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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
1.Claim(s) 1-10,13-20, and 23-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US20140268519) in view of Murata (US6188773).
With respect to claim 1 Huang discloses a device case (see figure 5) comprising:
A first portion (front plate portion numbered 12 ;
A second portion (backplate portion also numbered 12 including surface 54) opposite of the first portion, the first portion and the second portion defining a first space for a device such that the device case encases the device when the device is installed in the first space (see abstract and para 10);
At least one perforation (not expressly disclosed as a set of perforations but such speaker grille type structures are known in the art and would be functionally equivalent to the at least one aperture taught for the both the speaker and for the microphone) through the device case and corresponding to a location of an audio interference of the device in the first space, the audio interface including at least one of a microphone or a speaker; and
An acoustic isolation barrier (see para 128 description of waterproof speaker and the use of waterproof gaskets).
Huang does not expressly disclose an acoustic isolation barrier positioned between the first portion and the second portion, the acoustic isolation barrier defining a second space such that the audio interface is located in the second space when the device is installed in the first place.
Murata figure 2 discloses a case of an audio interface element (taught to be a microphone but also obvious to apply to a speaker which is the reversal of power input and output) wherein an isolation barrier (19) is positioned between a first portion (121) and a second portion (14) such that the audio interface (15) is located in the second space when the device is installed in the first space.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of the barrier as the means of waterproofing the audio interface element with the teachings of Huang to sue a waterproof speaker. The motivation for doing so would be to use a known structure which is easily repaired and replaced to arrive at the desired function.
With regards to the plurality of perforations or “set” of perforations this would have been the functional equivalent of the single opening in terms of sound passage but with the known benefit of providing the additional protection of such known structures as speaker grills.
With respect to claim 2 Huang as modified further discloses wherein the acoustic isolation barrier corresponds to the location of the set of perforations (see teachings of Murata figure 2 and the location of the opening as applied to the set of perforations of Huang as modified).
With respect to claim 3 Huang as modified further discloses a liquid barrier included in the device case within a predefined distance of the perforations (see at least the teachings of waterproof gaskets disclosed in Huang para 12-15).
With respect to claim 4 Huang (see figure 6 elements 31 and 32) further comprising one or more device risers (31,32) configured to raise the device toward the first portion or the second portion and away from the other of the first and the second portion, (spaces away from first portion) and wherein at least one of the one or more device risers includes the acoustic isolation barrier (such spacing would allow for the movement of the speaker is so located at the speaker. This would allow the known function of providing a space for the speaker to move and the barrier to move to allow sound to travel. The placement in such a location would be understood to be desirable to one in the art and would be merely the rearranging of the parts of the device already taught. It has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.)
With respect to claim 5 Huang as modified further discloses wherein the acoustic isolation barrier is configured to couple the first portion with the second portion (see Murata figure 2 see also the teachings of waterproof gaskets as taught by Huang).
With respect to claim 6 Huang as modified further discloses (see again Murat figure 2) further comprising a coupling element, wherein the acoustic isolation barrier includes at least one of a receiver, a male piece for the coupling element (see element 16 of Murata).
With respect to claim 7 Huang as modified further discloses wherein the acoustic isolation barrier comprises at least one of a foam material a plastic material a rubber material or a fabric material (column 4 lines 20-25 of Murata).
With respect 8 Huang as modified further discloses a channel for housing one or more components, wherein the acoustic isolation barrier includes the channel (that is to say the cavity which is formed as shown by the overall structure including element 16-20 of Murata in figure 2 of Murata) regarding the channel per se this would be merely a change in the shape of the cavity. The shaping of a structure so as to house another desired structure would have been an obvious mater so as to maintain the taught function with a device of different shape.
With respect to claim 9 Huang as modified further discloses wherein the channel (passage through element 16 of Murata) comprises a first and a second end, wherein the first end is exposed to a first side of the device case and the second end is exposed to a second side of the device case, and wherein the first side is between the first portion and the second portion and the second side is exposed to an outside of the device case (refer to portion of the device case of Huang that allows for the connection of a power changing cord or to an external battery element, this would have been an obvious use of a channel such as that taught by the passage through element 16 of Murata).
With respect to claim 10 Huang as modified further discloses wherein one or more components is at least one of a cable (such as a charge cable ) a PCB; a magnet, and RFID tag, a battery bank (an external batter such as that of Huang would meet such a battery bank limitation) or a sensor.
With respect to claim 13 Huang as modified further discloses a clip coupled to the device case and including a first perforation for a cable that feed through a second perforation of the device case (see figure 4 of Huang, see also manner in which the cable passes into the device of Murata figure 2).
With respect to claim 14 Huang as modified further discloses wherein the microphone is located in the second space when the device is installed in the first space (see Huang there is taught both microphone and speaker for the portable terminal device) and further comprising”:
A second acoustic isolation barrier positioned between the first portion and the seconds portion and that is in contact with at least one of the device, the first portion or the second portion, the second acoustic isolation barrier defining a third space such that the microphone is located in the third space when the device is installed in the first space (the use of the isolation barrier to separate out a microphone is taught by Murata, the use of multiple barriers would have been an obvious duplication of the parts. The placing of the barriers such that the respective audio components are protected would have been an obvious matter to ensure the function of the devices and the barriers which protect them).
With respect to claim 15 Huang as modified further discloses a second set of perforations through the second portion and corresponding to the location of the audio interface in the first space (this passage would have been obvious to include to allow for the passing of the sounds by means of the barrier membrane member).
With respect to claim 16 Huang as modified further discloses one or more membranes that are water impermeably and acoustically permeable (see again figure 2 of Murata, element 19).
With respect to claim 17 Huang as modified discloses a system comprising a device, a device case and the device comprising the first and second portions and the perforations and acoustic barriers (refer to above rejections of claims 1 and dependent, the device being the portable communications device discussed by Huang abstract).
With respect to claim 18 Huang as modified further discloses wherein the device case further comprises a request button located on at least one of the device case, the device, or located in at least one of the device case or the device and a circuit that processes input received by the request button (see discussion of the “home” button in paragraph 121).
With respect to claim 19 Huang as modified further discloses wherein the device case further comprises a power charger (external battery). While not expressly disclosing a magnetic means of charging the device, the use of inductive charging would have been obvious to apply to the device as such magnetic means of charging have become commonplace before the time of the effective filing of the invention.
With respect to claim 20 Huang as modified discloses a communications device which includes both speakers and microphones (para 123).
With respect to claim 23, Huang (para 113) discloses an external connection means allowing for the connection of a USB interface, which is a known type connection for both providing power to and from a mobile phone as well as data both to and from a mobile phone.
With respect to claim 24 Huang further discloses (see element 60 in figure 4) a tray configured to be coupled with at least one of the first portion or the second portion and configured to be coupled with the device of a first size and a second device of a second size that is different from the first size (the phone and the user or the clothing thereof are considered to be of differing sizes).
With respect to claim 25 Huang as modified further discloses a method comprising:
Providing a device case (implicit as the case is present) including a set of perforations through the device case, a first portion and a second portion opposite of the first portion configured to define a first space for a device such that the device case encases the device when the device is installed in the first space, wherein the device case includes an acoustic isolation barrier between the first portion and the second portion, the acoustic isolation barrier defining a second space (see above rejections of claims 1 and depending));
Installing the device (see figure 4 of Huang) that includes an audio interface between the first portion and the second portion at a location such that the audio interface correspond to the set of perforations and is located in the second space, wherein the audio interface includes at least one of a microphone or a speaker.
With respect to claim 26 Huang as modified further discloses (see again figures 4-6 of Huang) when installing the device comprises placing the device against one or more device risers (see elements 31 and 32 in figure 6) configured to raise the device toward the first portion and away from the second portion wherein at least one of the one or more device risers includes the acoustic isolation barrier (in this instance as the first portion will be the back portion such a defining of the spaces will not alter the effect of the device, and the inclusion of the barrier elements in the locations of the audio devices would provide the needed space for the respective barrier members to vibrate to transmit the sound).
With respect to claim 27 Huang as modified further discloses wherein the method further comprises mating the first portion and the second portion to define the first space (see abstract and figures).
2. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US20140268519) in view of Murata (US6188773) as applied to claim 1 and in further view of Bicard-Benehamou (US20100119461).
With respect to claim 11Hunag as modified discloses the invention as claimed except expressly wherein the acoustic isolation barrier comprises antimicrobial additives.
Bicard-Benehamou discloses the use of antimicrobial agents in a manufacture of membranes and for phones (para 50). The sue of such materials in a membrane teaches the use of such an additive in a manner analogous to the barrier and as such would have been obvious to apply to the isolation barrier of Huang as modified.
2. Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US20140268519) in view of Murata (US6188773) as applied to claim 17 and in further view of Wu (US20230279589).
With respect to claim 21 Huang as modified further discloses a cable providing at least one of power or data to at least one of the device or the device case, the cable including a second audio interface
Wu discloses (para 68) the inclusion of such controls for a smart phone as volume controls or other audio interface controls on a cord.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include such interface controls into the cord as taught by Wu with the cord of the device and case of Huang to provide the user with addition control while keeping the device in the user’s pocket (see pa 68 of Wu).
4. Claims 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US20140268519) in view of Murata (US6188773) as applied to claim 17 and in further view of Dixon (US20140013503) and Foseide (US6462668).
Huang as modified discloses the invention as claimed except for the provision of the magnet connectors which are configured to couple the device to a hospital system.
Dixon discloses the use of magnetic sensors connected to a hospital system to detect falls (see para 50 and 64).
Foseide discloses magnetic connectors within a charging cable for use in a hospital environment (see abstract and column 5) for alarming when the magnetic connection of the power cable is disconnected.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Foseide and Dixon with the device of Huang as modified to provide detection of disconnection of the cable which would be able to indicate the disconnection of the device by means of a patient getting out of bed and thus mitigate fall risk.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Liu (US20240073619) discloses a speaker box with waterproof membrane; Loh (US20230293026) discloses a user wearable interface with sensors for hospital monitoring; Choi (US20230052402) discloses an electronic device including sound module; Fukushima (US20210251095) discloses a waterproof membrane.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
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/FORREST M PHILLIPS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837