DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 9-13, 15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Desmet et al. (US 2022/0312140 A1), hereinafter “Desmet,” in view of Raft et al. (US 2020/0196085 A1), hereinafter “Raft.”
As to claim 1, Desmet discloses a method for generating sound within a predetermined environment, the method comprising:
concurrently emitting within the predetermined environment (¶0083-0084, Figs. 1 and 4. “a second audio signal is emitted from a second location within the environment concurrently with the emission of the first audio signal.”):
a pure sinusoidal audio signal from a first location (¶0068 and ¶0083, Figs. 1-2 and 4. “the combination of the first and second audio signals generates a third sinusoidal audio signal 146.” “a first audio signal is emitted from a first location within the environment.”); and
a second sinusoidal audio signal from a second location (¶0084, Figs. 1 and 4. “a second audio signal is emitted from a second location within the environment.”), wherein:
the first location and the second location are distinct (¶0063, Figs. 1 and 4. “The second location 118 is distinct from the first location 112.”);
the first sinusoidal audio signal and the second sinusoidal audio signal have a same frequency (¶0084, Figs. 1 and 4. “the second audio signal having the same frequency as the first audio signal.”); and
within a listening area of the predetermined environment, the first sinusoidal audio signal emitted from the first location has a first amplitude that is equal to or greater than a second amplitude of any other signal having said frequency and concurrently emitted from at least one of the first location and the second location (¶0041 and ¶0065. “In one embodiment, the amplitude of the first signal emitted by the first sound emitter 14 is identical to the amplitude of the second audio signal emitted by the second sound emitter 16.” “In one embodiment, the first and second audio signals have the same amplitude, i.e., at each point in time, the first and second audio signals have the same amplitude. In another embodiment, the first and second audio signals have different amplitudes, i.e., for at least some points in time, the first and second audio signals have different amplitudes.”).
Desmet does not expressly disclose a noisy sinusoidal audio signal.
Raft discloses a noisy sinusoidal audio signal (Raft, ¶0092, Fig. 7. “The processor 14 may comprise a signal generating module 56 for generating signals used to obtain or provide the complementing signals 58, 58A. The signal generating module 56 may comprise at least a first noise generator 80 and/or at least a first tone generator 82, as well as a multiplexer 84 that can select and combine the generated signals to be used as a basis for the complementing signals. The signal generating module 56 may be configured to generate noise signals such as white noise, pink noise, or a synthesized signal comprising multiple tones and having a desired power vs. frequency spectrum.”).
Desmet and Raft are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor with respect to spatial audio.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to generate a noisy signal, as taught by Raft. The motivation would have been to extend the effective bandwidth of the audio signal and render improved localization of the source (Raft, ¶0055).
As to claim 2, Desmet in view of Raft discloses wherein said emitting the noisy sinusoidal audio signal comprises filtering a noisy signal to obtain the noisy sinusoidal audio signal (Raft, ¶0092-0093, Fig. 7. “The processor 14 of the communication device may comprise one or more secondary filters including first secondary filter 86 and/or second secondary filter 88 used to filter, shape or otherwise process the signals from the multiplexer 84 to provide first complementing signal 58 and optionally second complementing signal 58A.”),
a first phase of the noisy sinusoidal audio signal being different from a second phase of the pure sinusoidal audio signal (Desmet, ¶0085. “The first and second audio signals are chosen so that the phase difference between the first and second audio signals varies as a function of time.”).
The motivation is the same as claim 1 above.
As to claim 4, Desmet in view of Raft discloses wherein the noisy signal comprises at least one of white noise, pink noise, red noise, brown noise and grey noise (Raft, ¶0092. “The signal generating module 56 may be configured to generate noise signals such as white noise, pink noise, or a synthesized signal comprising multiple tones and having a desired power vs. frequency spectrum.”).
The motivation is the same as claim 1 above.
As to claim 5, Desmet in view of Raft discloses wherein said emitting the noisy sinusoidal audio signal comprises: generating a plurality of sinusoidal audio signals; and
combining the plurality of sinusoidal audio signals to obtain the noisy sinusoidal audio signal (Raft, ¶0092. “The signal generating module 56 may be configured to generate noise signals such as white noise, pink noise, or a synthesized signal comprising multiple tones and having a desired power vs. frequency spectrum.”).
The motivation is the same as claim 1 above.
As to claim 9, it is directed towards substantially the same subject matter as claim 1 and is therefore rejected using the same motivation as claim 1 above.
As to claims 10, 12 and 15, they are rejected under claim 9 using the same motivation as claims 2 and 4-5 above.
As to claim 11, Desmet in view of Raft discloses wherein a difference between the phase of the pure sinusoidal audio signal and the phase of the noisy sinusoidal audio signal is chosen to be within a predetermined range. (Desmet, ¶0055. “In one embodiment, the phase difference in time between the first and second audio signals is comprised within the following range: [0; 2π]. In a further embodiment, the range of variation of the phase may be arbitrarily chosen.”).
As to claim 13, Desmet in view of Raft discloses filter the noisy signal using a band-pass filter (Raft, “The first secondary filter 86 and the second secondary filter 88 may have respective first and second high-pass frequencies and each be configured to apply a high pass filter cutting off a lower part of the signals from the multiplexer 84 at well-defined frequencies to reduce overlap with the input signals.”).
The motivation is the same as claim 1 above.
As to claim 20, it is directed towards substantially the same subject matter as claim 1 and is therefore rejected using the same motivation as claim 1 above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6-8, 14 and 16-19 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Fujita et al. (US 6,091,894)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES K MOONEY whose telephone number is (571)272-2412. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM -5:00 PM EST.
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/JAMES K MOONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695