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 .
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 9-18, 23, 24 and 26-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barreiro et al. (US 20220124448 A1; hereafter Barreiro) in view of Yang (“Personalized Head Related Transfer Functions for Earables”, cited by IDS filed on 6/14/2024).
Regarding claims 1, 2, 4,10, 12, Barreiro discloses an apparatus for processing audio data, comprising:
one or more memories (22; Fig. 1, [0021], [0136]); and
one or more processors (20; [0021], [0136]) coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being configured to:
determine, using a plurality of audio measurements associated with a near-field measurement distance, a set of near-field Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) corresponding to a user, wherein each audio measurement of the plurality of audio measurements is obtained using a respective measurement position ([0057]-[0064]; the measurement is based on arm-length which is considered as near-field HRTF);
compare a set of far-field HRTFs to one or more candidate far-field HRTF sets, wherein the one or more candidate far-field HRTF sets are obtained based on anthropometric features corresponding to the user ([0107], [[0088]); and
determine an individualized HRTF set for the user based on a candidate far-field HRTF set of the one or more candidate far-field HRTF sets having minimum spectral differences from the set of far-field HRTFs ([0078], [0082], e.g.).
Barreiro fails to show generating a set of far-field HRTFs at a configured far-field measurement distance and corresponding to the user based on the set of near-field HRTFs. Barreiro suggests that the far-field HRTFs could be measured by asking another person to place the sound generator distanced away from the user ([0064], e.g.). In the same field of endeavor, Yang teaches generating a set of far-field HRTFs at a configured far-field measurement distance and corresponding to the user based on the set of near-field HRTFs (sect. 3.2 on p. 140). By do so, no additional person, in addition to the user, is required to obtain far-field HRTFs. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Barreiro by utilizing the process of generating far-field HRTFs as taught in Yang in order to simplifying the generation of a set of far-field HRTFs.
Regarding claim 3, the claimed “each candidate far-field HRTF set” reads on at least the set being utilized for comparison.
Regarding claim 5, Barreiro inherently teaches a plurality of predetermined far-field HRTF sets or database ([0046], [0083], [0088]).
Regarding claim 9, Barreiro teaches refining a plurality of candidate far-field HRTF sets ([0089], [0080], [0084], [0094], [0095], [0109]).
Regarding claim 11, Barreiro discloses the handheld device ([0048]) and a pair of ear-worn devices (Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 13, Barreiro discloses analyzing image data ([0052], [0054], e.g.).
Regarding claims 14 and 15, the claimed feature is a characteristic of HRTF based on the measurement at the ears.
Regarding claims 16-18, Barreiro discloses a microphone (712, [0069]).
Regarding claims 23 and 24, Barreiro discloses a sweep signal ([0103], [0108]), and left and right measurements ([0069]-[0072]).
Claims 26-29 correspond to claims 1-3 and 9 discussed above.
Claim(s) 6-8, 19-22 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barreiro and Yang as applied to claims 1, 5 and 26 above, and further in view of Norris et al. (US 20150373477 A1; hereafter Norris).
Regarding claims 6-8 and 30, Barreiro fails to show detail of determining anthropometric features. Nevertheless, Barreiro teaches a camera ([0053], [0054]). In the same field of endeavor, Norris teaches selecting HRTF best matching the user’s physical attributes ([0190], [0192], [0193]). Norris further teaches using a camera of a handheld device for taking image data of user’s ear ([0189], [0196], [0197]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination of Barreiro and Yang in view of Norris by utilizing a camera on a handheld device for obtaining image of the user’s ear in order to find the best match efficiently.
Regarding claims 19-21, the process taught in Yang reads on the claimed extrapolation.
Regarding claim 22, the claimed “a plurality of different near-field measurement distances” inherently reads on various distances naturally occurred when the user manually holds the device
Claim(s) 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barreiro and Yang as applied to claim 26 above, and further in view of Riggs et al. (US 20160269849 A1; hereafter Riggs).
Regarding claim 25, Barreiro fails to show performing noise suppression or noise cancellation. However, it is common knowledge that the microphone worn by the user would pick up any signal, including noise, presented in the environment. Figs. 2s, 3B, 5 and 6 of Barreiro illustrate the clean signal detected by the microphone. Any detected noise would contaminate the clean signal. In the same field of endeavor, Riggs teaches performing noise suppression for the audio measurement when determining HRTFs ([0120], [0121]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination of Barreiro and Yang in view of Riggs by performing noise suppression in order to ensure the integrity of the audio measurements.
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/PING LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695
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