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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Applicant is advised that the new art unit number is 2692. Please use the new art unit number for all future communications.
This Office action is in response to the Election filed on 2/3/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/20/2024, 1/23/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification - Title
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Drawings
Replacement drawings for Figures 1A-8C were received on 5/28/2024. These drawings are acceptable in that they are in compliance with 37 CFR § 1.121(d) and have thus been entered into the record.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species V (Figure 3, but with 13 and 16 replaced by Figure 8A) in the reply filed on 12/4/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 13-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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, 16-18, 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liao et al. (US 2019/0014425).
Regarding claim 1, Liao discloses an earphone (Fig. 12), comprising a support component (1201) and a core module (1202) connected with the support component (Fig. 12 and ¶ 0110), wherein
the support component is configured to support the core module to be worn to a wearing position (¶ 0111),
the core module (1202 of Fig. 12 which can be the unit of Fig. 25) includes a core housing (2519), a transducer device (e.g., 2510-2512, 2514, 2515, 2517, 2518), and a vibration panel (2513) (see Fig. 25),
the transducer device is disposed in an accommodating cavity of the core housing (see Fig. 25),
the vibration panel is connected with the transducer device (see Fig. 12) and configured to transmit a mechanical vibration generated by the transducer device to a user (¶ 0143),
the core module further includes an auxiliary structure (2510) connected with the vibration panel (see Fig. 25), and
the auxiliary structure is configured such that a first frequency response curve of a vibration of the vibration panel in a non-wearing state has a first resonance valley in a target frequency range (first interpretation: ¶ 0156 and Fig. 24-B shows “bad contact status” (which can be considered a non-wearing state) has valley in 300Hz-500Hz area) (second interpretation: the frequency response of the vibration of the vibration panel 2513 in a non-wearing state necessarily has a resonance valley (valley in 100Hz-200Hz area, or valley in 6kHz-9kHz area), due to the presence of the vibration conductive plates 2516 and 2517; see Figs. 20, 21-A, 21-B, ¶ 0139 and last two sentences of ¶ 0143)
(Fig. 25 of Liao assigns the same reference number of 2510 to two different elements. Thus, for clarity, the Examiner is stating here that the upper 2510 is mapped to the claimed “auxiliary panel” and the lower 2510 is mapped to the claimed “transducer device”).
Regarding claim 2, Liao discloses the earphone of claim 1, wherein the target frequency range is from 20 Hz to 1 kHz (first interpretation: Fig. 24-B, and note that 300Hz-500Hz is and 200Hz which is within the 20Hz to 1kHz range) (second interpretation: Fig. 21-B shows valley between 100Hz and 200Hz which is within the 20Hz to 1kHz range).
Regarding claim 16, Liao discloses the earphone of claim 1, wherein along a vibration direction of the transducer device, the auxiliary structure (2510) and the vibration panel (2513) are located on a same side of the core housing (see Fig. 25).
Regarding claim 17, Liao discloses the earphone of claim 1, wherein the core module further includes a vibration damping plate (2516) (¶ 0152: 2516 (which is the Fig. 25 equivalent of 2216) reduces vibration that transducer transfers to housing), and the housing (2519) and the vibration panel (2513) are elastically connected through the vibration damping plate (see Fig. 25) (¶ 0007: vibration conductive plates can be elastic).
Regarding claim 18, Liao discloses the earphone of claim 17, wherein the non-wearing state is defined as that earphone is not worn to the wearing position, the support component is fixed, and the core module is cantilevered relative to the support component (according to the second interpretation set forth in the claim 1 rejection: the frequency response of the vibration of the vibration panel 2513 in a non-wearing state necessarily has a resonance valley (valley in 100Hz-200Hz area, or valley in 6kHz-9kHz area), due to the presence of the vibration conductive plates 2516 and 2517; see Figs. 20, 21-A, 21-B, ¶ 0139 and last two sentences of ¶ 0143, and thus will have the resonance valley in any non-wearing state including states where the non-wearing state is defined as that earphone is not worn to the wearing position, the support component is fixed, and the core module is cantilevered relative to the support component); and
the first frequency response curve further has a second resonance valley (Fig. 21-B: valley in 100Hz-200Hz area), and a central resonance frequency of the second resonance valley is less than a central resonance frequency of the first resonance valley (Fig. 21-B: valley in 6kHz-9kHz area) (as seen in Fig. 21-B).
Regarding claim 24, Liao discloses an earphone (Fig. 12), comprising a support component (1201) and a core module (1202) connected with the support component (Fig. 12 and ¶ 0110), wherein
the support component is configured to support the core module to be worn to a wearing position (¶ 0111),
the core module (1202 of Fig. 12 which can be the unit of Fig. 25) includes a core housing (2519), a transducer device (e.g., 2510-2512, 2514, 2515, 2517, 2518), and a vibration panel (2513) (see Fig. 25),
the transducer device is disposed in an accommodating cavity of the core housing (see Fig. 25),
the vibration panel is connected with the transducer device (see Fig. 12) and configured to transmit a mechanical vibration generated by the transducer device to a user (¶ 0143), and
the core module further includes an auxiliary panel (2510) and an elastic member (2516) (¶ 0007: vibration conductive plates can be elastic) connecting the auxiliary panel with the vibration panel (see Fig. 25)
(Fig. 25 of Liao assigns the same reference number of 2510 to two different elements. Thus, for clarity, the Examiner is stating here that the upper 2510 is mapped to the claimed “auxiliary panel” and the lower 2510 is mapped to the claimed “transducer device”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 19 is allowable over the prior art of record.
Claims 3-12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In regard to claim 19, the prior art of record alone or in combination fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations of the claim because:
The closest prior art of record, Liao, fails to teach the following combination of limitations:
an earphone, comprising a support component and a core module connected with the support component, wherein
the support component is configured to support the core module to be worn to a wearing position,
the core module includes a core housing, a transducer device, and a vibration panel,
the transducer device is disposed in an accommodating cavity of the core housing,
the vibration panel is connected with the transducer device and configured to transmit a mechanical vibration generated by tt1e transducer device to a user,
the core module further includes an auxiliary panel connected with the vibration panel,
in a non-wearing state, a first frequency response curve of a vibration of the vibration panel and a second frequency response curve of a vibration of the auxiliary panel have an intersection point,
in a range of at least a portion of frequency range in which a frequency is less than a reference frequency corresponding to the intersection point, a vibration amplitude of the second frequency response curve is greater than a vibration amplitude of the first frequency response curve, and
in a range of at least a portion of frequency range in which the frequency is greater than the reference frequency, the vibration amplitude of the first frequency response curve is greater than the vibration amplitude of the second frequency response curve.
Additionally, the prior art of record does not make obvious the combination of the above limitations that Liao fails to teach in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim.
In regard to claim 3, the prior art of record alone or in combination fails to teach or suggest the following limitations of the claim in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim:
“wherein
the auxiliary structure includes an auxiliary panel and an elastic member connecting the auxiliary panel with the vibration panel,
in the non-wearable state, the first frequency response curve and a second frequency response curve of a vibration of the auxiliary panel have an intersection point, and a reference frequency corresponding to the intersection point is greater than a central resonance frequency of the first resonance valley:
in a range of at least a portion of frequency range in which a frequency is less than the reference frequency, a vibration amplitude of the second frequency response curve is greater than a vibration amplitude of the first frequency response curve, and in a range of at least a portion of frequency range in which the frequency is greater than the reference frequency, the vibration amplitude of the first frequency response curve is greater than the vibration amplitude of the second frequency response curve.”
Claim 4-12 is/are dependent upon base claims having allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK FISCHER whose telephone number is (571)270-3549. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 1-6, 7:30-11:59pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CAROLYN R EDWARDS can be reached on 571-270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARK FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692