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 § 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-6, 8, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Leary (US 20160112791 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Leary teaches: Smart, multi-mode headphones for a user (Fig. 1, Abstract), the headphones comprising: one or two loudspeakers that fit over, on, or in the user's ear (Fig. 1: two loudspeakers shown), each of the loudspeakers being configured to deliver audio signals to an ear of the user in an audio play mode (Abstract: “Within the theatre or venue the audio portion of the movie is transmitted electronically, either wirelessly or on a wired network, and the headset allows the user to hear the transmission only when the access code is entered.”); and an authentication system integrated with the headphones, the authentication system being configured to authenticate the user of the headphones to determine the audio play mode, from a plurality of audio play modes, based on the authentication (Abstract: “Within the theatre or venue the audio portion of the movie is transmitted electronically, either wirelessly or on a wired network, and the headset allows the user to hear the transmission only when the access code is entered.”; [0013]: “Within the theatre or venue the audio portion of the movie is transmitted electronically, either wirelessly using any one of several wireless data transmission protocols, or on a wired network, and the headset 10 allows the user to hear the transmission only when the access code is entered on the keypad 13.” That is, by entering an access code, the user is allowed to hear the audio stream for the associated movie. If no access code is entered, then the use is not allowed to hear the audio stream for the associated movie. Thus two audio play modes are available: playback of the audio stream, and no playback of the audio stream).
Regarding Claim 2, Leary teaches: wherein the authentication system includes a processor for receiving input from the user to perform the authentication ([0016]: “To use the first or the second exemplary embodiment, the user enters the access code when prompted by the visual display 12, using the keypad 13 which is provided.” Thus a processor is inherently required to receive the access code).
Regarding Claim 3, Leary teaches: wherein the headphones includes one or more user input buttons to provide the input from the user to perform the authentication ([0016]: “To use the first or the second exemplary embodiment, the user enters the access code when prompted by the visual display 12, using the keypad 13 which is provided.”).
Regarding Claim 5, Leary teaches: wherein the headphones include a wireless transceiver to communicate to a wireless network for receiving the audio signals to deliver to the user via the loudspeakers ([0018]: “Electronic components of the headset 10 preferably include a transmitter, a receiver, an internal antenna, and a reference oscillator.”).
Regarding Claim 6, Leary teaches: wherein the headphones are further configured to connect autonomously to the wireless network ([0013]: “Within the theatre or venue the audio portion of the movie is transmitted electronically, either wirelessly using any one of several wireless data transmission protocols, or on a wired network, and the headset 10 allows the user to hear the transmission only when the access code is entered on the keypad 13. The visual display 12 and the indicator light 17 provide prompts and informs the user when access to the transmission has been successfully acquired. The headsets 10 may be rented or purchased at the theater or venue. Electronic stores may also sell the headsets 10.” Examiner is interpreting the receiving of the wireless signal indicating availability prior to authentication as a wireless connection to the wireless network).
Regarding Claim 8, Leary teaches: Smart, multi-mode headphones for a user to play audio signals from a wireless network (Fig. 1, Abstract, “transmitted electronically, either wirelessly or on a wired network”), the headphones comprising: one or two loudspeakers that fit over, on, or in the user's ear (Fig. 1: two loudspeakers shown), each of the loudspeakers being configured to deliver audio signals to an ear of the user in an audio play mode (Abstract: “Within the theatre or venue the audio portion of the movie is transmitted electronically, either wirelessly or on a wired network, and the headset allows the user to hear the transmission only when the access code is entered.”); an authentication system integrated with the headphones, the authentication system being configured to authenticate the user of the headphones to determine the audio play mode, from a plurality of audio play modes, based on the authentication (Abstract: “Within the theatre or venue the audio portion of the movie is transmitted electronically, either wirelessly or on a wired network, and the headset allows the user to hear the transmission only when the access code is entered.”; [0013]: “Within the theatre or venue the audio portion of the movie is transmitted electronically, either wirelessly using any one of several wireless data transmission protocols, or on a wired network, and the headset 10 allows the user to hear the transmission only when the access code is entered on the keypad 13.” That is, by entering an access code, the user is allowed to hear the audio stream for the associated movie. If no access code is entered, then the use is not allowed to hear the audio stream for the associated movie. Thus two audio play modes are available: playback of the audio stream, and no playback of the audio stream); a wireless transceiver to communicate with the wireless network for receiving the audio signals to deliver to the user via the loudspeakers ([0018]: “Electronic components of the headset 10 preferably include a transmitter, a receiver, an internal antenna, and a reference oscillator.”).
Regarding Claim 10, Leary teaches: wherein the headphones are further configured to connect autonomously to the wireless network ([0013]: “Within the theatre or venue the audio portion of the movie is transmitted electronically, either wirelessly using any one of several wireless data transmission protocols, or on a wired network, and the headset 10 allows the user to hear the transmission only when the access code is entered on the keypad 13. The visual display 12 and the indicator light 17 provide prompts and informs the user when access to the transmission has been successfully acquired. The headsets 10 may be rented or purchased at the theater or venue. Electronic stores may also sell the headsets 10.” Examiner is interpreting the receiving of the wireless signal indicating availability prior to authentication as a wireless connection to the wireless network).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leary (US 20160112791 A1), in view of Kusui (US 20230403495 A1).
Regarding Claim 4, Leary inherently teaches a processor as above with respect to Claim 2. Leary does not specifically teach: wherein the processor is an FPGA. In a related field, Kusui teaches that an earphone may include a processor where the processor is a CPU, an MPU, a DSP, or an FPGA ([0057]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Leary to include an FPGA, such as taught by Kusui. Motivation for doing so would lie in use of a known processor technology for performing required functions of the headset of Leary.
Claim(s) 7, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leary (US 20160112791 A1), in view of Nyimpha (US 20230030580 A1).
Regarding Claim 7, Leary does not specifically teach: further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) integrated with the headphones, to provide geo-location data of the headphones to the wireless network. In a related field, Nyimpha teaches to provide GPS in a worn headset device ([0017], [0048], Fig. 7). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Leary to include GPS such as taught by Nyimpha. Motivation for doing so would lie in allowing the headset to indicate its location to the movie theaters or other venues of Leary which would enhance the ability of tracking of the headsets and also facilitate connecting to the appropriate venue when multiple venues are present.
Regarding Claim 9, Leary does not specifically teach: further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) integrated with the headphones, to provide geo-location data of the headphones to the wireless network. In a related field, Nyimpha teaches to provide GPS in a worn headset device ([0017], [0048], Fig. 7). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Leary to include GPS such as taught by Nyimpha. Motivation for doing so would lie in allowing the headset to indicate its location to the movie theaters or other venues of Leary which would enhance the ability of tracking of the headsets and also facilitate connecting to the appropriate venue when multiple venues are present.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW A EASON whose telephone number is (571)270-7230. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30AM-4PM.
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/MATTHEW A EASON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2624