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 . The instant application with Application Number 18/559,014 filed on 11/03/2023 is presented for examination. As per the preliminary amendments of 111/03/2023, claims 4, 9, 10 and 12-13 are amended. Claims 1-13 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statment
The Information Disclosure Statements dated 11/03/2023 and 03/13/2025 are acknowledged and the cited references have been considered in this examination.
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 3 recites the limitation " linear charger and /or the power connection … " in lines 2, and 5. It is not clear whether the limitations “… the power connection…” is part of the limit since the “and or” option is not clearly indicated. Correction or explanation is required to address or resolve this ambiguity.
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 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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Li (US 2020/0359123).
With respect to claims 1 and 13, Li discloses a charging device for a wearable device (Fig. 2, 140), the charging device comprising: a power source (Fig. 2, 247; para. # 0030: the charging device 140 may further include a rechargeable battery 248, a charger circuit 249, and a power input port 247); a DC-DC converter electrically connected to the power source (Fig. 2, 246), and adapted to receive input from the power
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source and provide a voltage output (the power conversion circuit 242 is configured to receive an input voltage Vin and is controlled by a control signal CS to convert the input voltage Vin into the output voltage Vo); controller that is in communication with the DC-DC converter (Fig. 2, 246); a linear charger electrically connected to the DC-DC converter and adapted to receive the voltage output from the DC-DC converter (Fig. 2, charging 124/, wearable device 120 and headset battery 122) and provide a voltage output to charge a battery in the wearable device via a power connection between the charging device and the wearable device (Para. # 0031: The charger circuit 124 may convert the output voltage Vo into a charging voltage Vc and charge the headset battery 122 with the charging voltage Vc and the charging current Ic. The charging voltage Vc is namely the voltage of the headset battery 122).
With respect to claim 2, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses wherein the DC-DC converter is a buck-boost regulator adapted to provide a variable voltage output (Fig. 2, 2422 and 2424).
With respect to claim 3, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses wherein the controller is electrically connected to the linear charger and/or the power connection and adapted to receive input from the linear charger and/or the power connection, and adapted to communicated with the buck-boost regulator so as to control the buck-boost regulator to adjust its voltage output based on the input from the linear charger and/or the power connection (See Fig. 2, charge 249/buck-boost 242 and 246; Par. # 0029).
With respect to claim 4, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses wherein the charging device is a charging case for earbuds, the wearable device is a pair of earbuds, and the power source comprises a battery (Fig. 2, 120; Para. # 0022).
With respect to claim 5, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses wherein the linear charger comprises a first and second linear chargers (Fig. 2, 249 and 124 chargers).
With respect to claim 6, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses wherein the first linear charger is electrically connected to the buck-boost regulator (Fig. 2, charger 249, controller 246 and boost-buck converter 242) and adapted to receive a first voltage output from the buck-boost regulator and provide a voltage output to charge a first earbud of the pair of the earbuds (Para. # 0030), the second linear charger (124) is electrically connected to the buck-boost regulator (242) and adapted to receive a second voltage output from the buck-boost regulator and provide a voltage output to charge a second earbud of the pair of the earbuds (Para. # 0031: The charger circuit 124 is coupled between the charging pin 126 and the headset battery 122. The charger circuit 124 may receive the output voltage Vo and the charging current Ic from the charging device 140 through the charging pin 126. The charger circuit 124 may convert the output voltage Vo into a charging voltage Vc and charge the headset battery 122 with the charging voltage Vc and the charging current Ic).
With respect to claim 7, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses wherein the first voltage output is independent from the second voltage output (Para. # 0041-0042).
With respect to claim 8, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses wherein the first voltage output is 0.2-0.3 V higher than the voltage of the battery in the first earbud, and the second voltage output is 0.2-0.3 V higher than the voltage of the battery in the second earbud (Para. # 0042, 0051 and 0052).
With respect to claims 9 and 11, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses wherein the power connection is established through an engagement between contacts of the charging case and contacts of the earbuds when the earbuds are stowed in the charging case (See Para. # 0004 and 0046).
With respect to claim 10, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses comprising: a wearable device comprising a battery, wherein the charging device is adapted to charge the battery of the wearable device via a power connection between the charging device and the wearable device (Para. # 0027: the output voltage Vo and the charging current Ic may be provided to the headset device 120 through the current detecting circuit 244 and the charging pin 241).
With respect to claim 12, Li discloses the charging device for the wearable device as described above, further discloses wherein there is no linear charger in the wearable device (Fig. 2, wearable device 120 has 124 as a charging circuit, not a linear charger).
Contact information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM.
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/YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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