DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/17/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-34 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
The Applicant argues that the cited references do not disclose “an on-board content management system (CMS) operative to communicate with the client device to deliver the media content to the client device via the wireless signals”. The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Mondragon discloses an on-board content management system (CMS) operative to communicate with the client device to deliver the media content to the client device, wherein the on-board CMS receives the passenger parameter and controls the delivery of media content from the on-board CMS to the client device based on the passenger parameter. For example, Mondragon discloses a media server is controlled using passenger’s gestures and the SVDU and the server are connected through a data network such as a wireless local area network; see at least paragraphs 0029-0031, 0035 and 0043).
For at least the above reasons, the present claimed invention is not patentable over the cited reference(s).
Claims 1 and 18 have been amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-5, 7-22 and 24-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mondragon (US 2013/0066526) in view of Demange (WO 2021/002857. A copy is provided for the Applicant’s convenience) and further in view of Scavo (US 2020/0344522).
Regarding claim 1, Mondragon discloses an on-board media system disposed on a transport craft with content management based on a sensed passenger parameter, comprising:
a network access point disposed on the transport craft that senses a passenger parameter related to a passenger aboard the transport craft, the passenger parameter indicating the passenger’s availability to consume media, the passenger being associated with a client device for receipt and playback of media content on the client device for consumption by the passenger (smart video display unit is configured to be controlled using sensed gestures performed by a person who is seated in close proximity to the SVDU wherein SVDUs are connected through a data network ; see at least Fig. 8, paragraphs 0025-0027 and 0030-0031); and
an on-board content management system (CMS) operative to communicate with the client device to deliver the media content to the client device, wherein the on-board CMS receives the passenger parameter and controls the delivery of media content from the on-board CMS to the client device based on the passenger parameter (media server is controlled using passenger’s gestures; see at least paragraphs 0029-0031, 0035 and 0043).
Mondragon is not clear about a network access point operative to communicated with a plurality of client devices on a transport craft associated with a respective plurality of passengers aboard the transport craft including the client device of the passenger and a CMS that communicate with client device via the network access point, wherein the network access point determines the passenger parameter at least in part based on a detected signal state of wireless signals transmitted to the plurality of client devices.
Demange discloses a network access point operative to communicated with a plurality of client devices on a transport craft associated with a respective plurality of passengers aboard the transport craft including the client device of the passenger and a CMS that communicate with client device via the network access point; wireless access point (WAP) communicates with a plurality of devices on a transport craft and an on-board CMS communicates with client devices through the WAP; see at least Fig. 1 and paragraphs 0027-0029.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Mondragon by the teachings of Demange by having the above limitations for the purpose of dynamic production of linear media channels for delivery to passenger devices disposed on mobile transport craft while the transport craft are in transit; see at least the Abstract.
Mondragon in view of Demange disclose the network access pint, the passenger parameter and wireless signal transmitted to the plurality of client devices; as above, but are not clear about wherein a network access point determines a user parameter at least in part based on a detected signal state of wireless signals.
Scavo discloses the above missing limitation; using a Wi-Fi signal a transceiver present in any media device, i.e. router, is able to identify and categorize humans consuming media within the range of the Wif-Fi signal including presence detection; see at least paragraphs 0004, 0012-0013 and 0036.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Mondragon in view of Demange by the teachings of Scavo by having the above limitations for the purpose of generating rich result datasets that provide insights on media exposure see at least the Abstract.
Regarding claim 2, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the passenger parameter comprises at least one of a passenger presence, a passenger gesture, one or more passenger health parameters, or passenger demographic data (Mondragon; passenger gesture and Scavo’s presence; see at least the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 3, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the on-board CMS is operative to control the delivery of the media content by at least one of initiating or halting the delivery of the media content to the client device based on the passenger parameter (Mondragon; see at least paragraph 0043).
Regarding claim 4, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the passenger parameter comprises an indication of passenger presence, and wherein the on-board CMS is operative to initiate the delivery of the media content to the client device when the passenger parameter indicates the passenger is present and to halt the delivery of the media content to the client device when the passenger parameter indicates the passenger is not present (Mondragon; see at least paragraphs and 0057 and 0061).
Regarding claim 5, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the on-board CMS is operative to identify media content available for delivery to the client device based on the passenger parameter (Mondragon; on demand delivery; see at least paragraphs 0031 and 0035).
Regarding claim 7, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, further comprising:
a passenger parameter system operative to receive data from the network access point related to the passenger parameter, wherein the passenger parameter system processes the passenger parameter for communication of the passenger parameter to the on-board CMS (Mondragon; SVDU; see at least the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 8, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the passenger parameter system associates the passenger parameter with the passenger, and wherein the passenger is associated with the client device such that the on-board CMS provides control of media content to the client device based on the passenger parameter for the passenger associated with the client device (Mondragon; each passenger has a SVDU; see at least the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 9, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the passenger parameter system is operative to store collective passenger parameters for a plurality of passengers (Mondragon; memory; see at least paragraph 0036).
Regarding claim 10, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 9, wherein the passenger parameter system is operative to communicate the collective passenger parameters from the transport craft in real time (Mondragon; gestures are in real time; see a least the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 11, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 9, wherein the collective passenger parameters are received at a ground terminal for real-time control of at least one communication link for communication of data between the transport craft and a gateway (Mondragon; see at least the rejection of claims 9-10 and 13 in combination with Demange’s air-to-ground communication systems; see at least paragraph 0024)
Regarding claim 12, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 9, wherein the collective passenger parameters provide real-time feedback to a ground terminal regarding CMS usage on the transport craft (Mondragon; see at least the rejection of claims 9-10 and 13 in combination with Demange’s air-to-ground communication systems; see at least paragraph 0024).
Regarding claim 13, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 9, wherein the CMS is operative to control media content play back to the plurality of client devices based on the collective passenger parameters (Mondragon; memory; see at least paragraph 0036).
Regarding claim 14, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the passenger parameter system provides the passenger parameter to an on-board crew management terminal that provides transport craft crew information regarding the passenger (Mondragon; the SVDU is in communication with a flight attendant communication panel; see at least Fig. 8 and paragraphs 0030-0031 and 0060-0061).
Regarding claim 15, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the passenger parameter indicates a request for assistance of the transport craft crew (Mondragon; the SVDU is in communication with a flight attendant communication panel; see at least Fig. 8 and paragraphs 0030-0031 and 0060-0061).
Regarding claim 16, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the on-board crew management terminal is operative to provide the transport craft crew an alert regarding the passenger based on the passenger parameter (Mondragon; see at least Fig. 8 and paragraphs 0030-0031 and 0060-0061).
Regarding claim 17, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the network access point comprises an IEEE 802.11 protocol to sense the passenger parameter (Mondragon; see at least paragraphs 0031 and 0033).
Claim 18 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 1.
Claim 19 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 2.
Claim 20 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 3.
Claim 21 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 4.
Claim 22 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 5.
Claim 24 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 7.
Claim 25 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 8.
Claim 26 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 9.
Claim 27 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 10.
Claim 28 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 11.
Claim 29 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 12.
Claim 30 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 13
Claim 31 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 14.
Claim 32 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 15.
Claim 33 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 16.
Claim 34 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 17.
Claims 6 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo and further in view of Pujia (US 2018/0234707).
Regarding claim 6, Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo disclose the on-board media system of claim 1, wherein the passenger parameter comprises data for the passenger, and wherein the media content available for delivery to the client is selected based on the data for the passenger; see at least the rejection of claims 1 and 5, but are not clear about demographic data.
Pujia discloses the above missing limitation; a processor processes the video signal using image detection algorithms, such as eye tracking algorithms, facial feature expression detection algorithms, and using defined rules to identify where a passenger is looking relative to the cabin and/or a VDU 104, and/or to characterize passenger demographics, passenger emotions, passenger attentiveness, and/or other tracked passenger characteristics; see at least paragraph 0107.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Mondragon in view of Demange and further in view of Scavo by the teachings of Pujia by having the above limitations so to be able to control delivery of determined service to an identified service delivery device; see at least the Abstract.
Claim 23 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 6.
Conclusion
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/YASSIN ALATA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426