Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/361,026

OBSCURING PERSONAL INFORMATION IN VIDEOS

Non-Final OA §101§103
Filed
Jul 28, 2023
Examiner
ZHAO, DAQUAN
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
International Business Machines Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
810 granted / 1049 resolved
+17.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +15% lift
Without
With
+14.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
21 currently pending
Career history
1071
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
11.7%
-28.3% vs TC avg
§103
47.0%
+7.0% vs TC avg
§102
18.5%
-21.5% vs TC avg
§112
13.0%
-27.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1049 resolved cases

Office Action

§101 §103
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 . 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 8-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because "In the start of the art, transitory signals are commonplace as a medium for transmitting computer instruction and thus, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary and give the broadest reasonable interpretation, the scope of a “computer readable medium' covers a signal per se." In order to overcome the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection, the "computer readable storage media" should be changed to "non-transitory computer readable storage media". 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 1-4, 7-11, 14-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Garibaldi et al (US 2012/0281970) and further in view of Stokman et al (US 2015/0242104). For claim 1, Garibaldi et al teach a computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by one or more computer processors (e.g. paragraph 16: The processor 52 can include video editing software), a video (e.g. paragraph 16: In accordance with the principles of this disclosure, the user can select from and arrange at least one of (a) A procedure video…video files and images, among other relevant audio/video sources…The user can arrange this visual data on the transmit display and can select or combine the various audio sources); extracting, by one or more computer processors (e.g. paragraph 16: The processor 52 can include video editing software), text from a first frame of the video (e.g. paragraph 23: OCR text recognition of the procedure video or audiovisual signal can be used to identify the regions to block); determining, by one or more computer processors (e.g. paragraph 16: The processor 52 can include video editing software), a personal information object is detected in the extracted text (e.g. paragraph 23: text recognized can be compared to a list of personal information about the patient, and matching text can be obscured to prevent disclosure of private patient information.); obscuring, by one or more computer processors (e.g. paragraph 16: The processor 52 can include video editing software), the personal information object in the first frame (e.g. paragraph 23: text recognized can be compared to a list of personal information about the patient, and matching text can be obscured to prevent disclosure of private patient information.). Garibaldi et al do not further specify: performing the previous steps on each frame in the video. Stokman et al teach performing the previous steps on each frame in the video (e.g. paragraph 131: After the video has been processed, every frame containing the selected areas on the transcript (that shows the student's name and student's university account number) will have those selected areas obscured or replaced with another image). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching Stokman et al into the teaching of Garibaldi et al to obscure privacy information (e.g. Stokman et al, paragraph 130-131) to improve privacy protection. Claims 8 and 15 are rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 1 above. For claim 2, Garibaldi et al do not specify receiving, by one or more computer processors, a type of the personal information object for obscuring; and receiving, by one or more computer processors, a method of obscuring the personal information object. Stockman et al teach receiving, by one or more computer processors, a type of the personal information object for obscuring; and receiving, by one or more computer processors, a method of obscuring the personal information object (e.g. paragraph 131: After the video has been processed, every frame containing the selected areas on the transcript (that shows the student's name and student's university account number) will have those selected areas obscured or replaced with another image). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching Stokman et al into the teaching of Garibaldi et al to obscure privacy information (e.g. Stokman et al, paragraph 130-131) to improve privacy protection. Claims 9 and 16 are rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 2 above. For claim 3, Garibaldi et al do not specify the type of the personal information object includes at least one of: a name, contact information, an address, an email address, a phone number, a social security number, a driver’s license number, a passport number, a credit card number, an account number, a license plate number, and medical information. Stockman et al teach the type of the personal information object includes at least one of: a name, contact information, an address, an email address, a phone number, a social security number, a driver’s license number, a passport number, a credit card number, an account number, a license plate number, and medical information. (e.g. paragraph 131: After the video has been processed, every frame containing the selected areas on the transcript (that shows the student's name and student's university account number) will have those selected areas obscured or replaced with another image). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching Stokman et al into the teaching of Garibaldi et al to obscure privacy information (e.g. Stokman et al, paragraph 130-131) to improve privacy protection. Claim 10 is rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 3 above. For claim 17, Garibaldi et al teach obscuring the personal information object includes at least one of: masking the personal information, blurring the personal information, and redacting the personal information. Stokman et al teach obscuring the personal information object includes at least one of: masking the personal information, blurring the personal information, and redacting the personal information (e.g. paragraph 153: blurred image). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching Stokman et al into the teaching of Garibaldi et al to obscure privacy information (e.g. Stokman et al, paragraph 130-131) to improve privacy protection. Claims 4 and 11 are rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 17 above. For claim 7, Garibaldi et al do not further specify obscuring, by one or more computer processors, a second position of the personal information object in a frame of the video prior to the first frame; and obscuring, by one or more computer processors, a third position of the personal information object in a next frame of the video following a previously obscured frame. Stokman et al teach obscuring, by one or more computer processors, a second position of the personal information object in a frame of the video prior to the first frame; and obscuring, by one or more computer processors, a third position of the personal information object in a next frame of the video following a previously obscured frame. (e.g. paragraph 131: After the video has been processed, every frame containing the selected areas on the transcript (that shows the student's name and student's university account number) will have those selected areas obscured or replaced with another image). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching Stokman et al into the teaching of Garibaldi et al to obscure privacy information (e.g. Stokman et al, paragraph 130-131) to improve privacy protection. Claims 14 and 20 are rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 7 above. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-6, 12-13 and 18-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Schuler et al (US 2022/0335154) teach, see abstract, a redaction operation specified by a redaction policy is executed on the electronic data collection to generate a modified electronic data collection. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAQUAN ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)270-1119. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thur: 7:00 am-5:00 pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thai Tran can be reached on 571-272-7382. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. Email: daquan.zhao1@uspto.gov. Phone: (571)270-1119 /DAQUAN ZHAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 28, 2023
Application Filed
Nov 29, 2023
Response after Non-Final Action
Sep 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §101, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12746921
TRAINING AND TESTING A MACHINE LEARNING PROCESS
2y 10m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12749317
STATE ESTIMATION DEVICE, STATE ESTIMATION METHOD, AND STATE ESTIMATION PROGRAM
1y 8m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12731617
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING USER-GENERATED CONTENT
1y 3m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12726586
Removable Storage Device with a Virtual Camera for Video Surveillance as a Service
4y 1m to grant Granted Sep 01, 2026
Patent 12724340
WIDE-ANGLE CAMERA DEVICE AND SURVEY SYSTEM
1y 4m to grant Granted Sep 01, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
77%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+14.6%)
2y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1049 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month