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 .
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 –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 8, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takahashi (US 20230224624 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Takahashi teaches: An earphone device (Figs. 1-8; Abstract) comprising a sound emitting unit configured to be worn in an ear of a user (earphones 10L, 10R shown in Figs. 3-8), wherein the sound emitting unit includes: an antenna configured to receive an audio signal (wireless communication unit(s) 19L, 19R and antenna ATL, ATR; [0060]: “The smartphone 50 transmits and receives the data signal to and from each of wireless earphones 10L and 10R in accordance with the predetermined wireless communication method (for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark)).” It is understood that an audio signal would be transmitted via Bluetooth from the smartphone to the wireless earphones 10L and 10R); a driver unit configured to be driven based on the audio signal received by the antenna (Speaker SPKL, SPKR); and a battery configured to store power supplied to the antenna (Battery BTL, BTR), the battery is charged when the sound emitting unit is accommodated in a charger ([0047]), the sound emitting unit is in an inactive state when the sound emitting unit is accommodated in the charger (Fig. 6: lid closed, earphone is off; [0082]), and is in an active state when the sound emitting unit is not accommodated in the charger ([0083]: removal from charger places earphone into pairing mode and activates LED), an operating mode of the sound emitting unit in the active state includes a first operating mode, and a second operating mode, and, when a state of the sound emitting unit is switched from the inactive state to the active state, the operating mode of the sound emitting unit for a predetermined time after the switching is the first operating mode (([0083]: “Here, when the user takes out the wireless earphone 10L from the charging case 30, the earphone control unit 11L of the wireless earphone 10L causes the LED 131 to emit light in accordance with a predetermined pattern (for example, a pattern in which a red light and a blue light alternately blink) at a time point when a predetermined time elapses after the wireless earphone 10L is taken out from the charging case 30 regardless of whether the wireless earphone 10L is inserted (worn) into the user’s ear, and shifts (transitions) an operation mode of the wireless earphones 10L and 10R to the pairing mode for performing the pairing (that is, wireless connection processing for performing the wireless communication of Bluetooth (registered trademark)) with the smartphone 50 (St2). The predetermined pattern described above is not limited to the pattern in which the red light and the blue light alternately blink, and may be, for example, a pattern in which only the red light or only the blue light blinks, as long as the user can recognize that the pairing mode is shifted. Accordingly, the wireless earphone 10L can be easily shifted to the pairing mode only by being taken out from the charging case 30 by the user. Further, the user can easily recognize that the wireless earphone 10L is in the pairing mode by the light emission of the LED 131.”). Examiner interpretation: That is, the sound emitting unit, inclusive of the antenna and associated circuitry, is not in a pairing mode when inserted into the charger. Upon removal from the charger, the earphone(s) enter into a pairing mode at a time point when a predetermined time elapses after the wireless earphone 10L is taken out from the charging case 30. That is, after removal, the earphones are in an active state, but no LED or pairing mode (first operating mode). After a pre-determined amount of time, LED activates, pairing begins (second operating mode).
Regarding Claim 2, Takahashi teaches: wherein, when a state of the sound emitting unit is switched from the inactive state to the active state and after the predetermined time has elapsed after the switching, the operating mode of the sound emitting unit is the second operating mode (the sound emitting unit, inclusive of the antenna and associated circuitry, is not in a pairing mode when inserted into the charger. Upon removal from the charger, the earphone(s) enter into a pairing mode at a time point when a predetermined time elapses after the wireless earphone 10L is taken out from the charging case 30. That is, after removal, the earphones are in an active state, but no LED or pairing mode (first operating mode). After a pre-determined amount of time, LED activates, pairing begins (second operating mode).
Regarding Claim 4, Takahashi teaches: wherein the sound emitting unit includes a first sound emitting unit configured to be worn in one ear of the user, and a second sound emitting unit configured to be worn in another ear of the user (earphone(s) 10L, 10R), and, when the first sound emitting unit is switched to the active state while the first sound emitting unit and the second sound emitting unit are in the inactive state (i.e. lid closed), the operating mode of the first sound emitting unit is the first operating mode until the second sound emitting unit is switched to the active state (neither earphone(s) 10L, 10R enter into pairing mode while lid is closed).
Regarding Claim 5, Takahashi teaches: wherein, after the second sound emitting unit is switched to the active state and then the predetermined time has elapsed, the operating mode of the first sound emitting unit operating in the first operating mode is switched to the second operating mode ([0083]).
Regarding Claim 8, Takahashi teaches: wherein the predetermined time is determined based on an elapsed time from a moment at which the first sound emitting unit is switched from the inactive state to the active state to a moment at which the second sound emitting unit is switched from the inactive state to the active state ([0083]: predetermined time after lid open and removal from charger case).
Regarding Claim 10, Takahashi teaches: wherein the operating mode of the second sound emitting unit switched from the inactive state to the active state is switched from the first operating mode to the second operating mode when the first sound emitting unit is switched from the first operating mode to the second operating mode (since both earphone(s) enter into pairing mode at the same time).
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (US 20230224624 A1).
Regarding Claim 3, Takahashi teaches: wherein the sound emitting unit includes a control interface configured to control an operation of the sound emitting unit (operation input unit 12L, 12R). Takahashi does not specifically teach: and an operating function of the control interface is disabled in the first operating mode, and is enabled in the second operating mode. However, according to Fig. 6 and [0083], the earphone(s) 10L, 10R may be placed into a pairing mode at St2 after a duration. Alternatively, the earphone(s) 10L, 10R may be placed into a pairing mode at St3 by long pressing of operation input unit while in the case. That is, the operation input unit is not necessary to place into the pairing mode during St2 as the predetermined duration will automatically place the earphone(s) into a pairing mode. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Takahashi to disable the operation input unit until a successful pairing has commenced or completed. Motivation for doing so would allow for a user of the earphone(s) 10L, 10R to commence a further pairing once already paired without the need to return the earphone(s) 10L, 10R back to the charging case 30.
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (US 20230224624 A1), in view of Carrigan (US 20210014610 A1).
Regarding Claim 6, Takahashi does not teach: wherein the sound emitting unit has a noise canceling function, the noise canceling function is disabled in the first operating mode, and the noise canceling function is enabled in the second operating mode. In a related field, Carrigan teaches to switch between a noise cancelling function and a pass-through function for wireless earphones depending on a worn state of the earphone(s) ([0244]: “In response to the removal of earbud 502-2, earbuds 502-1 and 502-2 switch from the active noise control mode to the pass-through mode, as indicated by pass-through icon 711 now displayed in noise management control 707-1. In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 7J, both earbuds 502 switch to the pass-through mode in response to either earbud 502-1 or 502-2 being removed from an ear of the user (e.g., based on an assumption that that the user removed an earbud to hear ambient audio better).”). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Takahashi to alternate between pass-through and noise canceling modes of earphone(s), such as in a worn or un-worn state. Motivation for doing so would lie in allowing the user to hear sounds in their environment more clearly when needed without having to remove both earphone(s).
Regarding Claim 7, Takahashi does not teach: wherein the sound emitting unit has a hear-through function, the hear-through function is enabled in the first operating mode, and the hear-through function is disabled in the second operating mode. In a related field, Carrigan teaches to switch between a noise cancelling function and a pass-through function for wireless earphones depending on a worn state of the earphone(s) ([0244]: “In response to the removal of earbud 502-2, earbuds 502-1 and 502-2 switch from the active noise control mode to the pass-through mode, as indicated by pass-through icon 711 now displayed in noise management control 707-1. In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 7J, both earbuds 502 switch to the pass-through mode in response to either earbud 502-1 or 502-2 being removed from an ear of the user (e.g., based on an assumption that that the user removed an earbud to hear ambient audio better).”). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Takahashi to alternate between pass-through and noise canceling modes of earphone(s), such as in a worn or un-worn state. Motivation for doing so would lie in allowing the user to hear sounds in their environment more clearly when needed without having to remove both earphone(s).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW A EASON whose telephone number is (571)270-7230. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30AM-4PM.
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/MATTHEW A EASON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2624
