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 .
EXAMINER’S COMMENTS
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
3. 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.
4. Claim 292 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 292 recites the limitation "the peak resonance frequency of the resonant valley is less than or equal to 200 Hz" in Lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because the parent claim does not recite “a peak resonance frequency of a resonant valley”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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 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.
6. 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 of this title, 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.
7. Claims 1, 46 and 49-50 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liao et al. (Hereinafter Liao) US-PG-PUB No. 2019/0014425.
Regarding claim 1, Liao teaches
A headphone (Fig. 12 shows a bone conduction speaker headset), comprising:
a supporting assembly (Fig. 12 shows a headset bracket/headset lanyard 1201) and a core module (Fig. 12 shows a vibration unit 1202) connected with the supporting assembly (i.e. headset bracket/headset lanyard 1201), wherein the supporting assembly (i.e. headset bracket/headset lanyard 1201) is configured to support the core module (i.e. vibration unit 1202) to be worn at a wearing position (the headset bracket/headset lanyard 1201, which provides a clamping force between the vibration unit 1202 and the user…...Para. [0111], Lines 1-5),
the core module (i.e. vibration unit 1202) includes a core housing (Fig. 12 shows a housing 1202b), a transducer device (Fig. 12 shows a transducer 1203), and a vibration panel (Fig. 12 shows a contact surface 1202a), the transducer device (i.e. transducer 1203) is provided in a accommodating cavity of the core housing (i.e. housing 1202b), and the vibration panel (i.e. contact surface 1202a) is connected with the transducer device (i.e. transducer 1203) and is configured to transmit a mechanical vibration generated by the transducer device (i.e. transducer 1203) to a user (The contact surface 1202a may be connected to the transducer 1203, and keep contact with a user for transferring vibrations to the user……Para. [0111], Lines 5-7).
Fig. 12 of Liao does not teach that the core module includes a first vibration plate, and the transducer device is suspended in the accommodating cavity of the core housing through the first vibration plate.
Fig. 22A of Liao teaches that the core module (Fig. 22A shows a vibration system) includes a first vibration plate (Fig. 22A shows a first vibration conductive plate 2216), and the transducer device (Fig. 22A shows a transducer…..Para. [0151], Lines 1-7) is suspended in the accommodating cavity of the core housing (Fig. 22A shows a housing 2219) through the first vibration plate (i.e. first vibration conductive plate 2216) (The transducer may be fixed to the housing 2219 via the first vibration conductive plate 2216 forming a suspended structure…..Para. [0151], Lines 9-11) as shown in Fig. 22A.
Fig. 12 of Liao and Fig. 22A of Liao each disclose a core module. One of ordinary skill in the art could have replace the core module of Fig. 12 of Liao with the core module as taught by Fig. 22A of Liao. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the core module of Fig. 12 of Liao with the core module as taught by Fig. 22A of Liao. The motivation is to allow the transducer of the core module to be suspended in the accommodating cavity of the core housing via the first vibration conductive plate 2216 to reduce the vibration that the transducer is transferring to the housing, thus effectively decreasing sound leakage caused by the vibration of the housing, and reducing the effect of the vibration of the housing on the sound quality.
Liao discloses the claimed invention except for a mass of the core housing is greater than or equal to 1g, and a stiffness of the first vibration plate is less than or equal to 7000 N/m.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to change the size of a component and select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice, since it has been held that: "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. It appears that the invention would perform equally well as the invention disclosed by Liao.
Regarding claim 46, Liao teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Liao discloses the claimed invention except for wherein the mass of the core housing is greater than or equal to 1.2 g and the stiffness of the first vibration plate is less than or equal to 5000 N/m.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to change the size of a component and select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice, since it has been held that: "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. It appears that the invention would perform equally well as the invention disclosed by Liao.
Regarding claim 49, Liao teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Liao teaches that the transducer device (i.e. transducer….Para. [0151], Lines 1-2) includes a frame (Fig. 22A shows a vibration board 2214), a second vibration plate (Fig. 22A shows a second vibration conductive plate 2217), a magnetic circuit system (Fig. 22A shows a magnetic circuit system…..Para. [0151], Lines 1-6), and a coil (Fig. 22A shows a coil 2215), the frame (i.e. vibration board 2214) is connected with the core housing (i.e. housing 2219) through the first vibration plate (i.e. first vibration conductive plate 2216), the second vibration plate (i.e. second vibration conductive plate 2217) connects the frame (i.e. vibration board 2214) and the magnetic circuit system (i.e. magnetic circuit system…..Para. [0151], Lines 1-6) to suspend the magnetic circuit system (i.e. magnetic circuit system…..Para. [0151], Lines 1-6) inside the accommodating cavity as shown in Fig. 22A, the coil (i.e. coil 2215) is connected with the frame (i.e. vibration board 2214) and extends into a magnetic gap of the magnetic circuit system (i.e. magnetic circuit system…..Para. [0151], Lines 1-6) along a vibration direction of the transducer device (i.e. transducer….Para. [0151], Lines 1-2), and the vibration panel (Fig. 22A shows a panel 2213) is connected with the frame (i.e. vibration board 2214) as shown in Fig. 22A.
Regarding claim 50, Liao teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Liao discloses the claimed invention except for wherein a stiffness of the second vibration plate is greater than or equal to 1000 N/m.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice, since it has been held that: "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. It appears that the invention would perform equally well as the invention disclosed by Liao.
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Regarding claims 47-48, 51-55, 293-300 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELICA M MCKINNEY whose telephone number is (571)270-3321. The examiner can normally be reached 7AM-3PM EST M-F. 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, Fan Tsang can be reached at (571)272-7574. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANGELICA M MCKINNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2694