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 .
This Office Action has been issued in response to Applicant’s Communication of application S/N 19/040,462 filed on January 29, 2025. Claims 1 to 20 are currently pending with the application.
Priority
The instant application claims priority from provisional application no. 63/626,752, filed on January 30, 2024. Applicant’s claim for the benefit of the prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e), 120, 121, or 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation “the context information” in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 20 recites the limitation “the image database” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jacobson et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2022/0092103) hereinafter Jacobson, and further in view of Master et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2016/0275184) hereinafter Master.
As to claim 1:
Jacobson discloses:
A method of providing a music segment responsive to a user request [Paragraph 0004 teaches providing media content responsive to a query], the method comprising:
receiving, from a user device, a natural-language request describing one or more properties of a music segment [Paragraph 0004 teaches receiving a query including at least one descriptor; Paragraph 0040 teaches providing media content that better matches a user’s descriptive search request, where the request describes general characteristics of the media content with descriptive terms or any other descriptors that are not typically found in the metadata; Paragraph 0049 teaches the user query includes one or more descriptive terms; Paragraph 0118 teaches analyzing the user’s utterance with a natural language understanding algorithm];
querying an electronic database based on the natural-language request, the electronic database organizing a plurality of music segments and a plurality of sets of descriptive tags [Paragraph 0041 teaches utilizing a descriptive search database to conduct a descriptive search responsive to the search query, where the descriptive search database maps descriptive terms to media content items], wherein:
each music segment of the plurality of music segments corresponds to one set of descriptive tags of the plurality of sets of descriptive tags [Paragraph 0159 teaches a data structure that associates descriptive terms with media content items; Paragraph 0160 teaches each media content item is associated with descriptive terms; Paragraph 0161 teaches each media content item is associated with descriptive terms and its variants, hence, a set of descriptive terms],
each music segment of the plurality of music segments has basic metadata information including an artist name and release year [Paragraph 0088 teaches media content metadata associated with the media content include one or more of title, artist name, album name, length, genre, mood, era, etc.; Paragraph 0002 teaches metadata includes name of the artist, genre, release date, etc.];
each set of descriptive tags of the plurality of sets of descriptive tags is distinct from corresponding basic metadata information [Paragraph 0040 teaches descriptive terms describe general characteristics of the media content with descriptors that are not typically found in the metadata, therefore, distinct from basic metadata information] and
the electronic database is configured to retrieve music segments of the plurality of music segments based on similarities between queries and tags of the plurality of descriptive tags [Paragraph 0050 teaches selecting media content based on one or more descriptive terms in the user query, by identifying media content associated with at least one of the descriptive terms; Paragraph 0123 teaches descriptive media content search can identify a media content (e.g., one or more media content items) that is most relevant to the descriptive terms (e.g., descriptors) in the user query; Paragraph 0188 teaches comparing vectors for the media content items with vectors of the user query to determine a similarity between the vectors, and selecting media content items having relevance score vectors with highest similarities];
retrieving, by the electronic database, at least one music segment of the plurality of music segments based on the query [Paragraph 0123 teaches descriptive media content search can identify a media content (e.g., one or more media content items) that is most relevant to the descriptive terms (e.g., descriptors) in the user query]; and
transmitting the retrieved at least one music segment to the user device [Paragraph 0124 teaches providing the identified media content to the media playback device].
Jacobson does not appear to expressly disclose descriptive tags describing at least one of artist biographical information, artist political affiliation, and historical information in a release year of the music segment.
Master discloses:
descriptive tags describing at least one of artist biographical information, artist political affiliation, and historical information in a release year of the music segment [Paragraph 0026 teaches the database stores sounds including voice, songs, song clips, etc., and associated information including an artist’s biographical information, etc.].
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 teachings of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Jacobson, by incorporating descriptive tags describing at least one of artist biographical information, artist political affiliation, and historical information in a release year of the music segment, as taught by Master [Paragraph 0026], because both applications are directed to search and retrieval of content including songs; including artist’s biographical information in the information associated with media content is a simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.
Same rationale applies to claim 16, since it recites similar limitations, and is therefore, similarly rejected.
Claims 2 to 6, and 17 to 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jacobson et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2022/0092103) hereinafter Jacobson, and further in view of Master et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2016/0275184) hereinafter Master, and further in view of Seyler et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2024/0171534) hereinafter Seyler.
As to claim 2:
Jacobson discloses all the limitations as set forth in the rejections of claim 1 above, but does not appear to expressly disclose receiving user sentiment information, wherein querying the electronic database comprises querying the electronic database based on the natural-language request and the user sentiment information.
Seyler discloses:
receiving user sentiment information, wherein querying the electronic database comprises querying the electronic database based on the natural-language request and the user sentiment information [Paragraph 0057 teaches the user can input the user’s sentiment and search terms to perform the search of content, which can include any search terms, artist names, lyrics, topics, etc., where further, the content server will search and retrieve content based on the search terms; Paragraph 0058 teaches the multimedia messaging server may send the search term with the current user’s sentiment to the audiovisual content server so that the user may be able to receive a focused or further refined list of audiovisual contents].
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 teachings of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Jacobson, by receiving user sentiment information, wherein querying the electronic database comprises querying the electronic database based on the natural-language request and the user sentiment information, as taught by Seyler [Paragraph 0057, 0058], because both applications are directed to search and retrieval of content including songs; obtaining the user’s sentiment and utilizing the sentiment in combination with the search criteria to obtain content enables to obtain content that more accurately aligns with the user’s sentiment of emotion, thereby improving the user’s experience (See Seyler Para [0004]).
As to claim 3:
Jacobson as modified by Seyler discloses:
generating the user sentiment information by analyzing the natural-language request using a natural-language processing model [Paragraph 0058 teaches sentiment model may be trained to analyze information (e.g., message exchanges, user searches or requests) so as to further define the current sentiment of the user].
As to claim 4:
The combination of Jacobson and Seyler discloses:
receiving the natural-language request from the user device comprises receiving the natural-language request from an application instance running on the user device [Jacobson – Paragraph 0060 teaches display screen displays a graphical user interface for interacting with the media playback device; Paragraph 0085 teaches media application interface can receive requests or other communication from media playback devices], and further comprising:
receiving text data previously submitted to the application instance by a user that submitted the request via the user device [Seyler – Paragraph 0058 teaches analyzing a history of message exchanges of the user, user’s activities on the Internet, or any other activities saved in the user’s computing device to refine the user’s current sentiment]; and
generating user sentiment information by analyzing the text data [Seyler – Paragraph 0058 teaches analyzing a history of message exchanges of the user, user’s activities on the Internet, or any other activities saved in the user’s computing device to refine the user’s current sentiment];
wherein querying the electronic database comprises querying the electronic database based on the context information and the sentiment information [Seyler – Paragraph 0058 teaches multimedia messaging server may send the search term with the current user’s sentiment to the audiovisual content server so that the user may be able to receive a focused or further refined list of audiovisual contents].
As to claim 5:
Jacobson as modified by Master discloses:
transmitting the retrieved at least one music segment to the user device comprises transmitting the retrieved at least one music segment in a shareable format [Master - Paragraph 0085 teaches results that are displayed when the search is complete, providing information related to the song, where the user can bookmark the song on their computing device, share the song to another user or buy the song].
As to claim 6:
Jacobson as modified by Master discloses:
generating a shareable link for accessing the at least one music segment and transmitting the shareable link to the user device [Master – Paragraph 0057 teaches information regarding a song may include song title, artist, artist’s biographical information, a link to download a song, a link to download a video related to the song, etc.; Paragraph 0085 teaches results that are displayed when the search is complete, providing information related to the song, where the user can bookmark the song on their computing device, share the song to another user or buy the song].
Same rationale applies to claims 17 to 19, since they recite similar limitations, and are therefore, similarly rejected.
Claims 7 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jacobson et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2022/0092103) hereinafter Jacobson, and further in view of Master et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2016/0275184) hereinafter Master, in view of Seyler et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2024/0171534) hereinafter Seyler, and further in view of Murray (U.S. Publication No. 2009/0307207).
As to claim 7:
Jacobson discloses all the limitations as set forth in the rejections of claim 6 above, but does not appear to expressly disclose querying an image database using an identifier for the at least one music segment to retrieve at least one image corresponding to the at least one music segment, wherein transmitting the retrieved at least one music segment comprises transmitting the at least one image.
Murray discloses:
querying an image database using an identifier for the at least one music segment to retrieve at least one image corresponding to the at least one music segment [Paragraph 0050 teaches database contains the associations for each word and phrase in the lyric with timing data, image data, and importance scores; Paragraph 0068 teaches query the database to find image assets that match specific lyric keywords and phrases, where image ID of particular images may be associated with specific lyric ID in the database; Paragraph 0078 teaches importing the assets that have been identified in the MPP database as associated with the lyrics of the media], wherein transmitting the retrieved at least one music segment comprises transmitting the at least one image [Paragraph 0019 teaches simultaneously displaying the identified media while playing the corresponding audio file; Paragraph 0022 teaches after the media assets are identified and timed, they are displayed on the computer system simultaneously while playing a music audio file].
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 teachings of the cited references and modify the invention as taught by Jacobson, by querying an image database using an identifier for the at least one music segment to retrieve at least one image corresponding to the at least one music segment, wherein transmitting the retrieved at least one music segment comprises transmitting the at least one image, as taught by Murray [Paragraph 0019, 0022, 0050, 0068, 0078], because the applications are directed to search and retrieval of content; storing an having the ability to obtain an image associated with the music segment enables to provide a compelling presentation of a combination of the image with the musical or lyrical piece, thereby improving the user’s experience (See Murray Para [0040]).
Same rationale applies to claim 20, since it recites similar limitations, and is therefore, similarly rejected.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
Bariki et al., (U.S. Publication No. 2025/0217340) is directed to automatic tagging of multimedia content by using generative language models, including obtaining metadata and additional information associated with media contents, and providing the metadata, information, and a prompt to a large language model to request tags for the media content.
Sugden (U.S. Publication No. 2025/0095222) is directed to automatic generation of images based on multimedia content by using generative artificial intelligence models, including prompt generators, context generation based on descriptors, and image prompts provided to the generative AI model.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAQUEL PEREZ-ARROYO whose telephone number is (571)272-8969. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:30pm, Alt Friday, EST.
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, Sherief Badawi can be reached at 571-272-9782. 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.
/RAQUEL PEREZ-ARROYO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2169
Prosecution Insights