The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15-24, in the reply filed on October 9, 2025, is acknowledged.
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 11 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
The claims are drawn to a “computer program”, per se, therefore, fail to fall within a statutory category of invention. A claim direction to a computer program itself is non-statutory because it is not:
A process, or
A machine, or
A manufacture, or
A composition of matter.
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.
Claims 7, 16-19, and 22 are 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.
Claim 7 is indefinite on line 5 because there is no clear antecedent basis for “the speaker of each of the center channel, the left channel, and the right channel” (a plurality of speakers), since line 1 of the claim recites “at least one speaker” (only a singular speaker). Perhaps lines 1-2 of the claim should be amended to be “to accommodate speakers of a plurality of channels…”, in view of similar claim language of claim 1, to clarify the claim language.
Claim 18 is indefinite because it is not understood what one means by the “audio interface unit, configured to receive a multi-channel audio signal from the output properties adjustment unit”. It appears from fig. 6, that the output properties adjustment unit is configured to receive the multi-channel audio signal from the audio interface unit 10, not the opposite way as currently claimed. For examination purposes only, the claim will be considered to be that the output properties adjustment unit 13 is configured to receive the multi-channel audio signal from the audio interface unit 10, as taught in reference to fig. 6. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 19 is indefinite on line 3 because there is no clear antecedent basis for “the at least one speaker settings”. Perhaps the claim should be amended to be “the output volume and the output timing of the speakers” to clarify the claim language.
Claim 22 is indefinite because it is unclear what one means by “a wireless terminal including a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC) including …” Perhaps the claim should be amended to be “a smartphone or a tablet person computer (PC), including …”, such as described in para. 0080 of the specification, to clarify the claim language.
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.
Claims 7 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shi et al. (US 2019/0394599).
Regarding claim 7, Shi discloses a sound bar 210 (see figs. 1-3C, for example), which is configured to accommodate speakers of a plurality of channels including at least a center channel, a left channel, and a right channel in a same housing (see para. 0035, regarding “the front left, front right, and center speakers may be located in the … sound bar”). The sound bar comprising an output properties adjustment unit 104 (‘calibration engine’) for adjusting, in accordance with a setting of a controller 122, an output volume and an output timing of the speaker of each of the center channel, the left channel, and the right channel. See para. 0034, regarding “a calibration engine embedded in an anchoring component placed at a fixed position in a listening room. For example, the anchoring component can be a sound bar…” See also, para. 0036, regarding “users may interact with the calibration engine through an application with a graphic user interface (GUI) installed on a user device, such as a mobile device…” See also, para. 0043, regarding “based on the estimated positions of each loudspeaker and the listener relative to the microphone array either automatically detected or from the GUI input, the calibration engine 104 can derive distances and angles between each loudspeaker and the listener using a mathematical algorithm… [T]he calibration engine 104 may adjust the delay and/or gain of multichannel audio signals sent to each loudspeaker based on the derived distances from each loudspeaker to the listener”.
Regarding claim 17, the sound bar further comprises a wireless interface unit, which is configured to wirelessly connected to the controller 122 via an access point. See fig. 1, and para. 0039, regarding that the calibration engine 104 of the sound bar communicates with the calibration application 124 of the controller 122 over a network 110 (e.g., a LAN, a MAN, a WAN, a cellular network, a private network, or a virtual private network), which is via an access point.
Regarding claim 18, as clear and understood, the sound bar includes an audio interface unit which is an interface configured to receive a multi-channel audio signal from an external audio source (e.g., a television or an A/V receiver). The output properties adjustment unit 104 (‘calibration engine’) of the sound bar is configured to receive the multi-channel audio signal from the audio interface unit.
Regarding claim 19, the sound bar comprises a main control unit, configured to receive information from the wireless interface unit and command the output properties adjustment unit 104 (‘calibration engine 104’) to adjust the output volume and the output timing of the speakers. See figs. 3A and 5, for example, regarding the user moving a speaker in the GUI and pressing the ‘Run Calibration’ menu button 301 to wirelessly command the calibration engine 104 to perform the calibration as claimed.
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 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi et al. (US 2019/0394599), as applied to claim 7 above, in further view of Walsh et al. (US 2015/0016642).
Shi discloses the invention as claimed, including a subwoofer speaker 214 for receiving and outputting a subwoofer channel, but fails to specifically teach that the subwoofer channel speaker is configured to be within the housing of the soundbar 210. Walsh discloses a sound bar integrating left and right channel speakers with a center channel speaker and a subwoofer channel speaker in the same housing, in the same field of endeavor, for the purpose of producing a soundbar which is “a flexible solution for either a standalone surround sound system or a key front component in home theater systems…” (para. 0032).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Shi, in view of Walsh, such that the subwoofer channel speaker is configured to be within the housing of the soundbar 210. A practitioner in the art would have been motivated to do this for the purpose of integrating the left and right channel speakers with a center channel speaker and a subwoofer channel speaker in the same housing to produce a soundbar which is “a flexible solution for either a standalone surround sound system or a key front component in home theater systems.
Claims 1-4, 9, 13, 15, 20, 21, and 24 are allowed.
Claim 22 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 11 and 23 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 set forth in this Office action.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Baek et al. discloses a sound system including a controller configured to perform calibration of wireless speakers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL W HUBER whose telephone number is (571)272-7588.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Duc Nguyen, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-7503. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL W HUBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
pwh
October 26, 2025