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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 39 – 47 and 56 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.
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.
Claim(s) 32 – 38, 52 – 53 and 55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Medford, publication number: US 2007/0192789.
As per claim 32, Medford teaches a computer readable apparatus comprising a non-transitory storage medium, the non-transitory storage medium comprising at least one computer program having a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions configured to, when executed on a digital processing apparatus of a computerized receiver apparatus, cause the computerized receiver apparatus:
obtain first data relating to one or more present or future available advertising insertion opportunities within a digital programming content stream delivered over a content distribution network (ad insertion signaling, [0046]);
receive a communication from a network process, the communication comprising data indicating a channel to which to access for delivery of digital advertising content appropriate for the one or more opportunities (ad location address, [0045]); and
access the channel at a prescribed time associated with at least one of the one or more insertion opportunities to access the appropriate digital advertising content (Sending requested multicast stream to STB, [0048]).
As per claim 33, Medford teaches wherein the plurality of instructions are further configured to, when executed by the digital processing apparatus, cause the computerized receiver apparatus to:
obtain second data identifying at least a computerized device of a user of the content distribution network, and transmit at least a portion of the second data to a second network process for correlation of the second data to profile or consumer data (market area, [0042]).
As per claim 34, Medford teaches wherein the second network-side process is configured to utilize the second data to access a network account database, the database comprising a plurality of data relating to demographic factors associated with an account with which the computerized device is associated, the demographic factors utilized in selection of the digital advertising content appropriate for the one or more opportunities (Market area, [0035][0042])
As per claim 35, Medford teaches wherein the at least one computer program further comprises a computer program configured to, when executed by the digital processing apparatus, cause the computerized receiver apparatus to:
generate impression data, the impression data based at least on functional activity within the computerized receiver apparatus during use; and
cause transmission of the impression data to a network process via a communication channel, the impression data utilized in selection of the digital advertising content appropriate for the one or more opportunities (selecting ads for each area, [0042]).
As per claim 36, Medford teaches wherein the access of the channel to receive the appropriate digital advertising content comprises accessing an application programming interface (API) associated with middleware of the computerized receiver apparatus, the API configured to cause the computerized receiver apparatus to tune to a particular radio frequency (RF) channel at the prescribed time (receiving switching instructions, [0048]).
As per claim 37, Medford teaches wherein: the receipt of the communication from a network process is performed using downstream
delivery RF channel of the network; and
the transmission of the impression data is performed using an out-of-band (OOB) communication channel of the network (receiving switching instructions, [0048]).
As per claim 38, Medford teaches wherein the OOB communication channel of the network utilizes a connection-less communication protocol (receiving switching instructions, [0048]).
As per claim 52, Medford teaches a computerized client apparatus for accessing digital advertising content in a content distribution network, the computerized client apparatus comprising:
processor apparatus;
storage apparatus in data communication with the processor apparatus;
network interface apparatus configured to receive primary content delivered over the content distribution network (STB receiving content, [0048]);
middleware comprising an application interface (receiving switching instructions, [0048]); and
a decision engine operative on the processor apparatus and configured to:
obtain first data relating to one or more present or future available advertising insertion opportunities within a primary content stream delivered over the content distribution network (ad insertion signaling, [0046]);
receive a communication from a network-side process, the communication comprising data indicating a secondary-content delivery source to access for delivery of digital advertising content appropriate for the one or more insertion opportunities (ad location address, [0045]);
store at least a portion of the communication (ad location address, [0045]);
at a prescribed time associated with at least one of the one or more insertion opportunities, access the application interface to cause the computerized client apparatus to access the secondary-content delivery source so as to obtain the digital advertising content (STB selecting multicast stream, [0048]); and
subsequent to presentation of the digital advertising content, cause return to the primary content stream (resuming stream at the end of an avail, [0036]).
As per claim 53, Medford teaches wherein:
the first data comprises cue or timing information carried in the primary content stream, in metadata associated with the primary content stream, or in a manifest associated with the primary content stream;
the secondary-content delivery source comprises at least one uniform resource locator (URL); and
the decision engine is further configured to cause insertion of the at least one URL into a manifest or playlist associated with the primary content stream and cause a media player application of the computerized client apparatus to execute the at least one URL (ad location IP address message, [0047]).
As per claim 55, Medford teaches a computerized method of accessing digital advertising content via a client device of a content distribution network, the method comprising:
receiving a primary content stream via at least a first communication path of the content distribution network (program material, 302, [0046], Fig. 4);
extracting data from the primary content stream relating at least to one or more secondary-content delivery sources over which digital advertising content is available (multicast address, [0045]);
storing the extracted data in a data structure of the client device (sending switching instructions to STB, [0048]);
receiving a trigger event associated with an insertion opportunity (ad insertion signaling, [0046]);
based at least on the received trigger event, causing access of the data structure to obtain at least a portion of the extracted data (receiving a signal from STB to select multicast, [0048]);
utilizing the obtained extracted data to identify a selected one of the one or more secondary-content delivery sources (sending selected multicast to STB, [0048]);
causing, via an application interface associated with middleware or a media application of the client device, access to the selected one of the one or more secondary-content delivery sources so as to obtain the digital advertising content (Presenting ad, [0046]); and
subsequent to presentation of the digital advertising content, causing return to the primary content stream (resuming stream at the end of an avail, [0036]).
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) 54 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Medford, publication number: US 2007/0192789 in view of Eldering, publication number: US 2002/0123928.
As per claim 54, Medford teaches selectively switching between program and advertisement streams.
Medford does not teach wherein the decision engine is further configured to:
generate impression data based at least on functional activity within the computerized client apparatus during use;
aggregate a plurality of impressions over time;
cause transmission of the impression data to a network-side process via a communication interface of the computerized client apparatus; and
process an acknowledgment of receipt so as to enable deletion or overwrite of stored impression data.
In an analogous art, Eldering teaches wherein the decision engine is further configured to:
generate impression data based at least on functional activity within the computerized client apparatus during use;
aggregate a plurality of impressions over time;
cause transmission of the impression data to a network-side process via a communication interface of the computerized client apparatus; and
process an acknowledgment of receipt so as to enable deletion or overwrite of stored impression data (monitoring user interactions [0025][0090][0099][0101], determining ad success rates, [0076]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Medford’s advertisement insertion system to include user interaction data as described in Eldering’s targeted advertisement system for the advantage of further customizing the advertisement delivered to the viewer.
Conclusion
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/OLUGBENGA O IDOWU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2494
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