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 .
Request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/07/2026 has been entered.
Response to arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to all pending claims have been fully considered, but they are moot because of the new ground of rejection. in response to detecting the request to play the media content from the local storage unit of the media device, performing a process for obtaining from a remote server a set of ad URLs; wherein the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs comprises: transmitting a request to the remote server; and receiving from the remote server a response responsive to the request, the response to the request comprising the set of ad URLs.
However, Gonder et al disclose a system being capable of retrieving URLs related to commercials from manifest files of a remote server in order to reconstruct or update commercials that were stored in the previous recorded contents of the local memory of the Digital Video Recorder as disclosed in para.0093-0095; 0121; 0164;0169;0049;0138.
And Ghadi et al show in fig.8 a system being able to allow users to send request to a remote server and the system is able to provide response to users based on requests being sent. Finally, the system is able to provide list or set of advertisements URLs to user devices or media players as disclosed in para. 0007-0009; 0050; 0036-0038.This action is made non-final.
Claims rejections-35 U.S.C. 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) 1-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang(US.Pub.No.20210385536) in view of Gonder(US.Pub.No.20150271541) and Ghadi(US.Pub.No.20160316233).
Regarding claim 1, Yang et al disclose a method for playing media content from local storage of player device(see fig.1 with media content users 150 for playing video content local memory 151; 0032-0033) comprising:
storing the media content on the local storage unit of the player device(see fig.1 for storing recorded contents or programs in the digital video recorder 151; abstract; 0032;0037-0038;0052);
after storing the media content, detecting a request to play the media content from the local storage unit of the player device (the system provides options to users to select stored contents to be played; 0051-0052;0036-0037;0041); and
initiating playing the media content from the local storage unit of the player device(see fig.1 for playing media contents from the local memory or DVR 151; 0004;0031;0036-0037;0045;0074).
But did not explicitly disclose in response to detecting the request to play the media content from the local storage unit of the media device, performing a process for obtaining from a remote server a set of ad URLs; wherein the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs comprises:
transmitting a request to the remote server; and receiving from the remote server a response responsive to the request, the response to the request comprising the set of ad URLs.
However, Gonder et al disclose in response to detecting the request to play the media content from the local storage unit of the media device, performing a process for obtaining from a remote server a set of ad URLs(the system is able to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files of a remote server in order to reconstruct or update commercials that were stored in the previous recorded contents of the local memory of the Digital Video Recorder; 0093-0095; 0121; 0164;0169;0049;0138).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
And Ghadi et al disclose wherein the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs comprises:
transmitting a request to the remote server(see fig.8 for allowing users to send request to a remote server; abstract; 0007-0009; 0050); and receiving from the remote server a response responsive to the request(the system is able to provide response to users based on requests being sent; see fig.8), the response to the request comprising the set of ad URLs(the system is able to provide list or set of advertisements URLs to user devices or media players; 0036-0038).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Ghadi to modify Yang and Gonder by providing options to access list or set of advertisement URLs based on request for the purpose of improving viewing experience of the users accordingly.
Regarding claim 2, Yang et al disclose wherein detecting the request to play the media content comprises detecting that a user has activated a play button(the system provides options to users to send commands to play media asset;0180;0184;0057).
Regarding claim 3, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose wherein detecting the request to play the media content consists of or comprises receiving a request for a manifest for the media content.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein detecting the request to play the media content consists of or comprises receiving a request for a manifest for the media content(the system is capable of providing manifest file to users; abstract; 0014-0017).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 4, Yang and Ghadi et al disclose the step of initiating the playing of the media content from the local storage unit is performed after transmitting the request to the remote server(the system provides options to users to send requests to play media contents; 0032;0051-0052).
But did not explicitly disclose each ad URL identifies an ad file stored at a content server remote from the player device.
However, Ghadi et al disclose each ad URL identifies an ad file stored at a content server remote from the player device( the system is able to identify program information associated with ad URLs; 0038-0039;0042).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Ghadi to modify Yang and Gonder by providing options to access list or set of advertisement URLs based on request for the purpose of improving viewing experience of the users accordingly.
Regarding claim 5, Yang et al did not explicitly disclose wherein the method further comprises using the set of ad URLs to retrieve the ad files.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the method further comprises using the set of ad URLs to retrieve the ad files(the system provides access to ad files by using URLs; 0094-0095).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 6, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly wherein the step of initiating the playing of the media content from the local storage unit is performed after using the set of ad URL to retrieve the ad files.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the step of initiating the playing of the media content from the local storage unit is performed after using the set of ad URL to retrieve the ad files(the system is able to access media files based on URL being provide; 0093; 0121).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 7, Yang et al disclose wherein the method further comprising playing one or more of the ad files before playing any segment of the media content from the local storage unit(see fig.5 for playing the media asset or commercial before the recorded program; 0036;0095-0096).
Regarding claim 8, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose, wherein the set of ad URLs comprises a first ad URL that identifies a first ad file, and the method further comprises, prior to playing any segment of the media content: using the first URL to download the first ad file to the local storage; and after downloading the first ad file to the local storage, playing the first ad file.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the set of ad URLs comprises a first ad URL that identifies a first ad file, and the method further comprises, prior to playing any segment of the media content: using the first URL to download the first ad file to the local storage; and after downloading the first ad file to the local storage, playing the first ad file(the system is capable of using URLs for accessing or downloading advertisements files from specific websites;0093-0095; 0164;0017).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 9, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose wherein the set of ad URLs further comprises a second ad URL that identifies a second ad file, and the method further comprises, after playing a segment of the media content, using the second URL to download the second ad file to the local storage.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the set of ad URLs further comprises a second ad URL that identifies a second ad file, and the method further comprises, after playing a segment of the media content, using the second URL to download the second ad file to the local storage(the system contains a list of URLs being used in sequences for downloading ad files to the user device; 0093-0095).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 10, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose wherein the set of ad URLs comprises a first ad URL that identifies a first ad file stored at a remote content server, and the method further comprises, prior to playing any segment of the media content: receiving a metadata request from a platform player (PP); and responding to the metadata request by providing to the PP metadata comprising the first ad URL, wherein the PP uses the first ad URL to obtain the first ad file from the remote content server.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the set of ad URLs comprises a first ad URL that identifies a first ad file stored at a remote content server, and the method further comprises, prior to playing any segment of the media content: receiving a metadata request from a platform player (PP); and responding to the metadata request by providing to the PP metadata comprising the first ad URL, wherein the PP uses the first ad URL to obtain the first ad file from the remote content server(the system provides metadata describing chunks;0073;0085;0094-0095;0092).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 11, it is rejected using the same ground of rejection for claim 9.
Regarding claim 12, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose wherein the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs comprises: determining whether the player device has sufficient network connectivity ; and in response to determining that the player device has sufficient network connectivity, transmitting an ad request to the remote server.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs comprises: determining whether the player device has sufficient network connectivity ; and in response to determining that the player device has sufficient network connectivity, transmitting an ad request to the remote server(the system is able to provides requests for commercials based on the bandwidth capability of the network; 0008;0099;0162).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 13, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose wherein the process further comprises receiving an ad response message responsive to the ad request, the ad response message comprising the set of ad URLs, and the method further comprises using the set of ad URLs to retrieve one or more media files or a plurality of media file segments.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the process further comprises receiving an ad response message responsive to the ad request, the ad response message comprising the set of ad URLs, and the method further comprises using the set of ad URLs to retrieve one or more media files or a plurality of media file segments(the system uses URLs to retrieve media files from the network; 0093-0095;0121;0164).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 14, it is rejected using the same ground of rejection for claim 13.
Regarding claim 15, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose wherein each ad URL in the set of ad URLs identifies a media file containing media data for an ad.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein each ad URL in the set of ad URLs identifies a media file containing media data for an ad(URLs links are associated with ads; 0093-0095).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 16, Yang et al disclose further comprising: prior to detecting the request to play the media content, storing in the local storage a default set of ads, wherein the default set of ads are associated with the media content(see fig.1 for storing default commercial in local memory based on demographic data; 0033;0076;0082).
Regarding claim 17, it is rejected using the same ground of rejection for claim 3.
Regarding claim 18, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose wherein the step of performing the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs is performed in response to receiving the request for the manifest.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the step of performing the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs is performed in response to receiving the request for the manifest(the system is capable of providing manifest file to users; abstract; 0014-0017).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 19, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose wherein the step of performing the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs is performed in response to receiving the request for the manifest, the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs comprises transmitting a request to the remote server and receiving from the remote server a response responsive to the request, the response comprises the set of segment URLs, and each segment URL identifies a media file segment, and the method further comprises: obtaining a first manifest associated with the media content; and generating a second manifest using the first manifest and the set of segment URLs.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the step of performing the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs is performed in response to receiving the request for the manifest, the process for obtaining the set of ad URLs comprises transmitting a request to the remote server and receiving from the remote server a response responsive to the request(the provider server is capable of sending message or response to the requested user; 0114), the response comprises the set of segment URLs, and each segment URL identifies a media file segment(0093-0095), and the method further comprises: obtaining a first manifest associated with the media content(the system is able to generate a local manifest; abstract; 0014-0015); and generating a second manifest using the first manifest and the set of segment URLs(the system can update dynamically manifest to generate additional manifests with respect to time in order to replace outdated media files; 0015;0049; 0017).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 20, Yang and Ghadi et al did not explicitly disclose wherein the first manifest comprises a first set of media segment identifiers, and the second manifest comprise the first set of media segment identifiers and set of segment URLs.
However, Gonder et al disclose wherein the first manifest comprises a first set of media segment identifiers, and the second manifest comprise the first set of media segment identifiers and set of segment URLs(the system can provide identifiers associated with frames or segments of video content from the manifest files; 0152;0102; 0119;0168).
It would have been obvious for any person of ordinary skill in the art at that time the invention was filed to introduce the teachings of Gonder to modify Yang and Ghadi by providing options to retrieve URLs related to commercials from manifest files located from the remote server for the purpose of updating stored commercials during playback of stored video contents from the local memory of the user device.
Regarding claim 21, it is rejected using the same ground of rejection for claim 3.
Regarding claim 22, Yang et al disclose wherein the media content comprises an ordered sequence of segments, and initiating playing the media content consists or comprises playing the first segment in the ordered sequence of segments(see fig.1 for playing frames of video contents in specific order; 0049;0082).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN D SAINT CYR whose telephone number is (571)270-3224. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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/JEAN D SAINT CYR/Examiner, Art Unit 2425
/Brian T Pendleton/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2425
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