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 § 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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20220095018 A1 to Richman et al. (“Richman”) and US 20230328319 A1 to Sugiura et al. (“Sugiura”)
As to claim 1, Richman teaches a method performed by a media delivery system providing a media delivery service, the method comprising: and causing a client device of the user to display an electronic programming guide graphical user interface (EPG GUI) on a display screen, wherein the EPG GUI displays time schedule information for one or more linear channels alongside information regarding a first video asset from the plurality of video assets included in the dynamic channel (Fig. 5, ¶0033, display device to render a programming guide (such as the programming guide 116) based on the unified metadata file. The programming guide may include a plurality of viewing options 118 for the plurality of programming content items and the selected set of VOD assets. For example, the plurality of viewing options 118 may include in-app clickable thumbnails, content preview windows, video players, playable thumbnails, image/video carousels, slideshows, tiles, link previews, clickable grid cards, dynamic or static tables, Graphical UI elements integrated with a set of action-based offerings, and the like. The programming guide 116 may also include a plurality of content descriptors 120 for the plurality of programming content items and the selected set of VOD assets. Each content descriptor may provide additional detailed information (for example title, ratings, brief description, and the like) about a programming content item or a VOD asset.), wherein the EPG GUI further displays a first GUI element that is activatable by the user to cause the first video asset to be played for the user and a second GUI element that is activatable by the user to cause the EPG GUI to display information regarding a second video asset from the plurality of video assets included in the dynamic channel and to display a third GUI element that is activatable by the user to cause the second video asset to be played for the user (Fig. 5, ¶0074, Fig. 3, metadata file for playout as the programming guide 316 on the display device 106. The master template may be programmed to seek metadata updates on a scheduled basis. Therefore, the unified metadata file may be updated regularly on a scheduled basis based on the metadata updates. As the unified metadata file is updated, the programming guide 316 may be updated on scheduled basis to offer new content viewing options with updated content descriptors. With the master template (which is uniformly formatted) and the unified metadata file, all video and audio files (associated with programming content items and VOD assets) may be synchronized together on the programming guide 316). Richman does not teach selecting a plurality of video assets to be included in a dynamic channel for a user of the media delivery service based on a user profile of the user. Sugiura teaches selecting a plurality of video assets to be included in a dynamic channel for a user of the media delivery service based on a user profile of the user (¶0214, Fig 19, dynamic channel). In view of the teachings of Sugiura, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Richman. The suggestion/motivation would be to select the content that the user desires to view, and thus, it is difficult to easily view the content that the user desires.
As to claim 2, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the EPG GUI further displays a representative image of the second video asset with the second GUI element (Richman, Fig. 4, label 410a-c).
As to claim 3, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic channel is a branded dynamic channel and the plurality of video assets included in the dynamic channel is selected from a library of video assets associated with a brand of the branded dynamic channel (Sugiura, Fig. 19, ¶0214).
As to claim 4, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the branded dynamic channel is also made available to other users of the media delivery service, wherein different sequences of video assets are selected to be included in the branded dynamic channel for different users of the media delivery service (Sugiura, ¶0094).
As to claim 5, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the one or more linear channels include a linear version of the branded dynamic channel (Sugiura, ¶0033).
As to claim 6, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the one or more linear channels follow a predetermined time schedule of video contents (Richman, ¶0044) and the dynamic channel does not follow a predetermined time schedule (Sugiura, Fig. 5).
As to claim 7, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the time schedule information for the one or more linear channels includes information regarding start times of video contents of the one or more linear channels (Sugiura, ¶0099).
As to claim 8, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding the first video asset includes a representative image of the first video asset, a title of the first video asset, and a textual description of the first video asset (Richman, ¶0033).
As to claim 9, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the user profile of the user includes information regarding one or more of: the user’s previous viewing history, the user’s demographic, the user’s current location, a current time at the user’s current location, and the user’s feedback regarding the user’s favorite video content (Sugiura, ¶0135, viewing history of user).
As to claim 10, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of video assets included in the dynamic channel is selected to be included in the dynamic channel when the user logs in to the media delivery service or when the user accesses the EPG (Sugiura, ¶0094).
As to claim 11, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the second GUI element, when activated by the user, causes the EPG GUI to further display a fourth GUI element that is activatable by the user to cause the EPG GUI to display information regarding a third video asset from the plurality of video assets included in the dynamic channel (Fig. 5, ¶0033, display device to render a programming guide (such as the programming guide 116) based on the unified metadata file. The programming guide may include a plurality of viewing options 118 for the plurality of programming content items and the selected set of VOD assets. For example, the plurality of viewing options 118 may include in-app clickable thumbnails, content preview windows, video players, playable thumbnails, image/video carousels, slideshows, tiles, link previews, clickable grid cards, dynamic or static tables, Graphical UI elements integrated with a set of action-based offerings, and the like. The programming guide 116 may also include a plurality of content descriptors 120 for the plurality of programming content items and the selected set of VOD assets. Each content descriptor may provide additional detailed information (for example title, ratings, brief description, and the like) about a programming content item or a VOD asset.).
As to claim 12, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the causing the client device of the user to display the EPG GUI on the display screen comprises: transmitting the time schedule information for one or more linear channels and the information regarding a first video asset to the client device of the user over a communication network (Richman, ¶0018, network environment for display of a unified programming guide for content associated with broadcaster and VOD applications, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a diagram of a network environment 100. The network environment 100 includes an electronic device 102, an Advanced Televisions Systems Committee (ATSC) receiver 104, a display device 106, and metadata sources 108. The electronic device 102 may be communicatively coupled to the metadata sources 108, via a communication network 110. Also, the display device 106 may be communicatively coupled to the electronic device 102, via an input/output (I/O) interface or a network interface of the electronic device 102).
As to claim 13, Richman and Sugiura teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: causing the first video asset to be played for the user as a result of the user activating the first GUI element; and causing the client device of the user to display a playback GUI for the first video asset on the display screen, wherein the playback GUI for the first video asset includes a fourth GUI element that is activatable by the user to cause the second video asset to be played for the user (Richman, ¶0077).
As to claim 14, see the rejection of claim 1.
As to claim 15, see the rejection of claim 2.
As to claim 16, see the rejection of claim 3.
As to claim 17, see the rejection of claim 4.
As to claim 18, see the rejection of claim 5.
As to claim 19, see the rejection of claim 1.
As to claim 20, see the rejection of claim 2.
Conclusion
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/CHRISTINE A KURIEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2421 /NATHAN J FLYNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2421