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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (WO 2021133679 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses an earphone (10) comprising: a core module (the housing part with the outer face 28 of 20) and a hook-like structure (44) connected to the core module, the core module being located on a front side of an ear in a wearing state and configured not to block an external ear canal in the wearing state (Fig. 3A), and at least part of the hook-like structure being located on a rear side of the ear in the wearing state (Fig. 3A), wherein the hook-like structure includes an adapter housing (the housing part between inner inner face 26 and outer face 28 of 20) connected to the core module, an accommodation cavity is pre-formed in the adapter housing (the cavity inside housing 20), and the earphone further comprises an electronic component (driver not shown; Par. 0020) that is subsequently mounted in the accommodation cavity.
Regarding claim 2, Lee discloses the earphone of claim 1, wherein the core module includes a core housing, and the adapter housing is integrally formed with the core housing (Par. 0023, body 40 is an integral molded plastic member).
Regarding claim 3, Lee discloses earphone of claim 2, wherein the core housing includes an inner core housing (the housing part with the inner surface 26) and an outer core housing (the housing part with the outer surface 28), a portion of the adapter housing is integrally formed with the inner core housing, and the other portion of the adapter housing is integrally formed with the outer core housing (Par. 0023, 40 is an integral molded plastic).
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.
Claims 4, 18-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Yuen et al. (US 20210281939).
Regarding claim 4, Lee discloses an earphone of claim 1. Lee fails to disclose wherein a speaker and a main control circuit board is disposed in the core housing, the speaker and the electronic component are respectively coupled with the main control circuit board, and the adapter housing is plugged and fixed with the core housing. Yuen et al. teaches a core module which includes a core housing (5, 6, 10 and 12) and a speaker (speaker 11) and a main control circuit board (7) disposed in the core housing, the speaker and the electronic component are respectively coupled with the main control circuit board, and the adapter housing (9) is plugged and fixed with the core housing. Since Lee is silent on the internal mounting structures of the electronic components in the earphone housing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate any well-known structures for mounting the internal electronic components including Yuen et al. ’s for the purpose of implementing a functional earphone.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Lee in view of Yuen et al. disclose wherein an inner side, facing the ear in the wearing state, of the core housing is provided with an acoustic outlet hole (22, Fig. 1B of Lee), a sound wave generated by the speaker is propagated out through the acoustic outlet hole, the core module cooperates with a cavum conchae of the ear in the wearing state to form an auxiliary cavity connected to the external ear canal of the ear, the acoustic outlet hole is at least partially disposed in the auxiliary cavity (Par. 0020, Lee).
Regarding claim 19, the combination further discloses the earphone of claim 18, wherein the core module has a connecting end that is connected to the hook-like structure and a free end that is not connected to the hook-like structure, the free end extends into the cavum conchae, and the auxiliary cavity is formed by the inner side of the core housing and the cavum conchae (Figs. 1A-1C).
Regarding claim 20, the combination further discloses the earphone of claim 18, wherein the auxiliary cavity is configured as a semi-open cavity (Fig. 3A).
Regarding claim 21, the combination discloses the earphone of claim 20, wherein the core housing is provided with a pressure relief hole (24), and the pressure relief hole allows a space on a side of the speaker toward the main control circuit board to be connected with an external environment; and a phase of sound waves transmitted through a part of the cavum conchae not covered by the core module and a phase of sound waves transmitted through the pressure relief hole are opposite to each other.
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Yuen et al. as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Malkoff et al. (US 2021/0106467).
The combination of Lee in view of Yuen et al. disclose the earphone of claim 4 but fails to specifically disclose wherein the adapter housing (9) is provided with a first snap structure, the core housing (5, 6, 10 and 12) is provided with a second snap structure, and the first snap structure extends into the core housing and snaps with the second snap structure to cooperate with each other. However, Malkoff et al. discloses in Fig. 20, an adapter housing (500) is provided with a first snap structure (540-543) that snaps into the second snap structure (slots 530-533) of the core housing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to incorporate Malkoff et al.'s teaching to the combination for the purpose of providing a releasable connection between the adapter and the core housing.
Claims 6, 8 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Yuen et al. as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Linden et al. (US 2019/0327550).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Lee in view of Yuen et al. disclose the earphone of claim 4 but fails to specifically disclose that the earphone comprising a flexible circuit board as claimed. However, Linden et al. disclose in Figs. 11 and 14 an earphone comprising a flexible circuit board assembly comprising a flexible circuit board (170 and the extension path connection between 170 and 152) is connected to the electronic component (battery) and extends into the core housing, such that the electronic component is connected to the main control circuit board 152 via the flexible circuit board (170 and the extension path connection between 170 and 152), and the speaker 130 is configured to be connected to the flexible circuit board on an extension path (the path connection between the main circuit board 152 and of the flexible circuit board 170), such that the speaker is connected to the main control circuit board via the flexible circuit board. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to incorporate Linden et al.'s flexible circuit board assembly to the combination for the purpose of providing a spatially folded circuit board assembly for the earphone.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Lee in view of Yuen et al. in view of Linden et al. teaches the earphone of claim 6, wherein the flexible circuit board includes a first circuit board section, a second circuit board section, and a third circuit board section, the second circuit board section (170, Fig. 16 of Yuen et al) is bent with respect to the first circuit board section (152, Fig. 16 of Yuen et al.), and the third circuit board section (160, Fig. 16 of Yuen et al.) is bent with respect to the second circuit board section, such that the first circuit board section, the second circuit board section, and the third circuit board section are adjacent to one another in pairs.
Regarding claim 22, the combination teaches the earphone of claim 8, wherein the electronic component includes electrode terminals (272 & 272, Linden et al).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Li et al. (CN 109788386A).
Regarding claim 14, Lee discloses an earphone of claim 1, but fails to disclose wherein the hook-like structure includes an elastic metal wire and a conductor, an end of the elastic metal wire is connected to the adapter housing, and the conductor extends along the elastic metal wire and is threaded in the adapter housing. However, Li et al. teaches in Figs. 1 & 2, an earphone with an hook-like structure (10) which includes an elastic metal wire (11) and a conductor (12), an end of the wire is connected to the adapter housing (20), and the conductor extends along the elastic wire and is threaded in the adapter housing (Fig. 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-13 and 15-16 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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Examiner thanks Attorney Du for the corporate name-change documentation that verify that Shenzhen Voxtech Co. Ltd. and Shenzhen Shokz Co. Ltd. are the same legal entity, and that Shenzhen Voxtech Co. Ltd. subsequently changed its corporate name to Shenzhen Shokz Co. Ltd. Thus, making the Prior Art CN114286240A cited in the PCT International Search Report an exception of 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1).
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/SINH TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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