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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: regarding claim 8, the phrase “according to claim 6” in lines 1-2 should be “according to claim 7”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the last audio data” in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 6 is rejected for the same reasons as discussed above with respect to claim 1. Since claims 2-5, 7 and 8 are dependent claims, these claims are also rejected.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant’s Admitted Prior art (Hereinafter “AAPA”) in view of Kim et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0204954) further in view of Rau et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0361975).
Regarding claim 6, AAPA teaches an audio data interruption protection method of a sound output device for protecting a speaker equipment, comprising:
providing a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) buffer (paragraph 0003);
providing a MCUs, which is coupled to the FIFO buffer and configured to temporarily storing received audio data in the FIFO buffer (paragraph 0003);
determining whether an underflow occurs in the FIFO buffer (paragraph 0004);
when the underflow occurs in the FIFO buffer, extracting the last audio data from the buffer circuit to drive the speaker equipment (paragraph 0004, “underflow may occur in the FIFO buffer due to insufficient replenishment of audio data. “, “If there is a large difference between the previous audio data value and the zero value, a sudden voltage change may be produced in the analog audio output, leading to pop noise in connected earphones or speakers.”).
However, AAPA does not specifically teach providing a buffer circuit, which is coupled to the FIFO buffer and configured to temporarily storing audio data received from the FIFO buffer. Kim teaches providing a buffer circuit, which is coupled to the FIFO buffer and configured to temporarily storing audio data received from the FIFO buffer (paragraph 0121). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AAPA to incorporate the feature of providing a buffer circuit, which is coupled to the FIFO buffer and configured to temporarily storing audio data received from the FIFO buffer in AAPA’s invention as taught by Kim. The motivation for the modification is to do so in order to prevent the voltage drop.
Furthermore, AAPA in view of Kim does not specifically teach gradually reducing volume of the last audio data. Rau teaches gradually reducing volume of the last audio data (paragraph 0121). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AAPA in view of Kim to incorporate the feature of gradually reducing volume of the last audio data in AAPA’s invention in view of Kim’s invention as taught by Rau. The motivation for the modification is to do so in order to prevent the voltage drop.
Regarding claim 7, AAPA in view of Kim does not specifically teach performing counting to accumulate a count value, determining whether the count value reaches a threshold and when the count value reaches the threshold, starting gradually reducing volume of the last audio data. Examiner takes an official notice that performing counting to accumulate a count value, determining whether the count value reaches a threshold is well known in the art whereas Rau teaches gradually reducing volume of the last audio data (paragraph 0121). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AAPA in view of Kim to incorporate the feature of performing counting to accumulate a count value; determining whether the count value reaches a threshold; and when the count value reaches the threshold, starting gradually reducing volume of the last audio data in AAPA’s invention in view of Kim’s invention as taught by Rau. The motivation for the modification is to do so in order to prevent the voltage drop and to provide interruption protection.
Regarding claim 8, AAPA in view of Kim further in view of Rau does not specifically teach wherein when the count value does not reach the threshold and the FIFO buffer recovers from the underflow, the audio data interruption protection method further comprises: returning to the step of determining whether the underflow occurs in the FIFO buffer. Examiner takes an official notice is a matter of design choice. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify AAPA in view of Kim further in view of Rau to incorporate the feature of wherein when the count value does not reach the threshold and the FIFO buffer recovers from the underflow, the audio data interruption protection method further comprises: returning to the step of determining whether the underflow occurs in the FIFO buffer in AAPA’s invention in view of Kim’s invention further in view of Rau’s invention in order to provide interruption protection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Md S. Elahee whose telephone number is (571) 272-7536. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon to Fri from 8:30am to 5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn R. Edwards can be reached on (571) 270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/MD S ELAHEE/
MD SHAFIUL ALAM ELAHEE
Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 2694
September 4, 2026
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