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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/26/24 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 1-7 and 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ueda et al (Pub No: 2009/0017868).
As to claim 1, Ueda teaches a first device (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], a device 100a), comprising:
one or more processors; and memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to (Ueda, Fig 2, device features processors, memory):
establish a first communication link between the first device and at least one second device within a communication range of the first device, wherein the first communication link comprises a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication link (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], a device 100a establishes [0022] a point to point link with a device 100b within a Bluetooth communication range),;
establish a second communication link between the first device and at least one third device, wherein the second communication link is different from the first communication link (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], a device 100a establishes [0022] a different communication link with device 900),;
receive one or more audio signals from the at least one third device using the second communication link (Ueda, Fig 1 [0022], a device 100a receives audio signals from 900 on that link); and
transmit the one or more audio signals to the at least one second device using first communication link (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], a device 100a retransmits the audio signals received from 900 to 100b using the first link).
As to claim 2, Ueda teaches wherein the at least one third device is outside the communication range of the first device (Ueda,[0017], the connection between 900 and 100a can be an RF signal connection or other wireless connection that have a range farther than Bluetooth).
As to claim 3, Ueda teaches wherein the second communication link comprises a cellular communication link or a communication link comprising at least one intermediary device (Ueda,[0017], the connection between 900 and 100a can be an RF signal connection or other wireless connection).
As to claim 4, Ueda teaches wherein the at least one second device comprises a plurality of second devices, the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to: transmit the one or more audio signals to a first of the plurality of second devices using the first communication link (Ueda, [0017], the embodiments of network 1100 can have chains of more than two audio sharing devices. Device 100a can be second in the chain and receive from 900 which is one of multiple audio sharing devices).; and inhibit transmission of the one or more audio signals to a second of the plurality of second devices (Ueda, [0051], a feature to mute “not transmit” of the audio signals to audio sharing devices)
As to claim 5, Ueda teaches the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to: receive an indication to inhibit the transmission of the one or more audio signals to the second of the plurality of second devices (Ueda, [0051], activate a mute/ “not transmit” of the audio signals to audio sharing devices); and responsive to the indication, inhibit the transmission of the one or more audio signals to the second of the plurality of second devices (Ueda, [0051], a feature to mute “not transmit” of the audio signals to audio sharing devices).
As to claim 6, Ueda teaches the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to: receive a gesture indicating an intent to establish the first communication link with the at least one second device within the communication range of the first device; and responsive to the gesture, establish the first communication link between the first device and the at least one second device within the communication range of the first device (Ueda, [0051], a person can switch to the audio being shared (links established via a gesture)).
As to claim 7, Ueda teaches wherein the first device comprises a mobile device, a headset device, or a wearable device (Ueda, [0051], the device is a cell phone).
As to claim 9, Ueda teaches the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to: identify the at least one second device or a user of the at least one second device (Ueda, Fig 2, #1 120 [0021][0029], the device has a user interface module providing manual controls for selecting the remote devices via a user interface).
As to claim 10, Ueda teaches the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to: identify at least one of a proximity of the at least one second device within the communication range of the first device (Ueda, [0017] [0033], the indication is an identification that the device is in a given space and communication range (proximity) to the first device).
As to claim 11, Ueda teaches the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to: receive, using the first communication link, one or more additional audio signals from the at least second device (Ueda, [0017] Fig 3, the link is 2 way, the device 100a can receive from 100b and retransmit the other direction); and transmit the one or more additional audio signals to the at least one third device using the second communication link (Ueda, [0017] Fig 3, the link is 2 way, the device 100a can receive from 100b and retransmit the other direction).
As to claim 12, Ueda teaches the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to: receive one or more additional audio signals; filter ambient noise from the one or more additional audio signals to generate filtered audio signals; and transmit the filtered audio signals to the at least one second device or the at least one third device (Ueda, [0050], the audio interface has a high pass filter. A high pass filter compensates for unwanted low frequencies (bass) that act as ambient noise such as vibration to produce a clan filtered input to the processor from the microphone).
As to claim 13, Ueda teaches a method (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], a method), comprising:
establishing a first communication link between a first device and at least one second device within a communication range of the first device, wherein the first communication link comprises a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication link (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], a device 100a establishes [0022] a point to point link with a device 100b within a Bluetooth communication range);
establishing a second communication link between the first device and at least one third device, wherein the second communication link is different from the first communication link (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], a device 100a establishes [0022] a point to point link with a device 100b within a Bluetooth communication range);
receiving one or more audio signals from the at least one third device using the second communication link (Ueda, Fig 1 [0022], a device 100a receives audio signals from 900 on that link); and
transmitting the one or more audio signals to the at least one second device using first communication link (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], a device 100a retransmits the audio signals received from 900 to 100b using the first link)..
As to claim 14, Ueda teaches wherein the at least one third device is outside the communication range of the first device (Ueda,[0017], the connection between 900 and 100a can be an RF signal connection or other wireless connection that have a range farther than Bluetooth).
As to claim 15, Ueda teaches wherein the second communication link comprises a cellular communication link or a communication link comprising at least one intermediary device (Ueda,[0017], the connection between 900 and 100a can be an RF signal connection or other wireless connection).
As to claim 16, Ueda teaches further comprising: receiving, using the first communication link, one or more additional audio signals from the at least second device (Ueda, [0017] Fig 3, the link is 2 way, the device 100a can receive from 100b and retransmit the other direction); and transmitting the one or more additional audio signals to the at least one third device using the second communication link (Ueda, [0017] Fig 3, the link is 2 way, the device 100a can receive from 100b and retransmit the other direction).
As to claim 17, Ueda teaches a first device (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], a device 900), comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors (Ueda, Fig 2, device features processors, memory)to:
establish a first communication link between the first device and at least one second device within a communication range of the first device, wherein the first communication link comprises a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication link (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], establish a point to point link with device 100a) ; and
transmit one or more audio signals to the at least one second device using first communication link for forwarding to at least one third device over a second communication link between the first device and the at least one third device (Ueda, Fig 1 [0017], device 900 sends audio signals to 100a over the first point to point link for retransmission over another link to device 100b) .
As to claim 18, Ueda teaches wherein the at least one third device is outside the communication range of the first device and the at least one second device (Ueda,[0017], the connection between 900 and 100a can be an RF signal connection or other wireless connection that have a range farther than Bluetooth).
As to claim 19, Ueda teaches wherein the second communication link comprises a cellular communication link or a communication link comprising at least one intermediary device (Ueda,[0017], the connection between 900 and 100a can be an RF signal connection or other wireless connection).
As to claim 20, Ueda teaches the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to: receive, using the first communication link, one or more additional audio signals from the at least second device (Ueda, [0017] Fig 3, the link is 2 way, the device 100a can receive from 100b and retransmit the other direction)that have been transmitted from the at least one third device using the second communication link (Ueda, [0017] Fig 3, the link is 2 way, the device 100a can receive from 100b and retransmit the other direction).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueda as applied to claims above, and further in view of Smith (Pub No: 2008/0057858).
As to claim 8, Ueda teaches wherein the first device comprises a first headphone and a second headphone (Ueda, [0034] a pair of headphones), the memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to: output the one or more audio signals in a stereo configuration using both the first headphone and the second headphone (Ueda, [0033], output in left and right channels of stereo audio);
Ueda does not explicitly teach receive an indication to switch from the stereo configuration to a non-stereo configuration; and responsive to the indication, output, to each of the first headphone and the second headphone, at least a portion of the one or more audio signals in the non-stereo configuration.
However, Smith teaches receive an indication to switch from the stereo configuration to a non-stereo configuration; and responsive to the indication, output, to each of the first headphone and the second headphone, at least a portion of the one or more audio signals in the non-stereo configuration (Smith, [0036], a switch input to switch from stereo to mono output configuration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to provide “switch from stereo to non-stereo” as taught by Smith in the system of Ueda, because it is a well known operation of a headset to switch from stereo to non-stereo (mono) (Smith [0036][0043]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI whose telephone number is (571)270-7296. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM -5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian N Moore can be reached at 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2427
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