
Claim 4: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein selecting the N target applications based on the current working scenario comprises: determining the current working scenario of the electronic device; determining a scenario-based application from the M audio applications based on the current working scenario; and determining the N target applications based on the scenario-based application, wherein the N target applications comprise the scenario-based application (see at least, “Selection of one or more applications is received from user, step 83. Modifications for the one or more applications selected are received from user, step 84. Selections and modifications are stored as configuration data, step 85. Then the process of setting up audio settings and configurations for controlling sound output ends,” Chumbly [0016], “Also shown is an indication 40 of whether audio settings are enabled or disabled,” Chumbly [0014], “The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005], Chumbly FIG. 2).
Claim 6: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein determining the current working scenario comprises: determining the current working scenario based on another electronic device that is communicatively connected to the electronic device; determining the current working scenario based on an application currently running on the electronic device (see at least, “Also shown is an indication 40 of whether audio settings are enabled or disabled,” Chumbly [0014], “If Yes, then a determination is made regarding whether requesting application is stored in configuration data, step 92,” Chumbly [0017], “The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005], Chumbly FIG. 2); determining the current working scenario based on measurement data of a specific sensor on the electronic device, wherein the specific sensor is configured to measure a displacement, a speed, and/or acceleration data of the electronic device; or determining the current working scenario based on a scenario specifying operation of the user (see at least, “The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005]).
Claim 8: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises a plurality of pieces of volume control information corresponding to the N target applications, wherein each of the N target applications corresponds to one of the plurality of pieces of volume control information (see at least, “The user may also designate a volume level 38, balance 39, and other audio settings for each application,” Chumbly [0014]), and wherein outputting the audio data comprises: determining a volume of each of the N target applications based on volume control information corresponding to the each of the N target applications; and outputting audio data of the each of the N target applications at the volume (see at least, “If Yes, the application request is granted, step 94, then volume setting for application from configuration data is applied, step 95, and the process ends,” Chumbly [0017], The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005]).
Claim 9: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the electronic device comprises N pieces of volume control information, and wherein the N target applications are in a one-to-one correspondence with the N pieces of volume control information (see at least, “The user may also designate a volume level 38, balance 39, and other audio settings for each application,” Chumbly [0014], volume control panel, Chumbly FIG. 2).
Claim 10: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the electronic device comprises a plurality of pieces of volume control information corresponding to the N target applications, and wherein each of the plurality of pieces of volume control information is based on a user input (see at least, “The user may also designate a volume level 38, balance 39, and other audio settings for each application,” Chumbly [0014], volume control panel, Chumbly FIG. 2).
Claim 13: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the M audio applications are applications other than a system phone application (see at least, “In the current art relating to OS control of application access to audio hardware, computer applications produce audio, such as media players, web browsers, instant messengers, and the operating system,” Chumbly [0002], System, Media Player, Instant Messenger, Email, CD Audio, Web Browser, Chumbly FIG. 2).
Claim 18: Chumbly discloses an electronic device (see at least, “A system and method for OS control of application access to audio hardware provides means for a user to specify in a control panel applications from which sounds will be played through audio hardware,” Chumbly Abstract), comprising: a memory configured to store instructions; and one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the electronic device to (see at least, “One of the preferred implementations of the present invention is an application program 41 made up of programming steps or instructions resident in RAM 14, FIG. 1, during computer operations. Until required by the computer system, the program instructions may be stored in another readable medium, e.g. disk drive 20, or in a removable memory such as an optical disk for use in a CD ROM computer input or in a floppy disk for use in a floppy disk drive computer input. One skilled in the art should appreciate that the processes controlling the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of computer readable media of a variety of forms,” Chumbly [0018]): receive audio output requests (see at least, “First, an application request to output audio data is received, step 90,” Chumbly [0017]) from M audio applications on the electronic device (see at least, “In FIG. 2 there is illustrated a control panel 35 of a computing device wherein a list of applications 37 is shown,” Chumbly [0014], Chumbly FIG. 2); and select N target applications from the M audio applications in response to receiving audio output requests from M audio applications on the electronic device (see at least, “A user selects from the list of application 37 each application from which the user wants to hear sound for a determined period of time,” Chumbly [0014], “Then a determination is made regarding whether to control sound output, step 91. If No, the process ends. If Yes, then a determination is made regarding whether requesting application is stored in configuration data, step 92. If No, the application request is denied, step 93, and the process ends. If Yes, the application request is granted, step 94, then volume setting for application from configuration data is applied, step 95, and the process ends,” Chumbly [0017]), wherein M is greater than N (see at least, Chumbly FIG. 2 which illustrates 6 applications with 3 application selected/enabled, therefore M=6, N=3, M>N); and output audio data of the N target applications in response to selecting N target applications from M audio applications on the electronic device (see at least, “The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005]).
Claim 19: Chumbly discloses the device according to claim 18, wherein the one or more processors coupled to the memory are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the electronic device to: select the N target applications from the M audio applications based on a current working scenario of the electronic device (see at least, “Also shown is an indication 40 of whether audio settings are enabled or disabled,” Chumbly [0014], “The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005], Chumbly FIG. 2).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chumbly in view of Zhang (US 2012/0259440 A1), hereinafter Zhang.
Claim 5: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein determining the N target applications comprises: determining a priority of each of the M audio applications based on the scenario-based application, wherein a priority of the scenario-based application is higher than a priority of another application in the M audio applications (see at least, “Also shown is an indication 40 of whether audio settings are enabled or disabled,” Chumbly [0014], “The audio device drivers installed in the operating system will respect this application list request and output only sounds from applications that are enabled by the user,” Chumbly [0005], Chumbly FIG. 2); but does not disclose and determining N audio applications with highest priorities as the N target applications based on an order of priority of the M audio applications so that the N target applications comprise at least the scenario-based application. However, Zhang discloses a similar method of managing conflicts between audio applications and further discloses and determining N audio applications with highest priorities as the N target applications based on an order of priority of the M audio applications so that the N target applications comprise at least the scenario-based application (see at least, “With development of the multi-media information technology, an integrated application system generally includes several sounder units and several audio applications for meeting needs of users in all aspects. Taking a vehicle-mounted system in an automobile as an example, the vehicle-mounted system generally includes several audio applications such as an FM radio, a GPS audio navigation system and an on-vehicle phone, each of which is corresponding to a respective sounder unit,” Zhang [0003], “Because the audio applications are independent to each other and are corresponding to different sounder units, conflicts may happen between the audio applications. For example, while listening to the FM radio or using the GPS audio navigation system, a driver receives a call through the on-vehicle phone, but the driver can not adjust the ongoing audio applications of the FM radio and the GPS audio navigation system because he or she is driving, so that the call quality will be adversely influenced. Furthermore, the more audio applications are configured in the vehicle-mounted system, the higher possibility of the conflicts between audio applications is,” Zhang [0004], “FIG. 2 is a schematic view for showing an arbitration
strategy in a first embodiment of the present invention. The arbitration strategy includes state information of audio applications. Specifically, Referring to FIG. 2, there are three audio applications including a first audio application, a second audio application and a third application. In an embodiment,
the first audio application is corresponding to an FM radio, the second audio application is corresponding to a GPS audio navigation and the second audio application is corresponding to an on-vehicle phone. Referring to FIG. 2, the arbitration strategy includes state information such as on/off
states, that is, an audio application being in a working state or a standby state. In another embodiment, the state information further includes volumes of the audio applications in use. Referring to FIG. 2, the arbitration strategy further includes scenarios corresponding to the audio applications, namely a first scenario, a second scenario, a third scenario and a fourth scenario. Moreover, the arbitration strategy also includes different processing strategies corresponding to each different scenario, and the processing strategies determine volumes of corresponding sounder units or determine the sounder units mute or not. Referring to FIG. 2, 'Up' indicates turning up the volume, 'Down' indicates turning down the volume, and 'Muse' indicates being mute. In an embodiment, the first audio application is corresponding to an FM radio and the second audio application is corresponding to a GPS audio
navigation system and both of them are in use, which is corresponding to the third scenario. The third audio application is corresponding to an on-vehicle phone which is a newly added audio application. By combining the state information of the newly added audio application and the first and second audio applications in use, the current state information of the three audio applications is corresponding to the fourth scenario. Thereafter, a processing strategy is determined according to the fourth scenario, which includes adjusting the volumes of the audio applications or making some of them mute. In the embodiment, after the adjustment, the FM radio and the GPS audio navigation system are mute, and the on-vehicle phone works normally,” Zhang [0050], “Referring to FIG. 1, in a second embodiment, in
S102, the step of determining a processing strategy for the audio applications based on another arbitration strategy includes: Ranking the audio applications according to priorities of the audio applications based on the arbitration strategy; and determining a processing strategy according to the ranking result of the audio applications. In an embodiment, the arbitration strategy is recorded in a strategy file in an XML format, and the XML file may be amended according to practical requirements. For example, the XML file is amended if a new audio application is added, a new scenario needs to be added or the processing strategy needs to be amended according to the new scenario,” Zhang [0051]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention modify the current working scenario of Chumbly to include determining N audio applications with highest priorities as the N target applications based on an order of priority of the M audio applications so that the N target applications comprise at least the scenario-based application as taught by Zhang thereby insuring different working scenarios in the vehicle are addressed e.g., “a processing strategy is determined according to the fourth scenario, which includes adjusting the volumes of the audio applications or making some of them mute. In the embodiment, after the adjustment, the FM radio and the GPS audio navigation system are mute, and the on-vehicle phone works normally,” Zhang [0050].
Claim 7: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 3, but does not disclose wherein the current working scenario comprises an in-vehicle scenario, a home scenario, a conference scenario, a motion scenario, or a high-speed rail travel scenario. However, Zhang discloses a similar method of managing conflicts between audio applications and further discloses wherein the current working scenario comprises an in-vehicle scenario, a home scenario, a conference scenario, a motion scenario, or a high-speed rail travel scenario (see at least, “With development of the multi-media information technology, an integrated application system generally includes several sounder units and several audio applications for meeting needs of users in all aspects. Taking a vehicle-mounted system in an automobile as an example, the vehicle-mounted system generally includes several audio applications such as an FM radio, a GPS audio navigation system and an on-vehicle phone, each of which is corresponding to a respective sounder unit,” Zhang [0003], “Because the audio applications are independent to each other and are corresponding to different sounder units, conflicts may happen between the audio applications. For
example, while listening to the FM radio or using the GPS audio navigation system, a driver receives a call through the on-vehicle phone, but the driver can not adjust the ongoing audio applications of the FM radio and the GPS audio navigation system because he or she is driving, so that the call
quality will be adversely influenced. Furthermore, the more audio applications are configured in the vehicle-mounted system, the higher possibility of the conflicts between audio applications is,” Zhang [0004]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention modify the current working scenario of Chumbly to comprise the aforementioned in-vehicle scenario of Zhang thereby insuring different working scenarios in the vehicle are addressed e.g., “a processing strategy is determined according to the fourth scenario, which includes adjusting the volumes of the audio applications or making some of them mute. In the embodiment, after the adjustment, the FM radio and the GPS audio navigation system are mute, and the on-vehicle phone works normally,” Zhang [0050].
Claim(s) 11, 12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chumbly in view of Yoo et al. (US 2012/0054613 A1), hereinafter Yoo.
Claim 11: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 1, but does not disclose wherein outputting the audio data comprises playing the audio data through a plurality of audio playback devices, and wherein the audio playback devices comprise the electronic device and a device other than the electronic device. However, Yoo discloses a similar method and apparatus to process audio signals and further discloses wherein outputting the audio data comprises playing the audio data through a plurality of audio playback devices, and wherein the audio playback devices comprise the electronic device and a device other than the electronic device (see at least, “an audio signal processing method and apparatus of allocating audio sources to a plurality of audio output devices,” Yoo [0003], “The audio output devices 110 including the first audio output device 110a to the audio output device 110m are coupled with terminals Ta to Tm of the user terminal 100. The audio output devices 110 receive an electrical signal from the user terminal 100, and then process and output the electrical signal. An audio output device may be a speaker or a stereo system or a Digital Television (DTV), or a PC or a smart phone, and may be separate from the user terminal 100,” Yoo [0039], “As described above, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept, when the plurality of audio output devices 110 are coupled with the user terminal 100, the user terminal 100 can allocate a plurality of audio sources to the plurality of audio output devices 110 so that the plurality of audio output devices 110 can output audio signals of the plurality of audio sources at the same time, thereby expanding the usage of the user terminal 100,” Yoo [0067]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to expand the limited use of controlling sound output in the computing device of Chumbly to also include other connected audio output devices as taught by Yoo thereby allowing for improved approaches to utilizing the audio signals reproduced by the respective audio applications with audio output devices (see at least, Yoo [0007]).
Claim 12: Chumbly and Yoo disclose the method according to claim 11, wherein playing the audio data comprises: determining an audio playback device corresponding to each of the N target applications (see at least, “The allocating may include outputting a device allocation setup User Interface (UI), selecting an audio source and an audio output device in the device allocation setup UI, and allocating the selected audio source to the selected audio output device. The device allocation setup UI may include an icon indicating an audio output device. The selecting of the audio source and the audio
output device may include selecting one icon, and placing the icon on an application window through a drag and drop process for the icon. The allocating of the selected audio source to the selected audio output device may include allocating an audio source executed in the application window on which the icon is placed to an audio output device indicated by the icon,” Yoo [0018] – [0021]): determining, based on preset device priority information, the audio playback device corresponding to the target application (see at least, “The allocating may include allocating an audio source, for which an execution instruction has been provided, to an audio output device having a higher priority. The priorities may be allocated to the plurality of audio output devices based on a coupling order. The priorities may be set by a user. The priorities may be set to default,” Yoo [0014] – [0017]); or determining, based on a quantity of times the target application is played on each of the audio playback devices, the audio playback device corresponding to the target application; and playing the audio data of the N target applications based on the audio playback device (see at least, “utilize the audio signals reproduced by the respective audio applications with audio output devices,” Yoo [0007], “The application execution unit 107 transmits a plurality of audio sources (e.g., a first audio source to an Nth audio source, wherein N is a natural number equal to or greater than 2) to the audio output processing unit 109 by executing a plurality of applications. The audio sources may include any type of data that can be used to play an audio, such
as a music file, a video file, and etc.),” Yoo [0056]).
Claim 14: Chumbly discloses the method according to claim 1, but does not disclose wherein determining N target applications is based on a quantity of audio playback devices that are currently communicatively connected to the electronic device. However, Yoo discloses a similar method and apparatus to process audio signals and further discloses wherein determining N target applications is based on a quantity of audio playback devices that are currently communicatively connected to the electronic device (see at least, “The audio output processing unit 109 receives the plurality of audio sources from the application execution unit 107 and allocates the plurality of audio sources to the plurality of output devices 110 including the first audio output device 110a to the Mth audio output device 110m. The audio output processing unit 109 can transmit an audio source to an allocated
audio output device. In the current embodiment, the audio output processing unit 109 can allocate different audio sources to different audio output devices, respectively,” Yoo [0057], “The audio output processing unit 109 can allocate an audio source to an audio output device using various methods,” Yoo [0058], “According to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept, when the application execution unit 107 executes a plurality of audio sources, the audio output processing unit 109 can allocate audio sources to the audio output devices 110 according to priorities of the audio output devices 110. In one example, the audio output processing unit 109 can allocate an audio source to an audio output device having a higher priority in an order of an audio source for which an application is executed from among the plurality of audio sources. Thus, in this example, the first audio source may be allocated to an audio output device having the highest priority and the Nth audio source may be allocated to an audio output device having the lowest priority,” Yoo [0063], “The priority can be allocated to each of the plurality of audio output devices 110. By way of an example, the audio output processing unit 109 can allocate priorities to the plurality of audio output devices 110 including the first audio output device 110a to the Mth audio output device 110m according to the order of the plurality of audio output devices 110 coupled with terminals Ta to Tm of the user terminal 100. For example, the first audio output device 110a may have the highest priority and the Mth audio output device 110m may
have the lowest priority,” Yoo [0064]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the aforementioned features of Yoo in the invention of Chumbly thereby allowing for allowing for improved approaches to utilizing the audio signals reproduced by the respective audio applications with audio output devices (see at least, Yoo [0007]) so that “when the plurality of audio output devices 110 are coupled with the user terminal 100, the user terminal 100 can allocate a plurality of audio sources to the plurality of audio output devices 110 so that the plurality of audio output devices 110 can output audio signals of the plurality of audio sources at the same time, thereby expanding the usage of the user terminal 100,” Yoo [0067]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Stroud et al. US 8,768,494 B1 directed to a system and method for generating policy-based audio.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH SAUNDERS whose telephone number is (571)270-1063. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 4 p.m., EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn R Edwards can be reached at (571)270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH SAUNDERS JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692
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