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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Double Patenting
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 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); 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 nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over Claims 1, 3 and 6-12 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
A comparison of the claims from the current application and U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is shown below.
Current Application
U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943
A computer-implemented method of speech recognition, the method comprising:
receiving a sound embedding comprising non-phoneme features of a first segment of speech from a user;
training an acoustic model by conditioning its output based on the sound embedding;
receiving a second segment of speech following the first segment of speech;
and inferring, using the acoustic model, phoneme probabilities of the second segment of speech.
7. A computer-implemented method of conditioning an acoustic model for speech recognition, the method comprising:
receiving, at an acoustic model, a sound embedding comprising information of non- phoneme features of a first segment of speech from a user, wherein the first segment of speech corresponds to a key phrase with known phonemes, wherein the acoustic model is trained to condition its output based on the sound embedding, wherein the information of non-phoneme features comprises at least one of voice, noise, accent, and environmental attributes associated with the first segment of speech;
receiving a second segment of speech following the first segment of speech from the same user;
and inferring, using the acoustic model, phoneme probabilities of the second segment of speech.
9. A computerized speech processing system, the system being configured to:
receive, at a computing device, a sound embedding comprising non-phoneme features of a first segment of speech from a user;
train an acoustic model by conditioning its output based on the sound embedding;
receive a second segment of speech following the first segment of speech;
and inferr, using the acoustic model, phoneme probabilities of the second segment of speech.
7. A computer-implemented method of conditioning an acoustic model for speech recognition, the method comprising:
receiving, at an acoustic model, a sound embedding comprising information of non- phoneme features of a first segment of speech from a user, wherein the first segment of speech corresponds to a key phrase with known phonemes, wherein the acoustic model is trained to condition its output based on the sound embedding , wherein the information of non-phoneme features comprises at least one of voice, noise, accent, and environmental attributes associated with the first segment of speech;
receiving a second segment of speech following the first segment of speech from the same user;
and inferring, using the acoustic model, phoneme probabilities of the second segment of speech.
18. A computer-implemented method of speech recognition, the method comprising:
receiving, at a computing device, speech from a user, wherein the speech comprises a first segment of speech;
generating, using an encoder model, a sound embedding based on non-phoneme features from the first segment of speech;
and inferring, using an acoustic model conditioned on the sound embedding, phoneme probabilities related to the following second segment of speech.
A computer-implemented method of inferring phoneme probabilities in speech audio, the method comprising:
receiving, at a computing device, a first segment of speech from a user, wherein the first segment of speech corresponds to a key phrase with known phonemes;
generating, using an encoder model, a sound embedding from the first segment of speech, wherein the sound embedding comprises information of non-phoneme features of the first segment of speech, wherein the information of non-phoneme features comprises at least one of voice, noise, accent, and environmental attributes associated with the first segment of speech;
receiving a second segment of speech following the first segment of speech from the same user;
and inferring, using an acoustic model conditioned on the sound embedding, the phoneme probabilities related to the second segment of speech.
Regarding Claim 1, Claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes all of the limitation of Claim 1 of the current application. However, Claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes the additional limitations of “wherein the first segment of speech corresponds to a key phrase with known phonemes” and “wherein the information of non-phoneme features comprises at least one of voice, noise, accent, and environmental attributes associated with the first segment of speech”. Therefore, it is obvious that the claims are not patentably distinct from one another.
Regarding Claim 2, Claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes the limitation of Claim 2.
Regarding Claim 3, Claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes the limitation of Claim 3.
Regarding Claim 4, Claim 8 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 4.
Regarding Claim 5, Claim 10 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 5.
Regarding Claim 6, Claim 9 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 6.
Regarding Claim 7, Claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 7.
Regarding Claim 8, Claim 12 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 8.
Regarding Claim 9, Claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes all of the limitation of Claim 9 of the current application. However, Claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is a system claim that includes the additional limitations of “wherein the first segment of speech corresponds to a key phrase with known phonemes” and “wherein the information of non-phoneme features comprises at least one of voice, noise, accent, and environmental attributes associated with the first segment of speech”. Therefore, it is obvious that the claims are not patentably distinct from one another.
Regarding Claim 10, Claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes the limitation of Claim 10.
Regarding Claim 11, Claims 7 and 8 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 include the limitation of Claim 11.
Regarding Claim 12, Claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes the limitation of Claim 12.
Regarding Claim 13, Claim 8 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 13.
Regarding Claim 14, Claim 10 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 14.
Regarding Claim 15, Claim 9 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 15.
Regarding Claim 16, Claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 16.
Regarding Claim 17, Claim 12 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 17.
Regarding Claim 18, Claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes all of the limitation of Claim 18 of the current application. However, Claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes the additional limitations of “wherein the first segment of speech corresponds to a key phrase with known phonemes” and “wherein the information of non-phoneme features comprises at least one of voice, noise, accent, and environmental attributes associated with the first segment of speech”. Therefore, it is obvious that the claims are not patentably distinct from one another.
Regarding Claim 19, Claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 includes the limitation of Claim 19.
Regarding Claim 20, Claim 3 of U.S. Patent No. 11,741,943 is nearly identical to Claim 20.
Indication of Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not teach, disclose or suggest the claimed limitation of (in combination with all other limitations in the claim) “inferring, using the acoustic model, phoneme probabilities of the second segment of speech” as found in Claim 1. Similar features are claimed in Claims 2-20.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VU B HANG whose telephone number is (571)272-0582.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hai Phan, can be reached at (571)272-6338. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/VU B HANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2654
Prosecution Insights