DETAILED ACTION
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
This office action is in response to the amendment filed on 2/19/2026.
No claims have been amended.
Claims 1-39 are currently pending and have been examined.
Priority
The review of the claims shows that claims 1-39 do not have full support of the parent application or the provisional application. The Examiner’s review of the parent specification and provisional application concluded that the specification does not recite “estimating a payment score” in claims 1 and 15, where the “payment module is coupled to the tracking module” in claims 27, 32 and 39 as Figure 5 which is cited as describing the revenue and tracking modules does not show the payment or tracking modules being coupled, as recited in the instant claims 1-39 and specification of 14/065841. Additionally numerous criteria described in the payment parameters is also not supported in any of the previous disclosures. Therefore, the Examiner has given the priority date of the CIP, 10/29/2013, as set forth in section 211.05 of the MPEP to claims 1-39.
Claim 1-39 will be given the priority date of 10/29/2013 for these reasons.
The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or original nonprovisional application or provisional application). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994)
The disclosure of the prior-filed application, Application No. 12/274668, fails to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. (Also See MPEP 2133.01 “Any claim that only contains subject matter that is fully supported in compliance with the statutory requirements of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, by the parent application of a CIP will have the effective filing date of the parent application. On the other hand, any claim that contains a limitation that is only supported as required by pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, by the disclosure of the CIP application will have the effective filing date of the CIP application.”)
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that recite the words “means” or “step” which is modified by a transition word such as “for” or that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier.
Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
Claim 27 recites: tracking module monitoring views and acclamations for said uploaded content published on said web-based server (also in claim 31); a revenue tracking module accounting for one or more revenue source fees...; means for initially determining…; means for displaying…; payment module paying said content provider for said uploaded content….;
The tracking module, revenue tracking module, and payment module appear to merely be software running on the payment processor (original claim 32, spec paragraphs [0019], [0020], [0021], [0304], [0307]). The means for initially determining further appears to be software running on the payment processor (see original claim 32). As such, the structure relied upon to perform these operations will be interpreted to be the payment processor which is a general-purpose computing device. The means for displaying the estimate to the user is being interpreted as a content provider computing device (see spec paragraphs [0100], [0281], [0282], [0290]).
Claim 32 recites: electronic communication module which pays a content provider; means for displaying…; payment module paying said content provider for said uploaded content…;
The payment module appears to merely be software running on the payment processor (original claim 32, spec paragraphs [0019], [0020], [0021], [0304], [0307]). The means for determining an allocation further appears to be software running on the payment processor (see original claim 32). As such, the structure relied upon to perform these operations will be interpreted to be the payment processor which is a general-purpose computing device. The electronic communications module appears to merely be a network (spec [0307]).The means for displaying the estimate to the user is being interpreted as a content provider computing device (see spec paragraphs [0100], [0281], [0282], [0290]).
Claim 39 recites: a tracking module monitoring views and acclamations for said uploaded content; a revenue tracking module accounting for one or more revenue source fees; means for determining an allocation for said content provider; means for displaying; a payment module paying said content provider for said uploaded content…;
The tracking module, revenue tracking module, and payment module appear to merely be software running on the payment processor (original claim 32, spec paragraphs [0019], [0020], [0021], [0304], [0307]). The means for determining an allocation further appears to be software running on the payment processor (see original claim 32). As such, the structure relied upon to perform these operations will be interpreted to be the payment processor which is a general-purpose computing device. The means for displaying the estimate to the user is being interpreted as a content provider computing device (see spec paragraphs [0100], [0281], [0282], [0290]).
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract ideas without significantly more.
Step 1: Claims 1-14 and 15-26 recite methods. Claims 27-31, 32-38, and 39 recite systems. Thus, the claims, on their face, are directed to one of the statutory categories of patentable subject matter.
Step 2A prong 1:
The following limitations, when considered individually and as an ordered combination, are merely descriptive of abstract concepts:
Claim 1:
providing a user personal profile (UPP) data store which includes a viewing user personal profile (V-UPP data) and a content providing (CP) user profile (CP-UPP data), the user personal profile data store having a plurality of V-UPP data sets and a plurality of CP-UPP data sets.
registering a user by obtaining the user's profile data (User-UPP data) and storing said User-Upp data in the user profile data store;
providing a content data store;
obtaining content delivered to said publisher from said registered user as a content provider (CP) for the content (CNT) and storing said delivered CNT in said content data store (CNT-DB) and annotating the CP-UPP with delivered time data (CNT-T data) and annotating either the CP-UPP or the content data store with geolocation data (CNT-Geo data), and CP geolocation data at the delivery time (CNT-Geo-T data);
prior to publisher publishing the CNT, initially estimating monetization of said content based upon a first payment parameter (1st -Pay-Par) and a second payment parameter (2nd -Pay-Par) wherein:
(a) said 1st-Pay-Par based upon CP centric actions or characteristics including providing frequency over a predetermined time (Freq-CNT-Count data), providing CNT velocity data based upon CNT-T data, and providing CNT acceleration data based upon CNT-T data, third party providing CNT act data on third party publications, CNT providing event data including CNT-Geo data and CNT-Geo-T data, past CP financial data, and pre-providing CP fame data, wherein the Freq-CNT-Count data, the CNT velocity data, and the CNT acceleration data is compiled from the CP-UPP based upon the CNT-T data over a predetermined pre-posting time period, and wherein the past CP financial data is based upon earlier provided CNT by the CP and the past CP financial data and is a money-paid compared to a money-owed metric, and wherein the CP fame data is obtained from the CP-UPP which is a compilation of CP name hits on search engines compiled over a further pre-posting time period, wherein the third party providing CNT act data is obtained by the publisher searching third party publication for either the provided CNT or earlier provided CNT from the CP on third party publication and generating the third party providing CNT act data based upon a comparison between the provided CNT or earlier provided CNT and the CP comments, messages, tweets, acclamations, likes, dislikes, or favorites on the searched third party websites, and wherein the CNT provided event data is obtained by the publisher searching the third party publications for similar events and comparing and quantifying search results to either the CNT-Geo data or the CP-Geo data from the CP-UPP data or the CNT-store, wherein the lst-Pay-Par is increased based upon CNT velocity data or CNT acceleration data, is increased based upon third party providing CNT act data, and is increased based upon CNT providing event data within a predetermined time period based upon the CNT-Geo-T data;
(b) said 2nd -Pay-Par is based upon content centric actions or characteristics as CNT-centric act data in the content data store which includes the content centric factors involving image quality, image format, content type, content quantity, and content source comparison wherein the 2nd-Pay-Par is compiled by comparing a pre-providing image quality value, a pre- providing image format, a pre-providing type, a pre-providing CNT quantity limit, and assigning high or low score to CNT source data obtained from either the CNT-DB or the CP-UPP, wherein the publisher searches third party publications comparing provided CNT with third party content on the third party publications to obtain CNT source data based upon user-input source analysis data, wherein the 2nd-Pay-Par is decreased based upon the comparison of the provided CNT with the CNT source data, and wherein the 2nd-Pay-Par is increased based upon image quality, image format, content type and content quantity which meets or exceeds the pre-provided image quality value, pre- provided image format, pre-provided type, and pre-provided CNT quantity limits;
upon request displaying an estimated payment or payment score to said CP based upon a compilation of the 1st-Pay-Par and the 2nd -Pay-Par
said publisher publishing said provided CNT on the publication as posted CNT;
monitoring CNT views and CNT acclamations for said posted CNT and storing said CNT view data and CNT acclamation data in said content data store;
monitoring posted CNT performance centric characteristics and viewer centric actions or characteristics and generating a third payment parameter (3rd-Pay-Par) and a fourth payment parameter (4th -Pay-Par) wherein:
(i) said 3rd-Pay-Par based upon said content performance centric characteristics including the CPI number of views (post-CPI data), the number of comments (post-Cmt data), number of likes (post- Like data), number of dislikes (post-Dislike data), and number of acclamations (post-Acclaim data), wherein post-CPI data, post-Cmt data, post-Like data, post-Dislike data, and post-Acclaim data is obtained by the publisher monitoring the performance of posted CNT, and wherein the 3rd-Pay-Par is increased based upon the publisher monitoring the posted CNT and an increase in any of the post-CPI data, post-Cmt data, post-Like data, post-Dislike data, and post-Acclaim data over a predetermined post-CNT time period;
(ii) said 4th-Pay-Par based upon viewer centric actions or characteristics including identifying viewer identity (Viewer-ID data), viewer fame (Viewer-Fame data), viewer profile group (Viewer-Profile data), and viewer followers (Viewer-Follower data) wherein the publisher monitors the posted CNT and matches viewers of the posted CNT with V-UPP data from the UPP- DB and complies and quantifies over a temporal period, for the posted CNT, the Viewer-ID data, Viewer-Fame data, Viewer-Profile data, and Viewer-Follower data, and wherein the 4th-Pay-Par increases based upon a quantitative increase in Viewer-ID data on the posted CNT, and any of the Viewer-Fame data, Viewer-Profile data, and Viewer-Follower data;
allocating to said CP, portions of revenue source fees based upon said 1st -Pay-Par, 2nd -Pay-Par. 3rd -Pay-Par, and 4th -Pay-Par; and
paying said CP for said content based upon the allocation of said revenue source fees.
Claim 15:
registering a user by obtaining the user's profile data and storing said user profile data;
obtaining content from said registered user as a content provider for the content;
said publisher publishing said content on the publication;
monitoring views and acclamations for said content;
prior to monitoring views and acclamations, initially monetizing said content with at least two revenue source fees from the group of revenue sources including advertising fees, sponsored ad fees, and user fees, but not referral fees;
prior to monitoring views and acclamations, initially allocating, to said content provider, a portion of said revenue source fees based upon first and second, but not third and fourth payment parameters, wherein
(a) said first payment parameter is based upon content provider centric actions or characteristics including frequency over a predetermined time, velocity and acceleration of providing content acts on said publication and external acts of providing said content on third party publications, and content providing event metrics including geographic data, past financial data, and content provider fame data;
(b) said second payment parameter is based upon content centric actions or characteristics which includes the content centric factors involve image quality and format, content type, content quantity, and content source comparison;
(c) said third payment parameter is based upon content performance centric characteristics including the CPI number of views, the number of comments, likes, dislikes and acclamations;
(d) said fourth payment parameter is based upon viewer centric actions or characteristics including identity of one or more viewers, viewer fame, viewer profile group, and viewer followers;
prior to monitoring views and acclamations, initially, upon obtaining said content, estimating a payment or a payment score based upon said first and second payment parameters;
upon request displaying the estimated payment or payment score to said content provider;
after publishing said content, allocating to said content provider, said portion of said revenue source fees based upon said first and second payment parameters and said third and fourth payment parameter; and
paying said content provider for said content based upon the allocation of said revenue source fees.
Claim 27:
registering a user by obtaining the user's profile data and storing the same;
delivering content publisher for a publication, said content being associated with said registered user who is a content provider for said content;
monitoring views and acclamations for said content published on said publication;
initially accounting for revenue source fees from the group of revenue sources including advertising fees, sponsored ad fees, user fees and referral fees;
determining an allocation prior to delivering content to the publication, for said content provider, from said revenue source fees based upon payment parameters from the group of payment parameters including first and second, but not third and fourth payment parameters, wherein
(a) said first payment parameter is based upon content provider centric actions or characteristics including frequency over a predetermined time, velocity and acceleration of providing content acts on said publication and external acts of providing said content on third party publications and content providing event metrics including geographic data, past financial data, and content provider fame data;
(b) said second payment parameter is based upon content centric actions or characteristics which includes the content centric factors involve image quality and format, content type, content quantity, and content source comparison;
(c) said third payment parameter is based upon content performance centric characteristics including the CPI number of views, the number of comments, likes, dislikes and acclamations;
(d) said fourth payment parameter is based upon viewer centric actions or characteristics including identity of one or more viewers, viewer fame, viewer profile group, and viewer followers; and
displaying, prior to the delivering content to the publication and upon request, an estimated payment or payment score to said content provider; and
paying said content provider for said content based upon the allocation of said revenue source fees and the first, second, third and fourth payment parameters, effecting the transfer of money for said content to said content provider.
Claim 32:
registering a user by obtaining the user's profile data and storing the same;
delivering content to said publisher for a publication and associating the content with said registered user as a content provider with respect to said content;
monitoring views and acclamations for said content published on said publication;
accounting for revenue source fees from the group of revenue sources including advertising fees, sponsored ad fees, user fees and referral fees which generate monetary revenue from said publisher;
determining an initial allocation prior to delivering content to the publication, for said content provider, from said revenue source fees based upon payment parameters from the group of payment parameters including first, second, third and fourth payment parameters, wherein
(a) said first payment parameter is based upon content provider centric actions or characteristics including frequency over a predetermined time, velocity and acceleration of providing content acts on said publication and external acts of providing said content on third party publications and content providing event metrics including geographic data, past financial data, and content provider fame data;
(b) said second payment parameter is based upon content centric actions or characteristics which includes the content centric factors involve image quality and format, content type, content quantity, and content source comparison;
(c) said third payment parameter is based upon content performance centric characteristics including the CPI number of views, the number of comments, likes, dislikes and acclamations;
(d) said fourth payment parameter is based upon viewer centric actions or characteristics including identity of one or more viewers, viewer fame, viewer profile group, and viewer followers; and
displaying prior to delivering content to the publication, upon request, an estimated payment or payment score to said content provider; and
paying said content provider for said content based upon the allocation of said revenue source fees and the first, second, third and fourth payment parameters, effecting the transfer of money for said content to said content provider.
Claim 39:
registering a user by obtaining the user's profile data and storing the same;
delivering content to said publisher for a publication, said content being associated with said registered user who is a content provider for said content;
monitoring views and acclamations for said content published on said publication;
accounting for revenue source fees from the group of revenue sources including advertising fees, sponsored ad fees, and user fees, but not referral fees which generate monetary revenue for said publisher;
determining an initial allocation prior to delivering content to the publication, for said content provider, from said revenue source fees based upon payment parameters from the group of payment parameters including first and second payment parameter, but not a third payment parameter, wherein
(a) said first payment parameter is based upon content provider centric actions or characteristics including frequency over a predetermined time, velocity and acceleration of content providing acts on said publication and external acts of providing said content on third party publications and content providing event metrics including geographic data, past financial data, and content provider fame data;
(b) said second payment parameter is based upon content centric actions or characteristics which includes the content centric factors involve image quality and format, content type, content quantity, and content source comparison;
(c) said third payment parameter is based upon viewer centric actions or characteristics including the CPI number of views, the number of comments, likes, dislikes and acclamations;
displaying prior to delivering content to the publication, upon request, an estimated payment or payment score to said content provider; and
content provider for said content based upon the initial allocation of said revenue source fees and the first, second, and third payment parameters, effecting the transfer of money for said content to said content provider.
The following dependent claim limitations, when considered individually and as an ordered combination, are merely further descriptive of abstract concepts:
wherein said first, second, third and fourth payment parameters are respectively determined in conjunction with a corresponding temporal period or event (claim 2);
wherein the corresponding temporal period or event is based upon one or more of a pre-content providing event, a content providing event, and a predetermined time period after the content providing event. (claim 3);
wherein said first, second, third and fourth payment parameters are respectively determined in conjunction with a corresponding temporal period or event, said first payment parameter determined when content is published; said second payment parameter determined either before or when the content is published; said third payment parameter determined after the content is published and for predetermined time periods after publication; and said fourth payment parameter determined after the content is published and for predetermined time periods after publication (claim 4);
wherein said first payment parameter is based upon one or more of: geographic location data associated with said content provider or said content; one or more financial metrics based upon said content or other content provided by said content provider to said publisher; one or more fame metrics for said content provider; and one or more content provider action metrics accounting for actions in connection with said publisher (claim 5);
wherein said second payment parameter is determined before or when the content is published based upon one or more of: a quality and a quantity of said content; a topic and content relevancy metric for said content; a temporal relevancy metric for said content; and, a geographic relevancy metric for said content. (claim 6);
wherein said third payment parameter is determined after the content is published and is based upon performance of said content over predetermined time periods, and wherein the performance metrics account for views of the content. (claim 7);
wherein said fourth payment parameter is determined after the content is published and is based upon one or more of: one or more viewer identity metrics for viewers of the content; one or more temporal viewer metrics on the content; and, return viewer metrics for the content. (claim 8);
wherein the monitoring of views and acclamations for said content includes one or more monitoring of: posted comments by others; referrals to the content; referrals from the content; and social network postings and processing (claim 9);
wherein paying said content provider said allocation of said revenue fees includes effecting the payment of money to said content provider through a banking system (claim 10);
wherein said first, second, third and fourth payment parameters are respectively determined in conjunction with a corresponding temporal period or event; said first payment parameter is determined based upon: content providing metrics, content provider acts, geographic location data associated with said content provider, geographic location data associated with said content, financial metrics associated with said content, financial metrics associated with other content provided by said content provider to said publisher, fame metrics for said content provider, and content provider action metrics accounting for actions in connection with said publisher; said second payment parameter is determined based upon: a quality of said content, a quantity of said content, acclaim metrics for said content, topic and content relevancy metrics for said content, temporal relevancy metrics for said content, and, geographic relevancy metrics for said content; said third payment parameter is determined based upon performance metrics accounting for views of said content over predetermined time periods; and, said fourth payment parameter is determined based upon: viewer identity metrics for viewers of the content, temporal viewer metrics on the content, and, return viewer metrics for the content. (claim 11);
wherein paying said content provider said allocation of said revenue fees includes effecting the payment of money to said content provider through a banking system (claim 12);
wherein the monitoring of views and acclamations for said content includes one or more monitoring of: posted comments by others; referrals to the content; referrals from the content; and
social network postings and processing (claim 13);
wherein said third payment parameter accounting for views of the content includes views and acclamations for said content and one or more of: posted comments by viewers; approval and disapproval indicia by viewers; referrals to the content by viewers; referrals from the content by viewers; and social network postings by viewers and processing by social network systems (claim 14);
wherein said first and second payment parameters are respectively determined in conjunction with a corresponding temporal period or event (claim 16);
wherein the corresponding temporal period or event is based upon one or more of a pre-content providing event, a content providing event, and a predetermined time period after the content providing event (claim 17);
wherein said first and second payment parameters are respectively determined in conjunction with a corresponding temporal period or event, said first payment parameter determined when content is published; said second payment parameter determined either before or when the content is published; said third payment parameter determined after the content is published and for predetermined time periods after publication. (claim 18);
wherein said first payment parameter is determined based upon one or more of: geographic location data associated with said content provider or said content; one or more financial metrics based upon said content or other content provided by said content provider to said publisher; one or more fame metrics for said content provider; and one or more content provider action metrics accounting for actions in connection with said publisher (claim 19);
wherein said second payment parameter is determined before or when the content is published based upon one or more of: a quality and a quantity of said content; a topic and content relevancy metric for said content; a temporal relevancy metric for said content; and, a geographic relevancy metric for said content. (claim 20);
wherein said third payment parameter is determined after the content is published and is based upon one or more of: one or more viewer identity metrics for viewers of the content; one or more temporal viewer metrics on the content; and, return viewer metrics for the content. (claim 21);
wherein the monitoring of views and acclamations for said content includes one or more monitoring of: referrals to the content; referrals from the content; and social network postings and processing (claim 22);
wherein paying said content provider said allocation of said revenue fees includes effecting the payment of money to said content provider through a banking system (claim 23);
said first, second, and third payment parameters are respectively determined in conjunction with a corresponding temporal period or event; said first payment parameter is determined based upon: content providing metrics, content provider acts, geographic location data associated with said content provider, geographic location data associated with said content, financial metrics associated with said content, financial metrics associated with other content provided by said content provider to publisher, fame metrics for said content provider, and content provider action metrics accounting for actions in connection with said publisher; said second payment parameter is determined based upon: a quality of said content, a quantity of said content, acclaim metrics for said content, topic and content relevancy metrics for said content, temporal relevancy metrics for said content, and, geographic relevancy metrics for said content; said third payment parameter is determined based upon: viewer identity metrics for viewers of the content, temporal viewer metrics on the content, and, return viewer metrics for the content. (claim 24);
wherein paying said content provider said allocation of said revenue fees includes effecting the payment of money to said content provider through a banking system. (claim 25);
wherein the monitoring of views and acclamations for said content includes one or more monitoring of: referrals to the content; referrals from the content; and social network postings and processing (claim 26);
wherein said first payment parameter is determined when the content is published and is based upon one or more of: geographic location data associated with said content provider or said content; a financial metric based upon said content or other content associated with said content provider and published on publication; a fame metric for said content provider; and a content provider action metric accounting for actions in connection with said publisher. (claim 28);
wherein said second payment parameter is determined before or when the content is published and is based upon one or more of: a quality and a quantity of said content; a topic and content relevancy metric for said content; a temporal relevancy metric for said content; and, a geographic relevancy metric for said content. (claim 29);
wherein said third payment parameter is determined after the content is published and is based upon one or more of: a viewer identity metric for viewers of the content; a temporal viewer metric on the content; and, a return viewer metric for the content (claim 30);
wherein said tracking module for monitoring views and acclamations for said content includes monitoring of one of more of: posted comments by others; approval and disapproval indicia; referrals to the content; referrals from the content; and social network postings and processing. (claim 31);
wherein said first payment parameter is determined based upon one or more of: geographic location data associated with said content provider or said content; a financial metric based upon said content or other content associated with said content provider; a fame metric for said content provider; and a content provider action metric accounting for actions in connection with said publisher (claim 34);
wherein said second payment parameter is determined before or when the content 1s published based upon one or more of: a quality and a quantity of said content; an acclaim metric for said content; a topic and content relevancy metric for said content; a temporal relevancy metric for said content; a geographic relevancy metric for said content; (claim 35);
wherein said third payment parameter is determined after the content is published and is based upon performance of said content over predetermined time periods, and wherein the performance metrics account for views of the content (claim 36);
wherein said fourth payment parameter is determined after the content is published and is based upon one or more of: a viewer identity metric for viewers of the content; a temporal viewer metric on the content from said tracking module; and, a return viewer metric for the content from said tracking module. (claim 37);
monitoring of one of more of: posted comments by others; approval and disapproval indicia; referrals to the content; referrals from the content; and social network postings and processing (claim 38);
The limitation falls within “Certain Methods Of Organizing Human Activity” for managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions) as well as commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations). The claims provide a content provider with an estimate for monetization of their content when published and then also provides the content provider with compensation based on performance metrics of their published content. Thus, when considered both individually and as an ordered combination, the claims are specifically reciting advertising and sales activities by claiming the payment allocation for content based on performance.
Step 2A prong 2: This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claims recite the following additional elements: online content, content in digital form (claim 1, 15, 27, 32, 39); internet (claim 1, 15, 27, 32, 39); web-based server (claim 1, 5, 11, 15, 19, 27, 28, 32, 34, 39); payment processor computer/ payment processor (claim 1, 15, 27, 32, 39); memory data storage (claim 1, 15, 27, 32, 39); personal profile database (UPP-DB) (claim 1); content data base (CNT-DB) (claim 1); uploading/uploaded content (claim1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39); upload CNT-T data, CNT-Geo data, CNT-Geo-T data, uploading frequency, uploading velocity, uploading acceleration, uploading content to third party sites/ act data, upload event metrics, pre-content upload event, content upload event, (claim 1, 2, 11, 15, 17, 24, 27, 32, 39); internet site (claim 1, 15, 27, 32, 39); internet views (claim 7, 14, 36); links to uploaded content/ links from uploaded content (claim 9, 13, 22, 26, 31, 38); compiler (claim 27, 32, 33, 34, 39); uploader (claim 27, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39); tracking module (claim 27, 31, 32, 33, 37, 39); revenue tracking module (claim 27, 32, 39); means for displaying (claim 27, 32, 39); means for initially determining an allocation for content provider (claim 27, 39); payment module (claim 27, 32, 39); electronic communication module (claim 32);
The web-based server, payment processor computer, payment processor, memory data storage, personal profile database (UPP-DB), content data base (CNT-DB), means for displaying (see 112(f) - general-purpose computing device of the content provider), and electronic communication module (see 112(f) – network) are recited at a high level of generality and merely amount to “applying it” (the abstract concepts) using general purpose computing components. The computing devices merely process data (registering, publishing, monitoring, allocating, paying, determining, monetizing, accounting), perform calculations (estimating), store data (storing), send and receive data (obtaining, delivering), and provide generic displaying (displaying). Thus, nothing in the claims improves the functioning of the computers themselves, technology, or a technical field. Further, the databases are merely used to store and retrieve data used in the calculations. Nothing in the claims improves database, database technology, or a technical field. (See MPEP 2106.05(f)).
The fact that the content is online content, in digital form, uploading/uploaded content and that the metrics (uploading frequency, uploading velocity, uploading acceleration, uploading content to third party sites, upload event metrics, pre-content upload event, content upload event, upload CNT-T data, CNT-Geo data, CNT-Geo-T data) are “upload” metrics merely provides a general link to a particular technological environment or field of use. The fact the content is uploaded/digital merely provides that the content is received and implemented in a computing environment. There is no claimed improvement to the field of data transfers or digitization of content itself. (See MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Further, the metrics do not actually have anything to do with the act of uploading itself. For example, uploading frequency is merely how often a user submits content. Upload velocity is merely a comparison of how many content items the user submitted in one period of time compared to another, etc. Thus, none of the metrics actually have anything to do with technical features of uploading and are merely indicators of when and how often the content is received.
Further, the environment in which the data is transmitted and received being the internet, the content is published onto internet sites, and tracking internet views is further a general link to a particular field of use or technological (i.e. publishing on the internet vs publishing in a newspaper). The claims do not include any specific mechanism or detailed function for tracking the internet views of the content. Thus, such activity is no more than tracking the performance of the content in an online environment.
Further, the claims do not include any improvements to the internet itself, data transfers over the internet, publishing content online, or the monitoring internet activity. Thus, the general use of the internet to send and receive data, publishing on internet websites, and tracking views merely act as the backdrop in which to practice the abstract concepts. (See MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Additionally, the links to uploaded content/ links from uploaded content merely provide a general link to a particular environment or field of user. The claims do not include specific mechanism for tracking links. Further, the use of links does not improve internet functionality or tracking. As a result, the links merely amount to tracking referrals in an online environment. (See MPEP 2106.05(h)).
The compiler, uploader, tracking module, revenue tracking module, means for initially determining an allocation for content provider, and payment module appear to merely be names for software modules used to implement the steps of the invention. Thus, these modules are merely software running on the general-purpose computing systems referenced above. Therefore, these elements amount to merely applying the abstract ideas using general purpose computers (See MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Accordingly, when considered both individually and as an ordered combination, the additional elements do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Since the claims recite abstract concepts and do not provide a practical application the examiner concludes that the claims are directed to abstract concepts.
Step 2B: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Similarly, as above with regard to practical application, the additional elements when considered both individually and as an ordered combination, do not provide an inventive concept as they merely provide generic computing components used as a tool to implement the abstract idea and provide a general link to a particular technological environment or field of use (i.e. online).
As a result, the claims are not patent eligible.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter over the prior art, however, issues under 35 USC 101 would still need to be resolved.
In view of the previous claim amendments, the search was updated and no prior art alone or in combination was found to teach the claims as amended. The closest prior art was found to be Merriman (US Pub. No. 2006/0089880) which discloses the steps of estimating the performances of a particular advertisement using a predictive model, delivering the advertisement, and then monitoring in a feedback loop how the viewers respond to the advertisement. The next closest prior art is Tran (US Pub. No. 2008/0275763) which discloses the monetization of user created content which includes analyzing the videos quality and originality. Banadaki (U.S. Pat. No. 10402861) discloses the selection and payment for advertisements based on a weighted formula. Fassett (US Pub No. 2008/0109363) discloses compensating content providers for user generated content based on response to views from other users. Wang et al (US Pub No 2013/0262218) teaches determining prices of content items based on estimated performance. Chan et al (US Pub No 2011/0258050) teaches compensating sharers/content creators for posting content. However, theses closest prior arts do not disclose the invention as claimed. Specifically, as noted in claim 1, the limitation of “initially estimating monetization of said uploaded content based upon a first and a second payment parameter wherein: (a) said first payment parameter based upon content provider centric actions or characteristics including uploading frequency over a predetermined time, uploading velocity and uploading acceleration of content, external acts of uploading said content on third party sites, and content upload event metrics including geographic data, past financial data, and content provider fame data; (b) said second payment parameter based upon content centric actions or characteristics which includes the content centric factors involve image quality and format, content type, content quantity, and content source comparison; upon request displaying the estimated payment or payment score to said content provider” in the context of the claimed invention are found to be allowable over the prior art. Further, claims 15, 27, 32, and 39 recite similar limitations.
Response to Arguments
The examiner has considered but does not find persuasive applicant’s arguments regarding rejections under 35 USC 101. Applicant argues that there is an extensive amount of data and thus one could not do it as a mental process. First, nothing in the claims limits them to such an extensive amount of data. Further, and more importantly, the claims are not rejected as a mental process. They are rejected under certain methods of organizing human activity. As a result, such argument is moot.
With regard to the findings in Desjardins, the examiner finds nothing applicable to the present claims. Desjardins was concerning the use of AI and the invention was considered to be an improvement to machine learning. Nothing in the present claims has anything to do with machine learning, let alone an improvement to it. Further, applicant’s argument regarding Newman are also irrelevant. Nothing in the claims improves upon data storage or its use. The claims merely store and receive data from various sources.
With regard to example 43, applicant appears to be mistaken. As best the examiner can tell, they meant to cite example 47. The examiner finds no similarities between the present claims and example 47. The analysis for example 47 claim 3 as to why it is eligible recites:
“According to the background section, existing systems use various detection techniques for detecting potentially malicious network packets and can alert a network administrator to potential problems. The disclosed system detects network intrusions and takes real-time remedial actions, including dropping suspicious packets and blocking traffic from suspicious source addresses. The background section further explains that the disclosed system enhances security by acting in real time to proactively prevent network intrusions. The claimed invention reflects this improvement in the technical field of network intrusion detection. Steps (d)-(f) provide for improved network security using the information from the detection to enhance security by taking proactive measures to remediate the danger by detecting the source address associated with the potentially malicious packets.”
The present claims provide no such improvement to network security or to anything related to computers themselves. Any alleged improvement is to the abstract idea itself regarding the estimation of the monetization of the content. All of the variables and parameters are merely data sources used for the abstract idea. Applicant’s invention is merely acquiring data from various sources and using it to perform a calculation to estimate the monetization of content. The claims lack meaningful use of technology and nothing improves computers, technology, or a technical field.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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CHRISTOPHER STROUD
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3621B
/CHRISTOPHER STROUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621