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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Applicant is advised that the new art unit number is 2692. Please use the new art unit number for all future communications.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/4/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. (US 2022/0408168) in view of Florczak et al. (US 2016/0219367).
Regarding claim 1, Zhu discloses an audio output device, comprising:
at least one speaker (Fig. 3: 2) for outputting audio (inherent function of speaker);
a magnetic base (4 and 13) integrally coupled to the at least one speaker (Fig. 2: 2, 4, and 13 all integrated as part of a single unit); and
a controller (3) electrically coupled to the at least one speaker (¶ 0021),
Zhu is not relied upon to disclose wherein the controller receives audio data and converts the audio data into electrical signals for transmission to the at least one speaker.
In a similar field of endeavor, Florczak discloses wherein a controller (245, 260, and 265) receives audio data (signal from 255 to 260) and converts the audio data into electrical signals (signal from 265 to 270) for transmission to at least one speaker (270) (Fig. 2 and ¶ 0089).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to: configure the controller (3 of Zhu) to include the elements of 245, 260, and 265 of Florczak),
which would result in: wherein the controller receives audio data and converts the audio data into electrical signals for transmission to the at least one speaker (2 of Zhu),
the motivation being to make the signal transmitted to the speaker of Zhu an appropriate signal (Florczak - ¶ 0089).
Regarding claim 2, Zhu-Florczak discloses the audio output device of claim 1.
Additionally, Florczak discloses further comprising:
at least one communication device (255) electrically coupled to the controller (see Fig. 2), wherein the at least one communication device communicates with one or more remote electronic devices (215) to receive audio data for conversion to the audio by the at least one speaker (Fig. 2 and ¶ 0087, 0089).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to: further comprising:
at least one communication device electrically coupled to the controller, wherein the at least one communication device communicates with one or more remote electronic devices to receive audio data for conversion to the audio by the at least one speaker,
the motivation being to provide the ability for the device to receive input from various external elements (Florczak - ¶ 0087).
Regarding claim 3, Zhu-Florczak discloses the audio output device of claim 2, and Florczak discloses wherein the at least one communication device comprises a Bluetooth device (¶ 0087).
The teachings of Florczak relied upon above are combinable with Zhu-Florczak for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 2 rejection.
Regarding claim 4, Zhu-Florczak discloses the audio output device of claim 1.
Additionally, Florczak discloses further comprising:
at least one control panel (Fig. 1: 130 which corresponds with Fig. 2: 240) electrically coupled to the controller (245) (see Fig. 2) (¶ 0063-0065, 0084); and
at least one display (indicator LED, touchscreen, display element, etc.) electrically coupled to the controller (see Fig. 2 and ¶ 0084).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to: further comprising:
at least one control panel electrically coupled to the controller; and
at least one display electrically coupled to the controller,
the motivation being to provide the ability for the device to receive inputs from a user and provide outputs to a user (Florczak - ¶ 0084)
Regarding claim 5, Zhu-Florczak discloses the audio output device of claim 4, and Florczak discloses wherein the at least one control panel comprises a power button (135) or a communication pairing button (135) (Fig. 1) (¶ 0064).
The teachings of Florczak relied upon above are combinable with Zhu-Florczak for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 4 rejection.
Regarding claim 6, Zhu-Florczak discloses the audio output device of claim 4, and Florczak discloses wherein the at least one display comprises a light emitting diode (¶ 0084).
The teachings of Florczak relied upon above are combinable with Zhu-Florczak for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 4 rejection.
Regarding claim 7, Zhu-Florczak discloses the audio output device of claim 1, and Zhu discloses wherein the magnetic base comprises at least one magnet (4) (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 8, Zhu-Florczak discloses the audio output device of claim 1, and Zhu discloses wherein the at least one magnet comprises one or more of Iron (Fe), Neodymium (NdFeB), Samarium-Cobalt (SmCo), Aluminum, Nickel, Cobalt, or Ferrite (¶ 0032-0033, 0047: neodymium iron boron).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK FISCHER whose telephone number is (571)270-3549. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 1-6, 7:30-11:59pm EST.
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/MARK FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692