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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references listed in the Information Disclosure Statement filed on February 23, 2025 have been considered by the examiner (see attached PTO-1449 form).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1, 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thodeti et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2022/0191640) in view Chang (U.S. Pub. No. 2025/0123794).
Regarding claim 1, Thodeti et al. discloses a content reproduction apparatus configured to reproduce content in a vehicle (see paragraphs 0013, 0017; a vehicle infotainment head unit 102 that reproduces content (audio, media) in a vehicle), the apparatus comprising
a microprocessor configured to perform (see fig. 2 (processor 206), paragraphs 0033, 0035; The infotainment head unit 102 also includes a processor 206 such as a system on a chip (SOC) processor):
communicating with terminals carried by a plurality of occupants riding in the vehicle, via a wireless communication (see paragraphs 0021, 0030, 0032; communication with multiple smartphones and headsets carried by passengers. The wireless chipsets 202 and 204 may use a Bluetooth and/or WiFi communication protocol or other suitable wireless communication protocol);
acquiring content managed by a terminal among the terminals, carried by a predetermined occupant among the plurality of occupants, via the wireless communication (see paragraphs 0037, 0045; The at least one speaker 120 may be disposed (or embedded) in the vehicle. The speaker 120 may output an audio signal to the interior of the vehicle), and
reproducing the content (see paragraphs 0013, 0017; reproducing content via headsets or vehicle audio).
However, Thodeti et al. is silent as to acquiring a conversation in the vehicle by the plurality of occupants as conversation information in a state where each of the plurality of occupants can be specified; detecting a conversation amount within a predetermined period based on the conversation information; when it is determined that the conversation amount within the predetermined period is less than a predetermined value.
In an analogous art, Chang discloses acquiring a conversation in the vehicle by the plurality of occupants as conversation information in a state where each of the plurality of occupants can be specified (see paragraphs 0043, 0055-0058; acquiring conversation information per passenger; calculate a conversation rate for each passenger);
detecting a conversation amount within a predetermined period based on the conversation information (see paragraphs 0079-0086, 0075-0077; detecting conversation amount (conversation rate) over a predetermined period. Calculate a conversation rate based on lip opening count);
when it is determined that the conversation amount within the predetermined period is less than a predetermined value (see paragraphs 0076, 0086; In S220, the processor 140 may determine whether the lapse time is less than an atmosphere determination period Ta. the processor 140 may determine a conversation state value based on the average conversation rate Rt of all the passengers. The conversation state value may be determined between 0 and 10. When the conversation state value is 0, the processor 140 may determine that there is no conversation).
It would have been obvious to skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the infotainment system of Thodeti et al. with the teaching of Chang’s conversation-state detection, the motivation being to improve user experience by adjusting content behavior based on passenger conversation levels.
Regarding claim 4, Thodeti et al. and Chang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). Chang discloses
wherein the microprocessor is configured to perform: the detecting including specifying an occupant having a small conversation amount among the plurality of occupants (see paragraphs 0057, 0059); and
Thodeti et al. discloses the acquiring of the content including acquiring content managed by the terminal carried by the occupant (see paragraph 0037).
Regarding claim 5, Thodeti et al. and Chang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). Chang discloses
wherein the microprocessor is configured to perform: the detecting including specifying an occupant whose conversation amount is less than or equal to a predetermined value, among the plurality of occupants (see paragraphs 0057, 0059).
Thodeti et al. discloses the acquiring of the content including acquiring content managed by the terminal carried by the occupant (see paragraph 0037).
Regarding claim 6, Thodeti et al. and Chang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). Chang discloses
wherein the microprocessor is configured to perform: the detecting including specifying an occupant having a smallest number of utterances, among the plurality of occupants (see paragraphs 0010, 0057, 0059).
Thodeti et al. discloses the acquiring of the content including acquiring content managed by the terminal carried by the occupant (see paragraph 0037).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thodeti et al. and Chang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Mitsui (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0080011).
Regarding claim 3, Thodeti et al. and Chang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). Thodeti et al. discloses wherein the microprocessor is configured to perform the acquiring of the content including searching for content managed by the terminals carried by the plurality of occupants including a driver (see paragraph 0037).
However, Thodeti et al. and Chang are silent as to wherein the microprocessor is configured to further perform acquiring destination information indicating a destination of the vehicle and tag information associated with the destination, using the tag information as a search keyword via the wireless communication.
Mitsui discloses wherein the microprocessor is configured to further perform acquiring destination information indicating a destination of the vehicle (see paragraph 0035) and tag information associated with the destination, using the tag information as a search keyword via the wireless communication (see paragraphs 0030, 0036, 0043).
It would have been obvious to skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the systems of Thodeti et al. and Chang with the teaching of Mitsui, the motivation being to obtain contextual information.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thodeti et al. and Chang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Vinjam et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0244873).
Regarding claim 7, Thodeti et al. and Chang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). However, Thodeti et al. and Chang are silent as to wherein the microprocessor is configured to perform: the acquiring of the content including acquiring the content from among multiple pieces of content excluding video content in which people other than owners of the terminals appear.
Vinjam et al. discloses wherein the microprocessor is configured to perform: the acquiring of the content including acquiring the content from among multiple pieces of content excluding video content in which people other than owners of the terminals appear (see paragraphs 0009, 0013, 0024, 0054 and fig. 11).
It would have been obvious to skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the systems of Thodeti et al. and Chang with the teaching of Vinjam et al., the motivation being to protect unknown face.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thodeti et al. and Chang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kurian (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0137263).
Regarding claim 8, Thodeti et al. and Chang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). However, Thodeti et al. and Chang are silent as to wherein the microprocessor is configured to further perform: acquiring personal information from each of the terminals carried by the plurality of occupants via the wireless communication, and estimating a strength of a relationship between the plurality of occupants based on the personal information acquired from each of the terminals, wherein the microprocessor is configured to perform the acquiring of the content including determining a search range of content based on the strength of the relationship and acquiring the content according to the search range.
Kurian discloses wherein the microprocessor is configured to further perform: acquiring personal information from each of the terminals carried by the plurality of occupants via the wireless communication (see paragraphs 0006, 0007), and
estimating a strength of a relationship between the plurality of occupants based on the personal information acquired from each of the terminals (see paragraph 0026),
wherein the microprocessor is configured to perform the acquiring of the content including determining a search range of content based on the strength of the relationship and acquiring the content according to the search range (see paragraph 0123).
It would have been obvious to skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the systems of Thodeti et al. and Chang with the teaching of Kurian, the motivation being to obtaining privacy mode.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is 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
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NNENNA EKPO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2425
/NNENNA N EKPO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2425 February 19, 2026