DETAILED ACTION
The Art Unit location of your application in the PTO has changed. To aid in correlating any papers for this application, all further correspondence regarding this application should be directed to Group Art Unit 2691.
This communication is responsive to the claims filed 11/22/2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b) or (pre-AIA ), Second Paragraph
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 and 14-15 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the limitation of “at least one desired component of a sound signal” in lines 1-2 is indefinite since it is not clear what the limitation is.
Regarding claim 14, the limitation of “a desired component” in line 3 is indefinite since it is not clear what the limitation is.
Regarding claim 15, the limitation of “a desired component” in line 3 is indefinite since it is not clear what the limitation is.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-3, 8, 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Casper et al. (U. S. Pat. App. Pub. No. – 2023/0232172).
Regarding claim 1, Casper et al. disclose a method for training a first algorithm (150/450) for extracting at least one component of a sound signal (459), the first algorithm comprising an encoder and a first decoder ([0062]), the encoder and the first decoder each comprising at least one parameter inherently, wherein the method comprises training (NNE) the encoder and first decoder, comprising: obtaining at least one partly masked in-domain data element ([0060-0065, 0077-0080]), wherein the at least one partly masked in-domain data element comprises a noisy component (by 430), using the at least one partly masked in-domain data element to determine a value of the at least one parameter of the encoder and the at least one parameter of the first decoder optimizing the prediction ([0094-101]), by the first algorithm, of the noisy component in at least one masked part of the at least one partly masked in-domain data element (Figs. 6-7 and 9-10).
Regarding claim 2, Casper et al. further disclose the method, wherein training of the encoder and first decoder further comprises: obtaining at least one partly masked out-of-domain data element (435-436), comprising a mixture component comprising a target component (435) and a noise component (436), using the at least one partly masked out-of-domain data element to determine the value of the at least one parameter of the encoder and the at least one parameter of the first decoder optimizing the prediction (NNE, DSP), by the first algorithm, of the target component in at least one masked part of the at least one partly masked out-of-domain data element (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 3, Casper et al. further disclose the method, wherein the at least one partly masked out-of-domain data element (435-436) is a partly masked spectrogram and/or the at least one partly masked in-domain data element is a partly masked spectrogram (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 8, Casper et al. further disclose the method, wherein when using the at least one partly masked in-domain data element to determine the value of the at least one parameter of the encoder ([0037-0046]), the value of the at least one parameter is determined by minimizing a second loss function determining discrepancy between a predicted noisy component and a corresponding noisy component of the at least one partly masked in-domain data element (Figs. 6-7 and 9-10).
Regarding claim 12, Casper et al. further disclose the method, performed by a processor of at least one hearing aid (100) and/or at least one computer.
Structural claim 14 is similar to method claim 1, except for being couched in method terminology; such method would be inherent when the structure or structural elements is/are shown in the references.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 and 9-10 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUHAN NI whose telephone number is (571)272-7505. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm.
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/SUHAN NI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
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