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 § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
1. Claims 1, 2, 4, 20-22, 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over https://firework.tv/us/ (PTO-892 Reference U, website screen captures by archive.org dated 9/10/2017, hereinafter “Firework”) in view of Feinstein (US 8682739 B1).
Examiner Note on Claim Interpretation
The claims repeatedly recite the term “short-form video[s]”. The specification defines the term as follows (emphasis added):
Short-form videos are gaining popularity. Individuals are now able to consume short-form videos from almost anywhere on any connected device at home, at work, or even walking outside. Especially on mobile devices, social media platforms have become an extremely common use of internet-based video. Accessed through the use of a browser or specialized app that can be downloaded, these platforms include various services. While these services vary in their video capabilities, they are generally able to display short video clips, repeating video "loops", livestreams, music videos, etc. These videos can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes or longer. Short- form videos cover a variety of topics. Important subcategories of short-form videos include livestreams and livestream replays. Countless hours are spent online watching an endless supply of videos from friends, family, social media "influencers", gainers, favorite sports teams, or from a plethora of other sources.
This portion of the specification does not limit “short-form videos” in any meaningful manner that differentiates them from other “videos”. Accordingly, the Examiner interprets “short-form videos” to be any type of “videos”.
Regarding Claim 1
Firework discloses a computer-implemented method for video analysis comprising:
accessing a short-form video from a library of short-form videos (see at least page 6: “Short Video Content Library”; see also at least pages 3, 4, 8, 9-12)
recognizing a plurality of objects from a catalog of products featured in the short-form video (see at least pages 9-11: text box displays responsive to mouse hover describes a product within a demo video being recognized);
identifying when a host is displaying at least one of the plurality of objects, based on the recognizing; (see at least pages 9-11: lipstick object identified for product card display)
selecting, using one or more processors, a first object from the plurality of objects, wherein the selecting is based on the identifying; (see at least pages 9-11: lipstick object selected for product card display)
inserting a representation of the first object into an on-screen product card, wherein the inserting is accomplished dynamically; (see at least pages 9-11, 22: product card of lipstick inserted into video)
enabling an ecommerce purchase of the first object, wherein the ecommerce purchase is accomplished within the short-form video (see at least pages 9-11 “Buy Now” button within product card inserted into video)
Firework does not explicitly disclose, but Feinstein teaches, in a similar environment:
highlighting the first object in the short-form video, wherein the highlighting causes the first object to be surrounded by a boundary overlay in the short-form video (Feinstein: see at least fig. 3, col. 7: line 49 – col. 8: line 7)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework, with the features of Feinstein, since such a modification would have facilitated sales of products by allowing a user to access additional information about the product and/or product category. (Feinstein: see at least fig. 3, col. 7: line 49 – col. 8: line 7)
Regarding Claims 25, 26
Claims 25 and 26 are parallel in scope to claim 1 and are rejected on similar grounds.
Regarding Claim 2
Firework does not explicitly disclose, but Feinstein teaches, in a similar environment:
wherein the selecting is further based on audio analysis. (Feinstein: see at least col. 4: line 53 – col. 5: line 5)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework, with the features of Feinstein, since such a modification would have facilitated sales of products by allowing a user to access additional information about the product and/or product category. (Feinstein: see at least fig. 3, col. 7: line 49 – col. 8: line 7)
Regarding Claim 4
Firework further discloses:
wherein the enabling further comprises revealing details of the first object based on a first user action with the on-screen product card or the boundary overlay (Firework: see at least page 10: “the main screen turns into a product information detail page by clicking buy now…”)
Regarding Claim 20
Firework does not explicitly disclose, but Feinstein teaches, in a similar environment:
wherein the identifying is independent of physical motions of the host or location of the first object in the short-form video (Feinstein: see at least col. 3: lines 25-42: position data stored prior to user interaction with video)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework, with the features of Feinstein, since such a modification would have facilitated sales of products by allowing a user to access additional information about the product and/or product category. (Feinstein: see at least fig. 3, col. 7: line 49 – col. 8: line 7)
Regarding Claim 21
Firework does not explicitly disclose, but Feinstein teaches, in a similar environment:
wherein metadata for the boundary overlay is recorded with the short- form video (Feinstein: see at least col. 3: lines 25-42: position data stored with video in video data store)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework, with the features of Feinstein, since such a modification would have facilitated sales of products by allowing a user to access additional information about the product and/or product category. (Feinstein: see at least fig. 3, col. 7: line 49 – col. 8: line 7)
Regarding Claim 22
Firework further discloses:
wherein the enabling further comprises revealing a virtual purchase cart (Firework: see at least page 10: “It shows the checkout page” after clicking buy now)
Regarding Claim 24
Firework further discloses:
completing checkout from the virtual purchase cart. (Firework: see at least page 10: “It shows the checkout page and then becomes a successful purchase”)
2. Claims 5-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Firework in view of Feinstein, as applied above, and further in view of Crossley et al. (US 20200134320 A1, hereinafter Crossley).
Regarding Claim 5
Firework in view of Feinstein discloses the claimed invention except for the following, which Crossley teaches in a similar environment:
training a machine learning model to recognize the plurality of objects from the catalog of products featured in the short-form video (Crossley: see at least ¶66)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework in view of Feinstein, with the features of Crossley, since such a modification would have reduced the manpower required for thorough annotation of content, providing new interactive interfaces that seamlessly relay this metadata to users without interrupting the users' goal of viewing content. (Crossley: ¶5)
Regarding Claim 6
Firework in view of Feinstein discloses the claimed invention except for the following, which Crossley teaches in a similar environment:
wherein the training includes images from past objects, product catalogs, short-form videos, keywords, or transfer learning (Crossley: see at least ¶69)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework in view of Feinstein, with the features of Crossley, since such a modification would have reduced the manpower required for thorough annotation of content, providing new interactive interfaces that seamlessly relay this metadata to users without interrupting the users' goal of viewing content. (Crossley: ¶5)
Regarding Claim 7
Firework in view of Feinstein discloses the claimed invention except for the following, which Crossley teaches in a similar environment:
wherein the training includes boosting or reducing weighting of images, wherein the boosting or reducing is based on the catalog of products (Crossley: see at least ¶69)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework in view of Feinstein, with the features of Crossley, since such a modification would have reduced the manpower required for thorough annotation of content, providing new interactive interfaces that seamlessly relay this metadata to users without interrupting the users' goal of viewing content. (Crossley: ¶5)
Regarding Claim 8
Firework in view of Feinstein discloses the claimed invention except for the following, which Crossley teaches in a similar environment:
wherein the training includes product categories that appear in the short- form video. (Crossley: see at least ¶66-69)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework in view of Feinstein, with the features of Crossley, since such a modification would have reduced the manpower required for thorough annotation of content, providing new interactive interfaces that seamlessly relay this metadata to users without interrupting the users' goal of viewing content. (Crossley: ¶5)
Regarding Claims 9-11
Firework in view of Feinstein discloses:
finding a second object from the plurality of objects (Feinstein: see at least fig. 3, 5, 6, col. 8: line 32 – col. 9: line 24)
wherein the highlighting includes the second object in the short-form video (Feinstein: see at least fig. 3, 5, 6, col. 8: line 32 – col. 9: line 24)
rendering one or more products for sale related to the second object, wherein the rendering is enabled by a second user action (Feinstein: see at least fig. 3, 5, 6, col. 8: line 32 – col. 9: line 24)
3. Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Firework in view of Feinstein, as applied above, and further in view of Alon et al. (US 20210383115 A1, hereinafter Alon)
Firework in view of Feinstein discloses the claimed invention except for the following, which Alon teaches in a similar environment:
wherein the rendering one or more products for sale is based on a bid from an advertiser (Alon: see at least ¶186)
providing a bid suggestion, to the advertiser, based on effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM) (Alon: see at least ¶206, 584)
wherein the rendering one or more products for sale is listed in order of highest bid to lower bid as an overlay on the short-form video (Alon: see at least ¶245, 257, 571, 616)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework in view of Feinstein, with the features of Alon, since such a modification would have provided flexible, unconventional approaches that efficiently, effectively, and in real-time identify and manage competitive bidding opportunities and place content in a 2D or 3D scene in a natural manner and for a particular audience. (Alon: ¶7)
3. Claims 3, 15,16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Firework in view of Feinstein, as applied above, and further in view of Garber (US 11463533 B1)
Firework in view of Feinstein discloses the claimed invention except for the following, which Garber teaches in a similar environment:
wherein the selecting is further based on gaze detection (Garber: at least col. 25: lines 32-56)
wherein the gaze detection is accomplished with a cylindrical coordinate system (Garber: at least col. 25: lines 32-56; col. 20: lines 42-64)
gaze detection includes an angle of the host's face relative to the first object in the short-form video (Garber: at least col. 25: lines 32-56)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework in view of Feinstein, with the features of Garber, since such a modification would have allowed for supplemental content to be provided that corresponds to actions determined for the computing device, whether the supplemental content is specific to the device or to the object of interest. (Garber: col. 2: lines 50-53)
3. Claims 17-19, 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Firework in view of Feinstein, as applied above, and further in view of Carter et al. (US 20150026728 A1, hereinafter Carter
Firework in view of Feinstein discloses the claimed invention except for the following, which Carter teaches in a similar environment:
presenting a coupon overlay to a user (Carter: at least ¶4, fig. 24)
wherein the coupon overlay is revealed to the user after watching the short-form video for a period of time (Carter: at least ¶4, fig. 24)
wherein the presenting the coupon is based on metadata (Carter: at least ¶73, fig. 24)
wherein the enabling includes an ability for a user to clip coupons (Carter: at least ¶4, fig. 24)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the invention of Firework in view of Feinstein, with the features of Carter, since such a modification would have merely united elements of the prior art references, with no change in their respective functions, and would have yielded predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wang et al. (US 12279017 B1) discloses Devices, systems, and methods are provided for smart shopping based on recognition of objects presented in video, including identifying objects in videos as products using a learning model.
Pham et al. (US 20200381018 A1) discloses tagging tracked objects in a video with metadata, including highlighting an object in a video with a boundary overlay.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL A MISIASZEK whose telephone number is (571)272-6961. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday. 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Smith can be reached at 571272-6763. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL MISIASZEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3688