Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-6, 9-21 have been examined.
Examiner Note
Examiner notes the PTAB Affirmed all 101 and 103 rejections on this case on 3/1/24. Hence, what the PTAB has already established and affirmed is considered part of the established record. However, on 5/3/24, Applicant filed an RCE with amendments.
Also, Examiner notes the PTAB affirmed the continuation parent case 11573178 rejections on 6/1/2016. See the following note. Examiner notes that this note applies to the 1/17/20 action. It does not apply to the 4/16/20 action. However, this note is left in the action to note the BPAI history of this case. Examiner notes that the current 15225460 is a continuation from parent 11573178. Parent 11573178 had the 8/10/2011 copy of the claims with claims 17-20, 23. These 8/10/2011 claims were rejected with a Final on 4/17/2013. The 103 rejection for claims 17-20, 23 with Gerace in view of Dombrowski in view of Thomas was Affirmed by the BPAI on 6/1/2016. Hence, the 103 rejection for claims 17-20, 23 of 11573178 is proper and Affirmed. And, the present claims 2-5 for 15225460 are verbatim identical to 18-20, 23 of 11573178. And, the present claim 1 for 15225460 is almost identical to claim 17 for 11573178. The present claim 1 drops the nature sketch term in the associating step. However, the present claim 1 keeps the characteristic response data which comprises nature sketch anyway. So, the present claim 1 is identical to claim 17 of 11573178 except for a couple dropped terms in the associating step. So, present claim 1 is actually broader. So, claim 17 of 11573178 is clearly drawn to the same invention and reads on everything claimed in current claim 1 of 15225460. So, the Final rejection following is proper. And, the BPAI has already affirmed the 103 combination following and that it reads on the claim features stated.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Examiner notes the PTAB Affirmed all 101 and 103 rejections on this case on 3/1/24. Hence, what the PTAB has already established and affirmed is considered part of the established record. However, on 5/3/24, Applicant filed an RCE with amendments.
On 3/5/26, Applicant amended the independent claims. Applicant’s remarks address these new features. However, see the 112 in response to these new features. Also, see the new citations in regards to these features.
Also, Examiner notes that Dependent claim 2 dated 12/18/24 is the same as dependent claim 2 dated 4/15/22. The claim 2 dated 4/15/22 was already affirmed on 3/1/24 by the PTAB for the 101 and 103 with Gerace in view of Carlson. See the PTAB decision. Also, the determine and compare steps are already Affirmed by the PTAB on 3/1/24. Applicant added minor amendments to these steps. Examiner will add further citations for these minor amendments in the determine and compare steps. However, the rest of the determine and compare steps were addressed by the PTAB already in detail.
Applicant also again presents 101 arguments. The PTAB already affirmed 101. Applicant did add a couple minor steps in the independent and also a clickable link and geographic information. These new features are addressed in the 101 below. The clickable link is considered an additional element but a generic additional element. The geographic info is considered generic as no particular or technical steps are provided. See the 101 below.
Also, the 101 is still found to apply. See the updated 101 below in regards to the new claims. The GUI added is considered generic. The sponsor content feed and geographic location is considered generic.
Also, since the Applicant was given the opportunity with the 2/19/21 response and has failed to traverse the Examiner's assertion of Official Notice, the common knowledge or well known in the art statement is taken to be admitted prior art (see MPEP 2144.03.C). Applicant did not challenge Official Notice with their 2/19/21 response.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-6, 9-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
On 3/5/26, Applicant amended independent claims 1, 20, 21. Representative claim 1 was amended to states, “generating at least one sponsor content feed item based on the sponsor information;” or for claims 20, 21: “generating at least one sponsor content feed item based on the sponsor information, wherein the at least one sponsor content feed item is associated with the geographic region;”.. Examiner notes that Applicant did not indicate where support could be found for this amendment or the other amendments of 3/5/26. Examiner can Not find support for this feature. Sponsor content feed is Not generated or created. Rather, feed content is generated by an author. Then, AFTER the feed content is generated, a sponsor can be found for that content. There is an author of the feed content and Then there can be a sponsor of that authored content. The Sponsor is Not a creator/generator/author. This can be seen throughout Applicant’s Spec and as places like this in Applicant Spec: “[133]…“This News.com feed is sponsored by Intel,””, “[135]… A server provides a request for sponsorship of feed formatted content from an author of the feed formatted content at … The request for sponsorship is received at 1704 by a sponsor. A reply is provided by the sponsor in response to the request at 1706...The server determines a feed formatted content association between the sponsor and the author of the feed formatted”, “[141]… a sponsored feed formatted content”.
Hence, there is an author of feed content and a separate sponsor. The sponsor does Not author, create, or generate this feed content. Hence, this feature is Not supported.
Also, om 3/5/25, Applicant added this feature to the independent claims as seen in representative claim 1, “dynamically inserting the at least one sponsor content feed item into the first content feed as a separate feed item distinct from at least one feed content item of the first content feed”. However, there is a sponsor and a separate author of feed content. The sponsor does Not author, create, or generate this feed content. Hence, this feature is Not supported. Also, Examiner could not find in the text or figure description this separate or distinct into sponsor content feed insertion. Hence, this insert into as a separate feed item distinct from could not be found either. Hence, that element is not described or supported.
Hence, the independent claims and, therefore, the claims are not 112 supported.
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.
Independent Claims 1, 20, 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claims are in a statutory category of invention. However, the claims recite a determining an attribute of the user step, a receiving a user request, a receiving content step, a determining a content source step, providing an interface for selection, based on selection providing content, comparing a keyword to content, receive information from a sponsor, wherein the sponsor information includes a geographic region: generate a sponsor content feed item based on the sponsor information; selecting content based on the comparison, a providing content step, and getting user geographic info and content geographic attribute and comparing and selecting content based on geographic info, based on determining a match between the geographic location associated with the user device or the user and the geographic region associated with the sponsor information, selecting content. This is considered in the Abstract Idea grouping of certain methods of organizing human activity - advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claim is directed to an abstract idea with additional generic computer elements. The generically recited computer elements do not add a practical application or meaningful limitation to the abstract idea because they amount to simply implementing the abstract idea on a computer. The hardware in the claims is the at least one server and the user device and a graphical representation with a clickable link. There is also a GUI for display. Also, additional elements are considered inserting the at least one sponsor content feed item into the first content feed as a separate feed item distinct from at least one feed content item of the first content feed. These are considered generic. Inserting content is considered generic. Also, there is the final additional element step of providing the feed formatted content. Given Applicant’s Spec on feed formatted content (see [4, 5] of PG_Pub version) , the providing feed formatted content in a graphical form on a user device is considered generic such that it is not a practical application. The geographic info is considered generic as no particular or technical steps are provided.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. The additional limitations only perform well-understood, routine, conventional computer functions as recognized by the court decisions listed in MPEP § 2106.05(d). Also, the additional hardware elements are: (i) mere instructions to implement the idea on a computer, and/or (ii) recitation of generic computer structure that serves to perform generic computer functions. Viewed separately or as a whole, these additional claim elements do not provide meaningful limitations to transform the abstract idea into a patent eligible application of the abstract idea such that the claims amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. The claim does not provide significantly more than the identified abstract idea, in that there is no improvement to another technology or technical field, no improvement to the functioning of a computer, no application with, or by use of a particular machine, no transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, no specific limitation other than what is well-understood, routing and conventional in the field, no unconventional step that confines the claim to a particular useful application, or meaningful limitations that amount to more than generally linking the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment. Therefore, the claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Dependent claims 2-6, 9-19 are not considered directed to any additional non-abstract claim elements. Dependent claim 15 has RSS, ATOM, XML, EDI, claim 18 has XML and HTML However, these are considered generic. No other additional elements are found. So, these claims offer further descriptive limitations of elements found in the independent claims and addressed above. While these descriptive elements may provide further helpful description for the claimed invention, these elements do not confer subject matter eligibility to the invention since their individual and combined significance is still not more than the abstract concepts identified in the claimed invention. Hence, these dependent claims are also rejected under 101.
Please see the 35 USC 101 section at the Examination Guidance and Training Materials page on the USPTO website.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented 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 to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-6, 9, 10, 12-18, 20, 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Gerace (5848396) in view of Carlson (20050267973).
Claim 1, 20, 21. Note that Applicant’s feed formatted content as presently written in the claims can be broadly interpreted (Applicant’s Specification from the PG_Pub paragraphs [4, 5]). Gerace discloses a system for providing feed content to a user device comprising:
at least one server configured to (Figs. 1, 2):
receive a user request (Fig. 3a; the user requests different content at 6:57-7:10; also see 9:40-50);
determine at least one attribute associated with the user device or the user (5:15-25; 7:23-37), wherein the at least one attribute comprises at least a geographic location (6:1-8, “User Object 37a identifies a respective user by nickname (user chosen), password (user chosen), and optionally E-mail address, postal address, telephone number, credit card number, and the like. User Object 37a also provides language, geographic, demographic and lifestyle information about the user.”).
Gerace further discloses determine, one or more content feeds of a plurality of content feeds of a plurality of content feeds based on the user request (6:20-40, note “Another user may prefer stock information displayed in a running 1-line quote at the bottom of the screen and…” which is interpreted as a content feed; 7:60-8:5 and the ticker of stock information; 8:10-32 and “Statistics are updated and displayed during play of a game, so that the General Sports Page provides game-in-progress statistics in realtime.” And “The "News Page" format includes information regarding major trades, signings and injuries. In the preferred embodiment, a scrolling window of latest news is also included.”; 13:47-61, “and sports scores scroll behind the "Sports" option.”; 25:5-30, weather and satellite views of national or regional areas; 25:55-60 sports ticker; 25:55-60 scrolling Java news info; claim 18 and realtime and alongside TV; Sources, these provide further info on content sources: 14:50-60, “Sources of the data include on-line securities information from S & P Comstock”; and 16:35-55, “That is, the Page Objects 35a,b,c (i) assemble the data from a pertinent agate source whose URL is passed in the initial request/option selection,”; 16:55-70, “Preferably, the sources of travel and directory data are: services which compile the subject data for use by program 31 administer, satellite sources, or FM transmission sources… Other data sources or a combination of said sources are suitable.”; also in regards to determining from a content source, see Fig. 2 item 31 where multiple different content feeds go into the one content source, also Fig. 4a shows the content source that gets fed multiple, different content feeds, also Fig. 1 and its description at 3:37-67 shows content source 31 that gets fed multiple, different content feeds from the different routers, servers, processors, networks in Fig. 1 ).
Gerace further discloses registering or logging in (Fig 3b Item 37a) and custom content pages (Figs. 2, 3a). While Gerace discloses multiple different content feeds and the user selecting content feeds (above), Gerace does not explicitly disclose provide a graphical user interface for display at the user device, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to visually represent selectable options enabling a user to subscribe to the one or more content feeds; based on detecting a selection of a selectable option associated with a first content feed of the one or more content feeds, subscribe the user with the first content feed. However, Carlson discloses provide a graphical user interface for display at the user device, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to visually represent selectable options enabling a user to subscribe to the one or more content feeds (Carlson at Fig. 7, note “subscribed feeds on left”, note option to subscribe at bottom of window under EAG with the selectable checkboxes; see Fig. 13 with add feeds and checkboxes, see Fig. 18 with checkboxes and generate feed; also see Fig. 17 and XML “custom RSS feed generator”; also note that Carlson Provisional 60572174 shows support for subscribe to a feed at least at pages 1, 2). And, Carlson further discloses based on detecting a selection of a selectable option associated with a first content feed of the one or more content feeds, subscribe the user with the first content feed (see Carlson Fig. 7 which shows subscribed feeds; also see subscribe at [7, 9, 10]). Also, note that Carlson discloses a range of content including advertising [6] and feed publishing [8]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Carlson GUI and subscribing to feeds to Gerace’s user selecting feeds of interest and displaying feeds. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better select feeds of interest.
Gerace further discloses wherein the first content feed is configured to provide feed formatted content, wherein the feed formatted content includes at least one feed content items (this shows selecting the content or feed formatted content based on attribute/interest of the user, 6:20-40, 16:19-30; and see feed formatted content preceding, and the feed formatted content preceding has multiple items like sports scores ticker on multiple teams or stocks ticker on multiple stocks).
Gerace further discloses receive sponsor information from a sponsor, wherein the sponsor information is associated with a geographic region and at least one targeting criterion (See Sponsor information at Fig. 5a and location and local/regional/national information about the Sponsor; for targeting criterion see Figs. 5b-5d);
generate a content feed item based on the content feed provider information (See Fig. 4a with home page for user and forecast for local area and forecast for interested cities of user and weather warning for local city).
Gerace does not explicitly disclose generate at least one sponsor content feed item based on the sponsor information. That is, Gerace does not explicitly disclose that a content feed can be a sponsor content feed. However, Examiner notes that Applicant’s feed formatted content as presently written in the claims can be broadly interpreted (Applicant’s Specification from the PG_Pub paragraphs [4, 5]). And, Gerace clearly discloses feed formatted content with the home page of Fig. 4a and the different content feed information there (Fig. 4a with weather and stocks and sports content feeds). So, Gerace discloses assembling different content feeds into a page of content feeds. And, Gerace further discloses this home page of content feeds can have ads inserted into it (see home page and ad 8:12-20, see home page and ad and regional weather at 8:50-57) and integrating ads into a feed format content page (16:40-50) and also inserting ads into feed formatted content (see insert ad at 9:40-52) and also see inserting “brought to you by” ads into feed content (14:27-35, 17:43-52). Also, Gerace discloses that agate information and sponsor objects and that the agate information can have stock, sports, weather, and ads, etc (2:60-67). And, as shown, Gerace’s weather, sports, stock reads on content feed and so does Gerace’s homepage of combined content feed and other information. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Gerace’s content feed of agate info like sports, weather, stock info to Gerace’s agate info like ads so that the ads can also be content feed. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present agate info in appropriate/optimal forms. Alternatively, it would have been obvious to add a sponsor content feed to Gerace’s homepage with content feed information and inserted sponsor content/ads. One would have been motivated to do this to better integrate ads into the homepage (as shown with Gerace’s integrate ads above, 16:40-50).
Gerace further discloses compare the geographic location associated with the user device or the user to the geographic region associated with the sponsor information (8:50-57 where the local area and city of interest indicates that the weather or information has an attribute element that is geographic and that it the content feed is based on the appropriate content feed compared to the location of the user; also 15:57-16:20 shows the stock and weather feed information is for the particular user and his attributes like where he is or companies of interest; also see See Fig. 4a with home page for user and forecast for local area and forecast for interested cities of user and weather warning for local city so the user information of Fig. 3b of user location or user location interest is compared to the sponsor information of Fig. 5a to provide the local or interested cities forecast of Fig. 4a).
Gerace further discloses based on determining a match between the geographic location associated with the user device or the user and the geographic region associated with the sponsor information, dynamically inserting the at least one sponsor content feed item into the first content feed as a separate feed item distinct from at least one feed content item of the first content feed (see insert ad at 9:40-52, and also see inserting “brought to you by” ads into feed content at 14:27-35, 17:43-52; see sponsor content feed preceding; See Fig. 4a where weather content feed is inserted between other content feeds like stock tickers or rolling sports information; 8:50-57 where the local area and city of interest indicates that the weather or information has an attribute element that is geographic and that it the content feed is based on the appropriate content feed compared to the location of the user, and the appropriate city/local weather is selected based on user location; also, of the many content feeds available in Gerace, Gerace selects the proper stock 13:45-61 or proper sports feed 8:13-33 as appropriate for a particular page).
Gerace further discloses provide the at least one sponsor content feed item in the first content feed to the user device, wherein a graphical representation of the at least one sponsor content feed item is configured to be displayed on a display of the user device (see sponsor content feed above; 6:20-40; 16:19-30; note the graphical representation in the feeds content cited above like scrolling, tickers, satellite views, etc) integrated with the feed formatted content of the first content feed (see insert ad at 9:40-52, and also see inserting “brought to you by” ads into feed content at 14:27-35, 17:43-52; see sponsor content feed preceding; See Fig. 4a where weather content feed is inserted between other content feeds like stock tickers or rolling sports information; 8:50-57 where the local area and city of interest indicates that the weather or information has an attribute element that is geographic and that it the content feed is based on the appropriate content feed compared to the location of the user, and the appropriate city/local weather is selected based on user location; also, of the many content feeds available in Gerace, Gerace selects the proper stock 13:45-61 or proper sports feed 8:13-33 as appropriate for a particular page).
Gerace further discloses and wherein the graphical representation includes a clickable link configured to enable the user to access additional information associated with the sponsor (see sponsor as Dean Witter 14:25-35 “Main routine 39 also enables a banner to appear at the top of the screen reading (for example) "Brought to you by Dean Witter". The user is able to select/click on this banner to effectively request more Dean Witter information from program 31. To accomplish this, the screen view contains a hyperlink formed of the URL for Dean Witter information on the Internet, and program 31 would list the new user as the requester and the current screen view as the page from which he made the request.”; here there is content feed that also has a link to more info on any of the scrolling articles displayed: 8:25-33 “Statistics are updated and displayed during play of a game, so that the General Sports Page provides game-in-progress statistics in realtime. Also a news window is provided for each sport with a link to a "News Page" (object) for more news. The "News Page" format includes information regarding major trades, signings and injuries. In the preferred embodiment, a scrolling window of latest news is also included.”; here there is news feed and link for more info: 25:53-57 “News window for each sport showing recent (e.g., 2-3 days worth of news) with link to News Page for more.”; here there is a weather feed and link for more info: And 31:40-45 ”increasingly accurate maps global in scope result in location that links to local weather data.”; also note that Gerace also further shows clicking for further info in general 5:26-32 “(b) the number of times/users who have requested more information (via a click of a mouse on a corresponding menu selection)” and Referring links 6:47-53 “(a) the referring link from which the user accessed program 31 (e.g., a so called "bookmark" or "hyperlink" which effectively stores and forwards the Web site address of program 31)” and 7:50-57 ” The stock data category provides portfolio information such as opening price per share, change in price from last posting, 52 week highs and lows, etc. If a user selects the stock data category (i.e., as a menu selection) for further viewing, a Page Display Object 35c in the form of a Financial Page (screen view) is generated in one of the alternative formats outlined in Appendix I.”). Hence, Gerace clearly shows content feed data and a clickable link for further info and also particularly shows with Dean Witter a sponsor content data and a clickable link for further info.
In further regards to claim 20, Gerace further discloses wherein the at least one sponsor content feed item is associated with the geographic region (8:50-57 where the local area and city of interest indicates that the weather or information has an attribute element that is geographic and that it the content feed is based on the appropriate content feed compared to the location of the user, and the appropriate city/local weather is selected based on user location).
Claim 2. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to:
receive content information from a plurality of content sources (2:60-3:5, 7:45-57; Figs. 2, 3a);
identify a plurality of pages or sites; determine whether each of the plurality of pages or sites includes an associated content feed; generate a list of the plurality of pages or sites that include the associated content feed; and provide the list of the plurality of pages or sites to the user device (16:40-50 and URL; and see content feed citations above and realtime/streaming/scrolling/running content). Gerace does not explicitly disclose wherein the selectable options are configured to be displayed on the user device to enable subscription to a content feed associated with each of the plurality of pages or sites. However, Carlson discloses subscribing to feed services over the Internet (see feeds and subscribe to at [7, 10]; Fig. 5b, 7, 8, 12a). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Carlson’s subscription based content to Gerace’s variety of feed content. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present content of interest.
Claim 3. The prior art further discloses the system of claim 2, wherein the at least one server is further configured to: receive, from the user device, a selection of at least one of the selectable options, wherein the at least one selectable option is associated with the first content feed; retrieve the feed formatted content of the first content feed associated with the selectable option in response to the selection; modify a personal page or portal of the user to include the subscription to the first content feed; and provide the feed formatted content of the first content feed to the user device (see Gerace at 6:20-40; 16:19-30; also see Carlson for selectable option with the prior art combination above).
Claim 4. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to: receive the feed formatted content of the content feed; and modify a personal page or portal of the user to include the feed formatted content of the content feed (6:20-40; 16:19-30; see servers at Figs. 1, 2).
Claim 5. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the user request includes at least one keyword, wherein the at least one server is further configured to (1:45-50 and users searching the Internet with browsers; 1:60-65 and Movie Phone and look up individual stock quotes; 9:40-50 and search with user provided parameters; 22:40-65 and search TV and film and search my keyword; see servers at Figs. 1, 2). Gerace does not explicitly disclose compare the at least one keyword to the feed formatted content of each content feed, wherein the determination of the one or more content feeds is further based on the comparison, and wherein the at least one keyword is further used to determine whether to insert the at least one sponsor content feed item into the first content feed. However, Carlson discloses these features and Carlson discloses comparing keyword to content feed and select a feed based on the keyword (see keyword and feeds at [40, 54, 60, 64]; also note that Carlson Provisional 60572174 shows support for keyword and feed at least at pages 2 and 5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Carlson’s keyword search of feeds to Gerace’s feeds content and keyword search and custom page. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present custom pages of content.
Claim 6. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the at least one attribute associated with the user device or the user further comprises geographical information, demographic information, user profile information, search information, user behavior information, historical information, content request information, or a combination thereof (Figs. 3b-3g). Gerace does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one attribute associated with the user device or the user further comprises IP address information. However, Carlson further discloses IP address associated with the user [15, 66]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Carlson’s IP address and user to Gerace’s info associated with the user. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better provide information on the user for better targeting.
Claim 9. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the at least one attribute associated with the user device or the user is further associated with demographic information of the user, wherein the sponsor information is further associated with demographic criteria, and wherein the at least one server is further configured to (see Gerace at Figs. 3b-3g and 5a-5d):
compare the demographic information of the user to the demographic criteria associated with the sponsor information, wherein the insertion of the at least one sponsor content feed item into the first content feed is further based on the comparison, and wherein the at least one sponsor content feed item is inserted into the first content feed only when both the geographic location and the demographic information match the respective criteria (see Gerace at Figs. 3b-3g and 5a-5d; also see citations above).
Claim 10. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to: process the sponsor information, wherein the at least one sponsor content feed item of the sponsor information comprises an audio or visual element configured to be played or displayed on the user device (14:22-37).
Claim 12. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the at least one feed content item further comprises at least one of a title element, at least one link, a description element, or a combination thereof (see link as URL at 16:35-55, “That is, the Page Objects 35a,b,c (i) assemble the data from a pertinent agate source whose URL is passed in the initial request/option selection,”).
Claim 13. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 12, wherein the at least one link is associated with a web page corresponding to at least one content feed or a web page associated with a sponsor, and wherein the clickable link directs the user to a sponsor-specific landing page (see link as URL at 16:35-55, “That is, the Page Objects 35a,b,c (i) assemble the data from a pertinent agate source whose URL is passed in the initial request/option selection,”; also see 14:22-37).
Claim 14. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the at least one content feed content item includes a geographic location element (8:50-57 where the local area and city of interest indicates that the weather or information has an attribute element that is geographic), an event marker element, a payment marker element, a creation date, at least one author, a last-updated time stamp, at least one keyword, or a combination thereof (see Figs. 2, 3a which present based on Figs. 3b-3g which includes keyword, geographic or keyword), and wherein the geographic location element enables the server to perform the comparison of the geographic location associated with the user device or the user to the geographic region of the sponsor information (see Gerace at Figs. 3b-3g and 5a-5d, also note the citations above).
Claim 15. Gerace does not explicitly disclose the system of claim 1 wherein the first content feed comprises a syndicated feed, and wherein a format of the first content feed comprises a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) format, an ATOM format, an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format, or an Electronic data interchange (EDI) format. Examiner notes that based on Applicant Spec at [4], that RSS reads on syndicated feed. And, Gerace discloses using HTML and other common Internet languages (13:45-62; 1:30-50). And, Carlson discloses XML, ATOM and RSS content at [7]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Carlson’s use of XML and RSS to Gerace’s Internet content. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present Internet content of interest.
Claim 16. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to: determine whether first the content feed has been updated; and receive updated feed formatted content based on the determination (see claim 18).
Claim 17. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more content feeds is associated with a content source, wherein the content souce comprises a web page, a social networking page or site, an email, a document, video data, audio data, or a combination thereof (see web page as URL at 16:35-55, “That is, the Page Objects 35a,b,c (i) assemble the data from a pertinent agate source whose URL is passed in the initial request/option selection,”), and wherein the at least one sponsor content feed item is generated separately from the content source and inserted into the first content feed by the at least one server (see insert ad at 9:40-52, and also see inserting “brought to you by” ads into feed content at 14:27-35, 17:43-52; see sponsor content feed preceding; See Fig. 4a where weather content feed is inserted between other content feeds like stock tickers or rolling sports information; 8:50-57 where the local area and city of interest indicates that the weather or information has an attribute element that is geographic and that it the content feed is based on the appropriate content feed compared to the location of the user, and the appropriate city/local weather is selected based on user location; also, of the many content feeds available in Gerace, Gerace selects the proper stock 13:45-61 or proper sports feed 8:13-33 as appropriate for a particular page).
Claim 18. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server is further configured to modify a user page to include a selection to the first content feed, wherein the feed formatted content of the first content feed is Internet compliant format, wherein the feed formatted content is converted into Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), wherein the at least one sponsor content feed item is also converted into HTML for display, wherein the clickable link comprises a URL, wherein the clickable link is configured to access an HTML page, and wherein the graphical representation of at least a portion of the at lease one sponsor content feed item is displayed in a window on the display integrated with the feed formatted content of the first content feed (6:20-40; 16:19-30; Gerace discloses using HTML and other common Internet languages, 13:45-62; 1:30-50; see URL at 16:35-55, “That is, the Page Objects 35a,b,c (i) assemble the data from a pertinent agate source whose URL is passed in the initial request/option selection,”). Gerace does not explicitly disclose a subscription or XML. However, Carlson discloses subscribing to info services over the Internet (see feeds and subscribe to at [7, 10]; Fig. 5b, 7, 8, 12a) and using XML at [7]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Carlson’s subscription based content to Gerace’s variety of feed content and Carlson’s using XML to Gerace’s languages to present content over the Internet. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present content of interest over the Internet.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Gerace (5848396) in view of Carlson (20050267973) in view of Thomas (20050091202).
Claim 19. Gerace discloses the above. Gerace does not explicitly disclose establish a relationship between an account of the user and an account of a second user, where the user is independent and distinct from the second user, and wherein the relationship is established based on a request from the user account to connect to the second user account from the second user. However, Gerace does disclose users on a network and that the users can communicate and the users have email (Fig. 1, 3b) and also keyword targeting (citations above). And, Thomas discloses providing a social network database on a server, wherein the social network database comprises relationships between user accounts ([2, 10, 11, 12]); establishing a relationship between a first user account of a first user and a second user account of a second user in the social network database, where the first user is independent and distinct from the second user, and wherein the relationship is established based on a request from the first user account to connect to the second user account ([12]). Thomas further discloses first and second users and providing advertising to a second user related to a factor external to the second user searches (Fig. 6b; [11]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Thomas social network of users and keyword targeting to Gerace’s users on a network, users with email, and keyword targeting. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better allow users to interact and communicate and acquire/exchange information.
Gerace further discloses wherein the at least one server is further configured to: receive at least one keyword from the second user; determine whether the formatted content of the one or more content feeds contains the keyword; associate the formatted content of the one or more content feeds with the second user at the server when the feed formatted content contains the at least one keyword from the second user (Figs. 2, 3a; 16:37-55). Note the citations to multiple users in Gerace preceding which reads on a second user. Gerace does not explicitly disclose that the content with keyword is feed formatted content. However, Gerace discloses a variety of content presented (6:25-35; 2:60-67) and that the content presented can be feed formatted content (see ticker/scrolling/streaming/realtime/running content citations above). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Gerace’s feed formatted content to Gerace’s content with keyword presented. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present content of interest (as Gerace discloses, see targeting as in Abstract).
Gerace further discloses wherein the feed formatted content is provided to the second user (14:22-37).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Gerace (5848396) in view of Carlson (20050267973) in view of Applicant Admitted Prior Art (Official Notice).
Claim 11. Gerace further discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the first content feed comprises dynamically generated feed formatted content (see ticker/scrolling/streaming/realtime/running content citations above). Gerace does not explicitly disclose in an extensible markup language. However, Gerace discloses using HTML and other common Internet languages (13:45-62; 1:30-50). And, Examiner takes Official Notice that XML was a common Internet language before Applicant’s Priority Date. XML was commonly used in Internet coding before Applicant’s priority date. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add XML to Gerace’s Internet languages and feed formatted content. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present content over the Internet.
Since the Applicant was given the opportunity with the 2/19/21 response and has failed to traverse the Examiner's assertion of Official Notice, the common knowledge or well known in the art statement is taken to be admitted prior art (see MPEP 2144.03.C). Applicant did not challenge Official Notice with their 2/19/21 response.
Conclusion
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Note related parent 11573178 and the action and prior art there and the Examiner Affirmed after BPAI decision.
a) see Spivack and feed formatted content subscriptions and the 8/24/20 action;
b) The other prior art on the attached Notice of references cited disclose social network features: Runchey, Ryan, Thomas, Zetmeir, Achlioptas; aa) Evans 20020036654 discloses template ads/advertising;
c)Thomas, Lu discloses social networks with advertising; Kahn discloses feed format and advertising but has questionable date;
d)The other cited prior art has feed formatted content and advertising.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/ARTHUR DURAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621 3/5/26