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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sinnott et al. (US 20200068245, hereinafter Sinnott)
Regarding Claim 1, “A content display device comprising” Sinnott teaches (¶0089) a user equipment device (e.g., a television, Smart TV); (¶0003) other display screens (e.g., conference room display screen, work building lobby display, work building elevator screen, home television, home computer, local restaurant display screen, local sports bar display screens, and other such devices.)
As to “processing circuitry configured to acquire sensing information of a sensor that observes a viewing area that is an area where a display is viewable; identify each of two or more users present in the viewing area on a basis of the acquired sensing information” Sinnott teaches (¶0015, ¶0008, ¶0127 and Fig. 9) the display device may include a camera to identify a new user within the proximity of the display/able to view the display device; (¶0003-¶0004, ¶0030) using cameras and facial recognition techniques; (¶0013, ¶0034) detecting a plurality of users proximate to a display device.
As to “and transmit identification information of each of the users to a personal authentication server that records personal information; acquire personal information corresponding to identification information of each of the users from the personal information recorded in the personal authentication server” Sinnott teaches (¶0041, ¶0128 and Fig. 9) the media guidance application may add each of a plurality of users proximate to a display device, to a first set of users or a second set of users with the following actions. The media guidance application may retrieve a respective media asset preference profile for each of the plurality of users. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve each profile from a server. Each profile may include one more media asset characteristics that the user prefers; (¶0084 and ¶0101) Each user profile may include a user identification field 610. The user identification field may be a unique value identifying the user. User profile 600 may also include attributes field 620. Attributes field 620 may include preferences of the user.
As to “determine one or more video content to be included in video content in accordance with each piece of personal information corresponding to personal information of each user, as video content corresponding to each user; and generate two or more video content including the one or more video content” Sinnott teaches (¶0002, ¶0084) There are many environments in which there are multiple viewers actively or passively watching a display screen (or display screens) together, such as in a conference room, waiting room, common area, or other location. Such display screens may show one or more media assets that may be general interest programming, or somewhat tailored to the general audience. To improve on this experience, a media system, such as a media guidance application, may generate media content, for display to the viewers, that is customized to the viewers presently surrounding the display device, and that is displayed in a configuration using audience information. The media guidance application may use media asset metadata, as well as viewer data to automatically generate displays of media assets for the audience
As to “and cause the display to display each piece of the video content having been generated, wherein the processing circuitry repeats processing of randomly selecting video content to be displayed on the display from two or more pieces of the video content having been generated, and causes the display to display the selected video content.” Sinnott teaches (¶0129) the control circuitry 704 generates, on a display device, e.g., display 712, the first available media asset and the second available media asset. For example, the control circuitry 704 may determine a layout for the first available media asset and the second available media asset in the display based on an amount of users in the first set of users as compared with an amount of users in the second set of users.
Regarding Claim 2, “The content display device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry generates video content whose display content changes over time in accordance with each piece of personal information having been acquired.” Sinnott teaches (¶0130-¶0133) in response to determining that adding the new user to the first set of users changes the amount of users in the first set of users as compared with the amount of users in the second set of users, i.e., the ratio, by more than a threshold amount, adjusts the layout according to the change. For example, the control circuitry 704 may change the position of the media assets in display 712.
Regarding Claim 4, its rejection is similar to claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sinnott in view of Wickenkamp (US 20160029057.)
Regarding Claim 3, Sinnott does not teach “The content display device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to measure a viewing time of each of the users on a basis of the acquired sensing information and select video content to be displayed on the display from two or more pieces of video content having been generated on a basis of the measured viewing time of each of the users, and causes the display to display the selected video content.” However, Wickenkamp teaches (¶0107 and Fig. 9) a flowchart of illustrative steps for providing a recommendation for a media asset to a group. Process 900 includes identifying a group comprising at least a first user and a second user at step 902, selecting a media asset of which the first and second users have previously accessed less than a duration of the media asset at step 904, determining a first amount of the media asset duration that the first user has accessed the media asset at step 906, determining a second amount of the media asset duration that the second user has accessed the media asset at step 908, and based on the first and second amounts of the media asset duration, providing a recommendation for the media asset to the group at step 910. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the media guidance system that displays multiple pieces of content simultaneously as taught by Sinnott with recommendation based on viewing time as taught by Wickenkamp for the benefit of providing a better content recommendation (¶0001).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Krasadakis et al. (US 20170289596) – (Fig.6) obtaining user profile from a public display
Van Brandenburg et al. (US 20130145387) – (Fig. 3) recommendation to a group of viewers based on combined weighed watching histories
Phillips et al. (US 20120117017) – (abstract) video series item recommendations are generated for a viewer group detected within a viewing area of a media device based on personal viewing histories of users in the viewer group
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRANK J JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)272-9629. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00AM-5:00PM EST.
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, Brian T. Pendleton can be reached on 571-272-7527. 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.
/Frank Johnson/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2425