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
Status of Claims
This communication is a First Office Action on the merits in reply to application number 18/955,368 filed on 11/21/2024. The preliminary amendment filed on 08/19/2025 has been entered.
Claims 2-21 are currently pending and have been examined.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119 and/or 35 U.S.C. 120 is acknowledged.
CONTINUATION/CONTINUATION-IN-PART
This application is a continuation of 18/361,851 filed on 07/30/2023 (now U.S. Patent No. 12,174,896), which is a continuation of 18/151,373 filed on 01/06/2023 (now U.S. Patent No. 11,762,917), which is a continuation of U.S. application no. 17/003,861 filed on 08/26/2020 (now abandoned), which is a continuation-in-part (“CIP”) of U.S. application no. 15/909,455 filed on 03/01/2018 (now U.S. Patent No. 10,762,474), which is a CIP of U.S. application no. 14/995,200 filed on 01/14/2015 (now abandoned). See MPEP §201.08. In accordance with MPEP §609.02 A. 2 and MPEP §2001.06(b) (last paragraph), the Examiner has reviewed and considered the prior art cited in the Parent Applications. Also in accordance with MPEP §2001.06(b) (last paragraph), all documents cited or considered ‘of record’ in the Parent Application are now considered cited or ‘of record’ in this application. Additionally, Applicant(s) are reminded that a listing of the information cited or ‘of record’ in the Parent Application need not be resubmitted in this application unless Applicants desire the information to be printed on a patent issuing from this application. See MPEP §609.02 A. 2. Finally, Applicants are reminded that the prosecution history of the Parent Application is relevant in this application. See e.g., Microsoft Corp. v. Multi-Tech Sys., Inc., 357 F.3d 1340, 1350, 69 USPQ2d 1815, 1823 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (holding that statements made in prosecution of one patent are relevant to the scope of all sibling patents).
Specification
The Title of the invention is objected to for the following reason: The title of the invention, which is currently recited as “DATA STRUCTURE VISUALIZATION AND MANAGEMENT FOR REAL-TIME DATA,” is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. See MPEP 606.01.
The Examiner suggests a new title of “SCHEDULING, MANAGING, AND PROVIDING EVENT CONTENT USING CALENDAR DATA STRUCTURES AND EVENT OBJECTS.”
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 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.
Claims 2-5 and 7-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Spivack et al. (US 2011/0289422, hereinafter “Spivack”).
Claims 2/11/17: As per claim 2, Spivack teaches a method (pars. 73, 270, and Fig. 18: system…generates an interactive calendar guide for current and upcoming events) comprising:
receiving, by control circuitry and via a first user interface on a content creator device, first user input data from a content creator regarding an event, the first user input data indicating a scheduled time and an acquisition value for the event (pars. 79, 93, 105-07, 224, and 247-249, and 269-276: e.g., API enables the external parties to add event data; event provider module 180 can be any combination of software agents and/or hardware components able to receive data about online events from event providers; provides a graphical user interface for content providers to use to automate upload event data; event profiles database 122 stores data related to online events including, but not limited to, start time, event location, and metadata about the event; event profiles database 122 stores data related to online events including, but not limited to, start time…pricing [i.e., scheduled time and acquisition value], duration, permitted audiences, requirements or pre-requisites; Online events can be any scheduled activity or happening on the web, such as a video stream, … social event, product launch (e.g., launch of a new blog post or article), a scheduled tweet or link, podcast, etc.; provides a profile of an event, including … information about the content, channel, time, cost [i.e., acquisition value]; Events can be … pay per view; computer system 1800 includes a processor, memory, non-volatile memory, and an interface device [i.e., control circuitry, first user interface]; computer system 1800 can be controlled by operating system; provides a graphical user interface);
generating, by the control circuitry and based on the first user input data, event object data for the event, the event object data indicating the scheduled time and the acquisition value (pars. 73, 81-84, 105, 111, 194, 224, and 236: e.g., event profiles database 122, temporal index database 124, user database 126, and advertisement database 128 can store information such as data, images, videos, and/or any other data item utilized by parts of the interactive web guide server; interactive web guide server 120 can retrieve data from and add data to the event profiles database; system compiles a database of scheduled online events, such as event profiles database…including, but not limited to, start time, event location, and metadata about the event; event profiles database 122 stores data related to online events including, but not limited to, start time, … pricing [i.e., acquisition price]);
associating, by the control circuitry, the event object data with a data slot in a calendar data structure, the data slot being associated with a period of time (pars. 142, 224, and Figs. 32-33 and 36: e.g., showing multiple events include, but are not limited to, zooming in or out of the time slot, showing a nested calendar for the channel within a time slot; My Matrix showing a personal calendar of recommended events or a lineup of user selected and ordered channels; FIG. 32 depicts an example list view of "MY SCHEDULE" under the "MY MATRIX" tab of the interactive site of scheduled web-based events);
receiving, by the control circuitry, content to associate with the event (pars. 142, 176, 224, and 265-266: Each listed event in the mini grid can include an associated event image, and or additional metadata (event timing, event category, channel information, event summary, even description, related users, user reviews, etc.); user adds an event to his personal calendar, the user effectively sends an RSVP to the event for themselves and/or others they represent, and the interactive web guide stores the information about the user and the event in a database; export the event to an external calendar. In addition, the user can email the event or reminder to other users or friends, and/or share the event via a social networking utility or website);
associating, by the control circuitry, the content with the event object data (pars. 194-202, 224, and 265: events can be stored in the event profiles database 122 as data record objects that include a start time, one or more online event locations, and one or more elements of metadata about the event; Event objects can be linked to other events, such as related events, repeats, similar events, contained events, events that contain the events, required events, prior events, next events, etc.; Event objects can be linked to other information, such as related content, comments, web sites, documents; Each listed event in the mini grid can include an associated event image, and or additional metadata (event timing, event category, channel information, event summary, even description, related users, user reviews, etc.));
providing, via a second user interface on a content consumption device, a first calendar view displaying scheduled events with each scheduled event presented at a corresponding time slot, the scheduled events including the event (pars. 94, 142, and 224: e.g., the display module 182 responds to user commands to change the way the interactive web guide is caused to be displayed, such as customizing a display of the guide, zooming in or out of a time slot, showing nested calendars…within a time slot, and showing a three-dimensional view of stacked events occurring in the same time slot; Methods for showing multiple events include, but are not limited to, zooming in or out of the time slot, showing a nested calendar for the channel within a time slot; My Matrix showing a personal calendar of recommended events or a lineup of user selected and ordered channels);
receiving, from the content consumption device, second user input data including a selection of the event from the first calendar view (pars. 176 and 191: e.g., Events can be added to a user's "My Events" view when the user clicks on a "Add to my events" button; When a user selects the button, the corresponding online event is added to the user's personal or shared calendar; upcoming selected and/or recommended events can be provided to users; See also, par. 165: share with friends via email invites, within a shared calendar tool, with a recommendations tool, and sending an announcement about the event to a social network);
based on the second user input data, providing a visual representation indicating the acquisition value for the event (pars. 91, 124, 143, 145, 156, 172-173, 176, 179, 224, and Fig. 2: e.g., send event reminders, and send data to the display module 182 for presenting events to the user that the user has signed up for in a "My Events" view of the interactive web guide [second user input data, visual representation]; events displayed in the video carousel can be periodically refreshed; display multiple events within a certain time segment within a calendar view in a dynamic manner; Within the grid, content can be sorted by a user according to channel name, channel popularity, show name, show popularity, price [i.e., acquisition value]; Events in the "My Events" webpage [i.e., third visual representation] can be categorized by categories include, but not limited to…price [i.e., acquisition value]; Events in any view (Grid view, List view, My Events view, Top Picks, search results, or any other view) can be sorted by the user in any of a number of ways including, but not limited to…price [i.e., acquisition value]…and content type (e.g., video, audio, chat, game platform, virtual reality, web site, etc.);
receiving, from the content consumption device, third user input data including a request to acquire the content associated with the event (pars. 125, 128, 153, 163, and 176: e.g., user can select a particular category under one of these tabs to access a listing of events, including events occurring now, upcoming events, and recent events. The user can select an event to perform an action such as viewing the event [i.e., third user input data] At block 2020, the system receives a play request for the event from the user [i.e., request to acquire the content associated with the event]; events can be added to a user's "My Events" view when the user clicks on a "Add to my events" button that is made available with each event listing in the interactive web guide. For example, in FIG. 3, the cursor has been moved over the event "2010 Australian Open--Court 6 (Day 5)" which brings up a pop-up window with event details and the "Add to my events" button [i.e., request to acquire the content associated with the event]);
based on the third user input data, performing an authorization process to acquire access to the event (pars. 106 and 159: e.g., At decision block 1910, the system determines if the online event is starting. If the online event is not starting yet (block 1910--No), the process remains at decision block 1910. If the online event is starting (block 1910--Yes), at decision block 1915 the system determines if the user has checked in to the event; Events can be free, pay per view, or available by subscription and can be accessed through the website hosting the interactive web guide or after registering at the website for certain events. Events may be open to the public or only open to specific audiences such as invited audiences or qualifying participants);and
based on the authorization process, providing the content associated with the event to the content consumption device at the scheduled time associated with the event (pars. 106, 156, and 195: Events can be free, pay per view, or available by subscription and can be accessed through the website hosting the interactive web guide or after registering at the website for certain events; Events may be open to the public or only open to specific audiences such as invited audiences or qualifying participants; When an event is played, if the event is presently occurring, the user can either be taken to the live event by pointing to the live URL for the event; the event can be accessed online through online video, audio, chat, virtual reality, interactive gaming, web browsing, or any other online application).
Claims 11 and 17 are directed to a system with control circuitry and memory (claim 11) and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (claim 17) for performing substantially similar limitations as those set forth in claim 2 and addressed above. Spivack teaches a system and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media for performing the limitations discussed above (Spivack at pars. 270-274 and Fig. 18: computer system 1800 includes a processor, memory, non-volatile memory, and an interface device; computer-readable (storage) medium), and claims 11/17 are therefore rejected using the same reference and for substantially the same reasons as set forth above.
Claims 3/12/18: Spivack further teaches wherein the providing the first calendar view includes displaying a plurality of scheduled events associated with a plurality of content creators, respectively (pars. 139, 192, 200, 224, 258, and Figs. 32 and 36: describing/displaying calendar views, e.g., My Matrix, of events associated with different content providers/creators - e.g., can contain any set of events, such as events associated with one or more content providers; Event objects can be linked to particular channels, where channels can represent content providers, brands, shows, topics, editors, users, or special aggregations of events; user can also choose from a list of channels that the user's friends have share; My Matrix showing a personal calendar of recommended events or a lineup of user selected and ordered channels; Event Profile--a widget that provides a profile of an event, including optionally a trader for the event or selected content from the event, information about the content, channel, time, cost, rating, location, projected audience, popularity of the event, etc.; time slots can generally be adjusted, configured, or re-configured by a user. In some instances, the content provider or event provider of the events can specify the default time slots).
Claim 4: Spivack further teaches providing, via the content consumption device, a second calendar view displaying events that have been acquired for consumption (pars. 176 and 224: e.g., events can be added to a user's "My Events" view when the user clicks on a "Add to my events" button that is made available with each event listing in the interactive web guide. For example, in FIG. 3 [which displays a second calendar view], the cursor has been moved over the event "2010 Australian Open--Court 6 (Day 5)" which brings up a pop-up window with event details and the "Add to my events" button; widgets can include one or more of the following: a grid or list view of upcoming events showing all events, or any query results or subset of events in the database; My Events showing the events a user has sent an RSVP to and/or attended in the past; My Matrix showing a personal calendar of recommended events or a lineup of user selected and ordered channels).
Claims 5/13/19: Spivack further teaches receiving, while the content is being displayed via the content consumption device, feedback data for the content, the feedback data being indicative of how the content is being received; associating the feedback data with the content; and providing at least a portion of the feedback data to the content creator (pars. 104, 131, 141, 153-154, 157, 207-208, and 246: e.g., event is currently taking place and real-time audience measurement; if a user RSVPs to an online chat event is Linable to watch it live, the web guide can record it by making a saved digital online video, text, or audio file that records the chat session; capabilities for showing live streaming video or audio, providing interactive chat; interactive web guide server 120 includes a report generator module 196. The report generator module 196 can be any combination of software agents and/or hardware components able to generate reports about online events…statistics about the audience for online events, rankings or ratings for event providers, channels, and events…and that provide high-level metrics about them, similar to a ratings system for online events and content; generate reports about online events, the demand for the events, statistics about the audience for online events, rankings or ratings for event providers [i.e., provide feedback data to content creators]; Reports can be generated for event providers [i.e., provide feedback data to content creators).
Claim 7: Spivack further teaches generating metric data indicative of a total number of acquisitions of the content; and providing the metric data to the content creator (pars. 104, 111, 203, 207, and 217: e.g., generate reports about online events, the demand for the events, statistics about the audience for online events, rankings or ratings for event providers, channels, and events; metrics about demand, audience, prices, or inventory related to the events; Reports can be generated for event providers on the demand for their events over time, the actual audience of their events, the demographics of their audience).
Claims 8/14/20: Spivack further teaches wherein the content is real-time content (pars. 153, 156-157, 14, and 246: e.g., user can either be taken to the live event [i.e., real-time content] by pointing to the live URL for the event, or the live event plays directly within the interactive web guide; system can either point the user to a URL for the live event; provide online locations for events, including capabilities for showing live streaming video or audio).
Claims 9/15/21: Spivack further teaches wherein the content is not accessible outside the period of time associated with the event (pars. 150, 153, 156-157, 234, and 246: describing content that is either live or scheduled occur during designated timeslots, which makes them inaccessible outside of such live or timeslot based content period - e.g., rows denote events at various time slots; user can either be taken to the live event by pointing to the live URL for the event, or the live event plays directly within the interactive web guide; system can either point the user to a URL for the live event; provide online locations for events, including capabilities for showing live streaming video or audio; web guide can show … events that are taking place at those time slots).
Claims 10/16: Spivack further teaches wherein providing the first calendar view and providing the content occur through a same interface platform (pars. 73, 124, and 156: e.g., interactive calendar guide for current and upcoming content and events available on the World Wide Web (Web) as well as web-based events that have recently occurred. The terms interactive calendar guide, interactive web guide, and online program guide can be used interchangeably. The interactive web guide provides content to a consumer; When an event is played, if the event is presently occurring, the user can either be taken to the live event …or the live event plays directly within the interactive web guide; interactive web guide can include a video carousel that displays still or video images associated with events).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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 of this title, 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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as unpatentable over Spivack et al. (US 2011/0289422, hereinafter “Spivack), as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Doss et al. (US 2004/0093290, hereinafter “Doss”).
Claim 6: Spivack teaches the limitations of claim 2 as set forth above, and with respect to claim 6 further teaches providing the metric data to the content creator (pars. 104, 111, 131, 141, 153-154, 157, 203, 207-208, 217, and 246: e.g., report generator module 196 can be any combination of software agents and/or hardware components able to generate reports about online events…statistics about the audience for online events, rankings or ratings for event providers, channels, and events…and that provide high-level metrics about them, similar to a ratings system for online events and content; generate reports about online events, the demand for the events, statistics about the audience for online events, rankings or ratings for event providers; Reports can be generated for event providers; generate reports about online events, the demand for the events, statistics about the audience for online events; metrics about demand, audience, prices, or inventory related to the events; Reports can be generated for event providers on the demand for their events over time, the actual audience of their events, the demographics of their audience), however Spivack does not explicitly teach analyzing a plurality of calendar data structures associated with a plurality of users, respectively; based on the analyzing, generating metric data indicative of a most available time period within the plurality of calendar data structures.
Doss teaches analyzing a plurality of calendar data structures associated with a plurality of users, respectively; based on the analyzing, generating metric data indicative of a most available time period within the plurality of calendar data structures (paragraphs 26-27, 96-97, 124, 134-135, Figs. 8-12, and claim 39: e.g., performing a free-time search of calendar data by: retrieving availability information for a plurality of users; locating free-time segments which are available in the retrieved availability information; adjusting the located free-time segments based on one or more context-sensitive criteria which are applicable to this free-time search; when more than one possible meeting time is found, the preferred times may be chosen over other times or presented at the top of a list of results for the person scheduling the meeting to choose from; scheduler may choose to see possible meeting times sorted according to when the meeting time and/or location are most convenient for the maximum number of invitees; determining one or more free-time segments when each of the plurality of users is available, according to the adjusted free-time segments for each of the users; and providing the determined free-time segments as a result of the free-time search. The retrieved availability information preferably comprises calendar data from the users' electronic calendars; Following completion of Blocks 230 or 240, processing reaches Block 250 where the computed search results are presented to the user for his review. A sample search results display is provided in FIG. 12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Spivack with Doss because the references are analogous because Spivack is directed to computer-implemented features for managing/scheduling streaming media content and thus within applicant’s field of endeavor of time-based management of data-streaming events, whereas Doss’s free-time search features based on information gleaned from users’ calendars (i.e., time-based data structure) is reasonably pertinent to the problem with which applicant is concerned (time-based management of events using time-based/calendar data structures) and because modifying Spivack to incorporate Doss’s features for analyzing data structures associated with users to generate/send metric data indicative of a most available time period, as claimed, would serve the motivation to allow users of the web guide to socially connect with friends based on their availability (Spivack at paragraphs 101, 169, 171, and 184); and further obvious because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Gingras et al. (US 2011/0071878): discloses mobile applications for calendar sharing and scheduling, including retrieve, from the remote server, calendars of the participants when settings associated with the calendars allow a sharing of the calendars with the organizing participant; and output the calendars to the user interface for display (paragraph 15).
Meltzer et al. (US 2014/0310045): discloses features for generating and managing calendar events.
Skeen et al. (US 2013/0339877): discloses multi-media management and streaming techniques, including embedding of content and event management within a calendar mobile interface (pars. 175, 431-432, 553, 558, and Figs. 8A/B, 18, 19, and 26).
Feldman (US 2009/0083365): discloses, inter alia, a feature for receiving receive discussion data indicative of one or more messages associated with the event; and associate the discussion data with the calendar event object (paragraph 2, claim 13, and Figs. 2d and 2G: e.g., module for displaying a calendar of local events…message and discussion board).
A. M. Ahmed, T. Qiu, F. Xia, B. Jedari and S. Abolfazli, "Event-Based Mobile Social Networks: Services, Technologies, and Applications," in IEEE Access, vol. 2, pp. 500-513, 2014: discloses features for organizing social events such as meetings/conferences/tradeshows, including activity calendars, video live-streaming architecture, and multimedia mobilization.
R. Gaglianello, L. Spergel and D. Liu, "Convergence of telephony and television: More than a computer on your TV," 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Broadband Multimedia Systems and Broadcasting, Bilbao, Spain, 2009, pp. 1-7: discloses implementation of converged services such as set-top-boxes, DVRs, and real-time alerts to facilitate interaction and control of resources, including calendar-based service integration with television programming, shared streaming video such as video-on-demand and pay-per-view content, and calendar alerting and reminder services.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Timothy A. Padot whose telephone number is 571.270.1252. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 8:30 - 5:30. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Brian Epstein can be reached at 571.270.5389. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571- 273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY PADOT/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3625