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 .
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 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.
1. Claims1, 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watnabe et al. (US20120128196A1), hereinafter “Watnabe”.
As to Claim 1, Watnabe teaches electrical equipment ( electronic device, abstract, Figures 3, 15) comprising a casing ( case 1) defining a chamber( Figure 3) , wherein a motherboard( circuit board 10) and a speaker( speaker 16) connected to the motherboard are disposed( Figure 14, [0060] the speaker 16 is inserted into the speaker attaching section 17 from below as shown in FIG. 14, such that the engaging projection 22 provided on the outer periphery of the speaker 16 corresponds to and engages with the engaging groove section 23 provided in the cylindrical section 20 of the speaker attaching section 17 and [0062] the speaker 16 is electrically connected to the circuit board 10 by the lead wire 16a, as shown in FIG. 6. ), a membrane of the speaker opening into at least one opening provided in an upper panel of the casing,( [0065] teaches when the speaker 16 produces sound, this sound produced from the top surface side of the speaker 16 is emitted outside of the upper case 8 from the plurality of sound emitting holes 18a provided in the key top 18. At this time, because the speaker 16 has been press-fitted into the cylindrical section 20, the sound from the speaker 16 does not leak to the surrounding area, and chattering noise is not generated.) and the motherboard( circuit board 10) extending into a first transverse plane of the speaker ( speaker 16, Figure 3, 16), this first plane being substantially parallel to the upper panel( upper case 8, Figure 3)) Regarding the following: the speaker comprises a square-shaped base extending into a second plane substantially parallel to the upper panel, none of the edges of the base extending parallel to an edge of the upper panel seen from the second plane, Figure 3, 14 and 15 teaches the speaker 16 having a base extending into second plane( towards the bottom panel 9) that is parallel to the upper panel 8 , but does not explicitly teach speaker comprises a square-shaped base extending into a second plane substantially parallel to the upper panel, none of the edges of the base extending parallel to an edge of the upper panel seen from the second plane. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to changing the shape of the speaker base and orientation of the loudspeaker such that none of the edges of the base extending parallel to an edge of the upper panel seen from the second plane to achieve a compact design and leaving more space within the housing. (Also see MPEP 2144.04, IV; design features without functional significance are generally not considered patentable.)
As to Claim 4, Watnabe teaches the limitations of Claim 1, and wherein the speaker (speaker 16) is fixed to the upper panel (upper panel 8).
2. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watnabe et al. (US20120128196A1), hereinafter “Watnabe” in view of Leonhardt et al. (US 20190149899A1).
As to Claim 2, Watnabe teaches the limitations of Claim 1 and regarding the following, wherein the upper panel is rectangular-shaped, the opening being provided in a corner of the upper panel, Watnabe teaches the upper panel 8 is rectangular shaped as shown on Figure 3 but the opening 18a are provided on the center of the upper panel 8 and not in the corner. However, an electronic device having a sound output opening on the side of the upper case rather than on the front of the upper case is well-known in the art. Leonhardt in related field (speaker) teaches an acoustic channel or port 108 formed through the top wall 104A of the transducer module 104. See at least [0025], Figure 1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Watnabe such that the sound opening is provided on the upper corner of the housing to modify the acoustic response of the device.
3. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watnabe et al. (US20120128196A1), hereinafter “Watnabe” in view of Park et al. (US2017/0048364A1).
As to Claim 3, Watnabe teaches the limitations of Claim 1 but does not explicitly teach wherein the motherboard comprises a printed circuit provided with an indentation arranged to receive the speaker, at least partially. However, Park in related field ( electronic device for housing a speaker) teaches slim electronic device includes a substrate having an opening formed therein, and an audio component accommodated in the opening of the substrate without overlapping the substrate and disposed such that the top and bottom thereof are substantially parallel to the top and bottom of the substrate. See at least abstract, and Figures 7 and 8 and [0054] teaches he mounting structure of the audio component 40, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, include a support structure 42, a display module 44 disposed on a first surface of the support structure 42, the substrate 41 disposed on a second surface opposite to the first surface of the support structure 42, an opening 410 formed by cutting the substrate 41, the audio component 40 accommodated in the opening 410 without overlapping the substrate 41, and disposed such that the top and bottom thereof are parallel to the top and bottom of the substrate respectively, and a rear case 43 disposed to face the audio component 40 to protect the audio component. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to house the speaker such that the speaker is accommodated within the opening of the circuit board as an alternative design option to achieve desired size of the electronic device.
2. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watnabe et al. (US20120128196A1), hereinafter “Watnabe” in view of Cai, Liang-tan (CN109951751A), hereinafter “Liang”.
As to Claim 10, Watnabe teaches the limitations of Claim 1, but does not explicitly teach the electrical equipment being a set-top box. However, Liang in related field teaches a set-top box housing a speaker on Figure 1A. See at least abstract. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the electrical equipment and speaker arrangement for a set top box for it’s intended purpose of a multimedia device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUNITA JOSHI whose telephone number is (571)270-7227. The examiner can normally be reached 8-3.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Duc Nguyen can be reached at 5712727503. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SUNITA JOSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
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