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 .
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) 1, 3-7, 9-11, 13-17, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Barsness (2008/0141309).
As for claims 1 and 11, Barsness discloses a method comprising:
determining that transmission of missed content (lost content 510 – fig. 5) via a media content stream to a user device fails during a time period between a disconnection and a reconnection of the user device to the media content stream (Determined that content was lost during transmission to a user device; [0064], [0065], [0074], [0077]-[0079]);
accessing a profile associated with the user device (User indicates preferences: [0067], [0091]-[0093], [0098]-[0099], [0119], [0120], [0124]);
retrieving, from the profile, a threshold period corresponding to the missed content (A download lost content request is sent if the amount of lost content is greater than a threshold. Program manager determines if subscriber is authorized to retrieve lost content based on subscriber settings (profile); [0091]-[0093], [0098]-[0099], [0119], [0120], [0124]);
determining that the time period meets or exceeds the threshold period corresponding to the missed content retrieved from the profile (Based on the lost content being over a threshold, the content that is missing is downloaded and saved; Fig. 8, [0091]); and
based at least in part on determining that the time period meets or exceeds the threshold period corresponding to the missed content, storing a content portion comprising the missed content (Based on the lost content being over a threshold, the content that is missing is downloaded and saved; [0064], [0065], [0091]).
As for claims 3 and 13, Barsness discloses wherein storing the content portion comprises retrieving the content portion from recorded content corresponding to the media content stream (The content corresponds to the media stream that is missing is downloaded and saved; [0064], [0065], [0091]).
As for claims 4 and 14, Barsness discloses wherein the profile is stored on a server associated with the media content stream (The program manager located at the content provider determines whether the subscriber is authorized to retrieve lost content based on subscriber settings; [0091]-[0093], [0098]-[0099], [0119], [0120], [0124]).
As for claims 5 and 15, Barsness discloses further comprising: based at least in part on monitoring a state of a connection between the user device and the media content stream, automatically determining a duration of missed content as the threshold period (Connection is monitored, and duration of lost content is determined. If missed content meets or exceeds a threshold, it is saved; [0064], [0080], [0091], [0094], [0100], [0121], [0125]).
As for claims 6 and 16, Barsness discloses wherein storing the content portion comprises: transmitting, via a server associated with the media content stream to the user device, the content portion; and storing, on memory of the user device, the transmitted content portion (The content provider receives the download request and send the lost content to the user device where it is saved; [0064]-[0065]).
As for claims 7 and 17, Barsness discloses further comprising generating for display a selectable option, wherein the content portion is automatically played based on a selection of the selectable option (Message is presented to user to select to view lost content; [0116], [0118]).
As for claims 9 and 19, Barsness discloses: determining, based on the profile, that the missed content corresponds to one or more settings in the profile; and wherein the content portion is stored based in part on determining that the missed content corresponds to one or more settings in the profile (A user indicates a preference whether or not lost content for a particular program, category, or all programs should be retrieved and stored in response to an interruption [0091]).
As for claims 10 and 20, Barsness discloses further comprising: storing metadata describing one or more characteristics of the stored content portion, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise a duration of the stored content portion (Length of interruption content is indicated; [0080]).
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) 2, 8, 12, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barsness as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Esteban (2007/0256113).
As for claims 2 and 12, Barsness fails to disclose wherein the missed content comprises live-streamed content transmitted via the media content stream.
In an analogous art, Esteban discloses wherein the missed content comprises live-streamed content transmitted via the media content stream (Content is real-time live broadcast [0036], [0052]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Barsness’s invention to include the abovementioned limitation, as taught by Esteban, for the advantage of allowing a user to watch a live broadcast.
As for claims 8 and 18, Barsness discloses wherein the user device is a first device (see rejection of claim 1), but fails to disclose the method further comprising generating, for display on a second device, the content portion.
In an analogous art, Esteban discloses generating, for display on a second device, the content portion (Interrupted content is generated for display on a second device; [0055]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Barsness’s invention to include the abovementioned limitation, as taught by Esteban, for the advantage of enabling flexibility for the user to watch from another device.
Conclusion
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SUMAIYA A. CHOWDHURY
Examiner
Art Unit 2421
/SUMAIYA A CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421