DETAILED ACTION
This Non-Final communication is in response to Application No. 18/656,228 filed 5/6/2024. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 1-15 have been examined.
Specification
The amendment to the specification received 5/20/2024 is accepted and entered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: In Figure 1, items “112”, “114”, “132”, and “136”; Figure 2, items “214”, “217”, and “250”; Figure 4, item “441”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: it appears “…the audio tag to be obtained; and presenting, by the personal connected object…” was intended. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter.
Regarding claim 11, the claim is entirely directed toward a “propagating audio signal” which is non-statutory media (i.e. signals), which are not a Manufacture within the meaning of 101, on which the program is still unavailable for the data processing system (processor). Thus, it is the office’s position at this time that a claim directed towards signals or carrier waves renders a claim deficient in view of 35 USC 101.
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.
Claims 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 14, due to the dependence on claim 13, it is not clear whether “an intermediary connected object” is the same intermediary connected object of claim 13, or that it is a new intermediary connected object.
Regarding claim 15, due to the dependence on claim 13, it is not clear whether “[a] personal connected object” is the same personal connected object of claim 13, or that it is a new personal connected object.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-6 and 11-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Weinblatt et al. (US 2014/0304068 A1, hereinafter “Weinblatt”).
Regarding claim 1, Weinblatt teaches a method for eliciting consent from a user to allow a personal connected object of the user to execute an instruction, the method comprising communication of the instruction to said personal connected object, said communication including:
receiving at one or more predetermined electronically addressable intermediary connected objects located at one or more target environments, via an electronic communication channel, an audio tag comprising: an audio encoded notification comprising the instruction; and an audio encoded alert sound. More specifically, Figure 5 depicts an example retail environment with speakers for making announcements (construed as alerts) and play music that includes inaudible codes (Weinblatt, [0072]-[0073], construed as an audio tags). The store receives a sound (construed as an audio encoded alert sound) and the codes (construed as an audio encoded notification comprising the instruction) and an encoder inserts the codes into the sound. The store then plays the encoded sound over the speakers (Weinblatt, [0074]). The encoded information could be notices and or public service announcements (Weinblatt, [0015], construed as alerts).
decoding and playing the audio tag by the intermediary connected object, thus propagating an audio signal towards the personal connected object over a propagation path in the target environment, the audio signal comprising an audible component and an inaudible component as perceivable by a person located within the propagation path, the audible component comprising the alert sound and the inaudible component comprising the audio encoded notification. More specifically, the encoded sound is played over the speakers in the store (audio signal comprising an audible component and an inaudible component) which could include music from a radio station. Mobile devices of shoppers (personal connected objects) process the sound to identify the embedded codes (Weinblatt, [0074]).
receiving the propagated audio signal by a microphone of the personal connected object. More specifically, when the mobile device is within range of an audio stream, the stream is received via the microphone of the mobile device (Weinblatt, [0106]).
recognizing, by the personal connected object, that the audio signal comprises an audio tag or that the audio signal comprises an audio encoded alert sound. More specifically, the audio stream is analyzed and inaudible codes are identified by the processing device under the control of the library (Weinblatt, [0106]).
arranging, by the personal connected object, for the instruction within the audio encoded notification in the audio tag to be obtained; and presenting, by the personal connected object, the instruction to the user for the user to provide said consent. More specifically, an identified code is compared to the codes stored in the cache in the RAM by the processing device under the control of a library. It is then determined by the processing device whether there is a match. If there is a match, the library may direct the offer to the related App, which causes the processing device to prompt the user that an offer is available. A user may provide consenting input to view/display the offer or decline/delete the offer (Weinblatt, [0065], [0107]-[0108]).
Regarding claim 2, Weinblatt teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising executing the instruction by the personal connected object on condition that the user provided said consent. More specifically, if a user consents to viewing the offer, additional options are provided (Weinblatt, [0065]-[0068]).
Regarding claim 3, Weinblatt teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein said recognition that the audio signal comprises an audio tag or that the audio signal comprises an audio encoded alert sound is provided by the personal connected object being configured to derive an audio fingerprint of the audio tag or of the alert sound, the method comprising searching for a match between the thus derived audio fingerprint and a predetermined audio fingerprint within a database of predetermined audio fingerprints derived from known audio tags or alert sounds, said recognition being positive when the match is found. More specifically, when the mobile device is within range of an audio stream, the stream is received via the microphone of the mobile device. The audio stream is analyzed and inaudible codes are identified by the processing device under the control of the library (database). An identified code is compared to the codes stored in the cache in the RAM by the processing device under the control of the library. It is then determined by the processing device whether there is a match (Weinblatt, [0106]-[0107]). An audible prompt, such as a ring or tone, or a physical prompt, such as vibration, may be provided, as well (Weinblatt, [0065]).
Regarding claim 4, Weinblatt teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein said audio tag is received from a notification server, the method further comprising: receiving, by the notification server, a request to send said instruction for the attention of one or more users having personal connected objects located within an audible physical range from at least one of said intermediary connected objects; generating, by the notification server, said audio tag by combining an audio encoding of the alert sound with an audio encoding of the instruction such that when the audio tag is decoded to provide the audio signal, the alert sound is comprised within the audible component of the audio signal and the instruction is comprised within the inaudible component of the audio signal. More specifically, the environment 10 comprises an inaudible code/offer management system 12 comprising a server 14 coupled to a network 16, and a database 18 under the control of the server (Weinblatt, [0044]). Organizations may provide the codes and sound to be encoded by the encoder of the system and played in their store (Weinblatt, [0048]).
Regarding claim 5, Weinblatt teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein said arrangement for the instruction to be obtained is provided by the personal connected object being configured to extract and decode the instruction from the audio encoded notification within the inaudible component of the propagated audio signal, the method comprising extracting and decoding the instruction from the audio encoded notification. More specifically, when a computing device is in range of an audio signal, the signal is received up by the microphone of the device. The signal is conveyed to the processing device through appropriate circuitry, where it is decoded. The signal may be copied by the processing device and stored in the RAM or other such memory for analysis. Received codes are compared to codes stored in the cache in the RAM or other such memory of the respective computing device CD. If there is a match, then a prompt that an offer has been received may be displayed on the display of the mobile device (Weinblatt, [0064]-[0065]).
Regarding claim 6, Weinblatt teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein said arrangement for the instruction to be obtained is provided by the personal connected object having electronic communication access to the notification server, the method further comprising requesting from the notification server, by the personal connected object, the instruction from the audio tag having an audio fingerprint which matches the audio fingerprint derived from the audio tag. More specifically, the code and a corresponding offer may not yet have been downloaded by the system to the respective mobile device. The device may then send the code to the code/offer management system via the network, for example, to determine whether the system can identify a corresponding offer stored in the database (Weinblatt, [0069]).
Regarding claim 11, this claim recites a propagating audio signal that is the same as the audio signal used by the method of claim 1, therefore, the same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding claim 12, this claim recites a non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform the method according to claim 1, therefore, the same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding claim 13, this claim recites a system that substantially performs the steps of the method of claim 1, therefore, the same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding claim 14, this claim recites an intermediary connected object that performs the functions of the intermediary connected object of the method of claim 1, therefore, the same rationale of rejection is applicable.
Regarding claim 15, this claim recites a personal connected object that performs the functions of the personal connected object of the method of claim 1, therefore, the same rationale of rejection is applicable.
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) 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weinblatt, and further in view of Ullrich et al. (US 2017/0124818 A1, hereinafter “Ullrich”).
Regarding claim 7, Weinblatt teaches the method according to claim 1, however, may not explicitly teach every aspect of wherein said audio encoded notification is produced by encoding said instruction and performing one or more audio encoding operations on the encoded notification from one or more of: a watermarking operation; a spectral encoding operation; a dual-tone multifrequency operation; a modulation encoding operation; and one or more sound generative Al operations.
Ullrich discloses a method of rendering a haptic effect on a haptic output device is provided based on an ambient environmental stimulus signal received from a sensor (Ullrich, abstract). Several varieties of notifications or alerts can be available depending on the notification mechanism. Branded alerts can relate to commercial uses for notifying or alerting users within an ambient area to deals and sales for particular stores or brands. An emergency vehicle siren can contain coding that would provide additional alerts to all users within the ambient range (Ullrich, [0018]). The process of Figure 4 is an embodiment for embedding a message/notification into audio signal. The process uses a steganographic algorithm, such as spread spectrum (spectral encoding) to embed a notification/message within an audio signal. The audio (notification signal stimulus) is then transmitted via a speaker (Ullrich, [0040]-[0042]). At least Figure 7 is the process performed by a mobile device that receives an audio signal, runs an inverse steganographic algorithm to retrieve the embedded notification message, and presents the message on the device (Ullrich, [0047]). Other techniques for embedding information in the audio signal can use watermarking (Ullrich, [0055]-[0057]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention given the teachings of Weinblatt and Ullrich that a method for eliciting consent from a user involving the playing of audio encoded with inaudible component where the inaudible content is an instruction recognized by a personal connected object and presented to a user for providing consent would include one or more encoding operations of watermarking, spectral encoding, dual-tone multifrequency, modulation, and one or more sound generative AI operations. With Weinblatt and Ullrich disclosing generating and playing audio signals encoded with inaudible information, and with Ullrich suggesting encoding operations including at least watermarking and spread spectrum, one of ordinary skill in the art of implementing a method for eliciting consent from a user involving the playing of audio encoded with inaudible component where the inaudible content is an instruction recognized by a personal connected object and presented to a user for providing consent would include one or more encoding operations of watermarking, spectral encoding, dual-tone multifrequency, modulation, and one or more sound generative AI operations in order to ensure a message or notification maintains its content considering lossiness of a captured audio signal (Ullrich, [0036]). One would therefore be motivated to combine these teachings as in doing so would create this method for method for eliciting consent from a user involving the playing of audio encoded with inaudible component where the inaudible content is an instruction recognized by a personal connected object and presented to a user for providing consent.
Regarding claim 8, Weinblatt and Ullrich teach the method according to claim 7, wherein the audio tag is created by combining said audio encoded notification with said alert sound, said combination being preceded by an auditory cue to trigger the personal connected object to extract the audio fingerprint from the audio tag. More specifically, the sensing an audio stimulus in the ambient environment triggers the process of Figure 5 to decode the notification (Ullrich, [0043]). The audio stimulus can have a specific detectable fingerprint (Ullrich, [0034]).
Regarding claim 9, Weinblatt teaches the method according to claim 1, however, may not explicitly teach every aspect of wherein said alert sound is a customized alert sound selected from a plurality of alert sounds depending on a category to which the instruction belongs.
Ullrich discloses a method of rendering a haptic effect on a haptic output device is provided based on an ambient environmental stimulus signal received from a sensor (Ullrich, abstract). Several varieties of notifications or alerts can be available depending on the notification mechanism. Branded alerts can relate to commercial uses for notifying or alerting users within an ambient area to deals and sales for particular stores or brands. An emergency vehicle siren can contain coding that would provide additional alerts to all users within the ambient range (Ullrich, [0018]). The process of Figure 4 is an embodiment for embedding a message/notification into audio signal. The process uses a steganographic algorithm, such as spread spectrum (spectral encoding) to embed a notification/message within an audio signal. The audio (notification signal stimulus) is then transmitted via a speaker (Ullrich, [0040]-[0042]). At least Figure 7 is the process performed by a mobile device that receives an audio signal, runs an inverse steganographic algorithm to retrieve the embedded notification message, and presents the message on the device (Ullrich, [0047]). Other techniques for embedding information in the audio signal can use watermarking (Ullrich, [0055]-[0057]). Several types of alerts are associated with specific sounds; chirping crosswalk signal for crosswalk status, mall music playing notifications of a flash sale, emergency vehicle siren for emergencies (Ullrich, [0018]-[0019]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention given the teachings of Weinblatt and Ullrich that a method for eliciting consent from a user involving the playing of audio encoded with inaudible component where the inaudible content is an instruction recognized by a personal connected object and presented to a user for providing consent would include wherein said alert sound is a customized alert sound selected from a plurality of alert sounds depending on a category to which the instruction belongs. With Weinblatt and Ullrich disclosing generating and playing audio signals encoded with inaudible information, and with Ullrich suggesting encoding operations including at least watermarking and spread spectrum, one of ordinary skill in the art of implementing a method for eliciting consent from a user involving the playing of audio encoded with inaudible component where the inaudible content is an instruction recognized by a personal connected object and presented to a user for providing consent would include wherein said alert sound is a customized alert sound selected from a plurality of alert sounds depending on a category to which the instruction belongs in order to make a user aware that there could be an encoded message or instruction forthcoming and to be ready if it is regarding an emergency. One would therefore be motivated to combine these teachings as in doing so would create this method for method for eliciting consent from a user involving the playing of audio encoded with inaudible component where the inaudible content is an instruction recognized by a personal connected object and presented to a user for providing consent.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weinblatt and Ullrich, and further in view of Ginsburg (US 2024/0221763 A1, filed 12/29/2022, hereinafter “Ginsburg”).
Regarding claim 10, Weinblatt and Ullrich teach the method according to claim 9, however, may not explicitly teach every aspect of wherein said customized alert sound is generated using one or more sound generative Al operations.
Ginsburg provides for insertion of watermarks into synthesized content, such as audio content that may include synthesized speech to appear to be spoken by a digital avatar in a 3D virtual environment. A Text-to-Speech (TTS) generator, such as a trained neural network (AI), can be used to produce synthetic speech audio, which can have an audio watermark inserted therein. This watermark can be detected by a process of a collaborative content generation platform, for example, and an indication can be provided that the content contains synthesized speech. The presence of the audio watermark will generally not be detectable by the human ear during presentation (Ginsburg, abstract). Figures 4, 5A and 5B describe processes that first synthesize audio associated with text information, and then embed the watermark signal within the synthesized audio (Ginsburg, Figures 4, 5A and 5B). Therefore, sound is generated specifically for the information to be embedded using AI.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention given the teachings of Weinblatt and Ullrich with Ginsburg that a method for eliciting consent from a user involving the playing of audio encoded with inaudible component where the inaudible content is an instruction recognized by a personal connected object and presented to a user for providing consent would include wherein said customized alert sound is generated using one or more sound generative Al operations. With Weinblatt, Ullrich, and Ginsburg disclosing generating audio signals encoded with inaudible information, with Ullrich and Ginsburg disclosing the sound of the audio being related to the embedded information, and with Ginsburg additionally disclosing that the sound is specifically synthesized from the information to be embedded using AI, one of ordinary skill in the art of implementing a method for eliciting consent from a user involving the playing of audio encoded with inaudible component where the inaudible content is an instruction recognized by a personal connected object and presented to a user for providing consent would include wherein said customized alert sound is generated using one or more sound generative Al operations because having audio correlated to the specific information in the encoded message/instruction allows the user to determine their level of interest to the topic of the message/instruction. One would therefore be motivated to combine these teachings as in doing so would create this method for method for eliciting consent from a user involving the playing of audio encoded with inaudible component where the inaudible content is an instruction recognized by a personal connected object and presented to a user for providing consent.
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record on form PTO-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicant is required under 37 C.F.R. § 1.111(c) to consider these references fully when responding to this action.
Charlesworth (US 2026/0024536 A1) – embeds inaudible signals within audible signals and broadcasts the audible signals.
Marathe (US 2018/0147657 A1) – device with microphone detects audio codes within audible signals.
Lang (US 2019/0095170 Al) - embedding audio tones within content to cause one or more device actions.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK F RIEGLER whose telephone number is (571)270-3625. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30am-6:00pm, ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kieu Vu can be reached at (571) 272-4057. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICK F RIEGLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2171
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