DETAILED ACTION
1. This action is responsive to amendment filed on 7/7/2026.
2. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1, 8 and 15 are independent. Claims 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 15, 17 and 18 were amended. Amendments to the claims have been entered.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant's arguments have been fully considered; however, they are not persuasive based on new ground(s) of rejection. Notice that claim objections and rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ) are removed due to amendments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brockway (US PG Pub. 2014/0028818) in view of Aslund (US PG Pub. 2015/0106887).
As regarding claims 1, 8 and 15, Brockway discloses A first device, comprising:
a microphone [para. 78];
at least one speaker [para. 49 and 78];
at least one processor [para. 77 and 79]; and
at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor [para. 79] such that the first device is configured to:
store credential information for a wireless access point [para. 44 and 96; storing, by the smart device, the credentials];
receive an indication to enter a configuration mode [para. 43-45; receiving a request to configure the camera with the credentials of the access point];
after receiving the indication, cause the first device to enter the configuration mode [para. 43-45, 89 and 99; configuring the camera with the credentials of the access point by sending the credentials to the camera]; and
cause an offline device to authenticate with the wireless access point [para. 54; passing, by the camera, the credentials to the access point for authentication to connect to the access point], wherein causing the offline device to authenticate with the wireless access point comprises: transmit, via the speaker to the offline device, an encoded audio signal comprising the credential information [para. 49; transmitting, by the smart device via a speaker, audio signal including credentials of the access point to the camera].
Brockway does not explicitly disclose the encoded audio signal comprising the credential information and account information of an owner of the first device. However, Aslund discloses it [abstract, para. 4, 6, 34-36; connection information encoded in audio signals including network configuration data and account credentials].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the effective filing of the invention to modify Brockway’s encoded audio signal to further comprise credential information and account information of an owner, as disclosed by Aslund, in order to log in to or access other devices [Aslund para. 3, 148 and 150].
As regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Brockway further discloses The first device of claim 1, wherein the encoded audio signal further comprises configuration information used to configure the offline device [para. 43-45, 89 and 99; configuring the camera with the credentials of the access point by sending the credentials to the camera].
As regarding claims 3, 10 and 17, Brockway further discloses The first device of claim 2, wherein the configuration information comprises the account information of the owner of the first device [para. 43 and 45].
As regarding claims 4, 11 and 18, Brockway further discloses The first device of claim 1, wherein the account information of the owner of the first device is used for retrieval of configuration information for the offline device [para. 43 and 45].
As regarding claims 5 and 12, Brockway further discloses The first device of claim 1, wherein the encoded audio signal comprises a series of pitched tones representing the credential information [para. 48; audio frequencies].
As regarding claims 6, 13 and 19, Brockway further discloses The first device of claim 1, wherein the credential information comprises at least one of a service set identifier (SSID) of the wireless access point or a wireless password for the wireless access point [para. 28; credentials including access password of the access point].
As regarding claims 7, 14 and 20, Brockway and Aslund further disclose The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the first device is further configured to:
transmit, via the speaker to the offline device, a second encoded audio signal comprising additional configuration data for the offline device [Brockway para. 28 || Aslund para. 69].
Conclusion
Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THONG P TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7905. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:30AM - 5:30PM.
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/THONG TRUONG/
Examiner, Art Unit 2433
/JEFFREY C PWU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2433
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