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 certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 3/28/25 and 4/1/25 have been considered.
Drawings
The drawings filed 3/28/25 are acceptable to the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: A MICROPHONE APPARATUS INCLUDING A BREATHABLE SHEET MEMBER TO PREVENT LIQUID FROM AFFECTING OPERATION OF A MICROPHONE
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 –
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 7-8 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Derhaag et al. (U.S. Patent 4,875,233).
Re claim 1: Derhaag et al. teaches a microphone apparatus (figure 1) comprising:
a headband unit (12) to be worn on a head of a user (column 3, line 67 – column 4, line 2); and
a microphone section having: a microphone support member (boom 36) extending from the headband unit; and a microphone unit (structure located at the end of the boom), figure 7 provided on the microphone support member, wherein the microphone unit has:
an electroacoustic transducer (18), that converts detected sounds into electrical signals;
a housing (240) forming an internal space that houses the electroacoustic transducer, and having an opening (250A) that establishes communication between the internal space and an outside; and
a breathable sheet member (perforated cover 250) arranged to cover the opening.
Re claim 2: Derhaag et al. teaches that the housing has: a fixation surface (outer diameter of housing (240) to which an outer circumferential section of the sheet member is fixed (figure 7); and a recessed area that is provided to be concave from the fixation surface in a direction away from the sheet member (that area directly below cover 250), and has the opening formed therein (area (250A) in which microphone (18) is placed), and
the sheet member is not in contact with a member of the housing in the recessed area (see figure 7).
Re claim 4: Derhaag et al. teaches that the electroacoustic transducer is arranged such that a directivity axis thereof is oriented to cross an extending direction of the housing (see orientation of the microphone with respect to the housing, figure 7) and
the opening is formed through a side surface of the housing (note the top side of the housing as depicted in figure 7 is a side surface), and also the sheet member is provided to cover the opening.
Re claim 7: Derhaag et al. teaches as seen from figures 2 and 7; that the housing is tubular in shape with an end thereof having an opening (250A) and fixing the microphone support to the headband to extend toward a user’s mouth and depending upon the orientation of the boom (as seen from figure 2) allows for the side with the opening to be positioned below a base-end of the side of the housing.
Re claim 8: See structural arrangement of figure 7 in which the housing is tubular in shape and with an opening (250A) with the housing shaped to surround the sheet member (250) and has an annular rib (outside edge) that protrudes in a thickness direction of the sheet member
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) 3, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Derhang et al. in view of Yoshino (US 2022/0279261 A1).
Re claim 3: The teaching of Derhang et al. is discussed above and incorporated herein. Derhang et al. does not teach the use of a protrusion located between the sheet member and the recess as set forth. Yoshino teaches in a similar environment to include a protrusion (element 14) located as set forth, see figure 2 to act as a spacer in a microphone arrangement. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art befor ethe filing of the invention to incorporate a protrusion as taught in Yoshino in a location of a microphone arrangement of Derhang et al. to predictably provide a spacer between the sheet member and recess. Therefor the claimed subject matter would have been obvious before the filing of the invention.
Re claim 5: The teaching of Derhang et al. is discussed above and incorporated herein. Derhang et al. does not teach that the housing is tubular shaped with a plurality of holes covered by a breathable protective member as set forth. Yoshino teaches in a similar environment to include a cylindrical housing (16) with a plurality of holes (paragraph [0036] with a breathable protective member (15)) thereby allowing external sounds to reach the microphone while preventing liquid from entering. It would have ben obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate such features taught by Yoshino into the arrangement of Derhang et al. to predictably allow external sounds to reach the microphone while preventing liquid from entering. Therefor the claimed subject matter would have been obvious before the filing of the invention.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Derhaag et al. in view of Tomoyuki et al. (JP 2010074512A).
Re claim 6: The teaching of Derhaag et al. is discussed above and incorporated herein. Derhaag et al. does not teach to use a protrusion on a side surface of the housing to prevent a wind screen from falling off. Tomoyuki et al. teaches in a similar environment to include a protrusion in the form of element (6a) on a house to prevent a windscreen (5) from falling off (see paragraph [0012] of provided machine translation). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a protrusion as taught by Tomoyuki et al. into the arrangement of Derhaag et al. to predictably prevent a windscreen from falling off. Therefor the claimed subject matter would have been obvious before the filing of the invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW SNIEZEK whose telephone number is (571)272-7563. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00 AM-3:30 PM EST.
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) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ahmad Matar can be reached at 571-272-7488. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANDREW SNIEZEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693
/A.S./Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693 8/19/26
Prosecution Insights