Obviousness

Under 35 U.S.C. § 103, an invention is considered obvious if the differences between the claimed invention 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 (PHOSITA). For US Patent 8582789, several prior art references are explicitly cross-referenced or incorporated, providing a strong basis for an obviousness analysis.

The primary problem addressed by US8582789 and its cited prior art is the inadequacies of traditional hearing aids, including their high cost, social stigma, need for custom fitting, occlusion effects, and handling difficulties. [cite: Full patent text] The solutions generally involve non-invasive, often wireless, and directional hearing enhancement systems.

The motivation for a PHOSITA to combine the following references would be to overcome these known problems in the art by integrating wireless audio delivery, directional sound projection, and personalized hearing amplification in a non-invasive manner.

Independent Claim 1 Analysis:

Claim 1 describes a hearing enhancement system comprising an audio system configured to up-convert and wirelessly transmit signals, a wireless receiver, a down-converter, a modifier based on user hearing characteristics, and a speaker for output. [cite: Full patent text]

• Combination: U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/462,570 ('570 provisional), U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/469,221 ('221 provisional), U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/493,441 ('441 provisional), U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/826,528 ('528 application), and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/826,527 ('527 application, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,388,962).

• Teaching: The '570, '221, and '441 provisional applications broadly disclose "WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS OR DEVICES" and "HEARING ENHANCEMENT SYSTEMS OR DEVICES," including "WIRELESS AUDIO DELIVERY." [cite: Full patent text] The '528 application specifically details "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WIRELESS AUDIO DELIVERY." [cite: Full patent text] These references collectively teach the elements of an audio system up-converting and wirelessly transmitting, a wireless receiver, and a down-converter leading to a speaker. The '527 application, titled "DIRECTIONAL HEARING ENHANCEMENT SYSTEMS," and its relationship as the parent of the '789 patent, would teach the core concept of a hearing enhancement system. The '789 patent itself, in describing its invention, states that "the system then converts the wireless signals to audio signals for the user to comfortably listen to the signals." [cite: Full patent text] Furthermore, the '789 patent describes tailoring amplification to a user's hearing needs through calibration, which generates a "user's hearing profile" used to "adjust the amplification of the audio signals across the frequencies." [cite: Full patent text] This "modifier" function is a fundamental aspect of hearing enhancement.

• Motivation: A PHOSITA would be motivated to combine the wireless audio delivery principles taught by the '570, '221, '441 provisionals and the '528 application with the hearing enhancement concepts from the '527 application. The goal would be to create a convenient, wireless hearing enhancement system that personalizes audio delivery based on a user's hearing characteristics. The "PERSONALIZED AUDIO SYSTEMS OR DEVICES" explicitly mentioned in the '221 provisional further reinforce the motivation to customize audio signals based on user preferences or hearing profiles, which, when combined with wireless delivery, would directly lead to the system described in Claim 1. This combination directly addresses the desire for improved user experience and accessibility over traditional hearing aids.

Independent Claim 13 Analysis:

Claim 13 describes a hearing enhancement apparatus that is wirelessly coupled to an external audio system, comprising a wireless receiver, a down-converter, a modifier based on user hearing characteristics, and a speaker. [cite: Full patent text]

• Combination: The '570, '221, '441 provisional applications, the '528 application, and the '527 application.

• Teaching: As discussed for Claim 1, these references broadly teach wireless communication systems, hearing enhancement systems, and personalized audio systems. The '528 application teaches methods and apparatus for wireless audio delivery, covering the wireless receiver, down-converter, and speaker elements of the apparatus. The '789 patent explicitly discusses the system's ability to "pick up, capture or access audio signals from a number of portable or non-portable instruments" wirelessly (e.g., "home entertainment units, phones, microphones at a conference, and speakers at a movie theaters"), [cite: Full patent text] and to function as a headset for a phone, coupled wirelessly. [cite: Full patent text] This directly teaches the apparatus being wirelessly coupled to an external audio system. The modifier element is also taught by the discussion in '789 and its parent '527 about tailoring amplification based on a user's hearing profile. [cite: Full patent text]

• Motivation: A PHOSITA would be motivated to develop a flexible and portable hearing enhancement apparatus that can seamlessly connect to various existing audio sources (like TVs, phones, conference systems) wirelessly, instead of being limited to a single input or requiring physical insertion into the ear. The integration of wireless audio delivery (from '528) with personalized hearing enhancement (from '527 and '221 provisional) to create an auxiliary, wirelessly coupled device would be an obvious extension to provide versatility and convenience for users with mild to moderate hearing loss, directly addressing the limitations of fixed or intrusive traditional hearing aids.

Independent Claim 20 Analysis:

Claim 20 details a hearing enhancement apparatus with an interface unit, a directional speaker, and a microphone. It specifies the transformation of captured audio signals into ultrasonic signals, which are then transmitted by the directional speaker towards the user's ear and demodulated by air into output audio signals, with a portion of the output having higher power to enhance hearing. [cite: Full patent text]

• Combination: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/826,527 ('527 application, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,388,962), U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/826,529 ('529 application, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,269,452), and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/469,221 ('221 provisional).

• Teaching: The '527 application is titled "DIRECTIONAL HEARING ENHANCEMENT SYSTEMS," which directly points to the core invention. The '789 patent's description explicitly states that "one embodiment of the hearing enhancement system includes an interface unit that has the directional speaker and a microphone." [cite: Full patent text] It further elaborates on the mechanism: "the microphone receives audio signals, which are transformed by the system into ultrasonic signals. Then, the directional speaker transmits the ultrasonic signals in air towards an ear of the user. The transmitted signals are transformed back into audio signals by air to form the output audio signals." [cite: Full patent text] The '529 application, titled "DIRECTIONAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS," is incorporated by reference and is described as detailing "Different embodiments of the directional speakers" [cite: Full patent text] and methods to "increase the demodulation or mixing efficiency of the ultrasonic signals." [cite: Full patent text] The concept of "at least a portion of the output audio signals having higher power...to enhance the hearing of the user" is inherent to any hearing enhancement system, and the '789 patent itself discusses how "amplification can mean the power level of the output audio signals being higher than the received audio signals." [cite: Full patent text] The '221 provisional mentions "DIRECTIONAL SPEAKER FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE" and "PERSONALIZED AUDIO SYSTEMS OR DEVICES," providing further context for the directional speaker and hearing enhancement.

• Motivation: A PHOSITA would be strongly motivated to combine the concept of "directional hearing enhancement systems" from the '527 application with the specific technical implementation of directional ultrasonic transmission and air demodulation taught by the '529 application. The aim would be to create a non-invasive hearing enhancement apparatus that avoids the significant drawbacks of in-ear devices (like occlusion and feedback) by projecting sound directionally towards the user's ear from an external unit. The increase in power for "at least a portion of the output audio signals" is a fundamental requirement for "enhancing the hearing of the user," and the '789 patent acknowledges natural ear canal resonance contributing to this, implying a known biological effect a PHOSITA would leverage. [cite: Full patent text] The integration of a microphone and directional speaker in an "interface unit" would be an obvious design to capture ambient sound and re-deliver it directionally and enhanced.