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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 6-12, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wurmfeld, US Patent 10,262,674 in view of Nicholson et al, US PGPub 2024/0036808.
Regarding claims 1 and 14, Wurmfeld teaches an audio processing system, comprising a first terminal device (112A), a second terminal device (112B), and a first electronic device (call session server 130), wherein the first electronic device is communicatively connected to the first terminal device and the second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is configured to capture a first audio signal and transmit the first audio signal to the first electronic device (see column 3 lines 47-60 and column 4 lines 27-67), the second terminal device is configured to capture a second audio signal and transmit the second audio signal to the first electronic device (also see column 3 lines 47-60 and column 4 lines 27-67), the first electronic device is configured to perform a signal processing on at least one of the first audio signal and the second audio signal to generate a first processed audio signal (call session server 130 contains a balancing module 338 which does signal processing on the received signals from the devices 112A, 112B; see column 12 lines 20 – column 13 line 20).
However, Wurmfeld fails to teach transmit the first processed audio signal to a selected device, wherein the selected device is one of the first terminal device and the second terminal device and the selected device is configured to transmit the first processed audio signal to a remote system.
In the same field of endeavor, Nicholson et al discloses a conferencing environment comprising multiple communication devices (see figure 1, communication devices 102) and an electronic device (control unit 120). The control unit 120 is used to minimize echo and/or feedback (see paragraph 28) through the use of muting and unmuting the communication devices 102. Paragraph 30 discloses that the control unit 120 may mix audio from the communication devices. Paragraphs 40-42 discloses that the control unit 120 sends indications of how the audio should be processed at the communication devices 102. Accordingly, Nicholson et al teaches transmit the first processed audio signal to a selected device, wherein the selected device is one of the first terminal device and the second terminal device and the selected device is configured to transmit the first processed audio signal to a remote system wherein the first processed audio signal is any one of the indicators to mute/unmute/volume control/echo cancellation control at the selected communication device 102. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to modify the invention of Wurmfeld per the teachings of Nicholson et al to automatically adjust the volume of individual speakers and reduce echo without user intervention for the purpose of improving the quality of a conference call.
2. The audio processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first electronic device is configured to perform an audio mixing processing on the first audio signal and the second audio signal to generate the first processed audio signal (Wurmfeld, column 12 lines 20 – column 13 line 20).
Regarding claim 6, Wurmfeld teaches the audio processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first electronic device is configured to execute a terminal device selection process, wherein the terminal device selection process comprises to detect a first connection state of the first terminal device and a second connection state of the second terminal device, and to select the first terminal device as the selected device and transmit the first processed audio signal to the first terminal device in response to the first connection state being superior to the second connection state or to select the second terminal device as the selected device and transmitting the first processed audio signal to the second terminal device in response to the second connection state being superior to the first connection state (see Wurmfeld column 11 line 19 – column 13 line 20 and Nicholson et al paragraph 36).
Regarding claim 7, Wurmfield teaches audio processing system according to claim 6, wherein the first electronic device is configured to be executed to detect whether a connection state of the selected device is abnormal and re-execute the terminal device selection process in response to the connection state of the selected device being abnormal (column 11 line 19 – column 13 line 20).
Regarding claim 8, the audio processing system according to claim 6, wherein the first connection state comprises a connection signal between the first terminal device and the remote system, and the second connection state comprises a connection signal between the second terminal device and the remote system is taught by Wurmfeld figure 1.
Regarding claim 9, Wurmfeld teaches the audio processing system according to claim 1, wherein the selected device further comprises a speaker, and the selected device is configured to be executed to receive a response audio signal corresponding to the first processed audio signal and output audio according to the response audio signal through the speaker (Wurmfeld column 4 lines 21-33).
Regarding claim 10, Wurmfeld teaches the audio processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first electronic device comprises a speaker, and the first electronic device is configured to execute to receive a response audio signal corresponding to the first processed audio signal, and output audio according to the response audio signal through the speaker (Wurmfeld element 114C).
Regarding claim 11, Wurmfeld teaches the audio processing system according to claim 1, wherein the remote system comprises a third terminal device, wherein the third terminal device is communicatively connected to the selected device and receives the first processed audio signal from the selected device (the third device is device 112C).
Regarding claim 12, the audio processing system according to claim 11, wherein in response to receiving the first processed audio signal, the third terminal device is configured to transmit a response audio signal corresponding to the first processed audio signal to the selected device is taught by Wurmfeld figure 1 (the third device is device 112C).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 13 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. Chen US Patent 9,584,758, Edry et al, US PGPUB 2021/0195325, Chakra et al, US 2018/0358034.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Brian T Pendleton whose telephone number is (571)272-7527. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30AM - 5:30 PM.
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, Colleen Fauz can be reached at (571) 272-1667. 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.
Brian T. Pendleton
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2425
/Brian T Pendleton/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2425