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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to amendment/reconsideration filed 5/15/2026, the amendment/reconsideration has been considered. Claims 1-20 are pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments regarding the 103 rejections are moot in light of the new ground of rejections set forth below.
Terminal Disclaimer
3. The terminal disclaimer filed on 5/15/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of US Patent 12167065 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
The Double Patenting rejection therefore has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. Claims 1-2, 4-9, 11-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iyer et al. (U.S. 2022/0070524, hereafter Iyer), in view of Taylor et al. (U.S. 2021/0141589, hereafter Taylor) and He (US 20210044640).
As to claim 1, Iyer shows
A method to facilitate a collaborative media experience by a multi-media platform (Fig. 1, 107/105/102) that hosts a plurality of recorded media content, the method comprising: ([0048-0049]; [0173])
receiving data identifying recorded media content ([0176-0177])
receiving a command to initiate the collaborative media experience over a network; (Fig. 3, 3002; [0177-0178]; i.e. The host provides a command to the sync server to initialize the watch party.)
in response to the command, initiating at least two streams (Fig. 1, 110-1 and 114-1; i.e. sync and conference links) between the client device (Fig. 1, 104-1; i.e. client device of the host) of the first user and the multi-media platform, wherein one stream is a playback control channel (i.e. sync link) and another stream is a live media stream, (i.e. conference link including user reactions) ([0178]; [0170]) the playback control channel enabling control of playback of the recorded media content in the queue; (i.e. first-in/first-out buffer) ([0113]; [0060-0061]; [0063-0064])
receiving a request to join (i.e. acceptance of invitation to join the watch party) the collaborative media experience from a client device (Fig. 1, 102-2) of a first secondary user; ([0181])
in response to the request, transmitting data (i.e. host sync data and host reactions) from the playback control channel ([0190-0191]; [0168]) and the live media stream to the client device of the first secondary user; ([0170])
receiving a communication (i.e. first secondary user reaction) from the client device of the first secondary user; and ([0170]; [0042]; [0078]; Fig. 1; i.e. reactions of a given user are received by the conference engine on a conference link)
sending the received communication to one or more other client devices, associated with other secondary users, that are part of the collaborative media experience, and to the client device of the first user that is a source of the collaborative media experience. ([0170]; [0042]; [0078]; i.e. Reactions by any user device may be shared with all of the other user devices which includes the host/first user device.)
However, Iyer fails to show
that the receiving data identifying recorded media content is in a queue of a client device of a first user, the queue including at least one of the plurality of the recorded media content for playback during the collaborative media experience; or
receiving a plurality of communications from one or more of the other secondary users; consolidating the plurality of communications, including aggregating the plurality of communications and contextual data associated with the plurality of communications into a conversation, wherein the contextual data includes one or more of: a topic associated with one or more of the plurality of communications, a user preference of a particular secondary user of the one or more of the other secondary users that is associated with one or more of the plurality of communications, or user feedback associated with the recorded media content; and sending the consolidated communications to a respective consolidated communication user interface presented at client devices that are part of the collaborative media experience, including the client device of the first user, the client device of the first secondary user, and the one or more other client devices associated with the other secondary users.
Taylor shows
receiving data (i.e. indication of media item) identifying recorded media content in a queue of a client device (i.e. first playback device) of a first user, (i.e. first listener) ([0142]) the queue including at least one of the plurality of the recorded media content for playback during the collaborative media experience; ([0136])
the playback control channel (Fig. 1B; Fig. 6; [0133]; [0099]; i.e. network connection between first playback device and computing device) enabling control of playback of the recorded media content in the queue ([0160])
Taylor and Iyer are considered analogous art because they involve shared playback sessions. Iyer shows a shared viewing experience where the host identifies a particular piece of content to share with other users. Taylor shows that the content may already exist in the queue of the host. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Iyer to incorporate the teachings of Taylor wherein receiving data identifying recorded media content in a queue of a client device of a first user, the queue including at least one of the plurality of the recorded media content for playback during the collaborative media experience. Doing so provides that the host would not experience any delay in retrieving the content during the sharing session.
He discloses receiving a plurality of communications from one or more of the other secondary users; consolidating the plurality of communications, including aggregating the plurality of communications and contextual data associated with the plurality of communications into a conversation, wherein the contextual data includes one or more of: a topic associated with one or more of the plurality of communications, a user preference of a particular secondary user of the one or more of the other secondary users that is associated with one or more of the plurality of communications, or user feedback associated with the recorded media content; and sending the consolidated communications to a respective consolidated communication user interface presented at client devices that are part of the collaborative media experience, including the client device of the first user, the client device of the first secondary user, and the one or more other client devices associated with the other secondary users (see Figure 6A; and [0013], “In one aspect, the one or more content streams may include an audio content stream from the performer, an audio content stream from at least one of the one or more digital media platform users connected to the live room, and a content feed displaying text comments, user call-in history, virtual gift transactions, and profile names of the one or more digital media platform users connected to the live room. In one aspect, the method of livestreaming interactive content to a digital media platform may comprise receiving a text message live interaction from the digital media platform user, the text message live interaction including a text message published in the content feed”; [0049], “At step 306, community members may engage in live interactions with one or more livecast performers, other community members, and/or the content streams included in the livecast inside the live room. Live interactions received by the live room are shared among the livecast performers and the community members connected to the live room. For example, text messages received by the live room may be added to the live room content feed viewable by all performers and community members connected to the live room”. See also [0035], “In various embodiments, members of the community 112 may send a text message to the live room to comment on a content stream, ask one or more performers a question, have a discussion with other members of the community 112, and the like”; see also Fig. 6A, “Nice! That’s lovely song”, wherein the comments are user feedback associated with the recorded media content).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Iyer, Taylor, and He. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to provide a content feed viewable to all performers and community users connected to the live room (He, [0013]; [0049]).
As to claim 8, see similar rejection to claim 1.
As to claim 15, see similar rejection to claim 1. Iyer in view of Taylor and He further discloses hosting the collaborative media experience over the network by transmitting data (i.e. host sync data and host reactions, see Iyer as cited in rejection to claim 1) from the playback control channel (Iyer, [0190-0191]; [0168]) and the live media stream to one or more other client devices associated with respective secondary users; (Iyer, Fig. 1, 104-2/N; ([0170]. See also He, as cited in rejection to claim 1 and Fig. 2).
As to claim 2, Iyer in view of Taylor and He discloses the method of claim 1, wherein aggregating the plurality of communications is performed based at least in part on the plurality of communications and the contextual data being associated with the same token or identifier (He, as cited in rejection to claim 1, wherein the aggregating the plurality of communication is performed based at least in part on the plurality of communications and the contextual data being associate with the same live room which is identified by live room identification information, see He, Fig. 6A indicating that the plurality of communications are aggregated to be displayed in the respective live room. See [0031], “Live rooms may be joined from an instance of a digital media platform that provides livecasts, a social media platform, and/or other mobile or web based application connected to the internet and executed on a user device”; [0040], “The live room host 208 can include a communications component that provides access information and other data needed for community members to establish a connection with a live room. Features of live rooms may be configured according to instructions provided by control logic 206. For example, live room privacy and access, live interactions supported by the live room, live room identification information, and/or livecast distribution/notifications may be set by control logic 206”, indicating multiple live rooms and that communications for the joined participants are “room” specific).
As to claim 9, see similar rejection to claim 2.
As to claim 16, see similar rejection to claim 2.
As to claim 4, Iyer in view of Taylor and He shows all of the features with respect to claim 1. Iyer in view of Taylor and He further shows the method of claim 1, wherein the live media stream includes live commentary (i.e. reaction) from one or more users in the collaborative media experience. (Iyer: [0170]; [0042]. See also He, Fig. 6A; and [0035], “In various embodiments, members of the community 112 may send a text message to the live room to comment on a content stream, ask one or more performers a question, have a discussion with other members of the community 112, and the like”; see also Fig. 6A, “Nice! That’s lovely song).
As to claim 11, see similar rejection to claim 4.
As to claim 18, see similar rejection to claim 4.
As to claim 5, HE in view of Taylor and He discloses the method of claim 4, further comprising:
combining the live commentary from two or more of the one or more users; and transmitting the combined live commentary to the client devices that are part of the collaborative media experience with a conference service executing on the multi-media platform (see He, Fig. 6A, showing combined live commentary from two or more of the one or more users and transmitted to the respective client devices that are part of the live room which is the collaborative media experience, where’re a live room service (a conference service) executing on the multi-media platform is also disclosed, e.g., in Fig. 2).
As to claim 12, see similar rejection to claim 5.
As to claim 19, see similar rejection to claim 5.
As to claim 6, Iyer in view of Taylor and He discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the contextual data includes:
the user preference of the particular secondary user that is based on a user profile of the particular secondary user and is based on at least one of: purchases performed by the particular secondary user ([0013], “In one aspect, the one or more content streams may include an audio content stream from the performer, an audio content stream from at least one of the one or more digital media platform users connected to the live room, and a content feed displaying text comments, user call-in history, virtual gift transactions, and profile names of the one or more digital media platform users connected to the live room… the virtual gift including an image of the virtual gift given by the digital media platform user to the performer, the virtual gift published in the content feed and redeemable, on the digital media platform, for a cash value by the performer”, wherein a virtual gift transaction indicates a particular respective secondary user’s preference for this performer, that is based on a user profile of the particular secondary user such as the user profile name, and is based on the particular secondary user’s purchasing a virtual gift to be given to the performer), listening of content by the particular secondary user, or one or more preferences of one or more other users associated with the multi-media platform; and
the user feedback that is provided by one or more of the other secondary users in association with a playing of at least a portion of the recorded media content (He, [0035], “In various embodiments, members of the community 112 may send a text message to the live room to comment on a content stream, ask one or more performers a question, have a discussion with other members of the community 112, and the like”; see also Fig. 6A, “Nice! That’s lovely song”).
As to claim 13, see similar rejection to claim 6.
As to claim 20, see similar rejection to claim 6.
As to claim 7, Iyer in view of Taylor and He shows all of the features with respect to claim 1. Iyer in view of Taylor further shows the method of claim 1, wherein the client device (i.e. host user device) of the first user that is the source of the collaborative media experience is configured to provide revokable privileges (i.e. presenter) for the first secondary user (Iyer: [0059]. See also He, [0068], “For example, a performer may remove a comment from the live content feed. Performers may also control community members that may join the live room and access the livecast… a performer may add a comment about the community member and/or remove the community member from the live room”)
As to claim 14, see similar rejection to claim 7.
6. Claims 3, 10, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iyer in view of Taylor and He, as discussed in claim 1 above, and further in view of Anders et al (US 2020/0128286, hereafter Anders).
As to claim 3, Iyer in view of Taylor and He discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
performing natural language processing on the live media stream, based on the natural language processing, detecting a statement in the live media stream, and informing a user of a particular device of information related to the statement, wherein the particular client device is one of the client device of the first user, the client device of the first secondary user, and the one or more other client devices ([0044], “an audio to text API 224 or other service for converting sound files including spoken words into text. The audio to text API 224 and/or the extraction logic 220 may then extract a playback timeline from the audio file and obtain timeline information that positions converted text on the playback timeline. In various embodiments, timeline information may be assembled by associating every word included in the text converted from the audio file with a location on the playback timeline that corresponds to the point in time during the livecast when the text was spoken. For example, if the sentence “I think technology will save the world” was spoken during the 25th minute of the livecast, the audio to text API 224 and/or extraction logic 220 will assemble timeline information including the text “I think technology will save the world” appearing at the 25th minute of the playback timeline”; [0047], “After calibrating timeline information by calibration logic 222, playback timelines for each slice may be merged to create one timeline per livecast. Calibrated timelines including converted text associated with accurate livecast timeline locations may be written to an audio to text index data store 226”; [0048], “the audio search API 228 may provide the portion of the converted text including the search term(s) and the location (in hours, minutes, seconds, and the like) of the term on the livecast timeline as search results…Exemplary in-audio search results provided by the audio search API 228 are provided below in FIGS. 8A-B”, wherein Figs. 8A-8B shows a user interface displayed to the particular user with information related to the statement in the audio, and wherein the particular user can be any user, e.g., one of the client device of the first user, the client device of the first secondary user, and the one or more other client devices).
but does not expressly disclose that the information is a purchase opportunity, or in response to detecting the statement, providing a link to provide at least one item for acquisition by the user of the particular client device corresponding to the purchase opportunity.
Anders discloses based on a natural language processing, detecting a statement in a live media stream informing a user of a particular client device of a purchase opportunity, and in response to detecting the statement, providing a link to provide at least one item for acquisition by the user of the particular client device corresponding to the purchase opportunity ([0030], “In step 208, product search program 200 identifies a product depicted in the captured portion of the live streaming event. In various embodiments of the present invention, product search program 200 utilizes the captured portion as an input to visual recognition image or speech-to-text techniques for product identification”; Fig. 2, “identify a product depicted in the captured portion of the live streaming event”, “present an option to purchase the identified product to the user”, “does the user select a product from the presented list”, “add the selected product to shopping cart”; abstract, “Allows a user to seamlessly add the correct product in a live stream to a shopping cart without further research, further click-throughs”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Iyer in view of Taylor and He with Anders. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to provide opportunity for users to purchase products during streaming without further research (Anders, abstract; Fig. 2; [0030]).
As to claim 10, see similar rejection to claim 3.
As to claim 17, see similar rejection to claim 3.
Prior Art Cited but Not Applied in the Rejection
7. Below is a list of prior art reference(s) cited but not applied in the rejection:
a) Zheng (US 2023/0034686), disclosing a cooperative video game playing platform and user interface that streams multimedia content to connected users, with both a streaming area and a chat room area to display aggregated user feedback among other things.
Conclusion
8. 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUA FAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5311. The examiner can normally be reached on 9-6.
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/HUA FAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426
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