DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 5/28/2026 has been entered.
The 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection of claims 7-18 is withdrawn based on Applicant’s amendments.
Claim Status
Claims 1-5, 7-11, and 13-17 are pending in this Office Action.
Claims 1-5, 7-11, and 13-17 are amended.
Claims 6, 12, and 18 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 7, and 13 have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant argues the cited references, either alone or in combination, do not teach or suggest responsive to the indication of the first pause event, … presenting a first supplemental content item associated with a product or service in a content slot, ... responsive to the indication of the second pause event, ... presenting a second supplemental content item associated with the product or service, wherein the second supplemental content item differs from the first supplemental content item.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Ghavami teaches the detection of the content pause may trigger displaying a commercial on screen, such as a commercial break window that is dynamically integrated into the display area. The dynamic commercial break dynamically resizes the video stream player window, making it smaller, for display of a non-linear multimedia commercial in an adjunct window. The commercial does not obstruct the video stream and may be for a product or service, such as a car commercial (par. 26-27, Fig. 7-10. Therefore, Ghavami demonstrates responsive to the indication of the first pause event, … presenting a first supplemental content item associated with a product or service in a content slot. Further, McClendon teaches during a second pause event that pauses playback of the primary content stream, a second video advertisement may be presented related to the first advertisement. The second advertisement may be selected to be from the same advertising campaign or the same brand as the first advertisement (par. 34, 63, 79, and 86, Fig. 1 and 4). Therefore, McClendon demonstrates responsive to the indication of the second pause event, ... presenting a second supplemental content item associated with the product or service, wherein the second supplemental content item differs from the first supplemental content item. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Ghavami with the teaching of McClendon to increase engagement of the user with the brand and/or advertising campaign associated with the advertisement (McClendon – par. 79).
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 (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.
Claims 1-5, 7-11, and 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghavami (US 2022/0038757) in view of McClendon et al. (US 2022/0201369).
Regarding claims 1, 7, and 13, Ghavami teaches: A method, performed by a user device, for dynamic reconfiguration of a video player when pausing a video content item, a user device, and one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media [dynamically resizing the video stream player window on the user’s device triggered by a content pause (par. 26, Fig. 1 and 7-8)], the method comprising:
playing the video content item in the video player while the video player is arranged in a first region of a display associated with the user device [content playback, such as a video stream being viewed on a device (for example, a CTV, smartphone, or desktop) in a video stream player window (par. 26, Fig. 7 and 8)]
detecting an indication of a first pause event [using real-time event listeners and triggers for content or activity-based events, such as detecting a content pause, for example pressing pause by mouse click, touch screen, or remote control (par. 26)] and
responsive to the indication of the first pause event, pausing the video content item, rearranging the video player to be in a second region of the display that is smaller than the first region, and presenting a first supplemental content item associated with a product or service in a content slot of the display that does not overlap the second region [the detection of the content pause may trigger displaying a commercial on screen, such as a commercial break window that is dynamically integrated into the display area. The dynamic commercial break dynamically resizes the video stream player window, making it smaller, for display of a non-linear multimedia commercial in an adjunct window. The commercial does not obstruct the video stream and may be for a product or service, such as a car commercial (par. 26-27, Fig. 7-10)].
Ghavami does not explicitly disclose: resuming playing the video content item, detecting an indication of a second pause event, and responsive to the indication of the second pause event, pausing the video content item, and presenting a second supplemental content item associated with the product or service, wherein the second supplemental content item differs from the first supplemental content item.
McClendon teaches: resuming playing the video content item [in response to a user input that resumes playback of the primary content stream: resuming playback of the primary digital video content stream (par. 14, 19, 33, and 65)],
detecting an indication of a second pause event, and responsive to the indication of the second pause event, pausing the video content item, and presenting a second supplemental content item associated with the product or service, wherein the second supplemental content item differs from the first supplemental content item [during a second pause event that pauses playback of the primary content stream, a second video advertisement may be presented related to the first advertisement. The second advertisement may be selected to be from the same advertising campaign or the same brand as the first advertisement (par. 34, 63, 79, and 86, Fig. 1 and 4)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Ghavami and McClendon before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Ghavami by incorporating resuming playing of the video content and responsive to a second pause event, pausing the video content item, and presenting a second supplemental content item associated with the product or service, wherein the second supplemental content item differs from the first supplemental content item disclosed by McClendon. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase engagement of the user with the brand and/or advertising campaign associated with the advertisement (McClendon – par. 79). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Ghavami and McClendon to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding claims 2, 8, and 14, Ghavami and McClendon teach the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: the content slot overlaps the first region [A first region, such as a video stream player window as depicted in Fig. 7 or Fig. 8. As seen in Fig. 9, the content slot, such as a commercial break window overlaps the video stream window of Fig. 7 or 8 (par. 26)].
Regarding claims 3, 9, and 15, Ghavami and McClendon teach the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: responsive to a user input, removing the first supplemental content item from the display, rearranging the video player to be in the first region [the user may have an option to interact with the dynamically integrated commercial frame or to close the commercial break window before completion of the commercial content. FIGS. 10 and 11 represent the adjunct window for the dynamic commercial break gradually being removed from display until the main streaming content occupies the principal areas of the display (par. 26, Fig. 7-11)] and
McClendon further teaches: resuming playing the video content item [in response to a user input that resumes playback of the primary content stream: resuming playback of the primary digital video content stream (par. 14, 19, 33, and 65)].
Regarding claims 4, 10, and 16, Ghavami and McClendon teach the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: responsive to a user input, removing the first supplemental content item from the display, rearranging the video player to be in the first region [the user may have an option to interact with the dynamically integrated commercial frame or to close the commercial break window before completion of the commercial content. FIGS. 10 and 11 represent the adjunct window for the dynamic commercial break gradually being removed from display until the main streaming content occupies the principal areas of the display (par. 26, Fig. 9-11)] and
McClendon further teaches: maintaining the pause of the video content item [in response to a user input indicating the user wishes to return to the primary content stream: render a particular (paused) frame of the primary content stream corresponding to the last frame of the primary content stream viewed by the user (par. 39, 58-59, and 65)].
Regarding claims 5, 11, and 17, Ghavami and McClendon teach the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: rearranging the video player is responsive to the user device completing loading the first supplemental content item [displaying a commercial on-screen may be triggered by content pause (par. 26). The creative asset is downloaded and stored locally and presented once the ad is received or retrieved (par. 45, 50, 57, and 59-60, Fig. 4 and 7-9)].
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/ALEXANDER BOYD/Examiner, Art Unit 2424
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