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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 14-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 1/20/26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the wireless set of headphones". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7, on which claim 13 depends, does not recite a “wireless set of headphones”. One way to overcome the rejection would be to amend claim 13 to depend on claim 8.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-10, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Karkera (US 20220357766).
Karkera teaches a set of audio headphones (fig. 4A and 4C) operatively coupled to an information handling system, comprising: a digital signal processor (DSP) (processor, para 38); a headphone power management unit (PMU) to provide power to the DSP (battery, para 37); a first ear cup (14, fig 4A) with a first speaker (fig. 4A) and a second ear cup (fig. 4C) with a second speaker (fig. 4C) operatively coupled to each other via a headband (1, fig. 4A); and a mouth privacy cover (mouthpiece 3, fig 4A) having an integrated microphone and operatively coupled to the first ear cup at a first end of the mouth privacy cover and operatively coupled to the second ear cup at a second end of the mouth privacy cover (see fig. 4A and 4C), the mouth privacy cover having a microphone (para 25, 27) built into the mouth privacy cover and operatively coupled to the DSP via a cover receiver with electrical contacts formed on the mouth privacy cover and interfacing with ear cup contact pads formed on at least one of the first ear cup and second ear cup (inherently there is wiring connecting earcups and mouth privacy cover, see fig. 4A and 4C).
Regarding claim 2, Karkera teaches the set of audio headphones of claim 1 further comprising: a touch audio sensor formed on a housing of the mouth privacy cover to receive touch input from a user to adjust audio characteristics of the audio output from the first speaker and second ( user may touch volume up/down buttons 10, [0037]).
Regarding claim 4, Karkera teaches the set of audio headphones of claim 1 further comprising: the first ear cup comprising first ear cup contact pads and the second ear cup comprising second ear cup contact pads to interface with a first cover receiver with electrical contacts and a second cover receiver with electrical contacts of the mouth privacy cover to transmit audio data from the microphone to the DSP (hardware used to implement various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), [0053]).
Regarding claim 5, Karkera teaches the set of audio headphones of claim 1 further comprising: a headphone radio to wirelessly couple the set of audio headphones to the information handling system (wireless, [0024]).
Regarding claim 6, Karkera teaches the set of audio headphones of claim 1 further comprising: a latch formed on at least one side of the mouth privacy cover to latch the at least one side of the mouth privacy cover to at least one of the first ear cup and second ear cup (length adjustment structure 67 that enables a user to adjust the band to fit the user's head, [0045]).
Regarding claim 7, Karkera teaches the set of audio headphones of claim 1 further comprising the mouth privacy cover including hinges that allow and adjustable boom portion of the mouth privacy cover to be angled up or down to align the adjustable boom portion of the mouth privacy cover with a user's mouth to cover the user's mouth to prevent the user's voice from being heard (hinge coupling eyewaear to control unit, claim 6).
Regarding claim 8, Karkera teaches a wireless set of headphones, comprising: a digital signal processor (DSP) (processor, para 38);; and a headphone radio to wirelessly couple the set of headphones to an information handling system (wireless, [0024]); a first speaker disposed in a first ear cup (fig 4A) and a second speaker disposed in a second ear cup to provide audio output to a user (fig 4C); a mouth privacy cover operatively coupled to the first ear cup at a first end of the mouth privacy cover having a crescent shape to reflect a user's voice back to a space between the mouth privacy cover and the user's mouth when the wireless set of headphones are worn (mouthpiece 3, fig 4A); a microphone formed into the mouth privacy cover to receive audio input from the user (para 25, 27); a headphone power management unit (PMU) to provide power to the DSP, the first speaker, the second speaker, and the microphone (battery, para 37); a mouth privacy cover receiver with electrical contacts formed on the mouth privacy cover and removably and operatively coupled to ear cup contact pads formed on the first ear cup to operatively couple the microphone to the DSP (inherently there is wiring connecting earcups and mouth privacy cover, see fig. 4A and 4C); and the mouth privacy cover including hinges for an adjustable boom portion of the mouth privacy cover to be angled up or down to align the mouth privacy cover with a user's mouth to cover the user's mouth to prevent the user's voice from being heard (hinge coupling eyewear to control unit, claim 6).
Regarding claim 9, Karkera teaches the wireless set of headphones of claim 8 further comprising: a second mouth privacy cover receiver with electrical contacts at a second end of the mouth privacy cover removably and operatively coupled to a second ear cup via ear cup contact pads formed on the second ear cup (fig 4C).
Regarding claim 10, Karkera teaches the wireless set of headphones of claim 8 further comprising: a touch audio sensor formed on a housing of the mouth privacy cover and operatively coupled to the DSP to receive touch input from a user to adjust audio characteristics of the audio output the first speaker and the second speaker ( user may touch volume up/down buttons 10, [0037]).
Regarding claim 13, Karkera teaches the wireless set of headphones of claim 7 further comprising: the mouth privacy cover including hinges that allow an adjustable boom portion of the mouth privacy cover to be angled up or down to align the adjustable boom portion of the mouth privacy cover with a user's mouth to cover the user's mouth (hinge coupling eyewear to control unit, claim 6).
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.
Claim(s) 3 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Karkera.
Regarding claim 3, Karkera teaches the set of audio headphones of claim 1 further comprising: one or more light-emitting diode (LED) indicators formed into a housing of the mouth privacy cover to be visible by the user to indicate to the user a status of the adjustments to audio characteristics of audio output to the first speaker and second speaker or the integrated microphone (additional user interfaces (e.g., buttons, dials, lights, displays, speakers, etc.) may be associated with further functionalities, [0037]; although not explicitly disclosed, obvious they could be LED for volume as only routine skill and creativity in the art required).
Regarding claim 11, Karkera teaches the wireless set of headphones of claim 8 further comprising: one or more light-emitting diode (LED) indicators formed into a housing of the mouth privacy cover to indicate to the user a status of adjustments to audio characteristics of the audio output received from the DSP for the first speaker and the second speaker (additional user interfaces (e.g., buttons, dials, lights, displays, speakers, etc.) may be associated with further functionalities, [0037]; although not explicitly disclosed, obvious they could be LED for volume as only routine skill and creativity in the art required).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 is 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. Bahe (US 20240373156) and Crumitie (US 20240357270) teach mouth privacy covers for a headset.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kile Blair whose telephone number is (571)270-3544. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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/KILE O BLAIR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
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