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 .
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.
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-10 are presented for examination.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-10) in the reply filed on 04/13/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/25/2025 has been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Form PTO-1449 is signed and attached hereto.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 10/17/2024 are accepted by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
2. Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Paulin et al. (US Publication No. 2024/0129690, hereinafter “Paulin”).
Regarding claim 1, Paulin does disclose, an audio playback device comprising: at least one audio transducer (Paulin, (para. [0032]), smart home device 107 is a speaker); at least one communication interface; at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the audio playback device (Paulin, (figure 1), smart home device 107) is configured to: detect, from a computing device executing a controller application: a request to enter a pairing mode (Paulin, (para. [0047]), … a mobile device 102 (i.e. computing device) may send a request to smart home device(s) 107 (i.e. playback device) to perform a beacon scan to determine if the smart home device(s) 107 can detect a beacon signal sent from a wireless accessory device 201 (i.e. external device) … … if the beacon signal from the wireless accessory device 201 includes an advertisement with a key from the one or more public keys sent by the mobile device 201 with the request, then the smart home device 107 may respond to the request by sending location information (e.g., ranging data, signal strength information, etc.) for the wireless accessory device 201 to the mobile device 102); and a security credential associated with a user account, wherein the user account is associated with at least one of the audio playback device or the controller application; validate the security credential; based on the security credential being valid: enter the pairing mode; while in the pairing mode, wirelessly pair with at least one external device (Paulin, (para. [0043, 0127]), the wireless accessory 201 (i.e. external device) can be from a device group of accessory devices that are paired with the mobile device 102 and/or smart home device 107 (i.e. audio playback device) using a wireless technology standard, such as but not limited to Bluetooth. The wireless accessory 201 can also communicate with the mobile device 102 and/or smart home device 107 over wireless technologies including the implementation of any wireless standards and protocols, such as Wi-Fi direct, Zigbee, or AirPlay; (para. [0069]), where during the initial pairing, the mobile device and the wireless accessory can exchange identifiers, passkeys, or other credentials that enables a wireless data exchange to be performed between a mobile or another electronic device and the wireless accessory; (para. [0046]), verifiable information may include any information that may be needed to establish trust or authority that a pairing process, ….. … verifiable information may be encrypted and/or sent with a token to allow for further verification of the device; (para. [0094]), the smart home device 107 determines whether the received beacon signal for the wireless device contains the at least one public key (806). A comparison is performed between the at least one public key and a key within the received beacon signal, if any. If the received key matches at least one public key associated with the target accessory device 101, then the wireless device is the target accessory device 101 associated with the mobile device 102. …, the smart home device 107 may have a set of public keys for the target accessory device 101 that are expected to be broadcast over periods of time); and after wirelessly pairing with the at least one external device: wirelessly detect audio content from the at least one external device, and play back the audio content; [or wirelessly send audio content to the at least one external device] (Paulin, (para. [0049]), … … the wireless accessory device 201 (i.e. external device) may send a request with content for playback and/or settings for the smart home device 107 (i.e. audio playback device) to perform in order to aid with the mobile device 102).
Regarding claim 2, Paulin further discloses the audio playback device of claim 1, wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the audio playback device is configured to: update, based on a button, a switch, or another control of the audio playback device, a pairing status indicating whether the audio playback device is in the pairing mode (Paulin, (para. [0090]), if the smart home device 107 has access to the user account for the owner of the mobile device 102, then the smart home device 107 may identify beacon signals from the target accessory device 101 using one or more rolling public keys (e.g., rolling public key for wireless accessory 201 in FIG. 3) for the target accessory device 101 that is paired with the mobile device 102); detect a status request from the computing device executing the controller application; and send, to the computing device executing the controller application, the pairing status indicating whether the audio playback device is in the pairing mode (Paulin, (para. [0055]), after the wireless accessory 201 has been paired with the mobile device 102, the wireless accessory 201 can periodically broadcast a beacon signal 301 that includes device status information and a beacon identifier).
Regarding claim 3, Paulin further discloses the audio playback device of claim 1, wherein: the pairing mode comprises a Bluetooth pairing mode or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) pairing mode; to wirelessly detect the audio content comprises to detect the audio content via Bluetooth or BLE; and to wirelessly send the audio content comprises to send the audio content via Bluetooth or BLE (Paulin, (para. [0069]), the initial pairing can be a Bluetooth pairing or another type of pairing using other wireless radio technologies).
Regarding claim 4, Paulin further discloses the audio playback device of claim 1, wherein to detect the request to enter the pairing mode and the security credential comprises to detect the request to enter the pairing mode and the security credential via a local or personal area network (Paulin, (para. [0069]), the initial pairing can be a Bluetooth pairing or another type of pairing using other wireless radio technologies. During the initial pairing, the mobile device and the wireless accessory can exchange identifiers, passkeys, or other credentials that enables a wireless data exchange to be performed between a mobile or another electronic device and the wireless accessory).
Regarding claim 5, Paulin further discloses the audio playback device of claim 1, wherein to validate the security credential comprises to: compare the security credential to a cached security credential; and determine whether the security credential matches the cached security credential (Paulin, (para. [0095-0096]), the target accessory device 101 can periodically perform a public key derivation to generate a new public key and begin broadcasting the new public key as the beacon identifier. … … The smart home device 107 sends the location information based on the comparison result (808). If the wireless device is the target accessory device as determined by the key comparison (806), then the location information for the target accessory device 101 is sent to the mobile device 102).
Regarding claim 6, Paulin further discloses the audio playback device of claim 1, wherein: the audio playback device is registered to a second user account with at least one cloud server (Paulin, (para. [0033]), a mobile device 102 may be used to discover the smart home device 107 and provide the ability to register (e.g., by storing smart home device information, etc.) the smart home device 107 with the home application and/or home service 194; (para. [0036]), where a cloud service provider, where the various services are facilitated via a cloud services account associated with the electronic devices 101, 102, and 107); and to validate the security credential comprises to: send the security credential to the at least one cloud server and detect a validation response indicating whether the security credential is valid; or obtain, from the at least one cloud server, a copy of a second security credential associated with the second user account and compare the security credential with the second security credential (Paulin, (para. [0046]), verifiable information may be sent to the certificate authority 106 or other attestations service to verify received information presented by the device to another device. Verifiable information may be encrypted and/or sent with a token to allow for further verification of the device).
Regarding claim 7, Paulin further discloses the audio playback device of claim 1, wherein the security credential being valid is further based on the user account being authorized to initiate the pairing mode (Paulin, (para. [0111, 0127]), the mobile device 102 and/or device locator server 170 may either directly send the at least one public key to the smart home device 107 and/or provide access to the at least one public key via a user account).
Regarding claim 8, Paulin further discloses the audio playback device of claim 1, wherein the computing device executing the controller application comprises the at least one external device (Paulin, (figure 1), element 101 (i.e. external device), 107 (i.e. playback device), 102 (i.e. computing device)).
Regarding claim 9, Paulin further discloses the audio playback device of claim 1, wherein the security credential comprises a security token (Paulin, (para. [0037]), a secure token may be provided in requests to pair by an accessory device 101).
Regarding claim 10, Paulin further discloses the audio playback device of claim 1, wherein the audio playback device comprises a soundbar (Paulin, (para. [0032]), smart home devices include, but are not limited to, the following: a smart speaker device, a streaming device, a television, a refrigerator, a thermostat, …).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Publication No. 2022/0368754, “A terminal receives a play operation performed by a user on first audio data. The terminal sends first indication information to a Bluetooth device when a service type of the first audio data is a first service type, where the first indication information is used by the Bluetooth device to set a buffer time length for the audio data to first duration. The Bluetooth device receives the first audio data sent by the terminal via Bluetooth, and buffers the first audio data. The Bluetooth device starts to play the buffered first audio data when the buffer time length for the first audio data reaches the first duration. In this way, the terminal can perform targeted delay control on audio data playback of the Bluetooth device in different application scenarios”.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MORSHED MEHEDI whose telephone number is (571) 270-7640. The examiner can normally be reached on M - F, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Linglan Edwards can be reach on (571) 270-5440. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/MORSHED MEHEDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2408
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