DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of the Application
This action is in response to the Request for Continued Examination filed March 16, 2026. Claims 1, 3, 12 17 and 19 are amended. Claims 2 and 8 are canceled. Claims 1, 3-5, 7, 9-20 are pending and have been examined in this application.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/16/2026 has been entered.
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, 3-5, 7, 9-20 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 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 pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 17 and 19 recite the limitation “maintaining an access right to the media content collection unlocked for a user corresponding to the media content collection unlocked in a case where the link control is removed.” However, the specification does not describe how an access right to the media content collection unlocked for a user corresponding to the media content.is maintained when the link control is removed. The claims do not satisfy the written description requirement if sufficient description of how the claimed function is to be performed are not disclosed by the specification, including how to program the disclosed computer to perform the claimed function. See MPEP 2161.01. Claims 3-5, 7, 9-16; 18; and 20 by being dependents of claims 1, 17 and 19 respectively are also rejected.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3-5, 7, 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 17 and 19 recite the limitation “wherein the displaying of the media content collection to be unlocked in response to the interactive operation on the GUI comprises: displaying the media content collection to be unlocked in response to an interactive operation on a link control in the GUI, wherein the link control corresponds to the media content collection.” However, preceding limitation recites “displaying, via the GUI of the electronic device, the media content collection unlocked in response to an unlocking operation for an access right to the media content.” As such, it is not clear if the media content displayed on the link control is locked (to be unlocked) or is missing a step because the claims do not positively recite that the unlocked media content was relocked prior to the step at issue. Therefore, the scope of the claims is indefinite. Claims 3-5, 7, 9-16; 18; and 20 by being dependents of claims 1, 17 and 19 respectively are also rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1, 3-5, 7, 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claims 1, 3-5, 7, 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Specifically, claims 1, 3-5, 7, 9-20 are directed toward at least one abstract idea without significantly more. In accordance with MPEP § 2106, the rationale for this determination is explained below.
Representative claim 1 is directed towards a method, claim 17 is directed towards a device, claim 19 is directed towards a non-transitory medium, which are statutory categories of invention.
Although, claim 1 is directed toward a statutory category of invention, the claim however, is directed towards a judicial exception namely an abstract idea. The limitations that set forth the abstract idea recites: displaying a media content collection to be unlocked in response to an interactive operation; and displaying the media content collection unlocked in response to an unlocking operation for an access right to the media content collection to be unlocked; displaying, an unlocking message in an inbox control of a user, the unlocking message comprising information on the media content collection unlocked; and displaying, the media content collection unlocked in response to an interactive operation on the unlocking message; wherein the displaying of the media content collection to be unlocked in response to the interactive operation comprises: displaying the media content collection to be unlocked in response to an interactive operation on a link control, wherein the link control corresponds to the media content collection; and the method further comprises: maintaining an access right to the media content collection unlocked for a user corresponding to the media content collection unlocked in a case where the link control is removed. These limitations, comprise commercial interactions including, marketing or sales activities; business relations; and managing personal behavior including following rules or instructions. As such, the limitations are directed towards the abstract grouping of Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity in prong one of step 2A of the Alice/Mayo test (see MPEP 2106.04(a)(2) II).
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because, when analyzed as a whole under prong two of step 2A of the Alice/Mayo test (see MPEP 2106.04(d)), the additional elements provided by the claim amount to merely using a computer as a tool to apply an abstract idea, and/or generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment. In particular the claim recites the additional elements: via a graphical user interface (GUI) of an electronic device, on a user interface of the electronic device, wherein the user interface is configured to display a first media content in a feed; via the GUI of the electronic device; via the GUI of the electronic device; via the GUI of the electronic device; on the GUI, in the GUI, which are recited at a high level of generality and are the mere use of a computer as a tool to perform the abstract ideas, see MPEP 2106.05(f). Simply applying the abstract idea by a computer is not a practical application of the abstract idea.
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the claim recites the additional limitations of a user interface, an electronic device, media content in a feed, a memory and processor (claim 17), which do not constitute significantly more because they are simply an attempt to limit the abstract idea to a particular technological environment1. Viewing these limitations as a combination, the additional elements amount to no more than merely applying the exception using generic computer components, executing the basic functions of a computer. Merely applying an exception using generic computer components cannot provide an inventive concept. See TLI Communications LLC v. AV Automotive LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 613, 118 USPQ2d 1744, 1748 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (mere recitation of concrete or tangible components is not an inventive concept). Therefore, the limitations of the claim as a whole, when viewed individually and as an ordered combination, do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
A review of dependent claims 3-5, 7, 9-16, likewise, do not recite any limitations that would remedy the deficiencies outlined above. The claims only further add to the abstract idea, with no elements which integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or constitute significantly more. Further still, claims 17-20 suffer from substantially the same deficiencies as outlined with respect to claims 1, 3-5, 7, 9-16 and are also rejected accordingly.
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 of this title, 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, 12, 14 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ansari (US Publication 2022/0208319) in view of Green (US Publication 2017/0366498).
A. In regards to Claims 1, 17 and 19, Ansari teaches method, system and non-transitory medium, comprising:
a memory; Ansari [0051];
and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the memory has instructions stored therein which, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to: Ansari [0051];
displaying, via a graphical user interface (GUI) of an electronic device, a media content collection to be unlocked in response to an interactive operation on the GUI of the electronic device, wherein the GUI is configured to display a first media content in a feed; Ansari [0065: movies may be downloaded and stored at the service center's partitioned side beyond the demarcation point as requested by a user via a user interface through a device connected to the appliance. This user interface, enabled via the user partition of the gateway appliance, is accessed through a PC, a TV, and cell phone; 0141: content from different internet-based media feeds may be aggregated and automatically downloaded to the gateway appliance 0066: via a GUI established for the endpoint device when connected with the gateway, when authenticated, files may be unlocked so the customer may locally manipulate services before and after demarcation point.];
and displaying via the GUI of the electronic device, the media content collection unlocked in response to an unlocking operation for an access right to the media content collection to be unlocked; Ansari [0065: unless and until the user has purchased the movies for playback via an authentication process, that user will be prevented from accessing the content. Otherwise, the user may initiate streaming of the content directly to a digital endpoint device, or will be granted permissions to download and play the movie];
displaying, via the GUI of the electronic device, an unlocking message in an inbox control of a user, the unlocking message comprising information on the media content collection unlocked; Ansari [0043: Some of the in-home endpoint device processing duties performed by the appliance include: decrypting and securely streaming DRM'd (Digital Rights Management) media; delivering notifications to the endpoint device; 0058: provide a standard for initiating, modifying or terminating interactive user sessions that involve one or more multimedia elements that can include instant messaging, etc., by providing access to dialog functionality from the transaction interface];
and displaying, via the GUI of the electronic device, the media content collection unlocked in response to an interactive operation on the unlocking message. Ansari [0161: when the user clicks on the notification icon, that feature page will be loaded to display the detailed notification information; 0218: parent receives notification with all the information about the movie and the cost; parent can then indicate whether the movie can be watched. The gateway appliance may have a web server to allow the parent to remotely specify permission by hosting a web page, which can be accessed by a browser on a mobile phone; 0223: read the message and then select from a list of options how to respond; if the response was to allow the movie to be watched, the RHC may remove the lock on the movie];
wherein the displaying of the media content collection to be unlocked in response to the interactive operation on the GUI comprises: displaying the media content collection to be unlocked in response to an interactive operation on a link control in the GUI, wherein the link control corresponds to the media content collection; Ansari [0161: notifications for each feature (media content) are displayed as an animated icon; when the user clicks on the notification icon, that feature page will be loaded to display the detailed notification information];
and the method further comprises: maintaining an access right to the media content collection unlocked for a user corresponding to the media content collection unlocked in a case where the link control is removed; Ansari [0161: when the user clicks on the notification icon, that feature page will be loaded to display the detailed notification information; if the feature represented by the icon is not available, then the icon will be grayed and a tooltip will be provided to display an explanation; 0065: if the user has purchased the movie, the movies may be transferred physically to the user storage portion of the partition. Otherwise, the content may be temporarily copied for local storage by the user at the user accessible portion of the demarcation point for playback at the user endpoint device; 0145: gateway appliance, in one embodiment, maintains directories of access and sharing and which services are involved to access and transfer content];
Ansari does not specifically disclose, displaying, via the GUI of the electronic device, an unlocking message in an inbox control of a user. This is disclosed by Green, FIG. 7 [0145: an example user interface may be displayed when the potential responder selects an item from the request inbox, such as that illustrated in FIG. 6. The user interface may display the full content request text and optionally other content request criteria].
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Ansari with the teachings from Green with the motivation to provide an application programming interface enabling third party systems to gain access to some or all of the services provided by a content distribution facilitation system, where the operator of the third system may pay a licensing fee for such access. Green [0025].
B. In regards to Claims 4, 18 and 20, Ansari discloses, wherein the displaying of the media content collection unlocked in response to the unlocking operation for the access right to the media content collection to be unlocked comprises: displaying the media content collection unlocked in response to unlocking the access right to the media content collection to be unlocked using an exchange resource. Ansari [0065: user select and prioritize movies to purchase].
C. In regards to Claim 7, Ansari discloses, further comprising: displaying the media content collection unlocked in response to an interactive operation on a first collection control in a creator home page. Ansari [0147: allowing users to share widgets, RSS feeds, and tabs on their personal page with family and friends or the like, allowing users to create slideshow with media and share it with family and friends or the like; 0148: file sharing may be invoked with minimum user interaction, for instance, as one-click function].
D. In regards to Claim 12, Ansari discloses, wherein the link control further corresponds to another function control. Ansari [0160: further link is provided to change the user preferences. For example, when the user clicks on the preferences link, a dialog box will be displayed that will allow the user to change the user preferences].
E. In regards to Claim 14, Ansari discloses, wherein: the first media content comprises a video; Ansari [0008: video retrieval module operable to retrieve and capture video activity of at least one media display device as a video activity stream];
and the media content collection comprises a video collection. Ansari [0143: file sharing service of the present disclosure in an exemplary embodiment allows users to share files, for example, videos; 0145: movie list (collection) sharing can be a managed by the community or network of gateway appliances. The gateway appliance, in one embodiment, maintains directories of access and sharing and which services are involved to access and transfer content].
Claims 3, 5, 9-11, 13 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ansari (US Publication 2022/0208319) in view of Green (US Publication 2017/0366498) in further view of Wang (US Publication 2021/0359969).
A. In regards to Claim 3, Ansari does not specifically disclose, wherein the displaying of the media content collection to be unlocked in response to the interactive operation on the GUI comprises: displaying a creator home page in response to an interactive operation on a control of the creator home page in the GUI, wherein the creator home page comprises a first collection control; this is disclosed by Wang [0052: user may select a control provided by the content sharing component; 0028: system provides a thumbnail associated with the collection on a profile page of the first user account; responsive to receiving a selection of the thumbnail from a second user account, the social networking system provides the collection to be viewed by the second user account. In this way, users can access the collections shared by a particular user account from the profile page];
and displaying the media content collection to be unlocked in response to an interactive operation on the first collection control. This is disclosed by Wang [0053: responsive to receiving a selection of an individual content post, the collection component directs the social network application on the device to the selected content post, whether the selected content post was originally shared by the user].
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Ansari with the teachings from Wang with the motivation to allow users to share content posts of different types (e.g., product posts and place/location posts) without the restrictions associated with the product post collection type and/or the place post collection type. Wang [0087].
B. In regards to Claim 5, Ansari does not specifically disclose, further comprising: displaying a second collection control in response to an interactive operation on a setting option control in a user home page; this is disclosed by Wang [0076: the user interface may be presented in response to selection of a control in the user interface to create a new collection, and/or a similar control presented in a user interface associated with posts the user has saved, posts the user has previously shared, posts displayed to the user as a result of a search, and so forth; 0086: selection of the control may also cause the collection to be displayed on a profile page of a user account associated with the user];
it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Ansari with the teachings from Wang with the motivation to provide a user interface to correspond to what is displayed when one of the users selects to view a profile page (home page) of the user and selects a control that corresponds to collections created by the user account associated with the user. Wang [0088].
Ansari discloses, and displaying the media content collection unlocked in response to an interactive operation on the collection control. Ansari [0065: user select and prioritize movies to purchase; the user may initiate streaming of the content directly to a digital endpoint device, or will be granted permissions to download and play the movie].
C. In regards to Claim 9, Ansari does not specifically disclose, further comprising: displaying an evaluation result of a user on the media content collection. This is disclosed by Wang [0099: the user interface may include an indicator that displays a number of user accounts that have “liked” the collection, and an indicator of a number of comments that have been provided on the collection]. The motivation being the same as set forth in claim 3.
D. In regards to Claim 10, Ansari does not specifically disclose, wherein the displaying of the evaluation result of the user on the media content collection comprises: displaying an evaluation window in response to an interactive operation on an evaluation control on a page on which the media content collection is located; this is disclosed by Wang [0054: content sharing component may provide a selectable control in a user interface on the computing devices that, when selected, enables the users to provide feedback on the collection];
and displaying the evaluation result of the user on the media content collection in response to an evaluation operation of the user on the media content collection on the evaluation window. This is disclosed by Wang [0094: the user interface may include an indicator that displays a number of user accounts that have “liked” the collection, and/or an indicator of a number of comments that have been provided on the collection]. The motivation being the same as set forth in claim 3.
E. In regards to Claim 11, Ansari does not specifically disclose, wherein the displaying of the evaluation result of the user on the media content collection comprises: displaying an evaluation window in a case where at least a portion of media content in the media content collection is played; this is disclosed by Wang [0098: some cases, the descriptor may change based on inputs provided by the user about the second content post associated with the item. The indicator may remain the same in response to the gesture in the first direction, thus providing the user with an indication that the second content post is associated with the same location as the first content post; 0099: user interface may include a control that, when selected, provides a mechanism for the user to comment on the collection];
and displaying the evaluation result of the user on the media content collection in response to an evaluation operation of the user on the media content collection on the evaluation window. This is disclosed by Wang [0094: the user interface may include an indicator that displays a number of user accounts that have “liked” the collection, and/or an indicator of a number of comments that have been provided on the collection]. The motivation being the same as set forth in claim 3.
F. In regards to Claim 13, Ansari discloses, further comprising: obtaining the first media content to be published; Ansari [0216: a background service may record all desktop activity as a video and distribute it to the gateway appliance to be stored on a hard drive; the video may be published on the local network]
Ansari does not specifically disclose, generating a link control associated with the first media content, wherein the link control points to the media content collection to be unlocked; this is disclosed by Wang [0070: for particular objects or information having privacy settings specifying that they are ephemeral, the social networking system may be restricted in its access, or use of the objects or information; 0052: the user may select a control provided by the content sharing component to share a link to the collection as an ephemeral content item];
and publishing the first media content with the link control to the feed. This is disclosed by Wang [0108: the collection component may share a link to the collection in a feed of followers of the user account of the user]. The motivation being the same as set forth in claim 3.
G. In regards to Claim 15, Ansari does not specifically disclose, wherein the media content collection comprises one or more second media contents. This is disclosed by Wang [0034: the collection may be organized such that each item in the collection is associated with a different location; 0064: in particular examples, different objects of the same type associated with a user may have different privacy settings]. The motivation being the same as set forth in claim 3.
H. In regards to Claim 16, Ansari does not specifically disclose, wherein the first media content is different from the one or more second media contents. This is disclosed by Wang [0034: the collection may be organized such that each item in the collection is associated with a different location; 0071: example, if the user changes privacy settings and then shares a second image, the second image may be visible only to the first user group]. The motivation being the same as set forth in claim 3.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's other filed arguments have been fully considered but have not been found persuasive.
A. Regarding the 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection Applicant submits that the amended independent claim 1 does not recite abstract ideas because it is directed to accessing media content comprising a plurality of steps which do not comprise commercial interactions, business relations and managing personal interactions. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claims are directed to the abstract concept grouped under Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity with no additional elements that integrate the abstract concept into a practical application or significantly more. The claim provides for accessing and displaying content that a user has unlocked/purchased, to improve the user experience, which is an abstract idea in and of itself. Accordingly, the claims improve upon an abstract idea and not a technology. And applying the abstract idea via a GUI by having a user clicking on a link control does not remove the claim from being directed to the abstract idea. See at least, TLI Communications LLC v. AV Automotive LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 613, 118 USPQ2d 1744, 1748 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (“It is well-settled that mere recitation of concrete, tangible components is insufficient to confer patent eligibility to an otherwise abstract idea”).
Applicant contends that the problem of how to prevent the media content collection unlocked from being affected by the removal of the link control so as to improve the efficiency of the electronic device in pushing the media content collection unlocked again is solved, and claim 1 improves the information pushing efficiency of the electronic device. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. As the invention addresses an entrepreneurial problem rather than a technological one. The claims do not proffer any additional elements that improve the computer itself or any other technology. The claimed steps do not set forth an improved information pushing efficiency of an electronic device, but rather provides for the displaying of content to a customer after making a payment. Moreover, Applicant’s specification provides no technical evidence/technical support that the claimed invention, when implemented, improves the functioning of the computing device itself, improves another technology/technical field, or that it solves a technical problem. Indeed, the only improvement attested to by Applicant is that “the user may access the media content collection unlocked (for example, viewing a video) by an unlocking operation on the media content collection to be unlocked. In this way, the method achieves the access to the media content collection, which improves the user experience.” [0048]. Thus, the specification nor the claims disclose how it improves the information pushing efficiency of an electronic device, which nonetheless, would amount to improving an abstract idea.
As such, the claims as a whole, in view of Alice, do not connote an improvement to another technology or technical field; the claims do not amount to an improvement to the functioning of a computer itself; and the claims do not move beyond a general link of the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment. Therefore, the Applicant does not overcome the current 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection.
Applicant argument in regards to the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection that Ansari does not disclose or suggest, “maintaining an access right to the media content collection unlocked for a user corresponding to the media content collection unlocked in a case where the link control is removed” because Ansari only discloses that the grayed icon indicates that the feature is not available, and it does not indicate that the icon is removed. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The notification icon being grayed out means it is unavailable/disabled, which is the equivalent of being removed as it cannot be clicked on nor provide any link functionality. Ansari discloses that if the feature represented by the icon is not available, then the icon will be grayed. The user does not click on the grayed icon because its function has been removed and clicks the non-grayed notification icon because its function is enabled. See Ansari [0161]. And Ansari discloses, regardless if the icon is grayed out (removed), the user can access the purchased content, in that, if the user has purchased the movie, the movies may be transferred physically to the user storage portion of the partition. Otherwise, the content may be temporarily copied for local storage by the user at the user accessible portion of the demarcation point for playback at the user endpoint device. Ansari [0065].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Errol CARVALHO whose telephone number is (571)272-9987. The Examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:30-7:00 Alt Fri
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ilana Spar can be reached on 571- 270-7537. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/E CARVALHO/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3622
1 See, Alice Corp. Pty Ltd. v. CLS Bank lnt'l, 134 S. Ct. 2347, 2360 (2014) (noting that none of the hardware recited “offers a meaningful limitation beyond generally linking ‘the use of the [method] to a particular technological environment,’ that is, implementation via computers” (citing Bilski v. Kappos, 561 U.S. 593, 610-11 (2010))).