DETAILED ACTION
Priority
1. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statements submitted are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
4. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu, CN 114629977 A (hereinafter Liu).
Regarding claim 15, Liu discloses at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, of a foldable electronic apparatus (from Figure 1, see 100) comprising a foldable housing having a plurality of sub-housings (from Figure 1, see 110 and 120) and at least one hinge (from Figure 1, see 130) and configured to be folded (see Figure 3A) and unfolded (see Figure 1), a foldable display (from Figure 6, see 608) disposed on a first surface of the foldable housing and configured to be folded and unfolded according to folding and unfolding of the foldable housing, the first surface facing a first direction, and a plurality of speakers (from Figure 1, see 111 and 121) positioned in at least two of the plurality of sub-housings of the foldable housing and configured to output a multi-channel sound having a plurality of audio channels, wherein at least one processor (from Figure 6, see 620) is electrically connected to the plurality of speakers and is individually and/or collectively configured to:
detect a folding state of the foldable housing;
calculate a relative position of each the plurality of speakers, based on the folding state; and
control the electronic apparatus to output the plurality of audio channels through the plurality of speakers, respectively, based on the calculated relative position of each of the plurality of speakers (from abstract, see the audio playing device further comprises a device state obtaining module, configured to obtain the state of the audio playing device; and an audio output control module, configured to control the output of the first and second audio output elements according respectively the state of the audio playing device. The first and second audio output elements are provided at the first and second edges of the first and second housing parts by respectively of respectively the first and second audio output modes are provided in the folded and unfolded states of the first and second housing parts).
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 1-14 are allowed while claims 16-20 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
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLISA ANWAH whose telephone number is 571-272-7533. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 8.30 AM to 6 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 numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are 571-273-8300 for regular communications and 571-273-8300 for After Final communications.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is 571-272-2600.
/OLISA ANWAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
Olisa Anwah
Patent Examiner
July 28, 2026
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