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
Claims 1-15 are pending in this office action.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 24, 2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayter (U.S. Patent No. 8,407,768).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Hayter teaches an electronic device comprising: a communication interface configured to communicate with a terminal device and an audio device (fig. 12, ref. num 1218); one or more processors (fig. 12, ref. num 1204); and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to (fig. 12, ref. num 1206): broadcast, via the communication interface, an advertising packet comprising identification information of the electronic device and a Wi-Fi MAC address (col. 17, lines 55-63); transmit, via the communication interface, an encrypted audio signal, to the audio device (col. 21, lines 20-38); based on receiving, via the communication interface, a request for Point-to-Point (P2P) from the terminal device, perform, via the communication interface, the P2P communication with the terminal device based on the Wi-Fi MAC address (col. 11, lines 13-29 and col. 18, lines 48-58); and based on identifying a preset event has occurred for enabling transmission of an encryption key of the electronic device, transmit, via the communication interface, the encryption key to the terminal device by using the P2P communication, to cause the terminal device to transmit the encryption key to the audio device and to cause the audio device to decrypt the encrypted audio signal based on receiving the encryption key (col. 21, lines 46-58).
Hayter teaches a terminal device and audio device, but specifically teaches an apparatus (terminal device) and second device (audio device). The second device has audio on it, but isn’t an audio device only (like headphones).
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Hayter teaches wherein the communication interface comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication interface, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to transmit the encrypted audio signal to the audio device via the BLE communication interface (col. 10, lines 15-26).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Hayter teaches wherein the instructions, when executed, by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to, based on the encryption key being transmitted to the terminal device, disconnect, via the communication interface, the P2P communication with the terminal device (col. 18, lines 20-29).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Hayter teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to transmit the encryption key to the terminal device, to cause the terminal device to transmit the encryption key to the audio device and to cause the audio device to decrypt the encrypted audio signal and output the decrypted audio signal based on receiving the encryption key (col. 10, lines 4-14).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Hayter teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to transmit the encryption key and sync data to the terminal device via the P2P communication, to cause the terminal device to transmit the sync data to the audio device and to cause the audio device to output the decrypted audio signal based on the sync data (col. 12, lines 4-14).
Regarding claim 6, Hayter teaches wherein the electronic device further comprises a display, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: based on identifying the request for the P2P communication has been received by the terminal device, output, via the display, a User Interface (UI) for enabling the P2P communication with the terminal device; and based on a user input being received via the UI, perform the P2P communication, via the communication interface, with the terminal device based on the Wi-Fi MAC address (col. 17, line 64 through col. 18, line 2).
Regarding claim 7, Hayter teaches wherein the preset event comprises at least one of: a user input for transmitting the encryption key being received, identifying that the terminal device is a preregistered device, or identifying that the terminal device is the preregistered device and that the terminal device is within a preset distance from the electronic device (col. 4, lines 10-21).
Regarding claim 8, Hayter teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to, based on a request for the encryption key being received from the terminal device, identify whether the preset event occurs (col. 18, lines 10-17).
Regarding claim 9, Hayter teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to: based on identifying the preset event has occurred, generate guide information for the decrypted audio signal; and transmit, via the communication interface, the guide information and the encryption key to the terminal device, to cause the terminal device to transmit the guide information to the audio device (col. 4, lines 30-39).
Regarding claim 10, Hayter teaches wherein the electronic device further comprises a display, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to output the guide information via the display (fig. 7, ref. num 703).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRANDON HOFFMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3863. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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, Jeffrey Pwu can be reached at (571)272-6798. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRANDON HOFFMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2433
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