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 .
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.
This office action is in response to the communication filed on 12/10/2025.
Claims 1-5, 7-12, 14-18, 20-23 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but are unpersuasive in view of updated Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 below.
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) 1, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 18, 20 is/are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thompson et al. (US 2002/0075304, “Thompson”) in view of Chhabra et al. (US 2020/0112450, “Chhabra”).
As to claim 1, Thompson discloses a method for facilitating synchronous transmission of streaming media, the method comprising operations including:
receiving, at a server (fig. 14, VTE server and presence server PS), a request from a first user device associated with a first user to invite a second user to a virtual media streaming session (fig. 1, [0026], an existing party (or user) adds by inviting a new party to join a communication session; [0010], such as a streaming video session);
retrieving, using a processor associated with the server and in response to the request, a second user profile associated with the second user from a database associated with the server, the second user profile identifying a second user device associated with the second user (fig. 12, a server stores user profiles of parties and associated user devices);
transmitting, using the processor and subsequent to the retrieving, instructions to the second user device to present a notification alerting the second user of the request; detecting, using the processor, a selection of a delayed acceptance option in response to display of the notification at the second user device; and connecting, using the processor, the second user profile to the virtual media streaming session ([0026], displaying a user interface on the invited party display an option to defer the session),
wherein the connecting comprises enabling a synchronous streaming of multimedia content that is simultaneously viewable on the first user device and the second user device in the virtual media streaming session ([0149], real-time video conference session, real-time shared whiteboard session, real-time multimedia streaming session to participants).
Thompson does not disclose the delayed acceptance option presented within the notification, wherein the delayed acceptance option comprises a session-specific anticipated join time selector for joining the virtual media streaming session;
automatically connecting, using the processor, the second user profile to the virtual media streaming session at a time designated via an interaction with the session-specific anticipated join time selector.
Chhabra discloses: the delayed acceptance option presented within the notification, wherein the delayed acceptance option comprises a session-specific anticipated join time selector for joining the virtual media streaming session (fig. 5, [0040], [0041], a notification of an invitation to a meeting seen at the invitee, here the delayed acceptance option is read as the Accept with Auto-connect to Meeting turned on, and settings in button 550 further shown in fig. 8 of selecting a time to join the specific meeting, see fig. 8, item 830);
automatically connecting, using the processor, the second user profile to the virtual media streaming session at a time designated via an interaction with the session-specific anticipated join time selector (fig. 8, [0004], [0023], [0058], for each conference, providing a join option allowing user to select a time of auto-connect the user to the conference; [0024], real-time video conferencing.)
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Chhabra’s teachings of auto-connect at a designated time to Thompson’s teachings in order to provide flexibility to users as to when they would like to be connected to a meeting/conference.
As to claim 5, Thompson discloses the notification comprises an indication of: an article of multimedia content to be viewed in the virtual media streaming session, an identity of the first user from who the request originates, and one or more other user profiles invited to the virtual media streaming session ([0026], The invitation message preferably includes at least at one of: an identifier of the team member who sent the invitation; a topic of the communications session; a message related to the discussion; a list of participants in the communications session; and a list of invitees to the communications session, [0010], media streaming).
As to claim 7, Thompson-Chhabra discloses operations comprising transmitting, responsive to detecting selection of the delayed acceptance option in the notification, display of an anticipated join time query at the second user device; and receiving, from the second user device, the time associated with the delayed acceptance option, the time indicating a time at which the second user desires to join the virtual media streaming session (Chhabra, (fig. 8, [0004], [0023], [0058], for each conference, providing a join option allowing user to select a time of auto-connect the user to the conference; [0024], real-time video conferencing.)
Claims 8, 12, 14 are rejected for the same rationale in claims 1, 5, 7. Thompson discloses a system for facilitating synchronous transmission of streaming media comprising: a memory including instructions; a database; at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations comprising: the steps in claims 1, 5, 7 (fig. 12, 13, VTE server with database).
Claims 15, 18, 20 are rejected for the same rationale in claims 1, 5, 7. Thompson discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a server in network communication with at least one database, cause the server to perform operations comprising: the steps in claims 1, 5, 7 (fig. 12, 13, VTE server with database).
Claim(s) 2-4, 9-11, 16-17 is/are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thompson-Chhabra in view of Bowne et al. (US 2005/0273372, “Bowne”).
As to claims 2, 9, 16, Thompson-Chhabra does not disclose operations including: presenting, responsive to receiving the request, an interactive options menu on the first user device, wherein the interactive options menu comprises a scheduling feature configured to enable the first user to schedule a future time to conduct the virtual media streaming session with the second user; and receiving, at the server from the first user device, an indication of selection of the scheduling feature.
Bowne discloses operations including: presenting, responsive to receiving the request, an interactive options menu on the first user device, wherein the interactive options menu comprises a scheduling feature configured to enable the first user to schedule a future time to conduct the virtual media streaming session with the second user; and receiving, at the server from the first user device, an indication of selection of the scheduling feature ([0005]-[0007], software can identify future times that all invitees are available for a meeting organizer for choosing).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Bowne’s teachings of meeting scheduling to Thompson-Chhabra’s teachings in order to enhance Thompson-Chhabra’s system/method with the capability of automatic suggesting meeting time for an organizer.
As to claims 3, 10, Thompson-Chhabra-Bowne discloses operations including: receiving, at the server and in association with the indication of the selection of scheduling feature, a designation of the future time from the first user device (Bowne, [0007]).
As to claims 4, 11, 17, Thompson-Chhabra-Bowne discloses operations including: accessing, using the server, availability information associated with the second user; identifying, using the processor, one or more possible future meeting times based on the availability information; and transmitting instructions to the first user device to present a recommendation showing the one or more possible future meeting times to designate as the future time (Bowne, [0006]).
Claim(s) 21-23 is/are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thompson-Chhabra in view of Malkin et al. (US 2012/0254305, “Malkin”).
As to claims 21, 22, 23, Thompson-Chhabra does not disclose operations including: receiving, using the processor, instructions from the first user device to expand one or more invite permissions to the second user profile; enabling, using the processor, the second user profile to invite at least one other user profile to the virtual media streaming session based on the instructions; receiving, using the processor, a second request from the second user device to invite a third user profile to the virtual media streaming session; and transmitting, using the processor, instructions to a third user device associated with the third user profile to present a notification of the second request.
Malkin discloses operations including: receiving, using the processor, instructions from the first user device to expand one or more invite permissions to the second user profile; enabling, using the processor, the second user profile to invite at least one other user profile to the virtual media streaming session based on the instructions; receiving, using the processor, a second request from the second user device to invite a third user profile to the virtual media streaming session; and transmitting, using the processor, instructions to a third user device associated with the third user profile to present a notification of the second request ([0027], various privileges and restrictions, or authorizations, may be set when a user invites another user to a meeting… a user may authorize an invitee to extend the invitation to others).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Malkin’s teachings of extending an invitation to Thompson-Chhabra’s teachings in order to allow/disallow invitees of certain privileges listed by Malkin ([0027]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIEU T HOANG whose telephone number is (571) 270-1253. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9 AM -5 PM.
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/HIEU T HOANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2449