Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/809,508

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR LOADING AND ROLL-OFF OF REFERENCE MEDIA ASSETS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 20, 2024
Examiner
DOSHI, AKSHAY
Art Unit
2422
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
64%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 3m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 64% of resolved cases
64%
Career Allow Rate
171 granted / 268 resolved
+5.8% vs TC avg
Strong +39% interview lift
Without
With
+39.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
30 currently pending
Career history
298
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.3%
-35.7% vs TC avg
§103
53.8%
+13.8% vs TC avg
§102
16.9%
-23.1% vs TC avg
§112
13.8%
-26.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 268 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION 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. 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 of this title, 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. Claims 1, 2, 7-9, and 14-16 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Borawski et al. (US 20190058926), in view of Nielsen et al. (US 20190342610). Regarding claim 1, Borawski discloses, A computing system (par. 0028, FIG. 2, the MDAM 118 includes the example network interface 204 and the example asset collector 206 to obtain information from and/or transmit information to the network 120 of FIG. 1. In some examples, the example asset collector 206 implements a web server 207 that receives the media device assets 112 from the media device 102 and/or the meter 110) comprising: a processor (Par. 0049, fig. 5); and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause performance of a set of operations (Par. 0048-0049, fig. 5) comprising: obtaining, from a database, a reference media asset (Par. 0030, constituent media signatures 114 and the media player metadata 116 through a process of considering constituent media signatures 114, qualifying them, and then creating reference media signatures 212 from the qualified constituent media signatures 114, a reference media signature 212 represents a complete piece of media 108 from its start to its end, i.e. determine the start to end duration of reference media asset i.e. creating = obtaining a reference media asset in form of series of signatures or portions); determining a length of the reference media asset, wherein the length is a total time of the reference media asset (Par. 0030, a reference media signature 212 represents a complete piece of media 108 from its start to its end, i.e. determine the start to end duration of reference media asset); segmenting the length of the reference media asset into a plurality of portions including a first portion and a second portion (par. 0031, media signatures 112 to generate a set of reference media signatures 212 (a.k.a. a reference asset), which in some examples, is a complete sequence of media signatures from start to end of the media 108, which can be used by a crediting system to identify monitored media content by matching meter signatures (e.g., audio signatures) with reference media signatures 212, here each media signatures associated with portions of the entire media 108, hence generating a set of reference media signature = segmenting the length of the reference media 108 in to plurality of portions); replacing, in the database, the reference media asset with the first portion of the plurality of portions (Par. 0093-0094, discard a portion of the first constituent media signatures from the reference media signature, i.e. replace the original reference media signature with signature without the discarded portion belonging to pause, or skip event); and crediting media exposure using the first portion (Par. 0081, comparing the third media signature with the reference media signature to identify presentation of the media at the third media device, identifying presentation of media at the media device = crediting that media was watched, see par. 0031, a crediting system to identify monitored media content by matching meter signatures (e.g., audio signatures) with reference media signatures 212). Borawski does not disclose, obtaining, from a database, a reference media asset. Nielsen discloses, obtaining, from a database, a reference media asset (Par. 0069, the example media manager 204 may divide the deltas in the baseline reference delta signature within the example reference signature database 211 by example multipliers to create numerous multiplier reference delta signature databases storing respective reference signatures having deltas that are time scaled by the respective multipliers). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Borawski, by teaching of obtaining, from a database, a reference media asset, as taught by Nielsen, to use reference library of broadcast media and store the reference ratio signatures in a database for future retrieval, matching, and identification, as disclosed in Nielsen par. 0026. Regarding claim 2, The computing system of claim 1, Borawski further discloses, wherein each of the plurality of portions represent discrete time segments of the total time (Par. 0012, A reference media signature may be a series of constituent media signatures collected in series over a time interval). Regarding claim 3, The computing system of claim 1, Borawski further discloses, wherein the first portion and the second portion of the plurality of portions are temporally adjacent time segments (Par. 0012, A reference media signature may be a series of constituent media signatures collected in series over a time interval, series of signature collected in series over time interval = plurality of portions are temporally adjacent time segments). Regarding claim 4, The computing system of claim 1, Borawski further discloses, the set of operations further comprising: pruning the second portion of the plurality of portions from the reference media asset (Par. 0042, a constituent media signature 114 represents a portion of a piece of media 108, and a set of reference media signature(s) 212is an ordered collection of constituent media signatures 114 that collectively represent the piece of media 108. If the example event detector 302 of FIG. 3 detects a rewind event (block 416), the synthesizer 210 removes (e.g., discards, deletes, etc.) the constituent media signatures 114 associated with the rewind event (example program 404, see FIG. 4C). For example, the event detector 302 can determine a rewind event occurred by detecting the media time of a seek event (e.g., start, play, slow-play, etc.) (e.g., 12:31 minutes) is less than the media time associated with a pause event (e.g., 15:03 minutes), i.e. discarding or pruning a later or second portion that associated with rewind event, that occurred later after start time in time duration). Regarding claim 5, The computing system of claim 1, Borawski further discloses, wherein the reference media asset is associated with a streaming media asset (Par. 0022, the metered media device 102 of the illustrated example is an Internet-enabled television capable of presenting media (e.g., via an integrated display and speakers, etc.) streaming from an OTT device Par. 0058, synthesize reference media signatures, determine media content based on metadata and media signatures, and implement the example meter 100 are provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/679,862 (Attorney Docket No. 20004/81157095US01), entitled “Methods and Apparatus to Generate Reference Signatures From Streaming Media,” and filed on Aug. 17, 2017, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference ). Regarding claim 6, The computing system of claim 1, Borawski further discloses, the set of operations further comprising: obtaining, from a meter, a media asset; and comparing the media asset to the first portion of the plurality of portions (Par. 0031, a complete sequence of media signatures from start to end of the media 108, and its corresponding metadata (e.g., title, description, duration, episode, season, artist, owner, provider, etc.), which can be used by a crediting system to identify monitored media content by matching meter signatures (e.g., audio signatures) with reference media signatures 212 ). Regarding claim 7, The computing system of claim 6, Borawski further discloses, wherein the crediting occurs in response to the comparing (Par. 0031, a complete sequence of media signatures from start to end of the media 108, and its corresponding metadata (e.g., title, description, duration, episode, season, artist, owner, provider, etc.), which can be used by a crediting system to identify monitored media content by matching (i.e. by comparing) meter signatures (e.g., audio signatures) with reference media signatures 212). Regarding claim 8, Borawski meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 1. Regarding claim 9-14, Borawski meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 2-7. Regarding claim 15, Borawski meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 1. Regarding claim 16-20, Borawski meets claim limitation as set forth in claim 2-7. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AKSHAY DOSHI whose telephone number is (571)272-2736. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOHN W MILLER can be reached at (571)272-7353. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /A.D./Examiner, Art Unit 2422 /JOHN W MILLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2422
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Prosecution Timeline

Aug 20, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Mar 09, 2026
Interview Requested
Mar 24, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Mar 24, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
64%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+39.2%)
3y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 268 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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