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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 09/17/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1-3, 5-17 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Hatanaka, WO 2021020430 A1.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3 & 5-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Earphone, JP 4681698 B1, in view of Hatanaka, WO 2021020430 A1.
Re Claim 1, Earphone discloses a sound pressure control device comprising: a sound pressure control unit that includes a first path and a second path (figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes with sound infiltrating through the openings of the sound guides; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20), wherein the first path is in a cylindrical shape in a first direction that differs from a second direction in which sound infiltrates (figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes with sound infiltrating through the openings of the sound guides; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20), and the second path is in a spiral shape around an outer periphery of the first path (figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes with sound infiltrating through the openings of the sound guides; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20); but fails to disclose the sound pressure control unit has elasticity. However, Hatanaka discloses an ear mounting device that includes a tube 102 that leads and guides sound to the ear canal of the listener from the housing of the ear mounting device, wherein the tube is formed by an elastic material (Hatanaka, DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section, paragraph under (Example of configuration of sound insulation device 100) that starts with “The tube 102 is a tubular member extending from the housing 101…”). It would have been obvious to modify the Earphone device such that its sound guide tubes are made of elastic materials as taught in Hatanaka for the purpose of having an ear device that can easily be mounted and adjusted to different ear shapes and sizes.
Re Claim 2, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 1, wherein a traveling direction of the sound that passes through the first path is substantially perpendicular to the second direction in which the sound infiltrates (Earphone, figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes with sound infiltrating through the openings of the sound guides; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20).
Re Claim 3, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 1, but fail to explicitly disclose further comprising a plurality of second paths including the second path. Since Earphone already discloses a plurality of sound guide channels with different shapes (Earphone, figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20), it would have been obvious to modify the Earphone reference such that its second sound guide channel includes multiple spiral shaped sound guide channels since double spiral sound guide channels are designed for sound absorption.
Re Claim 5, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 1, wherein the first path is in a circular cylindrical shape (Earphone, figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes with sound infiltrating through the openings of the sound guides; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20).
Re Claim 6, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 1, but fail to explicitly disclose wherein the first path is in a rectangular cylindrical shape. Since the Earphone reference discloses where the first sound path is a circular cylindrical shape (Earphone, figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill to also utilize a rectangular cylindrical shape for the purpose of a more seamless fit and/or different look.
Re Claim 7, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 1, but fail to explicitly disclose wherein the first path is in a spiral shape. Since Earphone already discloses a plurality of sound guide channels with different shapes (Earphone, figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20), it would have been obvious to modify the Earphone reference such that its first sound guide channel is also a spiral shape just like the second sound guide channel since double spiral sound guide channels are designed for sound absorption.
Re Claim 8, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 1, further comprising an infiltrating portion configured to prompt infiltration of the sound (Earphone, figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes with sound infiltrating through the openings of the sound guides; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20).
Re Claim 9, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 8, wherein the infiltrating portion is within a vicinity of opening portions of the first path and the second path (Earphone, figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes with sound infiltrating through the openings of the sound guides; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20).
Re Claim 10, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 8, further comprising a plurality of infiltrating portions including infiltrating portion (Earphone, figs. 11B-11C: hole 43 of second cylindrical (circular) member 42 is the first sound guide tube with a spiral groove 44 as a second sound guide tube formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical member 42, wherein the first cylindrical sound guide tube and the second spiral sound guide tube will naturally have different directions (where the sound guide tube’s sound paths are almost perpendicular to each other) as a result of the different shapes with sound infiltrating through the openings of the sound guides; DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 39-45 Claims section: lines 14-20).
Re Claim 11, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 1, wherein a length of the sound pressure control unit in the second direction, which is perpendicular to the first direction in which the sound passes through the first path is less than or equal to 185 mm (Earphone, DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 167-172: the dimensions of the sound guides are all less than 185 mm and/or 220m).
Claim 12 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 11.
Re Claim 13, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 1, further comprising a shape control unit configured to change a shape of the sound pressure control unit based on the infiltration of the sound (Earphone, DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 31-38: shapes of the sound guide will slightly be manipulated as a result of sound infiltration which will cause movement of the coil and the magnets).
Re Claim 14, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 13, wherein the shape control unit includes a magnet and a coil (Earphone, DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 31-38: shapes of the sound guide will slightly be manipulated as a result of sound infiltration which will cause movement of the coil and the magnets).
Re Claim 15, the combined teachings of Earphone and Hatanaka disclose the sound pressure control device according to claim 1, but fail to explicitly disclose further comprising a detecting unit configured to detect sound pressure of the sound that passes through the second path. Since Earphone discloses its system is able to obtain manipulate sound pressure (Earphone, DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS section: lines 2-8), it would have been obvious to modify Earphone to include sound pressure detection capabilities for the purpose of knowing where the sound pressure is as any given time to better obtain the ideal sound pressure.
Claims 16-17 have been analyzed and rejected according to claim 1.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GEORGE C MONIKANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1190. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri., 9AM-5PM, ALT. Fridays off.
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/GEORGE C MONIKANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692 09/21/2026
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