Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . See 35 U.S.C. § 100 (note).
Rejections Under 35 U.S.C. § 101
35 U.S.C. § 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 15 is rejected because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter.
Claim 15 is drawn to “computer program instructions which, when the program is executed by a processor of a hearing aid according to claim 1, cause the hearing aid to perform [a sequence of] steps.” Computer programs per se are neither processes, machines, manufactures or compositions of matter. See MPEP § 2106.03. Accordingly, the claimed computer program is not eligible for patenting, and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1–14 are allowed. Claims 1 and 14 are independent. Claims 2–13 depend on claim 1, and are allowable for the same reasons.
Claim 1 is illustrative of the claimed subject matter, and is reproduced below:
Claim 1
“1. Hearing aid adapted for being located at or in an ear of a user, the hearing aid comprising:
“- a sensor for detecting a movement of the user and/or an orientation of the user's head,
“- wherein the sensor comprises an accelerometer configured to provide accelerometer data comprising at least one signal representing said movement and/or orientation in X-, Y-, and Z-axes of an X-Y-Z co-ordinate system,
“- wherein the hearing aid is configured to translate the accelerometer data to quantify said movement and/or orientation as counts in said X-, Y-, and Z-axes and to separate lateral head movements defined as counts in said X- and Y-axes and vertical head movements defined as counts in the X- and Z-axes, and
“- wherein the hearing aid is configured to determine a motion bias by calculating at least a sample-by-sample minimum of the counts in said X- and Y-axes, and configured to estimate a listening intention of the user based on said motion bias, and
“- wherein the hearing aid comprises a processor, and where the hearing aid is configured to set signal processing parameters of the processor based on the estimated listening intention of the user.”
Table 1
The basic thrust of the claimed invention is to distinguish lateral and vertical head movements of a user’s head based on accelerometer data gathered in X, Y and Z axes in part by determining a motion bias (i.e., determining whether a user’s head is relatively still or not, which indicates whether the user is focusing on a sound or not) by observing the minimum of sample counts (i.e., quantized acceleration amount) in either the X-axis or the Y-axis. The claimed idea is best described in the Spec. at p. 22, l. 26 -to -p. 24, l. 3, FIG.4 The idea of distinguishing vertical and lateral head movements is described throughout the prior art. See US 2025/0216935 (distinguishing between control head movements (e.g., nodding) and normal head movements (e.g., turning the head)); US 6,498,996 (IMU bias correction). However, the prior art does not fairly describe, teach or suggest the determination of motion bias by taking the minimum of counts in an X-axis and a Y-axis as claimed. For the foregoing reasons, the claims are allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WALTER F BRINEY III whose telephone number is (571)272-7513. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-4:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn Edwards can be reached at 571-270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Walter F Briney III/
Walter F Briney IIIPrimary ExaminerArt Unit 2692
7/19/2026
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