DETAILED ACTION
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)(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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Silvestri et al., U.S. Patent No. 8,311,253, patented on November 13, 2012 (Silvestri).
As to Claim 1, Silvestri discloses an earphone [10], adapted to be worn on an ear (col. 4, lines 63-65), the earphone [10] comprising: a wearing component [12, 113, 126] (see Figs. 3, 6, and 8), comprising a rear positioning portion [20] and an acoustic channel [126] (acoustic channel [126] is a nozzle; col. 7, lines 52-53; see Figs. 6 and 8); and an acoustical component [115], connected to the wearing component [12, 113, 126] (see Fig. 6), the acoustical component [115] comprises an acoustic chamber [114], the acoustic chamber [114] is communicated with the acoustic channel [126] (the acoustic channel [126] extends from the acoustic chamber [114] col. 7, lines 52-53; see Fig. 6), when the earphone [10] is worn on the ear, the wearing component [12, 113, 126] is located in a cavum conchae of the ear (see Fig. 4), the rear positioning portion [20] exerts a positioning force on a rear edge of the cavum conchae, thereby positioning the earphone [10] on the ear (the rear positioning portion engages the cymba concha, which is the rear edge of the cavum conchae, to retain the earphone in the ear; col. 6, lines 24-29; see Fig. 4), the acoustic channel [126] corresponds to an ear canal of the ear (the acoustic channel [126] extends to the entrance of the ear canal; col. 7, lines 52-53).
As to Claim 2, Silvestri remains as applied to Claim 1. Silvestri further discloses that the wearing component [12, 113, 126] comprises a wearing body [113, 126] and a support component [12], the support component [12] is detachably connected to the wearing body [113, 126] (col. 9, lines 34-35), the support component comprises the rear positioning portion [20], the acoustical component [115] is connected to the wearing body [113, 126] (see Fig. 6).
As to Claim 3, Silvestri remains as applied above to Claim 1. Silvestri further discloses that the wearing component [12, 113, 126] comprises a wearing body [113, 126] and a support component [12], the support component [12] comprises a support body [12], two ends [26, 28] of the rear positioning portion [20] are connected to the support body [12], a hollow structure is formed between the rear positioning portion [20] and the support body [12] (see Figs. 3 and 5), the support body [12] is detachably connected to the wearing body [113, 126] (col. 9, lines 34-35).
As to Claim 4, Silvestri remains as applied above to Claim 1. Silvestri further discloses that the wearing component [12, 113, 126] comprises a support component [12], the support component [12] comprises a support body [12], the rear positioning portion [20] is connected to the support body [12] (see Figs. 3 and 5), when the earphone [10] is worn on the ear, the rear positioning portion [20] deforms to generate the positioning force (col. 6, lines 51-55).
As to Claim 5, Silvestri remains as applied above to Claim 1. Silvestri further discloses that the wearing component [12, 113, 126] comprises a front positioning portion [802], when the earphone [10] is worn on the ear, a tragus of the ear covers the front positioning portion [802], the front positioning portion [802] abuts against the ear (col. 9, lines 23-25; see Figs. 4 and 7A-7D).
As to Claim 6, Silvestri remains as applied above to Claim 1. Silvestri further discloses that the wearing component [12, 113, 126] comprises a sound output surface [118], an acoustic sound output hole [128] of the acoustic channel [126] is located on the sound output surface [118] (see Fig. 6), when the earphone [10] is worn on the ear, the sound output surface [118] faces an ear canal of the ear (see Fig. 4).
As to Claim 7, Silvestri remains as applied above to Claim 1. Silvestri further discloses that the earphone [10] is an open-type earphone (the earphone [10] has an opening [120] that connects the external environment to acoustic chamber [114]; col. 9, lines 6-20; see Fig. 6).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ryan Robinson whose telephone number is (571) 270-3956. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Carolyn Edwards, can be reached on (571) 270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
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) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form.
/RYAN ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2694
Prosecution Insights