DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
01. The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Response to Amendment
02. This action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed on 11/12/2025. Claims 1, 3 – 12, 15, and 17 – 20 are pending in the present application.
Applicant’s arguments and amendments are considered but are not persuasive.
This action is made final.
Response to Arguments
03. Applicant argues that McLean does not disclose all of the Applicant’s claimed limitations, specifically “after the indication of at least one second media item is displayed, receiving, via the graphical user interface, a second input corresponding to a selection of a second media item for addition to the playlist”, in that McLean does not disclose additional input after an initial input. Examiner respectfully agrees. However, Nathan has been relied upon to disclose this limitation.
Nathan teaches, among other things, the capability to allow for a user to supply input that is used to add songs to a playlist. As a result of performing such an action, a query for a particular playback device is determined, such that songs are added to the playlist. Nathan explicitly teaches that the interaction can occur multiple times, which allows for users to continually provide interactions with the system in order to provide changes and updates to the playlist. Nathan is not limited to only one user interaction, but instead allows for users to continually interact with the system to provide changes to the playlist. Additionally, Examiner notes that the capability to perform user interactions with a playlist more than one time is an obvious variation to the concept of providing a seed to generate a playlist, as provided by McLean. Examiner agrees that McLean does not provide for multiple rounds of user interactions to generate and modify playlists, but this is simply an obvious variation, as would be understood to one of ordinary skill in the art. Regardless, Nathan has been relied upon to explicitly teach the concept of multiple user interactions in order to provide for modifications to a playlist that has been already established or created.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
04. 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.
05. 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.
06. Claims 1, 4, 6 – 8, 11, 12, 15, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mclean (US PGPub 2011/0153638), in view of Nathan et al. (US PGPub 2006/0239131), hereinafter “Nathan”.
Consider claim 1, Mclean discloses a control device comprising:
a display; at least one processor; at least one tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the control device is configured to (paragraphs [0008], [0012], computing components are utilized, including one or more processors and a video adaptor for a display, as well as a computer-readable storage medium);
display a graphical user interface comprising one or more options to facilitate adding media content to a playlist that is independent of any particular playback device (paragraphs [0002], [0026], a user interface is utilized that allows for the adding of a media files to a playlist, wherein the playlist is not tied to any specific media player platform);
receive, via the graphical user interface, an input corresponding to an indication of a first media item for addition to the playlist, wherein the first media item is associated with first metadata (paragraphs [0027], [0028], a user selects a first media file, which then adds that media file to a playlist, such that the media file has associated metadata. Examiner notes that Mclean refers to features of the media files, such as text, which are known to be types of metadata, and Mclean later explains that the features/text is a form of metadata in paragraphs [0031] and [0035]);
after receiving the input, cause the first media item to be added to the playlist, wherein after the first media item has been added to the playlist, the playlist comprises one or more media items comprising the first media item (paragraphs [0026], [0028], a user adds the first media file to the playlist, which can be done in different ways, including a user selecting the media file, such that the playlist includes the added media file);
based on the first metadata, display an indication of at least one second media item, wherein the second media item is associated with second metadata, and wherein at least one aspect of the second metadata is associated with at least one aspect of the first metadata (paragraphs [0029] – [0031], the second media file that is obtained based on the matching of the metadata between the first media file and second media file, is made known to the user);
receive, via the graphical user interface, a second input corresponding to a selection of the second media item (paragraphs [0031] – [0034], the adding of the second media file to the playlist can be performed by a user selecting the second media file);
after receiving the second input, cause the second media item to be added to the playlist, wherein after the second media item has been added to the playlist, the playlist comprising two or more media items comprising the first media item and the second media item (paragraphs [0029], [0032], [0034], the second media file is added to the playlist, which can be based on receiving an input, such that the playlist includes the added media files);
receive, via the graphical user interface, a third input corresponding to a selection of the playlist (paragraphs [0023], [0027], a user is able to listen to, or view, the media files that have been added to the playlist. Examiner notes that Mclean does not specifically state a third input that initiates the playback of the playlist. However, Mclean makes it clear in paragraph [0023] that the playlist is for media files and that they are “designed to be listened to, viewed and otherwise experienced by the user for his entertainment, education, etc.”. Additionally, paragraph [0027] explains that the user then “listens to” the playlist by clicking a button on a user interface. Additionally, the claims only recite that the playlist is added to a queue for play back, which only equates to the playlist being playable and not specifically being played).
However, Mclean does not specifically disclose that a separate queue is used for having the media items added to, or a second input to adding media to a playlist.
In the same field of endeavor, Nathan discloses a device comprising:
after the indication of at least one second media item is displayed...for addition to the playlist (paragraphs [0158], [0190], [0202], [0203], Figs 21B, 23, a playlist that has been previously created can be edited, such as by adding or removing songs, which allows for updating of the playlist);
after receiving the third input, cause the two or more media items of the playlist to be added to a queue that is independent of the playlist and associated with a particular playback device, and wherein after the two or more media items of the playlist have been added to the queue, the queue comprises the two or more media items (paragraphs [0113] – [0115], user input is used in order to add a song from a playlist to a queue, such that the queue is for a particular playback device, such as a jukebox. The queue comprises all the songs that have been added to it from the playlists).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the adding of media items from a playlist into a queue taught by Nathan into the generation of playlist taught by Mclean for the purpose of allowing playlists that are generated to be used for playback on a particular playback device, such that the entire playlist does not need to be incorporated into the queue, which would be useful for being able to have media come from various different types of playlists, but not have the necessitation of having the entire playlist be loaded onto the playback device or being bound to that playback device.
Consider claim 4, and as applied to claim 1 above, Mclean discloses a device comprising:
the media playback system comprises the control device (paragraph [0024], [0035], the media files can be played on a device where the playlist is found).
Consider claim 6, and as applied to claim 1 above, Mclean discloses a device comprising:
the media playback system comprises a playback device different than the control device (paragraphs [0024], [0035], the media files can be played on a different device than where the media files are located).
Consider claim 6, and as applied to claim 1 above, Nathan discloses a device comprising:
the media playback system comprises a second playback device configured to play back media content in synchrony with the playback device (paragraphs [0106] – [0110], the system allows for the songs to be played in multiple zones, such that the song can be played on any one or more of the devices at the same time).
Consider claim 8, and as applied to claim 1 above, Mclean discloses a device comprising:
providing the indication of the at least one second media item based on the first metadata comprises querying one or more media services for media content based on the first metadata (paragraphs [0025], the media files can be obtained from different locations, such as locally, from media collection servers, etc.).
Consider claim 11, and as applied to claim 1 above, Mclean discloses a device comprising:
the first and second metadata each comprise one or more of: a media item title, an artist name, an album title, or a genre (paragraphs [0027], [0031], the metadata for the media files can include various pieces of information, including artist and genre).
Consider claim 12, and as applied to claim 1 above, Robertson discloses a device comprising:
the at least one aspect of the second metadata and the at least one aspect of the first metadata each comprise one or more of: a media item title, an artist name, an album title, or a genre (paragraphs [0027], [0031], the metadata for the media files can include various pieces of information, including artist and genre).
Claims 15, 18, and 20 and rejected under the same rationale provided above with respect to claims 1, 4, and 1 (respectively). Claims 15, 18, and 20 recite identical subject matter, except that either a device, medium, or method is claimed.
for determining
07. Claims 3, 9, 10, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mclean (US PGPub 2011/0153638), in view of Nathan et al. (US PGPub 2006/0239131), hereinafter “Nathan”, in further view of Robertson et al. (US PGPub 2010/0017366), hereinafter “Robertson”.
Consider claim 3, and as applied to claim 1 above, Mclean and Nathan disclose the claimed invention except that the first media item is being played while the second media item is obtained.
In the same field of endeavor, Robertson discloses a device comprising:
displaying the indication of the at least one second media item comprises displaying the indication while the media playback system is playing back the first media item (paragraphs [0039], [0059], [0063], the obtaining and displaying of the additional media items can be performed while the media item that was used to perform the search is being played).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the playing of a media item while additional media items are obtained taught by Robertson into the locating and incorporating of additional media items into a playlist taught by Mclean and Nathan for the purpose of allowing additional media items to be obtained that are related to the currently being played media item, which would allow a user to better utilize the additional media file obtaining process so that related tracks would be more visually identifiable to the user.
Consider claim 9, and as applied to claim 8 above, Mclean discloses the usage of a media service, but does not disclose using two or more media services.
In the same field of endeavor, Robertson discloses a device comprising:
the one or more media services comprise at least two different media services (paragraph [0033], multiple media servers are used).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the usage of multiple media servers taught by Robertson into the locating and incorporating of additional media items into a playlist taught by Mclean and Nathan so that a larger selection of media items could be located, as utilizing and searching multiple media servers would allow for a greater amount of results to be returns, as well as be able to potentially return results that are in different format, can be obtained at different speeds, etc.
Consider claim 10, and as applied to claim 8 above, Mclean discloses the usage of a media service, but does not disclose using two or more different media services.
In the same field of endeavor, Robertson discloses a device comprising:
the first media item is provided by a first media service and the second media item is provided by a second, different media service (paragraph [0033], multiple media servers are used).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the obtaining of media items from two different media servers taught by Robertson into the locating and incorporating of additional media items into a playlist taught by Mclean and Nathan so that a larger selection of media items could be located, as utilizing and searching multiple media servers would allow for a greater amount of results to be returns, as well as be able to potentially return results that are in different format, can be obtained at different speeds, etc.
Claim 17 is rejected under the same rationale provided above with respect to claim 3. Claim 17 is directed towards a non-transitory computer-readable medium, whereas claim 3 is directed towards a control device. However, nearly identical claim limitations are otherwise present.
08. Claims 5 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mclean (US PGPub 2011/0153638), in view of Nathan et al. (US PGPub 2006/0239131), in further view of Thane (US PGPub 2008/0005673).
Consider claim 5, and as applied to claim 1 above, Mclean and Nathan disclose the claimed invention except that headphones are used.
In the same field of endeavor, Thane discloses a device comprising:
the media playback system comprises headphones (paragraph [0065], headphones can be used for media playback).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the headphone usage for media playback taught by Thane into the locating and incorporating of additional media items into a playlist taught by Mclean and Nathan for the purpose of allowing additional means to display the media, such as by allowing a user to use additional and better suited physical devices to listen to the media.
Claim 19 is rejected under the same rationale provided above with respect to claim 5. Claim 19 is directed towards a non-transitory computer-readable medium, whereas claim 5 is directed towards a control device. However, nearly identical claim limitations are otherwise present.
Conclusion
09. 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 extension fee 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.
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11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Christopher Raab whose telephone number is (571) 270-1090. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Ajay Bhatia can be reached on (571) 272-3906. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER J RAAB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2156
January 10, 2026