DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-15 and 21-25 are pending. Claims 16-20 have been canceled. Claims 21-25 have been added.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 06/18/2026 have been fully considered.
Claim 2 remains rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 as discussed in the rejection below.
The rejection of claim 7 under 35 U.S.C. 112 has been withdrawn in view of the amendment.
Regarding the rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Stoica et al. (US9264780B1), Applicant’s arguments are persuasive. In view of the amendment and after further search and consideration, claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoica in view of Major (US20170188072A1) as discussed in the rejection below.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 as failing to comply with the written description requirement as discussed in the rejections below.
As to any argument not specifically addressed, they are the same as those discussed above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 8-9, 11-15 and 22-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The Applicant indicates on page 17 that amendments to claim 8 are supported by at least paragraph [0075]. However, para [0075] shows “The computer system 100 can then receive, from each CDN in the set of CDNs, a measure of performance or latency for the transmission of test files and/or real distributed files”. Para [0075] and the Specification and do not show support of “simulating distribution of video content to a synthetic user device, exhibiting the first set of device characteristics, via the second content delivery network” as recited in independent claim 8 and its dependent claims 9, 11-15 and 23-24.
The Applicant indicates on page 17 that amendments to claim 22 are supported by at least paragraph [0075]. However, para [0075] shows “The computer system 100 can then receive, from each CDN in the set of CDNs, a measure of performance or latency for the transmission of test files and/or real distributed files”. Para [0075] and the Specification and do not show support of “simulated distribution of video content to a first (second) population of synthetic user devices” as recited in claim 22.
The Applicant indicates on page 17 that new claim 25 is supported by at least paragraph [0072], [0075], [0084] and [0087]. However, a review of para [0072], [0075], [0084] and [0087] and the Specification and do not show support of “simulating distribution of video content to a first population of synthetic user devices, corresponding to a first geolocation, via the content delivery network; simulating distribution of a first resource type to the first population of synthetic user devices via the content delivery network” as recited in new Claim 25.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
The term “approximating” in “a first set of viewer fingerprints approximating the first viewer fingerprint” in dependent claim 2 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “approximating” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoica et al. (US9264780B1) in view of Major (US20170188072A1).
Regarding claim 1, Stoica discloses a method comprising (Stoica; [col 22 line 20] shows balancing the load across multiple CDNs; [col 24 lines 45-47] shows suppose two CDNs are both streaming a live video feed of a soccer game):
during a first time period (Stoica; [col 20 lines 52-55] shows a large number of viewers attempt to connect to a live event in a short period of time, such as at the start of a soccer game):
accessing a first set of historical data for a first user population served by a first content delivery network prior to the first time period (Stoica; [col 22 lines 35-38] shows to use historical data to correlate the performance of the system with the load of the system beyond which the load begins to degrade; [col 24 lines 45-65] shows CDN A can support a maximum of 150,000 concurrent visitors);
based on the first set of historical data, calculating a first historical metric [historical data, e.g., the load beyond which system higher quality begins to degrade] for the first user population (Stoica; [col 22 lines 35-38] shows to use historical data to correlate the performance of the system with the load of the system beyond which the load begins to degrade; [col 23 lines 39-43] shows a CDN allocation policy can specify that certain viewers (e.g., CDN A viewers) can connect to a more expensive and higher quality CDN A while all other viewers are pushed to less expensive overflow/backup CDNs during periods of synchronized requests; [col 26 lines 24-30] shows when client A (1112) connects to the content owner's website to view a stream, an entity at the backend determines CDN A is expected to provide the best quality to client A);
accessing a second set of historical data for a second user population served by a second content delivery network prior to the first time period (Stoica; [col 22 lines 35-38] shows to use historical data to correlate the performance of the system with the load of the system; [col 24 lines 45-65] shows CDN B can support a maximum of 150,000 concurrent visitors);
based on the second set of historical data, calculating a second historical metric [lower quality] for the second user population (Stoica; [col 23 lines 39-43] shows a CDN allocation policy can specify that certain viewers (e.g., CDN A viewers) can connect to a more expensive and higher quality CDN (e.g., CDN A) while all other viewers (e.g., CDN B viewers) are pushed to less expensive overflow/backup CDNs (e.g., CDN B) during periods of synchronized requests);
receiving a first request for a video content from a first user (Stoica; [col 26 lines 20-40] shows a content owner distributes its content via CDN A (1108) and CDN B (1110). Suppose the content owner's policy is to use the CDN that provides the best quality for a client at the current time. When client A (1112) connects to the content owner's website to view a stream, an entity at the backend determines the CDN that is expected to provide the best quality to client A; client A connects and streams from CDN A); and
in response to the first historical metric exceeding the second historical metric, assigning the first user to the first content delivery network for distribution of a first resource, associated with the first request, to the first user (Stoica; [col 26 lines 20-40] shows a content owner distributes its content via CDN A (1108) and CDN B (1110). Suppose the content owner's policy is to use the CDN that provides the best quality for a client. When client A (1112) connects to the content owner's website to view a stream, an entity at the backend determines the CDN that is expected to provide the best quality to client A; client A connects and streams from CDN A); and
during a second time period succeeding the first time period (Stoica; [col 23 lines 25-67] shows a flash crowd might occur during the last few minutes):
accessing a first set of current data for the first user population served by the first content delivery network during the first time period (Stoica; [col 20 lines 52-55] shows a large number of viewers attempt to connect to a live event in a short period of time, such as at the start of a soccer game; [col 22 lines 1-5] shows CDN A will not be able to accommodate the new users and service will degrade);
based on the first set of current data, calculating a first current metric of the first user population served by the first content delivery network during the first time period (Stoica; [col 3 lines 40-45] shows quality metrics include: the length of time it takes for the soccer game video to start playing, the number of frames per second rendered by the video player, and premature connection terminations; [col 22 line 47] shows the performance metrics show signs of degradation; [col 24 lines 50-60] shows various policies can be used to determine which clients will ultimately be allowed to continue watching the soccer game until the first CDN A recovers (or additional resources are made available to CDN A));
accessing a second set of data for the second user population served by the second content delivery network during the first time period (Stoica; [col 24 lines 62-65] shows existing CDN B viewers can continue to watch the game at their existing bitrates);
based on the second set of data, calculating a second current metric of the second user population served by the second content delivery network during the first time period (Stoica; [col 22 lines 1-5] shows CDN A will not be able to accommodate the new users and service will degrade; [col 25 lines 18-20] shows existing CDN B viewers can continue to watch the game at their existing bitrates); and
in response to a first difference between the second current metric and the first current metric exceeding a threshold difference (Stoica; [col 25 lines 18-22] shows CDN A viewers are offered the ability to switch to CDN B at a lower bandwidth; [col 29 lines 10-15] shows to enforce a usage limit on a resource by forcing viewers to switch away after a bandwidth or downloaded byte threshold is met):
maintaining assignment to the first content delivery network for distribution of the first resource, associated with the first request, to the first user (Stoica; [col 25 lines 18-20] shows existing CDN B viewers can continue to watch the game at their existing bitrates).
Stoica fails to teach assigning the first user to the second content delivery network for distribution of a second resource, associated with the first resource, to the first user.
However, Major discloses assigning the first user to the second content delivery network for distribution of a second resource, associated with the first resource, to the first user ([Abstract] shows a client device requesting the media content from the first content delivery source via the network; para [0038] shows when the bandwidth transmitted to (or received by) the client device falls below a threshold level, the content delivery source may identify or otherwise select a different internet backbone provider; para [0090] shows the current conditions on the network 110 also dictate that a second CDN 142 should now be ranked higher than the first CDN 140. Thereafter, the media player 122 transmits 924 requests for the next encoded segments of the multimedia content 101 to the second CDN 142 and receives 926 the requested encoded multimedia segments 910 from the second CDN 142 via the network 110.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teaching of Stoica with the teaching of Major in order to select a different internet backbone provider when the bandwidth transmitted to (or received by) the client device falls below a threshold level (Major; para [0038]).
Regarding claim 2, Stoica-Major as applied to claim 1 discloses:
in response to receiving the first request for the video content from the first user (Stoica; [col 3 line 51] shows clients 170-184 request content):
accessing a set of user characteristics of the first user (Stoica; [col 4 lines 1-10] shows information received from clients (e.g., ISP and demographic information)); and
generating a first viewer fingerprint, for the first user, representing the set of user characteristics (Stoica; [col 14 lines 3-5] shows the user (of the client) is a premium user);
wherein accessing the first set of historical data for the first user population comprises accessing the first set of historical data for the first user population characterized by a first set of viewer fingerprints approximating the first viewer fingerprint (Stoica; [col 14 lines 3-5] shows the user (of the client) is a premium user; [col 23 lines 60-63] shows historical information about the patterns of clients (and/or loads on servers) can also be used; [col 25 lines 20-25] shows premium users of CDN A are allowed to connect to CDN B and watch the game at the full bitrate); and
wherein accessing the second set of historical data for the second user population comprises accessing the second set of historical data for the second user population serviced by the first internet service provider and characterized by a second set of viewer fingerprints exhibiting similarity to the first viewer fingerprint (Stoica; [col 14 lines 3-5] shows the user (of the client) is a free user; [col 23 lines 60-63] shows historical information about the patterns of clients (and/or loads on servers) can also be used; [col 25 lines 38-41] shows the bitrate of the non-premium viewers can also be significantly restricted to ensure that all premium users have access to the game at an appropriate level of quality.)
Regarding claim 3, Stoica-Major as applied to claim 1 discloses:
wherein calculating the first historical metric [higher quality] comprises calculating the first historical metric in response to receiving the first request for the video content from the first user (Stoica; [col 23 lines 39-43] shows a CDN allocation policy can specify that certain viewers (e.g., CDN A viewers) can connect to a more expensive and higher quality CDN A while all other viewers are pushed to less expensive overflow/backup CDNs during periods of synchronized requests; [col 26 lines 24-30] shows when client A (1112) connects to the content owner's website to view a stream, an entity at the backend determines CDN A is expected to provide the best quality to client A); and
wherein calculating the second historical metric [lower quality] comprises calculating the second historical metric in response to receiving the first request for the video content from the first user (Stoica; [col 23 lines 39-43] shows a CDN allocation policy can specify that certain viewers (e.g., CDN A viewers) can connect to a more expensive and higher quality CDN (e.g., CDN A) while all other viewers (e.g., CDN B viewers) are pushed to less expensive overflow/backup CDNs (e.g., CDN B) during periods of synchronized requests).
Regarding claim 4, Stoica-Major as applied to claim 1 discloses:
wherein accessing the first set of historical data for the first user population comprises accessing the first set of historical data comprising a first set of historical latencies of historical playbacks of the video content within the first user population prior to the first time period (Stoica; [col 22 lines 52-55] shows a large number of viewers attempt to connect to a live event in a short period of time, such as at the start of a soccer game; [col 14 lines 3-5] shows the user (of the client) is a premium user; [col 22 lines 35-38] shows to use historical data to correlate the performance of the system with the load of the system; [col 3 lines 40-45] shows quality metrics include: the length of time it takes for the soccer game video to start playing (e.g., latencies));
wherein calculating the first historical metric for the first user population comprises calculating the first historical metric comprising a first average historical latency of historical playbacks of the video content within first user population prior to the first time period (Stoica; [col 14 lines 3-5] shows the user (of the client) is a premium user; [col 15 lines 24-25] shows the average joining time over all clients during time T over a group of clients);
wherein accessing the second set of historical data for the second user population comprises accessing the second set of historical data comprising a second set of historical latencies of historical playbacks of the video content within the second user population prior to the first time period (Stoica; [col 22 lines 52-55] shows a large number of viewers attempt to connect to a live event in a short period of time, such as at the start of a soccer game; [col 14 lines 3-5] shows the user (of the client) is a free user; [col 22 lines 35-38] shows to use historical data to correlate the performance of the system with the load of the system; [col 3 lines 40-45] shows quality metrics include: the length of time it takes for the soccer game video to start playing (e.g., latencies)); and
wherein calculating the second historical metric for the second user population served by the first content delivery network comprises calculating the second historical metric, comprising a second average historical latency of historical playbacks of the video content within the second user population (Stoica; [col 14 lines 3-5] shows the user (of the client) is a free user; [col 15 lines 24-25] shows the average joining time over all clients during time T over a group of clients).
Regarding claim 5, Stoica-Major as applied to claim 1 discloses:
during an intermediate time period between the first time period and the second time period (Stoica; [col 8 lines 5-10] shows the time period employed by the monitoring module can be set to one second or a few hundred milliseconds; [col 6 lines 18-21] shows each heartbeat contains measurements since the last heartbeat or since the start of the session):
accessing a first set of intermediate data for the first user population served by the first content delivery network prior to the intermediate time period (Stoica; [col 6 lines 18-21] shows each heartbeat contains measurements since the last heartbeat or since the start of the session; [col 24 lines 47-50] shows CDN A has 100,000 concurrent visitors);
based on the first set of intermediate data, calculating a first intermediate metric of the first user population (Stoica; [col 23 line 1] shows traffic is maintained at a steady pace);
accessing a second set of intermediate data for the second user population served by the second content delivery network prior to the intermediate time period (Stoica; [col 6 lines 18-21] shows each heartbeat contains measurements since the last heartbeat or since the start of the session; [col 24 lines 47-50] shows CDN B has 100,000 concurrent visitors);
based on the second set of intermediate data, calculating a second intermediate metric the second user population (Stoica; [col 23 line 1] shows traffic is maintained at a steady pace); and
in response to a second difference between the second intermediate metric and the first intermediate metric falling below the threshold difference [threshold is a maximum of 150,000 concurrent visitors], maintaining assignment of the first user at the first content delivery network (Stoica; [col 24 lines 47-50] shows each CDN has 100,000 concurrent visitors and each CDN can support a maximum of 150,000 concurrent visitors.)
Regarding claim 6, Stoica-Major as applied to claim 1 discloses:
in response to assigning the first user to the first content delivery network, serving a resource locator for accessing the video content via the first content delivery network to the first user (Stoica; [col 10 lines 37-40] shows a movie might be accessible at the URL.)
Regarding claim 7, Stoica-Major as applied to claim 1 discloses during the first time period (Stoica; [col 22 lines 52-55] shows at the start of a soccer game):
receiving a second request for the video content from a second user ([Abstract] shows data requests);
accessing a second set of characteristics of the second user (Stoica; [col 25 line 24] shows non-premium users);
identifying a third user population associated with a third set of characteristics exhibiting similarity to the second set of characteristics and served by the second content delivery network (Stoica; [col 25 line 24] shows at least some of the existing CDN B viewers are non-premium viewers);
accessing a third set of historical data for distribution for the third user population via the second content delivery network prior to the first time period (Stoica; [col 25 lines 24-26] shows premium users of CDN A are allowed to connect to CDN B and watch the game at the full bitrate. Non-premium users of CDN A are also moved to CDN B (also at full bitrate) based on available resources);
based on the third set of historical data, calculating a third historical metric for the third user population (Stoica; [col 25 lines 24-26] shows the non-premium users are moved based on a factor, such as how long they were previously connected to CDN A (i.e., with those more invested in the game being moved sooner than those who just started watching, and/or those who have watched more games over the period of time such as the last week or month, referred to as an engagement measure), and how long they have been waiting); and
in response to the third historical metric exceeding a threshold metric, assigning the second user to the second content delivery network (Stoica; [col 25 lines 24-26] shows non-premium users of CDN A are also moved to CDN B (also at full bitrate) based on available resources).
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoica in view of Major, further in view of Gordon (US20170353516A1).
Regarding claim 21, Stoica-Major as applied to claim 1 discloses:
wherein assigning the first user to the second content delivery network for distribution of the second resource to the first user comprises assigning the first user to the second content delivery network for distribution of video segments of video content to the first user (Major; [Abstract] shows a client device requesting the media content from the first content delivery source via the network; para [0038] shows when the bandwidth transmitted to (or received by) the client device falls below a threshold level, the content delivery source may identify or otherwise select a different internet backbone provider; para [0090] shows the current conditions on the network 110 also dictate that a second CDN 142 should now be ranked higher than the first CDN 140. Thereafter, the media player 122 transmits 924 requests for the next encoded segments of the multimedia content 101 to the second CDN 142 and receives 926 the requested encoded multimedia segments 910 from the second CDN 142 via the network 110.)
Stoica-Major fails to teach.
wherein assigning the first user to the first content delivery network for distribution of the first resource to the first user comprises assigning the first user to the first content delivery network for distribution of a manifest to the first user.
However, Gordon discloses:
wherein assigning the first user to the first content delivery network for distribution of the first resource to the first user comprises assigning the first user to the first content delivery network for distribution of a manifest to the first user (Fig. 12 and para [0768] show a user device 1220 receiving an adaptive streaming video from two CDNs 1210 a and 1220 b. In this example, a content publisher 1230 may provide a single video content resource to multiple CDNs 1210 a and 1220 b. The manifest file generated and provided to the user device 1220 for the adaptive streaming video may include URLs referencing CDN # 1 1210 a, with URLs referencing CDN # 2 1210 b. Thus, when receiving and playing the adaptive streaming video, the user device 1220 may request and receive certain video segments from CDN # 1 1210 a, and may request and receive other video segments from CDN # 2 1210 b.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teaching of Stoica-Major with the teaching of Gordon in order to provide manifest files for adaptive streaming video (Major; para [0038]).
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Schapira et al. (US20120226770A1) discloses in para [0007] a first CDN may receive, from a client device, a request for a content item. The first CDN may determine to assign the request for the content item to a second CDN different from the first CDN
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAN DOAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0162. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm ET.
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, Oscar Louie, can be reached at (571) 270-1684. 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.
/TAN DOAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445
Prosecution Insights