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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/4/2026 has been entered.
DETAILED ACTION
1. This action is responsive to applicant’s amendment dated 3/4/2026.
2. Claims 1-20 are pending in the case.
3. Claims 1,13 and 20 are independent claims.
Applicant’s Response
4. In Applicant’s response dated 3/4/2026, applicant has amended the following:
a) Claims 1,13 and 20
Examiner Note
A new examiner has been assigned to U.S. Application No. 18760210. Per MPEP 704.01, full faith and credit will be given to the searches and actions of the previous examiner where appropriate.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The dependent claims included in the statement of rejection but not specifically addressed in the body of the rejection have inherited the deficiencies of their parent claim and have not resolved the deficiencies. Therefore, they are rejected based on the same rationale as applied to their parent claims above.
Claims 1,13 and 20 :
Claims 1,13 and 20 recite: “wherein the first graphical representation is displayed in the graphical user interface at the same time as the second graphical user interface and without receiving an input that represents a selection of the first group of one or more first playback devices”
“wherein the second graphical representation is displayed in the graphical user interface at the same time as the first graphical user interface and without receiving an input that represents a selection of the second group of one or more first playback devices”. (emphasis added)
There is no mention of the newly amended limitation in the original Specification. Thus, the limitations include subject matter that was not described in the original Specification.
If the examiner has overlooked the portion of the original Specification that describes this feature of the present invention, then Applicant should point it out (by page number and line number) in the response to this Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The dependent claims included in the statement of rejection but not specifically addressed in the body of the rejection have inherited the deficiencies of their parent claim and have not resolved the deficiencies. Therefore, they are rejected based on the same rationale as applied to their parent claims above.
Claims 1, 13 and 20 recites the limitation "the second graphical user interface" in line 8 and “the first graphical user interface" in line 17. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, “the second graphical representation” and “the first graphical representation” is interpreted, respectively.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lambourne et al (US 7571014 B1 thereafter "Lambourne") of record.
As to claim 1, Lambourne disclose(s) a control device comprising: a display; [Display screen [See Col 14, Ln 6-15]] at least one processor; [Processor [Col 3, Ln 12-14]] at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the control device is configured to: display, in a graphical user interface both (a) a first graphical representation corresponding to a first group of one or more first playback devices and (b) a second graphical representation corresponding to a second group of one or more second playback devices, wherein the first graphical representation is displayed in the graphical user interface at the same time as the second graphical [[user interface]] representation (Fig. 7D – Dining Room and Living Room) and without receiving an input that represents a selection of the first group of one or more first playback devices (e.g., without receiving an input to relocate the screen window of Figure 7D) and comprises: (i) a first identifier corresponding to the first group of one or more first playback devices, (ii) at least one first playback control icon to control at least one playback functionality for the one or more first playback devices, and (iii) at least one first volume control representation to control the volume of the one or more first playback devices; [Fig 7A shows the screen (first graphical representation) when a Dining room zone ("first group of one or more first playback devices") is selected [See Col 14, Ln 6-19]. Fig 7A also includes what a skilled artisan would recognize as playback control buttons (icons), e.g. pause, forward, backward, shuffle, repeat [See Col 8, Ln 5-18] and volume adjustment bar (volume control representation) [Col 13, Ln 42-49]. The name of the zone, e.g. Dining room, is accordingly displayed] wherein the second graphical representation is displayed in the graphical user at the same time as the first graphical [[user interface]] representation (Fig. 7D – Dining Room and Living Room) and without receiving an input that represents a selection of the second group of one or more first playback devices (e.g., without receiving an input to relocate the screen window of Figure 7D) and comprises: (i) a second identifier corresponding to the second group of one or more second playback devices, (ii) at least one second playback control icon to control at least one playback functionality for the one or more second playback devices, and (iii) at least one second volume control representation to control the volume of the one or more second playback devices; [Fig 7A shows the screen (Second graphical representation) when a Dining room zone is selected [See Col 14, Ln 6-19], accordingly a skilled artisan would understand that a similar interface would be displayed when the Living Room ("second group of one or more first playback devices") is selected. Fig 7A also includes what a skilled artisan would recognize as playback control buttons (icons), e.g. pause, forward, backward, shuffle, repeat [See Col 8, Ln 5-18] and volume adjustment bar (volume control representation) [Col 13, Ln 42-49]. The name of the zone, e.g. Living Room, is accordingly displayed], wherein the first graphical representation is separate from the second graphical representation (Fig. 7D); receive an input corresponding to a command to group the first group of one or more first playback devices and the second group of one or more second playback devices in a synchrony group for synchronous playback of media content; [Figs 7B-C shows that a user may provide input to group the Dining room zone with the Library [See Col 14, Ln 20-29]] and based on the input, update the graphical user interface to display a third graphical representation corresponding to the synchrony group, wherein the third graphical representation comprises: (i) a third identifier corresponding to the synchrony group, (ii) at least one third playback control icon to simultaneously control at least one playback functionality for the one or more first playback devices and the one or more second playback devices in the synchrony group, and (iii) at least one third volume control representation to simultaneously control the volume of the one or more first playback devices and the one or more second playback devices in the synchrony group. [Fig 7C shows the screen (third graphical representation) when a grouped Dining room and Library zone is selected [See Col 14, Ln 20-29]. Fig 7C also includes what a skilled artisan would recognize as playback control buttons (icons), e.g. pause, forward, backward, shuffle, repeat, that may synchronously control the grouped devices/zones [See Col 8, Ln 5-18, and Col 4, Ln 30-37]. Additionally, the volume adjustment bar (volume control representation) may synchronously control the grouped devices/zones [Col 13, Ln 42-49]. The name of the zone, e.g. Library and Dining room, is accordingly displayed]
As to claim 2, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 1, wherein: the at least one first playback control icon comprises a selectable icon configured to modify a playback status of the one or more first playback devices; [Lambourne, Fig 7A also includes what a skilled artisan would recognize as playback control buttons (icons), e.g. pause, forward, backward, shuffle, repeat, "play now" [See Col 8, Ln 5-18]] and the at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the control device is configured to: before receiving the input, receive a selection via the selectable icon to modify the playback status of the one or more first playback devices; [Lambourne, The user may provide an input to play a track via the Dining room zone [See Col 14, Ln 10-19]] and based on the selection, modify the playback status of the one or more first playback devices without modifying the playback status of the one or more second playback devices. [Lambourne, The playback control only controls the zone players in the group, i.e. the Dining room zone player, without affecting other zone players [See Col 4, Ln 33-37]]
As to claim 3, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 2, wherein modifying the playback status of the one or more first playback devices comprises causing the one or more first playback devices to start playing back first media content. [Lambourne, The user may provide an input to play a track via the Dining room zone [See Col 14, Ln 10-19]]
As to claim 4, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 3, wherein causing the one or more first playback devices to start playing back first media content comprises causing the one or more first playback devices to start playing back the first media content while the one or more second playback devices are not playing back any media content. [Lambourne, The playback control only controls the zone players in the group, i.e. the Dining room zone player, without affecting other zone players [See Col 4, Ln 33-37]. A skilled artisan would understand that another zone, e.g. Library, may not have any media playing back. This may be by pausing the playback or not having a track assigned [See Col 4, Ln 33-37]]
As to claim 5, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 3, wherein causing the one or more first playback devices to start playing back first media content comprises causing the one or more first playback devices to start playing back the first media content while the one or more second playback devices are playing back second media content different than the first media content. [Lambourne, The playback control only controls the zone players in the group, i.e. the Dining room zone player, without affecting other zone players [See Col 4, Ln 33-37]. Fig 3A shows that the individual zones may be configured to play distinct media, when not grouped, using the playback controls [See Col 9, Ln 38 - Col 10, Ln 15]]
As to claim 6, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 2, wherein: the at least one third playback control icon comprises a second selectable icon configured to modify a playback status of the synchrony group; [Lambourne, Fig 7C shows the screen (third graphical representation) when a grouped Dining room and Library zone is selected [See Col 14, Ln 20-29]. Fig 7C also includes what a skilled artisan would recognize as playback control buttons (icons), e.g. pause, forward, backward, shuffle, repeat, that may synchronously control the grouped devices/zones [See Col 8, Ln 5-18, Col 4, Ln 30-37]] and the at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the control device is configured to: after receiving the input, receive a selection via the second selectable icon to modify the playback status of the synchrony group; [Lambourne, Fig 7C also includes what a skilled artisan would recognize as playback control buttons (icons), e.g. pause, forward, backward, shuffle, repeat, that may synchronously control the grouped devices/zones [See Col 8, Ln 5-18, Col 4, Ln 30-37]] and based on the selection, modify the playback status of both the one or more first playback devices and the one or more second playback devices. [Lambourne, When the zones are grouped, input to the playback controls causes the same operation to be performed on the grouped zones [See Col 4, Ln 33-37]]
As to claim 7, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 1, wherein the first graphical representation and the second graphical representation further comprise respective first and second indications of media content played back by respective one or more first playback devices and one or more second playback devices. [Lambourne, Fig 7A shows media being played by the Dining room, e.g. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" [See Col 14, Ln 17-19]. Fig 3A shows that the individual zones may be configured to play distinct media, when not grouped, using the playback controls [See Col 9, Ln 38 - Col 10, Ln 15]. Accordingly, the interface from Fig 7A would show corresponding media being played by another selected zone (Library), e.g. "track 1, artist B"]
As to claim 8, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 7, wherein the third graphical representation further comprises an indication of media content played back by the synchrony group. [Lambourne, Fig 7C shows the screen (third graphical representation) when a grouped Dining room and Library zone is selected [See Col 14, Ln 20-29]. Fig 7C also includes an indication that the grouped players are synchronously playing the same song [See Col 14, Ln 24-26]]
As to claim 9, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 1, wherein the first group comprises at least two first playback devices configured to play back media content in synchrony. [Lambourne, The zone group may comprise a plurality of zone players prior to the addition of another zone player [See Col 10, Ln 37-62]. Additionally, Fig 7B allows for the selection of multiple zone players to group [See Col 14, Ln 20-29]. Accordingly, the interface enables the a user to form a group zone of two or more zone players, e.g. Dining Room and Den, prior to the addition of another zone player, e.g. Library]
As to claim 10, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 9, wherein the at least one first playback control icon is configured to simultaneously control the at least one playback functionality for the at least two first playback devices, and the at least one first volume control representation is configured to simultaneously control the volume of the at least two first playback devices. [Lambourne, When controls for a zone group are operated, then playback control, e.g. pause, forward, backward, shuffle, repeat, is synchronously controlled for the grouped devices/zones [See Col 8, Ln 5-18, and Col 4, Ln 30-37]. Additionally, the volume adjustment bar (volume control representation) may synchronously control the grouped devices/zones [Col 13, Ln 42-49]]
As to claim 11, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 9, wherein the first identifier corresponding to the first group comprises a name of the group. [Lambourne, Fig. 7C shows that a name of a grouped zone is displayed, e.g. "Library Dining Room". Accordingly, when grouped, the interface would display the grouped zone identifier, e.g. "Dining Room Den"]
As to claim 12, Lambourne disclose(s) the control device of claim 9, wherein the first identifier corresponding to the first group comprises an identifier of each of the at least two first playback devices. [Lambourne, Fig. 7C shows that a name of a grouped zone is displayed, e.g. "Library Dining Room". Accordingly, when grouped, the interface would display the grouped zone identifier, e.g. "Dining Room Den", which indicates the zone players ("identifier of each of the at least two first playback devices") within the group]
As to claim(s) 13-19, rejection rational of claims 1-7, respectively, is applicable.
Furthermore, Fig. 2A discloses CRM.
As to claim(s) 20, the claim(s) is/are directed to a method analogous to the system with a processor performing the method of claim(s) 1 respectively, and is/are thus rejected under similar rationale.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/4/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Prior Art Rejections
Applicant's arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
For at least the foregoing reasons, Examiner maintains prior rejections.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENRY ORR whose telephone number is (571)270-1308. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Adam Queler can be reached at (571)272-4140. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HENRY ORR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2172