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
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply in view of newly found reference Elcock being used in the current rejection. See the new rejection below.
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 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO Publication 2012/059961 to Zhou (“Zhou”) in view of US Patent 11,792,470 to Elcock (“Elcock).
Regarding claim 1, “A streaming media playing method” reads on the method/system of transferring streaming media content (abstract) disclosed by Zhou and represented in Fig. 1.
As to “comprising: detecting a second media playing device meeting a first condition, in response to that a first media playing device is playing streaming media content” Zhou discloses (¶0012, ¶0030, ¶0033) that the server and terminal device has database for rules to predict media transfer where the database includes information like whether a display device is currently being used to provide media content, which version of the media player is used, etc.; device 1 and device 2 are locally connected to each other through local area network, where a session transfer is suggested to a device that is detected in the same local network as represented in Figs. 8-9.
As to “establishing a trust relationship between the first media playing device and the second media playing device for realizing data transmission” Zhou discloses (¶0033) that the session is establish by pairing two local devices that connect to each other through local area network prior to data transmission as represented in Fig. 9.
As to “transferring the streaming media content to the second media playing device for playing, in response to that the second media playing device meeting the first condition is detected” Zhou discloses (¶0002, ¶0012, ¶0030, ¶0033) that when the device 2 is detected within the same network as device 1, the ongoing session of media is transferred to said device 2 from device 1 as represented in Figs. 8-9.
Zhou meets all the limitations of the claim except “the first condition comprising not playing a media file; and establishing a trust relationship between the first media playing device and the second media playing device for realizing data transmission.” However, Elcock discloses (4:20-48; claims 1 and 11) that the system transfers a current media content experience from a first media device to a second media device that is in an off state which results in the selected second media device going to an on state and presenting the transferred media content as represented in Figs. 2 and 3; (3:49-4:12) the communication link is established between two media devices before transferring the media from one device to the second device as represented in Fig. 6. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Zhou’s system by detecting that one media device is in available/off state and not playing any media content as taught by Elcock in order to confirm that the device is available to play the media content by providing an automated system that provides a user with the ability to view the same media experience in different locations/devices without having to implement cumbersome manual steps each time this feature is used (Elcock – 1:55-59).
Regarding claim 2, “The method according to claim 1, wherein before transferring the streaming media content to the second media playing device for playing, the method further comprises: determining that a second condition is met based on at least one of a device state, a spatial position relationship and a historical behavior, wherein the device state refers to a playing state of the second media playing device; the spatial position relationship refers to a spatial position relationship between the first media playing device and the second media playing device; and the historical behavior is configured to indicate a behavior of whether a user transfers a media file played by the first media playing device” Zhou discloses (¶0020-¶0021, ¶0030, ¶0033) that the session transfer is suggested to nearby devices and to devices that have been used for transfer before according to recorded statistics as represented in Fig. 6.
Regarding claim 3, “The method according to claim 2, wherein it is determined that the second condition is met, in response to meeting at least one of: a current playing state of the second media playing device being an idle state; the first media playing device and the second media playing device being within a same spatial range; and there being a behavior of the user transferring the media file played by the first media playing device in the historical behavior” Zhou discloses (¶0020-¶0021, ¶0030, ¶0033) that the session transfer is suggested to nearby devices and to devices that have been used for transfer before according to recorded statistics as represented in Fig. 6.
Regarding claim 4, “The method according to claim 1, wherein meeting the first condition comprises at least one of: using at least one of a same account and a same network as the first media playing device for data transmission; and supporting adopting a secure transmission protocol with a security level higher than a level threshold to perform data transmission” Zhou discloses (¶0012, ¶0030, ¶0033) that device 1 and device 2 are locally connected to each other through local area network, where a session transfer is suggested to a device that is detected in the same local network as represented in Figs. 8-9.
Regarding claim 5, “The method according to claim 1, wherein before transferring the streaming media content to the second media playing device for playing, the method further comprises: displaying prompt information and determining that an instruction of a user confirming to transfer the streaming media content to the second media playing device for playing is received, wherein the prompt information is configured to prompt the user whether to transfer the streaming media content to the second media playing device for playing” Zhou discloses (¶0013, ¶0031, ¶0033) that before transferring media to the device within the same local network, the user is provided with an option to accept/reject session transfer as represented in Fig. 7 (element 312).
Regarding claim 6, “The method according to claim 5, further comprising: saving a historical behavior of the user deciding whether to transfer the streaming media content to the second media playing device for playing based on the prompt information” Zhou discloses (¶0021, ¶0028) that the system records statistics of previous transfers in the database as represented in Fig. 6.
Regarding claim 7, see rejection similar to claim 1.
Regarding claim 8, see rejection similar to claim 2.
Regarding claim 9, see rejection similar to claim 3.
Regarding claim 10, see rejection similar to claim 4.
Regarding claim 11, see rejection similar to claim 5.
Regarding claim 12, see rejection similar to claim 6.
Regarding claim 13, see rejection similar to claim 1. Furthermore, Elcock discloses (5:40-6:9) that the computer system is implemented using non-transitory computer readable media having instructions stored thereon executed by the processor.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/PINKAL R CHOKSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2425