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 .
Response to Arguments
Although on previous Office Action examiner indicated allowable subject matter, upon further search, new and pertinent art was found. Upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of McMahon and Seo.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claim 12 is 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 12 states
“wherein the providing to a trained model, at least a portion of the video content comprises providing to a trained model, at least a portion of the video content a) together with at least (i) the determined aspect ratio and position of the at least one empty video content region, (ii) metadata associated with the video content, or (iii) user profile data associated with a user of the content-presentation device, b) together with at least (i) the determined aspect ratio and position of the at least one empty video content region, (ii) the metadata associated with the video content, or (iii) the user profile data associated with a user of the content-presentation device”.
Examiner believes that portion labeled by the examiner “b)” above is the mere repetition of portion “a)” labeled above. For examination purposes, examiner construes both to be a typographical error as being invertedly repeated. If that is not the case, the examiner would like applicant to further clarify distinctions between both labeled portions.
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.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McMahon (WO01/43447) in view of Seo et al. (hereinafter ‘Seo’, Pub. No. 2021/0084372).
Regarding claims 1, 15 and 20, McMahon teaches a computing system (140, Fig. 5 and 200, Fig. 8) (with corresponding method and non-transitory computer readable medium) configured for performing a set of acts comprising:
determining an aspect ratio of video content; determining a target aspect ratio, wherein the target aspect ratio is different from the aspect ratio of the video content (page 4 line 9 to page 5 line 24);
determining an aspect ratio and position of at least one empty video content region that results from inserting the video content having the aspect ratio into a frame having the target aspect ratio, wherein the inserting involves centering the video content within the frame (by displaying different aspect ratio between a given ratio signal and aspect ratio of the display, blank areas are formed. The system centers the signal vertically by an offset value depending of the aspect ratios and are also transmitted for decoding. Two layers of the image are created to fill the blank areas, a base and an enhancement layer, page 11 line 3 page 13 line 16; page 18 line 5 to page 20 line 22) ;
using at least a portion of the video content to generate corresponding supplemental video content that is suitable for insertion into the at least one empty video content region having the corresponding determined aspect ratio and position (enhancement layer would be inserted to cover the blank areas, page 16 line 9 to page 18 line 8); and
performing one or more actions to facilitate a content-presentation device displaying in a display area having the target aspect ratio, both the video content and the supplemental video content, wherein the displaying involves (i) centering the video content within the display area, and (ii) positioning the generated supplemental video content within the at least one empty video content region that results from displaying the video content having the aspect ratio within the display area having the target aspect ratio (at least, enhancement layer would be inserted to cover the blank areas, page 16 line 9 to page 18 line 8).
On the other hand, McMahon does not explicitly
wherein using at least a portion of the video content to generate corresponding supplemental video content that is suitable for insertion into the at least one empty video content region having the corresponding determined aspect ratio and position comprises (i) providing to a trained model, at least a portion of the video content and (ii) responsively receiving from the trained model, corresponding supplemental video content, wherein the trained model used at least the portion of the video content to generate the corresponding supplemental video content.
However, in an analogous art, Seo teaches a system that uses artificial intelligence to compare a video aspect ratio of a video to a second aspect ratio of the display area. The system provides input information to train model to recognize the aspect ratio and the display aspect ratio. When letterbox stripes are detected due to the difference of aspect ratios, the system generates expanded video with the input training data (Figs. 4 and 5; [0088]-[0096]; [0101]; [0103]; [0143]-[0145]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of the claimed invention to have modified McMahon’s invention with Seo’s feature of training a model with information to generate second, supplemental video for the benefit of generating the expanded videos and not to distort the first video.
Regarding claim 2, McMahon and Seo teach wherein determining the aspect ratio of the video content comprises:
obtaining metadata associated with the video content, wherein the obtained metadata specifies a resolution of the video content; and using the specified resolution of the obtained metadata to determine the aspect ratio of the video content (McMahon: page 10 line 25 to page 11 line 9; col. 13 line 17-23; page 16 lines 17-24).
Regarding claims 3 and 16, McMahon and Seo teach wherein determining the target aspect ratio comprises:
determining an aspect ratio of the display area of the content-presentation device (McMahon: by displaying different aspect ratio between a given ratio signal and aspect ratio of the display, blank areas are formed. The system centers the signal vertically by an offset value depending of the aspect ratios and are also transmitted for decoding. Two layers of the image are created to fill the blank areas, a base and an enhancement layer, page 11 line 3 page 13 line 16; page 18 line 5 to page 20 line 22).
Regarding claims 4 and 17, McMahon and Seo teach wherein determining an aspect ratio and position of the at least one empty video content region that results from inserting the video content having the aspect ratio into a frame having the target aspect ratio comprises determining an aspect ratio and position of each of two empty video content regions that result from inserting the video content having the aspect ratio into a frame having the target aspect ratio, wherein the two empty video content regions are (i) two vertical-side-longer rectangular empty video content regions, each positioned at an opposite horizontal end of the frame, or (ii) two horizontal-side-longer rectangular empty video content regions, each positioned at an opposite vertical end of the frame (McMahon: page 4 line 9 to page 5 line 24; page 11 line 3 page 13 line 16; page 18 line 5 to page 20 line 22)
Regarding claims 5 and 18, McMahon and Seo teach wherein using at least a portion of the video content to generate corresponding supplemental video content that is suitable for insertion into the at least one empty video content region having the corresponding determined aspect ratio and position comprises using at least (i) a portion of the video content and (ii) the determined aspect ratio and position of the at least one empty video content region, to generate corresponding supplemental video content that is suitable for insertion into the at least one empty video content region having the corresponding determined aspect ratio and position (McMahon: the same video is used to fill in the blank bands -enhancement layer, page 16 line 17 to page 18 line 4) .
Regarding claim 6, McMahon and Seo teach wherein using at least a portion of the video content to generate corresponding supplemental video content that is suitable for insertion into the at least one empty video content region having the corresponding determined aspect ratio and position comprises using at least (i) a portion of the video content and (ii) metadata associated with the video content, to generate corresponding supplemental video content that is suitable for insertion into the at least one empty video content region having the corresponding determined aspect ratio and position (McMahon: the same video is used to fill in the blank bands -enhancement layer, page 16 line 17 to page 18 line 4; using the metadata -headers for base, enhancement layer and offset value, page 10 line 25 to page 11 line 9; col. 13 line 17-23; page 16 lines 17-24).
Regarding claims 7 and 19, McMahon and Seo teach wherein the metadata relates to scene context information (McMahon: page 16 lines 17-24, where the metadata includes identifying advertisements).
Regarding claim 8, McMahon and Seo teach wherein the metadata includes text associated with the video content or audio data associated with the video content (McMahon: page 16 lines 17-24).
Regarding claim 12, McMahon and Seo teach wherein the providing to a trained model, at least a portion of the video content comprises providing to a trained model, at least a portion of the video content (Seo: S160, Fig. 6; [0131]-[0133]) together with at least (i) the determined aspect ratio and position of the at least one empty video content region, (ii) metadata associated with the video content (Seo: S730, Fig. 7; [0160]; [0161]; [0184]), or (iii) user profile data associated with a user of the content-presentation device, together with at least (i) the determined aspect ratio and position of the at least one empty video content region, (ii) the metadata associated with the video content, or (iii) the user profile data associated with a user of the content-presentation device.
Claim(s) 9,10, 13 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McMahon (WO01/43447) in view of Seo et al. (hereinafter ‘Seo’, Pub. No. 2021/0084372) in further view of Garg et al. (hereinafter ‘Garg’, Patent No. 9,811,878).
Regarding claim 9, although McMahon and Seo teach using a portion of the video content for the empty video region (enhancement content), they do not explicitly teach using at least user profile data associated with a user of the content-presentation device, to generate corresponding supplemental video content that is suitable for insertion into the at least one empty video content region having the corresponding determined aspect ratio and position.
However, in an analogous art, Garg teaches a system that dynamically processes image borders. When there is an unused region on the display, the system can create supplemental content (Abstract) such as advertisements, composite content (figs. 6 and 7; col. 2 lines 26-35; col. 4 lines 44-53), etc., while using user preferences (col. 7 lines 1-4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified McMahon and Seo’s invention with Garg’s feature of using user profile data for the benefit of customizing the supplemental content to be appealing to the consumer.
Regarding claim 10, although McMahon and Seo teach using a portion of the video content for the empty video region (enhancement content), they do not explicitly teach using targeted advertising data, to generate corresponding supplemental video content that is suitable for insertion into the at least one empty video content region having the corresponding determined aspect ratio and position.
However, in an analogous art, Garg teaches a system that dynamically processes image borders. When there is an unused region on the display, the system can create supplemental content (Abstract) such as advertisements, composite content (figs. 6 and 7; col. 2 lines 26-35; col. 4 lines 44-53), etc., while using user preferences (col. 7 lines 1-4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified McMahon and Seo’s invention with Garg’s feature of using targeted advertisement for the benefit of customizing the supplemental content to be appealing to the consumer and creating a commercial transaction possibility.
Regarding claims 13 and 14, although McMahon and Seo teach using a portion of the video content for the empty video region (enhancement content), they do not explicitly teach
generating composite video content that includes the video content centered with the frame and that further includes the generated supplemental video content within the at least one empty video content region that results from displaying the video content having the aspect ratio within the frame having the target aspect ratio; and
displaying in the display area of the content-presentation device, the generated composite video content.
However, in an analogous art, Garg teaches a system that dynamically processes image borders. When there is an unused region on the display, the system can create supplemental content (Abstract) such as advertisements, composite content (figs. 6 and 7; col. 2 lines 26-35; col. 4 lines 44-53), etc., while using user preferences (col. 7 lines 1-4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified McMahon and Seo’s invention with Garg’s feature of using composite content or frame for the benefit of juxtaposing the supplemental content and being able to distinguish it from the main content easily.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR S PARRA whose telephone number is (571)270-1449. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: Mostly 10-6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan Flynn can be reached at 571-2721915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OMAR S PARRA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421