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 .
DETAILED ACTION
1. This is in response to application filed on 12/11/2024 in which claim 2-20 are presented for examination.
Status of claims
2. Claims 2-20 are pending, of which claims 2, 9 and 17 are in independent form.
Double Patenting
3. 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 obviousness-type 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); and 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims 2-20 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting over claims 1-20 of US Patent 12,153,857, claims 1-18 of US Patent 11,709,652 and claims 1-20 of US Patent 11,422,770. This is a double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is covered by the patent since the patent and the application are claiming common subject matter, as claims 1-20 of the current application are broadened versions of claims 1-20 of US Patent 12,153,857, claims 1-18 of US Patent 11,709,652 and claims 1-20 of US Patent 11,422,770.
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.
6. Claims 2-5, 7-13 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beckhardt (US PG Pub 2013/0336499) published on December 19, 2013 in view of Chacko (US PG Pub 2013/0136276) published on May 30, 2013.
As per claim 2 and 17, Beckhardt teaches A circuit board assembly comprising:
a wireless network interface attached to the at least one circuit board and including an 802.11 based transceiver configured to establish a radio frequency (RF) communication channel within one of a 5 GHz frequency spectrum or a 6 GHz frequency spectrum(Para[0029] fig 8-9 shows 5 ghz channel, as taught by Beckhardt), the RF commnunication channel being subdivided into a first RF communication sub-channel and a second RF communication sub-channel distinct from the first RF communication sub- channel(fig 8-9 Para[0096-0102] discloses two different communication Channel, as taught by Beckhardt);
at least at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium attached to the at least one circuit board and storing program instructions executable by the processor circuitry such that a playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to receive multi-channel audio content comprising
a plurality of audio channels, decode the multi-channel audio content into the plurality of audio channels(fig 8-10 Para[0025][029][0083-0084][0100] decodes audio and plays in devices via different channel, as taught by Beckhardt),
transmit, via the wireless network interface over the first RF communication sub-channel, data representing a first audio channel of the plurality of audio channels to a first other playback device for playback by the first other playback device(fig 8-10 Para[0025][029][0083-0084][0100] decodes audio and plays in devices via different channel. sound bar can communicate with other zone players in the system via a wireless channel in a first wireless spectrum, such as a 2.4 GHz channel, as taught by Beckhardt), and
transmit, via the wireless network interface over the second RF communication sub-channel and simultaneously with transmission of the data representing the first audio channel over the first RF communication sub-channel, data representing a second audio channel of the plurality of audio channels to a second other playback device for playback by the second other playback device in synchrony with playback of the first audio channel by the first other playback device(fig 8-10 Para[0025][029][0083-0084][0100] decodes audio and plays in devices via different channel. sound bar can communicate with other zone players in the system via a wireless channel in a first wireless spectrum, such as a 2.4 GHz channel, and communicates with the satellite speakers and the subwoofer via a wireless channel in a second wireless spectrum, such as a 5 GHz spectrum channel. All the zones play Simultaneously, as taught by Beckhardt).
Beckhardt does not explicitly teach at least one circuit board;
processor circuitry attached to the at least one circuit board and including one or more processors; and
On the other hand, Chacko teaches at least one circuit board(Para[0004] e.g. circuit board, as taught by Chacko);
processor circuitry attached to the at least one circuit board and including one or more processors(fig 1-2 Para[0018-0019] disclose processor and connected to circuit board, as taught by Chacko);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the
invention to modify Beckhardt invention with the teaching of Chacko because doing so would
result in making the device more efficient.
As per claim 9, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches A circuit board assembly comprising:
a wireless network interface attached to the at least one circuit board(Para[0029][0073-0081] 2.4ghz or 5ghz signal corresponding to the zone devices, as taught by Beckhardt);
at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium attached to the at least one circuit board and storing program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that a playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated, when operating in a home theater system comprising
the playback device and a plurality of satellite playback devices, is configured to receive multi-channel audio content comprising a plurality of audio channels(fig 8-10 Para[0025][029][0083-0084][0100] decodes audio and plays in devices via different channel, as taught by Beckhardt),
decode the multi-channel audio content into the plurality of audio channels(fig 8-10 Para[0025][029][0083-0084][0100] decodes audio and plays in devices via different channel, as taught by Beckhardt),
transmit, via the wireless network interface over a first RF communication sub-channel, data representing a first audio channel of the plurality of audio channels to a first satellite playback device of the plurality of satellite playback devices for playback by the first satellite playback device(fig 8-10 Para[0025][029][0083-0084][0100] decodes audio and plays in devices via different channel. sound bar can communicate with other zone players in the system via a wireless channel in a first wireless spectrum, such as a 2.4 GHz channel, as taught by Beckhardt),
transmit, simultaneously with transmission of the data representing the first audio channel over the first RF communication sub-channel and via the wireless network interface over a second RF communication sub-channel in an RF communication channel that comprises both the first RF communication sub-channel and the second RF communication sub-channel, data representing a second audio channel of the plurality of audio channels to a second satellite playback device of the plurality of satellite playback devices for playback by the second satellite playback device in synchrony with playback of the first audio channel by the first satellite playback device(fig 8-10 Para[0025][029][0083-0084][0100] decodes audio and plays in devices via different channel. sound bar can communicate with other zone players in the system via a wireless channel in a first wireless spectrum, such as a 2.4 GHz channel, and communicates with the satellite speakers and the subwoofer via a wireless channel in a second wireless spectrum, such as a 5 GHz spectrum channel. All the zones play Simultaneously, as taught by Beckhardt).
determine a first RF energy level associated with RF signal communications from the first satellite playback device to the playback device, determine a second RF energy level associated with RF signal communications from the second satellite playback device to the playback device(Para[0029][0073-0081] 2.4ghz or 5ghz signal corresponding to the zone devices, as taught by Beckhardt), and
modify a threshold RF energy level for holding off transmissions by the playback device based on the first and second RF energy levels(Para[0029][0073-0081] [0109-0112][0129-0135] fig 17-18 discloses transmission of audio signal from one device to another device. It is obvious to one ordinary skill in the art that transmission stops if the signal gets weakened, as taught by Beckhardt).
Beckhardt does not explicitly teach at least one circuit board;
processor circuitry attached to the at least one circuit board and including one or more processors; and
at least one processor attached to the at least one circuit board; and
On the other hand, Chacko teaches at least one circuit board(Para[0004] e.g. circuit board, as taught by Chacko);
processor circuitry attached to the at least one circuit board and including one or more processors(fig 1-2 Para[0018-0019] disclose processor and connected to circuit board, as taught by Chacko);
at least one processor attached to the at least one circuit board(fig 1-2 Para[0018-0019] disclose processor and connected to circuit board, as taught by Chacko); and
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the
invention to modify Beckhardt invention with the teaching of Chacko because doing so would
result in making the device more efficient.
As per claim 3 and 18, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the processor circuitry such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to play back a third audio channel of the plurality of audio channels in synchrony with playback of the first and second audio channels by the first and second other playback devices, respectively(Para[0025][0086][0099-0101] discloses all the audio channel such as front, rear and soundbar plays concurrently, as taught by Beckhardt).
As per claim 4, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches wherein the 802.11 based transceiver includes clear channel assessment logic(Para[0058][0029], as taught by Beckhardt).
As per claim 5, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches wherein the at least one the non- transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the processor circuitry such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to:
determine RF energy levels associated with RF signal communications between the playback device and the first and second other playback devices(Para[0034][0106-108], as taught by Beckhardt); and
set a signal detect (SD) threshold and/or an energy detect (ED) threshold of the clear channel assessment logic based on the RFenergy levels(Para[0100-0106], as taught by Beckhardt).
As per claim 7, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches wherein the at least one the non- transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructionsthat are executable by the processor circuitry such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to: transmit, via the wireless network interface, data representing a third audio channel of the plurality of audio channels to a third other playback device over a third RF communication sub-channel within the RF communication channel for playback by the third other playback device in synchrony with playback of the first audio channel by the first other playback device and playback of the second audio channel by the second other play back device(Para[0097-0102], as taught by Beckhardt).
As per claim 8 and 20, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches determine an RF energy level associated with RF signal communications from at least one of the first other playback device or the second other playback device(Para[0029][0073-0081] 2.4ghz or 5ghz signal corresponding to the zone devices, as taught by Beckhardt), and
modify a threshold RF energy level for holding off wireless transmissions via the wireless network interface based on the RF energy level(Para[0029][0073-0081] [0109-0112][0129-0135] fig 17-18 discloses transmission of audio signal from one device to another device. It is obvious to one ordinary skill in the art that transmission stops if the signal gets weakened, as taught by Beckhardt).
As per claim 10, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches wherein the at least one the non- transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to:
play back one or more other audio channels of the multi-channel audio content in synchrony with playback of the first audio channel by the first satellite playback device and playback of the second audio channel by the second satellite playback device(Para[0029][0129-0135], as taught by Beckhardt),.
As per claim 11, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches wherein the wireless network interface includes an 802.1 1 based transceiver configured to establish the RF communication channel within at least one of a 5 GHz frequency spectrum or a 6 GHz frequency spectrum(Para[0029][0073-0081], as taught by Beckhardt).
As per claim 12, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches wherein the RF communication channel is a first RF communication channel, and wherein the at least one the non-transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to:
transmit, via the wireless network interface, data representing a third audio channel of the plurality of audio channels to a third satellite playback device of the plurality of satellite playback devices over a second RF communication channel for playback by the third satellite playback device in synchrony with playback of the first audio channel by the first satellite playback device and playback of the second audio channel by the second satellite playback device(Para[0097-0102], as taught by Beckhardt).
As per claim 13, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches wherein the at least one the non- transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to:
after receipt of the multi-channel audio content, detect an ambient RF energy level of wireless activity in the RF communication channel(Para[0029][0073-0081] e.g. 2.4 or 5 ghz signal, as taught by Beckhardt); and
based on the ambient RF energy level being below the threshold RF energy level, transmit, via the wireless network interface, the data representing the first and second audio channels to the first and second satellite playback devices, respectively(Para[0025][0086][0099-0101] discloses all the audio channel such as front, rear and soundbar plays concurrently based on signal. It is obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art that signal strength needs to be at certain level in order to transmit, as taught by Beckhardt).
As per claim 19, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko teaches further comprising: transmitting, over a third RF communication sub-channel within the RF communication channel, data representing a third audio channel of the plurality of audio channels from the first playback device to a third satellite playback device for playback by the third satellite playback device in synchrony with playback of the first audio channel by the first satellite playback device and playback of the second audio channel by the second satellite playback device (Para[0097-0102], as taught by Beckhardt).
6. Claim 6 and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beckhardt (US PG Pub 2013/0336499) published on December 19, 2013 in view of Chacko (US PG Pub 2013/0136276) published on May 30, 2013 in view of Antoneseu (US PG Pub 2015/0242665) published on August 27, 2015.
As per claim 6, the combination of Beckhardt and Chacko does not teach wherein the at least one the non- transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the processor circuitry such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to:determine the RF energy levels based on one or more received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values associated with at least one message communicated to the playback device from at least one of the first and second other playback devices.
On the other hand, Antoneseu teaches wherein the at least one the non- transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the processor circuitry such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to:
determine the RF energy levels based on one or more received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values associated with at least one message communicated to the playback device from at least one of the first and second other playback devices(para[0016-0032] discloses rss value communicated to the devices , as taught by Antoneseu).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Beckhardt and Chacko invention with the teaching of Antoneseu because doing so would result in increased reliability by maintaining a communication quality in spite of changing cells.
As per claim 14, the combination of Beckhardt and Antoneseu teaches wherein the at least one the non- transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to:
determine the first and second RF energy levels based on one or more received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values associated with at least one message communicated to the playback device from the first and second satellite playback devices, respectively(para[0016-0047] , as taught by Antoneseu).
As per claim 15, the combination of Beckhardt, Antoneseu and Chacko teaches wherein the at least one the non- transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to: determine an average minimum RSSI level based on the first and second RF energy levels; and modify the threshold RF energy level based on the average minimum RSSI level(para[0016-0047] , as taught by Antoneseu).
As per claim 16, the combination of Beckhardt, Antoneseu and Chacko teaches wherein the at least one the non- transitory computer-readable medium further stores program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device into which the circuit board assembly is integrated is configured to: determine that the RF signal communications from the first satellite playback device have ceased(para[0025-0035] , as taught by Antoneseu); and signal incrementally lower the threshold RF energy level until the RF signal communications from the first satellite playback device resume(Para[0025][0086][0099-0101] discloses all the audio channel such as front, rear and soundbar plays concurrently, as taught by Beckhardt).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYEEZ R CHOWDHURY whose telephone number is (571)270-3069. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-6:30PM EST.
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/RAYEEZ R CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2174 Saturday, July 11, 2026
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