DETAILED ACTION
In the response to this office action, the examiner respectfully requests that support be shown for language added to any original claims on amendment and any new claims. That is, indicate support for newly added claim language by specifically pointing to page(s) and line numbers in the specification and/or drawing figure(s). This will assist the examiner in prosecuting this application.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 10-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura (US 5267323) in view of Snyder et al. (US 6043626) and Geilhufe et al. (US 6584439 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Kimura discloses a remote control (see at least figure 4 for structure and figure 6 for functions), comprising:
a microphone subsystem (figure 6, at least mic M and 15) operatively connected to a transceiver (17 and D1), the microphone subsystem comprising at least one microphone (at least mic M and 15, a “microphone” needs at least some control circuitry to “monitor for speech” as below);
an internal power source (18), wherein the internal power source is selectively deliverable to the at least one microphone (at least 2 differing power modes, column 11 lines 1-18, “If the talk switch 12 is pressed, the transmitter 1 is capable of transmitting remote control signals, and if the talk switch 12 is released, the transmitter 1 is kept in the low power consumption mode”, column 11 lines 21-34, “Then, the controller 16 detects whether the talk switch 12 is pressed or not … the controller 16 sends a control signal Sv to the power supply control circuit 14. The power supply control circuit 14 supplies electric energy in a normal mode, enabling the transmitter 10A in a step S4… If the talk switch 12 is not pressed, the transmitter 1 is left in the low power consumption mode”, see figure 10, steps S2-4) and wherein the at least one microphone monitors for speech (when switch pressed, column 7 line 36-39, “When a voice command is to be entered, the talk switch 12 is closed to operate the transmitter 10A. Otherwise, the talk switch 12 is open keeping the transmitter 10A out of operation”).
Kimura does not expressly disclose contacts for connecting to an external power supply, selectively connecting to an internal power source, or wherein the microphone continuously monitors for speech.
Snyder discloses a handheld device (figure 2, phone 10 in holder 15) comprising electrical contacts (for connection to charger connection 435) for connecting the handheld device to an external power source (column 4 lines 3-29); and
an internal power source (main battery 25), wherein when the electrical contacts (for connection to charger connection 435) are connected to the external power source (column 4 lines 3-29), the external power source continuously energizes a microphone subsystem (phone 10, column 6 line 32 to column 7 line 18).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the power connections of Snyder in the system of Kimura for the benefit of providing a specific, known working power supply implementation, thereby reducing design costs. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Snyder with Kimura to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
Geilhufe teaches wherein when a device is connected to an external power source (such as AC outlet), a microphone subsystem continuously monitors for speech (column 22 lines 42-48, “Acoustic identification works when voice controlled devices are actively listening for recognizable commands. In most cases, this means the voice controlled device is constantly listening and attempting recognition. Typically, these voice controlled devices will be AC powered, since the power drain from continuous recognition will be unacceptable for most battery operated voice controlled devices”) and wherein when the device is connected to an internal power source (battery), the internal power source is selectively connectable to the microphone subsystem (column 9 lines 6-10, “For example, to minimize battery consumption, battery operated voice controlled devices may require the user to push a switch (or its equivalent, such as flipping open a flip-type cellphone) to activate the speech recognition engine”, column 19 lines 58-61, “For example, in some battery operated applications, power consumption limitations may require the VCC 301 in the voice controlled device 102 to be powered down during idle periods”, column 22 lines 42-48, “Acoustic identification works when voice controlled devices are actively listening for recognizable commands. In most cases, this means the voice controlled device is constantly listening and attempting recognition. Typically, these voice controlled devices will be AC powered, since the power drain from continuous recognition will be unacceptable for most battery operated voice controlled devices”).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use continuous monitoring and selective connections of Geilhufe in the system of Kimura and Snyder for the benefit of providing a system that monitors speech but also saves power when needed. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Snyder with Kimura and Snyder to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
Regarding claim 2, Snyder discloses wherein when the remote-control electrical contacts are connected to the external power source, the external power source recharges the internal power source (column 4 lines 3-29 and column 6 line 32 to column 7 line 18).
Regarding claim 3, Kimura discloses wherein the at least one microphone is a first microphone and a second microphone (see M1 and M2 of embodiments of figure 5, 7, or 8, plus at least portions of 15).
Regarding claim 4, Kimura discloses wherein the microphone subsystem further comprises at least one pre-amplifier (30a of figure 8).
Regarding claim 5, Kimura discloses wherein the microphone subsystem further comprises an analog to digital converter (figure 8 item 32) operatively connected to the at least one pre-amplifier.
Regarding claim 6, although Kimura does not expressly disclose Bluetooth, the examiner takes official notice that remote controls that communicated via Bluetooth were well known in the art. At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to communicate via Bluetooth instead of IR in the remote control of Kimura for the benefit of communicating with Bluetooth devices.
Regarding claim 7, Snyder discloses wherein when the remote-control electrical contacts are connected to an external power source, the internal power source is not selectively connectable to the microphone subsystem (when connected to external power, not powered by main battery or auxiliary battery, see at least column 4 lines 3-29, and column 6 line 32 to column 7 line 18).
Regarding claim 10 Kimura discloses a method of transmitting speech audio signals to an external device, the method comprising:
providing a remote control (see at least figure 4 for structure and figure 6 for functions) having a microphone subsystem comprising at least one microphone (figure 6, at least mic M and 15);
selectively connecting to an internal power source (connecting to 18 via at least 2 differing power modes, column 11 lines 1-18, “If the talk switch 12 is pressed, the transmitter 1 is capable of transmitting remote control signals, and if the talk switch 12 is released, the transmitter 1 is kept in the low power consumption mode”, column 11 lines 21-34, “Then, the controller 16 detects whether the talk switch 12 is pressed or not … the controller 16 sends a control signal Sv to the power supply control circuit 14. The power supply control circuit 14 supplies electric energy in a normal mode, enabling the transmitter 10A in a step S4… If the talk switch 12 is not pressed, the transmitter 1 is left in the low power consumption mode”, see figure 10, steps S2-4).
Kimura does not expressly disclose connecting to an external power supply, selectively connecting to an internal power source, or wherein the microphone continuously monitors for speech.
Snyder discloses wherein a microphone subsystem (figure 2, mic of phone 10 in holder 15) is connected to an external power source (column 4 lines 3-29, see figure 4); and
disconnecting the microphone subsystem (that of phone 10, column 6 line 32 to column 7 line 18) from the external power source, thereby causing the at least one microphone to be connectable to an internal power source (column 4 lines 3-29, see figure 4).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the power connections of Snyder in the system of Kimura for the benefit of providing a specific, known working power supply implementation, thereby reducing design costs. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Snyder with Kimura to obtain the invention as specified in claim 10.
Geilhufe teaches wherein when a device is connected to an external power source (such as AC outlet), continuously energizing a microphone subsystem (required for next step of monitoring) and the microphone subsystem continuously monitors for speech (column 22 lines 42-48, “Acoustic identification works when voice controlled devices are actively listening for recognizable commands. In most cases, this means the voice controlled device is constantly listening and attempting recognition. Typically, these voice controlled devices will be AC powered, since the power drain from continuous recognition will be unacceptable for most battery operated voice controlled devices”) and wherein when the device is connected to an internal power source (battery), the internal power source is selectively connectable to the microphone subsystem (column 9 lines 6-10, “For example, to minimize battery consumption, battery operated voice controlled devices may require the user to push a switch (or its equivalent, such as flipping open a flip-type cellphone) to activate the speech recognition engine”, column 19 lines 58-61, “For example, in some battery operated applications, power consumption limitations may require the VCC 301 in the voice controlled device 102 to be powered down during idle periods”, column 22 lines 42-48, “Acoustic identification works when voice controlled devices are actively listening for recognizable commands. In most cases, this means the voice controlled device is constantly listening and attempting recognition. Typically, these voice controlled devices will be AC powered, since the power drain from continuous recognition will be unacceptable for most battery operated voice controlled devices”).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use continuous monitoring and selective connections of Geilhufe in the system of Kimura and Snyder for the benefit of providing a system that monitors speech but also saves power when needed. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Snyder with Kimura and Snyder to obtain the invention as specified in claim 10.
Regarding claim 11, Geilhufe discloses further comprising:
operating a control on the remote control to selectively connect the at least one microphone subsystem to the internal power source (Geilhufe teaches column 9 lines 6-10, “For example, to minimize battery consumption, battery operated voice controlled devices may require the user to push a switch (or its equivalent, such as flipping open a flip-type cellphone) to activate the speech recognition engine”); and
speaking into the microphone (as above for speech recognition).
Regarding claim 12, Kimura discloses wherein the microphone subsystem further comprises an analog to digital converter (figure 8 item 32) and a digital signal processor (33 and/or 44) operatively connected to the at least one microphone (see figure 8).
Regarding claim 13, Kimura discloses further comprising: converting speech detected by the microphone to an audio signal (figure 7, output of 30).
Although Kimura does not expressly disclose transmitting the audio signal to an external device, the examiner takes official notice that transmitting collected audio to an external device was well known in the art. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to further comprise transmitting the audio signal to an external device in the system of Kimura, Snyder, and Geilhufe for the benefit of performing any of a number of functions such as performing the voice recognition externally or performing logging of the audio.
Regarding claim 14 Kimura discloses non-transitory, computer readable medium having a set of computer executable instructions stored thereon (controller 16 of figure 6 runs on instructions, see column 10 lines 55-67), wherein when executed by a processor, the instructions perform a method comprising the following steps:
providing a remote control (see at least figure 4 for structure and figure 6 for functions) comprising the processor (16), a user control (12), and a microphone subsystem (figure 6, at least mic M and 15) operatively connected to a transceiver (17), wherein the microphone subsystem comprises at least one microphone (at least mic M and 15, a “microphone” needs at least some control circuitry to “monitor for speech” as below),
configuring an internal power source (18) to selectively deliver power to the at least one microphone (at least 2 differing power modes, column 11 lines 1-18, “If the talk switch 12 is pressed, the transmitter 1 is capable of transmitting remote control signals, and if the talk switch 12 is released, the transmitter 1 is kept in the low power consumption mode”, column 11 lines 21-34, “Then, the controller 16 detects whether the talk switch 12 is pressed or not … the controller 16 sends a control signal Sv to the power supply control circuit 14. The power supply control circuit 14 supplies electric energy in a normal mode, enabling the transmitter 10A in a step S4… If the talk switch 12 is not pressed, the transmitter 1 is left in the low power consumption mode”, see figure 10, steps S2-4).
Kimura does not expressly disclose connecting to an external power supply, selectively connecting to an internal power source, or wherein the microphone continuously monitors for speech.
Snyder discloses detecting whether a handheld device (figure 2, phone 10 in holder 15) is electrically connected to an external power source (column 4 lines 3-29, see figure 4), and
configuring to connect at least one microphone (that of phone 10, column 6 line 32 to column 7 line 18) to an internal power source if the device is not electrically connected to an external power source (column 4 lines 3-29, see figure 4).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the power connections of Snyder in the system of Kimura for the benefit of providing a specific, known working power supply implementation, thereby reducing design costs. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Snyder with Kimura to obtain the invention as specified in claim 14.
Geilhufe teaches wherein when a device is connected to an external power source (such as AC outlet), a microphone subsystem continuously monitors for speech (column 22 lines 42-48, “Acoustic identification works when voice controlled devices are actively listening for recognizable commands. In most cases, this means the voice controlled device is constantly listening and attempting recognition. Typically, these voice controlled devices will be AC powered, since the power drain from continuous recognition will be unacceptable for most battery operated voice controlled devices”) and wherein when the device is connected to an internal power source (battery), the internal power source is selectively connectable to the microphone subsystem (column 9 lines 6-10, “For example, to minimize battery consumption, battery operated voice controlled devices may require the user to push a switch (or its equivalent, such as flipping open a flip-type cellphone) to activate the speech recognition engine”, column 19 lines 58-61, “For example, in some battery operated applications, power consumption limitations may require the VCC 301 in the voice controlled device 102 to be powered down during idle periods”, column 22 lines 42-48, “Acoustic identification works when voice controlled devices are actively listening for recognizable commands. In most cases, this means the voice controlled device is constantly listening and attempting recognition. Typically, these voice controlled devices will be AC powered, since the power drain from continuous recognition will be unacceptable for most battery operated voice controlled devices”).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use continuous monitoring and selective connections of Geilhufe in the system of Kimura and Snyder for the benefit of providing a system that monitors speech but also saves power when needed. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Snyder with Kimura and Snyder to obtain the invention as specified in claim 14.
Regarding claim 15, Geilhufe discloses wherein continuously monitoring for speech comprises detecting, by the at least on microphone, speech at any time without user engagement with the remote control (column 22 lines 42-48, “Acoustic identification works when voice controlled devices are actively listening for recognizable commands. In most cases, this means the voice controlled device is constantly listening and attempting recognition”).
Regarding claim 16, Snyder discloses wherein the at least one microphone is disconnected from the internal power source when the remote-control electrical contacts are connected to the external power source (see figure 4, when connected to external power, not powered by main battery or auxiliary battery, see at least column 4 lines 3-29, and column 6 line 32 to column 7 line 18).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Kimura, Snyder, and Geilhufe discloses wherein the internal power source is selectively connectable to the at least one microphone based on user manipulation of the remote control (Kimura teaches column 11 lines 1-18, “If the talk switch 12 is pressed, the transmitter 1 is capable of transmitting remote control signals, and if the talk switch 12 is released, the transmitter 1 is kept in the low power consumption mode”, Geilhufe teaches column 9 lines 6-10, “For example, to minimize battery consumption, battery operated voice controlled devices may require the user to push a switch (or its equivalent, such as flipping open a flip-type cellphone) to activate the speech recognition engine”).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Kimura, Snyder, and Geilhufe discloses wherein the user manipulation comprises operating a control on the remote control (Kimura teaches column 11 lines 1-18, “If the talk switch 12 is pressed, the transmitter 1 is capable of transmitting remote control signals, and if the talk switch 12 is released, the transmitter 1 is kept in the low power consumption mode”, Geilhufe teaches column 9 lines 6-10, “For example, to minimize battery consumption, battery operated voice controlled devices may require the user to push a switch (or its equivalent, such as flipping open a flip-type cellphone) to activate the speech recognition engine”).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Kimura, Snyder, and Geilhufe discloses wherein when the remote-control electrical contacts are connected to an external power source, the microphone subsystem processes speech received via the at least one microphone in a first modality (continuously, see claim 1 above); and
wherein when the remote-control electrical contacts are not connected the external power source, the microphone subsystem processes speech received via the at least one microphone in a second modality that is different from the first modality (selectively, see claim 1 above).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura (US 5267323) in view of Snyder et al. (US 6043626), Geilhufe et al. (US 6584439 B1), and Ng (US 20170070066 A1).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Kimura, Snyder, and Geilhufe discloses a remote control system, comprising:
the remote control of claim 1 (as above); and
electrical contacts configured to engage the external supply to the microphone subsystem (Snyder, when connected to external power, see at least column 4 lines 3-29, and column 6 line 32 to column 7 line 18).
Neither of Kimura, Snyder, nor Geilhufe teach the claimed base station.
Ng discloses a remote-control base station (figures 1-5 item 52) configured to hold a remote control (12), the remote-control base station comprising base electrical contacts (in socket 76, see figure 5) configured to engage remote-control electrical contacts (of 50, see figure 3) and electrically connect a wall-socket adapter (72 of figure 4) connected to the base station and a wall socket (74) to the system (see figure 4).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the base station of Ng in the system of Kimura, Snyder, and Geilhufe for the benefit of charging and positioning the remote in a convenient fashion. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Ng with Kimura, Snyder, and Geilhufe to obtain the invention as specified in claim 8.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 25th, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the previous double patenting rejections.
In general applicant argues that the amendments to the previous claims are not found in prior art (see applicant’s arguments dated June 25th, 2026, starting bottom of page 7 for 35 USC 102 rejections, starting bottom of page 9 for 35 USC 103 rejections). A new ground of rejection has been established as above in light of the amendments.
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 DOUGLAS JOHN SUTHERS whose telephone number is (571)272-0563. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8 am -5 pm.
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/DOUGLAS J SUTHERS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2695
/VIVIAN C CHIN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2695
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