DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 12/23/2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of Patent No. 12,132,968 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks page 6, filed 12/23/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 102(a) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Spittle (Pub. No. 2025/0094211).
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bazzoni (Pub. No. 2018/0146310) in view of Spittle (Pub No. 2025/0094211).
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15, Bazzoni teaches a computing system (with corresponding method and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) comprising:
one or more processors (10a, Fig. 2; [0069]); and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors ([0070]), configure the system to perform operations for providing custom audio processing in an audio device (Abstract), the operations comprising:
transmitting a request for an audio processing configuration file ([0036]; [0037]; [0102]-[0109]);
receiving the audio processing configuration file at the audio device, the audio processing configuration file ([0112]-[0115]); and
loading the audio processing configuration file into the audio device to define a custom audio signal path for the audio device ([0112]-[0115]; [0151]; [0204]; [0205]).
Although Bazzoni teaches being able to receive and transmit configuration files through a user device to the hearing pieces ([0112]-[0115]), Bazzoni does not explicitly teach defining a custom audio signal path for the audio device by identifying audio modules, interconnections between the audio modules and related settings for custom audio processing.
However, in an analogous art, Spittle teaches an audio system that allows configuration of ear-pods (which could be used as hearing devices or just regular earphones, [0003]; [0196]) depending the user profile, device profile, manufacturer profiles, etc. ([0196]; [0275]) The system includes a user interface that allows controls, configuration, to be uploaded for processing at each of the ear devices (each with processing power) ([0205]-[0207]; [0226]-[0235]). Earpieces monitor different aspects of the audio processing such as latency of the sound between the two channel paths (L and R channels), amplitude, noise, on the signals being played on the pieces, the different sources, etc. ([0263]-[[0269]) This data is reported back to the user equipment if the earpieces detect a potential conflict/problem. Spittle teaches that multiple plugins, configuration files can be downloaded, activated (manually or automatically) from the user equipment ([0226]-[0235]). Plugins can be for different domains, manufacturer domains, user preferences/profiles and other domains, such external sources), where they can set parameters independent of each other ([0347]-[0351]). The different plugins can set default settings for different scenarios, including audio paths for different audio modules interconnections or just for audio paraments set by the user ([0507]-[0509]; [0516]; [0688]-[[0698]; [0710]-[0719]).
Therefore, 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 Bazzoni’s invention with Spittle’s feature of transmitting configuration files to the earpieces/hearing assistance defining dynamic signal paths, monitoring, analysis for custom audio processing for the benefit of allowing an optimized hearing experience on the different scenarios, including when the earpieces are used as hearing assistance (Spittle, [0006]-[0008]).
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Bazzoni and Spittle teach wherein the audio device includes an audio DSP processing framework including a run-time execution engine and run-time libraries, and the audio processing configuration file is a binary file that configures specific run-time libraries to provide customized audio processing (Bazzoni: [0034]-[0047]; [0108]-[0116]. Spittle: [0213]; [0276]).
Regarding claims 3, 10, 14 and 17, Bazzoni and Spittle teach wherein the audio processing configuration file is loaded into the audio device without requiring updating or recompiling of executable code (Bazzoni: [0100]; [0153]-[0155]).
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18, Bazzoni and Spittle teach wherein the audio processing configuration file has been created by an independent third-party developer and not a manufacturer of the audio device (Bazzoni: server-side server of the remote adjustment system creates the new configuration file, [0038]-[0047]. Spittle: [0213]; [1137]; [1165]).
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 20, Bazzoni and Spittle teach further comprising:
providing a user notification of an availability of an audio processing configuration file; and receiving user input to load the audio processing configuration file into the audio device (Bazzoni: [0097]-[0098]; [0114]-[0116]. Spittle: [0223]; [0707]-[0712]).
Regarding claims 6, 13 and 19, Bazzoni and Spittle teach further comprising:
receiving, at the application associated with the audio device, a notification of the availability of an audio processing configuration file;
accessing an auto-update setting for the application or the personal computing device; and transmitting the request for the audio processing configuration file from the personal computing device without user input, based on the auto-update setting being positive (Bazzoni: [0153]-[0155]. Spittle: [0213]; [0711]; [1085]).
Conclusion
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/OMAR S PARRA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421