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 .
This Office Action is responsive to communications filed on 01/25/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending in the instant application. Claims 1, 8 and 15 are independent. An Office Action on the merits follows here below.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/25/2024 and 04/17/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated by Franklin (US 20210176289 A1).
Regarding Claim 1: Franklin discloses a method (Refer to para [002]; “…present invention relates to delivering media content and, particularly, but not exclusively, to a system that delivers media content and a computer-implemented method of the same.”) comprising:
receiving, at a watermarking component of a first device (Refer to para [042]; “For example, the media content segment may be modified to include a visible watermark or symbol reflecting a name, logo or symbol that is easily attributable to a person or organization.”) associated with a network-based communication system (Refer to para [031]; “FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for delivering media content from a server system 110 to a client computing device 130 via a network 150 according to an example.”),
first video data captured by a first camera of the first device (Refer to para [031 and 032]; “It can be understood that media content may be in the form of a media content item comprising video and/or audio content, such as a film or a television program.”) in association with a media stream of the network-based communication system (Refer to para [033]; “The server system 110 is configured to deliver media content to the client computing device 130. The server system 110 may be a file server having at least one processor and a computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by the processor. The server system 110 may comprise one or a plurality of individual servers, which may for example cooperate or be coordinated to perform the overall operation of the server system 110.”)
determining a first pattern associated with the first device (Refer to para [044]; “A segment can also be watermarked by embedding a so-called “invisible” watermark (sometimes referred to as steganography) into at least one frame of the segment, whereby the watermark is formed by replacing a number of existing pixels within a frame with encoded pixels that form a pattern, which isn't discernable by the human eye.”)
determining a first certificate associated with the first camera of the first device (Refer to para [044]; “In either case, the whole or part of a watermark may be present on several frames of media content; in the latter scenario the watermark is divided, and different parts are embedded into multiple, possibly successive, frames of content. This means any copied playback of the media content will contain the mark and be traceable to the recipient.”)
generating a first encoded pattern based at least in part on the first certificate and the first pattern (Refer to para [045]; “On the same accessibility point, a segment can be encoded to accommodate characteristics specific to the configuration of a computing device. Specifically, a segment is formatted based on one or more capabilities of the client computing device to which it is to be delivered.”) generating, by the watermarking component, first encoded video data comprising one or more first invisible watermarks overlayed on one or more frames of the first video data (Refer to para [092]; “Processing tasks, such as dubbing, captioning, or subtitling, performed in relation to a portion of a media content item generate additional content, for example, text, to overlay a scene of the media content item at a particular time during playback. In such a scenario, the portion of the media content item is represented by three sets of segments: audio, video, and additional content segments. The additional content is delivered to a client computing device in a media content segment that is separate from or replaces (in the example of dubbing for audio) the video and audio segments.”) the one or more first invisible watermarks representing at least the first encoded pattern (Refer to para [044 and 062]; “A segment can also be watermarked by embedding a so-called “invisible” watermark (sometimes referred to as steganography) into at least one frame of the segment…”)
and sending the first encoded video data to a second device associated with the media stream of the network-based communication system (Refer to para [099 and 100]; “The client computing device 130 sends an authentication request 601 to the first server computer 111 and the first server computer 111 verifies the authentication information within the request 601. The request 601 also contains a session request. After the user is authenticated, the first server computer 111 sends a request 602 to create a session to the second server computer 112. The second server computer 112 returns a session identifier 603 to the first server computer 111 and the first server computer 111 sends a session confirmation URL 604 to the client computing device 130. Optionally, the client computing device 130 sends a request 605 for confirmation of the session to the first server computer 111 and the first server computer 111 responds with a confirmation 606.”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-20 are allowed.
Claims 2-7 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.
The prior art either singly or in combination does not teach, disclose or suggest at least the following claim limitation(s): “…receiving, from a first device associated with a media stream of the network-based communication system, first video data captured by a first camera of the first device,
the first video data being encoded with a first invisible watermark;
determining a first encoded pattern represented by the first invisible watermark based at least in part on decoding the first invisible watermark from the first video data;
determining a first certificate associated with the first device;
determining that the first video data is unmodified since being captured by the first camera of the first device based at least in part on validating the first encoded pattern using the first certificate; providing the first video data to at least a second user device associated with the media stream;
and sending a signal to at least the second device based at least in part on determining that the first video data is unmodified,
the signal causing at least the second device to display an icon while the first video data is being output, the icon indicating that the first video data is unmodified since being captured by the first camera of the first device.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIA M THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)270-1583. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30am-4:30pm.
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MIA M. THOMAS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2665
/MIA M THOMAS/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2665