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 .
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed 05/21/2026. Claims 1-3, 7, 9, and 13-15 are currently pending in this application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Applicant’s amendment to claims 14-15 overcomes the previous rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph. The rejection is hereby withdrawn.
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, 7, 9, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith (U.S. 2009/0080672 A1) in view of Fumiyasu (WO2017138349A1, English translation provided herewith).
Claim 1, Smith teaches:
A virtual engine signal system for a vehicle (Smith, Fig. 1), the virtual engine signal system comprising:
a first speaker disposed at a front of the vehicle (Smith, Fig. 1: 40a-n “FRONT SPEAKER”), the first speaker being oriented toward a front side of the vehicle (Smith, Fig. 1: 40a-n “FRONT SPEAKER”) and configured to output a first virtual engine signal to an outside of the vehicle (Smith, Paragraph [0023], Based on the direction of travel, the front, rear, or a combination of speakers 40a-40n are selected to output the vehicle sound. The generated sound is an engine sound (see Smith, Paragraph [0005]).);
a second speaker disposed rearward relative to the first speaker (Smith, Fig. 1: 40a-n “REAR SPEAKER”), the second speaker being oriented toward a rear side of the vehicle (Smith, Fig. 1: 40a-n “REAR SPEAKER”) and configured to output a second virtual engine signal to the outside (Smith, Paragraph [0023], Based on the direction of travel, the front, rear, or a combination of speakers 40a-40n are selected to output the vehicle sound. The generated sound is an engine sound (see Smith, Paragraph [0005]).); and
a controller (Smith, Fig. 1: 50) configured to transmit first and second control signals to the first and second speakers to thereby cause the first and second speakers to output the first and second virtual engine signals in response to the first and second control signals, respectively (Smith, Paragraphs [0020-0021], The outputted sounds are based on stored sound data 35 in storage device 33. The speakers may be selected based on the direction of travel of the vehicle, or several speakers may be selected at one time (see Smith, Paragraph [0023]).),
wherein the controller is configured to:
set a reference level corresponding to an engine signal (Smith, Paragraphs [0025] and [0030], A control sound, which is used to determine a discrepancy between the sound generated by the speakers 40a-n and what is expected as the control sound.) capable of being recognized by a pedestrian at the front or rear side of the vehicle (Smith, Paragraph [0025], The speakers 40a-n may be positioned outside of the cabin portion of the vehicle so that pedestrians and others outside of the vehicle may more easily hear and feel the sound produced by the vehicle enunciator 1.),
determine the first control signal to be transmitted to the first speaker to thereby cause the first speaker to output the first virtual engine signal having (i) a first magnitude that is less than the reference level (Smith, Paragraph [0030], It is within the teachings of Smith for the outputted signal from a speaker 40a-n to have a magnitude, e.g. amplitude, that is greater or less than the control sound, which is generated in response to the control signal for the speaker 40a-40n (see Smith, Paragraphs [0020-0021]).) and (ii) a phase that is inverted with respect to the second virtual engine signal (Smith, Paragraph [0022], The processing portion 50 is capable of changing the frequency of the outputted signals. Additionally, different waveforms may be selected by the user based on user preference (see Smith, Paragraph [0020]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, for the system to be capable of outputting a sound from one speaker that has an inverted phase as another speaker based on the type of waveform and the frequency of the sound selected by the user.),
determine the second control signal to be transmitted to the second speaker to thereby cause the second speaker to output the second virtual engine signal having a second magnitude that is greater than the reference level (Smith, Paragraph [0030], It is within the teachings of Smith for the outputted signal from a speaker 40a-n to have a magnitude, e.g. amplitude, that is greater or less than the control sound, which is generated in response to the control signal for the speaker 40a-40n (see Smith, Paragraphs [0020-0021]).), and
based on controlling the first and second control signals, adjust sound pressures of synthetic signals of the first and second virtual engine signals at the front and rear sides of the vehicle to be equal to each other (Smith, Paragraph [0022], The processing portion 50 selects one of a plurality of amplitudes for the processor 55 to output as engine sound data 35, selected from a storage device 33 (see Smith, Fig. 1) and directly related to the accelerator portion 20. The sound data 35 may be sent to several speakers 40a-n, and additionally the sound produced by each speaker 40a-n may be at different amplitudes depending on the direction of travel (see Smith, Paragraph [0023]). One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize, however, that it is also within the scope of the teachings of Smith for the amplitudes generated by each speaker 40a-n to be the same, as the teachings of Smith only recites that the amplitudes “may” be different.).
Smith does not explicitly teach:
A front back beam of the vehicle, and
the second virtual engine signal is at least partially canceled by the first virtual engine signal.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the location of a front speaker to be on a front back beam of the vehicle. Smith discloses that the speakers 40a-n may be positioned anywhere within or on the outside of the vehicle (see Smith, Paragraph [0025]). Thus, placing at least one front speaker on the front back beam of the vehicle would not change the principal operation of the system, as a whole, and would yield predictable results. See MPEP 2144.04.
Fumiyasu teaches:
The second speaker sound output is at least partially canceled by the first speaker output (Fumiyasu, Page 9, Lines 33-42, The outputs from first speaker 36a and third speaker 37a are offset by second speaker 36b and fourth speaker 37b, respectively, but not completely.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the system in Smith by integrating the teaching of speaker sound outputs that have opposite phases, as taught by Fumiyasu.
The motivation would be to generate necessary alarm sounds from the vehicle 110 while reducing the discomfort to the vehicle occupant (see Fumiyasu, Page 9, Lines 43-47).
Claim 3, Smith in view of Fumiyasu further teaches:
The virtual engine signal system of claim 1, wherein the second speaker is disposed adjacent to the first speaker (Smith, Fig. 1: 40a-n, Paragraph [0025], The speakers 40a-n may be positioned anywhere within or on the outside of the vehicle, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for the speakers to be adjacent to each other.).
Claim 7, Smith in view of Fumiyasu further teaches:
The virtual engine signal system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the first and second control signals for the first and second speakers, respectively, based on a distance between the front back beam of the vehicle and the front or rear side of the vehicle (Smith, Paragraph [0023], The speakers 40a-n may be selected based on the direction of travel, and several speakers 40a-40n may be activated. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, for the selected speakers 40a-n to be based on a distance between the speakers. For example, if speaker 40a is in the front of the vehicle and speaker 40b is in the rear of the vehicle, when the processor portion 50 determines that the vehicle is moving in a forward direction, only speaker 40a would be activated. The activation of speaker 40a in lieu of speaker 40b would be based on the distance between speaker 40a and 40b. If the distance between speakers 40a and 40b were negligible, i.e. speaker 40b was also located in the front of the vehicle, it is within the scope of Smith for both speakers 40a and 40b to be activated when the vehicle is traveling in the forward direction, since multiple speakers may be used.).
Claim 9, Smith teaches:
A method for controlling a virtual engine signal for a vehicle (Smith, Fig. 1), the vehicle including (i) a first speaker disposed at a front of the vehicle (Smith, Fig. 1: 40a-n “FRONT SPEAKER”), the first speaker being oriented toward a front side of the vehicle (Smith, Fig. 1: 40a-n “FRONT SPEAKER”) and configured to output a first virtual engine signal to an outside of the vehicle (Smith, Paragraph [0023], Based on the direction of travel, the front, rear, or a combination of speakers 40a-40n are selected to output the vehicle sound. The generated sound is an engine sound (see Smith, Paragraph [0005]).), and (ii) a second speaker disposed rearward relative to the first speaker (Smith, Fig. 1: 40a-n “REAR SPEAKER”), the second speaker being oriented toward a rear side of the vehicle (Smith, Fig. 1: 40a-n “REAR SPEAKER”) and configured to output a second virtual engine signal to the outside (Smith, Paragraph [0023], Based on the direction of travel, the front, rear, or a combination of speakers 40a-40n are selected to output the vehicle sound. The generated sound is an engine sound (see Smith, Paragraph [0005]).), the method comprising:
setting a reference level corresponding to an engine signal (Smith, Paragraphs [0025] and [0030], A control sound, which is used to determine a discrepancy between the sound generated by the speakers 40a-n and what is expected as the control sound.) capable of being recognized by a pedestrian at the front or rear side of the vehicle (Smith, Paragraph [0025], The speakers 40a-n may be positioned outside of the cabin portion of the vehicle so that pedestrians and others outside of the vehicle may more easily hear and feel the sound produced by the vehicle enunciator 1.);
determining a first control signal to be transmitted to the first speaker to thereby cause the first speaker to output the first virtual engine signal having (i) a first magnitude that is less than the reference level (Smith, Paragraph [0030], It is within the teachings of Smith for the outputted signal from a speaker 40a-n to have a magnitude, e.g. amplitude, that is greater or less than the control sound, which is generated in response to the control signal for the speaker 40a-40n (see Smith, Paragraphs [0020-0021]).) and (ii) a phase that is inverted with respect to the second virtual engine signal (Smith, Paragraph [0022], The processing portion 50 is capable of changing the frequency of the outputted signals. Additionally, different waveforms may be selected by the user based on user preference (see Smith, Paragraph [0020]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, for the system to be capable of outputting a sound from one speaker that has an inverted phase as another speaker based on the type of waveform and the frequency of the sound selected by the user.);
determining a second control signal to be transmitted to the second speaker to thereby cause the second speaker to output the second virtual engine signal having a second magnitude that is greater than the reference level (Smith, Paragraph [0030], It is within the teachings of Smith for the outputted signal from a speaker 40a-n to have a magnitude, e.g. amplitude, that is greater or less than the control sound, which is generated in response to the control signal for the speaker 40a-40n (see Smith, Paragraphs [0020-0021]).);
transmitting the first and second control signals to the first and second speakers, respectively (Smith, Paragraphs [0020-0021], The outputted sounds are based on stored sound data 35 in storage device 33. The speakers may be selected based on the direction of travel of the vehicle, or several speakers may be selected at one time (see Smith, Paragraph [0023]).);
outputting, by the first and second speakers, the first and second virtual engine signals in response to the first and second control signals, respectively (Smith, Paragraphs [0020-0021], The outputted sounds are based on stored sound data 35 in storage device 33. The speakers may be selected based on the direction of travel of the vehicle, or several speakers may be selected at one time (see Smith, Paragraph [0023]).); and
based on controlling the first and second control signals, adjusting sound pressures of synthetic signals of the first and second virtual engine signals at the front and rear sides of the vehicle to be equal to each other (Smith, Paragraph [0022], The processing portion 50 selects one of a plurality of amplitudes for the processor 55 to output as engine sound data 35, selected from a storage device 33 (see Smith, Fig. 1) and directly related to the accelerator portion 20. The sound data 35 may be sent to several speakers 40a-n, and additionally the sound produced by each speaker 40a-n may be at different amplitudes depending on the direction of travel (see Smith, Paragraph [0023]). One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize, however, that it is also within the scope of the teachings of Smith for the amplitudes generated by each speaker 40a-n to be the same, as the teachings of Smith only recites that the amplitudes “may” be different.).
Smith does not explicitly teach:
A front back beam of the vehicle, and
the second virtual engine signal is at least partially canceled by the first virtual engine signal.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the location of a front speaker to be on a front back beam of the vehicle. Smith discloses that the speakers 40a-n may be positioned anywhere within or on the outside of the vehicle (see Smith, Paragraph [0025]). Thus, placing at least one front speaker on the front back beam of the vehicle would not change the principal operation of the system, as a whole, and would yield predictable results. See MPEP 2144.04.
Fumiyasu teaches:
The second speaker sound output is at least partially canceled by the first speaker output (Fumiyasu, Page 9, Lines 33-42, The outputs from first speaker 36a and third speaker 37a are offset by second speaker 36b and fourth speaker 37b, respectively, but not completely.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the system in Smith by integrating the teaching of speaker sound outputs that have opposite phases, as taught by Fumiyasu.
The motivation would be to generate necessary alarm sounds from the vehicle 110 while reducing the discomfort to the vehicle occupant (see Fumiyasu, Page 9, Lines 43-47).
Claim 13, Smith in view of Fumiyasu further teaches:
The method of claim 9,
wherein the first and second control signals for the first and second speakers are determined respectively based on a distance between the front back beam of the vehicle and the front or rear side of the vehicle (Smith, Paragraph [0023], The speakers 40a-n may be selected based on the direction of travel, and several speakers 40a-40n may be activated. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, for the selected speakers 40a-n to be based on a distance between the speakers. For example, if speaker 40a is in the front of the vehicle and speaker 40b is in the rear of the vehicle, when the processor portion 50 determines that the vehicle is moving in a forward direction, only speaker 40a would be activated. The activation of speaker 40a in lieu of speaker 40b would be based on the distance between speaker 40a and 40b. If the distance between speakers 40a and 40b were negligible, i.e. speaker 40b was also located in the front of the vehicle, it is within the scope of Smith for both speakers 40a and 40b to be activated when the vehicle is traveling in the forward direction, since multiple speakers may be used.).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith (U.S. 2009/0080672 A1) in view of Fumiyasu (WO2017138349A1, English translation provided herewith) in view of Sako et al. (U.S. 2014/0085470 A1).
Claim 2, Smith in view of Fumiyasu teaches:
The virtual engine signal system of claim 1, wherein the first speaker comprises a directional speaker that is configured to output the first virtual engine signal toward one side thereof (Smith, Paragraph [0023], Each speaker 40a-n outputs the corresponding data in the direction that the speaker is installed, e.g. front and directional.).
Smith in view of Fumiyasu does not specifically teach:
Wherein the second speaker comprises an omnidirectional speaker that is configured to output the second virtual engine signal toward two opposite sides thereof.
Sako teaches:
Wherein the second speaker comprises an omnidirectional speaker that is configured to output toward two opposite sides thereof (Sako, Paragraph [0033]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the speakers in Smith in view of Fumiyasu by integrating the teaching of the speaker in Sako.
The motivation would be to utilize a speaker that is capable of enhancing safety and additionally producing entertainment omni-directionally to thereby further enhance the functionality of the vehicle and its speaker(s) in the combination of Smith in view of Fumiyasu in view of Sako (see Sako, Paragraph [0033]).
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith (U.S. 2009/0080672 A1) in view of Fumiyasu (WO2017138349A1, English translation provided herewith) in view of Usui et al. (U.S. 2006/0256979 A1).
Claim 14, Smith in view of Fumiyasu teaches:
The virtual engine signal system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the sound pressure at the rear side of the vehicle based on a function of (i) a first distance between the front back beam and the front side of the vehicle and (ii) a second distance between the front back beam and the rear side of the vehicle (Smith, Paragraph [0023], The speakers 40a-n may be selected based on the direction of travel, and several speakers 40a-40n may be activated. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, for the selected speakers 40a-n to be based on a ratio of the distances which establishes the relative position of the speakers being closer to the front or the rear of the vehicle. For example, if speaker 40a is in the front of the vehicle and speaker 40b is in the rear of the vehicle, when the processor portion 50 determines that the vehicle is moving in a forward direction, only speaker 40a would be activated. The activation of speaker 40a in lieu of speaker 40b would be based on the distance between speaker 40a and 40b. If the ratio between speakers 40a and 40b were negligible, i.e. speaker 40b was also located in the front of the vehicle and thus having a similar ratio, it is within the scope of Smith for both speakers 40a and 40b to be activated when the vehicle is traveling in the forward direction, since multiple speakers may be used.).
Smith in view of Fumiyasu does not specifically teach:
A logarithmic function.
Usui teaches:
A logarithmic function (Usui, Paragraph [0095], The speaker system applies a gain to a corresponding speaker using a log function.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the system in Smith in view of Fumiyasu by integrating the teaching of a log function, as taught by Usui.
The motivation would be to improve the audio emission at low-frequencies to enable a broad range of frequencies (see Usui, Paragraphs [0011-0012]).
Claim 15, Smith in view of Fumiyasu teaches:
The method of claim 9, further comprising determining the sound pressure at the rear side of the vehicle based on a function of (i) a first distance between the front back beam and the front side of the vehicle and (ii) a second distance between the front back beam and the rear side of the vehicle (Smith, Paragraph [0023], The speakers 40a-n may be selected based on the direction of travel, and several speakers 40a-40n may be activated. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, for the selected speakers 40a-n to be based on a ratio of the distances which establishes the relative position of the speakers being closer to the front or the rear of the vehicle. For example, if speaker 40a is in the front of the vehicle and speaker 40b is in the rear of the vehicle, when the processor portion 50 determines that the vehicle is moving in a forward direction, only speaker 40a would be activated. The activation of speaker 40a in lieu of speaker 40b would be based on the distance between speaker 40a and 40b. If the ratio between speakers 40a and 40b were negligible, i.e. speaker 40b was also located in the front of the vehicle and thus having a similar ratio, it is within the scope of Smith for both speakers 40a and 40b to be activated when the vehicle is traveling in the forward direction, since multiple speakers may be used.).
Smith in view of Fumiyasu does not specifically teach:
A logarithmic function.
Usui teaches:
A logarithmic function (Usui, Paragraph [0095], The speaker system applies a gain to a corresponding speaker using a log function.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify the system in Smith in view of Fumiyasu by integrating the teaching of a log function, as taught by Usui.
The motivation would be to improve the audio emission at low-frequencies to enable a broad range of frequencies (see Usui, Paragraphs [0011-0012]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection, necessitated by the Applicant’s amendments.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES J YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-5170. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am-6:00p M-F.
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/JAMES J YANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686
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