DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
1. The information disclosure statements submitted are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. Claims 1, 26, 29 and 54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Falk et al, WO 2021/180820 (hereinafter Falk).
Regarding claim 1, Falk discloses a method for rendering an audio element, wherein the audio element has an extent (from paragraph 0010, see This disclosure, therefore, supports the use of audio objects with a defined size and shape that are represented by a multi-channel audio signal where the different channels represent the spatial information of the audio object in different dimensions. One example is a stereo recording that represents the spatial information along the horizontal dimension of the audio object. More specifically, this disclosure provides a method that simplifies a three- dimensional (3D) shape of an audio object into a one-dimensional (ID) or two-dimensional (2D) representation that describes the width and/or height of the audio object as seen from the listener’s position. The multi-channel audio signal is then rendered so that the perceived spatial extent matches that of the simplified extent) and is represented using a set of virtual loudspeakers comprising a middle virtual loudspeaker (from paragraph 0099, see In the example of FIG. 6C, four virtual point sources are used to render an audio object with a four-channel audio signal, where the different channels are representing the spatial information in both the horizontal and vertical plane), the method comprising:
based on a position of a listener, selecting a position for the middle virtual loudspeaker and/or calculating an attenuation factor for the middle virtual loudspeaker (from paragraph 0103, see Controller 701 may be configured to receive one or more parameters and to trigger modifier 702 to perform modifications on audio signal 751 based on the received parameters (e.g., increasing or decreasing the volume level). The received parameters include (1) information 753 regarding the position of the listener (e.g., direction and distance to an audio source) and (2) metadata 754 regarding an audio object, such as, for example, the transformed metadata describing the 2D plane or ID line as described herein (in some embodiments, controller 701 itself produces the metadata 754).
Regarding claim 26, Falk discloses based on the position of the middle virtual loudspeaker, generating a middle virtual loudspeaker signal for the middle virtual loudspeaker; and using the middle virtual loudspeaker signal to render the audio element (from paragraph 0099, see In the example of FIG. 6C, four virtual point sources are used to render an audio object with a four-channel audio signal, where the different channels are representing the spatial information in both the horizontal and vertical plane).
Regarding claim 29, Falk discloses an audio rendering apparatus (from Figure 10, se 1000) for rendering an audio element, wherein the audio element has an extent (from paragraph 0010, see This disclosure, therefore, supports the use of audio objects with a defined size and shape that are represented by a multi-channel audio signal where the different channels represent the spatial information of the audio object in different dimensions. One example is a stereo recording that represents the spatial information along the horizontal dimension of the audio object. More specifically, this disclosure provides a method that simplifies a three- dimensional (3D) shape of an audio object into a one-dimensional (ID) or two-dimensional (2D) representation that describes the width and/or height of the audio object as seen from the listener’s position. The multi-channel audio signal is then rendered so that the perceived spatial extent matches that of the simplified extent) and is represented using a set of virtual loudspeakers comprising a middle virtual loudspeaker (from paragraph 0099, see In the example of FIG. 6C, four virtual point sources are used to render an audio object with a four-channel audio signal, where the different channels are representing the spatial information in both the horizontal and vertical plane), the audio rendering apparatus being configured to:
based on a position of a listener, select a position for the middle virtual loudspeaker and/or calculating an attenuation factor for the middle virtual loudspeaker (from paragraph 0103, see Controller 701 may be configured to receive one or more parameters and to trigger modifier 702 to perform modifications on audio signal 751 based on the received parameters (e.g., increasing or decreasing the volume level). The received parameters include (1) information 753 regarding the position of the listener (e.g., direction and distance to an audio source) and (2) metadata 754 regarding an audio object, such as, for example, the transformed metadata describing the 2D plane or ID line as described herein (in some embodiments, controller 701 itself produces the metadata 754).
Claim 54 is rejected for the same reasons as claim 26.
Allowable Subject Matter
4. Claims 2, 10-14, 18-23, 30, 38-42, 46-49 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.
Response to Arguments
5. Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are deemed to be moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLISA ANWAH whose telephone number is 571-272-7533. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 8.30 AM to 6 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn Edwards can be reached on 571-270-7136. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are 571-273-8300 for regular communications and 571-273-8300 for After Final communications.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is 571-272-2600.
Olisa Anwah
Patent Examiner
February 3, 2026
/OLISA ANWAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692