Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
Introduction
2. This action responds to the applicant 18/955,633 filed on 11-21-2024. Claims 1-6 are pending.
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. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
6. Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Keen et al. (US 2019/0116210) in view of Loether (US PAT. 9,641,947).
Consider Claim 1, Keen teaches a control method of a ceiling microphone performed by a ceiling microphone including a plurality of microphone elements each capable of collecting a voice of a talker(see figs. 1-2 and paragraphs[0019]-[0021]),
the control method comprising: acquiring a first voice signal collected by an array microphone including the plurality of microphone elements and an external voice signal collected in a space different from a space of the ceiling microphone(see figs. 1-2 and paragraphs[0015]-[0021]);
determining an output voice signal output from a speaker provided in a same space as the space of the ceiling microphone, based on the acquired first voice signal and the acquired external voice signal; and outputting the determined output voice signal to the speaker, and when it is determined that the output voice signal output from the speaker is output(see figs. 1-3B- and paragraphs[0019]-[0029]), but Sasaki does not explicitly teach stopping control of directivity of the array microphone that collects the voice of the talker and fixing a voice collecting direction in which the voice of the talker is collected.
However, Loether teaches outputting the determined output voice signal to the speaker, and when it is determined that the output voice signal output from the speaker is output, stopping control of directivity of the array microphone that collects the voice of the talker and fixing a voice collecting direction in which the voice of the talker is collected(see figs. 4-7 and col. 13, line 10 and col. 14, line 67).
Therefore, it would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date the invention was made to combine the teaching of Loether in to the teaching of Keen to provide a system and method for generating, transmitting and distributing audio signals providing automatic adjustments to the audio signals to compensate for one or more of the acoustics in a meeting room, the arrangement of audience arrays and speakers in a meeting room, audio signal volume levels and equalization, and the differences in characteristics of a verbal input.
Consider Claims 2 and 3, Keen as modified by Loether teaches the control method of a ceiling microphone further comprising: when it is determined that the output voice signal output from the speaker is not output, enabling control of the directivity of the array microphone that collects the voice of the talker; estimating a direction of the speaker based on the first voice signal; and forming the directivity of the array microphone in the estimated direction of the speaker(In Loether, see figs. 4-7 and col. 13, line 10 and col. 14, line 67); and the control method of a ceiling microphone wherein the ceiling microphone is further communicably connected to at least one first microphone provided in the same space as the space of the ceiling microphone, an input of a second voice signal collected by the first microphone is received, and the output voice signal output from the speaker is determined based on the first voice signal, the second voice signal, and the external voice signal; and when it is determined that the second voice signal is input, a voice collecting level of the voice collected by the array microphone is attenuated to a predetermined voice collecting level(see figs. 1-3B- and paragraphs[0019]-[0029]).
Consider Claims 4 and 5, Keen as modified by Loether teaches the control method of a ceiling microphone wherein when it is determined that the second voice signal is not input, a voice collecting level of the voice collected by the array microphone is amplified to a voice collecting level before the attenuation(In Loether, see figs. 4-7 and col. 13, line 10 and col. 14, line 67); and the control method of a ceiling microphone wherein the ceiling microphone is further communicably connected to another ceiling microphone provided in the same space, an input of a third voice signal collected by at least one second microphone communicably connected to the other ceiling microphone is further received, and the output voice signal output from the speaker is determined based on the first voice signal, the second voice signal, the third voice signal, and the external voice signal, when it is determined that the third voice signal is input, a voice collecting level of the voice collected by the array microphone is attenuated to a predetermined voice collecting level(see figs. 1-3B- and paragraphs[0019]-[0029]).
Consider Claim 6, Keen as modified by Loether teaches the control method of a ceiling microphone wherein when it is determined that the third voice signal is not input, a voice collecting level of the array microphone is amplified to a voice collecting level before the attenuation(see figs. 1-3B- and paragraphs[0019]-[0029] and discussion above claim 1)).
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. Chu et al. (US 2013/0106973) is cited to show other related the CONTROL METHOD OF CEILING MICROPHONE.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
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can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 to 5:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's
supervisor, Nguyen Duc M(SPE), can be reached on (571) 272-7503.
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should be directed to the Technology Center 2600 whose telephone number is (571) 272-2600.
/LUN-SEE LAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691 US Patent and Trademark Office
Knox
571-272-7501
Date 05-26-2026
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