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 .
This action is in response to the communication filed on December 9, 2024.
Claims 1-3 and 8-9 are pending in this action. Claims 4-7 have been canceled. Claims 8-9 have been newly added.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-3 and 8-9 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 10,515,645. Although the
claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other
because the claimed language of claims 1-3 and 8-9 merely broadens the claimed subject matter of claims 1-18 of the patent by omitting some claimed features.
Claims 1-3 and 8-9 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 11,043,224. Although the
claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other
because the claimed language of claims 1-18 merely broadens the claimed subject
matter of claims 1-18 of the patent by omitting some claimed features.
Claims 1-3 and 8-9 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-12 of U.S. Patent No. 12,087,311. Although the
claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other
because the claimed language of claims 1-3 and 8-9 merely broadens the claimed subject matter of claims 1-12 of the patent by omitting some claimed features.
It has been held that the omission of an element and its function is an obvious
expedient if the remaining elements perform the same function as before In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184 (CCPA). Also note Exparte Rainu, 168 USPQ 375 (Bd. App. 1969); the
omission of a reference element whose function is not needed would be obvious to one
skilled in the art.
Comparison of corresponding independent claims in between Application #18/818367 and Patent Numbers: 12,087,311; 11,043,224; and 10,515,645, as follows:
Application#
18/818,367
Patent #
12,087,311
Patent#
11,043,224
Patent#
10,515,645
1.A method for encoding an ambisonics signal representation of a sound field to determine a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor configured to encode the ambisonics signal representation, a first multi-channel signal comprising first channels O corresponding to O Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences; receiving, by the processor, transforming information for encoding the first multi-channel signal of the ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes a matrix comprising mapping information for mapping the O HOA coefficient sequences to O virtual loudspeaker signals, wherein the matrix size is based on an order N of the HOA coefficient sequences; and transforming, by the processor, the first multi-channel signal to a second multi-channel signal based on a multiplication of the first multi-channel signal with the matrix information, wherein the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation is represented by the second multi- channel signal, and wherein the second multi-channel signal comprises a second number of channels I corresponding to groups of virtual loudspeaker signals.
3. (Original) An apparatus for encoding an ambisonics signal representation of a sound field to determine a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the apparatus comprising: a first receiver configured to receive a first multi-channel signal comprising a first channels O corresponding to O Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences; a second receiver configured to receive transforming information for transforming the first multi-channel signal of the first number of channels O to the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes a matrix comprising mapping information for mapping the O HOA coefficient sequences to O virtual loudspeaker signals, wherein the matrix size is based on an order N of the HOA coefficient sequences; and a processing unit configured to transform the first multi-channel signal to a second multi- channel signal based on a multiplication of the first multi-channel signal with the matrix information, wherein the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation is represented by the second multi-channel signal, and wherein the second multi-channel signal comprises a second number of channels I corresponding to groups of virtual loudspeaker signals.
8. (New) A method for decoding a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation to determine a reconstructed ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor configured to decode the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, a first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation having a first number of channels I; receiving, by the processor, transforming information for decoding the first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes matrix information for mapping O number of virtual loudspeakers to O sequences of Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences that represent the reconstructed ambisonics signal representation, wherein O depends on the order N; and transforming, by the processor, the first multi-channel signal to a second multi-channel signal, wherein the second multi-channel signal represents the reconstructed ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming comprises de-grouping the I channels to O de-grouped channel and wherein the transforming is based at least in part on the transforming information.
1. A method for encoding an ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N to determine a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor configured to encode the ambisonics signal representation, a first multi-channel signal comprising first channels 0, wherein 0 = (N+1)^2, wherein the O channels correspond to O Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences, and wherein the ambisonics signal representation is represented by the first multi-channel signal; receiving, by the processor, transforming information for encoding the first multi-channel signal of the ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes a matrix comprising mapping information for mapping the O HOA coefficient sequences to O virtual loudspeaker signals; and transforming, by the processor, the first multi-channel signal to a second multi-channel signal based on the transforming information, wherein the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation is represented by the second multi-channel signal, and wherein the second multi- channel signal comprises a second number of channels I, and wherein the I channels represent I groups of virtual loudspeaker signals.
4. An apparatus for encoding an ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N to determine a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the apparatus comprising: a first receiver configured to receive a first multi-channel signal comprising a first channels 0, wherein 0 = (N+1)^2, wherein the O channels correspond to O Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences, and wherein the ambisonics signal representation is represented by the first multi-channel signal; a second receiver configured to receive transforming information for transforming the first multi-channel signal of the first number of channels O to the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes a matrix comprising mapping information for mapping the O HOA coefficient sequences to O virtual loudspeaker signals; and a processing unit configured to transform the first multi-channel signal to a second multi- channel signal based on the transforming information, wherein the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation is represented by the second multi-channel signal, and wherein the second multi- channel signal comprises a second number of channels I, and wherein the I channels represent I groups of virtual loudspeaker signals.
6. A method for decoding a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation to determine a reconstructed ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor configured to decode the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, a first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation having a first number of channels I; receiving, by the processor, transforming information for decoding the first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes matrix information for mapping O number of virtual loudspeakers to O sequences of Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences that represent the reconstructed ambisonics signal representation; and transforming, by the processor, the first multi-channel signal to a second multi-channel signal based in part on the transforming information, wherein the second multi-channel signal represents the reconstructed ambisonics signal representation, wherein the second multi-channel signal comprises O channels, wherein O=(N+1)^2, and wherein the transforming includes de- grouping the I channels to O de-grouped channels.
1. A method for encoding an ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N to determine a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor configured to encode the ambisonics signal representation, a first multi-channel signal comprising a first number of channels 0, wherein 0= (N+1)A2, wherein the O channels represent O Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences, and wherein the ambisonics signal representation is represented by the first multi-channel signal; receiving, by the processor, transforming information for encoding the first multi-channel signal of the ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes mapping information for mapping the O HOA coefficient sequences to O virtual loudspeaker signals; and transforming, by the processor, the first multi-channel signal to a second multi-channel signal based on the transforming information, wherein the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation is represented by the second multi-channel signal, and wherein the second multi- channel signal comprises a second number of channels I, and wherein the I channels represent I groups of virtual loudspeaker signals.
6. An apparatus for encoding an ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N to determine a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the apparatus comprising: a first receiver configured to receive a first multi-channel signal comprising a first number of channels 0, wherein 0= (N+1)A2, wherein the O channels represent O Higher Order Ambisonics(HOA) coefficient sequences, and wherein the ambisonics signal representation is represented by the first multi-channel signal; a second receiver configured to receive transforming information for transforming the first multi-channel signal of the first number of channels O to the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes mapping information for mapping the O HOA coefficient sequences to O virtual loudspeaker signals; and a processing unit configured to transform the first multi-channel signal to a second multi- channel signal based on the transforming information, wherein the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation is represented by the second multi-channel signal, and wherein the second multi- channel signal comprises a second number of channels I, and wherein the I channels represent I groups of virtual loudspeaker signals.
10. A method for decoding a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation to determine a reconstructed ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor configured to decode the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, a first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation having a first number of channels I; receiving, by the processor, transforming information for decoding the first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes information for mapping O number of virtual loudspeakers to O sequences of Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences that represent the reconstructed ambisonics signal representation; and transforming, by the processor, the first multi-channel signal to a second multi-channel signal based on the transforming information, wherein the second multi-channel signal represents the reconstructed ambisonics signal representation, wherein the second multi-channel signal comprises O channels, wherein O=(N+1)A2, and wherein the transforming includes de-grouping the I channels to O de-grouped channels.
1. A method for encoding an ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N to determine a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor configured to encode the ambisonics signal representation, a first multi-channel signal comprising a first number of channels 0, wherein 0=(N+1)2, wherein the O channels represent O Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences, and wherein the ambisonics signal representation is represented by the first multi- channel signal; receiving, by the processor, transforming information for encoding the first multi-channel signal of the ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes mapping information for mapping the O HOA coefficient sequences to O virtual loudspeaker signals, wherein the transforming information further includes grouping information for grouping the O virtual loudspeaker signals to I groups of virtual loudspeaker signals; and transforming, by the processor, the first multi-channel signal to a second multi-channel signal based on the transforming information, wherein the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation is represented by the second multi-channel signal, and wherein the second multi- channel signal comprises a second number of channels I, and wherein the I channels represent the I groups of virtual loudspeaker signals.
6. An apparatus for encoding an ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N to determine a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the apparatus comprising: a first receiver configured to receive a first multi-channel signal comprising a first number of channels 0, wherein 0= (N+1)2, wherein the O channels represent O Higher Order Ambisonics(HOA) coefficient sequences, and wherein the ambisonics signal representation is represented by the first multi-channel signal; a second receiver configured to receive transforming information for transforming the first multi-channel signal of the first number of channels O to the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes mapping information for mapping the O HOA coefficient sequences to O virtual loudspeaker signals, wherein the transforming information further includes grouping information for grouping the O virtual loudspeaker signals to I groups of virtual loudspeaker signals; and a processing unit configured to transform the first multi-channel signal to a second multi- channel signal based on the transforming information, wherein the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation is represented by the second multi-channel signal, and wherein the second multi- channel signal comprises a second number of channels I, and wherein the I channels represent the I groups of virtual loudspeaker signals.
10. A method for decoding a mezzanine ambisonics signal representation to determine a reconstructed ambisonics signal representation of a sound field having an order N, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor configured to decode the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, a first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, the first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation having a first number of channels I; receiving, by the processor, transforming information for decoding the first multi-channel signal of the mezzanine ambisonics signal representation, wherein the transforming information includes de-grouping information for de-grouping I groups of virtual loudspeakers to O virtual loudspeakers, and wherein the transforming information further includes information for mapping O number of virtual loudspeakers to O sequences of Higher Order Ambisonics (HOA) coefficient sequences that represent the reconstructed ambisonics signal representation; and transforming, by the processor, the first multi-channel signal to a second multi-channel signal based on the transforming information, wherein the second multi-channel signal represents the reconstructed ambisonics signal representation, wherein the second multi-channel signal comprises O number of channels, and wherein 0= (N+1)2.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al. (US 2015/0332682) discloses, spectral relation coding for higher order ambisonic coefficients.
Liu et al. (US 10,593,343) discloses, apparatus and method for surround audio
signal processing.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Abul K. Azad whose telephone number is (571) 272-7599. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Bhavesh Mehta, can be reached at (571) 272-7453.
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March 6, 2026
/ABUL K AZAD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2656