Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/735,289

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PREDICTING INTERRUPTIONS IN MEDIA CONTENT

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Jun 06, 2024
Priority
Jul 20, 2023 — provisional 63/514,678
Examiner
PARK, SUNGHYOUN
Art Unit
2484
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
TuneIn, Inc.
OA Round
4 (Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
85%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allowance Rate
465 granted / 619 resolved
+17.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
658
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.6%
-36.4% vs TC avg
§103
72.1%
+32.1% vs TC avg
§102
10.0%
-30.0% vs TC avg
§112
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 619 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 Amendment The amendments, filed 1/26/2026, have been entered and made of record. Claims 1, 10, and 19 have been amended. Claims 6, 15 and 24 have been cancelled. Claims 1-5, 7-14, 16-23, and 25-27 are pending. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments in the Remarks filed on 1/26/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. 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. Choi in view of Ergen and Pelkey Claims 1-4, 7, 10-13, 16, 19-22, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi(USPubN 2022/0014292) in view of Ergen(USPubN 2023/0064341) further in view of Pelkey et al.(USPubN 2004/0181810; hereinafter Pelkey). As per claim 1, Choi teaches a computer-implemented method comprising: accessing an initial media stream being presented by a user device, wherein the initial media stream is associated with a media broadcast station, wherein the initial media stream includes audio content that is presented by the user device(“The display apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure may for example be embodied by a television (TV). Further, the display apparatus 100 according to another embodiment of the disclosure may for example be embodied by an electronic frame, a digital billboard, a large format display (LFD), a digital signage, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, a smartwatch, a head-mounted display or the like wearable device, a computer, a multimedia player, a set-top box, a smart refrigerator, or the like apparatus capable of outputting an image based on content” in Para.[0042], “The display apparatus 100 may receive a first broadcast signal from a first broadcast transmitting apparatus 110 by a broadcast mode” in Para.[0043], “obtains first media information and a service app from a received broadcast signal (S301). Here, the first media information refers to information about media, content or data contained in the broadcast signal transmitted from the first broadcast transmitting apparatus 110” in Para.[0055], “The media segments Media Segment 651-655 refer to information in which audio/video (AV) information such as an image, a sound, etc. is recorded in units of segments” in Para.[0072]); applying a media information to the initial media stream to dynamically predict in real-time an interruption of the audio content, wherein the interruption is predicted as the initial media stream continues to be presented(“when the broadcast signal is a signal based on ATSC 3.0, the first media information may include information about media processing units (MPU) based on an MPEG Media transport protocol (MMTP), and information about a dynamic adaptive streaming over hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) (DASH) segment based on a real time object delivery over unidirectional transport (ROUTE) protocol or HTTP protocol” in Para.[0055], “the replaced MPD contains not only image information 501 and 503 about a broadcast itself as content to be reproduced within a reproduction time of each broadcast program, but also information 502 about advertisement content to be reproduced in connection with the corresponding broadcast program” in Para.[0070]); switching the initial media stream to a different media stream associated with an alternative media source, wherein the different media stream is presented in response to the real-time predicted interruption(Para.[0082], “the advertisement 2200 is replaced by user customized content and then the user customized content is displayed in a time for reproducing the advertisement, based on the obtained schedule information of the advertisement 2200. Here, the user customized content may include any content as long as it suits a user's tastes identified based on the user's viewing history related to the display apparatus 100, content use or purchase histories, user-input control content, etc. or is recommended by the user.” in Para.[0111]). Choi is silent about wherein a media broadcast station broadcasting from a first geographic location, an alternative media broadcast station broadcasting from a second geographic location and wherein the second geographic location is different from the first geographic location and wherein the audio content is associated with a first media genre, wherein the audio content is predicted to be interrupted by a different audio content that is associated with a second media genre, applying a machine-learning model to the initial media stream to dynamically predict in real-time an interruption of the initial media content and reverting to presenting the initial media stream upon conclusion of the interruption; and reverting to presenting the initial media stream of the media broadcast station upon conclusion of the interruption. Ergen teaches wherein the audio content is associated with a first media genre, wherein the audio content is predicted to be interrupted by a different audio content that is associated with a second media genre, applying a machine-learning model to the initial media stream to dynamically predict in real-time an interruption of the initial media content and reverting to presenting the initial media stream upon conclusion of the interruption; and reverting to presenting the initial media stream of the media broadcast station upon conclusion of the interruption(“detecting interruptions while streaming media content. An interruption detection system can monitor streaming media content to detect when an interruption (e.g., commercial break, advertisement, etc.) will occur in the streaming content. The interruption detection system can query the content delivery platform to determine whether the same content is available on another channel. When the same video content is available on another channel, the interruption detection system can switch to the second channel when the interruption begins and continue to stream the media content for the user. The interruption detection system can detect when the interruption is ending on the first channel and notify the user of the amount of time until the interruption is complete. When the commercial is complete, the interruption detection system can switch back to the original channel” in Abs, “a streaming media content, such as video content or music content, to detect when an interruption (e.g., commercial break, advertisement, etc.) will occur in the streaming content” in Para.[0013], “a machine-learning (ML) model may refer to a predictive or statistical utility or program that may be used to determine a probability distribution over one or more character sequences, classes, objects, result sets or events, and/or to predict a response value from one or more predictors. A model may be based on, or incorporate, one or more rule sets, machine learning, a neural network, or the like. In examples, the ML models may be located on the client device, service device, a network appliance (e.g., a firewall, a router, etc.), or some combination thereof” in Para.[0025]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Choi with the above teachings of Ergen in order to improve service capabilities and compliance with flexibility of media schedule. Pelkey teaches wherein a media broadcast station broadcasting from a first geographic location, an alternative media broadcast station broadcasting from a second geographic location and wherein the second geographic location is different from the first geographic location(“the central controller 20 could also direct selected groups of receivers 22 to change their input sources and other broadcast service information, such as the program identifier and even the transponder. Such a change in the broadcast service information 28 reconfigures the receivers 22 to splice or switch between source programs. Similar to the local file insertion process, the receivers 22 combine and recast the source programs as a single continuous streamed content feed. It will be appreciated that the receivers 22 may also simultaneously process programs from multiple input sources, including data entering the receiver from different input modules and different transponders on the broadcast satellite 16. Given the remote control and recasting capabilities of the receivers 22, a company may use one or more receivers 22 for a live recasting of a broadcast 14 from multiple feed locations 58, 60 to employees in one or more office locations 54, 56. For example, during the broadcast 14 and live recasting from one feed location 58 (such as New York), the central controller 22 could direct the receivers 22 to switch transponders to a new source program that is being uplinked to the satellite 16 from a different feed location 60 (such as Los Angeles)” in Para.[0041]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Choi and Ergen with the above teachings of Pelkey in order to improve user experience. As per claim 2, Choi, Ergen and Pelkey teach all of limitation of claim 1. Choi is silent about wherein the machine- learning model was trained using transfer learning. Ergen teaches wherein the machine- learning model was trained using transfer learning(Para.[0025]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Choi with the above teachings of Ergen in order to improve service capabilities and compliance with flexibility of media schedule. As per claim 3, Choi, Ergen and Pelkey teach all of limitation of claim 1. Choi teaches wherein the alternative media source is associated with media content that substantially matches the audio or video content of the media source(Para.[0081], [0082]). As per claim 4, Choi, Ergen and Pelkey teach all of limitation of claim 1. Choi teaches further comprising: applying the media information to the initial media stream to dynamically predict in real-time a conclusion of the interruption, wherein the conclusion of the interruption is predicted as the different media stream continues to be presented by the user device(Para.[0055], [0070]). Choi is silent about further comprising: applying the machine-learning model to the initial media stream to dynamically predict in real-time a conclusion of the interruption. Ergen teaches further comprising: applying the machine-learning model to the initial media stream to dynamically predict in real-time a conclusion of the interruption(Para.[0025]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Choi with the above teachings of Ergen in order to improve service capabilities and compliance with flexibility of media schedule. As per claim 7, Choi, Ergen and Pelkey teach all of limitation of claim 1. Choi teaches wherein presenting the different media stream includes initiating a timer, wherein the user device reverts to presenting the initial media stream when the timer expires(Para.[0082], [0111]). As per claim 10, Choi teaches a system, comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing thereon instructions that, as a result of being executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations(Para.[0049], [0050]) and the other limitations in the claim 10 has been discussed in the rejection claim 1 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 11, the limitations in the claim 11 has been discussed in the rejection claim 2 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 12, the limitations in the claim 12 has been discussed in the rejection claim 3 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 13, the limitations in the claim 13 has been discussed in the rejection claim 4 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 16, the limitations in the claim 16 has been discussed in the rejection claim 7 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 19, Choi teaches a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing thereon executable instructions that, as a result of being executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations(Claim 15) and the other limitations in the claim 19 has been discussed in the rejection claim 1 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 20, the limitations in the claim 20 has been discussed in the rejection claim 2 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 21, the limitations in the claim 21 has been discussed in the rejection claim 3 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 22, the limitations in the claim 22 has been discussed in the rejection claim 4 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 25, the limitations in the claim 25 has been discussed in the rejection claim 7 and rejected under the same rationale. Choi in view of Ergen, Pelkey and Rubin Claims 5, 14 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi(USPubN 2022/0014292) in view of Ergen(USPubN 2023/0064341) further in view of Pelkey et al.(USPubN 2004/0181810; hereinafter Pelkey) further in view of Rubin et al.(USPubN 2018/0227632; hereinafter Rubin). As per claim 5, Choi, Ergen and Pelkey teach all of limitation of claim 1. Choi, Ergen and Pelkey are silent about further comprising: generating a notification to be presented on the user device upon conclusion of the interruption, wherein the notification includes an option to return to the initial media stream. Rubin teaches further comprising: generating a notification to be presented on the user device upon conclusion of the interruption, wherein the notification includes an option to return to the initial media stream(Para.[0062]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Choi, Ergen and Pelkey with the above teachings of Rubin in order to improve enhance an user’s interactions with social-networking system. As per claim 14, the limitations in the claim 14 has been discussed in the rejection claim 5 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 23, the limitations in the claim 23 has been discussed in the rejection claim 5 and rejected under the same rationale. Choi in view of Ergen, Pelkey and Hu Claims 8, 17 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi(USPubN 2022/0014292) in view of Ergen(USPubN 2023/0064341) further in view of Pelkey et al.(USPubN 2004/0181810; hereinafter Pelkey) further in view of Hu et al.(USPubN 2021/0201477; hereinafter Hu). As per claim 8, Choi, Ergen and Pelkey teach all of limitation of claim 1. Choi, Ergen and Pelkey are silent about wherein predicting the interruption includes applying a data-smoothing algorithm to two or more outputs generated by the machine-learning model. Hu teaches wherein predicting the interruption includes applying a data-smoothing algorithm to two or more outputs generated by the machine-learning model(Para.[0035], [0098]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Choi, Ergen and Pelkey with the above teachings of Hu in order to improve detecting event or interruption efficiently. As per claim 17, the limitations in the claim 17 has been discussed in the rejection claim 8 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 26, the limitations in the claim 26 has been discussed in the rejection claim 8 and rejected under the same rationale. Choi in view of Ergen, Pelkey and Mountain Claims 9, 18 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi(USPubN 2022/0014292) in view of Ergen(USPubN 2023/0064341) further in view of Pelkey et al.(USPubN 2004/0181810; hereinafter Pelkey) further in view of Mountain(USPubN 2012/0059947). As per claim 9, Choi, Ergen and Pelkey teach all of limitation of claim 1. Choi teaches wherein the audio or video content includes music content(Para.[0072]). Choi, Ergen and Pelkey are silent about wherein predicted real-time interruption includes non-music content. Mountain teaches wherein predicted real-time interruption includes non-music content(Para.[0032]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Choi, Ergen and Pelkey with the above teachings of Mountain in order to improve detecting event or interruption efficiently. As per claim 18, the limitations in the claim 18 has been discussed in the rejection claim 9 and rejected under the same rationale. As per claim 27, the limitations in the claim 27 has been discussed in the rejection claim 9 and rejected under the same rationale. 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUNGHYOUN PARK whose telephone number is (571)270-1333. The examiner can normally be reached M - Thur 6:00 am - 4 pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, THAI Q TRAN can be reached at (571)272-7382. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SUNGHYOUN PARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2484
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Prosecution Timeline

Show 8 earlier events
Jul 10, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Jul 15, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 20, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Sep 26, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jan 06, 2026
Interview Requested
Jan 22, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Jan 26, 2026
Response Filed
May 20, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
85%
With Interview (+10.0%)
2y 9m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 619 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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