Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/886,793

DYNAMIC REPLAY OF AV CONTENT BASED ON LACK OF USER UNDERSTANDING

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Sep 16, 2024
Examiner
WENDMAGEGN, GIRUMSEW
Art Unit
2484
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Sony Group Corporation
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
2-3
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
757 granted / 984 resolved
+18.9% vs TC avg
Strong +21% interview lift
Without
With
+21.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
10 currently pending
Career history
1008
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.3%
-31.7% vs TC avg
§103
46.1%
+6.1% vs TC avg
§102
33.3%
-6.7% vs TC avg
§112
2.4%
-37.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 984 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-7, 9-11, 13-19 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 10-11, 13, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being disclosed by Trivedi et al US 2023/0107968(hereinafter Trivedi). Regarding claim10, Trivedi discloses a method, comprising: presenting audio video (AV) content at a device; receiving a command to replay a portion of the AV content(fig. 10, [0130], receive a command to replay a portion of a content item); and responsive to receiving the command, replaying the portion of the AV content from a previous playback position and also taking at least one other action related to presentation of the AV content from the previous playback position, wherein the command is a command to revert to playback of the AV content a preset number of time increments before a current playback position([0130], [0136], playback setting applied to portion of the content to be replayed at a slower playback speed and user consumes the portion at the set playback speed, fig. 10 step 1050,1060). Regarding claim11, Trivedi discloses the method of claim10, comprising: receiving input from a microphone ([0076], user may utter instruction); based on the input, identifying speech, from a user, indicating a lack of understanding about spoken words from audio of the AV content([0021], [0048], the user's proficiency level is tied to the command to replay a segment); and based on identifying the speech, taking the at least one other action related to presentation of the AV content from the previous playback position([0048], after a replay command, the content can be replayed back in English and/or the English subtitles can be displayed). Regarding claim13, Trivedi discloses the method of Claim 10, wherein the at least one other action comprises presenting text corresponding to spoken words from audio of the AV content ([0023], [0161], system generates for display text associated with portion of the content item). Regarding claim15, Trivedi discloses the method of Claim 10, wherein the at least one other action comprises slowing down presentation of the AV content from a real-time playback speed to a slower playback speed0([136], playback setting applied to portion of the content to be replayed at a slower playback speed and user consumes the portion at the set playback speed). 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. Claims16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Trivadi as applied to claims 10-11, 13, 15 above, and further in view of Aoki et al US 2010/0254551(hereinafter Aoki). Regarding claim16 ,Trivedi teaches all the limitation of claim10 above but does not teach and Aoki teaches wherein the at least one other action comprises boosting the volume of audio of the AV content in frequencies that are in one or more human voice frequency ranges, the boosting being from a first volume level at which audio in the one or more human voice frequency ranges was presented prior to receipt of the command to a second volume level that is higher than the first volume level([0087], the audio signal output is adjusted by volume increase/decrease and/or inclination increase/decrease of high/low boost (high/low frequency boosting) frequency characteristic reference lines). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to boost the volume of the audio as in Aoki in order to make human voice frequency range more clearly hearable. Claim18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Trivedi et al US 2023/0107968 in view of Wexler et al US 2023/0042310(hereinafter Wexler). Regarding claim18, Trivedi teaches a method, comprising: presenting audio video (AV) content at a device; receiving a command to replay a portion of the AV content(fig. 10, [0130], receive a command to replay a portion of a content item); and responsive to receiving the command, replaying the portion of the AV content from a previous playback position and also taking at least one other action related to presentation of the AV content from the previous playback position ([0130], [0136], playback setting applied to portion of the content to be replayed at a slower playback speed and user consumes the portion at the set playback speed, fig. 10 step 1050,1060),wherein the at least one other action comprises the use of neural network processing to separate speech from background noise ([0056-0057], classification model used to classify or categorize sound such as loud background noise) but does not teach and Wexler teaches use of neural network processing to separate speech from background noise, and to output the processed speech([0176], pre-trained neural network receives the noisy audio and speakers signature and output an audio of the speaker as extracted from the noisy audio, separated from the other speech or background noise). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to separate from background noise and output the separated speech as in Wexler in order to make the speech easier to listen and understand. Allowable Subject Matter Claim17 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Claims1-7, 9, 14, 19 are allowed. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIRUMSEW WENDMAGEGN whose telephone number is (571)270-1118. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-7:00 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, Thai Tran can be reached at (571) 272-7382. 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. GIRUMSEW WENDMAGEGN Primary Examiner Art Unit 2484 /GIRUMSEW WENDMAGEGN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 16, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 02, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103
Oct 17, 2025
Response Filed
Jul 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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1y 8m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
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INTELLIGENT MEDIA CONTENT PLAYBACK
1y 10m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12744863
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RECORDING A SUPER SLOW MOTION VIDEO IN A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE
1y 10m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12738299
DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND DATA PROCESSING METHOD
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Patent 12732600
INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE
2y 2m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
77%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+21.2%)
2y 11m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 984 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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