DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
1. The information disclosure statements submitted are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
3. Claims 1-5 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rosenberg, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0189544 (hereinafter Rosenberg) in view of Di Censo et al, U.S. Patent No. 10,362,385 (hereinafter Di Censo).
Regarding claim 1, Rosenberg discloses a control device comprising processing circuitry configured to:
perform first control processing of changing a first acoustic signal such that a user is able to easily listen to a second acoustic signal in response to the second acoustic signal that is different from the first acoustic signal or a notification related to the second acoustic signal (from abstract, see adjusting an output of a media player comprising capturing an ambient audio signal; processing the ambient audio signal to determine whether one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal; and reducing an output of a media player from a first volume to a second volume if the one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal. The characteristic forms may be, for example, a name or personal identifier of a user of the media player, the voice of a user of the media player, or an alarm or siren).
Further regarding claim 1, Rosenberg does not teach the processing is performed in a case where the user who is listening to the first acoustic signal is not in a concentration state or in a case where a degree of concentration of the user is lower than as first reference, and perform second control processing of not performing the first control processing in a case where the user is in a concentration state or in a case where the degree of concentration is equal to or greater than the first reference. All the same, Di Censo discloses this feature (from column 9, see As the user becomes increasingly focused, the focus application 150 decreases the ability of the user to perceive ambient sounds and, consequently, the user is able to perform tasks requiring concentration more effectively. By contrast, as the user becomes less focused, the focus application 150 increases the ability of the user to perceive ambient sounds and, consequently, the user is able to engage more effectively in the environment and activities surrounding the user). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Rosenberg wherein the processing is performed in a case where the user who is listening to the first acoustic signal is not in a concentration state or in a case where a degree of concentration of the user is lower than as first reference, and perform second control processing of not performing the first control processing in a case where the user is in a concentration state or in a case where the degree of concentration is equal to or greater than the first reference as taught by Di Censo. This modification would have improved the system’s convenience by ensuring the user is not distracted as suggested by Di Censo.
Regarding claim 2, Rosenberg discloses the first control processing includes processing of changing the first acoustic signal such that the user is able to easily listen to the second acoustic signal in a case where a magnitude of the second acoustic signal is equal to or greater than a second reference or in a case where the second acoustic signal is detected (from abstract of Rosenberg, see adjusting an output of a media player comprising capturing an ambient audio signal; processing the ambient audio signal to determine whether one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal; and reducing an output of a media player from a first volume to a second volume if the one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal. The characteristic forms may be, for example, a name or personal identifier of a user of the media player, the voice of a user of the media player, or an alarm or siren).
Regarding claim 3, Rosenberg discloses the first control processing includes processing of attenuating an amplitude of the first acoustic signal in a case where a magnitude of an amplitude of the second acoustic signal is equal to or greater than a second reference or in a case where the second acoustic signal is detected (from abstract, see adjusting an output of a media player comprising capturing an ambient audio signal; processing the ambient audio signal to determine whether one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal; and reducing an output of a media player from a first volume to a second volume if the one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal. The characteristic forms may be, for example, a name or personal identifier of a user of the media player, the voice of a user of the media player, or an alarm or siren).
Regarding claim 4, Rosenberg discloses the first control processing includes processing of presenting first notification information to the user in a case where a magnitude of an amplitude of the second acoustic signal is equal to or greater than a second reference or in a case where the second acoustic signal is detected (from abstract, see adjusting an output of a media player comprising capturing an ambient audio signal; processing the ambient audio signal to determine whether one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal; and reducing an output of a media player from a first volume to a second volume if the one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal. The characteristic forms may be, for example, a name or personal identifier of a user of the media player, the voice of a user of the media player, or an alarm or siren).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Rosenberg and Di Censo discloses wherein the second control processing includes processing of changing the first acoustic signal such that it becomes difficult for the user to listen to the second acoustic signal (from column 7 of Di Censo, see To prevent the user from perceiving ambient sounds detected by the microphone 130(i), the focus application 150 generates a cancellation signal that is an inverse version of the microphone signal).
Regarding claim 7, Rosenberg discloses a control method performed by a control device comprising:
a first step of performing first control processing of changing a first acoustic signal such that a user is able to easily listen to a second acoustic signal in response to the second acoustic signal that is different from the first acoustic signal or a notification related to the second acoustic signal (from abstract, see adjusting an output of a media player comprising capturing an ambient audio signal; processing the ambient audio signal to determine whether one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal; and reducing an output of a media player from a first volume to a second volume if the one or more characteristic forms are present within the ambient audio signal. The characteristic forms may be, for example, a name or personal identifier of a user of the media player, the voice of a user of the media player, or an alarm or siren).
Further regarding claim 7, Rosenberg does not teach the first step is performed in a case where the user who is listening to the first acoustic signal is not in a concentration state or in case where a degree of concentration of the user is lower than a first reference; and a second step of performing second control processing of not performing the first control processing in a case where the user is in the concentration state or in a case where the degree of concentration is equal to or greater than the first reference. All the same, Di Censo discloses this feature (from column 9, see As the user becomes increasingly focused, the focus application 150 decreases the ability of the user to perceive ambient sounds and, consequently, the user is able to perform tasks requiring concentration more effectively. By contrast, as the user becomes less focused, the focus application 150 increases the ability of the user to perceive ambient sounds and, consequently, the user is able to engage more effectively in the environment and activities surrounding the user). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Rosenberg wherein the first step is performed in a case where the user who is listening to the first acoustic signal is not in a concentration state or in case where a degree of concentration of the user is lower than a first reference; and a second step of performing second control processing of not performing the first control processing in a case where the user is in the concentration state or in a case where the degree of concentration is equal to or greater than the first reference as taught by Di Censo. This modification would have improved the system’s convenience by ensuring the user is not distracted as suggested by Di Censo.
Regarding claim 8, Rosenberg discloses a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to function as the control device according to claim 1 (from paragraph 0042 of Rosenberg, see ambient sound responsive volume adjustment program operatively loaded into main memory 10).
4. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rosenberg combined with Di Censo in view of Yasuda, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0260187 (hereinafter Yasuda).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Rosenberg and Di Censo does not teach the second control processing includes processing of presenting second notification information to a person other than the user. All the same, Yasuda discloses this feature (from paragraph 0161, see Further, the external notification control unit 132 may cause the notification indicating the response state of the information processing system to be displayed while the detecting unit 122 is detecting a person looking in the direction of the user A). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to further modify the combination of Rosenberg and Di Censo wherein the second control processing includes processing of presenting second notification information to a person other than the user as taught by Yasuda. Accordingly, the convenience of the surrounding people can be improved as suggested by Yasuda.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLISA ANWAH whose telephone number is 571-272-7533. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 8.30 AM to 6 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn Edwards can be reached on 571-270-7136. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are 571-273-8300 for regular communications and 571-273-8300 for After Final communications.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is 571-272-2600.
Olisa Anwah
Patent Examiner
July 9, 2026
/OLISA ANWAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
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