DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 08/20/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2, 4-6 and 8-20 have been considered but are moot in view of a new ground(s) of rejection, The amendments to the claims necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection discussed below. This office action is non-final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
5. Claim(s) 1-2, 4-6 and 8-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEWIS et al (2012/0047542) in view of NOVOA (2020/0213648)
As to claims 1-2, 4-6, LEWIS discloses system and method for rule based dynamic server-side streaming manifest files (MFs) and further discloses a method of providing a custom manifest for a content stream to a user electronic device, the method comprising:
receiving, at a sender, a request from a user electronic device for a manifest file associated with a content stream, wherein the request comprises client data; where the client data comprises device information identifying a plurality of user electronic devices, the plurality of the user electronic devices including the user device ([0004-0005], [0017-0020] and [0025-31), implemented for various standard network live streaming protocols for consumption devices associated with the user laptop, mobile phone, game console, STBs, within target location of the user or another network; including targeting content to specific geographical locations, where the client is gateway streaming services to STBs and thin clients; multiple servers can be a server or computer providing target streaming services to client(s) and respective devices associated with the client(s); generating, based on the client data received, a custom manifest associated with the content stream, wherein the custom manifest defines a personalised version of the content stream; and sending the custom manifest to a first user electronic device of the plurality of user electronic devices via a wireless communication channel; processing the custom manifest at the first user electronic device to obtain the personalised version of the content stream; and sending, the personalised version of the content stream to a second user electronic device of the plurality of user electronic devices;(figs.1-4, [0004-0006], [0015-0022], [0024-0031] and [0033-0042]), the MP application, in response to a request communicates various parameters associated with the Client to the Manifest Server/Rule Resolution Server “MF/RR” and a dynamic manifest is generated specific to the Client, where the application interpret the manifest file to playback the various video segments; the MP application may interact to a display of an icon to cause other communication to the MF/RR; live target broadcasting to groups and specific geographic locations based on user(s) tracking profiles; implemented for various standard network live streaming protocols for consumption devices associated with the user laptop, mobile phone, game console, STBs, within target location of the user or another network; including targeting content to specific geographical locations, where the client is gateway streaming services to STBs and thin clients; multiple servers can be a server or computer providing target streaming services to client(s) and respective devices associated with the client(s), which meets the limitations; wherein the client data comprises a device specification for the user electronic device, the device specification including information defining one or more of: device type; at least one audio requirement of the user electronic device; at least one visual requirement of the user electronic device; at least one data processing capability of the user electronic device; a display screen size of the user electronic device; and/or one or more properties of the wireless communication channel; wherein the client data comprises device information identifying a plurality of user electronic devices, the plurality of user electronic devices including the user electronic device and generating a respective custom manifest for each of the plurality of user electronic devices. wherein the each user electronic device of the plurality of user electronic devices are associated with the user and wherein sending the custom manifest to the user electronic device comprises sending the respective custom manifest for the user electronic device ([0015-0022], [0024-0031] and [0033-0042]), the MP application, in response to a request communicates various parameters associated with the Client device type (Flash player, HLS Client, etc.): device ID, parameters, etc., and sends to the Manifest Server/Rule Resolution Server “MF/RR” and a dynamic manifest is generated specific to the Client, where the application interpret the manifest file to playback the various video segments; the MP application may interact to a display of an icon to cause other communication to the MF/RR; cutting, cropping, adjusting various features based on client parameters; Further performs other processing effects such as cross-fading, subtitles, resolution resampling, audio dubbing for respective device; Utilizes different screen resolutions to display content resize video content based on the target resolution.
LEWIS further discloses sending the custom manifest to a first user electronic device of the plurality of user electronic devices; and processing the custom manifest at the first user electronic device to obtain the personalised version of the content stream; sending, via a wireless communication channel, the personalised version of the content stream to a second user electronic device of the plurality of user electronic devices ([0015-0022], [0024-0031] and [0033-0042]), BUT appears silent as to where client data indicates where one device has greater data processing capability compared to the other user electric device and where one device decodes the personalized version of the content stream and sends to the other device with less processing capability and updating the device with the new or personal version.
However, in the same, field of endeavor, NOVOA discloses methods and systems for discovery of processing offloader and further discloses where multi devices may receive instructions to render multimedia content from a remote node to another device and further discloses where client data indicates where one device has greater data processing capability compared to the other user electric device and where one device decodes the personalized version of the content stream and sends to the other device with less processing capability and updating the device with the new or personal version(s) (figs.1-6, Abstract, [0002-0017], [0021-0026], [0030-0037] and [0068-0083]).
Hence it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one or ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the teaching of NOVOA into the system of LEWIS to enable devices to share processing of other multimedia content for other devices with less processing capability.
As to claim 8 LEWIS further discloses wherein the device information comprises device specifications for the plurality of user electronic devices ([0015-0022], [0024-0031] and [0033-0042]), note remarks in claims 1-2, 4-6
As to claims 9-12, LEWIS further discloses wherein the client data further comprises at least one setting specified by the user or the user electronic device, wherein the least one setting includes a maximum duration for the personalised version of the content stream and receiving, at the sender, an update to the client data; updating the custom manifest based on the received update to the client data; and sending the updated custom manifest to the user electronic device, wherein the updated custom manifest defines an updated personalised version of the content stream; wherein sending, to the user electronic device, the updated custom manifest comprises sending the differences between the updated custom manifest and the custom manifest and wherein the client data comprises device information identifying a plurality of user electronic devices, the plurality of user electronic devices including the user electronic device, and wherein the update to the client data comprises a request to provide the content stream to a second user electronic device of the plurality of user electronic devices ([0015-0022], [0024-0031] and [0033-0042]), note remarks in claims 1-6, updates the manifest in real-time based on the client type including dynamically modifying content based on client type and interactions; tracking is further analyzed with respect to ads, to formulate a targeted ad campaign (adding appropriate pre-roll, post-roll and mid-roll advertising content “Segments” of ads, fig.2) including estimated most relevant/interesting for the client within the geographical location(s) using geo-IP address look-up to adjust the ads accordingly including customizing/targeting user or group of users based on user profile/device profile
As to claims 13-18, the claimed “A method of outputting content stream…” is composed of the same structural elements that were discussed with respect to claims 1-2, 4-6.
As to claims 13-18, the claimed “A method of outputting content stream…” is composed of the same structural elements that were discussed with respect to claims 1-2, 4-6.
As to claim 19, the claimed “A sender electronic device…” is composed of the same structural elements that were discussed with respect to claims 1-2, 4-6.
As to claim 20, the claimed “A user electronic device…” is composed of the same structural elements that were discussed with respect to claims 1-2, 4-6.
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNAN Q SHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7355. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7-4.
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/ANNAN Q SHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424
ANNAN Q. SHANG
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