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
1. This action is responsive to applicant’s amendment dated 7/17/2026.
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 7/17/2026, applicant has amended the following:
a) Claims 1,13 and 20
Based on Applicant’s amendments and remarks, the following rejections previously set forth in Office Action dated 3/19/2026 are withdrawn:
a) 35 U.S.C. 112(b) Rejection to claims 1-20
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: “based on the input, updating the graphical user interface to display a third graphical representation instead of the first graphical representation and the second graphical representation, wherein the third graphical representation corresponds corresponding to the synchrony group,” (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 § 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, a first graphical representation corresponding to a first group of one or more first playback devices (Fig. 7D – Dining Room or Living Room) wherein the first graphical representation 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 a 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] while displaying the first graphical representation, display, in the graphical user interface, a second graphical representation separate from and adjacent to the first graphical representation, wherein the second graphical representation corresponds to a (Fig. 7D – Dining Room and Living Room) second group of one or more second playback devices, and wherein the second graphical representation 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]; 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 instead of the first graphical representation and the second graphical representation, wherein the third graphical representation corresponds to the synchrony group, and 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 of one or more first playback devices 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 of one or more first playback devices 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 of one or more first playback devices 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 7/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Prior Art Rejections
1)Applicant argues first, and to the extent the Office contends that the "Hallway," "Living Room, "Den," etc. boxes in the "Zones" window of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) depicted in Figs. 7A-C of Lambourne amount to the first and second "graphical representation[s]," Applicant respectfully disagrees. Although the boxes in Lambourne's "Zones" window are displayed adjacent to each other, those boxes only contain a zone name and a room icon. Lambourne, Figs. 7A-C. None of the boxes in Lambourne's "Zones" window include "playback control icon" or "volume control representation" components. (see Response; page 13)
Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Examiner notes that the claim language does not require boxes but rather graphical representations. Under Broadest Reasonable interpretation (BRI), Examiner encourages Applicant to explained how Lambourne fails to teach a name and a room icon as part of a “graphical representation” as recited in the claims.
2)Applicant argues second, and to the extent the Office contends that the "Now Playing in Dining Room" window of the GUI depicted in Figs. 7A-C amounts to one of the first or second "graphical representation(s)" because the "Now Playing in Dining Room" window arguably shows "playback control icon" and "volume control representation" components, the "Now Playing in Dining Room" window is not depicted "separate from and adjacent to" any similarly-configured window in Lambourne's GUI. (see Response; pages 13 and 14)
Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Examiner notes that the claim language does not require windows but rather graphical representations. As indicated above, under Broadest Reasonable interpretation (BRI), Examiner encourages Applicant to explained how Lambourne fails to teach displaying "playback control icon" and "volume control representation" components as part of “graphical representations” as recited in the claims.
3)Applicant argues that Lambourne does not disclose or suggest "display[ing].. a first graphical representation corresponding to a first group of one or more first playback devices" and "while displaying the first graphical representation, display[ing].. a second graphical representation separate from and adjacent to the first graphical representation, wherein the second graphical representation corresponds to a second group of one or more second playback devices" in combination with the other features recited in the claims. Therefore, independent claim 1 is patentable over Lambourne for at least this first independent reason. (see Response; page 14)
Examiner respectfully disagrees.
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. Examiner encourages Applicant to explained under Broadest Reasonable interpretation (BRI), how Lambourne fails to teach displaying “graphical representations” as recited in the claims.
4)Applicant argues that in Lambourne, after the "Library" and "Dining Room" zones have been grouped, the "Library" and "Dining Room" representations remain visible within the box indicating the grouping of the "Library" and "Dining Room" zones. Lambourne, Fig. 7C. Accordingly, Lambourne does not disclose or suggest "updat[ing] the graphical user interface to display a third graphical representation instead of the first graphical representation and the second graphical representation" in the manner recited in the claims. Therefore, independent claim 1 is patentable over Lambourne for at least this second independent reason.
Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Examiner submits that the representation of “Library” and “Dining Room” is different than the “graphical representation” of “Library” and “Dining Room”. For example, the graphical representation of Library and Dining Room before grouping is a box around each representation but after the grouping, there is a single box around both Library and Dining Room. In other words, instead of showing a first and second graphical representation of Library and Dining Room separately, a single box is displayed as the third graphical representation of the grouping of Library and Dining Room. Therefore, the ungrouped graphical representations of Library and Dining Room (i.e., first and second graphical representation) are no longer displayed and a single box around both Library and Dining Room as a third graphical representation (e.g., “grouped” graphical representation) is displayed as shown in Lambourne ‘s Figure 7A-C. Thus, Lambourne does teach or suggest updating the graphical user interface to display a third graphical representation instead of the first graphical representation and the second graphical representation" in the manner recited in the claims.
For at least the foregoing reasons, Examiner maintains prior rejections.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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
/HENRY ORR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2172
Prosecution Insights