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 is the final office action in response to the applicant’s arguments/remarks filed on February 18, 2026.
Claims 1-5, 8, and 12-20 have been amended.
Claims 1-20 are pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on 12/30/2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Responses to Arguments/Remarks
Claim Objections:
The amended claim 8 has overcome the claim objection, and the claim objection on claim 8 has been withdrawn.
35 U.S.C. § 103:
By the broadest reasonable interpretation, Iwangng, the primary reference, discloses the newly added limitations of obtaining at least one request for a video clip and in response to a count of the at least one request exceeding a threshold, extracting a portion of the video clip (see paragraph 7, page 8, “[t]he partial video extraction unit 213 can, for example, divide a live video into music units and extract a part of the divided video as a partial video. The partial video extraction unit 213 may, for example, accept the designation of the range to be extracted and extract the designated range”; section <Push camera>, page 11. The extracting of a portion of the video clip is based on at least one request, and a threshold could be any value, such as zero.)
The applicant’s amendments have overcome the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection. However, there are new grounds of rejection necessitated by the applicant’s amendments as detailed in the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection section.
Claim Objections
Claims 4, 12, and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 4 and 17 recite “wherein the at least one request for the video clip are received.” The word “are” should be changed to “is.”
Claim 12 recites “in response to the request for purchase of the second non-fungible token, extracting a second portion of the video clip; generating the second non-fungible token corresponding to the portion of the video clip.” The phrasing, “the portion of the video clip,” should be changed to “the second portion of the video clip,” for more clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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 1-6, 9, and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwanaga et al. (WO 2021246498 A1) in view of Abiodun et al. (US 20230135473 A1).
Claims 1, 14, and 20:
Iwanaga discloses the following:
an apparatus for non-fungible token processing, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors being configured to. (See paragraph 7, page 7, “[t]he computer may include a CPU 201, a memory 202, a storage device 203, a communication interface 204, an input device 205, and an output device 206. The storage device 203 stores various data and programs, such as a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, and a flash memory … the functional units provided in each are realized by executing a program stored in the storage device by the CPU provided in each.”)
obtaining at least one request for a video clip; in response to a count of the at least one request exceeding a threshold, extracting a portion of the video clip in response to identifying the trigger; generating the non-fungible token corresponding to the portion of the video clip. (See paragraphs 4-10, page 8, “[t]he video acquisition unit 211 acquires live video taken at the live venue…. The partial video extraction unit 213 extracts a partial video that is a part of the live video…. The partial video extraction unit 213 may, for example, accept the designation of the range to be extracted and extract the designated range…. The partial video may be included in the NFT or registered in the blockchain network 40 separately from the NFT…. In the present embodiment, the video sales unit 214 can sell the partial video together with the NFT described later…. The NFT issuing unit 215 issues the NFT. The NFT is a token that certifies the owner of the partial video, and can include information that identifies the partial video and information that identifies the owner (viewer)”; section <Push camera>, page 11, “[f]or example, the distribution server 20 receives from the viewer terminal the designation of the position and size of the cutout frame according to the resolution of the display device (display) provided in the viewer terminal, and stores it in the storage unit in association with the viewer…. Further, the distribution server 20 can be provided with a function of issuing an NFT corresponding to an image or a video cut out to a person involved in video distribution such as a viewer.”)
outputting the non-fungible token […]. (See paragraphs 4-10, page 8, “[t]he video transmission unit 216 transmits the partial video and the NFT to the purchaser (owner).”)
Iwanaga does not explicitly disclose outputting the non-fungible token for hosting on a platform.
However, Abiodun, an analogous art of processing non-fungible tokens, discloses outputting the non-fungible token for hosting on a platform. (See paragraph [0002], “NFTs may represent a variety of digital assets including photos, videos, audio, and other digital assets”; paragraph [0031], “[b]y way of non-limiting example, the user-created content may include one or more of a post to a feed, an image, a video, a message, or text”; Fig. 2; and paragraph [0026], “[a]ccording to some implementations, native building and minting of NFTs may enable content creators to post their own user-created content on a social media feed of a social media platform (e.g., social media platforms 104, 106, and/or 108 in FIG. 1) (step 202), mint the user-created content as an NFT (step 204), put the NFT up for auction (step 206), have a user (e.g., a fan) buy it (step 208) so the user can utilize the user-created content (step 210).”)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Abiodun in the Iwanaga system. Moreover, in order to improve the practicality of the Iwanaga system, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to output the NFT on a platform for auction, so that the NFT can be viewed by more potential buyers.
Claims 2 and 15:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga further discloses wherein the portion of the video clip comprises a first portion of the video clip, and wherein the non-fungible token comprises a first non-fungible token; receiving a user input associated with the video clip; in response to the user input, extracting a second portion of the video clip; generating a second non-fungible token corresponding to the second portion of the video clip; and outputting the second non-fungible token […]. (See paragraph 7, page 8, “[t]he partial video extraction unit 213 can, for example, divide a live video into music units and extract a part of the divided video as a partial video. The partial video extraction unit 213 may, for example, accept the designation of the range to be extracted and extract the designated range”; section <Push camera>, page 11, “[f]or example, the distribution server 20 receives from the viewer terminal the designation of the position and size of the cutout frame according to the resolution of the display device (display) provided in the viewer terminal, and stores it in the storage unit in association with the viewer…. Further, the distribution server 20 can be provided with a function of issuing an NFT corresponding to an image or a video cut out to a person involved in video distribution such as a viewer”; and paragraph 1, page 15. The processing system/device could receive different designations of ranges for extracting of a video and issue an NFT for each extracted portion of the video.)
Abiodun discloses outputting a non-fungible token for hosting on a platform. (See paragraph [0002], “NFTs may represent a variety of digital assets including photos, videos, audio, and other digital assets”; paragraph [0031], “[b]y way of non-limiting example, the user-created content may include one or more of a post to a feed, an image, a video, a message, or text”; Fig. 2; and paragraph [0026], “[a]ccording to some implementations, native building and minting of NFTs may enable content creators to post their own user-created content on a social media feed of a social media platform (e.g., social media platforms 104, 106, and/or 108 in FIG. 1) (step 202), mint the user-created content as an NFT (step 204), put the NFT up for auction (step 206), have a user (e.g., a fan) buy it (step 208) so the user can utilize the user-created content (step 210).”)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Abiodun in the Iwanaga system. Moreover, in order to improve the practicality of the Iwanaga system, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to output the NFT on a platform for auction, so that the NFT can be viewed by more potential buyers.
Claims 3 and 16:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga further discloses wherein the portion of the video clip comprises a first portion of the video clip, and wherein the non-fungible token comprises a first non-fungible token; determining that an event has occurred in the video clip; in response to determining that the event has occurred, extracting a second portion of the video clip; generating a second non-fungible token corresponding to the second portion of the video clip; and outputting the second non-fungible token. (See paragraph 7, page 8, “[t]he partial video extraction unit 213 can, for example, divide a live video into music units and extract a part of the divided video as a partial video. The partial video extraction unit 213 may, for example, accept the designation of the range to be extracted and extract the designated range”; section <Push camera>, page 11; section <Avatar stage participation> and section <Group photo (as a video)>, page 12; and paragraph 1, page 15. The processing system/device could receive different designations of ranges for extracting of a video and issue an NFT for each extracted portion of the video.)
Abiodun discloses outputting a non-fungible token for hosting on a platform. (See paragraph [0002], “NFTs may represent a variety of digital assets including photos, videos, audio, and other digital assets”; paragraph [0031], “[b]y way of non-limiting example, the user-created content may include one or more of a post to a feed, an image, a video, a message, or text”; Fig. 2; and paragraph [0026], “[a]ccording to some implementations, native building and minting of NFTs may enable content creators to post their own user-created content on a social media feed of a social media platform (e.g., social media platforms 104, 106, and/or 108 in FIG. 1) (step 202), mint the user-created content as an NFT (step 204), put the NFT up for auction (step 206), have a user (e.g., a fan) buy it (step 208) so the user can utilize the user-created content (step 210).”)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Abiodun in the Iwanaga system. Moreover, in order to improve the practicality of the Iwanaga system, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to output the NFT on a platform for auction, so that the NFT can be viewed by more potential buyers.
Claims 4 and 17:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga further discloses wherein the at least one request of the video clip is received while the video clip is being streamed live. (See paragraphs 4-10, page 8.)
Claims 5 and 18:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga further discloses wherein a duration of the extracted portion of the video clip is based on a type of the event. (See paragraphs 4-10, page 8; section <Push camera>, page 11; section <Avatar stage participation> and section <Group photo (as a video)>, page 12; and paragraph 1, page 15.)
Claims 6 and 19:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga further discloses augmenting the portion of the video clip based on user input, wherein the non-fungible token is generated based on the augmented portion of the video clip. (See section <Camera remix>, page 15, “[f]urther, the distribution server 20 can be provided with a function of allowing the distributor to edit the video (edited video data) such as trimming and enlarging the video data. Further, trimming and editing of each video data may be performed based on the time information. Then, the distributor can combine the video data and the edited video data on a predetermined timeline (remixed video). Further, the distribution server 20 can be provided with a function of causing the distributor to synthesize other video data and other edited video data with the remixed video…. Further, the distribution server 20 can be provided with a function of issuing an NFT corresponding to the remixed video.”)
Claim 9:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Abiodun further discloses generating at least one other non-fungible token based on the portion of the video clip. (See paragraph [0027], “[t]he user may provide a selection as to how many copies (step 202d) of the to-be-minted NFT are desired (e.g., 100 fans out of 1000 superfans can own this digital collectible). Once minted, the NFTs may go on an auction (see step 206) such that a certain number of top bids (e.g., top 100 bids) will own the NFTs”; paragraph [0031].)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Abiodun in the Iwanaga system. Moreover, in order to improve the flexibility of the Iwanaga system, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to generate a number of NFTs based on the request, so that more NFTs are available for the buyers.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwanaga et al. (WO 2021246498 A1) in view of Abiodun et al. (US 20230135473 A1), and further in view of Ferenczi (US 12229761 B1).
Claim 7:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga further discloses storing the portion of the video clip. (See paragraph 7, page 8, “[t]he partial video extraction unit 213 may, for example, accept the designation of the range to be extracted and extract the designated range. The partial video extraction unit 213 can register the partial video in the partial video storage unit 231.”)
Neither Iwanaga nor Abiodun explicitly discloses wherein the non-fungible token comprises a pointer to retrieve the stored portion of the video clip.
However, Ferenczi, an analogous art of processing non-fungible tokens, discloses wherein the non-fungible token comprises a pointer to retrieve the stored portion of the video clip. (See Fig. 1; col. 5, lines 33-52, “an NFT 131 can include an NFT identifier 129, an NFT owner public key 143, a redemption uniform resource locator (URL) 153, and/or a custom content URL 156”; and col. 6, lines 15-23, “[f]or example, the first user could provide a custom content URL 156 that points to content or media (e.g., a video, an audio file, a picture, a webpage, etc.), which could be included in the NFT 131.”)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Ferenczi in the Iwanaga system as modified. Moreover, in order to improve the flexibility of the Iwanaga system as modified, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to include the URL of the video in the NFT, so that the content can be effectively updated if needed.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwanaga et al. (WO 2021246498 A1) in view of Abiodun et al. (US 20230135473 A1), and further in view of Bowen et al. (US 20220075845 A1).
Claim 8:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga discloses an NFT based on a portion of a video clip. (See paragraphs 4-10, page 8.)
Neither Iwanaga nor Abiodun explicitly discloses determining a price associated with the non-fungible token based on at least one of: a popularity associated with a creator of the video clip; a quality associated with the video clip; a popularity associated with at least the portion of the video clip; or a description of at least the portion of the video clip.
However, Bowen, an analogous art of processing non-fungible tokens, discloses determining a price associated with the non-fungible token based on at least of a description of at least the content associated with the NFT. (See paragraph [0569], “the NFT price (as well as the price of a given product being customized) may depend on the number and type of content items included in the user creation corresponding to the NFT. For example, where a user is designing their own creation corresponding to an NFT, the number of items of content selected by the user from content galleries, and the particular cost associated with each item of content may be used to determine the NFT cost.” Examiner’s Note: The items of a popularity associated with a creator of the video clip, a quality associated with the video clip, a popularity associated with at least the portion of the video clip, or a description of at least the portion of the video clip for determining the price of the NFT do not impact the scope of the claim, as items for determining the price do not affect the steps or the actions of the claim components in any way.)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Bowen in the Iwanaga system as modified. Moreover, in order to improve the practicality of the Iwanaga system as modified, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to determine the price of an NFT based on the content associated with the NFT, so that the price of the NFT can be reasonably determined based on the content.
Claims 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwanaga et al. (WO 2021246498 A1) in view of Abiodun et al. (US 20230135473 A1), and further in view of Matthews et al. (US 20230073859 A1).
Claim 10:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga discloses an NFT based on a portion of a video clip. (See paragraphs 4-10, page 8.)
Neither Iwanaga nor Abiodun explicitly discloses wherein listing the non-fungible token comprises providing an overlay on a stream of the video clip indicating availability of the non-fungible token.
However, Matthews, an analogous art of processing non-fungible tokens, discloses wherein listing the non-fungible token comprises providing an overlay on a digital asset indicating availability of the non-fungible token. (See Fig. 4; paragraphs [0070]-[0073].)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Matthews in the Iwanaga system as modified. Moreover, in order to make the Iwanaga system as modified more user friendly, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to graphically display information associated with NFTs and corresponding digital assets on the user interface, so that the information can be effectively noticed.
Claim 11:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun and Matthews discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga discloses an NFT based on the digital asset of a portion of a video clip. (See paragraphs 4-10, page 8.)
Matthews further discloses wherein a visual associated with the overlay is based on a popularity of the non-fungible token. (See Fig. 4; paragraphs [0070]-[0073].)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Matthews in the Iwanaga system as modified. Moreover, in order to make the Iwanaga system as modified more user friendly, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to graphically display information associated with NFTs and corresponding digital assets on the user interface, so that the information can be effectively noticed.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwanaga et al. (WO 2021246498 A1) in view of Abiodun et al. (US 20230135473 A1), and further in view of Schaedle (US 20070011290 A1).
Claim 12:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga further discloses least the portion of the video clip is streamed live as a live stream, wherein the portion of the video clip comprises a first portion of the video clip, and wherein the non-fungible token comprises a first non-fungible token; receiving a request for purchase of a second non-fungible token prior to the live stream of a second portion of the video clip; extracting a second portion of video clip; generating the second non-fungible token corresponding to the portion of the video clip; and outputting the second non-fungible token. (See paragraphs 4-10, page 8, “[t]he video acquisition unit 211 acquires live video taken at the live venue…. The partial video extraction unit 213 extracts a partial video that is a part of the live video…. The partial video extraction unit 213 may, for example, accept the designation of the range to be extracted and extract the designated range…. The partial video may be included in the NFT or registered in the blockchain network 40 separately from the NFT…. In the present embodiment, the video sales unit 214 can sell the partial video together with the NFT described later…. The NFT issuing unit 215 issues the NFT. The NFT is a token that certifies the owner of the partial video, and can include information that identifies the partial video and information that identifies the owner (viewer)…. The video transmission unit 216 transmits the partial video and the NFT to the purchaser (owner).” The purchaser must submit the purchase request to the system so that the system can transmit the video to the purchaser. Additionally, the processing system/device could receive different designations of ranges for extracting of a video and issue an NFT for each extracted portion of the video.)
Abiodun discloses outputting a non-fungible token for hosting on a platform. (See paragraph [0002], “NFTs may represent a variety of digital assets including photos, videos, audio, and other digital assets”; paragraph [0031], “[b]y way of non-limiting example, the user-created content may include one or more of a post to a feed, an image, a video, a message, or text”; Fig. 2; and paragraph [0026], “[a]ccording to some implementations, native building and minting of NFTs may enable content creators to post their own user-created content on a social media feed of a social media platform (e.g., social media platforms 104, 106, and/or 108 in FIG. 1) (step 202), mint the user-created content as an NFT (step 204), put the NFT up for auction (step 206), have a user (e.g., a fan) buy it (step 208) so the user can utilize the user-created content (step 210).”)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Abiodun in the Iwanaga system. Moreover, in order to improve the practicality of the Iwanaga system, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to output the NFT on a platform for auction, so that the NFT can be viewed by more potential buyers.
Neither Iwanaga nor Abiodun explicitly discloses in response to the request for purchase of the second non-fungible token, extracting a second portion of the video clip.
However, Schaedle, an analogous art of processing video clips, discloses in response to the request for purchase of the second non-fungible token, extracting a second portion of the video clip. (See paragraph [0009], “receiving orders from prospective purchasers for video clips of one or more selected animals; downloading at least a portion of the requested one or more video clips onto a digital video disc.”)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Schaedle in the Iwanaga system as modified. Moreover, in order to improve the practicality of the Iwanaga system as modified, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to extract a portion of a video clip based on a purchase request, so that the portion of the video clip can be effectively extracted and presented to the purchaser.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwanaga et al. (WO 2021246498 A1) in view of Abiodun et al. (US 20230135473 A1), and further in view of Kim et al. (KR 10-2294571 B1).
Claim 13:
Iwanaga in view of Abiodun discloses the limitations shown above.
Iwanaga discloses extracting a portion of the video clip. (See paragraphs 4-10, page 8.)
Neither Iwanaga nor Abiodun discloses dividing the non-fungible token into a plurality of non-fungible tokens, each of the plurality of non-fungible tokens associated with a respective subportion of the portion of the video clip.
However, Kim, an analogous art of processing non-fungible tokens, discloses dividing the non-fungible token into a plurality of non-fungible tokens, each of the plurality of non-fungible tokens is associated with a respective subportion of the portion of a product. (See paragraph 7, page 4, “[m]eanwhile, the token management unit 310 according to the present invention may divide one non-fungible token that has been previously issued into a plurality of non-fungible tokens.”)
Therefore, 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 subject matter of Kim in the Iwanaga system as modified. Moreover, in order to improve the flexibility of the Iwanaga system as modified, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to divide the NFT associated with a product into a plurality of NFTs, each of which is associated with a respective sub-portion of the product, so that the sub-portions of the product can be related to the product via the plurality of NFTs.
Conclusion
The prior art, made of record and not relied upon, is considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure.
Briggs (US 20230047123 A1) discloses receiving video data from a recording device, generating an NFT based on the received video data, and outputting the NFT.
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). The 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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/CHUNLING DING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3699
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