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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/06/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s arguments, it is noted that Civiletto is explicit in that a first storage location is accessed a single time (extracting a portion from the buffer storing content requested by multiple users; Fig. 4A, 430-440; paragraph 85-86).
From that single access of the buffer, one or more “identified portions” are identified, extracted and processed for an individual customer (paragraph 86-88).
This step is then repeated to generate and store another unique copy of the same extracted portion for the next individual customer that requested (see Fig. 4A-B, 445-455; paragraph 86-87).
Thus, Civiletto discloses performing a single access of the buffer to extract a content portion and then will process that single extracted content portion multiple times to create multiple unique copies of the same extracted content portion so that each customer has their own unique copy of the same portion of the content.
This meets the current claim language, as a portion extracted from the buffer in step 435-440 is a “common portion” as this portion will be a portion of the content that each user has in common, as each user will have their own unique stored copy of this same content portion.
While each unique copy of this content portion is later encrypted and stored separately for each customer, the process is explicitly shown in Civiletto as resulting from a single access of the buffer to extract a common portion which will be copied for every customer, as recited within the claims.
In response to applicant’s further arguments, it is noted that paragraph 68 of Civiletto explicitly recites “[0068] In some aspects, one or more copies of the content item 205 may be stored. By way of example only, FIG. 2 shows three copies, one for customer 1, one for customer 2, and one for customer n.”
Additionally, paragraph 67 of Civiletto recites “Further, portions of the original content item 205 may be extracted, and the extracted portions may be separately copied and processed on behalf of each customer.”
Civiletto does not require storing multiple copies of the program or accessing the stored portion multiple times, as applicant suggests. Merely disclosing possible alternative examples does not negate the other explicit disclosures made by Civiletto.
As shown in Fig. 4A-B, step 430, paragraph 68, 85, a single first copy of the content item may be stored in a buffer.
As shown in Fig. 4A-B, step 435-440, paragraph 67, 85-86, a single access of the buffer is then made to extract a “common portion”.
That single extracted portion (from step 440) is then copied and processed multiple times to create a unique copy for each customer (Fig. 4B, step 450-455, paragraph 67, 86).
Therefore, applicant’s arguments are not convincing.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 5, 7, 9-13, 15, 17-29, 31-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Civiletto et al. (Civiletto) (US 2014/0023340) (of record).
As to claim 1, Civiletto discloses a device (Fig. 1; 110) comprising:
one or more processors (152); and
memory storing instructions (154, 164; paragraph 51) that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to:
determine a quantity of a plurality of requests to store a content asset (paragraph 82-83), wherein the content asset comprises a plurality of segments and wherein each request of the plurality of requests is associated with a user of a plurality of users (paragraph 82-83, 86-88),
access, from a first storage location storing the plurality of segments of the content asset, a copy of a segment of the plurality of segments (extracting identified portion from buffer/memory; step 435-440, paragraph 85-88), wherein the access is performed once for a common segment requested by the plurality of requests (repeating steps 445-455 to generate additional copies of the portion extracted from step 440 for each requesting customer; paragraph 68, 85-88); and
causing, based on the copy of the segment from the first storage location, a plurality of copies of the segment to be stored at a second storage location (repeating steps 445-455 to generate additional copy for each requesting customer; paragraph 85-88), wherein a quantity of the plurality of copies of the segment is the quantity of the plurality of requests to store the content asset (additional copy for each requesting customer; paragraph 85-88) and wherein each copy of the plurality of copies of the segment is associated with a user of the plurality of users (unique copy for each customer stored in associated with the customer account; paragraph 83, 86).
As to claim 9, Civiletto discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions (paragraph 51) that, when executed cause:
determining a quantity of a plurality of requests to store a content asset (paragraph 82-83), wherein the content asset comprises a plurality of segments and wherein each request of the plurality of requests is associated with a user of a plurality of users (paragraph 82-83, 86-88),
accessing, from a first storage location storing the plurality of segments of the content asset, a copy of a segment of the plurality of segments (extracting identified portion from buffer/memory; step 435-440, paragraph 85-88), wherein the access is performed once for a common segment requested by the plurality of requests (repeating steps 445-455 to generate additional copies of the portion extracted from step 440 for each requesting customer; paragraph 68, 85-88); and
causing, based on the copy of the segment from the first storage location, a plurality of copies of the segment to be stored at a second storage location (repeating steps 445-455 to generate additional copy for each requesting customer; paragraph 85-88), wherein a quantity of the plurality of copies of the segment is the quantity of the plurality of requests to store the content asset (additional copy for each requesting customer; paragraph 85-88) and wherein each copy of the plurality of copies of the segment is associated with a user of the plurality of users (unique copy for each customer stored in associated with the customer account; paragraph 83, 86).
As to claim 17, Civiletto discloses a device (Fig. 1; 110) comprising:
one or more processors (152); and
memory storing instructions (154, 164; paragraph 51) that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to:
determine a quantity of a plurality of requests to store a content asset (paragraph 82-83), wherein the content asset comprises a plurality of segments and wherein each request of the plurality of requests is associated with a user of a plurality of users (paragraph 82-83, 86-88),
cause, based on an access of the segment of the plurality of segments from a first storage, a plurality of copies of the segment to be stored in a second storage (repeating steps 445-455 to generate additional copy for each requesting customer; paragraph 85-88), wherein a quantity of the plurality of copies of the segment is the quantity of the plurality of requests to store the content asset (additional copy for each requesting customer; paragraph 85-88) and wherein each copy of the plurality of copies of the segment is associated with a user of the plurality of users (unique copy for each customer stored in associated with the customer account; paragraph 83, 86), wherein the access is performed once for a common segment requested by the plurality of requests (repeating steps 445-455 to generate additional copies of the portion extracted during step 440 for each requesting customer; paragraph 68, 85-88).
As to claim 23, Civiletto discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions (154, 164; paragraph 51) that, when executed, cause:
determining a quantity of a plurality of requests to store a content asset (paragraph 82-83), wherein the content asset comprises a plurality of segments and wherein each request of the plurality of requests is associated with a user of a plurality of users (paragraph 82-83, 86-88),
causing, based on an access of the segment of the plurality of segments from a first storage, a plurality of copies of the segment to be stored in a second storage (extracting content portion in buffer and repeating steps 445-455 to generate additional copies of the portion extracted from step 440 for each requesting customer; paragraph 68, 85-88), wherein a quantity of the plurality of copies of the segment is the quantity of the plurality of requests to store the content asset (additional copy for each requesting customer; paragraph 85-88) and wherein each copy of the plurality of copies of the segment is associated with a user of the plurality of users (unique copy for each customer stored in associated with the customer account; paragraph 83, 86), wherein the access is performed once for a common segment requested by the plurality of requests (repeating steps 445-455 to generate additional copies of the portion extracted during step 440 for each requesting customer; paragraph 68, 85-88).
As to claim 29, Civiletto discloses a system (Fig. 1) comprising:
a first computing device (110, paragraph 81) configured to:
determine a quantity of a plurality of requests to store a content asset (paragraph 82-83), wherein the content asset comprises a plurality of segments and wherein each request of the plurality of requests is associated with a user of a plurality of users (paragraph 82-83, 86-88),
cause, based on an access of a segment of the plurality of segments from a first storage, a plurality of copies of the segment to be stored in a second storage (copying the portion of the content to be copied from the buffer 520 to storage for subscriber access; paragraph 24-28, 36, 39), wherein a quantity of the plurality of copies of the segment is the quantity of the plurality of requests to store the content asset and wherein each copy of the plurality of copies of the segment is associated with a user of the plurality of users (unique copy for each customer stored in associated with the customer account; paragraph 83, 86),
a second computing device (107) configured to:
send, to the first computing device, a request of the plurality of requests (user devices 107 sending request to 110; paragraph 24).
As to claim 2, 10, 19, 25, 31, Civiletto discloses wherein instructions that, when executed, cause the device to cause the plurality of copies of the segment to be stored at the second storage location and cause at least a portion of the plurality of copies of the segment to be written, in sequence (Fig. 4A-B, step 445-460, sequential steps of storing unique copies for each different subscribers; paragraph 86-88), to a hard disk associated with the second storage location (paragraph 37, 53).
As to claim 3, 11, Civiletto discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the device to:
determine a recording agent of a plurality of recording agents (plural servers 110 with plural software modules for recording programs for assigned subscribers; paragraph 24, 27, 48-54), wherein the instructions cause the device to access the copy of the segment from the first storage location, when executed, further cause the device to access the copy of the segment from the first storage location using the recording agent, and wherein the instructions cause the device to cause the plurality of copies of the segment to be stored at the second storage location, when executed, further cause the plurality of copies of the segments to be stored, by the recording agent, at the second storage location (extracted from buffer and multiple copies are stored into memory; paragraph 85-89).
As to claim 12, Civiletto discloses wherein the causing the plurality of copies of the segment to be stored at the second storage location is further based on an access of the copy of the segment from the first storage location (copying the portion of the content to be copied from the buffer 520 to storage for subscriber access; paragraph 24-28, 36, 39).
As to claim 5, 13, 21, 27, 33, Civiletto discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the device to: determine an instruction to cause the plurality of copies of the segment to be stored at the second storage location, wherein the instruction indicates a file location of the copy of the segment at the first storage location (paragraph 85) and the quantity of the plurality of requests to store the content asset (user accounts requesting and associated with each unique copy; paragraph 82-83, 86-87).
As to claim 7, 15, 22, 28, 34, Civiletto discloses wherein the second storage location comprises a recording storage from which a copy of the plurality of copies of the segment is deliverable to a device associated with the user associated with the copy (paragraph 37, 53, 86, 90-95).
As to claim 18, 24, Civiletto discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the device to: determine a location in the first storage of the segment, wherein the causing the plurality of copies of the segment to be stored in the second storage is further based on the access of the segment at the determined location in the first storage (accessing the buffer storing the selected portion; paragraph 85-88).
As to claim 20, 26, 32, Civiletto discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the device to: determine a recording agent of a plurality of recording agents (plural servers 110 with plural software modules for recording programs for assigned subscribers; paragraph 24, 27, 48-54), wherein the access of the segment from the first storage location is performed using the recording agent, and wherein the instructions cause the device to cause the plurality of copies of the segment to be stored at the second storage location, when executed, further cause the plurality of copies of the segments to be stored in the second storage, when executed, further cause the plurality of copies to be stored, by the recording agent, in the second storage (extracted from buffer and multiple copies are stored into memory; paragraph 85-89).
As to claim 35, Civiletto discloses wherein the plurality of copies of the segment is stored at the second storage location with a single write operation (operation to simultaneously record all the unique data segments from the buffer to plural storage devices; paragraph 86).
As to claim 36, Civiletto discloses determining a group of common segments comprising a number of segments within the plurality of segments associated with the content asset that are common between different users of the plurality of users, wherein the copy of the segment of the plurality of segments corresponds at least one segment in the group of common segments, and wherein the plurality of copies of the segment to be stored at the second storage location corresponds to the quantity of the plurality of requests (Fig. 2, paragraph 67-69, 85-86).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 6, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Civiletto.
As to claims 6, 14, while Civiletto discloses an instruction and wherein the servers may be a web server (server accessed via web browser; paragraph 40, 54, 62, 77), they fail to specifically disclose an HTTP command.
The examiner takes Official Notice that it was notoriously well known in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a HTTP command to interact with and control a web server, as HTTP is part of the Internet protocol suite and defines commands and services used for transmitting web data.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Civiletto’s system to include an HTTP command for the typical benefit of conforming to already existing and widely utilizes standards for communications and commands for servers.
Claims 8, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Civiletto in view of Walker et al. (Walker) (US 2012/0210382) (of record).
As to claim 8, 16, while Civiletto discloses receiving requests from users to store a content asset, they fail to specifically disclose receiving an information file associated with the content asset, wherein the information file indicates the plurality of segments of the content asset and a file location of each segment of the plurality of segments at the first storage location, wherein the accessing the copy of the segment from the first storage location is based on the information file.
In an analogous art, Walker discloses a content distribution system (Fig. 1, 3) for copying requested content asset from a first storage location to a second storage location (Fig. 3, archive storage to active storage; paragraph 49-52) by receiving an information file associated with content asset, wherein the information file indicates a plurality of segments of the content asset and a file location of each segment of the plurality of segments at the first storage location, wherein the accessing the copy of the segment from the first storage location is based on the information file (copying the content using file indicating the file storage location and positions for specific portions and frames of the file; paragraph 46-47, 52) so as locate the specific content and playback position desired by the user (paragraph 52).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Civiletto’s system to include receiving an information file associated with the content asset, wherein the information file indicates the plurality of segments of the content asset and a file location of each segment of the plurality of segments at the first storage location, wherein the accessing the copy of the segment from the first storage location is based on the information file, as taught in combination with Walker, for the typical benefit of enabling the system to locate and retrieve the specific content and playback position desired by the user.
Claim 37 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Civiletto in view of Sorenson, III et al. (Sorenson) (US 2014/0337483).
As to claim 37, while Civiletto discloses wherein copies of the common segment corresponding to different requests are written at the second storage location (paragraph 53, 86), they fail to specifically disclose the different requests are written sequentially at the second storage location between successive seek operations.
In an analogous art, Sorenson discloses a method for storing content (Fig. 26; paragraph 211) wherein the data corresponding to different requests are written sequentially at a second storage location between successive seek operations (Fig. 26, paragraph 211) so as to reduce or eliminate the need to perform random sector seeks on the underlying storage device (paragraph 211).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Civiletto’s system to include the different requests are written sequentially at the second storage location between successive seek operations, as taught in combination with Sorenson, for the typical benefit of reducing or eliminating the need to perform random sector seeks on the underlying storage device (paragraph 211).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James R Sheleheda whose telephone number is (571)272-7357. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-5 pm CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin Bruckart can be reached at (571) 272-3982. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James R Sheleheda/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424
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