DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the response to the amendment filed on 04/16/2026. Claims 1, 6, and 19 have been amended and claim 2 has been canceled. Claims 1 and 3-19 are pending and currently under consideration for patentability.
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 .
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-5 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claims are directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, natural phenomenon, or abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1: In a test for patent subject matter eligibility, claims 19 is found to be in accordance with Step 1 (see 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility), as they are related to a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter; Claims 1-5 recite a system and Claim 19 recites a method. When assessed under Step 2A, Prong I, they are found to be directed towards an abstract idea. The rationale for this finding is explained below:
Step 2A, Prong I: Under Step 2A, Prong I, claim 19 is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more, as they all recite a judicial exception. Claim 1 recites limitations directed to the abstract idea including “self-service platform that enables businesses to create text-based ads, convert the text-based ads to voice, and choose relevant keywords, wherein advertisers pay for ad placements based on the number of times they want their ads voiced, and when a user invokes a keyword, a corresponding ad is played, allowing for seamless voice-based transactions” and Claim 19 recites limitations directed to the abstract idea including “a viewer speaks through remote or directly to their television, requesting more information or initiating a purchase while watching a commercial; the viewer's voice command is processed and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television allowing programming to continue in a larger window, and the viewer is able to request that information be sent to their smartphone or device to complete the purchase directly from the television.” These further limitations are not seen as any more than the judicial exception. Claim 1 recites additional limitations including “a data storage: at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device, including: a digital web-based app […], a voice software, and a voice ownership module.” Claim 19 recites additional limitations including “through remote or directly to their television; to their smartphone or device; and from the television.” A method of providing a monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands comprising television interaction steps is considered to be an abstract idea, specifically, certain methods of organizing human activity; such as commercial interactions, advertising, marketing, and sales because the claims are directed to “self-service platform that enables businesses to create text-based ads, convert the text-based ads to voice, and choose relevant keywords, wherein advertisers pay for ad placements based on the number of times they want their ads voiced, and when a user invokes a keyword, a corresponding ad is played, allowing for seamless voice-based transactions” or allowing businesses to advertise on the responses of the voice assistants (See ¶ [0012] of Applicant’s specification) which is a well-known business practice and the abstract idea is merely appending this well-known business practice to the environment of voice assistants. Furthermore, the claims are directed towards another abstract idea, specifically mental processes; such as concepts performed in the human mind or a person (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) because requesting more information or initiating a purchase, data (i.e. voice command) is processed and commercial is resized, and request information be sent to complete the purchase are all concepts that can be performed by a user with the necessary information. Therefore, under Step 2A, Prong I, claims 1 and 19 are directed towards an abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong II: Step 2A, Prong II is to determine whether any claim recites any additional element that integrate the judicial exception (abstract idea) into a practical application. Claim 1 recites additional limitations including “a data storage: at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device, including: a digital web-based app […], a voice software, and a voice ownership module.” Claim 19 recites additional limitations including “through remote or directly to their television; to their smartphone or device; and from the television.” The additional limitation reciting – “a data storage: at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device, including: a digital web-based app […], a voice software, and a voice ownership module; through remote or directly to their television; to their smartphone or device; and from the television” are seen as merely reciting using device/television to request and display information. These are not found to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application because they are seen as adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f), adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception - see MPEP 2106.05(g), and generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h). Accordingly, alone, and in combination, these additional elements are seen as using a computer or tool to perform an abstract idea, adding insignificant-extra-solution activity to the judicial exception. They do no more than link the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use, i.e. device/television, and therefore do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The courts decided that although the additional elements did limit the use of the abstract idea, the court explained that this type of limitation merely confines the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment and this fails to add an inventive concept to the claims (See Affinity Labs of Texas v. DirecTV, LLC,). Under Step 2A, Prong II, these claims remain directed towards an abstract idea.
Step 2B: Claim 1 recites additional limitations including “a data storage: at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device, including: a digital web-based app […], a voice software, and a voice ownership module.” Claim 19 recites additional limitations including “through remote or directly to their television; to their smartphone or device; and from the television.” These additional limitations do not integrate the judicial exception (abstract idea) into a practical application because of the analysis provided in Step 2A, Prong II. Merely, describing the environment in which the abstract idea takes place does not integrate the claims into a practical application because this is seen as a well-understood, routine, and conventional computer function. In addition, the applicant’s specifications describe “the use of voice recognition in artificial intelligence such as Amazons’ Alexa and Apple’s siri” as well-understood, routine, and conventional; “Voice recognition has gained prominence and use with the rise of artificial intelligence (Al) and intelligent assistants, such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri. Voice recognition systems let consumers interact with technology simply by speaking to it, enabling hands-free requests, reminders and other simple tasks…These Al virtual assistants process spoken language through advanced features such as speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP). Natural Language Processing (NLP): NLP is the core technology that helps the assistant understand customer requests and convert them into actionable data.” (See: ¶¶ [0004] [0006] of Applicant’s originally filed specification) which do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea of itself, which is not enough to transform an abstract idea into eligible subject matter. The independent claims do not include additional elements or a combination of elements that result in the claims amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements listed amount to no more than mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component. Furthermore, there is no improvement in the functioning of the computer or technological field, and there is no transformation of subject matter into a different state. Under Step 2B in a test for patent subject matter eligibility, these claims are not patent eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102(a)(1)
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.
Claim(s) 6, 7, 10, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent 11,164,215 to Tushinskiy.
With respect to Claim 6:
Tushinskiy teaches:
A monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system for interactive business promotion to the customers, comprising: a data storage; at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface (Tushinskiy: Col. 10 Lines 12-25);
a digital web-based app, a voice software, and a voice ownership module implemented on the at least one computing device (i.e. website or app, voice assistant software, and module associating voice to advertisement content) (Tushinskiy: Cols. 5-6 Lines 41-64 “In various embodiments, the processor(s) 210 include hardware and/or software, which is operable to execute instructions stored in the memory 230. The processor(s) 210 may perform floating point operations, complex operations, and other operations, including performing speech recognition based on ambient acoustic signals captured by acoustic sensor(s) 250 to detect verbal communication between user 120 and a voice assistant of the user device 110 and analyzing the verbal communication to detect keywords and context associated with verbal communication. The processors 210 may include general purpose processors, video processors, audio processing systems, and so forth… The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can include one or more microphones. The processors 210 can be configured to receive acoustic signals from an acoustic source, for example the user 120, via acoustic sensor(s) 250 and process the acoustic signal to determine presence of keywords and commands in a voice of the user 120. The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can be spaced a distance apart to allow the processor(s) 210 to perform a noise and/or echo reduction in received acoustic signals. In some embodiments, the output device(s) 240 may include any device which provides an audio output to a listener (for example, the user 120). The output device(s) 240 may comprise one or more speaker(s), an earpiece of a headset, or a handset… The voice assistant 310 may detect a presence of a voice of the user 120 in the ambient acoustic signal and analyze the voice of the user 120 to detect a presence of a voice command in the voice of the user. The voice command may include one or more key phrases, such as "Start Netflix," "Play an NHL game," "Play a movie," "Open the website," "Make a note," "Make a reminder," and so forth. The voice assistant 310 can be configured to recognize similar key phrases pronounced in various languages. The voice assistant 310 may provide the recognized voice command either in text format or audio format to the client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”);
a multi-prolonged solution (Examiner notes that “multi-prolonged solution” is described in ¶ [0046] of the Applicant’s specification as “encompassing various aspects of voice commands and its application.” Therefore, Examiner interprets “multi-prolonged solution” to be advertisements/content in response to user requests) (i.e. module includes solutions corresponding to advertisement content in response to user requests) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”);
voice-activated commands (i.e. receive voice commands from user) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”);
smart television integration modules (i.e. advertisement module is integrated into smart tv) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 4 Lines 14-22 “The user device 110 can be configured to detect the voice of the user 120. The user device 110 may include, but is not limited to, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a phablet, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a mobile telephone, a smart television set, in-vehicle infotainment, a smart home device, a car with a voice assistant system, a personal computing device including the voice assistant system, a smartphone, and the like.”); and
API integration modules (i.e. advertisement module includes interface) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 1-25 “In some embodiments, the output device(s) 240 may include any device which provides an audio output to a listener (for example, the user 120). The output device(s) 240 may comprise one or more speaker(s), an earpiece of a headset, or a handset. In various embodiments, the graphic display system 260 can be configured to provide a graphic user interface. In some embodiments, a touch screen associated with the graphic display system 260 can be utilized to receive an input from a user. The graphic display system 260 may be configured to display a video content of the media stream and advertisements. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example system 300 for providing context-based advertisement offers, according to an example embodiment. The system 300 may include a voice assistant 310, the client advertisement module 180, the remote advertisement module 170, and service provider(s) 150. In certain embodiments, the voice assistant 310 and the client advertisement module 180 can be implemented as instructions stored in memory 230 of user device 110 and executed by processor(s) 210 (shown in FIG. 2). In some embodiments, the client advertisement module 180 can be built into the voice assistant 310. The remote advertisement module 170 can be implemented as one or more applications of the remote computing resource(s) 130.”).
With respect to Claim 7:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 6, wherein the multi-prolonged solution encompasses various aspects of voice commands and its application (Examiner notes that “multi-prolonged solution” is described in ¶ [0046] of the Applicant’s specification as “encompassing various aspects of voice commands and its application.” Therefore, Examiner interprets “multi-prolonged solution” to be advertisements/content in response to user requests) (i.e. module includes solutions corresponding to advertisement content in response to user requests) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”).
With respect to Claim 10:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 6, wherein the voice-activated commands are designed to allow users to interact with the ad system through remote controls or smart televisions so that the users are able to issue voice commands to request more information or initiate purchases, wherein: the voice-activated commands for expansion of televisions are crafted to provide smart TV integration in which the ads system is integrated with smart TV platforms, enabling voice-activated commerce and enhanced user experience where the system Ads provides personalized recommendations (i.e. allow users to interact with smart tv in order to issue voice commands and order pizza, wherein the voice-activated commands are integrated into smart TV in order to receive personalized recommendations) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 26-64 “The voice assistant 310 may detect a presence of a voice of the user 120 in the ambient acoustic signal and analyze the voice of the user 120 to detect a presence of a voice command in the voice of the user. The voice command may include one or more key phrases, such as "Start Netflix," "Play an NHL game," "Play a movie," "Open the website," "Make a note," "Make a reminder," and so forth. The voice assistant 310 can be configured to recognize similar key phrases pronounced in various languages. The voice assistant 310 may provide the recognized voice command either in text format or audio format to the client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”);
the voice-activated commerce enables users to purchase products and services directly through their televisions using voice commands (i.e. enables users to purchase products such as ordering pizza directly through their smart tv using voice commands) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”), and
the voice-activated commerce further comprises a module for enhanced user experience in the ad system that provides personalized recommendations and other relevant content to enhance the user experience (i.e. advertisement module provides personalized recommendations corresponding to voice commands in order to enhance user experience) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”).
With respect to Claim 13:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 10, wherein the system further comprises a data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records (i.e. advertisement offers are stored by advertisement platform) (Tushinskiy: Col. 8 Lines 25-40 “The voice fingerprint can be used by the remote advertisement platform 170 to determine whether the same user has been already presented with the selected advertisement offer. In this case, the remote advertisement platform 170 can search for historical data of interactions of the user 120 with advertisement offers and select, based on the historical data, another advertisement offer from advertisement offers currently stored on the remote advertisement platform 170. The advertisement offers can be stored by the remote advertisement platform 170 for a pre-determined period, for example a time specified by an advertisement provider or a service provider. When the time is expired, the advertisement offers are removed by the remote advertisement platform 170, so the advertisement offers are no longer offered to the user 120.”).
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, 3-5, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tushinskiy in view of U.S. Publication 2017/0201779 to Publicover.
With respect to Claim 1:
Tushinskiy teaches:
A monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system for interactive business promotion to the customers, comprising a data storage; at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device, including (i.e. system comprising computing device and data storage coupled via network interface, wherein system includes three interconnected products) (Tushinskiy: Col. 10 Lines 12-25 “The computer system 500 includes one or more processors 505, a memory 510, one or more storage devices 515, one or more input devices 520, one or more output devices 525, and network interface 530. One or more processors 505 are, in some examples, configured to implement functionality and/or process instructions for execution within the computer system 500. For example, the processors 505 may process instructions stored in memory 510 and/or instructions stored on storage devices 515. Such instructions may include components of an operating system 535 or software applications 540. Computer system 500 may also include one or more additional components not shown in FIG. 5, such as a housing, power supply, battery, global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and so forth.”):
a digital web-based app configured as a self-service platform that enables businesses to create text-based ads, convert the text-based ads to voice, and choose relevant keywords, [[wherein advertisers pay for ad placements based on the number of times they want their ads voiced,]] and when a user invokes a keyword, a corresponding ad is played, allowing for seamless voice-based transactions (i.e. text based ads can be converted to audio, corresponding to trigger keywords, wherein when the user invokes keyword corresponding ad is played allowing for seamless voice based transactions) (Tushinskiy: Cols. 5-6 Lines 59-5 “The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can include one or more microphones. The processors 210 can be configured to receive acoustic signals from an acoustic source, for example the user 120, via acoustic sensor(s) 250 and process the acoustic signal to determine presence of keywords and commands in a voice of the user 120. The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can be spaced a distance apart to allow the processor(s) 210 to perform a noise and/or echo reduction in received acoustic signals. In some embodiments, the output device(s) 240 may include any device which provides an audio output to a listener (for example, the user 120). The output device(s) 240 may comprise one or more speaker(s), an earpiece of a headset, or a handset.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 6 Lines 26-64 “The voice assistant 310 may detect a presence of a voice of the user 120 in the ambient acoustic signal and analyze the voice of the user 120 to detect a presence of a voice command in the voice of the user. The voice command may include one or more key phrases, such as "Start Netflix," "Play an NHL game," "Play a movie," "Open the website," "Make a note," "Make a reminder," and so forth. The voice assistant 310 can be configured to recognize similar key phrases pronounced in various languages. The voice assistant 310 may provide the recognized voice command either in text format or audio format to the client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”);
a voice software (i.e. voice assistant software) (Tushinskiy: Col. 5 Lines 41-52 “In various embodiments, the processor(s) 210 include hardware and/or software, which is operable to execute instructions stored in the memory 230. The processor(s) 210 may perform floating point operations, complex operations, and other operations, including performing speech recognition based on ambient acoustic signals captured by acoustic sensor(s) 250 to detect verbal communication between user 120 and a voice assistant of the user device 110 and analyzing the verbal communication to detect keywords and context associated with verbal communication. The processors 210 may include general purpose processors, video processors, audio processing systems, and so forth.”); and
a voice ownership module (Examiner notes that “voice ownership module” is described in ¶ [0036] of Applicant’s specification as voice assistant to run advertisements/content) (i.e. advertisement module integrated into voice assistant allows content to be requested and presented) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”).
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose wherein advertisers pay for ad placements based on the number of times they want their ads voiced.
However, Publicover further discloses wherein advertisers pay for ad placements based on the number of times they want their ads voiced (i.e. advertisers pay for ad placements based on how many times their ad is played, wherein the ad may be voiced) (Publicover: ¶ [0157] “Further, he requires that only one ad may be served per break period and that it should be no longer than 30 seconds unless the advertiser is willing to pay quadruple or more than his average payout rate over the last seven days as computed by the Arkiis™ cloud servers. If the ads are insufficient to cover the broadcast Content cost, he wishes to take the remainder due out of his Arkiis™ Profile earnings balance, or if his balance is insufficient, to accept just enough more advertisements to keep his balance positive at all times.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0215] “The product orientation is then computed during production and editing and the video feed encodes sufficient information for a dynamic product placement during final playback. The audio portion can even likewise be synchronized to provide an audio component of the product placement by having the actors record the words for the various placement choices desired or by having a computer construct the alternate words based upon samples of the actor's voice.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Publicover’s advertisers pay for ad placements based on the number of times they want their ads voiced to Tushinskiy’s digital web-based App at the website is a self-service platform that enables businesses to create text-based ads, convert them to voice in minutes, and choose relevant keywords, and when a user invokes a keyword, the corresponding ad is played, allowing for seamless voice-based transactions. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “provide improved customization of video content to improve a User's viewing experience and thereby provide increased revenue opportunities for advertisers and content providers.” (Publicover: ¶ [0008]).
With respect to Claim 3:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 1, wherein the voice software is the monetization engine behind the system website, wherein the said proprietary software can be integrated into existing voice assistants, voice speakers, open AI platforms, and smart glasses, enabling these devices to be monetized and by using the device manufacturers and platform providers can unlock new revenue streams (i.e. advertisement module software is integrated in voice assistant technology in order to allow providers to target advertisements for revenue streams) (Tushinskiy: Cols. 5-6 Lines 59-5 “The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can include one or more microphones. The processors 210 can be configured to receive acoustic signals from an acoustic source, for example the user 120, via acoustic sensor(s) 250 and process the acoustic signal to determine presence of keywords and commands in a voice of the user 120. The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can be spaced a distance apart to allow the processor(s) 210 to perform a noise and/or echo reduction in received acoustic signals. In some embodiments, the output device(s) 240 may include any device which provides an audio output to a listener (for example, the user 120). The output device(s) 240 may comprise one or more speaker(s), an earpiece of a headset, or a handset.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”).
With respect to Claim 4:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 1, wherein the voice ownership module offers companies their own personalized voice assistant for marketing products and services in that the solution can be integrated with existing voice assistants, voice speakers, open AI platforms, and smart glasses and [[companies can pay a premium to run their ads on these devices, further expanding their reach]] (i.e. advertisement module offers advertisers/companies their own voice assistant to market products such as pizza which is integrated into exiting voice assistants) (Tushinskiy: Cols. 5-6 Lines 59-5 “The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can include one or more microphones. The processors 210 can be configured to receive acoustic signals from an acoustic source, for example the user 120, via acoustic sensor(s) 250 and process the acoustic signal to determine presence of keywords and commands in a voice of the user 120. The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can be spaced a distance apart to allow the processor(s) 210 to perform a noise and/or echo reduction in received acoustic signals. In some embodiments, the output device(s) 240 may include any device which provides an audio output to a listener (for example, the user 120). The output device(s) 240 may comprise one or more speaker(s), an earpiece of a headset, or a handset.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”).
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose wherein the voice ownership module offers […] companies can pay a premium to run their ads on these devices, further expanding their reach.
However, Publicover further discloses wherein the voice ownership module offers […] companies can pay a premium to run their ads on these devices, further expanding their reach (i.e. advertisers pay for ad placements based on how many times their ad is played) (Publicover: ¶ [0157] “Further, he requires that only one ad may be served per break period and that it should be no longer than 30 seconds unless the advertiser is willing to pay quadruple or more than his average payout rate over the last seven days as computed by the Arkiis™ cloud servers. If the ads are insufficient to cover the broadcast Content cost, he wishes to take the remainder due out of his Arkiis™ Profile earnings balance, or if his balance is insufficient, to accept just enough more advertisements to keep his balance positive at all times.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Publicover’s voice ownership module offers companies can pay a premium to run their ads on these devices, further expanding their reach to Tushinskiy’s voice ownership module offers companies their own personalized voice assistant for marketing products and services in that the solution can be integrated with existing voice assistants, voice speakers, open AI platforms, and smart glasses. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “provide improved customization of video content to improve a User's viewing experience and thereby provide increased revenue opportunities for advertisers and content providers.” (Publicover: ¶ [0008]).
With respect to Claim 5:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 4, wherein the voice software is integrated into various devices, enabling users to: ask their smart TV to "find the best pizza deals in my area" and receive voice ads from local restaurants (i.e. enabling users to ask their smart tv to find pizza and receive ads corresponding to ordering pizza from restaurants) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”), and
use their smartphone or smart eyeglasses to ask "what coffee deals are available near me?" and get targeted ads from nearby cafes (i.e. users ask their smartphone for nearby cafes or coffee places and receive targeted ads of available coffee deals) (Tushinskiy: Col. 7 Lines 23-34 “In another example, the user 120 may ask the user device (for example, the user's smartphone) "Where is the nearest coffee shop?". The voice assistant 310 of the user device may provide the location of the nearest coffee shop. At the same time, the client advertisement module 180 may sent the context "the user asked for location of a coffee shop" to the remote advertisement platform 170. The user advertisement platform 170 may select an advertisement offer from a coffee shop other than the one suggested by the voice assistant 310 (for example: "Another coffee shop is 2 minutes longer to drive, but you will receive a discount") and send a discount code or coupon to the user device.”).
With respect to Claim 8:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 6, wherein the smart television integration module steps are integrated into the voice-advertisements system with remotes and televisions in that the integration of the system is with remote control technology and smart TV platforms, enabling: voice-activated commerce and enhanced user experience to enable viewers to speak through a remote or directly to their television, requesting more information or initiating a purchase while watching a commercial (i.e. enabling voice activated commerce to enable users/viewers to place orders for pizza while watching their TV by using voice activated commands by speaking to their smart tv) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 26-37 “The voice assistant 310 may detect a presence of a voice of the user 120 in the ambient acoustic signal and analyze the voice of the user 120 to detect a presence of a voice command in the voice of the user. The voice command may include one or more key phrases, such as "Start Netflix," "Play an NHL game," "Play a movie," "Open the website," "Make a note," "Make a reminder," and so forth. The voice assistant 310 can be configured to recognize similar key phrases pronounced in various languages. The voice assistant 310 may provide the recognized voice command either in text format or audio format to the client advertisement module 180.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 4 Lines 12-22 “The user device 110 can be configured to sense ambient acoustic sound using, for example, one or more microphones. The user device 110 can be configured to detect the voice of the user 120. The user device 110 may include, but is not limited to, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a phablet, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a mobile telephone, a smart television set, in-vehicle infotainment, a smart home device, a car with a voice assistant system, a personal computing device including the voice assistant system, a smartphone, and the like.”);
viewers to speak through a remote or directly to their television or their smartphones, requesting more information or initiating a purchase while watching a commercial. [[It also enables the viewer's voice command to be processed and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television, allowing programming to continue in a larger window]] (i.e. allow users to interact with smart tv in order to issue voice commands and order pizza, wherein the voice-activated commands are integrated into smart TV in order to receive personalized recommendations) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 26-64 “The voice assistant 310 may detect a presence of a voice of the user 120 in the ambient acoustic signal and analyze the voice of the user 120 to detect a presence of a voice command in the voice of the user. The voice command may include one or more key phrases, such as "Start Netflix," "Play an NHL game," "Play a movie," "Open the website," "Make a note," "Make a reminder," and so forth. The voice assistant 310 can be configured to recognize similar key phrases pronounced in various languages. The voice assistant 310 may provide the recognized voice command either in text format or audio format to the client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”), and
viewers to request that information be sent to their smartphones or device or complete the purchase directly from the television (i.e. request information be sent to smartphone to complete purchase of coffee or redemption of coupon) (Tushinskiy: Col. 7 Lines 23-34 “In another example, the user 120 may ask the user device (for example, the user's smartphone) "Where is the nearest coffee shop?". The voice assistant 310 of the user device may provide the location of the nearest coffee shop. At the same time, the client advertisement module 180 may sent the context "the user asked for location of a coffee shop" to the remote advertisement platform 170. The user advertisement platform 170 may select an advertisement offer from a coffee shop other than the one suggested by the voice assistant 310 (for example: "Another coffee shop is 2 minutes longer to drive, but you will receive a discount") and send a discount code or coupon to the user device.”).
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose […] It also enables the viewer's voice command to be processed and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television, allowing programming to continue in a larger window.
However, Publicover further discloses […] It also enables the viewer's voice command to be processed and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television, allowing programming to continue in a larger window (i.e. advertisement is consumed in any manner that does not interrupt the live broadcast show such as by determining window size and location) (Publicover: ¶ [0425] “By providing all these grades and tags upon the array of all plays (or portion(s) thereof) for the actual games played in a league and thus building up a rich database of Content 43-510, Arkiis™ can easily allow (such as by shown in FIG. 43B) a User's Profile to specify feed queries of exactly what they value and wish to see in plays of their Fantasy Football Team members and thus build (such as by Viewing Engine 43-700) custom alternate Premium Content (such as with interactive video stream 43-740, possibly audio only or text based) that a User may consume in whatever fashion they desire, such as during commercial break while they are consuming a game, as a priority interruption (per Profile preferences) during regular game play, or as a standalone custom show without interruption. In some embodiments, "live" television/radio broadcasts are actually delayed slightly but a JSON feed (or other alternate feed 43-460) may be in real-time, thus allowing the replay of an interesting play (or portion thereof) to be received contemporaneously with its slightly delayed "live" broadcast.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0223] “Substitution works by determining the window location and size of each ad to be blocked and individually querying the Arkiis™ servers for Doug's targeted ads that may adhere and fit in the available real estate, creating an overlaid web page that contains the core Content from eBay® but with all ads being replaced by Doug's targeted advertising from Arkiis™.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0526] “Thus, in one specific example, the operating system 3312 or applications 3314 can comprise speech-recognition software, that may optionally include lip-reading technology for improved accuracy, as part of a voice user interface that allows a user to operate the device 3300 via voice commands. Further, the device 3300 can comprise input devices and software that allows for user interaction via a user's spatial gestures, such as detecting and interpreting gestures to provide input to a gaming application.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Publicover’s enables the viewer's voice command to be processed and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television, allowing programming to continue in a larger window to Tushinskiy’s smart television integration module steps are integrated into the voice-advertisements system with remotes and televisions in that the integration of the system is with remote control technology and smart TV platforms, enabling: voice-activated commerce and enhanced user experience to enable viewers to speak through a remote or directly to their television, requesting more information or initiating a purchase while watching a commercial. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “provide improved customization of video content to improve a User's viewing experience and thereby provide increased revenue opportunities for advertisers and content providers.” (Publicover: ¶ [0008]).
With respect to Claim 11:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 6, further comprising: a monetized voice system (i.e. advertisement module software is integrated in voice assistant technology in order to allow providers to target advertisements for revenue streams) (Tushinskiy: Cols. 5-6 Lines 59-5 “The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can include one or more microphones. The processors 210 can be configured to receive acoustic signals from an acoustic source, for example the user 120, via acoustic sensor(s) 250 and process the acoustic signal to determine presence of keywords and commands in a voice of the user 120. The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can be spaced a distance apart to allow the processor(s) 210 to perform a noise and/or echo reduction in received acoustic signals. In some embodiments, the output device(s) 240 may include any device which provides an audio output to a listener (for example, the user 120). The output device(s) 240 may comprise one or more speaker(s), an earpiece of a headset, or a handset.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.”);
a data storage (i.e. advertisement offers are stored by advertisement platform) (Tushinskiy: Col. 8 Lines 25-40 “The voice fingerprint can be used by the remote advertisement platform 170 to determine whether the same user has been already presented with the selected advertisement offer. In this case, the remote advertisement platform 170 can search for historical data of interactions of the user 120 with advertisement offers and select, based on the historical data, another advertisement offer from advertisement offers currently stored on the remote advertisement platform 170. The advertisement offers can be stored by the remote advertisement platform 170 for a pre-determined period, for example a time specified by an advertisement provider or a service provider. When the time is expired, the advertisement offers are removed by the remote advertisement platform 170, so the advertisement offers are no longer offered to the user 120.”);
an artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module (i.e. audio recording from voice system are synthesized based on artificial intelligence) (Tushinskiy: Col. 7 Lines 1-8 “The audio record and companion video can be pre-recorded. Alternatively, the audio record and companion video can be synthesized by an artificial intelligence (AI) system. The advertisement offer including video may be provided via a display of the user device 110. Some of the advertisement offers may include video or text information only. Other advertisement offers may include audio content only.”);
at least a first microphone (i.e. microphone from user device is configured to receive audio input from user) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 4 Lines 9-22 “The user device 110 can be configured to receive a media stream and play the media stream to a user using an output device (for example, speakers and earphones). The user device 110 can be configured to sense ambient acoustic sound using, for example, one or more microphones. The user device 110 can be configured to detect the voice of the user 120. The user device 110 may include, but is not limited to, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a phablet, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a mobile telephone, a smart television set, in-vehicle infotainment, a smart home device, a car with a voice assistant system, a personal computing device including the voice assistant system, a smartphone, and the like.”); and
a keyword recognition module (i.e. software module detects keywords) (Tushinskiy: Col. 5 Lines 41-67 “In various embodiments, the processor(s) 210 include hardware and/or software, which is operable to execute instructions stored in the memory 230. The processor(s) 210 may perform floating point operations, complex operations, and other operations, including performing speech recognition based on ambient acoustic signals captured by acoustic sensor(s) 250 to detect verbal communication between user 120 and a voice assistant of the user device 110 and analyzing the verbal communication to detect keywords and context associated with verbal communication. The processors 210 may include general purpose processors, video processors, audio processing systems, and so forth…The acoustic sensor(s) 250 can include one or more microphones. The processors 210 can be configured to receive acoustic signals from an acoustic source, for example the user 120, via acoustic sensor(s) 250 and process the acoustic signal to determine presence of keywords and commands in a voice of the user 120.”).
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose a geolocation module.
However, Publicover further discloses a geolocation module (i.e. GPS location determined by user device or IP address) (Publicover: ¶ [0531] “A spatial condition for a rule tests whether the User's present location falls within a specified geographical area. The geographical area of a spatial condition may be specified as either a circle defined by its center and radius or as a polygon specified by its vertices. Such a test may be configured to be neutral, aggressive, or conservative to take into account possible error in the location determination method being used (e.g. GPS or Wi-Fi triangulation). Aggressive and conservative configuration settings include a confidence probability setting that may default to 99% likely.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0634] “The focus spectrum uses complex statistical analysis of end user profile data to quantify the similarity of two users. The end user specifies what similarities are most important to him or her, and each keyword search groups other user data accordingly. The focus spectrum can be shifted based on: Income, Demographic, Interests/Hobbies, Geographic location (IP address), Conversion Rate (Frequent Buyer, Occasional Buyer, Brick and Mortar Buyer, Rare Buyer) 3732.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Publicover’s a geolocation module to Tushinskiy’s a monetized voice system; a data storage; an artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module; at least a first microphone; and a keyword recognition module. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “provide improved customization of video content to improve a User's viewing experience and thereby provide increased revenue opportunities for advertisers and content providers.” (Publicover: ¶ [0008]).
With respect to Claim 12:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 11, wherein the monetized voice system for interactive business promotions based on artificial intelligence (i.e. audio recording from voice system are synthesized based on artificial intelligence) (Tushinskiy: Col. 7 Lines 1-8 “The audio record and companion video can be pre-recorded. Alternatively, the audio record and companion video can be synthesized by an artificial intelligence (AI) system. The advertisement offer including video may be provided via a display of the user device 110. Some of the advertisement offers may include video or text information only. Other advertisement offers may include audio content only.”).
With respect to Claim 15:
Tushinskiy teaches:
The monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 11, wherein the first microphone configured to receive an audio input from the user (i.e. microphone from user device is configured to receive audio input from user) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 38-64 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 4 Lines 9-22 “The user device 110 can be configured to receive a media stream and play the media stream to a user using an output device (for example, speakers and earphones). The user device 110 can be configured to sense ambient acoustic sound using, for example, one or more microphones. The user device 110 can be configured to detect the voice of the user 120. The user device 110 may include, but is not limited to, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a phablet, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a mobile telephone, a smart television set, in-vehicle infotainment, a smart home device, a car with a voice assistant system, a personal computing device including the voice assistant system, a smartphone, and the like.”).
With respect to Claim 16:
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose the monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 11, wherein the geolocation module configured to generate geolocation data of the user.
However, Publicover further discloses wherein the geolocation module configured to generate geolocation data of the user (i.e. GPS location determined by user device or IP address) (Publicover: ¶ [0531] “A spatial condition for a rule tests whether the User's present location falls within a specified geographical area. The geographical area of a spatial condition may be specified as either a circle defined by its center and radius or as a polygon specified by its vertices. Such a test may be configured to be neutral, aggressive, or conservative to take into account possible error in the location determination method being used (e.g. GPS or Wi-Fi triangulation). Aggressive and conservative configuration settings include a confidence probability setting that may default to 99% likely.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0634] “The focus spectrum uses complex statistical analysis of end user profile data to quantify the similarity of two users. The end user specifies what similarities are most important to him or her, and each keyword search groups other user data accordingly. The focus spectrum can be shifted based on: Income, Demographic, Interests/Hobbies, Geographic location (IP address), Conversion Rate (Frequent Buyer, Occasional Buyer, Brick and Mortar Buyer, Rare Buyer) 3732.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Publicover’s geolocation module configured to generate geolocation data of the user to Tushinskiy’s a monetized voice system; a data storage; an artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module; at least a first microphone; and a keyword recognition module. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “provide improved customization of video content to improve a User's viewing experience and thereby provide increased revenue opportunities for advertisers and content providers.” (Publicover: ¶ [0008]).
With respect to Claim 19:
Tushinskiy teaches:
A method of providing a monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system, comprising a system having at least one computing device, a data storage coupled to the at least one computing device over a network interface, at least a first microphone, [[a geolocation module,]] and an artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module executed on the at least one computing device, the method further comprising the following television interaction steps (i.e. system comprising computing device and data storage coupled via network interface, wherein system includes microphone and digital voice assistant) (Tushinskiy: Col. 10 Lines 12-25 “The computer system 500 includes one or more processors 505, a memory 510, one or more storage devices 515, one or more input devices 520, one or more output devices 525, and network interface 530. One or more processors 505 are, in some examples, configured to implement functionality and/or process instructions for execution within the computer system 500. For example, the processors 505 may process instructions stored in memory 510 and/or instructions stored on storage devices 515. Such instructions may include components of an operating system 535 or software applications 540. Computer system 500 may also include one or more additional components not shown in FIG. 5, such as a housing, power supply, battery, global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and so forth.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 4 Lines 5-25 “The user device 110 can include radio frequency receivers, transmitters, and transceivers, wired and/or wireless telecommunications and/or networking devices, amplifiers, audio and/or video players, encoders, decoders, speakers, inputs, outputs, storage devices, and user input devices. The user device 110 can be configured to receive a media stream and play the media stream to a user using an output device (for example, speakers and earphones). The user device 110 can be configured to sense ambient acoustic sound using, for example, one or more microphones. The user device 110 can be configured to detect the voice of the user 120. The user device 110 may include, but is not limited to, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a phablet, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a mobile telephone, a smart television set, in-vehicle infotainment, a smart home device, a car with a voice assistant system, a personal computing device including the voice assistant system, a smartphone, and the like. In general, the user device 110 may include any device having a voice assistant system. An example user device 110 is described in detail in FIG. 2.”):
a. a viewer speaks through remote or directly to their television, requesting more information or initiating a purchase while watching a commercial, the viewer’s voice being received by the at least a first microphone (i.e. user/viewer requests more information such as ordering pizza by speaking into smart TV) (Tushinskiy: Col. 6 Lines 26-37 “The voice assistant 310 may detect a presence of a voice of the user 120 in the ambient acoustic signal and analyze the voice of the user 120 to detect a presence of a voice command in the voice of the user. The voice command may include one or more key phrases, such as "Start Netflix," "Play an NHL game," "Play a movie," "Open the website," "Make a note," "Make a reminder," and so forth. The voice assistant 310 can be configured to recognize similar key phrases pronounced in various languages. The voice assistant 310 may provide the recognized voice command either in text format or audio format to the client advertisement module 180.” Furthermore, as cited in Col. 4 Lines 12-22 “The user device 110 can be configured to sense ambient acoustic sound using, for example, one or more microphones. The user device 110 can be configured to detect the voice of the user 120. The user device 110 may include, but is not limited to, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a phablet, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a mobile telephone, a smart television set, in-vehicle infotainment, a smart home device, a car with a voice assistant system, a personal computing device including the voice assistant system, a smartphone, and the like.”);
b. the viewer's voice command is processed by the artificial-based digital assistant module, [[and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television allowing programming to continue in a larger window]] (i.e. viewers voice command is processed by digital assistant) (Tushinskiy: Cols. 6-7 Lines 65-22 “In various embodiments, the advertisement offer may include one or more of the following: an audio record, a text including one or more links, a QR code, a companion display banner, a companion video, and the like. The audio record and companion video can be pre-recorded. Alternatively, the audio record and companion video can be synthesized by an artificial intelligence (AI) system. The advertisement offer including video may be provided via a display of the user device 110. Some of the advertisement offers may include video or text information only. Other advertisement offers may include audio content only. The determination of the context can be also based on previous voice commands and previous preferences of the user 120. For example, if user voice command is "Show me a movie", then the voice assistant 310 may provide the voice command of the user to the client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may determine the context "the user wants to watch a movie" and send the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may store previous user preferences about the context "user wants to watch a movie" and may provide to the client advertisement module 180 an offer regarding the pizza: "Do you want to order another pizza?" or "The last time you watched a movie you ordered a pizza. Do you want another pizza and a pack of beer?".”).
c. the viewer is able to request that information be sent to their smartphone or device or complete the purchase directly from the television (i.e. request information be sent to smartphone to complete purchase of coffee or redemption of coupon) (Tushinskiy: Col. 7 Lines 23-34 “In another example, the user 120 may ask the user device (for example, the user's smartphone) "Where is the nearest coffee shop?". The voice assistant 310 of the user device may provide the location of the nearest coffee shop. At the same time, the client advertisement module 180 may sent the context "the user asked for location of a coffee shop" to the remote advertisement platform 170. The user advertisement platform 170 may select an advertisement offer from a coffee shop other than the one suggested by the voice assistant 310 (for example: "Another coffee shop is 2 minutes longer to drive, but you will receive a discount") and send a discount code or coupon to the user device.”); and
d. the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer [[generated by the geolocation module]] (i.e. AI-based module retrieves advertisements or merchant offers, wherein the merchant offers are relevant to viewer’s voice command and geolocation such as nearest coffee shop) (Tushinskiy: Cols. 6-7 Lines 38-34 “The client advertisement module 180 may determine, based on the voice command of the user 120, a context associated with the voice command. In an example embodiment, the user may pronounce "please show me a TV series." In this case, the context is "the user wants to watch a TV series". The client advertisement module 180 sends the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may select, from advertisement offers currently stored at remote advertisement platform 170, an advertisement offer relevant to the context "the user wants to watch a TV series." For example, the advertisement offer may be associated with a pizza delivery. The advertisement offer can be sent to client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may cause the voice assistant 310 to play the advertisement offer concerning the pizza delivery (for example, "Do you want to order a pizza?"). If the user states that he or she is interested in the advertisement offer, for example if the user responds "Yes, please," then the client advertisement module 180 may send an indication that the user 120 confirmed the advertisement offer to the remote advertisement platform 170. The client advertisement module 180 may also send, to the remote advertisement platform 170, payment information, phone number, and address stored in the user device. The remote advertisement platform 170 may further send the order to a service provider, for example, to an online order portal of a pizza delivery company to proceed the order. In various embodiments, the advertisement offer may include one or more of the following: an audio record, a text including one or more links, a QR code, a companion display banner, a companion video, and the like. The audio record and companion video can be pre-recorded. Alternatively, the audio record and companion video can be synthesized by an artificial intelligence (AI) system. The advertisement offer including video may be provided via a display of the user device 110. Some of the advertisement offers may include video or text information only. Other advertisement offers may include audio content only. The determination of the context can be also based on previous voice commands and previous preferences of the user 120. For example, if user voice command is "Show me a movie", then the voice assistant 310 may provide the voice command of the user to the client advertisement module 180. The client advertisement module 180 may determine the context "the user wants to watch a movie" and send the context to the remote advertisement platform 170. The remote advertisement platform 170 may store previous user preferences about the context "user wants to watch a movie" and may provide to the client advertisement module 180 an offer regarding the pizza: "Do you want to order another pizza?" or "The last time you watched a movie you ordered a pizza. Do you want another pizza and a pack of beer?". In another example, the user 120 may ask the user device (for example, the user's smartphone) "Where is the nearest coffee shop?". The voice assistant 310 of the user device may provide the location of the nearest coffee shop. At the same time, the client advertisement module 180 may sent the context "the user asked for location of a coffee shop" to the remote advertisement platform 170. The user advertisement platform 170 may select an advertisement offer from a coffee shop other than the one suggested by the voice assistant 310 (for example: "Another coffee shop is 2 minutes longer to drive, but you will receive a discount") and send a discount code or coupon to the user device.”).
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose a geolocation module; b. the viewer's voice command is processed [[by the artificial-based digital assistant module]], and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television allowing programming to continue in a larger window; and d. the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer generated by the geolocation module.
However, Publicover further discloses:
a geolocation module (i.e. GPS location determined by user device or IP address) (Publicover: ¶ [0531] “A spatial condition for a rule tests whether the User's present location falls within a specified geographical area. The geographical area of a spatial condition may be specified as either a circle defined by its center and radius or as a polygon specified by its vertices. Such a test may be configured to be neutral, aggressive, or conservative to take into account possible error in the location determination method being used (e.g. GPS or Wi-Fi triangulation). Aggressive and conservative configuration settings include a confidence probability setting that may default to 99% likely.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0634] “The focus spectrum uses complex statistical analysis of end user profile data to quantify the similarity of two users. The end user specifies what similarities are most important to him or her, and each keyword search groups other user data accordingly. The focus spectrum can be shifted based on: Income, Demographic, Interests/Hobbies, Geographic location (IP address), Conversion Rate (Frequent Buyer, Occasional Buyer, Brick and Mortar Buyer, Rare Buyer) 3732.”);
b. the viewer's voice command is processed [[by the artificial-based digital assistant module]], and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television allowing programming to continue in a larger window (i.e. advertisement is consumed in any manner that does not interrupt the live broadcast show such as by determining window size and location) (Publicover: ¶ [0425] “By providing all these grades and tags upon the array of all plays (or portion(s) thereof) for the actual games played in a league and thus building up a rich database of Content 43-510, Arkiis™ can easily allow (such as by shown in FIG. 43B) a User's Profile to specify feed queries of exactly what they value and wish to see in plays of their Fantasy Football Team members and thus build (such as by Viewing Engine 43-700) custom alternate Premium Content (such as with interactive video stream 43-740, possibly audio only or text based) that a User may consume in whatever fashion they desire, such as during commercial break while they are consuming a game, as a priority interruption (per Profile preferences) during regular game play, or as a standalone custom show without interruption. In some embodiments, "live" television/radio broadcasts are actually delayed slightly but a JSON feed (or other alternate feed 43-460) may be in real-time, thus allowing the replay of an interesting play (or portion thereof) to be received contemporaneously with its slightly delayed "live" broadcast.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0223] “Substitution works by determining the window location and size of each ad to be blocked and individually querying the Arkiis™ servers for Doug's targeted ads that may adhere and fit in the available real estate, creating an overlaid web page that contains the core Content from eBay® but with all ads being replaced by Doug's targeted advertising from Arkiis™.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0526] “Thus, in one specific example, the operating system 3312 or applications 3314 can comprise speech-recognition software, that may optionally include lip-reading technology for improved accuracy, as part of a voice user interface that allows a user to operate the device 3300 via voice commands. Further, the device 3300 can comprise input devices and software that allows for user interaction via a user's spatial gestures, such as detecting and interpreting gestures to provide input to a gaming application.”); and
d. the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer generated by the geolocation module (i.e. advertiser/merchant content is retrieved for user’s voice command/feedback, wherein content is relevant to user’s location generated by GPS module) (Publicover: ¶ [0440] “Feedback may also be provided during Content delivery. For example, as a message is being delivered, the User may provide continuous/ongoing Feedback using their smartphone or other Alternate Device. A User may provide Feedback in whatever dimensions the Content Producer desires. For example, a User can give Feedback as to how funny or compelling a message is as it unfolds. Additionally, sensor input data may be utilized to automate the gathering of Feedback. For example, a microphone on a smartphone may be used to detect and measure laughter levels and correlate them with Content delivery time points. Alternatively, talking during Content may be measured to detect User engagement (talking about the Content, determined by voice recognition and/or lip-reading of keywords) and disengagement (talking about something else).” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0526] “Thus, in one specific example, the operating system 3312 or applications 3314 can comprise speech-recognition software, that may optionally include lip-reading technology for improved accuracy, as part of a voice user interface that allows a user to operate the device 3300 via voice commands. Further, the device 3300 can comprise input devices and software that allows for user interaction via a user's spatial gestures, such as detecting and interpreting gestures to provide input to a gaming application.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0531] “A spatial condition for a rule tests whether the User's present location falls within a specified geographical area. The geographical area of a spatial condition may be specified as either a circle defined by its center and radius or as a polygon specified by its vertices. Such a test may be configured to be neutral, aggressive, or conservative to take into account possible error in the location determination method being used (e.g. GPS or Wi-Fi triangulation). Aggressive and conservative configuration settings include a confidence probability setting that may default to 99% likely. An aggressive configuration may include locations outside the specified area such that the probability of mistakenly not triggering the rule matches the confidence level assigned to that condition building block. Conversely, a conservative configuration may exclude locations just within the specified area such that the probability of mistakenly triggering the rule matches the confidence level assigned. For example, if the current location identification method were accurate 99% of the time to be within two meters of the User's actual location, then an aggressive rule set to 99% confidence expands the target area outward by two meters.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Publicover’s geolocation module; b. the viewer's voice command is processed [[by the artificial-based digital assistant module]], and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television allowing programming to continue in a larger window; and d. the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer generated by the geolocation module to Tushinskiy’s viewer speaks through remote or directly to their television, requesting more information or initiating a purchase while watching a commercial and viewer is able to request that information be sent to their smartphone or device to complete the purchase directly from the television, wherein viewer's voice command is processed by the artificial-based digital assistant module and retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “provide improved customization of video content to improve a User's viewing experience and thereby provide increased revenue opportunities for advertisers and content providers.” (Publicover: ¶ [0008]).
Claim(s) 9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Tushinskiy in view of U.S. Patent 7,324,947 to Jordan.
With respect to Claim 9:
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose the monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 6, wherein the API integration has voice-ads API that is integrated with remote control technology, allowing for seamless communication between the ad system and remote controls so as the API integration enables the system to receive voice commands and transmit relevant information to the remote control.
However, Jordan further discloses wherein the API integration has voice-ads API that is integrated with remote control technology, allowing for seamless communication between the ad system and remote controls so as the API integration enables the system to receive voice commands and transmit relevant information to the remote control (i.e. user speaks voice commands into tv remote in order to receive relevant information allowing seamless communication between ad system and tv remote control) (Jordan: Cols. 4-5 Lines 45-14 “The user interacts with the communications system by giving spoken commands via a remote control device 110, which combines universal remote control functionality with a microphone and a push-to-talk button acting as a switch. The remote control device in the presently preferred embodiment of the invention is fully compatible with the Motorola DCT-2000 (all of the standard DCT-2000 remote buttons are present). The spoken commands are transmitted from the remote control device 110 to the receiver 120 when the cable subscriber presses the push-to-talk button and speaks into the microphone. The receiver 120 receives and sends the received speech input to a set-top-box (STB) 130. The STB 130 forwards the speech input to the head-end 150, which is the central control center for a cable TV system. The head-end 150 includes a speech engine 160, which comprises a speech recognizer 170, and an application wrapper 180. The speech recognizer 170 attempts to transcribe the received speech input into textual information represented by binary streams. The output of the speech recognizer 170 is processed by the application wrapper 180, which dynamically generates a set of navigation grammars and a vocabulary, and attempts to determine whether a speech input has been recognized or not. Here, a navigation grammar means a structured collection of words and phrases bound together by rules that define the set of all utterances that can be recognized by the speech engine at a given point in time. When the speech input is recognized, the application wrapper 180 transforms the speech input into commands acceptable by the application server 190, which then carries out the user's requests. The application server 190 may or may not reside on the speech engine 160. During the process, the communications system 100 returns a set of feedback information to the TV screen via STB 130. The feedback information is organized into an overlay on the screen.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Jordan’s API integration has voice-ads API that is integrated with remote control technology, allowing for seamless communication between the ad system and remote controls so as the API integration enables the system to receive voice commands and transmit relevant information to the remote control to Tushinskiy’s a monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands for interactive business promotion to the customers, a digital web-based app, voice software and voice ownership module further comprising: a multi-prolonged solution; voice-activated commands; smart television integration modules; and API integration modules. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow “an efficient mechanism to provide immediate and consistent visual feedback messages consisting of frequently used commands, speakable text, and access to the main menu, as well as offering escalating levels of help in the event of unsuccessful speech recognition.” (Jordan: Col. 2 Lines 11-15).
With respect to Claim 18:
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose the monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 11, wherein the system is designed to enable viewers to speak directly to their smart televisions as well as their remotes wherein the Voice Software is added to all remotes including Universal Remotes.
However, Jordan further discloses wherein the system is designed to enable viewers to speak directly to their smart televisions as well as their remotes wherein the Voice Software is added to all remotes including Universal Remotes (i.e. user speaks voice commands into tv remote wherein the voice recognition software is compatible with standard remotes) (Jordan: Cols. 4-5 Lines 45-14 “The user interacts with the communications system by giving spoken commands via a remote control device 110, which combines universal remote control functionality with a microphone and a push-to-talk button acting as a switch. The remote control device in the presently preferred embodiment of the invention is fully compatible with the Motorola DCT-2000 (all of the standard DCT-2000 remote buttons are present). The spoken commands are transmitted from the remote control device 110 to the receiver 120 when the cable subscriber presses the push-to-talk button and speaks into the microphone. The receiver 120 receives and sends the received speech input to a set-top-box (STB) 130. The STB 130 forwards the speech input to the head-end 150, which is the central control center for a cable TV system. The head-end 150 includes a speech engine 160, which comprises a speech recognizer 170, and an application wrapper 180. The speech recognizer 170 attempts to transcribe the received speech input into textual information represented by binary streams. The output of the speech recognizer 170 is processed by the application wrapper 180, which dynamically generates a set of navigation grammars and a vocabulary, and attempts to determine whether a speech input has been recognized or not. Here, a navigation grammar means a structured collection of words and phrases bound together by rules that define the set of all utterances that can be recognized by the speech engine at a given point in time. When the speech input is recognized, the application wrapper 180 transforms the speech input into commands acceptable by the application server 190, which then carries out the user's requests. The application server 190 may or may not reside on the speech engine 160. During the process, the communications system 100 returns a set of feedback information to the TV screen via STB 130. The feedback information is organized into an overlay on the screen.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Jordan’s system is designed to enable viewers to speak directly to their smart televisions as well as their remotes wherein the Voice Software is added to all remotes including Universal Remotes API integration has voice-ads API that is integrated with remote control technology, allowing for seamless communication between the ad system and remote controls so as the API integration enables the system to receive voice commands and transmit relevant information to the remote control to Tushinskiy’s a monetized voice system; a data storage; an artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module; at least a first microphone; and a keyword recognition module. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow “an efficient mechanism to provide immediate and consistent visual feedback messages consisting of frequently used commands, speakable text, and access to the main menu, as well as offering escalating levels of help in the event of unsuccessful speech recognition.” (Jordan: Col. 2 Lines 11-15).
Claim(s) 14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Tushinskiy and Publicover in view of U.S. Publication 2021/0272187 to Trainor.
With respect to Claim 14:
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose the monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 10, wherein the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module connected to the data storage over a network interface configured for two-way communication between the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module and a plurality of computing devices and may include an interactive graphical user interface configured to receive text input from a user.
However, Trainor further discloses wherein the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module connected to the data storage over a network interface configured for two-way communication between the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module and a plurality of computing devices and may include an interactive graphical user interface configured to receive text input from a user (i.e. artificial intelligence voice assistant provides conversation chatbot interface in order to receive text input from user) (Trainor: ¶¶ [0023]-[0025] “Server 104 can interact with the user (e.g., using one or more client devices) through channels 102. Server 104 can include routing 106, which can intelligently route traffic ( e.g., that includes user interaction data in a given channel) to one or more instances of digital assistant 108. For example, digital assistant 108 can include a number of skills. In some embodiments, skills can be considered chatbots ( or a similar configurable chat enabled software element) that are configured to accomplish specific tasks. For example, digital assistant 108 and a configured skill can be used to detect one or more user intents based on interactions with the user. In some embodiments, routing 106 intelligently routes traffic to one or more configured skills of digital assistant 108…In some embodiments, digital assistant 108 can achieve interaction between a user and one or more end components 110. For example, end components 110 can include enterprise resource planning software, human capital management software, customer service software, or any other suitable third-party software. Digital assistant 108 can include skills configured to interact with a number of end components 110…In some embodiments, digital assistant 108 can be software that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to combine independent chatbots into a single conversational interface that assists real users throughout their day. Oracle® Digital Assistant (ODA) manages and coordinates multiple smaller-scoped skill bots to a composite chatbot solution that assists users in completing multitask conversations. Oracle® Digital Assistant intelligently routes user requests to the skill bot that matches the user query. Oracle® Digital Assistants create a natural, context aware conversational interface, through text or speech that can detect what the user is trying to achieve (intent) and respond appropriately with information or results of transactions from Application Programming Interface ("API") connections to any back-end enterprise applications and information sources.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0019] “For example, a signal identified for a text-based chat interaction on first user device (e.g., smartphone or smart earbuds) can be used to trigger interaction with the user on a tablet or smartphone (e.g., a display-based interaction) or using a smart speaker (e.g., conversational interaction). In another example, a signal identified in a user's web actions using a first user device ( e.g., tablet) can be used to trigger a text or dialogue-based interaction ( e.g., on a separate client device, such as a smartphone) or an interaction using a smart speaker ( e.g., conversational voice interaction).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Trainor’s artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module connected to the data storage over a network interface configured for two-way communication between the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module and a plurality of computing devices and may include an interactive graphical user interface configured to receive text input from a user to Tushinskiy’s voice-activated commands are designed to allow users to interact with the ad system through remote controls or smart televisions so that the users are able to issue voice commands to request more information or initiate purchases, wherein: the voice-activated commands for expansion of televisions are crafted to provide smart TV integration in which the ads system is integrated with smart TV platforms, enabling voice-activated commerce and enhanced user experience where the system Ads provides personalized recommendations. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because “it would be desirable to utilize the smart earbud device in conjunction with other user devices such as smartphones in order to assist the user to interact with other services.” (Trainor: ¶ [0002]).
With respect to Claim 17:
Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose the monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system according to claim 11, wherein the keyword recognition module configured to process text-based commands from the user and transcode the text-based commands into voice data.
However, Trainor further discloses wherein the keyword recognition module configured to process text-based commands from the user and transcode the text-based commands into voice data (i.e. transform text to speech or text commands to voice data) (Trainor: ¶ [0090] “In some embodiments, the voice service/thirdparty device platform (e.g., Alexa voice service platform) can include APIs for interfacing with the platform. For example, the platform APIs can include speech to text and text to speech transformation functionality. In another example, the APIs can be used to build one or more skills for interacting with the platform. Embodiments utilize the platform APIs to interact with third-party devices (e.g., an Amazon Echo/Google Home smart-speaker, smartphone or other client device).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Trainor’s keyword recognition module configured to process text-based commands from the user and transcode the text-based commands into voice data to Tushinskiy’s a monetized voice system; a data storage; an artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module; at least a first microphone; and a keyword recognition module. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because “it would be desirable to utilize the smart earbud device in conjunction with other user devices such as smartphones in order to assist the user to interact with other services.” (Trainor: ¶ [0002]).
Response to Arguments
Examiner notes that independent claims 1 and 6 have been amended to include “A monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands system for interactive business promotion to the customers, comprising: a data storage: at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device” in order to obviate the previous 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection of claims 1-18 for being directed to software per se. The Examiner agrees that the amendments obviate the previous 101 rejection and that the 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection of claims 1-18 for being directed to software per se has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments see pages 9-11 of the Remarks disclosed, filed on 04/16/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection(s) of claim 19 for being directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, natural phenomenon, or abstract idea) has been considered but are not persuasive:
The Applicant asserts “Amended claim 19 now recites a method performed using a specific system comprising defined hardware: at least one computing device, a data storage coupled over a network interface, a microphone, a geolocation module, and an artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module. The method steps require: (1) receiving the viewer's voice through the microphone; (2) processing the voice command through the Al-based digital assistant module while simultaneously resizing a commercial broadcast to a smaller window on the television allowing programming to continue in a larger window; (3) routing information to the viewer's smartphone or enabling direct purchase from the television; and (4) the AI digital assistant module retrieving relevant merchant offers from the data storage based on geolocation data generated by the geolocation module. These steps cannot be practically performed in the human mind or by a human organizing commercial activity. A human cannot process a voice command into a digital signal, dynamically resize a television display window in real time, simultaneously route data across devices, or retrieve geolocation-matched merchant offers from a data storage. The claimed method is fundamentally rooted in specific computer-implemented operations.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Claim 1 recites limitations directed to the abstract idea including “self-service platform that enables businesses to create text-based ads, convert the text-based ads to voice, and choose relevant keywords, wherein advertisers pay for ad placements based on the number of times they want their ads voiced, and when a user invokes a keyword, a corresponding ad is played, allowing for seamless voice-based transactions” and Claim 19 recites limitations directed to the abstract idea including “a viewer speaks through remote or directly to their television, requesting more information or initiating a purchase while watching a commercial; the viewer's voice command is processed and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television allowing programming to continue in a larger window, and the viewer is able to request that information be sent to their smartphone or device to complete the purchase directly from the television.” These further limitations are not seen as any more than the judicial exception. Claim 1 recites additional limitations including “a data storage: at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device, including: a digital web-based app […], a voice software, and a voice ownership module.” Claim 19 recites additional limitations including “through remote or directly to their television; to their smartphone or device; and from the television.” A method of providing a monetized artificial intelligence voice activated commands comprising television interaction steps is considered to be an abstract idea, specifically, certain methods of organizing human activity; such as commercial interactions, advertising, marketing, and sales because the claims are directed to “self-service platform that enables businesses to create text-based ads, convert the text-based ads to voice, and choose relevant keywords, wherein advertisers pay for ad placements based on the number of times they want their ads voiced, and when a user invokes a keyword, a corresponding ad is played, allowing for seamless voice-based transactions” or allowing businesses to advertise on the responses of the voice assistants (See ¶ [0012] of Applicant’s specification) which is a well-known business practice and the abstract idea is merely appending this well-known business practice to the environment of voice assistants. Furthermore, the claims are directed towards another abstract idea, specifically mental processes; such as concepts performed in the human mind or a person (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion) because requesting more information or initiating a purchase, data (i.e. voice command) is processed and commercial is resized, and request information be sent to complete the purchase are all concepts that can be performed by a user with the necessary information.
The Applicant also asserts “Even if the claims were found to recite a judicial exception at Prong I, the additional limitations integrate the exception into a practical application. The claimed method produces a specific technical result: the dynamic resizing of a commercial broadcast on the television display to a smaller window while programming continues in a larger window, triggered by voice command processing. This is not merely "apply it" or "add insignificant extra- solution activity." Rather, it reflects a specific improvement to the functioning of a television- based interactive system - specifically, the problem of enabling commercial interaction without interrupting the viewer's programming experience. The addition of new step (d), requiring the AI digital assistant module to retrieve merchant offers from the data storage based on geolocation data of the viewer, further ties the method to a specific technical implementation involving real- time interaction between multiple system components (microphone, AI module, data storage, geolocation module). This ordered combination of technical elements reflects the type of meaningful limitation that the courts and the USPTO have recognized as integrating an abstract idea into a practical application. See, e.g., 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 55 (applying or using the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment).” The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Claim 1 recites additional limitations including “a data storage: at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device, including: a digital web-based app […], a voice software, and a voice ownership module.” Claim 19 recites additional limitations including “through remote or directly to their television; to their smartphone or device; and from the television.” The additional limitation reciting – “a data storage: at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device, including: a digital web-based app […], a voice software, and a voice ownership module; through remote or directly to their television; to their smartphone or device; and from the television” are seen as merely reciting using device/television to request and display information. These are not found to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application because they are seen as adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f), adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception - see MPEP 2106.05(g), and generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h). Accordingly, alone, and in combination, these additional elements are seen as using a computer or tool to perform an abstract idea, adding insignificant-extra-solution activity to the judicial exception. They do no more than link the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use, i.e. device/television, and therefore do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The courts decided that although the additional elements did limit the use of the abstract idea, the court explained that this type of limitation merely confines the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment and this fails to add an inventive concept to the claims (See Affinity Labs of Texas v. DirecTV, LLC,).
The Applicant finally asserts “Assuming arguendo the analysis reaches Step 2B, the claims recite an inventive concept in the specific ordered combination of elements: voice input reception via microphone, AI-based voice command processing, dynamic commercial window resizing on the television display, cross-device information routing, and geolocation-based merchant offer retrieval from a data storage. While individual components such as microphones or voice recognition may be conventional, the specific ordered combination of these elements - particularly the simultaneous commercial resizing during voice-activated purchasing with geolocation-matched merchant offer delivery - is neither well-understood, routine, nor conventional. The Examiner's reliance on Applicant's specification's description of voice recognition technology generally (at paragraphs [0004] and [0006]) does not establish that the specific combination of limitations recited in amended claim 19 is conventional. Accordingly, withdrawal of the § 101 rejection of claim 19 is respectfully requested.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Claim 1 recites additional limitations including “a data storage: at least one computing device coupled to the data storage over a network interface; and three interconnected products implemented on the at least one computing device, including: a digital web-based app […], a voice software, and a voice ownership module.” Claim 19 recites additional limitations including “through remote or directly to their television; to their smartphone or device; and from the television.” These additional limitations do not integrate the judicial exception (abstract idea) into a practical application because of the analysis provided in Step 2A, Prong II. Merely, describing the environment in which the abstract idea takes place does not integrate the claims into a practical application because this is seen as a well-understood, routine, and conventional computer function. In addition, the applicant’s specifications describe “the use of voice recognition in artificial intelligence such as Amazons’ Alexa and Apple’s siri” as well-understood, routine, and conventional; “Voice recognition has gained prominence and use with the rise of artificial intelligence (Al) and intelligent assistants, such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri. Voice recognition systems let consumers interact with technology simply by speaking to it, enabling hands-free requests, reminders and other simple tasks…These Al virtual assistants process spoken language through advanced features such as speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP). Natural Language Processing (NLP): NLP is the core technology that helps the assistant understand customer requests and convert them into actionable data.” (See: ¶¶ [0004] [0006] of Applicant’s originally filed specification) which do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea of itself, which is not enough to transform an abstract idea into eligible subject matter. The independent claims do not include additional elements or a combination of elements that result in the claims amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements listed amount to no more than mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component. Furthermore, there is no improvement in the functioning of the computer or technological field, and there is no transformation of subject matter into a different state. Therefore, the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-5 and 19 under 35 U.S.C. § 101 has been applied and is maintained above with an updated analysis.
Examiner notes that independent claim 1 has been amended to include “wherein advertisers pay for ad placements based on the number of times they want their ads voiced”. This feature overcomes the Tushinskiy reference, however, arguments are moot in view of U.S. Publication 2017/0201779 to Publicover.
Applicant’s arguments see pages 11-14 of the Remarks disclosed, filed on 04/16/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, and 13 over Tushinksiy and 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection(s) of claim(s) 2, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, and 19 over Tushinskiy in view of Publicover have been considered but are not persuasive:
The Applicant asserts “With respect to amended claim 6, Tushinskiy similarly does not disclose the now- required hardware elements (data storage, at least one computing device, network interface) in the specific configuration claimed, together with the digital web-based app, voice software, and voice ownership module implemented on the computing device, in combination with the multi- prolonged solution, voice-activated commands, smart television integration modules, and API integration modules. Withdrawal of the § 102 rejection as to claims 6, 7, 10, and 13 is likewise respectfully requested.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The Examiner would like to refer the Applicant to pages 17-21 and Col. 10 Lines 12-25 of the Tushinskiy reference; “The computer system 500 includes one or more processors 505, a memory 510, one or more storage devices 515, one or more input devices 520, one or more output devices 525, and network interface 530. One or more processors 505 are, in some examples, configured to implement functionality and/or process instructions for execution within the computer system 500. For example, the processors 505 may process instructions stored in memory 510 and/or instructions stored on storage devices 515. Such instructions may include components of an operating system 535 or software applications 540. Computer system 500 may also include one or more additional components not shown in FIG. 5, such as a housing, power supply, battery, global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and so forth.” It is clear from the disclosure above that the Tushinskiy reference teaches the system comprises a computing device and data storage coupled via network interface, wherein system includes three interconnected products.
The Applicant also asserts “With respect to amended claim 19, Applicant submits that the combination of Tushinskiy and Publicover does not render the amended claim obvious. Amended claim 19 now requires a system comprising specific hardware including a computing device, data storage, network interface, microphone, geolocation module, and an Al-based digital assistant module, along with a new step (d) requiring the AI digital assistant module to retrieve relevant merchant offers from the data storage based on geolocation data of the viewer. Tushinskiy does not teach the geolocation-based retrieval of merchant offers, and Publicover - which is directed to a broadcast content platform with dynamic ad substitution in video streams - operates in a fundamentally different technical context from the interactive voice-command-triggered television commerce system of the present invention. A person of ordinary skill in the art would not have been motivated to combine Publicover's broadcast ad substitution system with Tushinskiy's voice assistant ad platform to arrive at the specific television interaction method claimed, particularly the ordered combination of voice-triggered commercial resizing, cross- device information routing, and geolocation-based merchant offer retrieval recited in amended claim 19. Withdrawal of this rejection is respectfully requested… Moreover, neither Tushinskiy nor Publicover, alone or in combination, discloses the specific technical sequence claimed in amended claim 19, wherein merchant offer retrieval from a data storage is conditioned on geolocation data generated by the geolocation module, and wherein this retrieval occurs as an ordered step between voice command processing and cross- device handoff. Tushinskiy's system serves contextually relevant advertisements based on voice command context, but does not teach geolocation-gated retrieval from a merchant offers data storage as an ordered step in a television interaction workflow. Publicover addresses broadcast content substitution and does not teach voice-activated merchant offer retrieval at all. A person of ordinary skill in the art combining these references would, at most, arrive at a voice assistant that serves advertisements during television viewing - not at the specific ordered workflow of amended claim 19 in which geolocation data gates the merchant offer retrieval step.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Tushinskiy teaches “the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer [[generated by the geolocation module]]” (See: Tushinskiy Cols. 6-7 Lines 38-34). Tushinskiy does not explicitly disclose a geolocation module and d. the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer generated by the geolocation module. However, Publicover further discloses “a geolocation module” (See: Publicover: ¶¶ [0531] [0634] “d. the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer generated by the geolocation module” (See: Publicover: ¶¶ [0440] [0526] [0531]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Publicover’s geolocation module; b. the viewer's voice command is processed [[by the artificial-based digital assistant module]], and the commercial is resized to a smaller window on the television allowing programming to continue in a larger window; and d. the artificial intelligence-based digital assistant module retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer generated by the geolocation module to Tushinskiy’s viewer speaks through remote or directly to their television, requesting more information or initiating a purchase while watching a commercial and viewer is able to request that information be sent to their smartphone or device to complete the purchase directly from the television, wherein viewer's voice command is processed by the artificial-based digital assistant module and retrieving, from the data storage populated with a plurality of merchant offers' data records, at least one merchant offer relevant to the viewer's voice command based on geolocation data of the viewer. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “provide improved customization of video content to improve a User's viewing experience and thereby provide increased revenue opportunities for advertisers and content providers.” (Publicover: ¶ [0008]). Furthermore, The Examiner would also like to note that one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413,208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091,231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
The Applicant finally asserts “With particular respect to claim 8, which recites the smart television integration module steps including commercial resizing during voice-activated viewing, Applicant notes that this claim depends from amended claim 6 and is non-obvious for the reasons discussed above with respect to the independent claim. Additionally, Publicover's broadcast ad substitution occurs as a scheduled content replacement during broadcast programming and is not triggered by a voice command issued through a voice-activated commerce system. By contrast, claim 8 requires the voice command to be the triggering event for the display reconfiguration - the viewer speaks through the remote or directly to the television, and the viewer's voice command is then processed and the commercial is resized to a smaller window. This causal linkage between the voice command and the display reconfiguration is absent from Publicover and is not suggested by Tushinskiy, which does not teach commercial window resizing at all.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The voice command does not trigger “display reconfiguration” but the voice command is to request more information and/or initiate a purchase, wherein the additional information or purchase information is presented as an additional smaller window. The Examiner recommends amending the claims accordingly in order to recite that the voice command is explicitly processed as a command to resize the commercial window to be smaller. Therefore, the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 3-19 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) are provided above with updated citations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are cited to further show the state of the art:
U.S. Publication 2024/0281474 to Craft for disclosing A computer-implemented method of matching exact item records from a media file (audio or video or photograph) from at least one of various triggers associated with temporal data recognition during a broadcast, program, event, or streaming. The triggered recognized media is associated with an item record of one or more virtual repositories of one or more users. A response to a user may include a link to one or more item records associated with an online commerce site, a calendared object associated with an event, a notification, or interactive gaming.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, 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 extension fee 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Azam Ansari, whose telephone number is (571) 272-7047. The examiner can normally be reached from Monday to Friday between 8 AM and 4:30 PM.
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/AZAM A ANSARI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621
June 5, 2026
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