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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 5, 8, 12, 15, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Knuffinke (SIR Audio Tools/SIR3; Official released on March 24, 2022).
Regarding claim 1: Knuffinke teaches a method for audio processing, comprising:
determining a target impulse response for a first audio signal, the target impulse response being a stereo impulse response for simulating a sound reflection and attenuation effect of the first audio signal in an acoustic space (see page 9 - Signal Flow & Control - Over view Drawing: Target stereo impulse response IRL and IRR generated by user modifying referenced impulse responses selected from Libraries using “Resampling Pitch”, “Early-Reflection-Processing, Reverse/Forward, and/or “Envelopes”; also see page 13: SIR User Impulses, and SIR Factory Impulses in Libraries read on referenced Impulse response; and page 16);
obtaining a second audio signal by convolving the first audio signal with the target impulse response (see page 9 - Signal Flow & Control - Over view Drawing: Left input and Right Input convolving with the Target stereo impulse response IRL and IRR to generate L channel and R channel signals which read on the claimed second audio signal); and
outputting a third audio signal by performing audio mixing on the first audio signal and the second audio signal (see page 9 - Signal Flow & Control - Over view Drawing: Left and Right Input/Dry Level which reads on the claimed the first audio signal combing with the L channel and R channel signals which read on the claimed second audio signal to generate an output signal which reads on the claimed the third audio signal).
Regarding claim 5: Knuffinke teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining a second audio signal by convolving the first audio signal with the target impulse response comprises:
convolving left- and right-channel audio signals of the first audio signal with the target impulse response respectively, to obtain a left-channel audio processing result and a right-channel audio processing result corresponding to the first audio signal (see page 25: True Stereo); and
performing left and right-channel mixing respectively on the left-channel audio processing result and the right-channel audio processing result corresponding to the first audio signal for output to left and right channels (See page 25: True Stereo), and
generating the second audio signal with a stereo effect based on audio signals output to the left and right channels (See page 25: True Stereo).
Regarding claim 8: the method discussed in claim 1 above also supports this corresponding electronic device claim. Also see pages 4-6: Installation on Mac and Window computer, inherently includes processor(s) and a memory.
Regarding claim 12: the method discussed in claim 5 above also supports this corresponding electronic device claim.
Regarding claim 15: the method discussed in claim 1 above also supports this corresponding non-transitory storage medium claim.
Regarding claim 19: the method discussed in claim 5 above also supports this corresponding non-transitory storage medium claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 6-7, 9-11, 13-14, 16-18, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID L TON whose telephone number is (571)270-7839. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM (EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivian Chin can be reached at (571)272-7848. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID L TON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695
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