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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 11/21/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Akiyama et al. (JP 2019068368 A – Cited IDS – An English translated description document has been provided for prior art rejection citing).
Regarding claim 1: Akiyama teaches a vibration device comprising:
a glass sheet composite equipped with at least one sheet of glass plate (Fig. 10(a): Glass plate 10);
a vibration output unit that is fixed to the glass sheet composite and that vibrates the glass sheet composite according to a signal that has been input (Fig. 10(a): Vibrator 45);
a detection unit that detects sound or vibration emitted by the glass sheet composite and outputs a detection signal according to a detection result (para [0063]: a microphone or a vibration detector is used to collect sounds or vibration generated by the glass plate 10).
a signal output unit that outputs any selected audio signal; and
a control unit that includes a controller that generates a corrected signal obtained by correcting the audio signal such that the detection signal and the audio signal correspond, and that inputs the corrected signal from the controller into the vibration output unit (para [0063]: a control filter and LMS algorithm being used to accurately amplify or cancel vibrations generated by the glass plate by correcting the amplitude and phase of a control signal using the control filter).
Regarding claim 17: Akiyama teaches the vibration device of claim 1, wherein the glass sheet composite is at least one of a side window, a rear window, a windshield, or a roof glazing of an automobile (para [0064]).
Regarding claim 18: Akiyama teaches the vibration device of claim 1, wherein the glass sheet composite is a window of any of a railroad carriage, an aircraft, a boat, or a building (para [0064]).
Regarding claim 19: the vibration device discussed in claim 1 above also supports this corresponding method claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-16 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
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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