DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to communication filed on 10 September 2024. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application and have been considered below.
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.
Claims 1-7 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SCOTT et al. (US20210409466A1) in view of MAMORI et al. (US20220084490A1).
As to independent claim 1, SCOTT teaches:
a system, comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable recording media that store instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to configure the system to: access metadata associated with an audio signal, wherein the metadata define a plurality of audio sections for the audio signal (see fig. 9, par. 0066, wherein as set forth in FIG. 9, the server response contains the Stems, graphics, or video requested, plus Metadata which may include, for example, one or more of: Stem and Metadata mapping instructions; Lyrics/dialog; musical notation (chord names, chord shapes, standard notation, tablature); Work information (artist, date, album, songwriter(s), record label, studio, publisher(s), company, etc.); Work musicians/personnel information; Work description information; Work statistics; recording information (instruments, equipment, recording studio, etc.); and Work rights information; as taught by SCOTT);
cause presentation of the plurality of audio sections on a user device (see fig. 2, par. par. 0031, wherein the user may control which Stems the user wants to hear via a user interface (UI) on the user's Playback Device. The UI allows the user to select icons representing the instruments in a song such that the icon may cause the Playback Device to, for example, partially or fully mute, alter or solo the instruments, as set forth in FIG. 2; as taught by SCOTT);
after user input is directed to the user device for selecting one or more audio sections from the plurality of audio sections presented on the user device (see fig. 2, par. 0034, wherein combine, mute, or isolate one or more synchronized audio Stems. A user taps, clicks or selects a button or a visual icon representing a particular stem or musical instrument during playback. This action triggers an API call to enable or disable the audio playback of that particular stem; as taught by SCOTT).
SCOTT does not expressly teach include the one or more audio sections in a looping queue; and initiate looping playback of the audio signal using the looping queue, wherein the looping playback of the audio signal using the looping queue comprises repeating playback of the one or more audio sections included in the looping queue until a stop condition is satisfied.
In similar field of endeavor, MAMORI teaches:
include the one or more audio sections in a looping queue; and initiate looping playback of the audio signal using the looping queue, wherein the looping playback of the audio signal using the looping queue comprises repeating playback of the one or more audio sections included in the looping queue until a stop condition is satisfied (see fig. 1b, par. 0022, wherein the looper 1 has a recording button 2 for starting to record musical sounds, a loop reproduction button 3 for stopping recording of musical sounds and starting loop reproduction of the musical sound phrase P based on the recorded musical sounds and the rhythm phrase R, and a stop button 4 for stopping the loop reproduction of the musical sound phrase P and the rhythm phrase R; as taught by MAMORI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the SCOTT apparatus to include the teachings of MAMORI to include the one or more audio sections in a looping queue; and initiate looping playback of the audio signal using the looping queue, wherein the looping playback of the audio signal using the looping queue comprises repeating playback of the one or more audio sections included in the looping queue until a stop condition is satisfied. Such a person would have been motivated to make this combination as it is beneficial for the user to be able to control and manage playback of a section when reproducing music until an optimal recording is selected.
As to claim 2, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 1. MAMORI further teaches wherein a beginning or an end of at least some of the plurality of audio sections is/are temporally aligned with a respective beat of a plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal (see par. 0039, wherein FIG. 5(b) is a diagram schematically illustrating the rhythm pattern table 11 c. In the present embodiment, the rhythm phrase R is formed of MIDI data. As illustrated in FIG. 5(b), the rhythm pattern table 11 c stores a sounding timing of each tone of a high hat, a snare drum, a bass drum, or the like at each rhythm phrase R of Nos. 1, 2, . . . . Specifically, in the rhythm pattern table 11 c, a tone sounded at a beat position and a TICK value corresponding to the beat position is designated in each rhythm phrase R. In FIG. 5(b), a black circle is marked on a beat position and a TICK value corresponding to a sounding timing of each tone; see also par. 0040, wherein in the rhythm phrase R of “No. 1” in the rhythm pattern table 11 c, the high hat and the bass drum are sounded at the beat position 1 (TICK value=0), the high hat and the snare drum are sounded at the beat position 2 (TICK value=96), only the high hat is sounded at the beat position 3 (TICK value=192), and the high hat and the snare drum are sounded at the beat position 4 (TICK value=288). The TICK value=383 is a timing of the terminal end of the rhythm phrase R of “No. 1”, and thus “(terminal end)” is recorded in each tone. Since the rhythm phrase R of “No. 1” is formed of four beats, its length is set to “one bar”. A MIDI message of a tone with a sounding timing is transmitted to the sound source 14 that will be described later at each timing (TICK value), and thus the rhythm phrase R is reproduced; as taught by MAMORI).
As to claim 3, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 1. MAMORI further teaches wherein the stop condition comprises detection of user input directed to the user device for disabling a looping playback mode (see fig. 1b, par. 0022, wherein the looper 1 has a recording button 2 for starting to record musical sounds, a loop reproduction button 3 for stopping recording of musical sounds and starting loop reproduction of the musical sound phrase P based on the recorded musical sounds and the rhythm phrase R, and a stop button 4 for stopping the loop reproduction of the musical sound phrase P and the rhythm phrase R; as taught by MAMORI).
As to claim 4, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 1. SCOTT further teaches wherein the stop condition comprises detection of user input directed to the user device for removing the one or more audio sections from the looping queue (see par. 0108, wherein the security information may restrict/permit only certain actions, such as accessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, the data set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the user are permitted to delete a data set, various identified users may be permitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogether excluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restriction parameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a data set with various permission levels as appropriate; see also par. 0109, wherein the data, including the header or trailer, may be received by a standalone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, or augment the data in accordance with the header or trailer; as taught by SCOTT).
As to claim 5, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 1. MAMORI further teaches wherein the looping playback of the audio signal using the looping queue comprises refraining from playing back audio sections of the plurality of audio sections that are not included in the looping queue (see fig. 1b, par. 0022, wherein the looper 1 has a recording button 2 for starting to record musical sounds, a loop reproduction button 3 for stopping recording of musical sounds and starting loop reproduction of the musical sound phrase P based on the reorded musical sounds and the rhythm phrase R, and a stop button 4 for stopping the loop reproduction of the musical sound phrase P and the rhythm phrase R; as taught by MAMORI) [i.e. only playing back the audio sections that are added to the looper, and not the ones that are not added].
As to claim 6, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 1. MAMORI further teaches wherein the one or more audio sections included in the looping queue comprise multiple audio sections (see figs. 1a-1b and 5b, par. 0021, wherein the looper 1 is an electronic musical apparatus that repeatedly reproduces a musical sound phrase P that is a phrase based on musical sounds input from an apparatus such as an electric guitar G according to a performance of a performer H, and a rhythm phrase R that is a phrase based on a high hat, a snare drum, or the like stored in advance from the beginning to a terminal end of each thereof, and outputs the phrases to a speaker S; as taught by MAMORI).
As to claim 7, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 6. MAMORI further teaches wherein repeating playback of the multiple audio sections comprises sequentially playing back each of the multiple audio sections in accordance with a temporal ordering of the multiple audio sections within the audio signal (see par. 0009, wherein a recording/reproduction program causes a computer to record an input musical sound phrase and reproduce the musical sound phrase and a rhythm phrase, the recording/reproduction program causing the computer to execute a timing acquisition step of sequentially acquiring a first timing based on an input timing of a first instruction and a second timing based on an input timing of a second instruction after the first timing; and a recording/reproduction control step of, at the first timing acquired in the timing acquisition step, starting to record musical sounds, and, at the second timing acquired in the timing acquisition step, determining a phrase based on the musical sounds recorded from the first timing to the second timing as the musical sound phrase, and starting to reproduce the rhythm phrase from a starting end thereof simultaneously with starting to reproduce the musical sound phrase from a starting end thereof; as taught by MAMORI).
As to claim 10, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 1. SCOTT further teaches wherein the presentation of the plurality of audio sections comprises a scrolling list where each of the plurality of audio sections is represented as a list element (see par. 0111, wherein data may be represented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list, drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window, and the like; as taught by SCOTT).
As to claim 11, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 10. SCOTT further teaches wherein each list element comprises a respective section label (see par. 0010, wherein the request may include at least one of user ID, title ID, device information, operating system details, device serial number, manufacturer, model, IP address, geo location, UUID, software version, or user authentication request. The system may provide URLs that correspond to different stem streams, wherein the stem streams are based on the user ID and title ID; as taught by SCOTT).
As to claim 12, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 11. SCOTT further teaches wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to configure the system to: for at least one list element, modify the respective section label based on further user input directed to the user device (see par. 0109, wherein the data, including the header or trailer, may be received by a standalone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, or augment the data in accordance with the header or trailer; as taught by SCOTT).
As to claim 13, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 10. SCOTT further teaches wherein the user input directed to the user device for selecting the one or more audio sections comprises user input selecting one or more list elements of the scrolling list that represent the one or more audio sections (see par. 0013; wherein FIG. 2 shows an exemplary user interface on the playback device that allows a user to select (e.g., tap, touch, click, etc.) icons representing instruments in a song to mute or solo such instruments; see also pars. 0031-0043 and 0048; as taught by SCOTT).
As to claim 14, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 13. SCOTT further teaches wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to configure the system to: after the user input is directed to the user device for selecting the one or more audio sections, modifying one or more presentation characteristics of the one or more list elements of the scrolling list that represent the one or more audio sections (see par. 0050, wherein the system may include music notation, chords, and lyric integration. Code may enable moving chords and other music notation to be perfectly and accurately aligned visually with corresponding moving lyrics. Certain metadata including lyrics and chords may have timestamps interspersed throughout the length of a song. These timestamps may be manually entered and correspond with certain sections of a song to enable the corresponding lyrics to show at the correct moment in a song; as taught by SCOTT).
As to claim 15, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 1. SCOTT further teaches wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to configure the system to: after the user input is directed to the user device for selecting the one or more audio sections, cause presentation of a playback navigation bar that includes one or more segments that represent the one or more audio sections and that omits segments representing audio sections of the plurality of audio sections that are not included in the looping queue (see par. 0048, wherein the system may include a button or a visual icon representing the seek forward or seek backward command during playback. The interface may also include a drag-able “seek” slider wherein a user can “grab and drag” a “handle” up and down, or left and right, to seek different sections of a song and to jump to a specific section of a song (verse, chorus, guitar solo, etc.). In various embodiments, this action triggers an API call to choose a user-defined start time to begin playback. This UI command may also be visualized by a button that a user can slide to choose a start time to begin playback. The slider may be dragged vertically or horizontally to go to a specific part of a song; as taught by SCOTT).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SCOTT et al. (US20210409466A1) in view of MAMORI et al. (US20220084490A1) and further in view of PARK et al. (US20060123979A1).
As to claim 8, SCOTT and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 6. SCOTT and MAMORI do not expressly teach wherein at least two of the multiple audio sections are temporally separated within the audio signal by one or more intervening audio sections that are not included in the looping queue.
In similar field of endeavor, PARK teaches wherein at least two of the multiple audio sections are temporally separated within the audio signal by one or more intervening audio sections that are not included in the looping queue (see figs. 2-3, pars. 0025 and 0036-0046, for example par. 0036, wherein it is determined if the sample length (sam_len) is more than twice that of the loop length (loop_len), and if the sample length is less than twice that of the loop length, it is excluded from a search for a new loop segment, and if the sample length is more than twice that of the loop length, it is selected as a subject for a new loop segment search; as taught by PARK).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the SCOTT and MAMORI apparatus to include the teachings of PARK wherein at least two of the multiple audio sections are temporally separated within the audio signal by one or more intervening audio sections that are not included in the looping queue. Such a person would have been motivated to make this combination as it is beneficial for the user as although it would be desirable for a wave table to include all the data corresponding to each sound in a MIDI file, because the size of the wave table would increase, the normal practice is to allot sounds of each instrument into a few segments and oscillate and use a sound in a segment to correspond to a note in the MIDI file. Thus, the size of a wave table can be reduced (see PARK, pars. 0008-0010).
Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SCOTT et al. (US20210409466A1) in view of RYYNÄNEN et al. (US20190156807A1) and further in view of MAMORI et al. (US20220084490A1).
As to independent claim 16, SCOTT teaches system, comprising:
one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable recording media that store instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to configure the system to: access an audio signal (see fig. 9, par. 0066, wherein as set forth in FIG. 9, the server response contains the Stems, graphics, or video requested, plus Metadata which may include, for example, one or more of: Stem and Metadata mapping instructions; Lyrics/dialog; musical notation (chord names, chord shapes, standard notation, tablature); Work information (artist, date, album, songwriter(s), record label, studio, publisher(s), company, etc.); Work musicians/personnel information; Work description information; Work statistics; recording information (instruments, equipment, recording studio, etc.); and Work rights information; as taught by SCOTT);
process the audio signal using one or more audio sectioning modules to obtain a plurality of initial audio sections for the audio signal (see fig. 2, par. 0031, wherein the user may control which Stems the user wants to hear via a user interface (UI) on the user's Playback Device. The UI allows the user to select icons representing the instruments in a song such that the icon may cause the Playback Device to, for example, partially or fully mute, alter or solo the instruments, as set forth in FIG. 2; as taught by SCOTT);
and generate metadata for the audio signal using the plurality of initial audio sections and the plurality of estimated beats, wherein the metadata define a plurality of audio sections for the audio signal (see par. 0009, wherein the system may provide corresponding metadata with each stem to the user. The system may provide metadata associated with the stems to a playback device. The metadata may include at least one of multiple streams of audio Stems, mapping for audio Stems, song lyrics, song musical notation, song related videos, images and graphics, song information, musician information, personnel information, song description information, song statistics, recording information, or rights information; as taught by SCOTT).
SCOTT does not expressly teach process the audio signal using one or more beat estimation modules to obtain a plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal; wherein a beginning or an end of at least some of the plurality of audio sections is/are temporally aligned with a respective beat of the plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal.
In similar field of endeavor, RYYNÄNEN teaches:
process the audio signal using one or more beat estimation modules to obtain a plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal (see figs. 2-5, pars. 0045-0057, for example par. 0048, wherein tracking beat 220 of the played music from the real-time audio signal and accordingly estimating a time of a next beat; as taught by RYYNÄNEN).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the SCOTT apparatus to include the teachings of RYYNÄNEN to process the audio signal using one or more beat estimation modules to obtain a plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal. Such a person would have been motivated to make this combination as it is beneficial for the user to predict a next development in the played music, based on the detected repetitions, comprising at least one of chords; notes; and drum sounds to that will be played next, and respective timing based on the estimated time of the next beat (see RYYNÄNEN, par. 0050).
SCOTT and RYYNÄNEN do not expressly teach wherein a beginning or an end of at least some of the plurality of audio sections is/are temporally aligned with a respective beat of the plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal.
In similar field of endeavor, MAMORI teaches:
wherein a beginning or an end of at least some of the plurality of audio sections is/are temporally aligned with a respective beat of the plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal (see par. 0039, wherein FIG. 5(b) is a diagram schematically illustrating the rhythm pattern table 11 c. In the present embodiment, the rhythm phrase R is formed of MIDI data. As illustrated in FIG. 5(b), the rhythm pattern table 11 c stores a sounding timing of each tone of a high hat, a snare drum, a bass drum, or the like at each rhythm phrase R of Nos. 1, 2, . . . . Specifically, in the rhythm pattern table 11 c, a tone sounded at a beat position and a TICK value corresponding to the beat position is designated in each rhythm phrase R. In FIG. 5(b), a black circle is marked on a beat position and a TICK value corresponding to a sounding timing of each tone; see also par. 0040, wherein in the rhythm phrase R of “No. 1” in the rhythm pattern table 11 c, the high hat and the bass drum are sounded at the beat position 1 (TICK value=0), the high hat and the snare drum are sounded at the beat position 2 (TICK value=96), only the high hat is sounded at the beat position 3 (TICK value=192), and the high hat and the snare drum are sounded at the beat position 4 (TICK value=288). The TICK value=383 is a timing of the terminal end of the rhythm phrase R of “No. 1”, and thus “(terminal end)” is recorded in each tone. Since the rhythm phrase R of “No. 1” is formed of four beats, its length is set to “one bar”. A MIDI message of a tone with a sounding timing is transmitted to the sound source 14 that will be described later at each timing (TICK value), and thus the rhythm phrase R is reproduced; as taught by MAMORI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the SCOTT and RYYNÄNEN apparatus to include the teachings of MAMORI wherein a beginning or an end of at least some of the plurality of audio sections is/are temporally aligned with a respective beat of the plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal. Such a person would have been motivated to make this combination as it is beneficial for the user to be able to control the slowest acquired tempo to be set as a tempo of the rhythm phrase R, where a timing of the terminal end of the musical sound phrase P can be matched with a timing of the terminal end when the rhythm phrase R is repeated at the acquired tempo and by the acquired number of bars (see MAMORI, par. 0038).
As to claim 17, SCOTT, RYYNÄNEN and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 16. SCOTT further teaches wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to configure the system to: generate a section label for each of the plurality of audio sections (see par. 0010, wherein the request may include at least one of user ID, title ID, device information, operating system details, device serial number, manufacturer, model, IP address, geo location, UUID, software version, or user authentication request. The system may provide URLs that correspond to different stem streams, wherein the stem streams are based on the user ID and title ID; as taught by SCOTT).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SCOTT et al. (US20210409466A1) in view of RYYNÄNEN et al. (US20190156807A1) and further in view of MAMORI et al. (US20220084490A1) and further in view of ERONEN et al. (US20140366710A1).
As to claim 18, SCOTT, RYYNÄNEN and MAMORI teach the limitations of claim 16. SCOTT, RYYNÄNEN and MAMORI do not expressly teach wherein the respective beat of the plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal comprises a downbeat.
In similar field of endeavor, ERONEN teaches wherein the respective beat of the plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal comprises a downbeat (see par. 0225, wherein when the audio has been processed using the above-described steps, an estimate for the downbeat is generated by applying the chord change likelihood and the first and second accent-based likelihood values in a non-causal manner to a score-based algorithm. Before computing the final score, the chord change possibility and the two downbeat likelihood signals are normalized by dividing with their maximum absolute value; as taught by ERONEN).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the SCOTT, RYYNÄNEN and MAMORI apparatus to include the teachings of ERONEN wherein the respective beat of the plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal comprises a downbeat. Such a person would have been motivated to make this combination as it is beneficial for the user where a particularly useful application is to help synchronise automatic video scene cuts to musically meaningful points. For example, where multiple video (with audio) clips are acquired from different sources relating to the same musical performance, it would be desirable to automatically join clips from the different sources and provide switches between the video clips in an aesthetically pleasing manner, resembling the way professional music videos are created. One method already proposed by the Applicant is to detect downbeats from the music, that is the first beat of each measure, and to make switches on downbeats (see ERONEN, par. 0004).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SCOTT et al. (US20210409466A1) in view of INGRASSIA et al. (US20180083724A1).
As to independent claim 19, SCOTT teaches a system, comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable recording media that store instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to configure the system to: access metadata associated with an audio signal, wherein the metadata define a plurality of audio sections for the audio signal (see fig. 9, par. 0066, wherein as set forth in FIG. 9, the server response contains the Stems, graphics, or video requested, plus Metadata which may include, for example, one or more of: Stem and Metadata mapping instructions; Lyrics/dialog; musical notation (chord names, chord shapes, standard notation, tablature); Work information (artist, date, album, songwriter(s), record label, studio, publisher(s), company, etc.); Work musicians/personnel information; Work description information; Work statistics; recording information (instruments, equipment, recording studio, etc.); and Work rights information; as taught by SCOTT);
cause presentation, on a user device, of a playback navigation bar that includes a plurality of segments that represent the plurality of audio sections for the audio signal (see par. 0048, wherein the system may include a button or a visual icon representing the seek forward or seek backward command during playback. The interface may also include a drag-able “seek” slider wherein a user can “grab and drag” a “handle” up and down, or left and right, to seek different sections of a song and to jump to a specific section of a song (verse, chorus, guitar solo, etc.). In various embodiments, this action triggers an API call to choose a user-defined start time to begin playback. This UI command may also be visualized by a button that a user can slide to choose a start time to begin playback. The slider may be dragged vertically or horizontally to go to a specific part of a song; as taught by SCOTT).
SCOTT does not expressly teach and after user input is directed to the user device for selecting one or more navigation elements presented on the user device, change a current playback position for playing back the audio signal to a beginning of a temporally preceding audio section of the plurality of audio sections or a beginning of a temporally subsequent audio section of the plurality of audio sections.
In similar field of endeavor, INGRASSIA teaches and after user input is directed to the user device for selecting one or more navigation elements presented on the user device, change a current playback position for playing back the audio signal to a beginning of a temporally preceding audio section of the plurality of audio sections or a beginning of a temporally subsequent audio section of the plurality of audio sections (see par. 0051, wherein the electronic device can play back the segment from before the playback position at which the radio broadcast was stopped to ensure that the user does not miss any of the radio segment, and remembers the content of the segment. For example, the radio segment can be played back from a playback position that is a particular amount of time prior to the last playback position (e.g., 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 2 minutes, or 5 minutes before). As another example, the playback position can be selected based on the content or elements of the radio segment (e.g., play back a radio segment from the beginning of the current song, play back from the beginning of a guest interview, or play back from the last return from commercial); as taught by INGRASSIA).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the SCOTT apparatus to include the teachings of INGRASSIA where after user input is directed to the user device for selecting one or more navigation elements presented on the user device, change a current playback position for playing back the audio signal to a beginning of a temporally preceding audio section of the plurality of audio sections or a beginning of a temporally subsequent audio section of the plurality of audio sections. Such a person would have been motivated to make this combination as it is beneficial for the user to ensure that the user does not miss any of the radio segment, and/or remembers the content of the segment (see INGRASSIA, par. 0051).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SCOTT et al. (US20210409466A1) in view of INGRASSIA et al. (US20180083724A1) and further in view of MAMORI et al. (US20220084490A1).
As to claim 20, SCOTT and INGRASSIA teach the limitations of claim 19. SCOTT and INGRASSIA do not expressly teach wherein a beginning or an end of at least some of the plurality of audio sections is/are temporally aligned with a respective beat of a plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal.
In similar field of endeavor, MAMORI teaches wherein a beginning or an end of at least some of the plurality of audio sections is/are temporally aligned with a respective beat of a plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal (see fig. 5b, par. 0040, wherein in the rhythm phrase R of “No. 1” in the rhythm pattern table 11 c, the high hat and the bass drum are sounded at the beat position 1 (TICK value=0), the high hat and the snare drum are sounded at the beat position 2 (TICK value=96), only the high hat is sounded at the beat position 3 (TICK value=192), and the high hat and the snare drum are sounded at the beat position 4 (TICK value=288). The TICK value=383 is a timing of the terminal end of the rhythm phrase R of “No. 1”, and thus “(terminal end)” is recorded in each tone; as taught by MAMORI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the SCOTT and RYYNÄNEN apparatus to include the teachings of MAMORI wherein a beginning or an end of at least some of the plurality of audio sections is/are temporally aligned with a respective beat of a plurality of estimated beats for the audio signal. Such a person would have been motivated to make this combination as it is beneficial for the user to be able to control the slowest acquired tempo to be set as a tempo of the rhythm phrase R, where a timing of the terminal end of the musical sound phrase P can be matched with a timing of the terminal end when the rhythm phrase R is repeated at the acquired tempo and by the acquired number of bars (see MAMORI, par. 0038).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Publication Number
Filing Date
Title
US11665312B1
2018-12-27
Video reformatting recommendation
US20230269345A1
2023-01-20
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US20210343262A1
2020-04-29
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US9508330B2
2013-07-13
System and method for generating a rhythmic accompaniment for a musical performance
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William L. Bashore can be reached at 571-272-4088. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KOOROSH NEHCHIRI/Examiner, Art Unit 2174
/WILLIAM L BASHORE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2174
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