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
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the preliminary amendment filed on 04/14/2025. Claims 2-21 are presently pending. Claim 1 has been canceled by the Applicant.
Priority
Applicant is claiming benefit of (continuity) to the US applications 18/219,989 (USPN 12,200,281) and 17/485,832 (USPN 11,750,860).
The instant claims are directed to switching/ receipt of content as a mobile device moves/ changes location from different communication networks. In contrast the Specification as filed (Applications in the chain of continuity) are directed to distribution of content amongst user devices.
Applicant is advised that the current claim set has not been disclosed in the Specification as originally filed. The filing date for the instant application, at best, is 04/14/2025. See Rejection under 35 USC § 112 First paragraph below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 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 2-21 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 enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Independent claims 2 and 12 recite accessing/ transmitting content upon determination that a mobile device switches from first network to a second network. The Specification is directed to distribution of content amongst user devices. There is no mention of any the mobile device switching networks and receiving content from a second network! division of a content to a first portion and/or second portion. Furthermore, there is no disclosure as to the identification of any device/ user and corresponding download of a specific portion of a content thereof. Therefore, the instant claims are directed to new matter that has not been previously disclosed.
Claims 3-11 and 13-21 depend on claims 2 and 12, respectively, therefore, are rejected the same.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 2-6 and 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Srinivasan et al., USPGPUB 2015/0289188 (hereinafter “Srinivasan”). Srinivasan, in its entirety, reads on instant claims. The referenced paragraph below are for the convenience of the Applicant.
Regarding claim 2, Srinivasan discloses a method (Abstract, Figs.2-6 and corresponding descriptions) comprising:
transmitting, to a mobile device via a first communication network based at least in part on a first location of the mobile device, a first portion of a video content using a first video transport protocol (Fig. 2B, ¶¶ [56]-[58], first network 3G and associated protocols; As shown in Fig. 6, 602-608, the device 250 discovers anticipates moving to other networks and/or determining conditions associated with the first network, thereby setting up uninterrupted transmission of content through the second network);
determining that the mobile device switches from accessing the first communication network to accessing a second communication network based at least in part on the mobile device moving to a second location different from the first location (Fig. 6, 602-608 and corresponding descriptions. The device 250 discovers anticipates moving to other networks and/or determining conditions associated with the first network, thereby setting up uninterrupted transmission of content through the second network; ¶¶ [70]-[71]), wherein the first communication network is different from the second communication network (3G/4G to Wi-Fi as shown in Figs. 2 and corresponding descriptions; Also see ¶¶ [56][62], [82], [83]); and
based at least in part on determining that the mobile device switches from accessing the first communication network to accessing the second communication network (Fig. 6, and corresponding descriptions):
causing the mobile device to access the video content via the second communication network (606-610); and
transmitting, to the mobile device via the second communication network, at least a second portion of the video content using a second video transport protocol, wherein the second video transport protocol is different from the first video transport protocol (Fig. 6, 602-608 and corresponding descriptions. The device 250 discovers anticipates moving to other networks and/or determining conditions associated with the first network, such as shown in 608-612).
Regarding claim 3, Srinivasan discloses wherein the first communication network comprises a cellular connection (Fig. 2B, ¶ [56] and the second communication network comprises a Wi-Fi connection (¶ [56]).
Regarding claim 4, Srinivasan discloses:
determining that the mobile device moves to the second location (¶ [52]); and
based at least in part on determining that the mobile device moves to the second location, establishing one or more connections of the second communication network (¶¶ [55]-[58]); and
wherein causing the mobile device to access the video content via the second communication network comprises communicatively coupling the mobile device to the second communication network using the one or more connections (¶¶ [55]-[58]).
Regarding claim 5, Srinivasan discloses wherein at least one of the first video transport protocol or the second video transport protocol is an HTTP-based protocol (¶¶ [72], [81])).
Regarding claim 6, Srinivasan discloses wherein at least one of the first video transport protocol or the second video transport protocol is an UDP-based protocol (¶¶ [31], [35], [47]).
The system of claims 12-16 recite similar features as those of the methods of claims 2-6, respectively, effectuated by the same, therefore, are rejected by the same analysis.
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 7-9 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Srinivasan, in view of Shribman et al., USPGPUB 2016/0337426 (hereinafter “Shribman”).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, though Srinivasan discloses receiving data and considering of respective networks connection quality (¶¶ [34], [104]) and switching between plurality of communication networks, using different transport protocols, as needed (As analyzed in claim 1), he is not explicit in:
receiving data comprising one or more playback metrics associated with the second portion of the video content;
determining, based on the one or more playback metrics, that delivery of the video content to the mobile device is behind; and
based at least in part on the delivery of the video content to the mobile device being behind, causing the mobile device to access the video content via a different network (third communication network using a third video transport protocol, as disclosed by Srinivasan and analyzed in claim 1).
However, Shribman discloses a method, computer program code, and system for streaming content from multiple servers on multiple networks (Fig. 10 and corresponding description) whereby:
receiving data comprising one or more playback metrics associated with the second portion of the video content (QOS, SLA, QOE, ¶¶ [205]-[207]);
determining, based on the one or more playback metrics, that delivery of the video content to the mobile device is behind (¶¶ [207]); and
based at least in part on the delivery of the video content to the mobile device being behind, causing the mobile device to access the video content via a different server/ network (third communication network using a third video transport protocol) (¶¶ [205], [210], [213], [26]-[250]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Srinivasan with Shribman’s teachings in order to provide best Quality of Experience (QoE) to the viewer based on available network/ system resources. See Shribman’s ¶¶ [212]-[213], [234]-[235] for motivation.
Regarding claims 8 and 18, the system of Srinivasan and Shribman discloses:
determining a selected output format for presenting the video content via the mobile device (Shribman: ¶¶ [422]-[430]); and
causing the video content to be modified to match the selected output format for presenting via the mobile device (Shribman: ¶¶ [422]-[430]).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, the system of Srinivasan and Shribman discloses wherein causing the video content to be modified to match the selected output format comprises one of upconverting or down converting the video content (Shribman: ¶¶ [213], [422]-[430]).
Claims 10-11 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Srinivasan, in view of Muvavarirwa, USPGPUB 2017/0353768 (hereinafter “Muvavarirwa”).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, Srinivasan is not explicit in encrypting at least one of the first portion or the second portion of the video content with a digital right management (DRM) key.
However, Muvavarirwa discloses a method and system for transporting and displaying contents by encrypting at least one of the first portion or the second portion of the video content with a digital right management (DRM) key (¶¶ [56], [89], [107], [109], [117]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Srinivasan with Muvavarirwa’s teachings in order to provide content protection/ subscription for security and potential revenue generation.
Regarding claims 11 and 21, the system of Srinivasan and Muvavarirwa discloses wherein at least one of the first portion or the second portion of the video content is cached via a content distribution network (CDN). (Muvavarirwa: ¶¶ [7], [27], [30], [33], [56], [86], [89], [115])
Contacts
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R MARANDI whose telephone number is (571)270-1843. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-7 ET flex.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan J Flynn can be reached at 571-272-1915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES R MARANDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421
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