Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Amendment After Non-Final Rejection filed 12/18/2025. Claims 38-57 are pending and have been examined.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/20/2025 was considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/18/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In response to applicant’s argument that the originally filed disclosure supports the amended claim limitations, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Applicant argues that paragraph [0072] of the published application discloses removing a low-bandwidth DVR from a pool and there is no express discussion of the chronology of the removal. However, paragraph [0074] explicitly states that initiating the transfer of previously broadcast content (Section 3.4) occurs after pool selection (Section 3.3). The initiation of the transfer includes the claimed step of assigning each device in the plurality of devices a portion of the content item ([0077]). Load balancing is then performed after the portions are assigned as described in paragraph [0079] wherein the bandwidth of DVR 102 is reduced and the portions assigned to DVR 102 are reassigned. There is no disclosure of removing DVR 102 from the pool during the load balancing procedure. Therefore, the removal of a DVR from a pool discussed in paragraph [0072] occurs prior to the assignment of portions of the content item to the DVRs in the pool and does not support the claim limitations of removing a DVR from a pool after content portions have been assigned as claimed.
Applicant further argues that paragraphs [0077] and [0079] disclose “effectively” removing low-bandwidth DVRs from a pool, the examiner respectfully disagrees. These paragraphs discuss assigning portions of the content item to DVRs in a pool based on bandwidth but make no mention of changes to pool status 306 in the DVR pool list 300.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 38-57 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
An amendment to the claims was filed on 07/17/2024 cancelling all originally presented claims and introducing newly presented claims 38-57. These claims contain the limitations:
detecting that a first device, from the plurality of devices, to which is a first portion, from the plurality of portions, is assigned is unable to transfer the first portion at a bandwidth above a threshold; and
in response to the detection, selecting the plurality of devices as the pool of devices for delivering the requested previously broadcasted content item to the media device, wherein the selected plurality of devices in the pool does not include the first device.
These limitations require that a first device, to which a portion of the requested content item has already been assigned, be removed from the pool of devices when the transfer bandwidth of the first device falls below a threshold.
Paragraphs [0068]-[0073] and Fig. 3 of the published specification describe the process of creating the pool of DVRs for transferring the previously broadcasted content. Specifically, paragraph [0072] describes removing DVR 103 from the pool because DVR 103 has low bandwidth. However, this removal from the pool occurs prior to assigning portions of the previously broadcasted content to the DVRs in the pool.
Paragraphs [0074]-[0085] of the published specification describe the process of initiating transfer of the previously broadcast content after the pools have been created. Paragraphs [0075]-[0077] describe the service provider 106 instructing each DVR in the pool which portions of the content to transfer. Paragraph [0079] discloses a load balancing procedure in which the bandwidth of DVR 102 becomes extremely low and the other DVRs in the group are then instructed to transfer the content portions assigned to DVR 102. However, there is no disclosure of removing DVR 102 from the pool of DVRs.
The originally filed disclosure does not contain disclosure of removing a device from the pool of devices based on the bandwidth of the device after it has been assigned a portion of the content to transfer. Therefore, the claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
In the case of amending the claimed invention, applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 JOHN R SCHNURR whose telephone number is (571)270-1458. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6a-4p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Pendleton can be reached at (571)272-7527. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN R SCHNURR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2425