DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Status of Application
This communication is responsive to the applicant's preliminary amendment filed 10/21/2024.
Claims 17-36 are pending. Claims 1-16 have been cancelled.
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.
Claim(s) 34-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mansour et al (US-2020/0196053, hereinafter, Mansour).
Regarding claim 1, Mansour discloses a computer-implemented method (see para [0096], [0097]) for generating a listening device specific room impulse response describing an acoustic characteristic of a listening device and an acoustic receiver as received by the listening device (see para [0019], Figs. 1, 5, 10A-10E), wherein the listening device comprises at least a first acoustic receiver (microphone array), the method comprising: generating an at least first acoustic transfer function, wherein the at least first acoustic transfer function describes the acoustic characteristic of the listening device as received by at least a first acoustic receiver (see Fig. 5, 6; para [0046]-[0066]); and generating a spatial room impulse response (SRIR), wherein the spatial room impulse response describes the acoustic characteristic of the room from at least one room sound source in the room received at an at least one listening point in the room from at least one direction (see Fig. 10A-10E; and para [0082]-[0088]); and generating the listening device specific room impulse response by combining the acoustic transfer function and the spatial room impulse response (see Fig. 10D; and para [0087]).
Regarding claim 35, Mansour discloses the method according to claim 34, where the generated listening device specific room impulse response is encoded and decoded using ambisonics (see para [0031], [0032]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-33, and 36 allowed over prior art of record.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 17-33, and 36 are allowable over the art of record because the closest prior art of record (Mansour et al, Schembri et al and Jang et al) does not teach or suggest at least the combination of interrelated steps or elements for a computer system and method for generating an at least first acoustic transfer function that including “obtaining a mesh model, determining a first closest mesh element on the mesh model, wherein the first closest mesh element is closest to the at least first acoustic receiver; arranging a digital representation of a first source correction acoustic receiver located at a first source distance from the first closest mesh element, wherein the first source distance is less than the predetermined distance; digitally emitting a first impulse signal using the first closest mesh element as a sound source; determining a first source correction signal using a wave-based solver”, in combination with all other elements and functional steps recited in independent claims 17, and 36.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Schembri et al and Jang et al disclose various audio system including impulse response generation for spatial audio modeling.
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/XU MEI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695 02/20/2026