The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
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 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
The claim is drawn to a signal, a carrier wave, or a data structure, per se, therefore, fails to fall within a statutory category of inventions.
A claim directed to a signal, a carrier wave, or a data structure, per se, is non-statutory because it is not:
A process, or
A machine, or
A manufacture, or
A composition of matter.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-9, 11, 13, 15, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US 12,022,277).
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses an information processing device comprising a generation unit 720 configured to generate a transfer characteristic file (see figs. 6A & 7, and col. 13, line 32, regarding “generation of a customized HRTF database”). The transfer characteristic file (e.g., generated HRTF database) storing measurement data of transfer characteristics of a sound (see col. 13, lines 30-35, regarding “initially in step 602 the listener can be seated in a multispeaker room for generation of a customized HRTF database with speakers sequentially activated. In one case the resulting impulse response is recorded from the in-ear microphones placed on the listener”) according to acoustic characteristics of a measurement space (e.g., room effects) and condition information indicating a condition at a time of measuring the transfer characteristics (see col. 13, lines 38-41, regarding “at step 608 HRTF/BRIR measurements including room effects are completed to generate a sparse set of measurements for a particular elevation value”; see also, fig. 8, and col. 17, lines 58-61, regarding “the room selected will have a dramatic effect on how the HRTF pairs color the sound. Next, in step 813, rotation filters are generated by taking the room HRTF at each location in the Dataset and dividing it by the HRTF at the reference position, typically at position 0 in azimuth and elevation”; see also, fig. 11, col. 20, lines 46-57, regarding an example of room effects with a square shaped room, e.g., 5 m x 5 m).
Regarding claim 2, the condition information includes shape data indicating a shape of the measurement space. See col. 20, lines 30-57, regarding “throughout the specification reference has been made to BRIRs, which are head related transfer functions that include room effects as opposed to anechoic transfer functions that are limited to directly received sound. …For illustrative purpose, if sound source such as a speaker 1006 is 2 m from the listener 1004 in a room 1002 sized at 5 m x 5 m, then even the path of reflected wave 1009 would be at least 4 times the direct wave 1008 length. Preferably the BRIR used is hundreds of milliseconds long to capture later reflections and for larger rooms or environments.”
Regarding claim 3, the condition information includes sound source position information (e.g., distances) indicating a position of a sound source in the measurement space, the sound source position information being used to measure the transfer characteristics. See fig. 6A, step 616 regarding “HRTF Dataset Completed For Selected Distance Sphere”. See also, fig. 10, regarding spherical databases at different distances.
Regarding claim 4, the condition information includes position information and posture information of a measurement subject (e.g., head tilt positions) at the time of measuring the transfer characteristics. See fig. 6A, and col. 13, lines 42-45, regarding “if measurements are required at various head tilt positions (i.e., roll), measurements can be completed for each tilt position in conjunction with the azimuth measurements”.
Regarding claim 5, in the transfer characteristic file, the measurement data, the position information, and the posture information are stored for each combination of a position and a posture of the measurement subject. See fig. 6A, and col. 13, lines 42-45, regarding “if measurements are required at various head tilt positions (i.e., roll), measurements can be completed for each tilt position in conjunction with the azimuth measurements”.
Regarding claim 6, the condition information includes at least one of shape data indicating a shape of the measurement space (see col. 20, lines 30-57, regarding “throughout the specification reference has been made to BRIRs, which are head related transfer functions that include room effects as opposed to anechoic transfer functions that are limited to directly received sound. …For illustrative purpose, if sound source such as a speaker 1006 is 2 m from the listener 1004 in a room 1002 sized at 5 m x 5 m, then even the path of reflected wave 1009 would be at least 4 times the direct wave 1008 length. Preferably the BRIR used is hundreds of milliseconds long to capture later reflections and for larger rooms or environments”) or sound source position information (e.g., distances) indicating a position of a sound source in the measurement space, the sound source position information being used for measurement of the transfer characteristics (see fig. 6A, step 616 regarding “HRTF Dataset Completed For Selected Distance Sphere”; see also, fig. 10, regarding spherical databases at different distances). In the transfer characteristic file, reference information of at least one of the shape data or the sound source position information is stored for each combination of the position and the posture of the measurement subject (see figs. 6A and 10, for example, regarding generating a HRTF Dataset for a particular distance sphere which further includes room effects information and various head tilt positions).
Regarding claim 7, the condition information includes device characteristic data indicating transfer characteristics measured on a basis of a sound output from an output device (e.g., headphones 735) worn by a listener of a sound reproduced using the measurement data. See col. 2, lines 12-38, regarding “BRIR processing rendering through headphones”. See also, figure 7.
Regarding claim 8, Lee discloses an information processing device comprising a reproduction control unit 730 configured to control reproduction of a sound by using measurement data acquired from a transfer characteristic file (see figs. 6A & 7, and col. 13, line 32, regarding “generation of a customized HRTF database”). The transfer characteristic file (e.g., generated HRTF database) storing measurement data of transfer characteristics of a sound (see col. 13, lines 30-35, regarding “initially in step 602 the listener can be seated in a multispeaker room for generation of a customized HRTF database with speakers sequentially activated. In one case the resulting impulse response is recorded from the in-ear microphones placed on the listener”) according to acoustic characteristics of a measurement space (e.g., room effects) and condition information indicating a condition at a time of measuring the transfer characteristics (see col. 13, lines 38-41, regarding “at step 608 HRTF/BRIR measurements including room effects are completed to generate a sparse set of measurements for a particular elevation value”; see also, fig. 8, and col. 17, lines 58-61, regarding “the room selected will have a dramatic effect on how the HRTF pairs color the sound. Next, in step 813, rotation filters are generated by taking the room HRTF at each location in the Dataset and dividing it by the HRTF at the reference position, typically at position 0 in azimuth and elevation”; see also, fig. 11, col. 20, lines 46-57, regarding an example of room effects with a square shaped room, e.g., 5 m x 5 m). The information processing device further comprising a presentation control unit (e.g., server 710 and memory 714) configured to control presentation of information (e.g., presentation of HRTF information to audio rendering unit for controlling spatial audio to a user via headphones 735) according to the condition information acquired from the transfer characteristic file (e.g., room effects, posture or head tilt information).
Regarding claim 9, the presentation control unit (e.g., audio rendering unit 730) presents a posture of a measurement subject (e.g., head tilt) at the time of measuring the transfer characteristic, the posture being included in the condition information. See fig. 6A, and col. 13, lines 42-45, regarding “if measurements are required at various head tilt positions (i.e., roll), measurements can be completed for each tilt position in conjunction with the azimuth measurements”.
Regarding claim 11, in the transfer characteristic file, the measurement data is stored for each posture of the measurement subject at the time of measuring the transfer characteristics, the posture being included in the condition information. See fig. 6A, and col. 13, lines 42-45, regarding “if measurements are required at various head tilt positions (i.e., roll), measurements can be completed for each tilt position in conjunction with the azimuth measurements”.
Regarding claim 13, the reproduction control unit compares the posture of the measurement subject included in the condition information with the posture of the listener of a sound to be reproduced, and reproduces the sound by using the measurement data associated with the posture of the measurement subject most similar to the posture of the listener. See fig. 6A, and col. 13, lines 42-45, regarding “if measurements are required at various head tilt positions (i.e., roll), measurements can be completed for each tilt position in conjunction with the azimuth measurements”. Note that upon reproduction of spatial audio for a listener, the listener’s head tilt is determined and the HRTF data corresponding to the head tilt is used to accurately reproduce the spatial audio.
Regarding claim 15, in the transfer characteristic file, the measurement data is stored for each combination of a position and a posture of a measurement subject at the time of measuring the transfer characteristic. See fig. 6A, and col. 13, lines 42-45, regarding “if measurements are required at various head tilt positions (i.e., roll), measurements can be completed for each tilt position in conjunction with the azimuth measurements”.
Regarding claim 16, the presentation control unit presents at least one of the position of the measurement subject in the measurement space at the time of measuring the transfer characteristic or a field of view of the measurement subject, on a basis of the condition information. See fig. 6A, step 616 regarding “HRTF Dataset Completed For Selected Distance Sphere”. See also, fig. 10, regarding spherical databases at different distances.
Regarding claim 20, Lee discloses a data structure of a file (see figs. 6A & 7, and col. 13, line 32, regarding “generation of a customized HRTF database” which includes a data structure of a file). The file comprising: measurement data of sound transfer characteristics of a sound (see col. 13, lines 30-35, regarding “initially in step 602 the listener can be seated in a multispeaker room for generation of a customized HRTF database with speakers sequentially activated. In one case the resulting impulse response is recorded from the in-ear microphones placed on the listener”) according to acoustic characteristics of a measurement space (e.g., room effects); and condition information indicating a condition at a time of measuring the transfer characteristics (see col. 13, lines 38-41, regarding “at step 608 HRTF/BRIR measurements including room effects are completed to generate a sparse set of measurements for a particular elevation value”; see also, fig. 8, and col. 17, lines 58-61, regarding “the room selected will have a dramatic effect on how the HRTF pairs color the sound. Next, in step 813, rotation filters are generated by taking the room HRTF at each location in the Dataset and dividing it by the HRTF at the reference position, typically at position 0 in azimuth and elevation”; see also, fig. 11, col. 20, lines 46-57, regarding an example of room effects with a square shaped room, e.g., 5 m x 5 m), the information being used for presentation by an information processing device configured to reproduce sound by using the measurement data (see fig. 7, for example).
Claims 10, 12, 14, and 17-19 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 prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The references cited on the PTO-892 each disclose a system for spatial audio rendering over headphones.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL W HUBER whose telephone number is (571)272-7588.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Duc Nguyen, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-7503. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL W HUBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
pwh
July 6, 2026
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