Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 26, 2026
Application No. 19/196,301

ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR TRANSMITTING EXTERNAL SOUND AND METHOD FOR OPERATING ELECTRONIC DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
May 01, 2025
Priority
Nov 01, 2022 — RE 10-2022-0143756 +2 more
Examiner
OJO, OYESOLA C
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allowance Rate
621 granted / 749 resolved
+22.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+10.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
15 currently pending
Career history
767
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.7%
-38.3% vs TC avg
§103
61.3%
+21.3% vs TC avg
§102
21.6%
-18.4% vs TC avg
§112
8.8%
-31.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 749 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Status of Claims Claims 1 and 11 are rejected Claims 2-10 and 12-15 are objected to 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yu et al (US PUB 20230080298, hereinafter Yu298) Regarding Claim 1, Yu289 discloses an electronic device (see at least the abstract and figure 1) comprising: at least one speaker (e.g. speaker 201); an external microphone (e.g. external microphone 206); an internal microphone (e.g. internal microphone 207), a first filter (e.g. a first group of filters); a second filter (e.g. a second group of filters); and at least one processor (e.g. MCU 202) operatively connected to the at least one speaker, the external microphone, and the internal microphone (see figure 2); wherein the at least one processor is configured to: estimate a passive feature based on a first signal acquired through the external microphone and a second signal acquired through the internal microphone (e.g. the MCU 202 further estimate parameters in the signals received form each of the internal and external microphones), (see figure 2); identify a target frequency response for the passive feature based on a reference passive feature (e.g. MCU 202 further identify a target frequency response curve information based on a prestored parameter), (see steps 1003-1004; figure 10); and filter a third signal acquired through the external microphone through the first filter and the second filter sequentially and output the filtered third signal through the at least one speaker, wherein the second filter is based on the target frequency response (e.g. the MCU 202 further filters a third signal received from an external talk microphone, and updates the filtering parameters of the headset from the first group of filtering parameters to the second group of filtering parameters); (see Yu289, [0098]-[0102], [0117], [0181], [0185]-[0189], also figures 1-2 and 10-11). Regarding Claim 11, Yu289 discloses method of operating an electronic device (e.g. using the apparatus of figures 1-2), the method comprising: estimating a passive feature based on a first signal acquired through an external microphone (e.g. an external microphone 206) of the electronic device and a second signal acquired through an internal microphone (e.g. an internal microphone 207) of the electronic device (e.g. the MCU 202 estimate parameters in the signals received form each of the internal and external microphones), (see figure 2); identifying a target frequency response for the passive feature based on a reference passive feature (e.g. MCU 202 further identify a target frequency response curve information based on a prestored parameter), (see steps 1003-1004; figure 10); filtering a third signal acquired through the external microphone through a first filter and a second filter sequentially, wherein the second filter is based on the identified target frequency response (e.g. the MCU 202 further filters a third signal received from an external talk microphone, and updates the filtering parameters of the headset from the first group of filtering parameters to the second group of filtering parameters); and outputting the filtered third signal through at least one speaker (speaker 201) of the electronic device (see Yu289, [0098]-[0102], [0117], [0181], [0185]-[0189], also figures 1-2 and 10-11). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-10 and 12-15 are 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 The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OYESOLA C OJO whose telephone number is (571)272-0848. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm Central Time. 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, Vivian Chin can be reached at 571-272-7840. 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. /OYESOLA C OJO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 01, 2025
Application Filed
Oct 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12763865
SECURING CONTROL PANELS
2y 4m to grant Granted Oct 13, 2026
Patent 12756967
HEADPHONE WITH TOUCHSCREEN
1y 9m to grant Granted Oct 06, 2026
Patent 12745026
WEARABLE DEVICE INCLUDING SPEAKER FRAME HAVING VENT HOLE
2y 4m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12739555
HEAD-MOUNTED DEVICE AND RETRACTABLE HEADBAND
2y 2m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12732735
Earphone System
2y 9m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
83%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+10.8%)
2y 1m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 749 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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