Appeal No. 2001-0261
Application 08/546,050
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to an in-the-ear earphone having a
curved shape to fit into the concha of a user's ear.
Claim 1 is reproduced below.
1. An in-the-ear earphone which is placed on a user's
ear, said earphone comprising:
a shell body defining an internal cavity, said shell
body having an extended portion shaped and sized to fit into
a concha of the user's ear, said extended portion including
an aperture at an end thereof which aligns with the user's
ear when said earphone is being worn by the user, said
extended portion defining a passageway extending from said
aperture to said internal cavity so that said internal
cavity is acoustically coupled to the user's ear cavity when
the headphone [sic, earphone] is being worn by the user,
said extended portion being curved along substantially
its entire length to substantially match the curvature of
said concha and allow attachment around said extended
portion of a cushion for establishing a seal between said
extended portion and the user's ear.
The examiner relies on the following references:
Jensen 5,134,655 July 28, 1992
Sapiejewski (Sapiejewski '868) 5,208,868 May 4, 1993
Sapiejewski (Sapiejewski '387) 5,305,387 April 19, 1994
Vermorel et al. (Vermorel) FR 2,604,551 April 1, 1988
Gorlke DE 32 10 034 September 30, 1982
Claim 3 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as being a
substantial duplicate of claim 4.
Claims 1-5, 7, 14-17, 20-22, 32-34, and 43-45 stand
rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being anticipated by
Sapiejewski '387.
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