DETAILED ACTION
Introduction
1. This office action is in response to Applicant’s submission filed on 12/20/2024. Claims 1-8 and 14-25 are pending in the application and have been examined.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statements
3. The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 12/28/2024 and 7/17/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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 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.
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.
5. Claims 1, 14, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 20230247361 (Matsunaga) in view of U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 20230088467 (Liu et al., hereinafter “Liu”).
With respect to Claim 1, Matsunaga describes:
“A method of audio processing, comprising:
obtaining a plurality of first audios captured by a plurality of audio capture devices; (Paragraph 29 describes that a plurality of sound signals are collected.)
determining an angle feature for indicating a proportion of a sound source in a target direction in each first audio based on the plurality of first audios and the target direction; (Paragraph 28 describes determining the angle for each of the first audios.)
determining a second audio associated with the target direction based on the plurality of first audios and the angle feature.” (Paragraph 35 describes generating a second audio from the first audio and the angle.)
Matsunaga does not explicitly describe “playing the second audio.”
However, paragraph 34 of Liu describes that the modified audio is played.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the audio playback as described by Liu into the system of Matsunaga to provide the result to a user, as described in paragraph 34 of Liu.
With respect to Claim 14, device Claim 14 and method Claim 1 are related as a device programmed to perform the same method, with each claimed device function corresponding to each claimed method step. Further, paragraphs 27 and 37 of Matsunaga describe memory and processing hardware. Accordingly, Claim 14 is similarly rejected under the same rationale as applied above with respect to Claim 1.
With respect to Claim 22, computer readable medium Claim 22 and method Claim 1 are related as a medium programmed to perform the same method, with each claimed medium function corresponding to each claimed method step. Further, paragraphs 27 and 37 of Matsunaga describe memory and processing hardware. Accordingly, Claim 22 is similarly rejected under the same rationale as applied above with respect to Claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 2-8, 15-21, and 23-25 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The art of record does not teach or suggest “determining a plurality of first target audios and non-target audios based on the plurality of first audios and the angle feature, the first target audios being audios associated with the first audios in the target direction, and the non-target audios being audios associated with the first audios in further directions; and determining the second audio based on the plurality of first audios, the plurality of first target audios and the non-target audios” as recited in Claim 2 and similarly in Claims 15 and 23.
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 20220301575 (Yasuda et al.) describes a device that generates the angle of sound signals.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWARD TRACY whose telephone number is (571)272-8332. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 AM- 5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bhavesh Mehta can be reached on 571-272-7453. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDWARD TRACY JR./Examiner, Art Unit 2656
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