Detailed Action
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 1-20 are rejected.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 11,038,937. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the instant claims have broader scope. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to omit elements wherein the remaining elements perform as before. A person of ordinary skill could have arrived at the present claims by omitting the details of the patented claims. See In re Karlson (CCPA) 136 USPQ 184, decided January 16, 1963 ("Omission of element and its function in combination is obvious expedient if remaining elements perform same functions as before").
Instant claims
Patent claims
1. A first playback device comprising: one or more processors; and at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to: after selectively processing packets comprising media content received via one of a first stream of packets or a second stream of packets, wherein the first stream of packets is addressed to a first network address, and wherein the second stream of packets is addressed to a second network address, coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device.
1. A first playback device comprising:
one or more processors; and
at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to:
selectively receiving receive packets via one of two streams of packets comprising media content, wherein a first stream of packets is transmitted from a source device via a first wireless channel and addressed to a second playback device, and wherein a second stream of packets is transmitted from the second playback device via a second wireless channel and addressed to a broadcast group comprising the first playback device; and
coordinate playback of the media content in synchrony with one or more other playback devices via control messages exchanged with the second playback device via a third wireless channel.
2. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the second playback device has a network address, wherein the first stream of packets is addressed to the network address of the second playback device, and wherein the second network address is a network address of a broadcast group.
See claim 1
3. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets is received from a source device via a first wireless channel, and wherein the second stream of packets is received from the second playback device via a second wireless channel that is different than the first wireless channel.
See claim 1
4. The first playback device of claim 3, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device via a third wireless channel separate from the first wireless channel and the second wireless channel.
See claim 1
5. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: selectively process the packets comprising media content received via one of the first stream of packets or the second stream of packets, wherein selectively processing the packets via one of the first stream of packets or the second stream of packets comprises, for an individual packet comprising a first portion of media content in the first stream of packets (i) after determining that the first playback device received the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content via the first stream of packets, the first playback device choosing not to process a packet comprising the first portion of media received via the second stream of packets, and (ii) after determining that the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content received via the first stream of packets contained one or more errors, the first playback device choosing to process a packet comprising the first portion of media content received via the second stream of packets.
2. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to selectively receive packets via one of two streams of packets comprising media content comprises program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to, for an individual packet comprising a first portion of media content in the first stream of packets: in response to determining that the first playback device received the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content via the first stream of packets, the first playback device choosing not to receive a packet comprising the first portion of media content via the second stream of packets; and in response to determining that the first playback device did not receive the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content via the first stream of packets or determining that the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content received via the first stream of packets contained an error, the first playback device choosing to receive a packet comprising the first portion of media content via the second stream of packets.
6. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets is received via a first wireless channel, and wherein the second stream of packets is received via a second wireless channel that is different than the first wireless channel, and wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: selectively process the packets comprising media content received via one of the first stream of packets or the second stream of packets, wherein selectively processing the packets via one of the first stream of packets or the second stream of packets comprises (i) comparing a quality metric for the first wireless channel with the quality metric for the second wireless channel, (ii) after determining that the quality metric for the first wireless channel is better than the quality metric for the second wireless channel, the first playback device choosing to process packets received via the first wireless channel, and (iii) after determining that the quality metric for the second wireless channel is better than the quality metric for the first wireless channel, the first playback device choosing to process packets received via the second wireless channel.
3. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to selectively receive packets via one of two streams of packets comprising media content comprises program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to: compare a quality metric for the first wireless channel with the quality metric for the second wireless channel; in response to determining that the quality metric for the first wireless channel is better than the quality metric for the second wireless channel, the first playback device choosing to receive packets transmitted from the source device via the first wireless channel and addressed to the second playback device; and in response to determining that the quality metric for the second wireless channel is better than the quality metric for the first wireless channel, the first playback device choosing to receive packets transmitted from the second playback device via the second wireless channel and addressed to the broadcast group.
7. The first playback device of claim 6, wherein the quality metric comprises one of (i) a wireless SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), (ii) a receive power at the first playback device, (iii) a BER (Bit Error Rate) or PER (Packet Error Rate), (iv) a RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication), (v) SINR (Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio), and (vi) a PDR (Packet-Delivery Ratio).
4. The first playback device of claim 3, wherein the quality metric is at least one of (i) a wireless SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), (ii) a receive power at the first playback device, (iii) a BER (Bit Error Rate) or PER (Packet Error Rate), (iv) a transmission rate, (v) a RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication), (vi) SINR (Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio), and (vii) a PDR (Packet-Delivery Ratio).
8. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein at least one of: an individual packet of the first stream of packets comprises one or more of (i) a portion of media content and (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content; and an individual packet of the second stream of packets comprises one or more of (i) a portion of media content, (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content, and (iii) playback timing corresponding to the sequence identifier.
5. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein an individual packet of the first stream of packets transmitted from the source device via the first wireless channel and addressed to the second playback device comprises one or more of (i) a portion of media content and (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content.
9. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise one or more of (i) clock information of the second playback device and (ii) playback timing corresponding to individual sequence identifiers, wherein an individual sequence identifier corresponds to a portion of media content.
6. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein an individual packet of the second stream of packets transmitted from the second playback device via the second wireless channel and addressed to the broadcast group comprise one or more of (i) a portion of media content, (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content, and (iii) playback timing corresponding to the sequence identifier.
10. The first playback device of claim 9, wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: determine a timing offset between a local clock at the first playback device and the clock information of the second playback device.
7. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the control messages exchanged with the second playback device via the third wireless channel comprise one or more of (i) clock information of the second playback device and (ii) playback timing corresponding to individual sequence identifiers, wherein an individual sequence identifier corresponds to a portion of media content.
11. (New) The first playback device of claim 10, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to, for an individual packet comprising media content: extract a portion of the media content from the individual packet, wherein the individual packet is received via one of (i) the first stream of packets, or (ii) the second stream of packets; create an adjusted playback time for the media content within the individual packet by adjusting a playback time for the media content based on the timing offset, wherein the playback time is one of (i) received via the control messages exchanged with the second playback device or (ii) contained within the individual packet received via second wireless channel; and play the portion of media content extracted from the individual packet when a local clock at the first playback device reaches the adjusted playback time.
8. The first playback device of claim 7, wherein the at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: determine a timing offset between a local clock at the first playback device and the clock information of the second playback device.
9. The first playback device of claim 8, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content in synchrony with one or more other playback devices via the control messages exchanged with the second playback device via the third wireless channel comprises program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to, for an individual packet comprising media content: extract a portion of the media content from the individual packet, wherein the individual packet is received via one of (i) the first stream of packets transmitted from the source device via the first wireless channel and addressed to the second playback device, or (ii) the second stream of packets transmitted from the second playback device via the second wireless channel and addressed to the broadcast group comprising the first playback device; create an adjusted playback time for the media content within the individual packet by adjusting a playback time for the media content based on the timing offset, wherein the playback time is one of (i) received via the control messages exchanged with the second playback device via the third wireless channel or (ii) contained within the individual packet received via second wireless channel; and play the portion of media content extracted from the individual packet when a local clock at the first playback device reaches the adjusted playback time.
12. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets comprises an Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) stream, and wherein the second stream of packets comprises a Connectionless Slave Broadcast (CSB) stream.
10. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets comprises an Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) stream transmitted via the first wireless channel, wherein the second stream of packets comprises a Connectionless Slave Broadcast (CSB) stream transmitted via the second wireless channel, and wherein the third wireless channel is one of a Bluetooth Classic or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) link.
13. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to: exchange one or more control messages with the second playback device via at least one of a Bluetooth Classic or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) link.
See claim 10
14. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises at least one of (i) audio content, (ii) video content, or (iii) audio/video content.
See claim 1
15. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets addressed comprises packets transmitted via one of a WiFi or Bluetooth network link, and wherein the second stream of packets comprises packets transmitted via one of a WiFi or Bluetooth network link.
See claim 10
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 11,916,991. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the instant claims have broader scope. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to omit elements wherein the remaining elements perform as before. A person of ordinary skill could have arrived at the present claims by omitting the details of the patented claims. See In re Karlson (CCPA) 136 USPQ 184, decided January 16, 1963 ("Omission of element and its function in combination is obvious expedient if remaining elements perform same functions as before").
Instant claims
Patent claims
1. A first playback device comprising: one or more processors; and at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to: after selectively processing packets comprising media content received via one of a first stream of packets or a second stream of packets, wherein the first stream of packets is addressed to a first network address, and wherein the second stream of packets is addressed to a second network address, coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device.
1. A first playback device comprising:
one or more processors; and
at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to:
after selectively receiving packets via one of two streams of packets comprising media content,
wherein a first stream of packets is addressed to a second playback device, and wherein a second stream of packets is addressed to a broadcast group comprising the first playback device, coordinate playback of the media content in a groupwise manner with one or more other playback devices via control messages exchanged with the second playback device.
2. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the second playback device has a network address, wherein the first stream of packets is addressed to the network address of the second playback device, and wherein the second network address is a network address of a broadcast group.
See claim 1
3. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets is received from a source device via a first wireless channel, and wherein the second stream of packets is received from the second playback device via a second wireless channel that is different than the first wireless channel.
2. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets addressed to the second playback device comprises packets transmitted from a source device via a first wireless channel, and wherein the second stream of packets addressed to the broadcast group comprises packets transmitted from the second playback device via a second wireless channel that is different than the first wireless channel.
4. The first playback device of claim 3, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device via a third wireless channel separate from the first wireless channel and the second wireless channel.
3. The first playback device of claim 2, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content in a groupwise manner with one or more other playback devices via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content in the groupwise manner with one or more other playback devices via control messages exchanged with the second playback device via a third wireless channel separate from the first wireless channel and the second wireless channel.
5. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: selectively process the packets comprising media content received via one of the first stream of packets or the second stream of packets, wherein selectively processing the packets via one of the first stream of packets or the second stream of packets comprises, for an individual packet comprising a first portion of media content in the first stream of packets (i) after determining that the first playback device received the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content via the first stream of packets, the first playback device choosing not to process a packet comprising the first portion of media received via the second stream of packets, and (ii) after determining that the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content received via the first stream of packets contained one or more errors, the first playback device choosing to process a packet comprising the first portion of media content received via the second stream of packets.
4. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: selectively receive the packets via one of the two streams of packets comprising the media content, wherein selectively receiving the packets via one of the two streams of packets comprises, for an individual packet comprising a first portion of media content in the first stream of packets (i) after determining that the first playback device received the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content via the first stream of packets, the first playback device choosing not to receive a packet comprising the first portion of media content via the second stream of packets, and (ii) after determining that the first playback device did not receive the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content via the first stream of packets or after determining that the individual packet comprising the first portion of media content received via the first stream of packets contained an error, the first playback device choosing to receive a packet comprising the first portion of media content via the second stream of packets.
6. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets is received via a first wireless channel, and wherein the second stream of packets is received via a second wireless channel that is different than the first wireless channel, and wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: selectively process the packets comprising media content received via one of the first stream of packets or the second stream of packets, wherein selectively processing the packets via one of the first stream of packets or the second stream of packets comprises (i) comparing a quality metric for the first wireless channel with the quality metric for the second wireless channel, (ii) after determining that the quality metric for the first wireless channel is better than the quality metric for the second wireless channel, the first playback device choosing to process packets received via the first wireless channel, and (iii) after determining that the quality metric for the second wireless channel is better than the quality metric for the first wireless channel, the first playback device choosing to process packets received via the second wireless channel.
5. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets addressed to the second playback device comprises packets transmitted from a source device via a first wireless channel, and wherein the second stream of packets addressed to the broadcast group comprising the first playback device comprises packets transmitted from the second playback device via a second wireless channel, and wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: selectively receive the packets via one of the two streams of packets comprising the media content, wherein receiving the packets via one of the two streams of packets comprises (i) comparing a quality metric for the first wireless channel with the quality metric for the second wireless channel, (ii) after determining that the quality metric for the first wireless channel is better than the quality metric for the second wireless channel, the first playback device choosing to receive packets transmitted from the source device via the first wireless channel and addressed to the second playback device, and (iii) after determining that the quality metric for the second wireless channel is better than the quality metric for the first wireless channel, the first playback device choosing to receive packets transmitted from the second playback device via the second wireless channel and addressed to the broadcast group.
7. The first playback device of claim 6, wherein the quality metric comprises one of (i) a wireless SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), (ii) a receive power at the first playback device, (iii) a BER (Bit Error Rate) or PER (Packet Error Rate), (iv) a RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication), (v) SINR (Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio), and (vi) a PDR (Packet-Delivery Ratio).
6. The first playback device of claim 5, wherein the quality metric comprises at least one of (i) a wireless SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), (ii) a receive power at the first playback device, (iii) a BER (Bit Error Rate) or PER (Packet Error Rate), (iv) a transmission rate, (v) a RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication), (vi) SINR (Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio), and (vii) a PDR (Packet-Delivery Ratio).
8. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein at least one of: an individual packet of the first stream of packets comprises one or more of (i) a portion of media content and (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content; and an individual packet of the second stream of packets comprises one or more of (i) a portion of media content, (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content, and (iii) playback timing corresponding to the sequence identifier.
7. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein an individual packet of the first stream of packets addressed to the second playback device comprises one or more of (i) a portion of media content and (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content.
8. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein an individual packet of the second stream of packets addressed to the broadcast group comprises one or more of (i) a portion of media content, (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content, and (iii) playback timing corresponding to the sequence identifier.
9. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise one or more of (i) clock information of the second playback device and (ii) playback timing corresponding to individual sequence identifiers, wherein an individual sequence identifier corresponds to a portion of media content.
9. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise one or more of (i) clock information of the second playback device and (ii) playback timing corresponding to individual sequence identifiers, wherein an individual sequence identifier corresponds to a portion of media content.
10. The first playback device of claim 9, wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: determine a timing offset between a local clock at the first playback device and the clock information of the second playback device.
10. The first playback device of claim 9, wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: determine a timing offset between a local clock at the first playback device and the clock information of the second playback device.
11. (New) The first playback device of claim 10, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to, for an individual packet comprising media content: extract a portion of the media content from the individual packet, wherein the individual packet is received via one of (i) the first stream of packets, or (ii) the second stream of packets; create an adjusted playback time for the media content within the individual packet by adjusting a playback time for the media content based on the timing offset, wherein the playback time is one of (i) received via the control messages exchanged with the second playback device or (ii) contained within the individual packet received via second wireless channel; and play the portion of media content extracted from the individual packet when a local clock at the first playback device reaches the adjusted playback time.
11. The first playback device of claim 10, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content in the groupwise manner with one or more other playback devices via the control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to, for an individual packet comprising media content: extract a portion of the media content from the individual packet, wherein the individual packet is received via one of (i) the first stream of packets addressed to the second playback device, or (ii) the second stream of packets addressed to the broadcast group comprising the first playback device; create an adjusted playback time for the media content within the individual packet by adjusting a playback time for the media content based on the timing offset, wherein the playback time is one of (i) received via the control messages exchanged with the second playback device or (ii) contained within the individual packet received via second wireless channel; and play the portion of media content extracted from the individual packet when a local clock at the first playback device reaches the adjusted playback time.
12. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets comprises an Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) stream, and wherein the second stream of packets comprises a Connectionless Slave Broadcast (CSB) stream.
12. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets comprises an Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) stream, and wherein the second stream of packets comprises a Connectionless Slave Broadcast (CSB) stream.
13. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to: exchange one or more control messages with the second playback device via at least one of a Bluetooth Classic or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) link.
13. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content in a groupwise manner with one or more other playback devices via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to: exchange one or more control with the second playback device via one of a Bluetooth Classic or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) link.
14. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises at least one of (i) audio content, (ii) video content, or (iii) audio/video content.
14. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises at least one of (i) audio content, (ii) video content, or (iii) audio/video content.
15. (New) The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets addressed comprises packets transmitted via one of a WiFi or Bluetooth network link, and wherein the second stream of packets comprises packets transmitted via one of a WiFi or Bluetooth network link.
15. The first playback device of claim 1, wherein the first stream of packets addressed to the second playback device comprises packets transmitted via one of a WiFi or Bluetooth network link, and wherein the second stream of packets addressed to the broadcast group comprises packets transmitted via one of a WiFi or Bluetooth network link.
Note: As requested by the applicant, the double patenting rejection is held in abeyance until the pending claims are otherwise deemed allowable.
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) 1, 3, 9-10, 12-16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cook et al. (Pub. No.: US 2012/0058727 A1) in view of Tong et al. (Pub. No.: US 2019/0174232 A1).
As per claim 1, Cook discloses a first playback device (Cook, Fig 1 item 103)
comprising: - one or more processors (Cook, Fig 1 item 103 by inherence); and - at least one tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors (Cook, Fig 1 item 103 by inherence) such that the first playback device is configured to: - after processing packets comprising media content received via a first stream of packets or a second stream of packets (Cook, Fig 1, paragraph 0021, 0026, wherein “the audio source 101 wirelessly transmits (via TXVR 102) a stream of audio stereo information in the form of one or more packets as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of wireless communications. Each packet incorporates stereo audio information in the form of compressed or uncompressed stereo samples. The stereo audio information incorporates stereo samples for first and second audio channels, such as Left and Right channels or the like. As shown, for example, the audio source 101 wirelessly transmits a packet 111 incorporating audio information, which is conveyed to the loudspeaker 103 via the secondary wireless link 109”; thus the audio stream packets (111) can be the first stream packets), (Cook, paragraph 0029, wherein “In this case, only the bridge loudspeaker 103 receives audio traffic over the secondary wireless link 109. As shown, for example, a packet 301 is wirelessly transmitted from the audio source 101 to the bridge loudspeaker 103, and the loudspeaker 105 does not receive the packet 301. The wireless packet 301 includes stereo audio information including a first audio channel CH1 and a second audio channel CH2. Either channel may be the left or right audio channel according to stereo audio. The bridge loudspeaker 103 extracts both the first and second audio channels CH1 and CH2 from the stereo stream, sending the first channel data CH1 to its local audio buffer for playback and the second channel data CH2 as a separate packet 303 over the primary wireless link 107 to the loudspeaker 105. The bridge loudspeaker 103 buffers the first channel audio data CH1 until it receives acknowledgement, such as ACK 305, from the loudspeaker 105 via the primary wireless link 107. Unacknowledged packets from the loudspeaker 105 are retransmitted by the loudspeaker 103 to the loudspeaker 105. It is noted that either loudspeaker 103 or 105 may be assigned the role of bridge, in which either one processes the left channel and the other processes the right channel”), wherein the first stream of packets is addressed to a first network address (Cook, Fig 1, paragraph 0021, 0034, wherein “After the SNK-1 connects to SRC 101 via the PICONET2 (secondary wireless link 109), it uses PICONET1 to pass information to SNK-2 so that SNK-2 may listen to the communications between SNK-1 and SRC in a "promiscuous" or "listen-only" mode as previously described. As previously described for the wireless audio system 200, SNK-1 sends communication parameters (e.g., communication parameters 201) to SNK-2 to enable SNK-2 to observe communications on PICONET2. For Bluetooth, this information includes, but is not limited to, the Bluetooth Device Address (BD_ADDR) and native clock (CLKN) of SRC, the logical transport address (LT_ADDR) and clock offset of SNK-1, and encryption parameters for the link between SNK-1 and SRC, such as the link key”), and wherein the second stream of packets is addressed to a second network address (Cook, Fig 1, paragraph 0029, 0033, wherein “ In this case, only the bridge loudspeaker 103 receives audio traffic over the secondary wireless link 109. As shown, for example, a packet 301 is wirelessly transmitted from the audio source 101 to the bridge loudspeaker 103, and the loudspeaker 105 does not receive the packet 301. The wireless packet 301 includes stereo audio information including a first audio channel CH1 and a second audio channel CH2. Either channel may be the left or right audio channel according to stereo audio. The bridge loudspeaker 103 extracts both the first and second audio channels CH1 and CH2 from the stereo stream, sending the first channel data CH1 to its local audio buffer for playback and the second channel data CH2 as a separate packet 303 over the primary wireless link 107 to the loudspeaker 105. The bridge loudspeaker 103 buffers the first channel audio data CH1 until it receives acknowledgement, such as ACK 305, from the loudspeaker 105 via the primary wireless link 107”;); and - coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content by a second playback device (Cook, paragraph 0036, wherein “The first and second channel audio data is synchronized because both SNK-1 and SNK-2 are listening to the same audio stream at the same time. Therefore, audio buffers in SNK-1 and SNK-2 fill at the same rate. However, SRC 101, SNK-1 and SNK-2 may have different audio frequency references, which may affect the rate at which the audio buffers are emptied. Therefore, SNK-1 and SNK-2 may lock their frequency references to SRC 101 so they play the data back at the same rate”) via control messages exchanged with the second playback device (Cook, paragraph 0036-0037, wherein “In one embodiment, this may be accomplished through a control loop implemented at each loudspeaker 103 and 105. In addition, PICONET1 may be used to establish a common point in time at which both SNK-1 and SNK-2 begin audio playback”).
Cook does not explicitly disclose that the processing of the packets is also after receiving an indication to switch from processing packets received via the first stream of packets to processing packets received via a second stream of packets. However, Tong discloses that the processing of the packets is also after receiving an indication to switch from processing packets received via the first stream of packets to processing packets received via a second stream of packets (Tong, Fig 2, paragraph 0047, 0056-0057, wherein “In some embodiments, control module 220 may control primary wireless headphone 104 to switch to the snoop mode (i.e., snooping audio information transmitted to another wireless headphone) or to the secondary mode (i.e., receiving relayed audio information from another wireless headphone) to become a “secondary” headphone. In some embodiments, control module 220 may determine whether to switch the operation mode of primary wireless headphone 104 based on one or more parameters associated with primary wireless headphone 104 and/or secondary wireless headphone 106, such as signal quality and/or power consumption. In one example, control module 220 may determine whether the signal quality (e.g., signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or received signal strength indicator (RSSI)) is above a threshold and cause primary wireless headphone 104 to switch to the snoop mode when the signal quality becomes better than the signal quality of secondary wireless headphone 106”, “As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the transmission of the ACL link information may be triggered in response to receiving an instruction (switch start) to switch operation modes of primary and secondary wireless headphones 104 and 106, for example, when certain conditions are met (e.g., the relative power consumptions as described above) … In response to receiving a positive confirmation message indicative of successfully receiving the ACL link information by secondary wireless headphone 106, primary wireless headphone 104 then transmits an order message (order switch) instructing secondary wireless headphone 106 to switch to the primary mode by establishing its own ACL link with audio source 102. The order message may be transmitted via the link manager protocol (LMP) in Bluetooth by primary wireless headphone 104. Upon receiving the order message, secondary wireless headphone 106 transmits an acknowledgment message (ACK) to primary wireless headphone 104”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Tong into Cook to achieve the claimed limitations because this would have improved the performance and/or satisfaction and the overall user experience by switching modes based on signal quality and/or power consumption.
As per claim 3, claim 1 is incorporated and Cook further discloses wherein the first stream of packets is received from a source device via a first wireless channel, and wherein the second stream of packets is received from the second playback device via a second wireless channel that is different than the first wireless channel (Cook, Fig 1-2, paragraph 0021-0022, wherein “the audio source 101 wirelessly transmits (via TXVR 102) a stream of audio stereo information in the form of one or more packets as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of wireless communications. Each packet incorporates stereo audio information in the form of compressed or uncompressed stereo samples. The stereo audio information incorporates stereo samples for first and second audio channels, such as Left and Right channels or the like. As shown, for example, the audio source 101 wirelessly transmits a packet 111 incorporating audio information, which is conveyed to the loudspeaker 103 via the secondary wireless link 109”, “The primary wireless link 107 enables wireless communications between the loudspeakers 103 and 105. The communication on the primary wireless link 107 depends upon the particular embodiment, as further described herein. In one embodiment, the loudspeaker 103 relays audio information for conversion by the loudspeaker 105 via the primary wireless link 107. In another embodiment, communication information is provided by the loudspeaker 103 to the loudspeaker 105 to enable the transceiver 106 to "snoop" communications on the secondary wireless link 109”);
As per claim 8, claim 1 is incorporated and Cook further discloses wherein at least one of: an individual packet of the first stream of packets comprises one or more of (i) a portion of media content and (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content; and an individual packet of the second stream of packets comprises one or more of (i) a portion of media content, (ii) a sequence identifier corresponding to the portion of media content, and (iii) playback timing corresponding to the sequence identifier (Cook, Fig 1, paragraph 0021, wherein “the audio source 101 wirelessly transmits (via TXVR 102) a stream of audio stereo information in the form of one or more packets as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of wireless communications. Each packet incorporates stereo audio information in the form of compressed or uncompressed stereo samples. The stereo audio information incorporates stereo samples for first and second audio channels, such as Left and Right channels or the like. As shown, for example, the audio source 101 wirelessly transmits a packet 111 incorporating audio information, which is conveyed to the loudspeaker 103 via the secondary wireless link 109”);
As per claim 9, claim 1 is incorporated and Cook further discloses wherein the control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise one or more of (i) clock information of the second playback device and (ii) playback timing corresponding to individual sequence identifiers, wherein an individual sequence identifier corresponds to a portion of media content (Cook, Fig 1, paragraph 0034, wherein “After the SNK-1 connects to SRC 101 via the PICONET2 (secondary wireless link 109), it uses PICONET1 to pass information to SNK-2 so that SNK-2 may listen to the communications between SNK-1 and SRC in a "promiscuous" or "listen-only" mode as previously described. As previously described for the wireless audio system 200, SNK-1 sends communication parameters (e.g., communication parameters 201) to SNK-2 to enable SNK-2 to observe communications on PICONET2. For Bluetooth, this information includes, but is not limited to, the Bluetooth Device Address (BD_ADDR) and native clock (CLKN) of SRC, the logical transport address (LT_ADDR) and clock offset of SNK-1, and encryption parameters for the link between SNK-1 and SRC, such as the link key. Note that security is not compromised because these parameters can be sent over PICONET1 while encryption is enabled”);
As per claim 10, claim 9 is incorporated and Cook further discloses wherein the program instructions comprise further program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is further configured to: determine a timing offset between a local clock at the first playback device and the clock information of the second playback device (Cook, Fig 1, paragraph 0034, wherein “After the SNK-1 connects to SRC 101 via the PICONET2 (secondary wireless link 109), it uses PICONET1 to pass information to SNK-2 so that SNK-2 may listen to the communications between SNK-1 and SRC in a "promiscuous" or "listen-only" mode as previously described. As previously described for the wireless audio system 200, SNK-1 sends communication parameters (e.g., communication parameters 201) to SNK-2 to enable SNK-2 to observe communications on PICONET2. For Bluetooth, this information includes, but is not limited to, the Bluetooth Device Address (BD_ADDR) and native clock (CLKN) of SRC, the logical transport address (LT_ADDR) and clock offset of SNK-1, and encryption parameters for the link between SNK-1 and SRC, such as the link key. Note that security is not compromised because these parameters can be sent over PICONET1 while encryption is enabled”);
As per claim 12, claim 1 is incorporated and Cook further discloses wherein the first stream of packets comprises an Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) stream, and wherein the second stream of packets comprises a Connectionless Slave Broadcast (CSB) stream (Cook, Fig 4, paragraph 0031, wherein “FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a wireless audio system 400 implemented according to a more specific embodiment using Bluetooth stereo audio transported via the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) for wireless communications. The wireless audio system 400 includes the audio source 101 and the loudspeakers 103 and 105. The transceivers 102, 104 and 106 are included in the respective components, but are not shown for purposes of simplicity of illustration. Bluetooth technology is widely deployed in portable media players and mobile phones and the like. It uses various profiles to define the functions that a device provides. Bluetooth stereo audio is transported via the A2DP profile, though the present invention is not limited to this profile, nor are they limited to the Bluetooth protocol, and may be applied to any stereo stream in which the first and second (or left and right) channels are transported together. The A2DP profile refers to the source of the audio data as SRC and the sink of the audio data as SNK. The descriptions that follow use the same terminology, with the addition of suffixes for the SNK to differentiate between the first loudspeaker and channel (SNK-1) and the second loudspeaker and channel (SNK-2)”);
As per claim 13, claim 1 is incorporated and Cook further discloses wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to: exchange one or more control messages with the second playback device via at least one of a Bluetooth Classic or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) link (Cook, Fig 1, paragraph 0034, wherein “After the SNK-1 connects to SRC 101 via the PICONET2 (secondary wireless link 109), it uses PICONET1 to pass information to SNK-2 so that SNK-2 may listen to the communications between SNK-1 and SRC in a "promiscuous" or "listen-only" mode as previously described. As previously described for the wireless audio system 200, SNK-1 sends communication parameters (e.g., communication parameters 201) to SNK-2 to enable SNK-2 to observe communications on PICONET2. For Bluetooth, this information includes, but is not limited to, the Bluetooth Device Address (BD_ADDR) and native clock (CLKN) of SRC, the logical transport address (LT_ADDR) and clock offset of SNK-1, and encryption parameters for the link between SNK-1 and SRC, such as the link key. Note that security is not compromised because these parameters can be sent over PICONET1 while encryption is enabled”);
As per claim 14, claim 1 is incorporated and Cook further discloses wherein the media content comprises at least one of (i) audio content, (ii) video content, or (iii) audio/video content (Cook, Fig 1, paragraph 0021, wherein “the audio source 101 wirelessly transmits (via TXVR 102) a stream of audio stereo information in the form of one or more packets as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of wireless communications. Each packet incorporates stereo audio information in the form of compressed or uncompressed stereo samples. The stereo audio information incorporates stereo samples for first and second audio channels, such as Left and Right channels or the like. As shown, for example, the audio source 101 wirelessly transmits a packet 111 incorporating audio information, which is conveyed to the loudspeaker 103 via the secondary wireless link 109”);
As per claim 15, claim 1 is incorporated and Cook further discloses wherein the first stream of packets addressed comprises packets transmitted via one of a WiFi or Bluetooth network link, and wherein the second stream of packets comprises packets transmitted via one of a WiFi or Bluetooth network link (Cook, Fig 1, paragraph 0034, wherein “After the SNK-1 connects to SRC 101 via the PICONET2 (secondary wireless link 109), it uses PICONET1 to pass information to SNK-2 so that SNK-2 may listen to the communications between SNK-1 and SRC in a "promiscuous" or "listen-only" mode as previously described. As previously described for the wireless audio system 200, SNK-1 sends communication parameters (e.g., communication parameters 201) to SNK-2 to enable SNK-2 to observe communications on PICONET2. For Bluetooth, this information includes, but is not limited to, the Bluetooth Device Address (BD_ADDR) and native clock (CLKN) of SRC, the logical transport address (LT_ADDR) and clock offset of SNK-1, and encryption parameters for the link between SNK-1 and SRC, such as the link key. Note that security is not compromised because these parameters can be sent over PICONET1 while encryption is enabled”);
Claims 16 and 20 are rejected under the same rationale as claims 1 and 14.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cook et al. (Pub. No.: US 2012/0058727 A1) in view of Tong et al. (Pub. No.: US 2019/0174232 A1) and Bryant et al. (Pub. No.: US 2019/0227768 A1).
As per claim 11, claim 10 is incorporated and Cook and Tong do not explicitly disclose wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to, for an individual packet comprising media content: extract a portion of the media content from the individual packet, wherein the individual packet is received via one of (i) the first stream of packets, or (ii) the second stream of packets; create an adjusted playback time for the media content within the individual packet by adjusting a playback time for the media content based on the timing offset, wherein the playback time is one of (i) received via the control messages exchanged with the second playback device or (ii) contained within the individual packet received via second wireless channel; and play the portion of media content extracted from the individual packet when a local clock at the first playback device reaches the adjusted playback time. However, Bryant discloses wherein the program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to coordinate playback of the media content by the first playback device with playback of the media content with a second playback device via control messages exchanged with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the one or more processors such that the first playback device is configured to, for an individual packet comprising media content: extract a portion of the media content from the individual packet, wherein the individual packet is received via one of (i) the first stream of packets, or (ii) the second stream of packets (Bryant, Fig 2, paragraph 0081, wherein “In response to receiving the packet(s), the interface circuit may store receive times (operation 212) when the packets were received, where the receive times are based on a clock in the electronic device. Note that the transmit times may correspond to the leading edges or the trailing edges the packets. Similarly, the receive times may correspond to the leading edges or the trailing edges the packets”); create an adjusted playback time for the media content within the individual packet by adjusting a playback time for the media content based on the timing offset, wherein the playback time is one of (i) received via the control messages exchanged with the second playback device or (ii) contained within the individual packet received via second wireless channel (Bryant, Fig 2, paragraph 0082-0083, wherein “hen, the interface circuit may calculate, based on differences between the transmit times and the receive times, relative drift as a function of time (operation 214) between the clock and the second clock, and may adjust, based on the relative drift, a clock circuit (such as an interface clock circuit in or associated with the interface circuit) that provides the clock to eliminate the relative drift (operation 216). For example, the adjustments may be based on the differences for successive packets, and the adjustments may frequency lock the clock and the second clock. Moreover, the interface circuit may determine a remaining time offset (operation 218) between the clock and the second clock”); and play the portion of media content extracted from the individual packet when a local clock at the first playback device reaches the adjusted playback time (Bryant, Fig 2, paragraph 0082-0086, wherein “Next, the electronic device may perform the playback operation at the corrected future time (operation 224), where the adjusting the clock and the modifying the future time coordinate the playback operation in a clock domain of the clock to within a predefined value of a clock domain of the second clock”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Bryant into Cook and Tong to achieve the claimed limitations because this would have provided a way to coordinate speakers to playback media (music) while preserving acoustic quality that does not impact listener satisfaction and the overall user experience.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 07/17/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/HAMZA N ALGIBHAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2457
