Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . See 35 U.S.C. § 100 (note).
Art Rejections
Anticipation
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 210075543 U (published 14 February 2020) (“Pan”).
Claim 1 is drawn to “a Bluetooth speaker networking system.” The following table illustrates the correspondence between the claimed system and the Pan reference.
Claim 1
The Pan Reference
“1. A Bluetooth speaker networking system, comprising:
The Pan reference describes a wireless networking Bluetooth headset/earphone system. Pan at ¶¶ 2, 5, 6, 8–10.
“a plurality of Bluetooth sound units in wireless communication connection with each other;
Pan’s system similarly includes a plurality of Bluetooth sound units, such as Bluetooth earphones. Pan at ¶¶ 10, 25. One of the earphones will act as the main earphone and the others will acts as auxiliary or secondary earphones. Id.
“wherein when the plurality of Bluetooth sound units are powered on, the Bluetooth sound units are set as auxiliary Bluetooth sound units by default;
Pan describes powering, or booting, each earphone, which defaults all of them to an auxiliary status (i.e., not connected to any other device) until a user takes an action to connect the earphone to another device, such as a mobile phone or another earphone. Id. at ¶¶ 31, 33, 37.
“when any one of the plurality of the Bluetooth sound unit is connected with an external equipment through Bluetooth, the Bluetooth sound unit is set as a host Bluetooth sound;
Placing one of the earphones into a hybrid mode makes it the main, or host, earphone that establishes a Bluetooth connection with a mobile phone. Id.
“all other auxiliary machine Bluetooth sound equipment are connected with the main machine Bluetooth sound equipment, and the Bluetooth of the auxiliary machine Bluetooth sound equipment is closed;
All other auxiliary earphones are placed in a WiFi mode to connect with the main earphone to receive synced audio from the main earphone over a wireless network, making the auxiliary earphones incapable of receiving Bluetooth audio from the mobile phone (i.e., the Bluetooth connection between the auxiliary earphones and the mobile phone is closed). Id. at ¶¶ 32, 33.
“the host Bluetooth sound synchronizes the received audio signal to all other auxiliary Bluetooth sound.”
The main earphone receives audio from the mobile phone and syncs delivery of the audio to the secondary, or auxiliary, earphones. Id. at ¶¶ 33, 37–39.
Table 1
For the foregoing reasons, the Pan reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Obviousness
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.
Claims 2–10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Pan, Silicon Control Technologies SCT2630 Datasheet (2020) (“SCT2630”), XLSEMI XL1509 Datasheet (2007) (“XL1509”), Texas Instruments TPA3110D2 Datasheet (April 2017) (“TPA3110D2”), Bluetrum BT8922B2 Datasheet (created 29 June 2021) (last revised 14 February 2025) (“BT8922B2”)1 and Bluetrum BT8962B5 Datasheet, https://www.bluetrum.com/product/showproduct.php?id=597&lang=en (last accessed 01 May 2026) (“BT8962B5”)2.
Claim 2 depends on claim 1, and further requires the following:
“wherein the Bluetooth speaker unit comprises a power supply module, a Bluetooth module, a broadcast receiving module, a power amplifier module and a loudspeaker;
“the power module comprises a first DC-DC converter and a second DC-DC converter;
“the first DC-DC converter is connected with the power amplification module and is used for reducing voltage to supply power for the power amplification module;
“the second DC-DC converter is connected with the Bluetooth module and the broadcast receiving module and is used for reducing voltage to supply power for the Bluetooth module and the broadcast receiving module;
“the Bluetooth module is used for receiving an audio signal sent by the external equipment, and is connected with the broadcast receiving module and transmits the audio signal to the broadcast receiving module;
“the broadcast receiving module is used for determining an auxiliary machine mode and a main machine mode of the Bluetooth sound equipment, is connected with the power amplification module and transmits the audio signal to the power amplification module;
“the power amplifier module is connected with the loudspeaker and drives the loudspeaker to sound.”
Pan’s earphones similarly include a power supply module 4 that converts a battery into a 5V power supply (i.e., a DC-DC converter), a Bluetooth chip 1, a wireless networking chip 2 whose usage determines if an earphone is used as a main earphone or an auxiliary earphone, an earphone module (i.e., a power amplifier) 9 and an earphone/loudspeaker (not depicted). Pan at ¶¶ 25, 29, FIG.1. While Pan suggests the use of a particular type of Bluetooth chip, Pan does not describe the parts used for all the various components. See id. at ¶ 30.
One of ordinary skill in the art, at the time this Application was filed, would have known of numerous available parts to implement each of Pan’s module functions. Known parts for DC-DC conversion include the Silicon Control Technologies SCT2630 and the XLSEMI XL1509 chips. Known Bluetooth and wireless networking chips include the Bluetrum BT8922B2 and the BT8962B5. Known power amplifiers for speakers include the Texas Instruments TPA3110D2. Applicant presumably admits that these chips are prior art by virtue of using them in the design of the claimed invention. The relationship between each of these parts and Pan’s modules is discussed below.
The TPA3110D2 is a known power amplifier for audio applications. This makes it reasonably suitable for implementing Pan’s earphone module to drive each earphone’s speakers.
The BT 8922B2 is a known Bluetooth chip. This makes it reasonably suitable for implementing Pan’s Bluetooth chip 1, which will receive audio from a mobile phone and forward the audio to wireless networking chip 2.
The BT8962B5 is a known wireless networking chip that supports broadcast isochronous (BIS) audio. This makes it reasonably suitable for implementing Pan’s wireless networking chip 2 that broadcasts synchronized audio from a main earphone to a set of auxiliary earphones. Wireless networking chip 2 is connected to module 9 in order to output the received broadcast audio. See Pan at ¶¶ 28, 39 (describing the receipt of information by module 2 and the output of audio with earpiece module 9).
One of ordinary skill would have recognized that the Bluetooth chips and the power amplifier chip have different voltage requirements. TPA3110D2 Datasheet at p.1 (8V to 26V supply); BT8922B2 Datasheet at § 3.1 (3.0V to 4.5V supply). Thus, one of ordinary skill would have reasonably provided two DC-DC converters (e.g., the SCT2630 and the XL1509) to convert battery voltage into two separate DC power rails for the different chips in the earphones. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pan, the SCT2630, the XL1509, the TPA3110D2, the BT8922B2 and the BT8962B5 references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 3 depends on claim 2, and further requires the following:
“wherein the broadcast receiving module sets the local Bluetooth speaker unit as a sub-set Bluetooth speaker when all Bluetooth speaker units are powered on;
“after any one of the Bluetooth sound units is connected with the peripheral through Bluetooth, the Bluetooth module sends a connection signal to the broadcast receiving module, the broadcast receiving module receives the connection signal, and the local Bluetooth sound unit is set as a host Bluetooth sound unit.”
Likewise, Pan describes setting each earphone to a sub-set Bluetooth speaker when it is powered on. Pan at FIG.4 (depicting power on, followed by transition to a sleep state.) Pan also describes setting one of the earphones as a main earphone, or host, and all other earphones as auxiliary earphones. Id. at ¶¶ 31–33, 39. Pan’s Bluetooth chip 1 then connects with wireless networking chip 2 in order to broadcast audio received from the mobile phone to the auxiliary earphones. Id. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pan, the SCT2630, the XL1509, the TPA3110D2, the BT8922B2 and the BT8962B5 references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 4 depends on claim 3, and further requires the following:
“wherein, after the auxiliary Bluetooth speaker finds a host signal, the broadcast receiving module of the auxiliary Bluetooth speaker sends a connection request to the broadcast receiving module of the host Bluetooth speaker, and the broadcast receiving module of the host Bluetooth speaker performs verification and completes networking with the auxiliary Bluetooth speaker;
“the broadcast receiving module of the host Bluetooth speaker synchronously transmits the audio signals to the broadcast receiving modules of all the auxiliary Bluetooth speakers;
“the broadcast receiving modules of the main machine Bluetooth speaker and all the auxiliary Bluetooth speakers synchronously send audio signals to the power amplification modules of the main machine Bluetooth speaker and all the auxiliary machine Bluetooth speakers;
“the power amplifier modules of the main machine Bluetooth speaker and all the auxiliary machine Bluetooth speakers push the speakers to sound, and interconnection playing is completed.”
Pan similarly describes connecting the main, or host, earphone to each auxiliary earphone using wireless networking chip 2. Pan at ¶ 25. Assuming the use of the BT8962B5 chip as the wireless networking chip 2 will require the use of conventional Bluetooth handshaking as claimed (i.e., detecting a broadcast host signal, transmitting a connection request, verification of the connection request and completion of the connection). The main earphone will then use Bluetooth BIS to broadcast audio from a mobile phone to each auxiliary earphone, such that each earphone outputs audio to their respective power amplifiers and speakers in a synchronized manner as claimed. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pan, the SCT2630, the XL1509, the TPA3110D2, the BT8922B2 and the BT8962B5 references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 5 depends on claim 2, and further requires the following:
“wherein the first DC-DC converter is of a chip type of SCT2630;
“the second DC-DC converter adopts a chip model number of XL1509;
“the Bluetooth module adopts the chip model of BT8922B2;
“the broadcast receiving module adopts the chip model of BT8962B5;
“the power amplifier module adopts the chip model of TPA3110D2.”
The obviousness rejection of claim 2, incorporated herein, shows the obviousness of implementing Pan’s modules with the claimed parts. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pan, the SCT2630, the XL1509, the TPA3110D2, the BT8922B2 and the BT8962B5 references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 6 depends on claim 5, and further requires the following:
“wherein the chip SCT2630 pin EN is connected to an external power supply in parallel with pin VIN, the pin SW is connected to an inductor and a capacitor as output pins PVCC, and the output pins PVCC are connected to the chip TPA3110D2.”
The SCT2630 Datasheet and the TPA3110D2 Datasheet together teach and suggest the claimed circuit for using the SCT2630 to power the TPA3110D2. SCT2630 at p.1 (bottom-left figure); TPA3110D2 at p.1 (bottom figure). For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pan, the SCT2630, the XL1509, the TPA3110D2, the BT8922B2 and the BT8962B5 references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 7 depends on claim 5, and further requires the following:
“wherein the pin VIN of the chip XL1509 is connected to an external power source, the pin OUTPUT is connected to an inductor, a diode and a resistor as an OUTPUT pin VMCU, and the OUTPUT pin VMCU is connected to the chip BT8922B2 and the chip BT8962B5.”
The XL1509 Datasheet teaches and suggests configuring the XL1509 in a circuit as claimed to power low-voltage chips (e.g., 5V), including the BT8922B2 and the BT8962B5. See XL1509 at FIG.3. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pan, the SCT2630, the XL1509, the TPA3110D2, the BT8922B2 and the BT8962B5 references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 8 depends on claim 5, and further requires the following:
“wherein the pin DACR of the chip BT8922B2 is connected to the pin PB15 of the chip BT8962B5, and the pin DACL of the chip BT8922B2 is connected to the pin PB14 of the chip BT8962B5.”
Claim 9 depends on claim 5, and further requires the following:
“wherein the BT8962B5 pin DACR is coupled to the TPA3110D2 pin link, and the BT8962B5 pin DACL is coupled to the TPA3110D2 pin PINP.”
Claim 10 depends on claim 5, and further requires the following:
“wherein the BT8922B2 chip and the BT8962B5 pin bt_ant connection capacitor are connected to an on-board antenna.”
Claims 8–10 are addressed together. The TPA3110D2 at p.1 (bottom figure), BT8922B2 pp.4–7 and BT8962B5 Datasheets further teach and suggest connecting the chips as claimed to support Pan’s described functions—namely, providing audio received at a Bluetooth chip 1 to a wireless networking chip 2, providing an antenna to allow for wireless communication and outputting audio through an earphone module 9. Pan at ¶¶ 25, 33, 37–39. The claimed circuit is the obvious result of connecting the inputs/outputs of the chips according to their described pin functions. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pan, the SCT2630, the XL1509, the TPA3110D2, the BT8922B2 and the BT8962B5 references makes obvious all limitations of the claims.
Summary
Claims 1–10 are rejected under at least one of 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 103 as being unpatentable over the cited prior art. 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 C.F.R. § 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Rejections Under 35 U.S.C. § 112
Indefiniteness
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. § 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1–10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “the main machine Bluetooth sound equipment.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation. 3 Claims 2–10 depend on claim 1. Because of their dependency, they are rejected for the same reasons as their base claim.
Claim 2 recites “the Bluetooth speaker unit” in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation.4 Claims 3–10 depend on claim 2. Because of their dependency, they are rejected for the same reasons as their base claim.
Claim 3 recites “the peripheral” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation.5 Claim 4 depends on claim 3. Because of its dependency, it is rejected for the same reasons as its base claim.
Claims 1–10 contain the trademark Bluetooth and claims 5–10 further include the parts names SCT2630, XL1509, BT8922B2, BT8962B5 and TPA3110D2. While the part names may enable one of ordinary skill in the art to identify a part, a part number may refer to multiple versions of the same part, or revisions. In this regard, the part names are similar to trademarks or trade names. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112(b). See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the claims use the Bluetooth trademark and the part names to identify/describe DC-DC converters, a wireless module, a broadcast receiving module and a power amplifier module. But because the trademark and the part numbers may refer to numerous products or revisions of a product differing in terms of structure and functionality the claims are indefinite.
Requirement for Information Under 37 C.F.R. § 1.105
This is a requirement under 37 C.F.R. § 1.105. See MPEP § 704. The claims recite the use of particular parts by reference to part numbers and pin layouts of the parts and specific connections between the parts. In order to fairly determine patentability of such claim limitations, technical information concerning the parts and that were available at the time this Application was filed need to be evaluated. The Examiner has made diligent efforts to obtain datasheets for each part that were available at the time this Application was filed, but was unable to obtain datasheets for all the parts. Since Applicant presumably has had access to the datasheets since at least the time the invention was effectively filed, it is in the best position to furnish technical information concerning the claimed parts.
For the foregoing reasons, the Examiner requires under 37 C.F.R. § 1.105 that Applicant furnish all datasheets, or other publicly available technical information, concerning the claimed parts and that was available to the public at the time this Application was effectively filed.
Specifically, Applicant is required to take reasonable steps to furnish the following pieces of information:
Datasheets, or other publicly available technical information, concerning the Texas Instruments TPA3110D2.
Datasheets, or other publicly available technical information, concerning the Silicon Content Technology SCT2630.
Datasheets, or other publicly available technical information, concerning the XLSEMI XL1509.
Datasheets, or other publicly available technical information, concerning the Bluetrum BT8922B2.
Datasheets, or other publicly available technical information, concerning the Bluetrum BT8962B.
If any of the required information is unavailable, Applicant may alternatively admit that the documents provided by the Examiner concerning the claimed parts are prior art. Alternatively, Applicant may submit a set of stipulations concerning which claim limitations are based on facts taken from sources that were publicly available at the time the Application was effectively filed. For example, Applicant may provide a table for each of claims 5–10, where each table lists each claim limitation and an indication of whether or not the limitation is supported by information taken from publicly available sources.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WALTER F BRINEY III whose telephone number is (571)272-7513. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-4:30 pm.
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/Walter F Briney III/
Walter F Briney IIIPrimary ExaminerArt Unit 2692
5/1/2026
1 The BT8922B2 Datasheet provided by the Office was not available at the time this Application was effectively filed. However, the table of changes shows that the BT8922B2 pin layout and functions have been unchanged since creation on 29 June 2021, and were described in the original version of the datasheet. Further, based on Applicant’s use of the chip, the BT8922B2 itself was presumably available to the public at the time this Application was effectively filed, making the chip itself prior art.
2 The BT8962B5 Datasheet provided by the Office was not necessarily available at the time this Application was effectively filed. However, based on Applicant’s use of the chip, the BT8962B5 itself was presumably available to the public at the time this Application was effectively filed, making the chip itself prior art.
3 To compact prosecution, the Examiner will interpret this limitation as a reference to “a host Bluetooth sound” in line 6 of claim 1.
4 To compact prosecution, the Examiner will interpret this limitation as a reference to “a Bluetooth sound unit” in line 2 of claim 1.
5 To compact prosecution, the Examiner will interpret this limitation as a reference to “an external equipment” in ll. 5–6 of claim 1.
Prosecution Insights