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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/14/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Status
Claims 1-20 are pending in this Office Action.
Potentially Allowable Subject Matter
While a determination of allowability would require further search, the subject matter described in paragraph 107 regarding predicting a number of content slots based on the number of pauses the user usually takes before the user finishes a video content item appears to distinguish at least over the art of record and may be allowable if it were incorporated into the claims, such as claim 13.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-8, 10, 14-16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ghavami (US 2022/0038757).
Regarding claims 1 and 14, Ghavami teaches: A method, performed by a server, and a server in communication with a user device via a network [A server for providing ads, in communication with a client device (par. 66, Fig. 2, 3B, and 5)], the method comprising:
receiving one or more signals including at least one signal indicative of interest or attention of a user of the user device [receiving information from the client including preferred ad types, genres, and formats and user declared interests (par. 54 and 68-73)]
identifying one or more supplemental content items [selecting an ad based on the criteria (par. 45 and 73-74, Fig. 6)] and
based on the one or more signals, causing the user device to: responsive to detecting an indication of a pause event while a video content item is presented in a video player on a display associated with the user device, present on the display the one or more supplemental content items with the paused video content item [during live or on-demand video streaming, such as watching a professional sports game in a video stream player window, triggering by the system to display a nonlinear commercial during streaming content playback, allowing a user to view and pan the commercial window while continuing to view the streaming content window. The triggering of the commercial may be based on a content pause, such as pressing pause by mouse click, touch screen, or remote control (par. 26, Fig. 7-10). This is based on the ad selected according to the criteria, such as preferred ad types, genres, and formats and user declared interests (par. 45, 54, and 68-75, Fig. 6)].
Regarding claims 2 and 15, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: detecting the indication of the pause event while the video player is arranged in a first region of the display [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 while content is played back, 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
wherein causing the user device to present the one or more supplemental content items with the paused video content item includes: causing the user device to, responsive to detecting the indication of the pause event while the video content item is presented on the display, (i) rearrange the video player to be in a second region of the display that is smaller than the first region, and (ii) present the one or more supplemental content items in one or more respective content slots of the display that do 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. The commercial does not obstruct the video stream (par. 26, Fig. 7-10)].
Regarding claims 3 and 16, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 2; Ghavami further teaches: determining respective sizes for the one or more respective content slots, and wherein causing the user device to present the one or more supplemental content items in the one or more respective content slots is in accordance with the respective sizes [a commercial break window is dynamically integrated into the display area. The dynamic commercial break window may wrap the streaming content window in a variety of ways in accompaniment of the commercial content, including additional landscape or portrait display of multimedia creative assets surrounding the streaming content player window. FIG. 9 shows an adjunct window, at full size, for the commercial juxtaposed with the main content streaming window (par. 26, Fig. 8-9). Additionally, different creative sizes/aspect ratios can be programmed to adapt a creative asset across different device/screen types, such as 320×50 pixels (par. 32, 59, 65, and 69)].
Regarding claim 4, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 3; Ghavami further teaches: determining the respective sizes for the one or more respective content slots is based on at least one of: (i) a number of the one or more supplemental content items to be displayed simultaneously with each other, (ii) one or more characteristics of a sponsor of at least one of the one or more supplemental content items, (iii) one or more characteristics of at least one of the one or more supplemental content items, (iv) one or more characteristics of a user of the user device, (v) one or more behaviors of the user, or (vi) one or more characteristics of the user device [determining different creative sizes/aspect ratios to adapt a creative asset across, based on one or more characteristics of the user device, such as different device/screen types (par. 32, 59, and 65). FIG. 9 shows an adjunct window, at full size, for the commercial juxtaposed with the main content streaming window (par. 26, Fig. 8-9)].
Regarding claim 6, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: the at least one signal indicative of interest or attention of the user includes at least one of (i) one or more characteristics of a sponsor of at least one of the one or more supplemental content items, (ii) one or more characteristics of at least one of the one or more supplemental content items, (iii) one or more characteristics of a user of the user device, (iv) one or more behaviors of the user, or (v) one or more characteristics of the video content item [receiving information from the client including characteristics of supplemental content items, such as device type, format and genre. Characteristics of a user, such as preferred ad types, genres, and formats and user declared interests (par. 54 and 68-73)].
Regarding claim 7, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: the one or more signals include at least one of (i) an interest of a sponsor in at least one of the one or more supplemental content items, (ii) a number limitation of supplemental content items, or (iii) one or more characteristics of the user device [receiving a number limitation of supplemental content items, such as a guaranteed minimum number of impressions for an ad (par. 77). Receiving information from the client including characteristics of the user device, such as the size of memory available for storing and decoding creative assets, the size of memory available for storing other data relative to the creative assets, the speed of the app's connection to the Internet (par. 69)].
Regarding claim 8, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 7; Ghavami further teaches: the one or more signals include at least one signal based on the number limitation, and wherein the method further comprises determining the number limitation based on at least one of (i) one or more characteristics of a sponsor of one or more supplemental content items, (ii) one or more characteristics of one or more supplemental content items, (iii) one or more characteristics of the user, (iv) one or more behaviors of the user, or (v) one or more characteristics of the video content item [determining the minimum number of impressions for the ad based on an advertiser having purchased the guaranteed minimum number of impressions for the ad (par. 77)].
Regarding claims 10 and 19, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: determining a supplemental content item to be presented in a future pause event or a future scheduled break event [The creative asset scheduler 514 is used to select and schedule which ad is to be displayed next according to scheduling information (par. 66, 68, and 73-75). The display of the ad may be triggered by a pause event (par. 26)] and
causing the user device to, responsive to detecting the indication of the pause event, present an indication of the supplemental content item [Triggering the commercial to be displayed based on a content pause, such as pressing pause by mouse click, touch screen, or remote control (par. 26, Fig. 7-10)].
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 5 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghavami (US 2022/0038757) in view of Fernandes et al. (US 8,606,955).
Regarding claims 5 and 17, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 1; While Ghavami teaches displaying an overlay (par. 33), Ghavami does not explicitly disclose: causing the user device to present the one or more supplemental content items with the paused video content item includes: causing the user device to, responsive to detecting the indication of the pause event while the video content item is presented on the display, present the one or more supplemental content items in one or more respective overlays on the video player.
Fernandes teaches: causing the user device to present the one or more supplemental content items with the paused video content item includes: causing the user device to, responsive to detecting the indication of the pause event while the video content item is presented on the display, present the one or more supplemental content items in one or more respective overlays on the video player [secondary content 36 as initially rendered in FIG. 2A is shown in an overlay positioned with the second portion of the display 40 within the first portion of the display 30. This is initiated by a user sending a pause command (col. 4, line 60 through col. 5, line 12 and col. 5, lines 25-33, Fig. 2A and 2B)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Ghavami and Fernandes before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Ghavami by incorporating presenting the one or more supplemental content items in one or more respective overlays on the video player responsive to detecting the indication of the pause event as disclosed by Fernandes. The motivation for doing so would have been to significantly increase the click-through rate (CTR) to the secondary content 36 over methods that render the secondary content 36 in different portions of the display 28 (Fernandes - col. 5, lines 25-31). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Ghavami and Fernandes to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Claims 9, 11-12, 18, and 20 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 9 and 18, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: the pause event is a first pause event [a content pause, such as pressing pause by mouse click, touch screen, or remote control (par. 26, Fig. 7-10)],
Ghavami does not explicitly disclose: the method further comprising: selecting a supplemental content item from supplemental content items that were displayed on the user device during the first pause event, a pause event before the first pause event, or a previous scheduled break event; and causing the user device to, responsive to detecting an indication of a second pause event, present an indication of the supplemental content item during the second pause event.
McClendon teaches: selecting a supplemental content item from supplemental content items that were displayed on the user device during the first pause event, a pause event before the first pause event, or a previous scheduled break event; and causing the user device to, responsive to detecting an indication of a second pause event, present an indication of the supplemental content item during the second pause event [a first pause event pauses playback of a primary content and plays a first video advertisement. After resuming playback of the primary digital video content stream, in response to a second pause event, the ad platform can automatically load the first video advertisement into the image player and initiate playback of the first video advertisement (par. 13-15 and 62-63)].
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 selecting the supplemental content item that was displayed on the user device during the first pause event, and responsive to a second pause event, present an indication of the supplemental content item during the second pause event as disclosed by McClendon. The motivation for doing so would have been to continue playback of the same video advertisement to increase the likelihood of achieving a target outcome (e.g., brand lift, video completion, conversion) for this user with this video advertisement (McClendon – par. 62). 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 11 and 20, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 1; Ghavami further teaches: causing the user device to, responsive to detecting the indication of the pause event, display an indication of the supplemental content item [Triggering the commercial to be displayed based on a content pause, such as pressing pause by mouse click, touch screen, or remote control (par. 26, Fig. 7-10)].
Ghavami does not explicitly disclose: predicting a supplemental content item that is likely to be displayed to a user of the user device in a future pause event or a future scheduled break event.
McClendon teaches: predicting a supplemental content item that is likely to be displayed to a user of the user device in a future pause event or a future scheduled break event [selecting an ad that is tailored to the user’s interests and determining the likelihood of achieving a target outcome, such as video completion or viewability (par. 20-21, 62, and 75, Fig. 3)].
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 predicting a supplemental content item that is likely to be displayed to a user of the user device in a future pause event or a future scheduled break event as disclosed by McClendon. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase the likelihood of achieving a target outcome associated with the video advertisement (McClendon – par. 21 and 75). 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 claim 12, Ghavami and McClendon teach the method of claim 11; McClendon further teaches: predicting the supplemental content item is based on at least one of (i) one or more characteristics of the user or (ii) one or more behaviors of the user [the likelihood is based on the video advertisements being tailored to the user's interests and user engagement with the advertising content (par. 21, 71-72, and 75)].
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghavami (US 2022/0038757) in view of Shams et al. (US 12,022,137).
Regarding claim 13, Ghavami teaches the method of claim 1; Ghavami does not explicitly disclose: predicting a number of content slots to be presented in association with the video content item based on at least one of (i) on one or more characteristics of the video content item, (ii) a relevance of a search vertical and the video content item, (iii) one or more characteristics of a user of the user device, (iv) one or more behaviors of the user, or (v) one or more characteristics of the user device.
Shams teaches: predicting a number of content slots to be presented in association with the video content item based on at least one of (i) on one or more characteristics of the video content item, (ii) a relevance of a search vertical and the video content item, (iii) one or more characteristics of a user of the user device, (iv) one or more behaviors of the user, or (v) one or more characteristics of the user device [predicting the number of insertion opportunities, such as based on image analysis or audio analysis or user feedback information (col. 5, lines 3-13, col. 11, lines 14-19 and 63-65, col. 13, line 65 through col. 14, line 7, col. 15, lines 19-46, and col. 16, lines 5-61)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Ghavami and Shams before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Ghavami by incorporating predicting a number of content slots to be presented in association with the video content item based on characteristics of the video content item or one or more behaviors of the user as disclosed by Shams. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve performance related to delivering advertisements by pre-fetching the supplemental content before it is predicted to be needed (Shams – col. 6, lines 20-28). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Ghavami and Shams to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alexander Boyd whose telephone number is (571)270-0676. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am-5pm PST.
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, Benjamin Bruckart can be reached at 571-272-3982. 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.
/ALEXANDER BOYD/ Examiner, Art Unit 2424