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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the applicants' communication filed on January 23, 2025. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-20 are currently presented in the instant application.
Drawings
The drawings submitted on January 23, 2025 have been reviewed and accepted by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5-14, and 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pub No.: US-20220345806-A1 (herein “Vautrin”).
Claims 1, 14, and 19
Consider claim 14, Vautrin teaches an audio device (see Vautrin Fig. 7C, [0126] note playback device 710a) comprising:
an electro-acoustic transducer (see Vautrin Fig. 7C, [0126] note transducer(s) 714);
a microphone (see Vautrin Fig. 7C, [0126] note microphone(s) 715); and
a controller (see Vautrin Fig. 7B, [0127] note processor(s) 712a) coupled with the electro-acoustic transducer and the microphone, the controller configured to:
detect use of a communication mode by the audio device (see Vautrin Fig. 11, [0159]-[0160] note detecting a phone call or voice command which cause the microphone circuitry to be activated), and
send instructions to a connected display device to provide a visual indicator that a de-noise system is available to mitigate noise in the communication mode (see Vautrin [0043], [0162] activate a microphone circuit for enabling noise cancellation which causes the interior visual indicator to illuminate).
Claim(s) 1 and 19 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 14.
Claims 5 and 16
Consider claim 16, Vautrin teaches wherein the visual indicator further indicates activity of the de-noise system, the controller further configured to provide a prompt to activate the de-noise system in response to detecting noise in ambient sound during use of the communication mode (see Vautrin [0140] note the visual indicator indicates whether the one or more microphones are performing noise cancellation).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 16.
Claims 7 and 17
Consider claim 7, Vautrin teaches wherein the communication mode includes at least one of a phone call or a video call managed by an audio gateway device (see Vautrin Fig. 11, [0159]-[0160] note detecting a phone call or voice command which cause the microphone circuitry to be activated).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 17.
Claims 8 and 18
Consider claim 8, Vautrin teaches wherein the visual indicator is presented on:
a) a visual interface at the connected display device and enables activation of the de-noise system with a command at the visual interface (see Vautrin [0043], [0162] user may switch activate a microphone circuit for enabling noise cancellation which causes the interior visual indicator to illuminate), or
b) to a first user of the communication mode and includes a representation of an amount of noise that is detectable by a second user of the communication mode.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 18.
Claim 6
Consider claim 6, Vautrin teaches wherein the audio device comprises an occluding wearable audio device (see Vautrin Fig. 7C, [0136] note headphones).
Claim 9
Consider claim 9, Vautrin teaches wherein the visual indicator includes at least one of: a) an icon that is present at an interface in both an active mode and an inactive mode (see Vautrin [0109] note first indicator configured to illuminate only when the one or more microphones are activated and a second indicator to remain solid during normal operation and blink to indicate detection of voice activity), or b) a multi-function indicator.
Claim 10
Consider claim 10, Vautrin teaches wherein the visual indicator is provided on one of: a) a vehicle interface, or b) a smart device or a computing device acting as an audio gateway device (see Vautrin [0069] note the local audio source can comprise a mobile device, e.g. smartphone, and the playback device comprises the local audio source).
Claim 11
Consider claim 11, Vautrin teaches wherein processing that detects use of the communication mode by the audio device and provides the visual indicator is performed at a smart device or a computing device (see Vautrin [0043], [0069], [0162] the portable playback device activates a microphone circuit for enabling noise cancellation which causes the interior visual indicator to illuminate and the local audio source can comprise a mobile device, e.g. smartphone, and the playback device comprises the local audio source).
Claim 12
Consider claim 12, Vautrin teaches wherein processing that detects use of the communication mode by the audio device is performed at the audio device (see Vautrin Fig. 11, [0159]-[0160] note detecting a phone call or voice command which cause the microphone circuitry to be activated).
Claim 13
Consider claim 13, Vautrin teaches further comprising receiving an input from a user interface including a sensor at the audio device (see Vautrin [0158] note user of the portable playback device 710a may, via the user interface of the portable playback device 710a, control the portable playback device 710a to receive and processes a voice command).
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) 2, 3, 4, 15, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vautrin, and further in view of Patent No.: US-8798289-B1 (herein “Every”).
Claims 2, 3, 15, and 20
Consider claim 15, Vautrin teaches wherein the controller is further configured to:
using the microphone, to detect noise in ambient sound during use of the communication mode (see Vautrin [0138] note microphone to receive ambient noise that facilitates the performance of noise cancellation).
Vautrin fails to teach compare the detected noise with a threshold, and activate the de-noise system in response to the detected noise satisfying the threshold, wherein the threshold is based on a type of the audio device. Every teaches an audio device receiving an acoustic signal, ambient sound, and comparing the acoustic signal noise level to a threshold to determine whether to activate or de-activate a noise suppression system (see Every Fig. 7, col. 1 lines 38-45, col. 9 line 53 – col. 10 line 34)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vautrin to include the recited teaching of Every. Such a modification would improve Vautrin by saving power without compromising audio quality output of the device (see Every col. 1 lines 28-37).
Claim(s) 2, 3, and 20 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 15.
Claim 4
Consider claim 4, Vautrin as modified by Every teaches further comprising at least one of:
a) altering the visual indicator to indicate that the de-noise system is active (see Vautrin [0140] note the visual indicator indicates whether the one or more microphones are performing noise cancellation), or
b) adjusting the visual indicator in response to a change in the detected noise, wherein the visual indicator includes at least one of a progressive or regressive indicator function that is updated in response to the changes in detected noise.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM-6:00PM.
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, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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