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 filed 7/20/26 has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings filed 1/16/25 are acceptable to the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 5 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. Each of claims 5 and 13 sets forth a transfer function used to convert a first coordinate system to a second coordinate system. Paragraph [0043] provides a general discussion of this transfer function without providing any specifics of the function that allow a conversion between coordinate systems. Without such specifics one of ordinary skill in the art would have to guess as to the transfer function being used by applicant to perform the conversion.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-12 and 14-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Poore et al. (US 11,740,316 B2).
Re claim 1: Poore et al. teaches a head-mounted display (head mounted device (100)), comprising:
a camera (15), figure 2, capturing an image;
a microphone array (130), figure 1, comprising a first microphone and a second microphone (see figure 1), wherein the first microphone and the second microphone are aligned along a first direction (for example horizontal direction); and
a processor (controller 170), figure 2, coupled to the camera and the microphone array, wherein
the processor controls the first microphone and the second microphone to form a first acoustic beam (such as by beamforming, column 3, lines 57-67), wherein
the processor captures a first sound signal corresponding to the image according to the first acoustic beam (column 9, lines 21-25, figure 3 along with column 10, lines 10-57) and the processor outputs a processed sound signal (signal sent to speaker(s) (212), column 9, lines 26-29) associated with the first sound signal.
Re claim 9: Poore et al teaches a method (using a processing unit and memory stored instructions, column 7, lines 42-58) of sound recording, comprising:
disposing a microphone array on a head-mounted display (see elements (130) figure 1) and aligning a first microphone of the microphone array and a second microphone of the microphone array along a first direction (for example horizontal direction as depicted in figure 1),
wherein the head-mounted display captures an image through a camera (use or camera (150), figure 1);
controlling the first microphone and the second microphone to form a first acoustic beam (such as by beamforming, column 3, lines 57-67); and
capturing a first sound signal corresponding to the image according to the first acoustic beam (column 9, lines 21-25, figure 3 along with column 10, lines 10-57), and outputting a processed sound signal associated with the first sound signal (signal sent to speaker(s) (212), column 9, lines 26-29)
Re claims 2 and 10: note figure 1 teaching the use of at least a third microphone positioned in the microphone array above lower microphones, aligned in a second direction (vertical direction) also used by a processor (170) to form a beam (such as by beamforming discussed in column 3, lines 57- column 4, line 28) to capture sound corresponding to an image (column 9, lines 21-25, figure 3 along with column 10, lines 10-57)
Re claims 3 and 11: Se figure 1 in which at least a forth microphone (13) position on securing element (120) which when considered with a first microphone is aligned in a third direction also used by a processor (170) to form a beam (such as by beamforming discussed in column 3, lines 57- column 4, line 28) to capture sound corresponding to an image (column 9, lines 21-25, figure 3 along with column 10, lines 10-57)
Re claim 4 and 12: the claimed fusion of signals to generate a sound corresponding to the image as set forth in taught by column 3, line 57 – column 4, line 28) by “added constructively” and/or “added destructively” providing an output with coherent form corresponding to an image
Re claims 6 and 14: note a second direction (vertical direction of microphones) is perpendicular to a first direction (horizontal direction of microphones) as depicted in figure 1.
Re claims 7 and 15: note arrangement in figure 1 in which the first direction (horizontal direction is parallel to a first axis of a coordinate system (such as an imaginary Cartesian coordinate system including an x axis, y, axis and z axis) of camera (150)
Re claims 8 and 16: note microphones (13) are omnidirectional, column 3, lines 38-39
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 13 are allowed over the prior art of record.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The claimed head-mounted display including in combination the features of 4/3/2/1 along with the combination of method of claim 12/11/10/9 wherein the processor converts the processed sound signal from a first coordinate system to a second coordinate system of the camera according to a sound transfer function set forth in claim 5 or converting the processed sound signal from a first coordinate system to a second coordinate system of the camera according to a sound transfer function as set forth in claim 13 is neither taught by nor an obvious variation of the art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW SNIEZEK whose telephone number is (571)272-7563. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00 AM-3:30 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ahmad Matar can be reached at 571-272-7488. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANDREW SNIEZEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693
/A.S./Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693 9/8/26
Prosecution Insights