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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
1. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 1-20 would be allowable if it overcome the double patenting rejection.
Double Patenting
2. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent application No. (18/408,865). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because they both claims similar methods and comprise almost identical steps (See claim below for comparison).
Both the current application and the co-pending patent application claims similar methods of: A playback device comprising: a wireless communications interface; at least one microphone; one or more transducers; at least one processor; a housing carrying the wireless communications interface, the at least one microphone, the one or more audio transducers, and the at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to: receive, via the wireless communications interface, data representing first audio content; play back the first audio content via the one or more audio transducers etc.. The current application is distinct and broader than the co-pending application, since the current application not specifically disclose “the dataset comprises multiple sets of audio calibration settings; wherein the portion of the dataset is stored locally on the playback device” in the claims (See claims below for comparison).
Application No. 18968592
1. A playback device comprising: a wireless communications interface; at least one microphone;
one or more transducers; at least one processor; a housing carrying the wireless communications interface, the at least one microphone, the one or more audio transducers, and the at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to: receive, via the wireless communications interface, data representing first audio
content; play back the first audio content via the one or more audio transducers; perform a self-calibration, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to perform the self-calibration comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to: during playback of the first audio content, capture, via the microphone, audio data representing playback of the first audio content within an environment in which the playback device is located; determine a localized response from the captured audio data; retrieve, from a dataset, a particular set of audio calibration settings that correspond to the determined localized acoustic response; and apply the particular set of audio calibration settings; and play back second audio content via the one or more audio transducers with the particular set of audio calibration settings applied.
Co-pending application No. 18/408,865
1. A playback device comprising: a wireless communications interface; at least one microphone;
an audio transducer; at least one processor; a housing carrying the wireless communications interface, the at least one microphone, the audio transducer, and the at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to: receive, via the wireless communications interface, data representing a command to play back first audio content; play back the first audio content via the audio transducer; capture, via the microphone, audio data representing reflections of the first audio content within an environment in which the playback device is located; perform a self-calibration, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to perform the self-calibration comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one
processor such that the playback device is configured to: determine a localized acoustic response from the captured audio data; query a portion of a dataset for a particular set of audio calibration settings that correspond to the localized acoustic response, wherein the dataset comprises
multiple sets of audio calibration settings corresponding to respective acoustic responses, wherein the portion of the dataset comprises sets of audio calibration settings corresponding to respective acoustic responses of a particular configuration that includes the playback device, and wherein the portion of the dataset is stored locally on the playback device; and apply the particular set of audio calibration; and play back second audio content via the audio transducer with the particular set of audio calibration applied.
Application No. 18968592
14. A system comprising: a playback device comprising a wireless communications interface, at least one microphone; one or more transducers; and a housing carrying the wireless communications interface, the at least one microphone, and the one or more audio transducers;
at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to: receive, via the wireless communications interface, data representing first audio
content; play back the first audio content via the one or more audio transducers; perform a self-calibration of the playback device, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to perform the self-calibration comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to: during playback of the first audio content, capture, via the microphone, audio data representing playback of the first audio content within an environment in which the playback device is located; determine a localized response from the captured audio data; retrieve, from a dataset, a particular set of audio calibration settings that correspond to the determined localized acoustic response; and apply the particular set of audio calibration settings; and play back second audio content via the one or more audio transducers with the particular set of audio calibration settings applied.
Co-pending application No. 18/408,865
11. A system comprising: a playback device comprising a wireless communications interface, at least one microphone, an audio transducer, and a housing carrying the wireless communications interface, the at least one microphone, and the audio transducer; at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to: receive, via the wireless communications interface, data representing a command to play back first audio content; play back the first audio content via the audio transducer; capture, via the microphone, audio data representing reflections of the first audio content within an environment in which the playback device is located; perform a self-calibration, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to perform the self-calibration comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to: determine a localized acoustic response from the captured audio data; query a portion of a dataset for a particular set of audio calibration settings that correspond to the localized acoustic response, wherein the dataset comprises multiple sets of audio calibration settings corresponding to respective acoustic responses, wherein the portion of the dataset comprises sets of audio calibration settings corresponding to respective acoustic responses of a particular configuration that includes the playback device, and wherein the portion of the dataset is stored locally on the playback device; and apply the particular set of audio calibration; and play back second audio content via the audio transducer with the particular set of
audio calibration applied.
Application No. 18968592
20. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by at least one processor such that a playback device is configured to: receive, via a wireless communications interface, data representing first audio content; play back the first audio content via one or more audio transducers; perform a self-calibration, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to perform the self-calibration comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to: during playback of the first audio content, capture, via a microphone, audio data representing playback of the first audio content within an environment in which the playback device is located; determine a localized response from the captured audio data; retrieve, from a dataset, a particular set of audio calibration settings that correspond to the determined localized acoustic response; and apply the particular set of audio calibration settings; and play back second audio content via the one or more audio transducers with the particular set of audio calibration settings applied.
Co-pending application No. 18/408,865
20. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by at least one processor such that a playback device is configured to: receive, via a wireless communications interface, data representing a command to play back first audio content; play back the first audio content via an audio transducer; capture, via a microphone, audio data representing reflections of the first audio content within an environment in which the playback device is located; perform a self-calibration, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to perform the self-calibration comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to: determine a localized acoustic response from the captured audio data; query a portion of a dataset for a particular set of audio calibration settings that correspond to the localized acoustic response, wherein the dataset comprises multiple sets of audio calibration settings corresponding to respective acoustic responses, wherein the portion of the dataset comprises sets of audio calibration settings corresponding to
respective acoustic responses of a particular configuration that includes the playback
device, and wherein the portion of the dataset is stored locally on the playback device; and
apply the particular set of audio calibration; and play back second audio content via the audio transducer with the particular set of audio calibration applied.
Application No. 18968592
4. The playback device of claim 3, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to compare the localized acoustic response to the plurality of representative acoustic responses for the respective sets of audio calibration settings in the portion of the dataset comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to: determine distances of the localized acoustic response from the plurality of representative acoustic responses to identify a nearest acoustic response to the localized acoustic response.
Co-pending application No. 18/408,865
5. The playback device of claim 4, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to compare the localized acoustic response to the plurality of representative acoustic responses for the respective sets of audio calibration settings in the portion of the dataset comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
determine distances of the localized acoustic response from the plurality of representative
acoustic responses to identify a nearest acoustic response to the localized acoustic response.
The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the US patent application 18/408,865 and is covered by the patent application since the current application and the Co-pending application are claiming common subject matter, as follows:
The claimed invention in the instant application is fully disclosed in the Co-pending patent application and it is broader than the claimed invention in the patent application (18408865). No new invention or new improvement is being claimed in the instant application. Applicant is now attempting to claim broadly that which had been previously described in more detail in the claims of the patent (In re Van Ornum, 214 USPQ 761 CCPA 1982).
Furthermore, there is no apparent reason why Applicant was prevented from presenting claims corresponding to those of the instant application during prosecution of the application which matured into a patent.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOSEF K LAEKEMARIAM whose telephone number is (571)270-5149. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30-6:30 M-F.
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YOSEF K. LAEKEMARIAM
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2651
/YOSEF K LAEKEMARIAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
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