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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114 ("RCE"), including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on September 11, 2026, has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 15-34 were previously pending and subject to a Final Office Action having a notification date of June 18, 2026 (“Final Office Action”). Following the Final Office Action, Applicant filed the RCE and an amendment on September 11, 2026 (“Amendment”), amending claims 15, 25, 29, 31, and 32; canceling claims 20 and 22; and adding new claims 35 and 36.
The present non-final Office Action addresses pending claims 15-19, 21, and 23-36 in the Amendment.
Response to Arguments
Response to Applicant’s Arguments Regarding Claim Rejections Under 35 USC §112
While these rejections are withdrawn in view of the Amendment, new rejections under 35 USC 112 are presented herein as necessitated by the Amendment.
Response to Applicant’s Arguments Regarding Claim Rejections Under 35 USC §103
These rejections are withdrawn in view of the Amendment
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 15-19, 21, and 23-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Each of independent claims 15 and 29 has been amended to recite, inter alia, "authenticating the user based on correlating both (i) the biometric information collected from the ear canal microphone, including the acoustic signature, and (ii) the ambient sound pressure level received from the external microphone, to a profile of the user stored in a data structure, wherein the ambient sound pressure level is correlated to a background-noise level associated with the environment of the user to corroborate the authentication." In this regard, the claims call for authenticating the user based on a correlation of the acoustic signature and the ambient sound pressure level to a user profile, and also a correlation of the ambient sound pressure level to an environmental background noise level to corroborate the above-noted authentication.
For reference, [0085] and [0114] of the present specification disclose how the physiological and environmental sensors can be used as part of an authentication system.
Furthermore, [0071] separately discloses how ambient sound pressure levels can be measured and used to "verify and corroborate additional information alleged by the user." For instance, [0071] provides examples whereby "a person conducting a transaction at a known venue having a particular background noise characteristic … commonly frequented by the user of the monitoring device can provide added confirmation that a particular transaction is occurring in a location by the user" or "a registered user at home (with minimal background noise) [conducting] a transaction and speaking with a customer service representative regarding [a] transaction [may] typically speak at a particular volume or SPL indicative that the registered user is the actual person claiming to make the transaction." Paragraph [0071] also discloses "[a] multimodal profile can be built and stored for an individual to sufficiently corroborate or correlate the information to that individual." Therefore, [0071] generally appears to disclose how determining that an ambient sound level is the same/similar to an ambient sound level typically associated with a particular user can provide confirmation/corroboration that user is a particular user and that such information can be stored in a profile for the user.
However, the Examiner cannot identify any portion of the present specification that provides support for authenticating the user based on a correlation of the acoustic signature and the ambient sound pressure level to a user profile, and additionally a correlation of the ambient sound pressure level to an environmental background noise level to corroborate the above-noted authentication. Instead, the correlation of the ambient sound pressure level to the environmental background noise level disclosed in [0071] is just to corroborate that a particular person is who he/she says he/she is rather than specifically corroborating the specific authentication of the user "based on correlating both (i) the biometric information collected from the ear canal microphone, including the acoustic signature, and (ii) the ambient sound pressure level received from the external microphone, to a profile of the user stored in a data structure" as required in independent claims 15 and 29.
The remaining claims are rejected based on their dependency from one of the above rejected claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
US 20150310444 A1 discloses an adaptive biometric authentication system that includes a user identity reference module that is configured to maintain user identification items stored in a secure memory. The system may include a passive data aggregator that is configured to receive and aggregate data items that are passively collected by a device that is in proximity to a user. The system may include a user identity confidence level generator that is configured to generate a user identity confidence level that indicates a confidence that the user in proximity to the device is the reference user based at least in part on a comparison between the passively collected data items and the user identification items, and to update the user identity confidence level as additional passively collected data items are received. The system may include an authentication module that facilitates user authentication based at least in part on the user identity confidence level.
US 20190156003 A1 discloses an electronic device that includes one or more sensors, a first authenticator, and at least a second authenticator. The first authenticator is operable to attempt to authenticate authentication input of a first type, while the second authenticator is operable to attempt to authenticate authentication input of a second type, wherein the second type is different from the first type. One or more processors launch or actuate the second authenticator where the first authenticator authenticates the authentication input of the first type and one or more sensors detect the authentication input of the second type.
US 20190289000 A1 discloses a computer-implemented method for authenticating an identity of a user requesting execution of a computerized transaction via a first client computing device. The first device and a second client computing device in proximity each execute applications for communicating with a server. The first and second devices contemporaneously capture voice sequences including at least one audible sound vocalized by the user, and a timestamp indicating when the sound is captured. The identity of the user is validated based upon a determination that the user vocalized the pass phrase, and a difference between the first timestamp and the second timestamp is below a predetermined threshold. The first device executes a computerized transaction with the server computing device upon receiving validation of the identity of the user.
WO 2017069118 A1 discloses a personal authentication device including an acoustic signal transmission means (701) for transmitting a first acoustic signal to a portion of a user's head; an acoustic signal observation means (702) for observing a second acoustic signal, which is an acoustic signal after the first acoustic signal has propagated through a portion of the head; an acoustic characteristics calculation means (703) for calculating acoustic characteristics from the first acoustic signal and the second acoustic signal; and a user identification means (704) for identifying a user on the basis of the acoustic characteristics or characteristics values related to the user extracted from the acoustic characteristics.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHON A. SZUMNY whose telephone number is (303) 297-4376. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason Dunham, can be reached at 571-272-8109. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHON A. SZUMNY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3686
