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 .
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 52, 61, 62, and 71 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Piersol et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,809,783, hereinafter “Piersol”).
In regard to claim 52, Piersol discloses a method, comprising:
detecting a plurality of voice-operated user devices (a device tracking storage discovers and identifies a plurality of devices, column 49, line 56 to column 50, line 36);
receiving at least one data structure, wherein the at least one data structure associates each respective volume level of a voice command spoken by a user received at each of the plurality of voice-operated user devices, with a respective voice-operated user device of the plurality of voice-operated user devices (in response to detecting a spoken instruction, each of a plurality of devices broadcasts a set of values based on the audio input as sampled on the respective device, column 42, lines 28-51; the values broadcast by the devices comprising an energy level of the audio input as sampled at the device, column 42, lines 52-61); and
based in part on the at least one data structure:
determining a greatest volume level of the each respective volume levels (each of the devices compares a respective energy level value with the energy level values broadcast by the other electronic devices to determine a highest energy level value, column 43, line 65 to column 44, line 11); and
determining a voice-operated user device of the plurality of voice-operated user devices associated with the greatest volume level (an electronic device identifies itself as having detected the highest energy level among the devices, column 43, line 65 to column 44, line 11); and
based at least in part on the determining the voice-operated user device associated with the greatest volume level, generating an audible response to the voice command through the voice-operated user device (the electronic device that detected the highest energy level responds to the audio input, column 43, line 65 to column 44, line 11; the response comprising an audible response, column 45, lines 34-43).
In regard to claim 61, Piersol discloses identifying a display device associated with the user (an electronic device with a display is determined, column 45, lines 34-43);
generating for display a visual representation of the audible response (a display notification is generated, column 45, lines 34-43); and
transmitting the visual representation to the display device (a visual output is provided, column 45, lines 34-43).
In regard to claim 62, Piersol discloses a system (Fig. 7A, 700) comprising:
control circuitry (processors 704) configured to:
detect a plurality of voice-operated user devices (a device tracking storage discovers and identifies a plurality of devices, column 49, line 56 to column 50, line 36);
input/output circuitry (I/O processing module 728) configured to:
receive at least one data structure, wherein the at least one data structure associates each respective volume level of a voice command spoken by a user received at each of the plurality of voice-operated user devices, with a respective voice-operated user device of the plurality of voice-operated user devices (in response to detecting a spoken instruction, each of a plurality of devices broadcasts a set of values based on the audio input as sampled on the respective device, column 42, lines 28-51; the values broadcast by the devices comprising an energy level of the audio input as sampled at the device, column 42, lines 52-61); and
wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
based in part on the at least one data structure:
determine a greatest volume level of the each respective volume levels (each of the devices compares a respective energy level value with the energy level values broadcast by the other electronic devices to determine a highest energy level value, column 43, line 65 to column 44, line 11);
and determine a voice-operated user device of the plurality of voice- operated user devices associated with the greatest volume level (an electronic device identifies itself as having detected the highest energy level among the devices, column 43, line 65 to column 44, line 11); and
based at least in part on the determining the voice-operated user device associated with the greatest volume level, generate an audible response to the voice command through the voice- operated user device (the electronic device that detected the highest energy level responds to the audio input, column 43, line 65 to column 44, line 11; the response comprising an audible response, column 45, lines 34-43).
In regard to claim 71, Piersol discloses the control circuitry is further configured to:
identify a display device associated with the user (an electronic device with a display is determined, column 45, lines 34-43);
generate for display a visual representation of the audible response (a display notification is generated, column 45, lines 34-43); and
transmit the visual representation to the display device (a visual output is provided, column 45, lines 34-43).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 53-55 and 63-65 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Piersol, in view of Shin (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2020/0075036).
In regard to claim 53, Piersol does not disclose generating the audible response comprises transmitting instructions to set a response level.
Shin discloses a method for generating an audible response, comprising:
transmitting a command to the voice-operated user device, wherein the command comprises instructions to set a response level, for the audible response to the voice command, based at least in part on the greatest volume level of the voice command (a cloud API platform transmits a synthesized audible answer to an electronic device, paragraphs [0040-0041]; where the output volume is adjusted based on the measured input volume, see Fig. 5 and paragraphs [0051-0054]); and
generating the audible response to the voice command through the voice-operated user device at the response level (the voice output is set to a relatively high volume, see Fig. 5 and paragraph [0050]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to generate the audible response to the voice command at the voice-operated user device at the response level, because it would prevent the user from not being able to hear the output sound and having to manually adjust the output volume, as taught by Shin (paragraphs [0003-0005]).
In regard to claim 54, Piersol does not disclose generating the audible response comprises transmitting instructions to set a response level.
Shin discloses the instructions to set the response level, for the audible response to the voice command, based at least in part on the greatest volume level of the voice command comprise instructions to set the response level to be at the same volume as the greatest volume level (the output volume is set to be identical to the input volume, paragraph [0049]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to set the response level to be at the same volume as the greatest volume level, because it would prevent the user from not being able to hear the output sound and having to manually adjust the output volume, as taught by Shin (paragraphs [0003-0005]).
In regard to claim 55, Piersol does not disclose generating the audible response comprises transmitting instructions to set a response level.
Shin discloses the instructions to set the response level, for the audible response to the voice command, based at least in part on the greatest volume level of the voice command comprise instructions to set the response level to be at a higher volume level than the greatest volume level to account for ambient noise (the output volume is first adjusted to the level of the input voice volume, then further adjusted to increase according to an increase in the noise volume at the time of the utterance, paragraph [0071]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to set the response level to be at a higher volume level than the greatest volume level to account for ambient noise, because it would prevent the user from not being able to hear the output sound and having to manually adjust the output volume, as taught by Shin (paragraphs [0003-0005]).
In regard to claim 63, Piersol does not disclose generating the audible response comprises transmitting instructions to set a response level.
Shin discloses a method for generating an audible response, comprising:
transmitting a command to the voice-operated user device, wherein the command comprises instructions to set a response level, for the audible response to the voice command, based at least in part on the greatest volume level of the voice command (a cloud API platform transmits a synthesized audible answer to an electronic device, paragraphs [0040-0041]; where the output volume is adjusted based on the measured input volume, see Fig. 5 and paragraphs [0051-0054]); and
generating the audible response to the voice command through the voice-operated user device at the response level (the voice output is set to a relatively high volume, see Fig. 5 and paragraph [0050]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to generate the audible response to the voice command at the voice-operated user device at the response level, because it would prevent the user from not being able to hear the output sound and having to manually adjust the output volume, as taught by Shin (paragraphs [0003-0005]).
In regard to claim 64, Piersol does not disclose generating the audible response comprises transmitting instructions to set a response level.
Shin discloses the instructions to set the response level, for the audible response to the voice command, based at least in part on the greatest volume level of the voice command comprise instructions to set the response level to be at the same volume as the greatest volume level (the output volume is set to be identical to the input volume, paragraph [0049]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to set the response level to be at the same volume as the greatest volume level, because it would prevent the user from not being able to hear the output sound and having to manually adjust the output volume, as taught by Shin (paragraphs [0003-0005]).
In regard to claim 65, Piersol does not disclose generating the audible response comprises transmitting instructions to set a response level.
Shin discloses the instructions to set the response level, for the audible response to the voice command, based at least in part on the greatest volume level of the voice command comprise instructions to set the response level to be at a higher volume level than the greatest volume level to account for ambient noise (the output volume is first adjusted to the level of the input voice volume, then further adjusted to increase according to an increase in the noise volume at the time of the utterance, paragraph [0071]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to set the response level to be at a higher volume level than the greatest volume level to account for ambient noise, because it would prevent the user from not being able to hear the output sound and having to manually adjust the output volume, as taught by Shin (paragraphs [0003-0005]).
Claim(s) 56-58 and 66-68 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Piersol, in view of Shin, and further in view of Wong et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2012/0230516, hereinafter “Wong”).
In regard to claim 56, Piersol and Shin do not disclose a user profile comprising a plurality of volume levels associated with a user.
Wong discloses a method for setting a response level, comprising instructions to:
identify a user profile associated with the user (a user audio profile is received, paragraph [0035]);
identify, using the user profile, a plurality of user volume levels associated with the user (one or more output audio parameters are identified, paragraph [0035]);
determine a lowest user volume level of the plurality of user volume levels (a minimum audio amplitude is determined, paragraph [0035]); and
set the response level based at least in part on the greatest volume level and the lowest user volume level (an audio output level is set based on the minimum audio amplitude as well as a maximum audio amplitude, paragraphs [0035-0036]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to set the response level based at least in part on the greatest volume level and the lowest user volume level, because it would allow the output volume to be automatically adjusted to the preferred audible level of the user, as taught by Wong (paragraph [0036]).
In regard to claim 57, Piersol and Shin do not disclose receiving an acknowledgement from the user corresponding to the audible response.
Wong discloses receiving an acknowledgement from the user corresponding to the audible response (one or more user adjustments of the one or more output parameter levels is received, paragraph [0037]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive an acknowledgement from the user corresponding to the audible response, because it would allow the user to adjust their profile resulting in an even more accurate user audio profile configuration, as taught by Wong (paragraph [0037]).
In regard to claim 58, Piersol and Shin do not disclose storing the response level in the user profile based at least in part on receiving the acknowledgement.
Wong discloses storing the response level in the user profile based at least in part on receiving the acknowledgement (one or more user adjustments of the one or more output parameter levels is received and the user profile is updated, paragraph [0037]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to store the response level in the user profile based at least in part on receiving the acknowledgement, because it would allow the user to adjust their profile resulting in an even more accurate user audio profile configuration, as taught by Wong (paragraph [0037]).
In regard to claim 66, Piersol and Shin do not disclose a user profile comprising a plurality of volume levels associated with a user.
Wong discloses a method for setting a response level, comprising instructions to:
identify a user profile associated with the user (a user audio profile is received, paragraph [0035]);
identify, using the user profile, a plurality of user volume levels associated with the user (one or more output audio parameters are identified, paragraph [0035]);
determine a lowest user volume level of the plurality of user volume levels (a minimum audio amplitude is determined, paragraph [0035]); and
set the response level based at least in part on the greatest volume level and the lowest user volume level (an audio output level is set based on the minimum audio amplitude as well as a maximum audio amplitude, paragraphs [0035-0036]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to set the response level based at least in part on the greatest volume level and the lowest user volume level, because it would allow the output volume to be automatically adjusted to the preferred audible level of the user, as taught by Wong (paragraph [0036]).
In regard to claim 67, Piersol and Shin do not disclose receiving an acknowledgement from the user corresponding to the audible response.
Wong discloses receiving an acknowledgement from the user corresponding to the audible response (one or more user adjustments of the one or more output parameter levels is received, paragraph [0037]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive an acknowledgement from the user corresponding to the audible response, because it would allow the user to adjust their profile resulting in an even more accurate user audio profile configuration, as taught by Wong (paragraph [0037]).
In regard to claim 68, Piersol and Shin do not disclose storing the response level in the user profile based at least in part on receiving the acknowledgement.
Wong discloses storing the response level in the user profile based at least in part on receiving the acknowledgement (one or more user adjustments of the one or more output parameter levels is received and the user profile is updated, paragraph [0037]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to store the response level in the user profile based at least in part on receiving the acknowledgement, because it would allow the user to adjust their profile resulting in an even more accurate user audio profile configuration, as taught by Wong (paragraph [0037]).
Claim(s) 59 and 69 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Piersol, in view of Iyer et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2016/0253149, hereinafter “Iyer”).
In regard to claims 59 and 69, Piersol discloses adjusting the each respective volume level of the voice command received at each of the plurality of voice-operated user devices in the at least one data structure of the each voice- operated user device of the plurality of voice-operated user devices (in response to detecting a spoken instruction, each of a plurality of devices broadcasts a set of values based on the audio input as sampled on the respective device, column 42, lines 28-51; the values broadcast by the devices comprising an energy level of the audio input as sampled at the device, column 42, lines 52-61).
Piersol does not disclose the adjustment is based on respective sensitivities.
Iyer discloses a method for adjusting a volume level of a voice command based on respective sensitivities (a gain sensitivity is adjusted depending on a device state, paragraphs [0041-0042]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust the each respective volume level of the voice command received at each of the plurality of voice-operated user devices in the at least one data structure based on respective sensitivities of the each voice- operated user device of the plurality of voice-operated user devices, because adjusting the volume level based on sensitivity allows the user to deliver voice commands in noisy environments by delivering commands in close proximity to a device, as taught by Iyer (paragraph [0042]).
Claim(s) 60 and 70 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Piersol, in view of Raitio et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2017/0358301, hereinafter “Raitio”).
In regard to claims 60 and 70, Piersol does not disclose determining that the greatest volume level of the voice command at the voice- operated user device corresponds to a whisper; and
wherein the generating the audible response to the voice command through the voice- operated user device comprises generating a whisper response.
Raitio discloses a method for responding to a user comprising determining that the greatest volume level of the voice command at the voice- operated user device corresponds to a whisper (in response to receiving speech input from a user, a determination is made that the speech is whispered speech based on the maximum amplitude of the speech signal at particular frequencies being higher than non-whispered speech, paragraphs [0242-0244]); and
wherein the generating the audible response to the voice command through the voice- operated user device comprises generating a whisper response (in response to receiving whispered speech input, a whispered speech output is provided, paragraph [0254]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to generate a whisper response when the greatest volume level of the voice command corresponded to a whisper, because a non-whispered response may not be appropriate in the context where a user is providing whispered input, as taught by Raitio (paragraphs [0003-0005]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Alders et al., Basye et al., Hu et al., Iwase et al., Jarvis et al., Johnson, Lang et al., Mixter et al., Soyannwo et al., and Watanabe disclose additional methods for adjusting a response output volume according to an input volume.
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BLA 9/17/26
/BRIAN L ALBERTALLI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2656
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