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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 7/1/2026 has been entered.
Claim Status
The claims filed 7/1/2026 have been entered.
Claims 1-6 and 8-18 are pending.
Claims 1 and 10 are independent.
Claim 1 is currently amended.
Claims 2-6 and 8-9 are original.
Claims 10-18 are withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/1/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
35 U.S.C. 102 and 35 U.S.C. 103
Regarding the prior rejections of claims 1-6 and 8-9 as being anticipated or obvious over Champaneria (US 2015/0278803 A1), Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by the current amendment.
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.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rule (US 2021/0021305 A1) in view of Lee (US 2021/0218439 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Rule discloses a computer-implemented method, comprising:
detecting, using at least one processor of an audio signal receiving device, a first device and establishing a near-field communication (NFC) exchange communication link with the first device (see para. 0038-0040, wherein “audio signal receiving device” reasonably covers a mobile device with NFC capability, since NFC operates via radio frequency; the phone is also an “audio signal receiving device” because it receives audio signals other than NFC);
receiving, using the at least one processor of the audio signal receiving device, one or more signals from the first device, wherein the audio signal receiving device has a transceiver coil coupled to the at least one processor (see para. 0037-0040);
generating, using the at least one processor of the audio signal receiving device, one or more prompts to reposition the first device in relation to the audio signal receiving device from the first position to one or more second positions, at least one second position in the one or more second positions corresponding to a maximum signal strength of the one or more signals (see para. 0015, 0049; Figs. 4-5); and
extracting, using the at least one processor of the audio signal receiving device, information from the first device only upon the first device being detected to be located in the at least one second position based on a measurement of the maximum signal strength (see para. 0115).
Rule discloses determining a first position of the first device in relation to the audio signal receiving device in order to maximize signal strength (see Figs. 12A, 12B, 12C). Rule does not explicitly disclose, but Lee teaches each of the one or more signals being responsive to one or more transmissions generated and sent to the first device; determining positioning based on a signal strength of the one or more signals from the first device, the signal strength corresponding to a current load measured at the transceiver coil (see para. 0013-0015).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Rule to include the feature of Lee to improve the accuracy and precision in detecting position (see Lee, para. 0013-0015).
Regarding claim 3, Rule discloses wherein the first device is a contactless card (see para. 0032, Figs. 12A, 12B, 12C).
Regarding claim 4, Rule discloses wherein the contactless card, based on the establishing of the NFC exchange communication link, is configured to transmit to the audio signal receiving device a contactless card data, the contactless card data includes at least one of the following: an account number associated with the contactless card, a virtual account number associated with the contactless card, an expiration date associated with the contactless card, a card verification value (CVV) associated with the contactless card, a billing address associated with the contactless card, a name of a user associated with the contactless card, and any combination thereof (see para. 0032)
Regarding claim 5, Rule discloses wherein the contactless card includes at least one of the following: a credit card, a debit card, an electronic gift card, a pre-paid credit card, a pre-paid debit card, and any combination thereof (see para. 0032).
Regarding claim 6, Lee teaches wherein the signal strength is determined based on a current load measured at the transceiver coil (see para. 0013-0015).
Regarding claim 8, Rule discloses wherein a content of at least one prompt in the one or more prompts is different from at least another prompt in the one or more prompts and is determined based on the determined signal strength (see Figs. 10, 11, 12A, 12B, 12C).
Regarding claim 9, Rule discloses wherein the content of the at least one prompt includes at least one of: an audio prompt, a video prompt, a graphics prompt, an image prompt, a textual prompt, and any combinations thereof (see para. 0049; Figs. 4-5).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rule (US 2021/0021305 A1) in view of Lee (US 2021/0218439 A1), further in view of Modi (US 2019/0228417 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Rule does not explicitly disclose, but Modi teaches, wherein the audio signal receiving device includes at least one of: one or more earphones, one or more headphones, one or more virtual reality devices, one or more augmented reality devices, one or more virtual reality glasses, one or more augmented reality glasses, and any combinations thereof (see para. 0035, 0064).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Rule include the feature taught by Modi.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to facilitate payments with a virtual reality headset device (see Modi, para. 0064, 0068).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chauvin (US 2020/0091965 A1) discloses a device implementing a system for NFC communication includes a processor configured to receive, from an other device, pulse signals for detecting proximity of the device with the other device. The processor is further configured to determine an interval at which the pulse signals are received from the other device. The processor is further configured to determine a time when the other device is expected to transmit a subsequent pulse signal based at least in part on the determined interval. The processor is further configured to transmit a signal to the other device based on the determined time when the other device is expected to transmit the subsequent pulse signal.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC T WONG whose telephone number is (571)270-3405. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm M-F.
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, Michael W Anderson can be reached at 571-270-0508. 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.
/ERIC T WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3693
ERIC WONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3693
Prosecution Insights