DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to Applicants’ election to the Restriction Requirement on July 7, 2026. Applicants elected Group I, claims 1-9. Claims 10-20 have been withdrawn. Claims 1-9 are pending and presented for examination.
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 .
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) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Manville et al (hereinafter, “Manville”, U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0341079) in view of Bazar et al (hereinafter, “Bazar”, U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0289087).
As per claim 1, Manville discloses a method comprising:
detecting, by a processing device, a change in state of digital content that is maintained as part of a coediting session involving a plurality of client devices (paragraphs 0006 and 0024 discloses many users apply multiple changes to a digital video or other digital content by applying individual changes to the digital content over time. In particular, users often apply individual edits by generating one or more new copies of a digital video with each individual change in online management content system);
locating, by the processing device, one or more elements of the digital content corresponding to the change in state (paragraph 0096 discloses an online content management system for managing permissions associated with rendering user edits to low and/or high-resolution versions of the digital video. The online content management system maintains different permissions associated with each respective user.
However, Manville does not explicitly disclose:
generating, by the processing device, a fingerprint responsive to the detecting, the generating based on a hash of a serialization of the one or more elements; and
communicating, by the processing device, the fingerprint for receipt by at least one of the plurality of client devices, the fingerprint configured to support a determination as to whether the change in state to the digital content is consistent across the plurality of client device as part of the coediting session.
Bazar discloses receives digital content for communication to a user comprising:
generating, by the processing device, a fingerprint responsive to the detecting, the generating based on a hash of a serialization of the one or more elements (paragraphs 0015 and 0020-0021 discloses a fingerprint associated with the digital content stored in a database matching the user fingerprint); and
communicating, by the processing device, the fingerprint for receipt by at least one of the plurality of client devices, the fingerprint configured to support a determination as to whether the change in state to the digital content is consistent across the plurality of client device as part of the coediting session (paragraphs 0029-0030 and 0032 discloses a user downloading content based on comparing a user fingerprint with fingerprints stored in the database).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Manville by incorporating or implementing the technique of associating fingerprints with digital content for the purpose of determine whether digital content associated with the digital identification exists in the user device's local storage in a timely and efficient manner.
As per claim 2, Manville discloses the claimed invention substantially as claim discussed above. However, Manville does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the communicating includes communicating the fingerprint for receipt by a service provider system, the fingerprint configured to cause the service provider system to control whether the change in state is permitted.
Bazar discloses receives digital content for communication to a user comprising:
wherein the communicating includes communicating the fingerprint for receipt by a service provider system, the fingerprint configured to cause the service provider system to control whether the change in state is permitte (paragraphs 0029-0030 and 0032 discloses a user downloading content based on comparing a user fingerprint with fingerprints stored in the database).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Manville by incorporating or implementing the technique of associating fingerprints with digital content for the purpose of determine whether digital content associated with the digital identification exists in the user device's local storage in a timely and efficient manner.
As per claim 3, Manville discloses:
wherein the digital content is maintained locally by the service provider system and the plurality of client devices (paragraphs 0026, 0029 and 0031).
As per claim 4, Manville further discloses:
identifying a content editing feature associated with the change in state (paragraph 0024 and 0029); and
determining a version associated with the content editing feature (paragraph 0096).
However, Manville does not explicitly disclose:
setting a version identifier associated with the fingerprint based on the version.
Bazar discloses receives digital content for communication to a user comprising:
setting a version identifier associated with the fingerprint based on the version (paragraphs 0029-0030 and 0032 discloses a user downloading content based on comparing a user fingerprint with fingerprints stored in the database).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Manville by incorporating or implementing the technique of associating fingerprints with digital content for the purpose of determine whether digital content associated with the digital identification exists in the user device's local storage in a timely and efficient manner.
As per claim 5, Manville discloses:
wherein the version identifier is usable as part of determining compatibility by the least one of the plurality of client devices with the change in state (paragraph 0036).
As per claim 6, Manville discloses:
wherein the version identifier is configured such that the at least one of the plurality of client devices ceases synchronization based on part of a local version of the digital content responsive to determining incompatibility with the content editing feature based on the version identifier (paragraphs 0096 and 0145).
However, Manville does not explicitly disclose:
fingerprint (paragraphs 0029-0030 and 0032 discloses a user downloading content based on comparing a user fingerprint with fingerprints stored in the database).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Manville by incorporating or implementing the technique of associating fingerprints with digital content for the purpose of determine whether digital content associated with the digital identification exists in the user device's local storage in a timely and efficient manner.
As per claim 7, Manville discloses the invention substantially as claims discussed above.
However, Manville does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the generating the fingerprint includes identifying session-dependent data and controlling whether to omit the session-dependent data from the fingerprint.
Bazar discloses receives digital content for communication to a user comprising:
wherein the generating the fingerprint includes identifying session-dependent data and controlling whether to omit the session-dependent data from the fingerprint (paragraphs 0029-0030 and 0032).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Manville by incorporating or implementing the technique of associating fingerprints with digital content for the purpose of determine whether digital content associated with the digital identification exists in the user device's local storage in a timely and efficient manner
As per claim 8, Manville further discloses:
receiving an indication from a service provider system indicating that the change in state to the digital content is permitted (paragraphs 0029 and 0096).
As per claim 9, Manville discloses:
wherein the serialization is generated based on an in-memory stream of a delta of the one or more elements, the delta describing the change in state (paragraphs 0036 and 0037).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sherman et al (U.S. Pat. No. 11,709,810) discloses updating a file is disclosed. In such a method, unique chunks in a first version of a digital file are identified. For a second version of the digital file, chunks that are the same as in the first version are identified.
Beri (U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0061779) discloses resolving conflicts in collaborative digital content editing, a computing device implements a resolution system to apply a content editing operation to a digital object. The resolution system writes an indication of the content editing operation at a first position of a local transaction stack of editing operations. The resolution system transmits editing data via a network describing the content editing operation for receipt by a server system. Relay data is received via the network from the server system describing an additional content editing operation for application to the digital object. The resolution system determines a conflict between the additional content editing operation and the content editing operation and writes an indication of the additional content editing operation at a second position of the local transaction stack of editing operations that is before the first position.
Lee et al (U.S. Pub. No. 2026/0019456) discloses determining, with a content detection tool, a content element within a digital collaboration space. Determining, with a device type determination tool, a device type for modifying the content element based on a content type associated with the content element. Prompting computing devices, which have access the digital collaboration space, to modify the content element. Modifying the content element within the digital collaboration space based on an input.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LASHONDA T JACOBS-BURTON whose telephone number is (571)272-4004. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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/LASHONDA JACOBS-BURTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2457
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August 7, 2026
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