DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The Art Unit location of your application in the PTO has changed. To aid in correlating any papers for this application, all further correspondence regarding this application should be directed to Group Art Unit 2691.
This communication is responsive to the claims filed 06/26/2024.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-3, 5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CHEN (CN210137410U).
Regarding claims 1 and 10, CHEN discloses a speaker box structure (Fig. 1), comprising: a speaker box housing (1); a sound guiding member (5); a high-pitched speaker (3); and a mid-bass speaker (2), wherein the sound guiding member is disposed on the speaker box housing, and the sound guiding member forms a high-pitched sound guiding channel (4, 52) and a mid-bass sound guiding channel (51) at intervals, and both the high-pitched sound guiding channel and the mid-bass sound guiding channel have a sound inlet facing the speaker box housing and a sound outlet facing away from the speaker box housing (Figs 3 and1); and the high-pitched speaker is disposed on the speaker box housing and is opposite to the sound inlet of the high-pitched sound guiding channel, and the mid-bass speaker is disposed on the speaker box housing and is opposite to the sound inlet of the mid-bass sound guiding channel (Figs. 1 and 3) as claimed.
Regarding claim 2, CHEN further discloses the speaker box structure, wherein a number of mid-bass sound guiding channels (51) is two, and the two mid-bass sound guiding channels are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the high-pitched sound guiding channel (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 3, CHEN further discloses the speaker box structure, wherein a number of the high-pitched sound guiding channels (4, 52) is two, and the two high-pitched sound guiding channels are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the mid-bass sound guiding channel (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, CHEN further discloses the speaker box structure, wherein the sound guiding member (5) comprises a first sound guiding housing (51) and a second sound guiding housing (52) that are connected to each other and collectively surround and form the high-pitched sound guiding channel and the mid-bass speaker guiding channel (Fig. 3).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
Claims 4 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over CHEN (CN210137410U).
Regarding claim 4, CHEN may not specially teach that a plurality of shunt partition bars are disposed within the mid-bass sound guiding channel, and the plurality of shunt partition bars are arranged at intervals to separate the mid-bass sound guiding channel into multiple branch channels as claimed. Since providing suitable partition means for partitioning a speaker waveguide is very well known in the art (Official Notice), it therefore would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to be motivated to provide suitable partition means, such as a plurality of shunt partition bars are disposed within the mid-bass sound guiding channel for partitioning a speaker waveguide of the speaker box structure taught by CHEN, in order to effectively and efficiently manufacture the speaker box structure.
Regarding claims 6-7, CHEN may not specially teach that the sound guiding member comprises a clamping groove at the sound inlet of the high-pitched sound guiding channel for clamping and fixing the high-pitched speaker as claimed. Since providing suitable mounting means for mounting a sound waveguide to a speaker is very well known in the art (Official Notice), it therefore would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to be motivated to provide mounting means, such as a clamping groove at the sound inlet of the high-pitched sound guiding channel for clamping and fixing the high-pitched speaker taught by CHEN, in order to effectively and efficiently manufacture the speaker box structure.
Regarding claim 8, CHEN may not specially teach that an installation groove for embedding the mid-bass speaker as claimed. Since providing suitable mounting means for mounting a speaker in an enclosure is very well known in the art (Official Notice), it therefore would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to be motivated to provide mounting means, such as an installation groove for embedding the mid-bass speaker into the speaker box structure taught by CHEN, in order to effectively and efficiently manufacture the speaker box structure.
Regarding claim 9, CHEN may not specially teach that two opposite ends of the speaker box housing are provided with rubber ring fixing parts, and the rubber ring fixing parts are fixed with rubber rings as claimed. Since providing suitable damping means for a speaker box housing is very well known in the art (Official Notice), it therefore would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to be motivated to provide damping means, such as rubber ring with fixing parts at two opposite ends of the speaker box housing, of the speaker box structure taught by CHEN, in order to effectively and efficiently couple at least two speaker box structures together as suggested by CHEN (Fig, 4).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUHAN NI whose telephone number is (571)272-7505. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Duc Nguyen can be reached on 571-272-7503. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SUHAN NI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691