DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks pg. 7, filed 7/27/2026, with respect to the status of the claims is herein acknowledged.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks pg. 7-8, filed 7/27/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 2-7, 9, 11-17, and 19 on obviousness grounds under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered but are not persuasive. With respect to the applicant’s arguments, applicant argues the following:
Applicant submits that the cited art fails to disclose "prior to causing the advertisement to be output, receiving, over a network connection, information regarding the product."
Pan states that "When a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored temporally in a buffer of the TV system 102 as a data file 204." See [0022] of Pan. This portion of Pan is apparently equated to the claimed "prior to causing to the advertisement to be output, receiving, over a network connection, information
regarding the product."
Applicant respectfully disagrees. The statement in Pan of" When a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored," indicates that the related data is, at best, received/stored by the TV system at the same time that the advertisement is broadcast. Indeed, step 406 of FIG. 4 of Pan includes each of the broadcasting of the advertisement and the storage of the data file as part of the same step.
The Office Action states "Sato teaches a receiver for obtaining advertisement content via a network," citing paragraphs [0066], [0125]-[0126], [0134], [0148], and [0153]. These paragraphs indicate an LAN interface 171 of an image processing apparatus 100 (TV receiver) can communicate with various servers (including an advertisement server which can analyze user preferences in content and an information management server which stores information about viewed or delivered advertisements), and that the TV receiver 100, after acquiring the advertisement content, can transmit advertisement information to a smartphone 200.
However, there is no indication in San that "information regarding the product" is received over a network connection "prior to causing the advertisement to be output."
Bonovich was cited for other features of Applicant's claims and also fails to disclose this subject matter.
First, in response to the applicant’s arguments, the test for obviousness is not whether the features of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981). More importantly, on the issue of obviousness, the Supreme Court stated that when a patent simply arranges old elements with each performing the same function it had been known to perform and yields no more than one would expect from such an arrangement, the combination is obvious. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 417, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007) (citing Sakraida v. AG Pro, Inc., 425 U.S. 273, 96 S. Ct. 1532, 47 L. Ed. 2d 784 (1976)). The Court further reiterated that in circumstances where the combination of two pre-existing elements did no more than they would in separate, sequential operation, the patent failed under 35 U.S.C. 103. See id. at 416-417 (citing Anderson's-Black Rock, Inc. v. Pavement Salvage Co., 396 U.S. 57, 90 S. Ct. 305, 24 L. Ed. 2d 258 (1969)). The analysis of a rejection on obviousness grounds need not seek out precise teachings directed to the specific subject matter of the challenged claim, for a court can take account of the inferences and creative steps that a person of ordinary skill in the art would employ. See id. at 418. The obvious analysis cannot be confined by a formalistic conception of the words teaching, suggestion, and motivation. Id. at 419. Further, the Court stated that common sense teaches, however, that familiar items may have obvious uses beyond their primary purposes, and in many cases a person of ordinary skill will be able to fit the teachings of multiple patents together like pieces of a puzzle. See id. at 420.
As discussed above, applicant argues against the teachings of Pan by stating “Pan states that ‘When a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored temporally in a buffer of the TV system 102 as a data file 204.’ See [0022] of Pan. This portion of Pan is apparently equated to the claimed ‘prior to causing to the advertisement to be output, receiving, over a network connection, information regarding the product.’” In response to applicant’s argument, even assuming arguendo, that Pan’s disclosure “indicates that the related data is, at best, received/stored by the TV system at the same time that the advertisement is broadcast” (as set forth by applicant), as discussed above, the Supreme Court stated that when a patent simply arranges old elements with each performing the same function it had been known to perform and yields no more than one would expect from such an arrangement, the combination is obvious. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 417, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007) (citing Sakraida v. AG Pro, Inc., 425 U.S. 273, 96 S. Ct. 1532, 47 L. Ed. 2d 784 (1976)). The Court further reiterated that in circumstances where the combination of two pre-existing elements did no more than they would in separate, sequential operation, the patent failed under 35 U.S.C. 103. See id. at 416-417 (citing Anderson's-Black Rock, Inc. v. Pavement Salvage Co., 396 U.S. 57, 90 S. Ct. 305, 24 L. Ed. 2d 258 (1969)). Based on the legal principles discussed in KSR, the applicant’s argument that “the related data is, at best, received/stored by the TV system at the same time that the advertisement is broadcast” is a corollary to the combination of two pre-existing elements did no more than they would in separate, sequential operation. Stated differently, requiring that the related data be received separately or sequentially does not more than the combination of two pre-existing elements.
The examiner relied on the teachings of Sato and Bonovich to support the inferences drawn from the teachings of Pan that would lead a person of ordinary skill in the art to reasonably infer that data related to the advertisement is received prior to an advertisement to be output on user’s client device. The examiner asserts that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have reasonably inferred, based on the combined teachings with Sato and Bonovich, that Pan disclosing that “when a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored temporally in a buffer of the TV system 102 as a data file 204” means that the related data was already stored in the data storage of the digital system 102 and subsequently moved to the buffer 307. Stated differently, Pan teaches two storage units (i.e., data storage unit 306 and buffer 307) and when a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored temporally in a buffer of the TV system 102 as a data file 204). In reviewing Pan’s disclosure in context of paragraph [0022], Pan teaches in paragraph [0026] the following:
[0026] FIG. 3A is a schematic representation of functional blocks of the digital TV system 102 in according with one embodiment. The system 102 comprises a display 302. The display may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The display may also be any other type of display as known in the art. A processor 304 is used to control the operation of the digital TV system 102. The processor 304 may include more than one type of processors including a general purpose processor such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and a special purpose processor such as a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU). The system 102 may also include a data storage unit such as a magnetic storage unit and/or semiconductor memory devices. A buffer 307 is used to provide shorter access time. A buffer may be implemented using Static Random Access Memory (SRAM). When an advertisement is being broadcasted, a data file related to the advertisement may be stored in the buffer temporally. [emphasis ours]
As indicated above, Pan’s digital TV system 102 comprises two elements for storing content (i.e., data storage unit 306 and buffer 307). More importantly, Pan teaches the benefit of utilizing a buffer for storing the advertisement related data when a specific advertisement is being broadcast because a buffer 307 provides shorter access time. Pan’s disclosure should not be interpreted as being limited to receiving the advertisement metadata at the same time as the advertisement associated with the advertisement metadata because the examiner relied on the teachings of Sato and Bonovich to support the inferences drawn from the teachings of Pan that would lead a person of ordinary skill in the art to reasonably infer that data related to the advertisement is received prior to an advertisement to be output on user’s client device.
Most notably, Bonovich clearly teaches that metadata related to video advertisements is received at a user device and/or the mobile device prior to delivering the video advertisements related to the metadata. In other words, prior to causing the advertisement to be output, receiving, over a network connection, information regarding the product. For example, Bonovich teaches the following:
[0149] At 614, the video stream (or video file) and the metadata file are transmitted from the head end (or other back end device) to a user receiving device and/or the mobile device and/or to a memory accessible to the user receiving device and/or the mobile device. The video file and metadata file may be transmitted via a satellite, the Internet and/or other network. The video file and metadata file may be transmitted via a wireless network and/or a wired network. The video file and the metadata file may be transmitted as a single file and/or signal or as separate files and/or signals.
[0150] At 616, the video file and metadata file are received at the user receiving device and/or the mobile device. At 618, the user receiving device and/or the mobile device may separate the metadata from the video file depending upon how the metadata and the video file were transmitted.
[0203] The following tasks 904, 906, 908 may be performed in a different order and/or during a same period of time. At 904, the one or more backend devices download the program, video and/or metadata to the user receiving device and/or mobile device. The user receiving device and/or mobile device may then playout the program and/or video and monitor the metadata.
Additionally, Sato teaches embodiments wherein a client device (e.g., mobile device) receives advertisement metadata before receiving the advertisement to be displayed on the mobile device. See Sato para 95-98, 107-110, 115-119, 133-137 distinguishing between advertisement 501 displayed on a first display (e.g., television receiver) and advertisement 502 displayed on a mobile device and first receiving metadata relating to the advertisement before the mobile device outputs advertisement 502.
All things considered, the applicant’s arguments are not persuasive. For at least these reasons, Examiner respectfully submits that each of amended independent claims 2 and 12 are not in condition for allowance over the cited art. Examiner further respectfully submits that dependent claims 3-11 and 13-21 are not in condition for allowance by virtue of their respective direct and ultimate dependencies from rejected independent claims 2 and 12, as well as by virtue of the patentably indistinct subject matter that they recite.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 2-7, 9, 11-17, 19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan; Yang US 20120017237 A1 (hereafter Pan) and in further view of Sato, Mitsue PG Pub 20150249870 (hereafter Sato) and in further view of Bonovich; Earl James et al. US 20160205439 A1 (hereafter Bonovich).
Regarding claim 2, “a method comprising: causing to be output a video stream, wherein the video stream comprises an advertisement for a product; prior to causing the advertisement to be output, receiving, over a network connection, information regarding the product; storing the information in a memory; based on detecting that the output of the video stream corresponds to the advertisement for the product, causing to be output a first portion of the information from the memory; receiving a user request; determining that the user request corresponds to the product; and based on determining that the user request corresponds to the product, causing to be output a second portion of the information from the memory” Pan teaches ¶0022, 0031 – disclosing a digital TV system 102 for broadcasting programs comprising advertisements and wherein a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored temporally as a data file 204. If the viewer is attracted by the advertisement and wants to know more about the product, he or she sends a control signal 202 to the digital TV system 102. After receiving the control signal 202, the digital TV system 102 will cause the advertisement data to be sent from the stored data file 204 wherein the product identifier 206 is sent to a data manager 110 through the Internet 108. Pan teaches the claimed “first portion” wherein the data file 204 may be represented by an icon displayed on a display screen and if the icon is selected by the user 112, the product identifier 206 is sent to a data manager 110 through the Internet 108. The data manager 110 sends more portions related to the advertisement comprising more detailed product to the user device and wherein data file 204 sent by the digital TV system 102 may include content other than the product identifier to comprise a text message, an image, a voice message, video clip and a multimedia file related to the advertisement being played.
With respect to “prior to causing the advertisement to be output, receiving, over a network connection, information regarding the product; storing the information in a memory” the examiner relies on the teachings of Sato and Bonovich to support the inferences drawn from the teachings of Pan that would lead a person of ordinary skill in the art to reasonably infer that data related to the advertisement is received prior to an advertisement to be output on user’s client device. The examiner incorporates by reference the response to applicant’s arguments discussed supra item number 2 under Response to Arguments. Furthermore, with respect to “receiving, over a network connection, information regarding the product,” Pan para 27-29 teaches digital TV system 102 is connected to a communication network for delivering television content and an advertisement manager to control the operation of receiving the data file 204 and display data related to the advertisement, however, in an analogous art, Sato teaches a receiver for obtaining advertisement content via a network (para 66, 125-126, 134, 148, 153). Additionally, Sato teaches embodiments wherein a client device (e.g., mobile device) receives advertisement metadata before receiving the advertisement to be displayed on the mobile device. See Sato para 95-98, 107-110, 115-119, 133-137 distinguishing between advertisement 501 displayed on a first display (e.g., television receiver) and advertisement 502 displayed on a mobile device and first receiving metadata relating to the advertisement before the mobile device outputs advertisement 502.
With respect to “prior to causing the advertisement to be output, receiving, over a network connection, information regarding the product; storing the information in a memory,” the prior art to Bonovich discloses storing advertisement metadata, as disclosed in Pan, and further teaches advertisement metadata is received prior to outputting the advertisement associated with the received advertisement metadata. For example, Bonovich clearly teaches that metadata related to video advertisements is received at a user device and/or the mobile device prior to delivering the video advertisements related to the metadata (Bonovich para 149-150, 203). In other words, prior to causing the advertisement to be output, receiving, over a network connection, information regarding the product. For example, Bonovich teaches the following:
[0149] At 614, the video stream (or video file) and the metadata file are transmitted from the head end (or other back end device) to a user receiving device and/or the mobile device and/or to a memory accessible to the user receiving device and/or the mobile device. The video file and metadata file may be transmitted via a satellite, the Internet and/or other network. The video file and metadata file may be transmitted via a wireless network and/or a wired network. The video file and the metadata file may be transmitted as a single file and/or signal or as separate files and/or signals.
[0150] At 616, the video file and metadata file are received at the user receiving device and/or the mobile device. At 618, the user receiving device and/or the mobile device may separate the metadata from the video file depending upon how the metadata and the video file were transmitted.
[0203] The following tasks 904, 906, 908 may be performed in a different order and/or during a same period of time. At 904, the one or more backend devices download the program, video and/or metadata to the user receiving device and/or mobile device. The user receiving device and/or mobile device may then playout the program and/or video and monitor the metadata.
Furthermore, Bonovich teaches utilizing network connections for delivering advertisement content wherein Bonovich teaches ¶0143-0165 objects are associated with advertisements and further teaches objects selected by the viewer may be stored in memory (e.g., one of the memories 340, 482 of FIGS. 3 and 5 or in the cloud server 68 of FIG. 1) and later accessed by the user receiving device and/or the mobile device and viewed by the viewer. For example, in one embodiment, at the end of a program and/or video being watched, the user is presented by the mobile device and/or the user receiving device with one or more menus and/or dialogue windows (e.g., the dialogue windows of FIGS. 12-13). The menus and/or dialogue windows provide additional information regarding the selected objects and/or allow the viewer to purchase the one or more selected objects. The storing of the selected objects may include storing object identifiers, advertiser information, program and/or video information identifying the program and/or video being watched, and/or other information pertaining to the program and/or video may be stored. This may also include storing the frame number of the program and/or video. The saving of the objects, allows customers to save items of interest without completely diverting the customers attention away from a program and/or video being watched to a second screen device (e.g., the display of the mobile device). The customers no longer need to look items up on-line that are seen in a program and/or video, but rather can review saved items and/or proceed to purchase the saved items via the mobile device and/or user receiving device. As discussed in the teaches of Sato, once the mobile device has received the advertisement metadata, the mobile device can request the advertisement associated with the advertisement metadata that is previously stored in the mobile device memory. See Sato para 95-98, 107-110, 115-119, 133-137 distinguishing between advertisement 501 displayed on a first display (e.g., television receiver) and advertisement 502 displayed on a mobile device and first receiving metadata relating to the advertisement before the mobile device outputs advertisement 502.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pan’s invention for buffering advertisement data at a first device and receiving a user query at a second device and wherein the stored advertisement data is provided in response to a user inquiry, at the second device, for more information on the related stored advertisement by further incorporating known elements of Sato’s invention for obtaining advertisement related data from a remote device via a network because Bonovich teaches an invention wherein a user will be able to access advertisement content during the presentation of media content by conveniently accessing menus and/or dialogue windows in order to enable the client devices to tailor broadcasted media programs with targeted advertisements from a remote server.
Regarding claim 3, “wherein the user request invokes an interactive session, and wherein the information regarding the product is received over the network connection prior to receiving the user request to invoke the interactive session” is further rejected on obviousness grounds as discussed in the rejection of claim 2 wherein Sato para 36 further teaches that in response to a request from the television receiver 100, the advertisement server 303 can provide the advertisement information and the advertisement content 501 to the television receiver. See also Sato para 66, 125-126, 134, 148, 153.
Regarding claim 4, “wherein the invocation of the interactive session is via a voice command or a selection of a button” is further rejected on obviousness grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 2-3 wherein Pan teaches ¶0022, 0031 -- when a digital TV system 102 is used to broadcast a program, advertisements may be inserted and be broadcasted and when a specific advertisement is being broadcasted and the viewer is attracted by the advertisement and wants to know more about the product, he or she may use the remote control 104 to send a control signal 202 to the digital TV system 102. See also Sato para 110, 130.
Regarding claim 5, “wherein video frames of the video stream are buffered prior to output, further comprising: analyzing the buffered video frames to detect the advertisement for the product; and based on detecting the advertisement, requesting the information regarding the product over the network connection” is further rejected on obviousness grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 2-4 wherein Bonovich para 145-156 analyzes a current frame of the video file including performing image recognition and filtering to detect objects in the frame and also teaches storing of the selected objects may include storing object identifiers, advertiser information, program and/or video information identifying the program and/or video being watched, and/or other information pertaining to the program and/or video may be stored. This may also include storing the frame number of the program and/or video. The saving of the objects, allows customers to save items of interest without completely diverting the customers attention away from a program and/or video being watched
Regarding claim 6, “further comprising: based on causing to be output the second portion of the information from the memory, receiving a user input requesting additional information corresponding to the product; based on receiving the user input, requesting additional information corresponding to the product from a server; receiving the additional information over the network connection; and causing to be output the additional information” is further rejected on obviousness grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 2-5 wherein Pan teaches ¶0022, 0031 – disclosing a digital TV system 102 for broadcasting programs comprising advertisements and wherein a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored temporally as a data file 204. If the viewer is attracted by the advertisement and wants to know more about the product, he or she sends a control signal 202 to the digital TV system 102. After receiving the control signal 202, the digital TV system 102 will cause the advertisement data to be sent from the stored data file 204 wherein the product identifier 206 is sent to a data manager 110 through the Internet 108. Pan teaches the claimed “first portion” wherein the data file 204 may be represented by an icon displayed on a display screen and if the icon is selected by the user 112, the product identifier 206 is sent to a data manager 110 through the Internet 108. The data manager 110 sends more portions related to the advertisement comprising more detailed product to the user device and wherein data file 204 sent by the digital TV system 102 may include content other than the product identifier to comprise a text message, an image, a voice message, video clip and a multimedia file related to the advertisement being played.
Regarding claim 7, “wherein the advertisement is embedded in the video stream” is further rejected on obviousness grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 2-6 wherein Pan teaches ¶0022, 0031 – disclosing a digital TV system 102 for broadcasting programs comprising advertisements and wherein a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored temporally as a data file 204.
Regarding claim 9, “wherein the advertisement is a first advertisement, and wherein the product is a first product, and wherein the information is first information, further comprising: detecting a second advertisement in the video stream, wherein the second advertisement corresponds to a second product; prior to causing to the advertisement to be output, receiving, over the network connection, second information regarding the second product; storing the second information in the memory ; and based on detecting that the output of the video stream corresponds to the second advertisement for the second product, causing to be output a third portion of the second information from the memory” is further rejected on obviousness grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 2-7 wherein a person of ordinary skill in the art would have understood that the combination of Pan, Sato and Bonovich teach that the disclosed invention applies to a series of advertisements embedded in the video content (i.e., a plurality of advertisements) and the invention enables a user to submit a plurality of queries corresponding to each of the plurality of advertisements. For example, Pan teaches ¶0022, 0031 -- when a digital TV system 102 is used to broadcast a program, advertisements may be inserted and broadcasted based on a predetermined schedule. When a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored temporally in a buffer of the TV system 102 as a data file 204 (i.e., buffering advertisement data). If the viewer is attracted by the advertisement and wants to know more about the product, he or she may use the remote control 104 to send a control signal 202 to the digital TV system 102 (i.e., receiving a user query and wherein the stored advertisement data is used to outputting a response for more information on the related stored advertisement). After receiving the control signal 202, the digital TV system 102 will send the stored data file 204 to a device. The data file 204 may be represented by an icon displayed on a display screen of the mobile device 106. If the icon is selected by the user 112, the product identifier 206 is sent to a data manager 110 through the Internet 108. The data manager 110 sends more detailed product information to a device (i.e., receiving a user query and wherein the stored advertisement data is used to outputting a response for more information on the related stored advertisement). The product information 208 may be presented using a web site displayed on the display screen of the mobile device 106. It should be noted that data file 204 sent from digital TV system 102 may include content other than the product identifier. For example, the data file may include a text message, an image, a voice message, video clip and a multimedia file related to the advertisement being played. See also Bonovich ¶0143-0165 The objects selected by the viewer may be stored in memory (e.g., one of the memories 340, 482 of FIGS. 3 and 5 or in the cloud server 68 of FIG. 1) and later accessed by the user receiving device and/or the mobile device and viewed by the viewer. For example, in one embodiment, at the end of a program and/or video being watched, the user is presented by the mobile device and/or the user receiving device with one or more menus and/or dialogue windows (e.g., the dialogue windows of FIGS. 12-13). The menus and/or dialogue windows provide additional information regarding the selected objects and/or allow the viewer to purchase the one or more selected objects. The storing of the selected objects may include storing object identifiers, advertiser information, program and/or video information identifying the program and/or video being watched, and/or other information pertaining to the program and/or video may be stored. This may also include storing the frame number of the program and/or video. The saving of the objects, allows customers to save items of interest without completely diverting the customers attention away from a program and/or video being watched to a second screen device (e.g., the display of the mobile device). The customers no longer need to look items up on-line that are seen in a program and/or video, but rather can review saved items and/or proceed to purchase the saved items via the mobile device and/or user receiving device.
Regarding claim 11, “wherein the information regarding the product is received over the network connection prior to receiving video packets corresponding to the advertisement for the product” is further rejected on obviousness grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 2-7, 9 wherein claim 2 recites “prior to causing to the advertisement to be output, receiving, over a network connection, information regarding the product” and wherein Pan teaches ¶0022, 0031 – disclosing a digital TV system 102 for broadcasting programs comprising advertisements and wherein a specific advertisement is being broadcasted, the related data such as its product identifier may be stored temporally as a data file 204. If the viewer is attracted by the advertisement and wants to know more about the product, he or she sends a control signal 202 to the digital TV system 102.
Regarding the system claims 12-17, 19 the claims are grouped and rejected with the method claims 2-7, 9, 11 because the steps of the method claims are met by the disclosure of the apparatus and methods of the reference(s) as discussed in the rejection of claims 2-7, 9, 11 and because the steps of the method are easily converted into elements of a system comprising circuitry by one of ordinary skill in the art.
Claim(s) 8, 10, 18, 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan; Yang US 20120017237 A1 (hereafter Pan) and in further view of Sato, Mitsue PG Pub 20150249870 (hereafter Sato) and in further view of Bonovich; Earl James et al. US 20160205439 A1 (hereafter Bonovich) and in further view of Drewry; Raymond G. et al. US 5925100 A (hereafter Drewry).
Regarding claim 8, whereas the combination of Pan, Sato and Bonovich render obvious in response to determining that the user request does relate to the stored advertisement and providing the advertisement, the combination does not disclose “further comprising: determining that the user request does not correspond to the product; and based on determining that the user request does not correspond to the product, deleting the stored information from the memory,” in an analogous art In an analogous art, Drewry teaches discarding unused buffered objects (i.e., objects comprise advertisements) in order to conserve memory resources (col. 4 ll. 48-67 to col. 5 ll. 1-12; see also col. 13 ll. 54-67 to col. 14 ll. 1-65 discarding buffered objects wherein content objects advertisements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pan, Sato and Bonovich as discussed in the rejection of claim 2 relating to an invention for storing advertisement data and receiving a user request and wherein the stored advertisement data is used to outputting a response for more information on the related stored advertisement by further incorporating known elements of Drewry for improving interactive television environments comprising storing advertisements predicted to be requested by a viewer of the interactive television environment and then discarding unused buffered advertisements that were not requested/utilized by the viewer because the prior art recognizes the known problem of conserving memory resources of the client device requesting buffered advertisements stored in buffer devices.
Regarding claim 10, “wherein storing the second information in the memory comprises deleting the first information from the memory” is further rejected on obviousness grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 2-9 wherein Drewry teaches that recently displayed content is discarded once it has been displayed on a recently used object when detecting a low memory condition in the buffering device is in order to conserving memory resources of the client device requesting buffered advertisements stored in buffer devices by deleting recently used buffered content (Drewry col. 13:54-67 to col. 14:1-65).
Regarding the system claims 18, 20 the claims are grouped and rejected with the method claims 8, 10 because the steps of the method claims are met by the disclosure of the apparatus and methods of the reference(s) as discussed in the rejection of claims 8, 10 and because the steps of the method are easily converted into elements of a system comprising circuitry by one of ordinary skill in the art.
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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/ALFONSO CASTRO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421
