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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1, 10 and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities: claim 10 line 3 recites “protocol one of is”. It appears that the claim is meant to recite “protocol is one of”. Claim 1, line 9 and claim 13, line 8 recites “transfer audio one of:”. This phrase does not seem to be grammatically correct or missing some term/word, a suggestion e.g. “transfer audio according to one of:”, another suggestion is to rephrase the claimed limitation as: “transfer audio from a second communication device using the second communication protocol to a third communication device using the first communication protocol; or transfer audio from the third communication device using the first communication protocol to the second communication device using the second communication protocol”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mohan et al (US 2018/0,054,852; hereinafter Mohan).
Regarding claim 1 and 13, Mohan disclose a method implemented in a first communication device (102) of a plurality of communication devices (102, 104a, 104b, 104c, 104d), each one of the plurality of communication devices (104a, 104b, 104c, 104d) other than the first communication device (102) supporting at least audio communication at least with the first communication device (102) using at least one of a first communication protocol (e.g. Bluetooth/Wi-Fi) and a second communication protocol (e.g. DECT//cellular/SMS); Fig. 1, paras. [0026]-[0027], [0031]-[0034], [0062], [0086]), the first communication device (102) supporting the at least audio communication using at least the first communication protocol (e.g. Bluetooth/Wi-Fi) and the second communication protocol (e.g. DECT/cellular/SMS), the first and second communication protocols being different from one another (the first device 102 may support audio communication with third device 104a using the first, e.g. Bluetooth/Wi-Fi P2P protocol, of a first local short range communication network 106 and support audio communication with the second device 104b using the second, e.g. DECT/cellular/SMS protocol of a second communication network 108; paras. [0031]-[0035], [0062], [0074], [0132]),
the first communication device (102) comprising processing circuitry (202, 220, 220; Fig. 2, paras. [0058], [0060], [0067]) that causes the first communication device (102) to: transfer audio one of: from a second communication device (104b) using the second communication protocol (DECT/cellular/SMS) to a third communication device (104a) using the first communication protocol (e.g. Bluetooth/Wi-Fi P2P protocol) (in accordance with an embodiment, the first communication device 102 may be configured to enable establishing and routing a call between the second communication device 104b and the third communication device 104a, by use of the received subscriber identification number, e.g. a mobile number; paras. [0013], [0038], [0060]); and from the third communication device (104a) using the first communication protocol (e.g. Bluetooth/Wi-Fi) to the second communication device (104b) using the second communication protocol (e.g. DECT/cellular/SMS) (the call routing module 224 may use the currently available subscriber module, e.g. subscriber module 218a, to establish and/or route a call between the second communication device 104b and the third communication device 104a, via the second communication network 108. paras. [0030], [0038], [0060]).
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.
Claims 2 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mohan et al (US 2018/0,054,852) in view of Kim (US 2009/0,186,607).
Regarding claim 2 and 14, Mohan disclose the first communication device and method of claim 1 and 13 respectively, wherein Mohan do not explicitly disclose transferring audio includes summing the transferred audio at least with any one of audio being transmitted by the first communication device and audio being transmitted by the third communication device. In analogous art, Kim disclose transferring audio includes summing the transferred audio at least with any one of audio being transmitted by the first communication device and audio being transmitted by the third communication device (paras. [0010]-[0011]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to do so in order to provide performing a combined audio stream, e.g. in a conference call, that enable a communication connection between several mobile terminals existing in different wireless communication networks (Kim; ¶ [0003]).
Claims 3 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mohan et al (US 2018/0,054,852) in view of Li et al (US 2024/0,040,018; hereinafter Li).
Regarding claim 3 and 15, Mohan disclose the first communication device and method of claim 1 and 13 respectively, wherein the first communication device supports a plurality of communication protocols, the first and the second communication protocols being included in the plurality of communication protocols, and the processing circuitry further causes the first communication device to any one of: rank at least one of the communication protocols of the plurality of communication protocols; and select at least one communication protocol of the plurality communication protocols to transfer audio using the selected at least one communication protocol to one of the second communication device and the third communication device, the selecting at least one communication protocol being performed by any one of pre-configuration, a voice command, and a haptic selection (selecting between a first subscriber module 218a associated with a first network service provider of a first cellular network associated with a first protocol and a second subscriber module 218b associated with a second network service provider of a second cellular network associated with a second protocol; paras. [0056]-[0057], [0067]; Fig. 2). Mohan do not explicitly disclose selecting at least one communication protocol of the plurality communication protocols to transfer audio using the selected at least one communication protocol to one of the second communication device and the third communication device. In the same field of endeavor, Li disclose ranking at least one of the communication protocols of the plurality of communication protocols or selecting at least one communication protocol of the plurality of communication protocols to transfer audio using the selected at least one communication protocol to one of the second communication device and the third communication device (paras. [0020]-[0022]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to do so in order to choose a better protocol type based on e.g. a priority level of the protocols or the type of protocol that’s supported by the second/third communication device.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mohan et al (US 2018/0,054,852) in view of Horio et al (US 2006/0,075,095; hereinafter Horio).
Regarding claim 11, Mohan disclose the first communication device of claim 1, wherein Mohan do not explicitly disclose the first communication device is another group of communication devices. In the same field of endeavor, Horio disclose a first communication device is another group of communication devices (paras. [0034]- [0036]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to do so in order to have more user devices similar to the first communication device that have been identified in a group of user devices that can operate as a relay device that can communicate with other user devices from different communication networks and route calls or distribute data to the other user devices (Horio; ¶ [0035]).
Claims 10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mohan et al (US 2018/0,054,852) in view of Kalliola et al (US 2013/0,321,209; hereinafter Kalliola).
Regarding claim 10, Mohan disclose the first communication device of claim 1, wherein disclose the first communication protocol is a Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) protocol, and the second communication protocol one of is and supports Land Mobile Radio (LMR) audio communication, cellular communication, a Bluetooth protocol, and a Wi-Fi protocol (paras. [0033], [0062]). Mohan do not explicitly disclose a Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) protocol . In the same field of endeavor, Kalliola disclose the first communication protocol is a Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) protocol, and the second communication protocol one of is and supports Land Mobile Radio (LMR) audio communication, cellular communication, a Bluetooth protocol, and a Wi-Fi protocol (various types of protocols are supported by the transceiver devices 100, 102 including LMR, DECT, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 4G cellular systems, paras. [0144], [0169]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to do so in order to have the communication devices support any of a variety of wireless personal area, wireless local area, or wireless wide area radio communications protocols for diversified and secured communications in a cellular and point-to-point connections between two communication devices (Kalliola; paras. [0007], [0169]).
Regarding claim 12, Mohan disclose the first communication device of claim 1, wherein the first communication device (102) is an inter-crew communication device (para. [0027]), the second communication device (104b) is any one of a Land Mobile Radio (LMR), a cellular phone, a Bluetooth device, and a Wi-Fi device (smartphone 104b communicating via cellular network 108, e.g. GSM, DECT, UMTS, EDGE) (paras. [0030], [0033]). Mohan do not explicitly disclose the third communication device is another inter-crew communication device. In the same field of endeavor, Kalliola disclose the first communication device is an inter-crew communication device (e.g. first communication device 100 with transceiver 100’ and radio 116 for communication using different protocols, e.g. cellular and WLAN; ¶ [0169], [0144], Fig. 2, 2A), the second communication device is any one of a Land Mobile Radio (LMR), a cellular phone, a Bluetooth device, and a Wi-Fi device (e.g. second communication device 102 having radio 116 communicating using Bluetooth range; paras. [0169], [0004]; Fig. 2B), and the third communication device is another inter-crew communication device (e.g. third device 102 having transceiver 100 and radio 116 for communication using protocols such as cellular 212 and WLAN 211; para. [0169], [0144]; Fig. 2, 2A). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to do so in order to have the communication devices support various different types of wireless personal area, wireless local area, or wireless wide area radio communications protocols for diversified and secured communications in a cellular and point-to-point connections between three communication devices (Kalliola; ¶ [0007], [0169]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 and 16-20 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.
Regarding claim 4 and 16, Mohan and Li disclose the first communication device and method of claim 1 and 13 respectively, wherein the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the third communication device is a group of communication devices supporting at least the first communication protocol, the group is user definable, and the processing circuitry further causes the first communication device to: select at least one communication device of the group of communication devices supporting at least the first communication protocol; and transfer the audio from the second communication device using the second communication protocol to the selected at least one communication device of the group of communication devices supporting at least the first communication protocol.
Regarding claim 5 and 17, the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the first communication device and method of claim 4 and 16 respectively, wherein the processing circuitry further causes the first communication device to: maintain at least one address of any one of the first communication device, the second communication device, and each communication device of the group of communication devices supporting at least the first communication protocol.
Regarding claim 6 and 18, the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the first communication device and method of claim 4 and 16 respectively, wherein the processing circuitry further causes the first communication device to: transfer at least an encryption key to the selected at least one communication device; and encrypt the audio before transferring the audio.
Regarding claim 7 and 19, the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the first communication device and method of claim 4 and 16 respectively, wherein the processing circuitry further causes the first communication device to: assign one of a different volume level and a same volume level to audio corresponding to each one of the first communication device, the second communication device, and any communication device of the group of communication devices supporting at least the first communication protocol.
Regarding claim 8 and 20, the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the first communication device and method of claim 4 and 16 respectively, wherein any communication device of the group of communication devices supporting at least the first communication protocol is configured to receive a communication device configuration, the communication device configuration including any one of administrator privileges and user privileges, the administrator privileges allowing a remote activation of audio transfer including transmitting a configuration command to at least one communication device of the group of communication devices.
Regarding claim 9, the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the first communication device of claim 4, wherein selecting at least one communication device of the group of communication devices supporting at least the first communication protocol includes transmitting at least a packet including a listen bit that one of enables and disables receiving transferred audio at the selected at least one communication device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LANA N LE whose telephone number is (571) 272-7891. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/LANA N LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648