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 .
Status of Claims
This office action is in response to the RCE filed on 2/3/2026.
Claims 1 and 11 have been amended.
Claims 21 and 22 have been canceled.
Claims 1, 3-11, and 13-20 are pending and have been examined.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/3/2026 has been entered.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims 1, 3-11, and 13-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims of US Patent No.11989758 in view of Kim, Taehyun et al (WO 2023/153568) hereafter “WO ‘568”.
WO ‘568 teaches the limitations regarding performing the various operation during playback – see pages 19, 20. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims are directed to the same subject matter, perform the equivalent functions and a person of ordinary skill in the art would not be free to practice one of the claimed inventions without infringing upon the other. The claims are obvious variants of each other.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1, 3-11, and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1: Claims 1 and 3-10, and 11 and 13-20, are directed to a method and system respectively. Thus, on their face they fall within the four statutory categories of patentable subject matter.
Step 2A prong 1:
Claims 1 and 11 recite virtually identical limitations. Claim 1 will be used as representative. Each claim’s additional elements will be addressed individually.
The following limitations, when considered individually and as an ordered combination, are merely descriptive of abstract concepts:
Claims 1 and 11:
providing a media asset to the user;
receiving, from the user, a selection of a scene of the media asset during playback of the selected scene;
extracting metadata from the selected scene;
based at least in part on (a) an output of model trained to identify one or more products and (b) the metadata form the selected scene, determining a product shown in the selected scene;
receiving, from the user, a first request to purchase an asset of the product shown in the selected scene during playback of the selected scene;
based on the request to purchase the asset, automatically, during playback of the media asset:
determining that the asset of the product does not exist by querying a data store of assets;
based on determining that the asset of the product does not exist, transmitting, via a communication path, a second request to an asset content creator associated with the product shown in the selected scene;
receiving, via the communication path, the asset of the product shown in the selected scene from the asset content creator associated with the product; and
generating, for display, an indication confirming purchase of the asset of the product over the playable media asset.
The following dependent claim limitations, when considered individually and as an ordered combination, are merely further descriptive of abstract concepts:
Claims 3, 13:
wherein the product comprises any one of:
a brand name; or
a brand product.
Claims 4, 14:
wherein the product in the scene corresponds to an advertiser, the method further comprising:
notifying the advertiser that the product appears in the selected scene.
Claims 5, 15:
wherein the asset of the product is generated based on preferences of the advertiser;
Claims 6, 16:
further comprising:
based on the first request to purchase the asset, identifying content preferences of a media profile associated with the user, wherein transmitting the second request is further based on determining that the content preferences of the media profile correspond to metadata of the asset
Claims 7, 17:
wherein the content preferences specify preferences for at least one of actors, content genre, content keywords, or content setting.
Claims 8, 18:
wherein determining that the content preferences of the media profile correspond to metadata of the asset comprises:
determining an asset suitability score based on the content preferences; and
in response to determining that the asset suitability score is above a threshold, matching the asset to the media profile associated with the user.
Claims 9, 19:
wherein the metadata of the asset comprises any one of:
an asset type;
a scene start time;
a scene end time;
ownership of the scene; and
a bidding price for the asset.
The claims recite receiving a selection of a scene in a media presentation, analyzing the scene, and determining whether an asset exists for the scene. If an asset exists for the scene the user is provided an option to purchase it. If no asset exists for the scene, an asset is created and the user is provided an option to purchase it. Thus, when considered individually and as an ordered combination, the claims embody certain methods of organizing human activity. Specifically, such activity is in the form of commercial interactions in the form of advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors. This is essentially a form of targeted marketing by targeting a product that is likely to be of interest to a buyer. Further, the product is being sold which is clearly sales activity.
Step 2A prong 2: This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application.
The claims recite the following additional elements: playable media asset (claim 1, 11); client device (claims 1, 6, 8, 11, 16, 18, 21, 22); playback of the selected scene/ during playback of the playable media asset/ over the playable media asset (claims 1, 11); NFT (claims 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22); database of NFTs (claim 1, 11); machine learning model (claims 1, 11); machine learning / machine learning algorithm (claims 8, 18); cinemagraph (claim 10, 20); memory storing instructions, communication paths, control circuitry coupled to the communication paths and the memory (claim 11);
The client device, sever with database, database of NFT’s, memory storing instructions, communication paths, and control circuitry coupled to the communication paths and memory are recited at a high level of generality and merely “apply it” (the abstract idea) using generic computing components (See spec [0024], [0025], [0037], [0060) The computing devices are used to send and receive data (receiving, providing, transmitting, notifying) and processes data (extracting, determining, generating, identifying, matching). Further, the database is merely used to store data. Additionally, the communication path is merely a network for sending and receiving data. Thus, the computing devices, communication paths, and database do not improve the computers themselves, data storage, data transmission or a technical field (See MPEP 2106.05(f)).
The non-fungible token, including wherein the NFT is a cinemagraph, playable media asset, client playback of the selected scene/ during playback of the playable media asset/ over the playable media asset merely provides a general link to a particular technological environment or field of use. The claims do not seek to improve upon NFT’s or cinemagraphs but instead merely uses these mediums as the media content in which to practice the abstract concept. Thus, the use of NFT’s including wherein the NFT is a cinemagraph merely provides a general link to digital media as opposed to any other type of media. The fact that media is playable merely provides the type of media it is such as video as opposed to any other type of medium such as a static image. Nothing improves upon playable media technology or a technical field. Further, the occurrence of various functions during playback of the media merely provides the environment in which the actions are taken. Nothing in the claims provides any meaningful technique or technical details required to implement the processes during playback. They merely recite at a high level that the functions occur during playback of the media. Thus, the claims do not provide an improvement to technology or a technical field (See MPEP 2106.05(h)).
The high-level recitation of machine learning to identify a product and to determine an advertiser preference score does not provide any algorithms or details regarding the use of machine learning but rather merely recites its usage at a high level of generality for a desired purpose. Therefore, nothing in the claims improves upon machine learning, machine learning technology, or the technical field. As such, the claims do not go beyond the “apply it” level of implementation (See MPEP 2106.05(f)).
Accordingly, when considered both individually and as an ordered combination, the additional elements do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Step 2B: The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Similarly, as above with regard to practical application, the additional elements when considered both individually and as an ordered combination, do not provide an inventive concept as they merely provide generic computing components used as a tool to implement the abstract idea and provide a general link to a particular technological environment or field of use.
As a result, the claims are not patent eligible.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 9, 11-13, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Houmou (WO 2022/238854 A1) in view of Bowen et al (US 2022/0075845) in view of Kalaldeh et al (US 2023/0045071) in view of Kim, Taehyun et al (WO 2023/153568) hereafter “WO ‘568”
As per claims 1 and 11:
Houmou teaches:
As per claim 1: A method for providing a non-fungible token (NFT) to a client device, the method comprising: (paragraph [0030])
As per claim 11: A system for providing a non-fungible token (NFT) to a client device, the system comprising: a memory storing instructions; communication paths; and control circuitry coupled to the communication paths and the memory, wherein the control circuitry is configured to: (paragraph [0030]-[0032]; claim 1)
As per claims 1 and 11:
providing a playable media asset to the client device; (paragraph [0041] The present invention hence permits a user or owner, which may comprise a brand owner, to create their own video and link it onto a social platform as described in the present invention, thus creating ownership of the video digital media created. (Spec [0006] – scene can be a video)
receiving, from the client device, a selection of a scene of the playable media asset; (paragraph [0045] In one embodiment, a brand owner may use the platform of the present invention by creating a NFT of a particular product which is displayed in the video. The value of the NFT video and the NFT product within the NFT video both can be monetized and generate revenue to all parties involved as the number of views and reactions increase. [0047] In the present invention, as the video becomes more and more popular in one or more specific channels, third parties, such as advertisers or other private owners may see additional value in owning said video as part of their own portfolio thus creating a buy/sell value of the NFT. The NFT then can sell at a value defined by market demands, generating further monetization for its owner.)
Houmou does not expressly teach extracting metadata from the selected scene; based at least in part on (a) an output of a machine learning model trained to identify one or more products and (b) the metadata from the selected scene, determining a product shown in the selected scene, identifying an indication of whether an NFT of the product exists in the selected scene.
Bowen teaches:
extracting metadata from the selected scene; (paragraph [0430] If it is determined that the current stage corresponds to when moderation has been specified to be performed, the process may proceed to block 1610, and the user-provided image may be analyzed to identify objects in the image (e.g., faces, cigarettes, logos, etc.), as similarly discussed elsewhere herein. The objects may be assigned corresponding tags that identify the objects. For example, facial recognition may be performed as described elsewhere herein. Object recognition may be performed using a module configured to generate and extract category independent region proposals (e.g., by generating candidate bounding boxes), using a deep neural network feature extractor configured to extract features from respective candidate regions, and using a classifier (e.g., a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier) configured to classify an extracted feature as one of a known class.)
based at least in part on (a) an output of a machine learning model trained to identify one or more products and (b) the metadata from the selected scene, determining a product shown in the selected scene (paragraph [0430] If it is determined that the current stage corresponds to when moderation has been specified to be performed, the process may proceed to block 1610, and the user-provided image may be analyzed to identify objects in the image (e.g., faces, cigarettes, logos, etc.), as similarly discussed elsewhere herein. The objects may be assigned corresponding tags that identify the objects. For example, facial recognition may be performed as described elsewhere herein. Object recognition may be performed using a module configured to generate and extract category independent region proposals (e.g., by generating candidate bounding boxes), using a deep neural network feature extractor configured to extract features from respective candidate regions, and using a classifier (e.g., a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier) configured to classify an extracted feature as one of a known class.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include extracting metadata from the selected scene; based at least in part on (a) an output of a machine learning model trained to identify one or more products and (b) the metadata from the selected scene, determining a product shown in the selected scene, identifying an indication of whether an NFT of the product exists in the selected scene as taught by Bowen with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in order to allow a user to select NFT’s in accordance with a user preference for particular subject matter (paragraph [0547]).
Houmou in view of Bowen does not expressly teach determining that the NFT of the product does not exist by querying a database of NFTs; based on determining that the NFT of the product does not exist, transmitting, via a communication path, a second request to an NFT content creator associated with the product shown in the selected scene; receiving, via the communication path, the NFT of the product shown in the selected scene from the NFT content creator associated with the product.
Kalaldeh teaches:
determining that the NFT of the product does not exist by querying a database of NFTs; (paragraph [0118] Now, a physical item's microscopic ornament (15) or a digital artwork (14) can be searched in an offchain artwork registry from their CIDs and p fingerprints respectively to yield the digital artwork image or physical asset's image itself, then these fingerprints can indicate whether they are coupled to NFTs and where is the address of its smart contract and what's its token ID. [0119] To better understand the search engine operation, we will go through the accompanying figure workflow, as soon a hash function creates the hash and fed as a CID (2) in an off chain fashion; each CID gets into the indexing phase of the physical asset search engine (13); as all images (4) are already hashed from the CID network; step (5) is skipped, unless images come from a non-NFT source (18) like Google images, Pinterest, etc., they first get hashed with the hashing algorithm that produces (p). [0121] When an image query is made to search its will be used to see if an image has NFT or not and what it's NFT token address is in the smart contract, in case the image is of a physical item or a digital image artwork both can be equally fed to the search engine as in (13). But if the image query came from an already hashed image; then step (9) is skipped as the image has already been created via its hash. At (10) a chosen similarity metric, like hamming distances, are now applied to compare two fingerprints together and if a match is found then this means that this image has an NFT minted for before. A user will get a search result as in (11); the result contains the NFT token ID, its CID and the found asset image as stored in the database. These values can now be either sent to a blockchain (12) to fetch the NFT token directly via its address (17) if its onchain setup; i.e. on blockchain, or to an IPFS network (18) forwarding to it the CID (16) to fetch the NFT token ID first from the IPFS network itself. [0122] Broader applications of this search engine (13) architecture, is that each image say on Google images can have its own NFT created for it on the fly and offered to be sold or auctioned for interested buyer(s), this can be valuable for stock image websites as well whoever wishes to mint an NFT version of an image as well.)
based on determining that the NFT of the product does not exist, transmitting, via a communication path, a second request to an NFT content creator associated with the product shown in the selected scene; (paragraph [0118] Now, a physical item's microscopic ornament (15) or a digital artwork (14) can be searched in an offchain artwork registry from their CIDs and p fingerprints respectively to yield the digital artwork image or physical asset's image itself, then these fingerprints can indicate whether they are coupled to NFTs and where is the address of its smart contract and what's its token ID. [0119] To better understand the search engine operation, we will go through the accompanying figure workflow, as soon a hash function creates the hash and fed as a CID (2) in an off chain fashion; each CID gets into the indexing phase of the physical asset search engine (13); as all images (4) are already hashed from the CID network; step (5) is skipped, unless images come from a non-NFT source (18) like Google images, Pinterest, etc., they first get hashed with the hashing algorithm that produces (p). [0121] When an image query is made to search its will be used to see if an image has NFT or not and what it's NFT token address is in the smart contract, in case the image is of a physical item or a digital image artwork both can be equally fed to the search engine as in (13). But if the image query came from an already hashed image; then step (9) is skipped as the image has already been created via its hash. At (10) a chosen similarity metric, like hamming distances, are now applied to compare two fingerprints together and if a match is found then this means that this image has an NFT minted for before. A user will get a search result as in (11); the result contains the NFT token ID, its CID and the found asset image as stored in the database. These values can now be either sent to a blockchain (12) to fetch the NFT token directly via its address (17) if its onchain setup; i.e. on blockchain, or to an IPFS network (18) forwarding to it the CID (16) to fetch the NFT token ID first from the IPFS network itself. [0122] Broader applications of this search engine (13) architecture, is that each image say on Google images can have its own NFT created for it on the fly and offered to be sold or auctioned for interested buyer(s), this can be valuable for stock image websites as well whoever wishes to mint an NFT version of an image as well.)
receiving, via the communication path, the NFT of the product shown in the selected scene from the NFT content creator associated with the product; and (paragraph [0118] Now, a physical item's microscopic ornament (15) or a digital artwork (14) can be searched in an offchain artwork registry from their CIDs and p fingerprints respectively to yield the digital artwork image or physical asset's image itself, then these fingerprints can indicate whether they are coupled to NFTs and where is the address of its smart contract and what's its token ID. [0119] To better understand the search engine operation, we will go through the accompanying figure workflow, as soon a hash function creates the hash and fed as a CID (2) in an off chain fashion; each CID gets into the indexing phase of the physical asset search engine (13); as all images (4) are already hashed from the CID network; step (5) is skipped, unless images come from a non-NFT source (18) like Google images, Pinterest, etc., they first get hashed with the hashing algorithm that produces (p). [0121] When an image query is made to search its will be used to see if an image has NFT or not and what it's NFT token address is in the smart contract, in case the image is of a physical item or a digital image artwork both can be equally fed to the search engine as in (13). But if the image query came from an already hashed image; then step (9) is skipped as the image has already been created via its hash. At (10) a chosen similarity metric, like hamming distances, are now applied to compare two fingerprints together and if a match is found then this means that this image has an NFT minted for before. A user will get a search result as in (11); the result contains the NFT token ID, its CID and the found asset image as stored in the database. These values can now be either sent to a blockchain (12) to fetch the NFT token directly via its address (17) if its onchain setup; i.e. on blockchain, or to an IPFS network (18) forwarding to it the CID (16) to fetch the NFT token ID first from the IPFS network itself. [0122] Broader applications of this search engine (13) architecture, is that each image say on Google images can have its own NFT created for it on the fly and offered to be sold or auctioned for interested buyer(s), this can be valuable for stock image websites as well whoever wishes to mint an NFT version of an image as well.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include determining that the NFT of the product does not exist by querying a database of NFTs; based on determining that the NFT of the product does not exist, transmitting, via a communication path, a second request to an NFT content creator associated with the product shown in the selected scene; receiving, via the communication path, the NFT of the product shown in the selected scene from the NFT content creator associated with the product as taught by Kalaldeh with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Bowen in order to determine whether an asset has already had an NFT minted or not (paragraph [0171]) and to sell NFT’s to interested buyers (paragraph [0122]).
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kaladeh does not expressly teach receiving, from the client device, a first request to purchase an NFT of the product shown in the selected scene during playback of the selected scene; based on the request to purchase the NFT, automatically, during playback of the playable media asset: generating, for display, an indication confirming purchase of the NFT of the product over the playable media asset.
WO ‘568 teaches:
receiving, from the client device, a first request to purchase an NFT of the product shown in the selected scene during playback of the selected scene; (Fig. 6; First, FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram illustrating an example in which the TV platform 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention outputs an NFT drop object related to broadcast content being played according to a broadcast scene matching result. Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 illustrates an example in which the TV platform 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention outputs broadcasting content related to sports relaying according to a channel selected by a user. In this case, the TV platform 10 may select at least one NFT drop DB corresponding to sports relay (soccer) as a characteristic of broadcast content broadcast on the currently selected channel, that is, as a type of broadcast content. As a result of the detection, if there is digital product-related data corresponding to the detected player's name, the controller 180 outputs the NFT drop object 600 included in the detected digital product-related data on the display unit 151. can In this case, the NFT drop object 600 may include related digital product information. For example, if the related digital product is a player card including the specific player's autograph, the NFT drop object 600 may include an image related to the specific player's autograph. In addition, the NFT drop object 600 may further include information for identifying which player among the players appearing in the broadcasting scene the displayed NFT drop object 600 corresponds to. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the NFT drop object 600 may further include a face image of the specific player to indicate that the digital product corresponding to the NFT drop object 600 is a product related to the specific player. there is. In this way, in a state where the NFT drop object 600 is displayed on one area of the display unit 151, the control unit 180 of the TV platform 10 determines whether the user has selected the NFT drop object 600. can For example, as shown in FIG. 6, as the user selects a preset key 301 of the external input device 11, an input signal corresponding to the preset key 301 is transmitted from the external input device 11. Upon reception, the controller 180 may determine that the user has selected the NFT drop object 600. Meanwhile, if the user selects the NFT drop object 600 output on the display unit 151, the control unit 180 of the TV platform 10 accesses the address of the NFT purchase page corresponding to the NFT drop object 600. - pages 19, 20)
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based on the request to purchase the NFT, automatically, during playback of the playable media asset:
generating, for display, an indication confirming purchase of the NFT of the product over the playable media asset. (Fig. 7; 7 is an exemplary diagram illustrating an example of displaying the NFT purchase page on the TV platform 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention and an example of a user purchasing an NFT of a digital product through the displayed NFT purchase page. Referring to FIG. 7, the TV platform 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention displays at least a part of the display unit 151 when a web page according to the NFT drop object 600, that is, an NFT purchase page is accessed. The connected NFT purchase page screen 700 may be displayed. In this case, as shown in the NFT purchase page access screen 700 shown in FIG. 7, the NFT purchase page may include various information related to the NFT of the digital product corresponding to the NFT drop object 600. For example, as shown in the NFT purchase page access screen 700 of FIG. 7, the NFT purchase page may include a digital product 720 corresponding to the NFT drop object 600. In addition, information on the current owner (NFT Owner name) of the NFT of the corresponding digital product 720 may be included. In addition, information on a history of a change in ownership of the corresponding digital product 720 may be included. In addition, information on the NFT price of the digital product 720 may be included. As such, in a state where the NFT purchase page access screen 700 of the digital product corresponding to the NFT drop object 600 is displayed, the control unit 180 of the TV platform 10 controls the digital product 720 according to the user's selection. You can request to buy NFTs. As an example, if there is a user selection such as a designated key input, the controller 180, as shown in FIG. 7 , purchase option menu including NFT purchase request 711 and purchase cancellation 712 of the digital product 720 ( 710) can be output. In addition, when the user selects the NFT purchase request 711 from the purchase option menu 710, the controller 180 may generate a purchase transaction for NFT purchase of the digital product 20. And the generated purchase transaction can be transmitted to the NFT market server 20. Then, NFT purchase of the digital product 20 can be made by the NFT market server 20 updating the NFT status of the digital product 20 through the blockchain network. Meanwhile, in the above description, an example in which only one NFT drop object is displayed has been described, but when feature points detected in a broadcasting scene match identification information corresponding to one or more digital goods, one or more NFT drop objects are displayed on the display unit ( 151), of course. In this case, the controller 180 of the TV platform 10 may select one of a plurality of NFT drop objects output based on an input through the user input unit 123 or the external input device 11, or a gesture or voice signal. there is. Then, the TV platform 10 can connect to the NFT market place and output an NFT purchase page through which the NFT of the digital product corresponding to the selected one NFT drop object can be purchased. - pages 19, 20
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include receiving, from the client device, a first request to purchase an NFT of the product shown in the selected scene during playback of the selected scene; based on the request to purchase the NFT, automatically, during playback of the playable media asset: generating, for display, an indication confirming purchase of the NFT of the product over the playable media asset as taught by WO ‘568 with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kaladeh in order to enable customers who have searched for the desired digital products to purchase the searched digital products more easily and conveniently (page 2).
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 teaches the limitations of claims 1 and 11. As per claims 3 and 13:
Houmou further teaches:
wherein the product comprises any one of: a brand name; or a brand product (paragraph [0045] In one embodiment, a brand owner may use the platform of the present invention by creating a NFT of a particular product which is displayed in the video. The value of the NFT video and the NFT product within the NFT video both can be monetized and generate revenue to all parties involved as the number of views and reactions increase. [0047] In the present invention, as the video becomes more and more popular in one or more specific channels, third parties, such as advertisers or other private owners may see additional value in owning said video as part of their own portfolio thus creating a buy/sell value of the NFT. The NFT then can sell at a value defined by market demands, generating further monetization for its owner.)
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 teaches the limitations of claims 1 and 11. As per claims 9 and 19:
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 does not expressly teach where the metadata is an NFT type, scene start time, scene end time, ownership of the scene, or a bidding price for the NFT.
Kalaldeh further teaches:
wherein the metadata of the NFT comprises any one of: an NFT type; a scene start time;
a scene end time; ownership of the scene; and a bidding price for the NFT. (paragraph [0121] A user will get a search result as in (11); the result contains the NFT token ID, its CID and the found asset image as stored in the database. At (10) a chosen similarity metric, like hamming distances, are now applied to compare two fingerprints (type) together and if a match is found then this means that this image has an NFT minted for before. A user will get a search result as in (11); the result contains the NFT token ID, its CID and the found asset image as stored in the database. (Examiner comment: As described above, the fingerprint consists of various features that make up the image. Under broadest reasonable interpretation the examiner considers each fingerprint to be a “type” of NFT.) [0137] Using the intrinsic microscopic Ornaments of different physical items as shown samples of as in FIG. (26) or as can be called (Physically Unclonable Functions) PUFs, these microscopic Ornaments are found in most physical items and can be used as a fingerprint for ownership identification when connected to an NFT (ownership) and/or its metadata. Fingerprints (p) could be stored in conjunction to an NFT on and off chain; i.e.: on or off a blockchain.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the metadata being an NFT type, scene start time, scene end time, ownership of the scene, or a bidding price for the NFT as taught by Kalaldeh with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Bowen in view of WO ‘568 in order to create a searchable system for NFT’s, to determine whether an asset has already had an NFT minted or not (paragraph [0117]), and to sell NFT’s to interested buyers (paragraph [0122]).
Claim(s) 4 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Houmou (WO 2022/238854 A1) in view of Bowen et al (US 2022/0075845) in view of Kalaldeh et al (US 2023/0045071) in view of Kim, Taehyun et al (WO 2023/153568) hereafter “WO ‘568” in view of Sato Kazuma et al (JP 2017162377)
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 teaches the limitations of claims 1 and 11. As per claims 4 and 14:
Houmou further teaches:
wherein the product in the scene corresponds to an advertiser, (paragraph [0045] In one embodiment, a brand owner may use the platform of the present invention by creating a NFT of a particular product which is displayed in the video. The value of the NFT video and the NFT product within the NFT video both can be monetized and generate revenue to all parties involved as the number of views and reactions increase. [0047] In the present invention, as the video becomes more and more popular in one or more specific channels, third parties, such as advertisers or other private owners may see additional value in owning said video as part of their own portfolio thus creating a buy/sell value of the NFT. The NFT then can sell at a value defined by market demands, generating further monetization for its owner.)
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 does not expressly teach notifying the advertiser of the product in the scene.
Sato Kazuma teaches:
the method further comprising: notifying the advertiser that the product appears in the selected scene. (page 10 - “For example, the video creator creates an advertising video for the selected product, etc., and in order to notify the advertiser in advance that the advertising video will be posted before posting this advertising video on the video posting site, The created advertisement moving image is transmitted to the advertisement moving image management apparatus 100 using the side terminal device 20 (S120).”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include notifying the advertiser that the product appears in the selected scene as taught by Sato Kazuma with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in order to get approval from the advertiser prior to posting the content.
Claim(s) 5 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Houmou (WO 2022/238854 A1) in view of Bowen et al (US 2022/0075845) in view of Kalaldeh et al (US 2023/0045071) in view of Sato Kazuma et al (JP 2017162377) in view of Kim, Taehyun et al (WO 2023/153568) hereafter “WO ‘568” in view of Dorogusker et al (US 2022/0337898)
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in view of Sato Kazuma teach the limitations of claims 4 and 14. As per claims 5 and 15:
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in view of Sato Kazuma does not expressly teach wherein the NFT of the product is generated based on preferences of the advertiser.
Dorogusker teaches:
wherein the NFT of the product is generated based on preferences of the advertiser [0125] The NFT component 206 can be configured to generate (or mint) an NFT for one or more media content in near real time, according to user's preferences (e.g., specific blockchain, expiration time, user's preferences, user's location (e.g., if it is detected that a user is operating in a wallet on a different blockchain) and the context of the conversation (or live media content) between the host and the audience member.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include wherein the NFT of the product is generated based on preferences of the advertiser as taught by Dorogusker with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in view of Sato Kazuma in order to allow a user to mint an NFT in near real time (paragraph [0125]).
Claim(s) 6, 8, 16, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Houmou (WO 2022/238854 A1) in view of Bowen et al (US 2022/0075845) in view of Kalaldeh et al (US 2023/0045071) in view of Kim, Taehyun et al (WO 2023/153568) hereafter “WO ‘568” in view of Nishar et al (US 2015/0375104)
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kaladeh in view of WO ‘568 teach the limitations of claims 1 and 11. As per claims 6 and 16:
Houmou in view of Kaladeh in view of WO ‘568does not expressly teach matching an NFT to a user.
Bowen further teaches
{matching} NFT’s {to a user based on search criteria} paragraph [0538] Thus, an NFT may be implemented so as to act as a digital asset that represents viewable content items (e.g., a video frame, photograph, graphic, text, brand name, logo, end user provided content (e.g., photographs, graphics, drawings, text, and/or other end user content described herein), and/or the like) that are optionally used to customize an item described herein. [0547] An aspect of the present disclosure relates to enabling a user to search for NFTs, products, and/or content associated with available NFTs. Optionally, a catalog of items, such as described elsewhere herein (e.g., a catalog of clothing items), may include a search field via which the user can enter a search term corresponding to a subject matter of interest with respect to a design element (e.g., the name of an artist (e.g., a musical artist, graphic artist, painter, etc.), the name of an athlete, the name of a sports team, etc.), and a search engine may identify corresponding content (e.g., images, logos, etc., that may be printed on an item). A filter control may be provided via which the user can specify that the search results are to be filtered to only return and display printable content that is associated with an NFT, where the NFT will be provided to the user in conjunction with a purchase or other specified acquisition of an item with the content printed thereon. [0549] Optionally, the user can specify, via the search field and/or filter controls, an item type, a subject matter of interest, and a specification that the search results should only return for display matching item types with matching subjects of interest for which NFTs are available. Examiner’s Comment: A search is conducted and a match for the NFT based on images, logos, etc associated with a brand (artist, athlete, sports team, etc.) is returned. The {…} indicate a modification to the claim language to show what is expressly taught by Bowen, and particularly that the content is an NFT.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to including matching an NFT to a user based on a product as taught by Bowen with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Kaladeh in view of WO ‘568 in order to allow a user to select NFT’s in accordance with a user preference for particular subject matter (paragraph [0547]).
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 does not expressly teach identifying content preferences of a media profile associated with the client device, wherein causing generation of data indicative of the generated {content} and an options to purchase the generated {content} at the client device is based on determining that the content preferences of the media profile correspond to metadata of the {content}.
Nishar teaches:
further comprising: based on the first request to purchase the NFT, identifying content preferences of a media profile associated with the client device, wherein transmitting the second request is further based on determining that the content preferences of the media profile correspond to metadata of the {content}. (paragraph [0038] The relevance module 202 may generate the confidence score using any known technique. For example, the relevance module 202 may train a computer-based prediction model (e.g., a statistical machine learning model), based on various feature data (e.g., member profile features, site interaction data, e-mail interaction data, etc. – metadata about preferences) associated with one or more members of the online social network service, in order to predict a likelihood (e.g., the aforementioned confidence score) that a particular member has an interest or preference in interacting with a particular content item or entity. The {…} indicate a modification to the claim language to show what is expressly taught by Nishar. The content being an NFT is addressed above by Bowen).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include using machine learning to determine a suitability score and providing content to a user when the score exceeds a threshold as taught by Nishar with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in order to increase participation in a system by promoting content that is of most interest to a user (paragraph [0019]).
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kaladeh in view of WO ‘568 in view of Nishar teach the limitations of claims 6 and 16. As per claims 8 and 18:
Houmou in view of Kaladeh in view of WO ‘568 does not expressly teach matching an NFT to a user.
Bowen further teaches
{matching} NFT’s {to a user based on search criteria} paragraph [0538] Thus, an NFT may be implemented so as to act as a digital asset that represents viewable content items (e.g., a video frame, photograph, graphic, text, brand name, logo, end user provided content (e.g., photographs, graphics, drawings, text, and/or other end user content described herein), and/or the like) that are optionally used to customize an item described herein. [0547] An aspect of the present disclosure relates to enabling a user to search for NFTs, products, and/or content associated with available NFTs. Optionally, a catalog of items, such as described elsewhere herein (e.g., a catalog of clothing items), may include a search field via which the user can enter a search term corresponding to a subject matter of interest with respect to a design element (e.g., the name of an artist (e.g., a musical artist, graphic artist, painter, etc.), the name of an athlete, the name of a sports team, etc.), and a search engine may identify corresponding content (e.g., images, logos, etc., that may be printed on an item). A filter control may be provided via which the user can specify that the search results are to be filtered to only return and display printable content that is associated with an NFT, where the NFT will be provided to the user in conjunction with a purchase or other specified acquisition of an item with the content printed thereon. [0549] Optionally, the user can specify, via the search field and/or filter controls, an item type, a subject matter of interest, and a specification that the search results should only return for display matching item types with matching subjects of interest for which NFTs are available. Examiner’s Comment: A search is conducted and a match for the NFT based on images, logos, etc associated with a brand (artist, athlete, sports team, etc.) is returned. The {…} indicate a modification to the claim language to show what is expressly taught by Bowen, and particularly that the content is an NFT.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to including matching an NFT to a user based on a product as taught by Bowen with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in order to allow a user to select NFT’s in accordance with a user preference for particular subject matter (paragraph [0547]).
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 does not expressly teach using machine learning to determine a suitability score and providing content to a user when the score exceeds a threshold.
Nishar further teaches:
wherein determining that the content preferences of the media profile correspond to the metadata of the {content} comprises: determining, using machine learning, an {content} suitability score based on the content preferences; and (paragraph [0038] The relevance module 202 may then generate, based on the stored member profile attributes and/or the historical interaction data, a confidence score (e.g., number within a range such as 0 to 1, 0 to 10, 0 to 100, etc.) indicating a likelihood that the content item or entity is relevant to the member. The relevance module 202 may then determine that the content item or entity is relevant to the member, based on the generated confidence score (e.g., if the generated confidence score is greater than a predetermined threshold) For example, the relevance module 202 may train a computer-based prediction model (e.g., a statistical machine learning model), based on various feature data (e.g., member profile features, site interaction data, e-mail interaction data, etc.) associated with one or more members of the online social network service, in order to predict a likelihood (e.g., the aforementioned confidence score) that a particular member has an interest or preference in interacting with a particular content item or entity. Examples of prediction models are well known and include a logistic regression model, a gradient-boosted machine (GBM) model, a Naïve Bayes model, a support vector machines (SVM) model, a decision trees model, and a neural network model, and will not be described in greater detail herein. The {…} indicate a modification to the claim language to show what is expressly taught by Nishar. The content being an NFT is addressed above by Bowen).
in response to determining that the NFT suitability score is above a threshold, matching the NFT to the media profile associated with the client device. (paragraph [0038] The relevance module 202 may then determine that the content item or entity is relevant to the member, based on the generated confidence score (e.g., if the generated confidence score is greater than a predetermined threshold). The {…} indicate a modification to the claim language to show what is expressly taught by Nishar. The content being an NFT is addressed above by Bowen).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include using machine learning to determine a suitability score and providing content to a user when the score exceeds a threshold as taught by Nishar with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in order to increase participation in a system by promoting content that is of most interest to a user (paragraph [0019]).
Claim(s) 7 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Houmou (WO 2022/238854 A1) in view of Bowen et al (US 2022/0075845) in view of Kalaldeh et al (US 2023/0045071) in view of Kim, Taehyun et al (WO 2023/153568) hereafter “WO ‘568” in view of Nishar et al (US 2015/0375104) in view of Athsani et al (US 2009/0157450)
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in view of Nishar teach the limitations of claims 6 and 16. As per claims 7 and 17:
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in view of Nishar does not expressly teach wherein the content preferences specify preferences for at least one of actors, content genre, content keywords, or content setting.
Athsani teaches:
wherein the content preferences specify preferences for at least one of actors, content genre, content keywords, or content setting. (paragraph [0011] In some embodiments, the content is selected for the advertiser based on the advertiser's profile, or the content is recommended based on the advertiser's past actions and/or a set of preferences selected by the advertiser. Some embodiments search among registered content based on the content genre, and select a variety of content to sponsor, or on which to place advertisements.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include wherein the content preferences specify preferences for at least one of actors, content genre, content keywords, or content setting as taught by Athsani with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 in view of Nishar in order to provide an advertiser with content they are interested in sponsoring (paragraph [0011]).
16. Claim(s) 10 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Houmou (WO 2022/238854 A1) in view of Bowen et al (US 2022/0075845) in view of Kalaldeh et al (US 2023/0045071) in view of Kim, Taehyun et al (WO 2023/153568) hereafter “WO ‘568” in view of “Turn Regular Videos Into Cinemagraph NFTs” https://web.archive.org/web/20211208091324/https://salesp.motionnftmaker.com/cinemagraph/ - Dec 8, 2021 - hereafter “NFT Cinemagraph”
Houmou in view of Bowen teaches the limitations of claims 1 and 11. As per claims 10 and 20:
Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kalaldeh in view of WO ‘568 does not expressly teach the NFT is a cinemagraph.
NFT Cinemagraph teaches:
wherein the NFT comprises a cinemagraph (page 1 - “Cinemagraphs are living photos that look like still photographs, but have moving parts, which loop forever, which makes them perfect to sell as NFTs.Because the motion part contrasts with the stillness of the rest of the image, they instantly catch attention. Cinemagraphs NTFs are almost impossible to ignore, easy to digest, fun to share, and they get results.”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include NFT’s that are cinemagraphs as taught by NFT Cinemagraphs with the purchasable NFT system of Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kaladeh in view of WO ‘568 in order to provide content that is “almost impossible to ignore, easy to digest, fun to share, and they get results.” (page 1) Further, since each individual element and its function are shown in the prior art, albeit shown in separate references, the difference between the claimed subject matter and the prior art rests not on any individual element or function but in the very combination itself – that is in the substitution of a Cinemagraph NFT of the secondary reference for the video NFT of Houmou in view of Bowen. Thus replacing the video NFT’s of Houmou in view of Bowen in view of Kaladeh in view of WO ‘568 with the Cinemagraph NFT’s of NFT Cinemagrpahs is a simple substitution of one know element for another producing a predictable result .
Response to Arguments
The examiner has considered but does not find persuasive applicant’s arguments regarding rejections under 35 USC 101. The claims do not recite any technique or technical steps for performing the steps of the claims during playback. The claims merely recite that the actions occur during playback. Such arguments could potentially be found persuasive if applicant including actual technical steps required for performing the operations during playback instead of essentially just saying that it happens during playback. Additionally, the examiner conferred with TQAS Jamisue Plucinski regarding the 101 and her thoughts are also reflected above.
Applicant’s arguments with regard to 35 USC 103 are moot in light of new grounds of rejection which have been necessitated by amendment.
Conclusion
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CHRISTOPHER STROUD
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3621B
/CHRISTOPHER STROUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621