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 01/22/2025.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the claimed limitations of “an earphone housing and having an internal space formed therein” (claim 1, lines 3-4) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claim 6 is 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.
In claim 6, it recites the limitation of “the low-tone yoke” in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WEN et al. (U. S. Pat. App. Pub. No. – 2015/0304763).
Regarding claim 1, WEN et al. disclose a speaker unit for an earphone (Fig. 5), the speaker unit configured to generate sound and output the sound externally and comprising: a speaker frame (10) accommodated within an earphone housing and having an internal space formed therein; a low-tone speaker (40) arranged within the speaker frame and configured to output low-tone; and a high-tone speaker (30) positioned above the low-tone speaker in the speaker frame and configured to output high-tone, wherein the low-tone speaker is arranged to have the same sound output direction as that of the high-tone speaker, and the high-tone speaker has a relatively smaller size compared to the low-tone speaker (Figs. 5-6 and 9).
Regarding claim 2, WEN et al. further disclose the speaker unit, wherein the speaker frame (10) is a single integrated frame (Figs. 1-2).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 (a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claims 1-4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. (U. S. Pat. App. Pub. No. – 2014/0363035).
Regarding claim 1, Zhao et al. disclose a speaker unit (20) for an earphone, the speaker unit configured to generate sound and output the sound externally and comprising: a speaker frame (42) accommodated within an application housing and having an internal space formed therein inherently; a low-tone speaker (22) arranged within the speaker frame and configured to output low-tone; and a high-tone speaker (24) positioned above the low-tone speaker in the speaker frame and configured to output high-tone, wherein the low-tone speaker is arranged to have the same sound output direction as that of the high-tone speaker, and the high-tone speaker has a relatively smaller size compared to the low-tone speaker (Figs. 1-2) as claimed. However, Zhao et al. may not specially teach that the application is an earphone as claimed. Since providing a suitably configurated speaker unit for an application is very well known in the art (Official Notice), and Zhao et al. do not specially restrict the speaker unit for any application, it therefore would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to be motivated to suitably configurated the speaker unit taught by Zhao et al. for an application, such as an earphone or headphone, in order to utilize the speaker unit.
Regarding claim 2, Zhao et al. further disclose the speaker unit, wherein the speaker frame (42) is a single integrated frame (Figs. 1-2).
Regarding claim 3, Zhao et al. further disclose the speaker unit, wherein the speaker frame includes at least one of a tuning vent hole (on 42 of Fig. 1) for acoustic characteristics of the low-tone speaker or a pressure vent hole for balancing air pressure between an ear canal and an external environment on one side.
Regarding claim 4, Zhao et al. further disclose the speaker unit, wherein the tuning vent hole and the pressure vent hole are arranged together on a lateral surface of the speaker frame (on 42, see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6, Zhao et al. further disclose the speaker unit, wherein the low-tone yoke includes a plate-shaped structure (30).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 7-11 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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Duc Nguyen can be reached on 571-272-7503. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SUHAN NI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
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