20200245017 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 § 102
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.
Claims 1, 5-12, 17 and 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ganschow et al. (US 20200245017 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ganschow teaches a method for processing virtual items in a live-streaming process, applicable to an electronic device (user device 202) that runs a third-party application (content provider app 204), comprising:
acquiring, in response to an interactive content live-streaming instruction to the third-party application, an item material of at least one virtual item associated with the third-party application (in response to an instruction as user selection/interaction with the menu-launch button playing video program livestream to content provider app 204, obtaining additional/supplemental content linked with at least one selectable button generated by content provider app 204 – see 0012, 0086, 0095, 0096, 0119-0122, 0124-0127, 0129, 0131), wherein the virtual item associated with the third-party application matches at least one interaction service corresponding to the third-party application, and the interaction service is an interaction operation during running of the third-party application (at least one selectable button generated by content provider app 2024 matches one or more interaction services presented by the content provider app 204 such as messaging, voting, wagering, fan reactions...etc. See 0058, 0074, 0104-0106), the item material of the virtual item includes description on the virtual item, and is bound to a preset item position while being displayed (the additional/supplemental content is arranged for presentation in interactive content overlay window. See 0068, 0074, 0096, 0114, 0115); and
displaying an interactive content live-streaming interface (GUI 108) corresponding to the third-party application (see 0090, 0102), and displaying the item material of the virtual item at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface (presenting the additional/supplemental content in the interactive content overlay window on GUI 108 – see 0068, 0096), wherein the interactive content live-streaming interface is a live-streaming interface of an interactive content screen corresponding to the third-party application (GUI 108 generated by the content provider app 204 is an interface presenting a livestream - see FIG. 18, 0062, 0063, 0080, 0090, 0102, 0145).
Regarding claim 5, Ganschow teaches that wherein said displaying the interactive content live-streaming interface corresponding to the third-party application comprises at least one of: displaying the item material of the virtual item at the preset item position in a visible interactive region of the interactive content live-streaming interface; and displaying the item material of the virtual item at the preset item position in a virtual item panel of the interactive content live-streaming interface (interactive content overlay window 102 and/or small interactive content overlay window 111 is configured to display additional/supplemental content. See 0087, 0142, 0145, 0176, 0181, 0182).
Regarding claim 6, Ganschow teaches that wherein the at least one interaction service is a first interaction service currently run by the third-party application, and the at least one virtual item is at least one first virtual item matched with the first interaction service; and said displaying the item material of the virtual item at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface comprises: displaying, at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface, an item material of the first virtual item (for example, the data payload including additional/supplemental content related to a sport game being presented by the content provider app 204 such as a video clip of the goal, fan reactions to the goal. The additional/supplemental content is presented on the interactive content overlay window on GUI 108. See 0057, 0068, 0096, 0145).
Regarding claim 7, Ganschow teaches that in response to an interaction service currently running in the third-party application being updated from the first interaction service to a second interaction service, updating the item material of the first virtual item displayed at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface to an item material corresponding to a second virtual item; wherein the second virtual item is matched with the second interaction service (for example, small interactive content overlay windows notifies users to various features such as newly available content within the interactive content overlay. Selection of the small interactive content window 111 pulls up the interactive content window 102 which displays the data payload including newly available content or updated additional/supplemental content relating to a sport game being presented by the content provider app 204 such as updated betting opportunities resulting from the goal, team and player statistics, updated scores. The updated additional/supplemental content is presented in the interactive content overlay window on GUI 108. See 0057, 0068, 0088, 0096, 0142, 0145).
Regarding claim 8, Ganschow teaches that wherein the at least one interaction service comprises a plurality of interaction services during running of the third-party application (a plurality of interaction services presented by the content provider app 204 such as messaging, voting, wagering, fan reactions...etc. See 0058, 0074, 0104-0106); and said displaying the item material of the virtual item at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface comprises: displaying, at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface, the item material of the virtual item and matched service identification information corresponding to the virtual item, wherein the matched service identification information identifies the interaction service matched with the virtual item (the event ID is used to pair the content and services of one or more third-party content providers or service providers to the associated video stream in the content provider app 204 for providing the additional/supplemental content to be presented on the interactive content overlay window on GUI 108. See 0068, 0076, 0077, 0079, 0096, 0119).
Regarding claim 9, Ganschow teaches that wherein the item material of the virtual item comprises a target classification item material of the virtual item, the target classification item material is a classification item material matched with an object classification attribute of a target object of a plurality of classification item materials corresponding to the virtual item, and the target object is a user account of a display terminal corresponding to the interactive content live-streaming interface; said acquiring the item material of the at least one virtual item associated with the third-party application comprises: acquiring a target classification item material of the virtual item; and said displaying the item material of the virtual item at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface comprises: displaying, at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface, the target classification item material of the virtual item (event data including content type matched with the additional/supplemental content, providing notifications, alerts, and other data to users which is tailored to each user's own tastes and subscriptions, and displaying the content of the data payload corresponding with the notification/alert in association with the additional/supplemental content in the interactive content overlay window on the GUI 108. For example, the analysis system of the interactive engagement platform recognizes the event report as reporting a goal in the soccer match, and may identify that the goal may trigger new betting opportunities on the soccer match for a particular user subscribed to livestream based various factors including the user's betting history or video viewing history, for example, a goal by Liverpool FC ties the game and the system recognizes that user has watched a significant number of Liverpool games and bet in several games so presents an opportunity to bet on Liverpool to win match. See 0075, 0119, 0120, 0122, 0124, 0145, 0170).
Regarding claim 10, Ganschow teaches acquiring first matching information provided by an application server of the third-party application, wherein the first matching information indicates matching between each of the plurality of classification item materials corresponding to the virtual item and a matched object classification attribute (obtaining metadata from server 218 or SDK 210 and retrieving additional content associated with the metadata/video program, matching the metadata with a first set of additional content, and matching the metadata with a second set of additional content. See 0115).
Regarding claim 11, Ganschow teaches that wherein the item material of the virtual item comprises a designated item material, the designated item material is an item material being matched with a preset object, the preset object is an object whose application interaction attribute is a preset application interaction attribute; said acquiring the item material of the at least one virtual item associated with the third-party application comprises: acquiring the designated item material in response to the application interaction attribute corresponding to a target object is the preset application interaction attribute, wherein the target object is a user account of a display terminal corresponding to the interactive content live-streaming interface; and said displaying the item material of the virtual item at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface comprises: displaying, at the preset item position in the interactive content live-streaming interface, the designated item material (one of the selectable button associated with a designated website for a user to access to his/her user account such that the user is able to view/interact with the designated website. For instance, the interactive content overlay window prompts a user to sign in to his/her account a Twitter account so that the user can see posts associated with the video program. See 0104, 0116).
Regarding claim 12, Ganschow teaches acquiring second matching information provided by an application server of the third-party application, wherein the second matching information indicates matching between the designated item material and the preset application interaction attribute (obtaining metadata provided by SDK 210, wherein the metadata indicates matching between information/content related to the video program for providing additional content associated with the selectable button on GUI. See 0126, 0127, 0129, 0131).
Regarding claim 17, see rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 19, see rejection of claim 5.
Regarding claim 20, see rejection of claim 6.
Regarding claim 21, see rejection of claim 7.
Regarding claim 22, see rejection of claim 1.
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 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganschow et al. (US 20200245017 A1) in view of Swerdlow et al. (US 20230308709 A1).
Regarding claim 13, Ganschow teaches that the virtual item corresponds to at least one preset interaction effect under the interaction service matched by the virtual item, for instance, generating on-screen displays for user reaction via interactive content overlay window, e.g., cheers or boos. See 0142. Ganschow lacks to teach updating an interactive content screen in the interactive content live-streaming interface in response to triggering an item interaction instruction based on an item material corresponding to a target virtual item; wherein the interactive content screen is updated based on a target interaction effect corresponding to the target virtual item, the target virtual item is any virtual item of the at least one virtual item, and the target interaction effect is a preset interaction effect of at least one preset interaction effect corresponding to the target virtual item, wherein the preset interaction effect represents an influence of an interaction on the matched interaction service as claimed. Swerdlow teaches displaying a tooltip interface that instructs the user on the features of the reaction panel interface, displaying the reaction panel interface, where the reaction panel interface is in collapsed state, changing the state of the reaction panel interface from a collapsed state to an expanded state in response to user’s input, receiving user’s selecting an icon corresponding with a reaction while viewing the media content item, and updating presentation of the media content item to include an indication of the user reaction. See 0091, 0092, 0094, 0105, 0117, 0119. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ganschow by including the features of updating an interactive content screen in the interactive content live-streaming interface in response to triggering an item interaction instruction based on an item material corresponding to a target virtual item; wherein the interactive content screen is updated based on a target interaction effect corresponding to the target virtual item, the target virtual item is any virtual item of the at least one virtual item, and the target interaction effect is a preset interaction effect of at least one preset interaction effect corresponding to the target virtual item, wherein the preset interaction effect represents an influence of an interaction on the matched interaction service as taught or suggested by Swerdlow to enhance user’s viewing experience.
Regarding claim 14, Ganschow in combination with Swerdlow teaches sending the item interaction instruction to an application server of the third-party application in response to the item interaction instruction, wherein the item interaction instruction indicates performing a service interaction operation corresponding to the target interaction effect to update the interactive content screen; and updating the interactive content screen in the interactive content live-streaming interface based on updated interactive content information in response to receiving the updated interactive content information provided by the application server and transmitted via a live-streaming server (transmit one or more control signals to the content provider app via the content overlay SDK, wherein the one or more control signals are configured to associate a data payload with the small interactive content window for presentation of the updated additional/supplemental content provided by third party content/service provider See Ganschow: 0073-0079, 0145; receiving user’s selecting an icon corresponding with a reaction while viewing the media content item, and updating presentation of the media content item to include an indication of the user reaction. See Swerdlow: 0091, 0092, 0094, 0105, 0117, 0119, 0127).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganschow et al. (US 20200245017 A1) in view of Swerdlow et al. (US 20230308709 A1) and further in view of Chaudhri et al. (US 20170336960 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Ganschow teaches that in response to detecting a preset interaction operation on an item material corresponding to the target virtual item, displaying interaction information corresponding to the target virtual item, e.g., messaging. See 0086, 0104, 0105. Ganschow lacks to teach displaying interaction confirmation information corresponding to the target virtual item and interaction effect indication information corresponding to the target virtual item, wherein the interaction confirmation information is information for a user to confirm triggering of the item interaction instruction, and the interaction effect indication information indicates at least one preset interaction effect corresponding to the target virtual item; and triggering the item interaction instruction in response to detecting an interaction confirmation operation based on the interaction confirmation information. Chaudhri teaches that a deep press input, when detected by the electronic device, causes the messaging application to display an impact selection interface that includes a plurality of impact effect options and showing an animated preview of an impact effect option being applied to a message input in response user’s selection, and presenting the message corresponding to an impact effect option accepted by the user on a message region. See FIGs. 5Z-5AM; 0390-0394. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Ganschow and Swerdlow by displaying interaction confirmation information corresponding to the target virtual item and interaction effect indication information corresponding to the target virtual item, wherein the interaction confirmation information is information for a user to confirm triggering of the item interaction instruction, and the interaction effect indication information indicates at least one preset interaction effect corresponding to the target virtual item; and triggering the item interaction instruction in response to detecting an interaction confirmation operation based on the interaction confirmation information as taught or suggested by Chaudhri for the purposes of increasing the visual effect.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganschow et al. (US 20200245017 A1) in view of Swerdlow et al. (US 20230308709 A1) in view of Chen et al (CN 113766290 B).
Regarding claim 16, Ganschow lacks to teach the features as claimed. Yuan teaches that when it is detected that the number of times of triggering the presentation instruction satisfies a preset condition, a full-screen animation corresponding to the target virtual gift is generated. For example, the preset threshold may be 10 times, when the number of times of triggering the gift instruction is detected to satisfy 10 times, generating a full screen animation corresponding to the target virtual gift. See the description. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Ganschow and Swerdlow by acquiring an upgraded item material of the target virtual item in response to triggering the item interaction instruction and a preset upgrade condition corresponding to the target virtual item being satisfied; and updating the interactive content screen in the interactive content live-streaming interface and updating the item material of the target virtual item in the interactive content live-streaming interface to the upgraded item material as taught or suggested by Chen in order to increase the interest of user in giving gifts.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 and 18 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.
Yang (US 20230308724 A1) teaches a video playback method, applicable to an anchor client. Bernstein et al. (US 10455291 B2) teach methods and systems for sharing live-stream video in a social media platform.
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/NGOC K VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421