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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Introduction
This action responds to the application 19/098,577 filed on 04-02-2025.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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 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.
4. The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
5. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
6. Claims 1-20 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Klimanis et al. (US 2019/0286409) in view of Marti et al.(US 2022/0174395).
Consider Claim 1, Klimanis teaches a control method of an electronic apparatus capable of generating anti-noise for acoustic noise cancellation (par. [0003]; Fig. 2), the control method comprising:
obtaining (see fig. 2) audio data and metadata of the audio data; classifying the audio data into a plurality of audio clusters based on at least one of a feature of the audio data or a feature of the metadata (see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]);
identifying(see fig. 6) whether each audio cluster of the plurality of audio clusters is included in a local database corresponding to the location information of a place where the audio data is obtained; based on the at least one of the plurality of the audio clusters being not included in the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0073]-[0078]),
updating(see fig. 4) the local database by adding information regarding the audio cluster that is not included in the local database(see figs.2-6 and paragraphs [0049]-[0064]); but Klimanis does not explicitly teach generating anti-noise data based on the information regarding the local database which is updated.
However, Marti teaches generating anti-noise data based on the information regarding the local database which is updated(see figs.2-5 and paragraphs [0040]-[0050]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to combine the teaching of Marti into the teaching of Klimanis to provide the input signal is separated (505) into a set of audio signals that includes a first component signal and a second component signal. A context-sensitive user interface is generated that displays multiple first controls for modifying the first component signal and second controls for modifying the second component signal. A selection is received (507) to remove the first component signal from the user. The first component signal is removed (511) from the set of audio signals to generate a modified set of audio signals that includes the second component signal. An audio output device is driven to generate sound based on the modified set of audio signals.
Consider Claims 2 and 3, Klimanis as modified by Marti teaches the control method wherein the local database comprises a plurality of noise clusters, and wherein the identifying whether each audio cluster of the plurality of audio clusters is included in the local database comprises: identifying one audio cluster of the plurality of audio clusters as being included in the local database based on one noise cluster matching the one audio cluster being present among the plurality of noise clusters(see figs.2-5 and paragraphs [0040]-[0050]); and the control method, wherein the identifying whether each of the plurality of audio clusters is included in the local database comprises: obtaining a similarity value between the one audio cluster and the one noise cluster; and identifying the one noise cluster of the plurality of noise clusters as the one noise cluster matching the one audio cluster based on the similarity value being at least a predetermined value(see figs.2-5 and paragraphs [0040]-[0050]).
Consider Claims 4 and 5, Klimanis as modified by Marti teaches the control method wherein the updating the local database by adding the information regarding the audio cluster comprises: obtaining, from an external server, the information regarding the audio cluster that is not included in the local database; and adding the information regarding the audio cluster that is not included in the local database to the information regarding the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]); and the control method wherein the updating the local database by adding the information regarding the audio cluster comprises: obtaining a user input for inputting identification information for the audio cluster that is not included in the local database; and adding the information regarding the audio cluster including the identification information to the information regarding the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]).
Consider Claims 6 and 7, Klimanis as modified by Marti teaches the control method wherein the updating the local database by adding the information regarding the audio cluster comprises: providing a sound inquiring whether to add the information regarding the audio cluster to the information regarding the local database; and based on obtaining a user voice for adding the information regarding the audio cluster to the information regarding the local database, obtaining the user input for inputting the identification information for the audio cluster that is not included in the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]); and the control method wherein the generating the anti-noise data comprises, generating the anti-noise data at a level corresponding to a noise cluster matching the audio cluster for each audio cluster of the plurality of audio clusters included in the local database among the plurality of audio clusters(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]).
Consider Claims 8 and 9, Klimanis as modified by Marti teaches the control method wherein the plurality of audio clusters include a first audio cluster and a second audio cluster, and wherein the generating the anti-noise data comprises:generating first anti-noise data for the first audio cluster at a first level corresponding to a first noise cluster matching the first audio cluster among the plurality of noise clusters; and generating second anti-noise data for the second audio cluster at a second level corresponding to a second noise cluster matching the second audio cluster among the plurality of noise clusters(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]); and the control method wherein the classifying of the audio data into the plurality of audio clusters comprises: obtaining a plurality of audio segments by segmenting the audio data; obtaining a plurality of feature data by extracting features of the plurality of audio segments; and classifying the plurality of audio segments into a plurality of sound clusters based on the plurality of feature data(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0041]).
Consider Claim 10, Klimanis as modified by Marti teaches the control method wherein the metadata of the audio data includes location information of a place where the audio data is obtained(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]).
Consider Claim 11, Klimanis teaches an electronic apparatus configured to generate anti-noise for acoustic noise cancellation (ANC) (par. [0003]; Fig. 2), the apparatus comprising:
a sensor(see fig. 2(225));
a microphone(see fig. 2(210));
a speaker(see fig. 2(250));
memory(see fig. 2(235)) storing at least one instruction and information regarding a local database; and at least one processor connected to the memory, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic apparatus to:
obtain (see fig. 2) audio data and metadata of the audio data through the microphone and the sensor;
classify(see fig. 6) the audio data into a plurality of audio clusters based on at least one of a feature of the audio data or a feature of the metadata(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]);
identify(see fig. 4) whether each audio cluster of the plurality of audio clusters is included in the local database corresponding to the location information of a place where the audio data is obtained; based on the at least one of the plurality of the audio clusters being not included in the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0073]-[0078]);
update the local database by adding information regarding the audio cluster that is not included in the local database(see figs.2-6 and paragraphs [0049]-[0064]); but Klimanis does not explicitly teach generating anti-noise data based on the information regarding the local database which is updated.
However, Marti teaches generating anti-noise data based on the information regarding the local database which is updated(see figs.2-5 and paragraphs [0040]-[0050]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to combine the teaching of Marti into the teaching of Klimanis to provide the input signal is separated (505) into a set of audio signals that includes a first component signal and a second component signal. A context-sensitive user interface is generated that displays multiple first controls for modifying the first component signal and second controls for modifying the second component signal. A selection is received (507) to remove the first component signal from the user. The first component signal is removed (511) from the set of audio signals to generate a modified set of audio signals that includes the second component signal. An audio output device is driven to generate sound based on the modified set of audio signals.
Consider Claims 12 and 13, Klimanis as modified by Marti teaches the electronic apparatus, wherein the local database comprises a plurality of noise clusters, and wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic apparatus to identify one audio cluster of the plurality of audio clusters as being included in the lcoal database based on one noise cluster matching the one audio cluster being present among the plurality of noise clusters(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0041]-[0044]); and the electronic apparatus wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic apparatus to: obtain a similarity value between the one audio cluster and the one noise cluster; and identify the one noise cluster as the one noise cluster matching the one audio cluster if the similarity value is a predetermined value or more(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0041]-[0044]);..
Consider Claims 14 and 15, Klimanis as modified by Marti teaches the electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic apparatus to: obtain, from an external server, the information regarding the audio cluster that is not included in the local database; and add the information regarding the audio cluster that is not included in the local database to the information regarding the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]); and the electronic apparatus wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic apparatus to: obtain a user input for inputting identification information for the audio cluster that is not included in the local database, and add the information regarding the audio cluster including the identification information to the information regarding the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]).
Consider Claim 16, Klimanis teaches a non-transitory computer readable recording medium comprising instructions that, when executed(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0032]-[0037]), performs a method comprising:
obtaining(see fig. 2) audio data and metadata of the audio data; classifying the audio data into a plurality of audio clusters based on at least one of a feature of the audio data or a feature of the metadata(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]);
Identifying(see fig. 6) whether each audio cluster of the plurality of audio clusters is included in a local database corresponding to the location information of a place where the audio data is obtained; based on the at least one of the plurality of the audio clusters being not included in the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0073]-[0078]), updating the local database by adding information regarding the audio cluster that is not included in the local database(see figs.2-6 and paragraphs [0049]-[0064]); but Klimanis does not explicitly teach generating anti-noise data based on the information regarding the local database which is updated.
However, Marti teaches generating anti-noise data based on the information regarding the local database which is updated(see figs.2-5 and paragraphs [0040]-[0050]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to combine the teaching of Marti into the teaching of Klimanis to provide the input signal is separated (505) into a set of audio signals that includes a first component signal and a second component signal. A context-sensitive user interface is generated that displays multiple first controls for modifying the first component signal and second controls for modifying the second component signal. A selection is received (507) to remove the first component signal from the user. The first component signal is removed (511) from the set of audio signals to generate a modified set of audio signals that includes the second component signal. An audio output device is driven to generate sound based on the modified set of audio signals.
Consider Claims 17 and 18, Klimanis as modified by Marti teaches the non-transitory computer readable recording medium wherein the local database comprises a plurality of noise clusters, and wherein the identifying whether each audio cluster of the plurality of audio clusters is included in the local database comprises: identifying one audio cluster of the plurality of audio clusters as being included in the local database based on one noise cluster matching the one audio cluster being present among the plurality of noise clusters(see figs.2-5 and paragraphs [0040]-[0050]); and the non-transitory computer readable recording medium wherein the identifying whether each of the plurality of audio clusters is included in the local database comprises: obtaining a similarity value between the one audio cluster and the one noise cluster; and identifying the one noise cluster of the plurality of noise clusters as the one noise cluster matching the one audio cluster based on the similarity value being at least a predetermined value. (see figs.2-5 and paragraphs [0040]-[0050]).
Consider Claims 19 and 20, Klimanis as modified by Marti teaches the non-transitory computer readable recording medium wherein the updating the local database by adding the information regarding the audio cluster comprises: obtaining, from an external server, the information regarding the audio cluster that is not included in the local database; and adding the information regarding the audio cluster that is not included in the local database to the information regarding the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037]); and the non-transitory computer readable recording medium wherein the updating the local database by adding the information regarding the audio cluster comprises: obtaining a user input for inputting identification information for the audio cluster that is not included in the local database; and adding the information regarding the audio cluster including the identification information to the information regarding the local database(see figs.2-4 and paragraphs [0029]-[0037])..
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. Murgia et al.(US 2014/0205107) is cited to show other ELECTRONIC APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF.
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/LUN-SEE LAO/Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 2651 Patent Examiner
US Patent and Trademark Office
Knox
571-272-7501
Date 09-29-2026
