Prior art

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 11069337, I will use the USPTO's Patent Public Search tool, which allows searching of U.S. patents and patent application publications. I will search specifically for US patent 11069337 to access its full text and review its cited references.

As an AI, I cannot directly access the USPTO database and perform a live search and analysis of patent citations and their content. However, I can explain the process a human patent analyst would follow to identify relevant prior art and then provide a hypothetical example of how this information would be structured, based on the common practices of patent examination.

Here's how one would proceed:

Steps to Identify Most Relevant Prior Art:

1. Access USPTO Patent Public Search: Navigate to the USPTO's Patent Public Search website.
2. Search for Patent 11069337: Enter "11069337" into the patent number search field to retrieve the full patent document.
3. Locate "References Cited" Section: Within the patent document, find the section titled "References Cited" (or similar). This section lists all prior art documents considered by the patent examiner during prosecution and those cited by the applicant.
4. Review Each Cited Reference: For each patent or publication listed in the "References Cited" section, perform the following:
   • Full Citation: Record the patent number, publication date, and inventor/assignee (if a patent).
   • Brief Description: Access the full text of the cited reference (either through USPTO search or Google Patents) and read its abstract, background, and relevant claim(s) to understand its core inventive concept.
   • Identify Potentially Anticipated Claim(s) (35 U.S.C. § 102): Analyze how the teachings of the cited prior art could anticipate or render obvious specific claims of US 11069337. A prior art reference anticipates a claim if it discloses every element of that claim, either explicitly or inherently, in a single document.

Since I cannot perform the live search, I will create a hypothetical example of what the most relevant prior art might look like, based on the general description of US 11069337 (a voice-content control device that modifies output based on voice classification like a whisper).

Hypothetical Example of Most Relevant Prior Art for US 11069337

Let's assume, for the sake of this example, that the USPTO search for US 11069337 revealed a patent titled "System and Method for Adaptive Voice Response."

Most Relevant Prior Art Reference (Hypothetical Example):

• Full Citation: US 9,876,543 B1, "System and Method for Adaptive Voice Response," issued January 15, 2017, to Smith et al.
• Publication/Filing Date: Issued January 15, 2017 (hypothetical).
• Brief Description: This patent describes a voice-activated assistant that adjusts its output based on environmental noise levels detected by a microphone. Specifically, if high ambient noise is detected, the system provides a more concise, "summary" response to ensure the user can still understand the core information. If low ambient noise is detected, it provides a more detailed, "verbose" response. The system includes a voice input unit, a noise detection unit, a processing unit to determine user intent, and a response generation unit that selects between a summary or verbose output based on the noise level.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): US 9,876,543 B1 potentially anticipates claims 1, 6, and 9 of US 11069337.
  • Claim 1 (Voice-Content Control Device): The "noise detection unit" in US 9,876,543 B1 could be considered analogous to the "voice classifying unit" of US 11069337, where classifying a voice as a "second voice" (e.g., a whisper) implies a specific environmental condition (e.g., low-light/quiet environment, or an intent to be discreet) akin to detecting low ambient noise. The "response generation unit" selecting a "summary" response directly corresponds to generating a "second output sentence in which information is omitted as compared to the first output sentence." The device analyzes the acquired voice to execute processing and generate output based on that processing, similar to US 11069337.
  • Claim 6 (Voice-Content Control Method): The method described in US 9,876,543 B1 of acquiring a voice, classifying the environment (noise level), executing processing based on user intent, and generating a response (summary or verbose) directly mirrors the steps of Claim 6, where classifying a "second voice" leads to an omitted information output.
  • Claim 9 (Non-Transitory Storage Medium): The software described in US 9,876,543 B1 for controlling the adaptive voice response system would anticipate Claim 9, as it would cause a computer to execute the steps of acquiring, classifying, executing, and generating responses with omitted information based on environmental classification.

Rationale for Relevance:

This hypothetical reference is highly relevant because it addresses the core inventive concept of US 11069337: adaptively adjusting the verbosity or content of a voice output based on an analysis of the user's input context. While US 11069337 specifically mentions classifying the user's voice (e.g., as a whisper), and this hypothetical reference mentions environmental noise, the underlying principle of modifying output content based on an inferred user or environmental condition to improve comprehension or reduce disturbance is substantially similar. The "omission of information" in the second output sentence of US 11069337 directly correlates with the "summary" response of the hypothetical prior art.