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 AFIA.
This action is in response to application 18/811,534 filed 8/21/2024.
Claims 52-70 presented for examination.
Examiner Notes
Independent claims 52, 61 and 62 recites determining that one or more attributes of content sources from a second subset are similar to one or more attributes of viewed content sources from a first subset, a limitation that is neither disclosed or suggested by parent U.S. Patent No. 12,096,005, U.S. 11,778,253 and U.S. 10, 856,025, or their dependent claims, which do not perform any cross-bundle attribute similarity determination. The independent claims of the current application further require, based on that similarity determination, causing output for display of a user-selectable option to replace content sources in the first bundle. The parent patent’s independent claims perform automatic bundle modification and lacks any user-selectable, display-based replacement mechanism. Because these limitations define a different decision process and user interaction model, the claims are not the same invention and are not obvious variations of one another. Accordingly, neither statutory nor obviousness-type double patenting applies.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 52-53, 58-63 and 68-70 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patterson et al., Pub No US 2011/0321072 (hereafter Patterson) and further in view of Kandanala et al., Pat No US 9,264,778 (hereafter Kandanala).
Regarding Claim 52, Patterson discloses a method comprising:
accessing a plurality of content source bundles, wherein a first content source bundle includes a first subset of a plurality of content sources [ABSTRACT, para.0007: Discloses users can search or browse the marketplace for channels of
interest, and selectively subscribe to channels; ABSTRACT: Discloses the system operator can also create bundled channels containing videos from multiple providers (subsets); and para.0009: Discloses dynamically creating bundled channel to contain videos from multiple (first and more) content providers. Each subscription (a first subscription) channel or bundled channel aggregates content from one or more content providers and thus constitutes a content source bundled under BRI. Browsing, searching, and accessing channel bundles satisfies ‘accessing a plurality of content source bundles’ under BRI.];
determining that a first account associated with a first user comprises a first subscription to the first content source bundle, wherein the first subscription enables the first user to access the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle [ABSTARCT, para.0007: Users can search or browse for channels of interest, and selectively subscribe to channels. Users can also pay for the right to view premium videos in each channel. Subscription status is determined via the user account and governs access to the bundle; and para.0048: Discloses with respect to users (subscribers), the user profile data contains information collected from each user. Account data (a first account) includes the data entered by a user when signing up for a subscriber account with the channel hosting service.];
identifying, based at least in part on viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, one or more attributes of one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [ABSTRACT: Discloses providers can observe their channel's reception in the market by analyzing rankings and usage statistics to adjust channels to maximize channel performance; and para.0032: Discloses channels are value ranked based on monitored subscriber viewing habits. Thus, usage statistics and viewing data are analyzed to identify attributes of viewed content source.];
accessing one or more attributes of one or more content sources from a second subset of the plurality of content sources [para.0009: Discloses selecting videos according their type, viewing history, ratings, and similar factors; and para.0051, FIG.3: Discloses attributes of other content sources are accessed from stored channel/video data. System-wide usage data (element 350 - a second subset of the plurality of content sources) includes trends and patterns in channel viewing habits for any desired population.];
Patterson does not explicitly disclose the following:
determining that the one or more attributes of the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources; and
based at least in part on the determining that the one or more attributes of the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources, causing to output for display a user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources.
However, in analogous art, Kandanala discloses the following:
determining that the one or more attributes of the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.2, lines 4-9: Discloses the content provider may generate or identify one or more content subscription combination offers based on various information associated with the requesting customer; and col.5, lines 5-14: Discloses a marketing rules database (element 218) may include a server that stores a number of marketing rules used by combo offer recommendation engine (element 219). Rules may relate potential package combinations to various elements of customer-related criteria (e.g., corresponding to information stored in order/billing system and profile/history database); and col.8, lines 45-48: Discloses matching marketing rules to retrieved customer information, thus attributes are compared to determine similarity alternative bundle offers.]; and
based at least in part on the determining that the one or more attributes of the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources, causing to output for display a user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources [col.12, lines 23-47: Discloses presenting combo offers to the user, identified offers may be ranked and provided to the user in a ranked order for browsing and ultimate selection, upon purchase of a combination offer, the service provider will provision the system thereby allowing the customer to view the purchased content. Providing selectable combination offers corresponds to outputting a user-selectable replacement option.].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson with these features, as taught by Kandanala in order to yield predictable result such as offering alternative content bundles tailored to user preferences [Kandanala: col.2, lines 34].
Regarding Claim 53, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the method of claim 52, and further discloses wherein the identifying the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources comprises:
accessing, from the first account, user preferences [Kandanala – ABSTRACT, claims 1, 19: Discloses customer information regarding the user may be obtained; and col.11, lines 30-31: Discloses receiving customer information that includes user preferences.];
accessing, a plurality of attributes of the one or more viewed content sources [Patterson – ABSTRACT, para.0010: Discloses providers can observe their channel's reception in the market by analyzing rankings and usage statistics (attributes) to adjust channels to maximize channel performance.]; and
identifying the one or more attributes of the plurality of attributes of the one or more viewed content sources, which are associated with the user preferences [Kandanala – col.5, lines 18: Discloses a number of combinations offers may be determined based on the customer information and the marketing rules. Correlating customer preference information with content attributes to identify relevant attributes for offers, satisfies identifying attributes associated with user preferences.].
This claim is rejected on the same grounds as claim 52.
Regarding Claim 58, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the method of claim 52, and Patterson further discloses wherein the identifying the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources comprises:
monitoring the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle [para.0010: Discloses content providers can observe their channel's reception in the market by analyzing rankings and usage statistics; and para.0032: Discloses monitoring subscribers (plurality) viewing habits.];
tracking a viewing history of the first user relative to the first content source bundle [para.0050: Discloses subscriber viewing data contains data about the user that is not explicitly entered by the user, but which is tracked as the user navigates through the content hosting system. Subscriber viewing data includes, for example, user viewing habits, such as the total time spent by the subscriber per subscribed channel per subscription period, average time spent per channel per period, proportion of time spent per video per channel, relative to other videos in the channel, proportion of time spent watching subscribed channels relative to non-subscription content, time of day distribution for the subscriber's viewing activities, average length of time for a viewing session for the subscriber, and clickthrough statistics for ads and video promotions accompanying subscription content.];
determining, based at least in part on the tracked viewing history, a frequency of how often the first user accesses one or more content items of the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle and a time spent viewing the one or more content items of the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle [para.0051: Discloses system-wide usage data includes data on the overall usage of the content hosting system. Some of this information may be aggregated or derived from the account data and subscriber viewing data for populations of subscribers. The population can be as the entire subscriber population, or any selected subset thereof, such as targeted subscribers based on any combination of demographic or behavioral characteristics, or channel/video selections. System-wide usage data includes trends and patterns in channel viewing habits for any desired population.];
ranking the one or more content items based at least in part on the frequency and the time spent [ABSTARCT, para.0008: Discloses the system ranks channels according to the value provided. Generally, users will seek out and subscribe to the highest ranked channels that provide the greatest value. The ranking function allows different providers to compete for the subscriptions of users. The system ranks channels based on a number of criteria, including content, price, user chum, video chum, user ratings, and usage information, and similar factors indicative of sub-scriber interest and usage of the channels; and para.0032: Discloses channels are value ranked based several factors including, for example, channel content, subscriber feedback, and monitored subscriber viewing habits.];
retrieving one or more attributes for each of the one or more content items [FIG.3, para.0046-0047: Discloses system wide usage data are stored in the system database (channel data and video data. Thus, disclosing accessing attributes of other content sources from stored channel and video data.]; and
identifying the one or more attributes corresponding to a highest ranked one of the one or more content items [ABSTRACT, para.0008: Discloses users will seek out and subscribe to the highest ranked channels].
Regarding Claim 59, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the method of claim 52, and Kandanala further discloses wherein:
a second cost associated with a second subscription to the first content source bundle is lower than a first cost associated with the first subscription to the first content source bundle [ABSTRACT: Discloses customer information regarding the user and marketing rules regarding a plurality of combination offers that include the channel may be obtained; col.8, lines 60-62: Discloses combo offers resulting in a value to the customer (e.g., relative to a la carte or current subscriptions) may be ranked higher than combo offers having a lower value.], and
the second subscription enables the first user to access the second subset of the plurality of content sources [col.1, lines 38-40: Discloses channels included within the selected combination offer may be provisioned based on the user request.].
This claim is rejected on the same grounds as claim 52.
Regarding Claim 60, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the method of claim 52, and Kandanala further discloses wherein the second subset of the plurality of content sources overlaps with the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.4, lines 28-30: Discloses] self-provisioning server may include a server or system configured to enable customers to initiate or place orders for new service or make changes to existing service (overlapping); FIG.5B: Illustrates adding HBO to CINEMAX package (overlapping with the first subset).].
This claim is rejected on the same grounds as claim 52.
Regarding Claim 61, Patterson discloses a method comprising:
accessing one or more first attributes of viewed content within a subscribed content bundle [ABSTRACT: Discloses the system operator can also create bundled channels containing videos from multiple providers (subsets); and para.0009: Discloses dynamically creating bundled channel to contain videos from multiple (first and more) content providers. Each subscription channel or bundled channel aggregates content from one or more content providers and thus constitutes a content source bundled under BRI. Browsing, searching, and accessing channel bundles satisfies ‘accessing a plurality of content source bundles’ under BRI; and ABSTRACT, para.0010: Discloses providers can observe their channel's reception in the market by analyzing rankings and usage statistics (attributes); and para.0050: Discloses subscriber viewing data includes, for example, user viewing habits, such as the total time spent by the subscriber per subscribed channel per subscription period, average time spent per channel per period, proportion of time spent per video per channel, relative to other videos in the channel, proportion of time spent watching subscribed channels relative to non-subscription content, time of day distribution for the subscriber's viewing activities, average length of time for a viewing session for the subscriber, and clickthrough statistics for ads and video promotions accompanying subscription content.];
accessing one or more second attributes of content of one or more content sources [FIG.3, para.0046-0047: Discloses system wide usage data are stored in the system database (channel data and video data. Thus, disclosing accessing attributes of other content sources from stored channel and video data.];
Patterson does not explicitly disclose the following:
determining a similarity of the viewed content to content of the one or more content sources by comparing the one or more first attributes of the viewed content within the subscribed content bundle to the one or more second attributes of the content of the one or more content sources; and
based at least in part on the similarity, causing to output for display one or more options to replace the subscribed content bundle with a replacement content bundle providing access to the one or more content sources.
However, in analogous art, Kandanala discloses the following:
determining a similarity of the viewed content to content of the one or more content sources by comparing the one or more first attributes of the viewed content within the subscribed content bundle to the one or more second attributes of the content of the one or more content sources [ABSTRACT, col.2, lines 8-10, claim 19: Discloses a number of combinations offers from the plurality of combination offers based on the customer information and the marketing rules. Comparing customer-related attributes with content attributes to determine similarity for offer generation, maps to attribute comparison under BRI.]; and
based at least in part on the similarity, causing to output for display one or more options to replace the subscribed content bundle with a replacement content bundle providing access to the one or more content sources [col.12, lines 23-47: Discloses presenting combo offers to the user, identified offers may be ranked and provided to the user in a ranked order for browsing and ultimate selection, upon selecting/purchase of a combination offer, the service provider will provision the system thereby allowing the customer to view the purchased content. Presenting selectable combination offers based on similarity corresponds to outputting options to replace a subscribed bundle with a replacement bundle.].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson with these features, as taught by Kandanala in order to yield predictable result such as offering alternative content bundles tailored to user preferences [Kandanala: col.2, lines 34].
Regarding Claim 62, Patterson discloses a system comprising:
Circuitry [para.0097: Discloses electrical circuits.] configured to:
access a plurality of content source bundles, wherein a first content source bundle includes a first subset of a plurality of content sources [ABSTRACT, para.0007: Discloses users can search or browse the marketplace for channels of
interest, and selectively subscribe to channels; ABSTRACT: Discloses the system operator can also create bundled channels containing videos from multiple providers (subsets); and para.0009: Discloses dynamically creating bundled channel to contain videos from multiple (first and more) content providers. Each subscription (a first subscription) channel or bundled channel aggregates content from one or more content providers and thus constitutes a content source bundled under BRI. Browsing, searching, and accessing channel bundles satisfies ‘accessing a plurality of content source bundles’ under BRI.];
determine that a first account associated with a first user comprises a first subscription to the first content source bundle, wherein the first subscription enables the first user to access the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle [ABSTARCT, para.0007: Users can search or browse for channels of interest, and selectively subscribe to channels. Users can also pay for the right to view premium videos in each channel. Subscription status is determined via the user account and governs access to the bundle; and para.0048: Discloses with respect to users (subscribers), the user profile data contains information collected from each user. Account data (a first account) includes the data entered by a user when signing up for a subscriber account with the channel hosting service.]; and
identify, based at least in part on viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, one or more attributes of one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [ABSTRACT: Discloses providers can observe their channel's reception in the market by analyzing rankings and usage statistics to adjust channels to maximize channel performance; and para.0032: Discloses channels are value ranked based on monitored subscriber viewing habits. Thus, usage statistics and viewing data are analyzed to identify attributes of viewed content source.];
accessing one or more attributes of one or more content sources from a second subset of the plurality of content sources [para.0009: Discloses selecting videos according their type, viewing history, ratings, and similar factors; and para.0051, FIG.3: Discloses attributes of other content sources are accessed from stored channel/video data. System-wide usage data (element 350 - a second subset of the plurality of content sources) includes trends and patterns in channel viewing habits for any desired population.];
Patterson does not explicitly disclose the following:
determining that the one or more attributes of the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources; and
based at least in part on the determining that the one or more attributes of the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources, causing to output for display a user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources.
However, in analogous art, Kandanala discloses the following:
determine that the one or more attributes of the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.2, lines 4-9: Discloses the content provider may generate or identify one or more content subscription combination offers based on various information associated with the requesting customer; and col.5, lines 5-14: Discloses a marketing rules database (element 218) may include a server that stores a number of marketing rules used by combo offer recommendation engine (element 219). Rules may relate potential package combinations to various elements of customer-related criteria (e.g., corresponding to information stored in order/billing system and profile/history database); and col.8, lines 45-48: Discloses matching marketing rules to retrieved customer information, thus attributes are compared to determine similarity alternative bundle offers.]; and
based at least in part on the determining that the one or more attributes of the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources, causing to output for display a user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources [col.12, lines 23-47: Discloses presenting combo offers to the user, identified offers may be ranked and provided to the user in a ranked order for browsing and ultimate selection, upon purchase of a combination offer, the service provider will provision the system thereby allowing the customer to view the purchased content. Providing selectable combination offers corresponds to outputting a user-selectable replacement option.].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson with these features, as taught by Kandanala in order to yield predictable result such as offering alternative content bundles tailored to user preferences [Kandanala: col.2, lines 34].
Regarding Claim 63, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the system of claim 62, and further discloses wherein the circuitry is configured to identify the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources by:
accessing, from the first account, user preferences [Kandanala – ABSTRACT, claims 1, 19: Discloses customer information regarding the user may be obtained; and col.11, lines 30-31: Discloses receiving customer information that includes user preferences.];
accessing, a plurality of attributes of the one or more viewed content sources [Patterson – ABSTRACT, para.0010: Discloses providers can observe their channel's reception in the market by analyzing rankings and usage statistics (attributes) to adjust channels to maximize channel performance.]; and
identifying the one or more attributes of the plurality of attributes of the one or more viewed content sources, which are associated with the user preferences [Kandanala – col.5, lines 18: Discloses a number of combinations offers may be determined based on the customer information and the marketing rules. Correlating customer preference information with content attributes to identify relevant attributes for offers, satisfies identifying attributes associated with user preferences.].
This claim is rejected on the same grounds as claim 62.
Regarding Claim 68, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the system of claim 62, and Patterson further discloses wherein the circuitry is configured to identify the one or more attributes of the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources by:
monitoring the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle [para.0010: Discloses content providers can observe their channel's reception in the market by analyzing rankings and usage statistics; and para.0032: Discloses monitoring subscribers (plurality) viewing habits.];
tracking a viewing history of the first user relative to the first content source bundle [para.0050: Discloses subscriber viewing data contains data about the user that is not explicitly entered by the user, but which is tracked as the user navigates through the content hosting system. Subscriber viewing data includes, for example, user viewing habits, such as the total time spent by the subscriber per subscribed channel per subscription period, average time spent per channel per period, proportion of time spent per video per channel, relative to other videos in the channel, proportion of time spent watching subscribed channels relative to non-subscription content, time of day distribution for the subscriber's viewing activities, average length of time for a viewing session for the subscriber, and clickthrough statistics for ads and video promotions accompanying subscription content.];
determining, based at least in part on the tracked viewing history, a frequency of how often the first user accesses one or more content items of the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle and a time spent viewing the one or more content items of the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle [para.0051: Discloses system-wide usage data includes data on the overall usage of the content hosting system. Some of this information may be aggregated or derived from the account data and subscriber viewing data for populations of subscribers. The population can be as the entire subscriber population, or any selected subset thereof, such as targeted subscribers based on any combination of demographic or behavioral characteristics, or channel/video selections. System-wide usage data includes trends and patterns in channel viewing habits for any desired population.];
ranking the one or more content items based at least in part on the frequency and the time spent [ABSTARCT, para.0008: Discloses the system ranks channels according to the value provided. Generally, users will seek out and subscribe to the highest ranked channels that provide the greatest value. The ranking function allows different providers to compete for the subscriptions of users. The system ranks channels based on a number of criteria, including content, price, user chum, video chum, user ratings, and usage information, and similar factors indicative of sub-scriber interest and usage of the channels; and para.0032: Discloses channels are value ranked based several factors including, for example, channel content, subscriber feedback, and monitored subscriber viewing habits.];
retrieving one or more attributes for each of the one or more content items [FIG.3, para.0046-0047: Discloses system wide usage data are stored in the system database (channel data and video data. Thus, disclosing accessing attributes of other content sources from stored channel and video data.]; and
identifying the one or more attributes corresponding to a highest ranked one of the one or more content items [ABSTRACT, para.0008: Discloses users will seek out and subscribe to the highest ranked channels].
Regarding Claim 69, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the system of claim 62, and Kandanala further discloses wherein:
a second cost associated with a second subscription to the first content source bundle is lower than a first cost associated with the first subscription to the first content source bundle [ABSTRACT: Discloses customer information regarding the user and marketing rules regarding a plurality of combination offers that include the channel may be obtained; col.8, lines 60-62: Discloses combo offers resulting in a value to the customer (e.g., relative to a la carte or current subscriptions) may be ranked higher than combo offers having a lower value.], and
the second subscription enables the first user to access the second subset of the plurality of content sources [col.1, lines 38-40: Discloses channels included within the selected combination offer may be provisioned based on the user request.].
This claim is rejected on the same grounds as claim 62.
Regarding Claim 70, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the system of claim 62, and Kandanala further discloses wherein the second subset of the plurality of content sources overlaps with the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.4, lines 28-30: Discloses] self-provisioning server may include a server or system configured to enable customers to initiate or place orders for new service or make changes to existing service (overlapping); FIG.5B: Illustrates adding HBO to CINEMAX package (overlapping with the first subset).].
This claim is rejected on the same grounds as claim 62.
.
Claims 54, 56-57, 64, 66-67 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patterson et al., Pub No US 2011/0321072 (hereafter Patterson) and further in view of Kandanala et al., Pat No US 9,264,778 (hereafter Kandanala) and further in view of Herz et al., Pat No US 5,758,257 (hereafter Herz).
Regarding Claim 54, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the method of claim 52, the combination does not explicitly disclose further comprising: identifying, based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources; and determining that second scheduling information associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources is similar to the first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources, wherein the causing to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources is further based in part on the determining that the second scheduling information associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources is similar to the first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources.
However, in analogous art, Herz discloses the following:
identifying, based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [ABSTRACT, col.42, lines 7-11: Discloses customer profiles are developed for the recipient describing how important certain characteristics of the broadcast video program. movie or other data are to each customer; and FIG.1, col.24, lines 56-58: Discloses a schedule of available shows and their characteristics (content profiles) is created and stored in a database; and col.25, lines 35-41: Discloses monitoring what was actually watched for a period of time. Viewing habits are correlated with scheduling information such as time slots.]; and
determining that second scheduling information associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources is similar to the first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [ABSTARCT, col.41, lines 33-36: Discloses an "agreement matrix" is calculated by comparing the recipient's profiles to the actual profiles of the characteristics of the available video programs. movies or other data. The agreement matrix thus characterizes the attractiveness of each video program. movie or other data to each prospective customer. Comparing scheduling-related characteristics of programs to user scheduling preferences inherently determines similarity of scheduling information.],
wherein the causing to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources is further based in part on the determining that the second scheduling information associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources is similar to the first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [ABSTARCT, col.42, lines 20-24: Discloses "Virtual" channels are generated from the agreement matrix to produce a series of video or data programming which will provide the greatest satisfaction to each customer. Generating alternative program/channel groupings based on schedule similarity supports presenting a replacement option based on scheduling similarity.].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson and Kandanala with these features, as taught by Herz in order to yield predictable result such as presenting replacement content bundles whose programming schedules better align with a user’s demonstrated viewing times, thereby improving relevance and user satisfaction [Herz: col.1, lines 17-20].
Regarding Claim 56, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the method of claim 52, the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the causing to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources comprises: characterizing the first user based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user; identifying a second account associated with a second user whose characterizing based at least in part on the viewing habits of the second user is similar to the characterizing the first user based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user, wherein the second account comprises a subscription to a second content source bundle; and selecting the second subset of the plurality of content sources based at least in part on the second content source bundle.
However, in analogous art, Herz discloses the following:
characterizing the first user based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user [ABSTRACT, col.4, lines 43-58: Discloses customer profiles are developed for the recipient describing how important certain characteristics of the broadcast video program. movie or other data are to each customer; and col.42, lines 7-11: Discloses the customer profile data and viewing habit data is collected and periodically provided via return path to data collection memory as a record of what the customers desire to watch and what they actually watched.];
identifying a second account associated with a second user whose characterizing based at least in part on the viewing habits of the second user is similar to the characterizing the first user based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user, wherein the second account comprises a subscription to a second content source bundle [ABSTARCT, col.41, lines 33-36: Discloses an "agreement matrix" is calculated by comparing the recipient's profiles (plural – first, second, …] to the actual profiles of the characteristics of the available video programs. movies or other data. The agreement matrix thus characterizes the attractiveness of each video program. movie or other data to each prospective customer. Comparing scheduling-related characteristics of programs to user scheduling preferences inherently determines similarity of scheduling information.]; and
selecting the second subset of the plurality of content sources based at least in part on the second content source bundle [FIG.1, col.24, lines 56-65, ABSTRACT: Discloses the agreement matrix thus characterizes the attractiveness of each video program. movie. or other data to each prospective customer. "Virtual" channels are generated from the agreement matrix to produce a series of video or data programming which will provide the greatest satisfaction to each customer.].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson and Kandanala with these features, as taught by Herz in order to yield predictable result such as presenting replacement content bundles whose programming schedules better align with a user’s demonstrated viewing times, thereby improving relevance and user satisfaction [Herz: col.1, lines 17-20].
Regarding Claim 57, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the method of claim 52, the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the viewing habits of the first user comprises at least one of: a genre of content viewed, a time of access to the content viewed, a duration of access to the content viewed, a type of device used to access the content viewed, or a language of the content viewed. However, in analogous art, Herz discloses customer profiles are developed for the recipient describing how important certain characteristics of the broadcast video program, movie or other data are to each customer [col.5, lines 23-52]. The characteristics include time-of-day preferences [col.25, lines 7-15]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson and Kandanala with these features, as taught by Herz in order to yield predictable result such as presenting replacement content bundles whose programming schedules better align with a user’s demonstrated viewing times, thereby improving relevance and user satisfaction [Herz: col.1, lines 17-20].
Regarding Claim 64, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the system of claim 62, the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein:
the circuitry is further configured to: identify, based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources; and determine that second scheduling information associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources is similar to the first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources, and the circuitry is configured to cause to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources further based in part on the determining that the second scheduling information associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources is similar to the first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources.
However, in analogous art, Herz discloses the following:
identify, based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [ABSTRACT, col.42, lines 7-11: Discloses customer profiles are developed for the recipient describing how important certain characteristics of the broadcast video program. movie or other data are to each customer; and FIG.1, col.24, lines 56-58: Discloses a schedule of available shows and their characteristics (content profiles) is created and stored in a database; and col.25, lines 35-41: Discloses monitoring what was actually watched for a period of time. Viewing habits are correlated with scheduling information such as time slots.]; and
determine that second scheduling information associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources is similar to the first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [ABSTARCT, col.41, lines 33-36: Discloses an "agreement matrix" is calculated by comparing the recipient's profiles to the actual profiles of the characteristics of the available video programs. movies or other data. The agreement matrix thus characterizes the attractiveness of each video program. movie or other data to each prospective customer. Comparing scheduling-related characteristics of programs to user scheduling preferences inherently determines similarity of scheduling information.], and
the circuitry is configured to cause to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources further based in part on the determining that the second scheduling information associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources is similar to the first scheduling information associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [ABSTARCT, col.42, lines 20-24: Discloses "Virtual" channels are generated from the agreement matrix to produce a series of video or data programming which will provide the greatest satisfaction to each customer. Generating alternative program/channel groupings based on schedule similarity supports presenting a replacement option based on scheduling similarity.].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson and Kandanala with these features, as taught by Herz in order to yield predictable result such as presenting replacement content bundles whose programming schedules better align with a user’s demonstrated viewing times, thereby improving relevance and user satisfaction [Herz: col.1, lines 17-20].
Regarding Claim 66, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the system of claim 62, the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the circuitry is configured to cause to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources by: characterizing the first user based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user;
identifying a second account associated with a second user whose characterizing based at least in part on the viewing habits of the second user is similar to the characterizing the first user based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user, wherein the second account comprises a subscription to a second content source bundle; and selecting the second subset of the plurality of content sources based at least in part on the second content source bundle.
However, in analogous art, Herz discloses the following:
characterizing the first user based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user [ABSTRACT, col.4, lines 43-58: Discloses customer profiles are developed for the recipient describing how important certain characteristics of the broadcast video program. movie or other data are to each customer; and col.42, lines 7-11: Discloses the customer profile data and viewing habit data is collected and periodically provided via return path to data collection memory as a record of what the customers desire to watch and what they actually watched.];
identifying a second account associated with a second user whose characterizing based at least in part on the viewing habits of the second user is similar to the characterizing the first user based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user, wherein the second account comprises a subscription to a second content source bundle [ABSTARCT, col.41, lines 33-36: Discloses an "agreement matrix" is calculated by comparing the recipient's profiles (plural – first, second, …] to the actual profiles of the characteristics of the available video programs. movies or other data. The agreement matrix thus characterizes the attractiveness of each video program. movie or other data to each prospective customer. Comparing scheduling-related characteristics of programs to user scheduling preferences inherently determines similarity of scheduling information.]; and
selecting the second subset of the plurality of content sources based at least in part on the second content source bundle [FIG.1, col.24, lines 56-65, ABSTRACT: Discloses the agreement matrix thus characterizes the attractiveness of each video program. movie. or other data to each prospective customer. "Virtual" channels are generated from the agreement matrix to produce a series of video or data programming which will provide the greatest satisfaction to each customer.].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson and Kandanala with these features, as taught by Herz in order to yield predictable result such as presenting replacement content bundles whose programming schedules better align with a user’s demonstrated viewing times, thereby improving relevance and user satisfaction [Herz: col.1, lines 17-20].
Regarding Claim 67, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the system of claim 62, the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the viewing habits of the first user comprises at least one of: a genre of content viewed, a time of access to the content viewed, a duration of access to the content viewed, a type of device used to access the content viewed, or a language of the content viewed. However, in analogous art, Herz discloses customer profiles are developed for the recipient describing how important certain characteristics of the broadcast video program, movie or other data are to each customer [col.5, lines 23-52]. The characteristics include time-of-day preferences [col.25, lines 7-15]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson and Kandanala with these features, as taught by Herz in order to yield predictable result such as presenting replacement content bundles whose programming schedules better align with a user’s demonstrated viewing times, thereby improving relevance and user satisfaction [Herz: col.1, lines 17-20].
Claims 55 and 65 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patterson et al., Pub No US 2011/0321072 (hereafter Patterson) and further in view of Kandanala et al., Pat No US 9,264,778 (hereafter Kandanala) and further in view of Jiawen Su, Pat No US 9,542,649 (hereafter SU).
Regarding Claim 55, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the method of claim 52, the combination does not explicitly disclose further comprising: identifying, based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources; determining that one or more content genres associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources, wherein the causing to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources is further based in part on the determining that the one or more content genres associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources.
However, in analogous art, Su discloses the following:
identifying, based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.4, lines 27-30: Discloses the content items may be categorized using easy to understand genres that the user can quickly browse through to select content; and col.17, lines 7-13, col.22, lines 63-65: Discloses monitoring a user's viewing behavior and tracks the number of viewing selections in the categories of sport, television and movie, and classifying viewed content according to one or more genres or content categories. Thus, teaching deriving genre/category information from user viewing behavior. Under BRI, identifying genres based on viewing habits satisfies this limitation.];
determining that one or more content genres associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.4, lines 26-38: Discloses the content items displayed are tailored according to the user's preference by a recommendation engine. The content items may be categorized using easy to understand genres that the user can quickly browse through to select content. Under an embodiment, content item categories include TV, movie and sport, but alternative embodiments may include fewer, greater or different categories. The content items are aggregated from a multitude of sources, for example, subscription media, broadcast media, cable, DVR, VOD and internet media to which the consumer has access. In response to user selection of a content item, the user device 105 facilitates the display of the content item by controlling the necessary entertainment systems.],
wherein the causing to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources is further based in part on the determining that the one or more content genres associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.4, lines 13-17: Discloses the media system (and the recommendation engine) further leverages information about user interactions within the media control environment to organize and recommend media content for the user based on user specific priorities/preferences.].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson and Kandanala with these features, as taught by Su in order to yield predictable result such as presenting alternative bundles better aligned with a user’s viewing preference [Su: col.3, lines 1-2].
Regarding Claim 65, the combined teachings of Patterson and Kandanala discloses the system of claim 62, the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein:
the circuitry is further configured to: identify, based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources; and determine that one or more content genres associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources, and the circuitry is configured to cause to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources further based in part on the determining that the one or more content genres associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources.
However, in analogous art, Su discloses the following:
identify, based at least in part on the viewing habits of the first user relative to the first subset of the plurality of content sources in the first content source bundle, one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.4, lines 27-30: Discloses the content items may be categorized using easy to understand genres that the user can quickly browse through to select content; and col.17, lines 7-13, col.22, lines 63-65: Discloses monitoring a user's viewing behavior and tracks the number of viewing selections in the categories of sport, television and movie, and classifying viewed content according to one or more genres or content categories. Thus, teaching deriving genre/category information from user viewing behavior. Under BRI, identifying genres based on viewing habits satisfies this limitation.]; and
determine that one or more content genres associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.4, lines 26-38: Discloses the content items displayed are tailored according to the user's preference by a recommendation engine. The content items may be categorized using easy to understand genres that the user can quickly browse through to select content. Under an embodiment, content item categories include TV, movie and sport, but alternative embodiments may include fewer, greater or different categories. The content items are aggregated from a multitude of sources, for example, subscription media, broadcast media, cable, DVR, VOD and internet media to which the consumer has access. In response to user selection of a content item, the user device 105 facilitates the display of the content item by controlling the necessary entertainment systems.], and
the circuitry is configured to cause to output for display the user selectable option to replace, in the first content source bundle, the first subset of the plurality of content sources by the second subset of the plurality of content sources further based in part on the determining that the one or more content genres associated with the one or more content sources from the second subset of the plurality of content sources are similar to the one or more content genres associated with the one or more viewed content sources from the first subset of the plurality of content sources [col.4, lines 13-17: Discloses the media system (and the recommendation engine) further leverages information about user interactions within the media control environment to organize and recommend media content for the user based on user specific priorities/preferences.].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Patterson and Kandanala with these features, as taught by Su in order to yield predictable result such as presenting alternative bundles better aligned with a user’s viewing preference [Su: col.3, lines 1-2].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jacobi et al., (US 7,113,917) – Discloses identifying attributes of viewed content and recommending others with similar attributes [ABSTRACT, col.2, lines 42-60].
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/ADIL OCAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426