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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/17/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 07/17/2026 has been entered. Applicant has amended claims2, 9, an 26. No claims have been cancelled or added. Claims 2-21 are currently pending in the instant application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-12, filed 07/17/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 2-21 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made over Jehan et al (US20180054592) in view of Willis et al (US20130031177) and Zamir et al (US 2003/0236582). Zamir teaches the amended limitations as seen in the current rejection below.
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.
Claim(s) 2-21is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jehan et al (US20180054592) in view of Willis et al (US20130031177) and Zamir et al (US 2003/0236582).
Regarding claim 2, Jehan dislcloses:
(Currently Amended) At least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions stored on the computer readable medium that when executed cause a computing system to:receive, during playback of a first collection of media items selected based on a first selection criteria, ([0068] Mass storage device 630 additionally stores data receiving unit 631, input unit 632, feature vector selection unit 633, cosine distance setting unit 634, clustering unit 635, skip calculation unit 636, and skip comparison unit 637. Data receiving unit 631 receives, from a server, a plurality of feature vectors, each feature vector representing one of a plurality of digital media objects. Input unit 632 receives one or more skip requests, for example, from a single skip button (e.g., 210, FIG. 2). Feature vector selection unit 633 selects from among the received feature vectors individual feature vectors in accordance with the skip requests received by input unit 632 and instructs a media object playback device to playback a media object represented by the selected feature vector. Cosine distance setting unit 634 calculates skip durations as the length of time between two or more received skip requests and sets a cosine distance used by the feature vector selection 633 to select from among the feature vectors. Clustering unit 635 clusters the received feature vectors into one or more groups. Skip calculation unit 636 calculates skip durations by measuring the time between when two successive skip requests. Skip comparison unit 637 compares one or more calculated skip durations such that the feature vector selection unit 633 may select feature vectors in accordance with one or more calculated skip)
Jehan does not explicitly teach an ordered sequence of feedback data comprising a skip status and a category for each of a sequence of one or more prior played media items of the first collection; and in accordance with a determination is satisfied: cease a first transmission of the first collection of media items ,select a second collection of media items based on a second selection criteria, and initiate a second transmission of an additional media item from the second collection of media items for playback.
Willis teaches an ordered sequence of feedback data comprising a skip status and a category for each of a sequence of one or more prior played media items of the first collection; ([0195] The user's feedback may also be used to rate candidate lists and/or related users. For example, the user's feedback may be used to indicate that a first candidate list of a plurality of candidate lists that are multiplexed together is highly accurate or includes many preferred items of media content for a particular user, while a second candidate list of the plurality of candidate lists is inaccurate or includes few preferred items or many disliked items. Similarly, while the recommendation service may initially determine that a related user is moderately similar to the requesting user, the recommendation service may increase or decrease the similarity or matching score based on feedback of the requesting user to items of media content for which the related user has indicated a preference.) and in accordance with a determination that the feedback data satisfies a steering criterion is satisfied: ([0198] In still another embodiment, responsive to a user skipping an item of media 1106, the recommendation service may increment a skip counter. Responsive to the skip counter exceeding a predetermined threshold, the recommendation service may decrease a weight of the first candidate list. In one embodiment, the skip counter may be specific to the item of media. In such embodiments, responsive to the skip counter exceeding a predetermined threshold, the recommendation service may decrease a weight of the item of media or decrease the item's score or position within the list.) cease a first transmission of the first collection of media items ,select a second collection of media items based on a second selection criteria, and initiate a second transmission of an additional media item from the second collection of media items for playback. ([0195] The user's feedback may also be used to rate candidate lists and/or related users. For example, the user's feedback may be used to indicate that a first candidate list of a plurality of candidate lists that are multiplexed together is highly accurate or includes many preferred items of media content for a particular user, while a second candidate list of the plurality of candidate lists is inaccurate or includes few preferred items or many disliked items. Similarly, while the recommendation service may initially determine that a related user is moderately similar to the requesting user, the recommendation service may increase or decrease the similarity or matching score based on feedback of the requesting user to items of media content for which the related user has indicated a preference.)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Jehan to include an ordered sequence of feedback data comprising a skip status and a category for each of a sequence of one or more prior played media items of the first collection; and in accordance with a determination that the feedback data satisfies a steering criterion to modify selection criteria by which media items are selected for playback: cease a first transmission of the first collection of media items ,select a second collection of media items based on a second selection criteria, and initiate a second transmission of an additional media item from the second collection of media items for playback. It would be advantageous since it allows for higher user satisfaction by playing music the user is interested as taught by the cited sections of Willis.
Jehan in view of Willis does not explicitly teach determine, based on a feedback pair comprising a first skip status and a first category for a plurality of prior played media items in the sequence, that a steering criterion is satisfied, and select a second collection of media items based on a second selection criteria to reduce instances of the first category,
Zamir teaches determine, based on a feedback pair comprising a first skip status and a first category for a plurality of prior played media items in the sequence, that a steering criterion is satisfied, ([0140] (1) an automatic selection mode. As shown in FIG. 6, in this mode, the system plays a selection taken from all tracks available to the system. The user provides feedback, explicitly and implicitly, regarding the tracks that are played. The feedback may represent user preferences. The system selects the track for the user based on user feedback (emphasizing more recent feedback) and a history of recently played tracks. The selection system may also take into account feedback stored in a current so-called user station (see “Stations and Presets,” below). In some implementations, for greater simplicity, the automatic selection mode is the default mode, and, when any other mode has completed playback, the system reverts to the automatic selection mode.) and select a second collection of media items based on a second selection criteria to reduce instances of the first category, ([0142] When the module receives a feedback event (i.e., a message from the user interface module that there has been an implicit or explicit indication from the user with respect to the track currently being played), if the module is in the idle state, the system switches 2209 to the “Update Feedback Structures” state 2203. If the module receives the message while it is in the pick-track or update feedback structures state, it places the event on the feedback queue. When the module completes the pick-track process, if the feedback queue is not empty and there are no more pick-track events, the module switches 2207 to the “Update Feedback Structures” state. There, it updates the stored tracks graph, as described below. When it is finished, it returns 2210 to the idle state, if the feedback and pick-track queues are empty. If the feedback queue is not empty, the module returns 2211 to the update feedback structures state. If the pick-track queue is not empty, the module returns 2208 to the pick-track state.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Jehan in view of Willis to include determine, based on a feedback pair comprising a first skip status and a first category for a plurality of prior played media items in the sequence, that a steering criterion is satisfied, and select a second collection of media items based on a second selection criteria to reduce instances of the first category, It would be advantageous since it allows simple access without the user losing control over what is played. By expressing simple responses to the track that is currently playing, he or she may affect what the system chooses to play next. In the music field, CD players permit a high degree of control but may require substantial user involvement in the music selection process, reducing overall simplicity. Radio requires minimal user involvement, permitting a high degree of simplicity, but permits little control. See FIG. 29. When applied to musical tracks, this system is intended to bridge that gap. as taught by Zamir [0120].
Jehan in view of Willis and Zamir teaches the claimed invention of claim 1, Jehan furthes teaches dependent claims 3-8 as seen below
3. (Currently Amended) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the additional media item is selected based on user profile information associated with a user of the client device, the user profile information identifying one or more media item preferences of the user ([0078] If, in step S711, a first skip request is detected, the process proceeds to step S712, in which a first feature vector from among the plurality of feature vectors is selected and then to step S713, in which a media object playback device is instructed to playback a media object from among the plurality of media objects represented by the selected feature vector. The first selected feature vector may be selected randomly or based on any other set of programmed rules, for example, the first selected feature vector could correspond to the most recent media object added to a playlist, a most popular song of the day, a curated selection made by an editorial staff, or a recommendation based on a taste profile.).
4. (Currently Amended) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein the additional media item is selected based on user taste information associated with a user of the client device that provided the request to play unspecified media items, the user profile information identifying one or more media item preferences of the user, wherein user taste information represents favorite genres of the user ([0086] It should be understood that FIGS. 7A-7E provide merely a general framework by which countless rules can be designed for comparing skip durations and setting the cosine distance. The steps of each process may be performed in various order, for example, the clustering of feature vectors can be performed before any skip requests are detected. In addition, various rules can also be designed for determining the direction in which the media control device or component selects one mapped media object after another. For example, the media control device can be instructed to move between clusters of media objects in a certain order, for example, in order of favorite genres of a user, date of release, or audio attributes such as tempo or intensity..
5. (Currently Amended) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the additional media item is selected based on implied feedback data including one or more observations, wherein the one or more observations include increased volume and client device orientation. ([0086] It should be understood that FIGS. 7A-7E provide merely a general framework by which countless rules can be designed for comparing skip durations and setting the cosine distance. The steps of each process may be performed in various order, for example, the clustering of feature vectors can be performed before any skip requests are detected. In addition, various rules can also be designed for determining the direction in which the media control device or component selects one mapped media object after another. For example, the media control device can be instructed to move between clusters of media objects in a certain order, for example, in order of favorite genres of a user, date of release, or audio attributes such as tempo or intensity..
6. (Currently Amended) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the additional media item is selected from one or more candidate media items for playback by the client device, wherein the one or more candidate media items were not included with the first collection of media items ([0084] Alternatively, in the process shown in FIG. 7E, step S751 first involves clustering the plurality of feature vectors. In step S752, two or more skip durations are calculated, each skip duration equal to a length of time between two successive skip requests. In step S753, the calculated two or more skip durations are compared. In step S754, the cosine distance used to select the other feature vector is set based on the calculated skip duration. In step S755, another feature vector from among the plurality of feature vectors is selected that is a cosine distance away from the previously selected feature vector and that is either the same cluster as the previously selected feature vector or from a different cluster than the previously selected feature vector based on the comparison of the calculated two or more skip durations. In step S756, the media object playback device is instructed to playback another media object from among the plurality of media objects represented by the selected other feature vector.).
7. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2 wherein additional media item is selected is performed using a machine learned function
([0060] In FIG. 4B, the eight media objects (O.sub.1, O.sub.2 . . . O.sub.8) are shown as song files clustered into one of two clusters, the clusters corresponding to two different musical genres, rock and electronic dance. The media objects are then further clustered into subgenres within each genre category: metal and punk under the rock genre, and house and techno under the electronic dance genre. It should be understood that the media objects can be clustered, grouped or organized in any number of ways. They can be clustered, for example, based on raw audio or video attributes, artist names, or year of production. They may also be clustered based on user preferences as provided by one or more taste profiles or based on a listing of the media objects in one or more playlists. Clustering may be done by manually labeling the media objects or in an automated fashion using, for example, using a machine learning algorithm, indexing engine or clustering framework).
8. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 train a machine learning system to yield the machine learned function, the instructions cause the computing system to:input feedback data for media items played in a historical sequence to the machine learning system, where some of the listener feedback for the media items played in the historical sequence is negative feedback; learn, using the machine learning system, which media items were played in the historical sequence after the negative feedback; and output the machine learned function by the machine learning system ([0060] In FIG. 4B, the eight media objects (O.sub.1, O.sub.2 . . . O.sub.8) are shown as song files clustered into one of two clusters, th-e clusters corresponding to two different musical genres, rock and electronic dance. The media objects are then further clustered into subgenres within each genre category: metal and punk under the rock genre, and house and techno under the electronic dance genre. It should be understood that the media objects can be clustered, grouped or organized in any number of ways. They can be clustered, for example, based on raw audio or video attributes, artist names, or year of production. They may also be clustered based on user preferences as provided by one or more taste profiles or based on a listing of the media objects in one or more playlists. Clustering may be done by manually labeling the media objects or in an automated fashion using, for example, using a machine learning algorithm, indexing engine or clustering framework).
Claims 9-21 are rejected using similar reasoning seen the rejection of claims 1-8 due to reciting similar limitations but directed towards a method and system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL SHARPLESS whose telephone number is (571)272-1521. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 AM- 3:30 PM (ET).
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/S.C.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2165 /ALEKSANDR KERZHNER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2165
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