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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 6-14 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yemul et al (11,381,410).
Consider claims 1, 11 and 13, Yemul et al teach a method and system for providing a video conference service performed on at least one computing device, the method comprising: receiving status data of a plurality of terminals logged in with an account of a first participant (col. 8 lines 23-28; “In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the memory 210 stores data relating to managing a conference call. For example, the memory 210 may store physical locations associated with the conference call, devices participating in the conference call, statuses and capabilities of the participating devices, and the like”; col 10 lines 39-52; “when a participant joins the conference call with one communication device, other communication devices assigned to the participant will be automatically connected to the conference call...The device module 310, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, is configured to identify each communication device of the plurality of communication devices participating in the conference call”; thus, participant devices are logged in); determining video priorities (i.e., “quality-of-service”) of the plurality of terminals based on the received status data (col. 1 lines 52-55; “evaluating, by the processor, a quality-of-service for each of the plurality of communication devices assigned to the same participant to the conference call”; col. 11 lines 4-34; “The quality-of-service module 315 performs a quality-of-service function that includes comparing communication signals from the communication devices 105 over signal paths of the same or different conferencing legs of a network of the conference call with threshold signal evaluations”); selecting a first terminal, among the plurality of terminals, to transmit a video of the first participant based on the video priorities (col. 5 line 63 – col. 6 line 3; “The multiple devices for a participant function may enable selection of one of the multiple devices with the best quality-of-service for use during the conference call while automatically muting the remainder of the multiple devices having a lower quality-of-service. Other factors besides the best quality-of-service can be considered when selecting one of the multiple devices”; col. 11 line 4 – col. 12 line 35; “The weights of the conferencing legs at any particular time may then be considered by the conferencing module 320 when determining which communication device 105 to select”); and transmitting the video of the first participant received from the first terminal to terminals of other participants (col. 6 lines 4-15; “The conference calls provide a live exchange of sounds among the participants (i.e., their voices). Moreover, the conference call may also support the sharing of multi-media contents, such as video, images, data, documents and so on”; col. 12 line 52 – col. 13 line 3; “The conference server 104 selects the communication device 105 of multiple communication devices 105 assigned to a same participant with the best quality-of-service for each participant of the conference call. The conference server 104 then mixes the uplink signals from the communication devices 105 with the best quality-of-service. According to the present disclosure, the conference server 104 sends the downlink mixed communication signal to each of the communication devices 105 with the best quality-of-service”).
Consider claims 2 and 14, Yemul et al teach wherein the status data includes a group ID corresponding to the account of the first participant, a terminal ID of a terminal of the first participant (col. 10 line 4 – col. 11 line 3; “According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, each participant to the conference call is registered as a user to at least one conference provided by the conference server 140. A registered user previously provides identifying information about the user (e.g., a name, a user identity, a unique identifier (ID), an email address, a telephone number, an IP address, etc.), registered communication devices, etc.,”), and information about a camera power status of the terminal of the first participant (col. 8 lines 23-28; “In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the memory 210 stores data relating to managing a conference call. For example, the memory 210 may store physical locations associated with the conference call, devices participating in the conference call, statuses and capabilities of the participating devices, and the like”).
Consider claims 6 and 17, Yemul et al teach wherein the selecting of the first terminal includes: inquiring video priority data for the account of the first participant in a video priority table associated with one or more accounts of each participant; and selecting, based on a result of the inquiring, the first terminal that has a highest video priority among the plurality of terminals (col. 12 lines 14-28; “A score indicative of the quality-of-service provided by each communication device and communication network may then be calculated, for example, as one or more functions of one or more of the parameters discussed above. This quality-of-service score may be calculated using any combination of lookup tables, graphs, and/or equations”).
Consider claim 7, Yemul et al teach wherein the first terminal has the highest video priority based on a camera of the first terminal being turned on (col. 12 lines 14-28; “the quality-of-service score may range from 0 to 100, with 0 being indicative of a non-functioning communication device and/or communication network and 100 being indicative of a fully functional or perfect-quality communication device and/or communication network”; (i.e., functional and non-functional are interpreted as being turned on or being turned off)).
Consider claims 8 and 18, Yemul et al teach further comprising: receiving status data from a second terminal, based on the second terminal, previously not logged in with the account of the first participant, being logged in with the account of the first participant (col. 13 lines 60-62; “a new communication device of the same participant joining the conference call”); adjusting video priorities of a plurality of terminals including the second terminal, based on the status data of the second terminal; reselecting a terminal, among the plurality of terminals including the second terminal, to transmit the video of the first participant based on the adjusted video priorities; and transmitting the video of the first participant received from the reselected terminal to the terminals of the other participants (col. 12 lines 45-51; col. 13 line 58 – col. 14 line 3; “If the new communication device has a higher quality-of-service score than the current principal communication device, then the new communication device becomes the new principal communication device”).
Consider claims 9 and 19, Yemul et al teach further comprising: adjusting the video priorities of the plurality of terminals based on the first terminal being logged out of the account of the first participant (col. 14 lines 4-13; “Similarly, the conferencing module 320 may reassess which communication devices are to be muted in response to a communication device being disconnected from the conference call”); reselecting a terminal, among the plurality of terminals, to transmit the video of the first participant based on the adjusted video priorities; and transmitting the video of the first participant received from the reselected terminal to the terminal of the other participants (col. 12 lines 14-51; “the quality-of-service score may range from 0 to 100, with 0 being indicative of a non-functioning communication device and/or communication network and 100 being indicative of a fully functional or perfect-quality communication device and/or communication network…after a predetermined period of time has expired, the quality-of-service module 315 performs another quality-of-service function to reevaluate the quality-of-service for each of the plurality of communication devices…the quality-of-service function could be used to redesignate one of the other plurality of communication devices 105 as a principle communication device of the plurality of communication devices assigned to the same participant to the conference call based on the reevaluation of the quality-of-service for each of the plurality of communication devices 105”).
Consider claims 10 and 20, Yemul et al teach further comprising: adjusting the video priorities of the plurality of terminals based on a camera power status of the first terminal being changed (col. 12 lines 14-51; “the quality-of-service score may range from 0 to 100, with 0 being indicative of a non-functioning communication device and/or communication network and 100 being indicative of a fully functional or perfect-quality communication device and/or communication network; col. 14 lines 4-13; “Similarly, the conferencing module 320 may reassess which communication devices are to be muted in response to a communication device being disconnected from the conference call”); reselecting a terminal, among the plurality of terminals, to transmit the video of the first participant based on the adjusted video priorities; and transmitting the video of the first participant received from the reselected terminal to the terminal of the other participants (col. 13 lines 4-17; “According to further alternative embodiments of the present disclosure, after a threshold value from the selected one of the plurality of communication devices 105 (the principal communication device) drops below a predetermined value, the quality-of-service module 315 performs another quality-of-service function to reevaluate the quality-of-service for each of the plurality of communication devices 105. The quality-of-service function could be used to redesignate one of the other plurality of communication devices 105 as the best communication device of the plurality of communication devices 105 assigned to the same participant to the conference call based on the reevaluation of the quality-of-service for each of the plurality of communication devices 105”; thus, if the device quality dropped to “0” (i.e., status changed, then the QoS being reevaluated).
Consider claim 12, Yemul et al teach wherein the terminal selection server is further configured to: receive audio data of the first user who speaks, through a second terminal among the plurality of terminals, and transmit the audio data of the first user through the second terminal to the terminals of the other participants (col. 9 lines 1-9; “The microphone 225, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, comprises at least one input sensor (e.g., microphone transducer) that converts acoustic signals (sound waves) into electrical signals, thereby receiving audio signals. In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the user inputs sound or voice data (e.g., voice commands) via a microphone array. Here, the microphone 225 picks up sounds (e.g., speech) from one or more conference call participants”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 15-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/Quoc D Tran/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
February 12, 2026