Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 19/091,681

USING AN ASSET BUCKET FOR CORRELATING ASSETS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Mar 26, 2025
Examiner
KHONG, ALEXANDER
Art Unit
2168
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Whp Workflow Solutions Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allow Rate
543 granted / 646 resolved
+29.1% vs TC avg
Strong +28% interview lift
Without
With
+27.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
15 currently pending
Career history
661
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
11.0%
-29.0% vs TC avg
§103
49.7%
+9.7% vs TC avg
§102
17.1%
-22.9% vs TC avg
§112
9.3%
-30.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 646 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This is a Non-Final Office Action Correspondence in response to U.S. Application No. 19/091,681 filed on 03/26/2025. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1, 11 and 17 are independent claims. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 03/26/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered by the examiner. Examiner's Remarks - 35 U.S.C. § 101 Examiner interprets the “computer-readable storage media” as recited in claims 1-10 do not include transitory types of media in view of the Applicant’s specification at paragraph 0070. Therefore, claims 1-10 are statutory under 35 U.S.C. 101. 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) 1-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weidenfeller et al. (U.S. Patent No. 6,028,602, hereinafter “Weidenfeller”) in view of Gottstein (U.S. PG Pub. No. 2023/0350549 A1). Regarding claim 1, Weidenfeller teaches one or more computer-readable storage media collectively storing computer-executable instructions that, upon execution, cause one or more processors to collectively perform operations comprising: detecting a selection of an asset in an asset bucket (Weidenfeller Col 8 Ln 47-50, i.e., “When a user selects a managed object 522 in the bucket view 511 of the bucket window 500 of a bucket 510, a text search is performed on the managed object data model 716”); determining information associated with the selected asset (Weidenfeller Col 8 Ln 50-52, i.e., “When the managed object 522 is found, operations may then be performed on the managed object 522 as described above”); searching one or more related assets that correspond to the information associated with the selected asset (Weidenfeller Col 7 Ln 9-17, i.e., “In an exemplary embodiment, the bucket data model 717 contains only the desired managed objects 522, whether user selected, or as a result of a search/query operation. The search/query operation can be achieved by any well known search technique, including boolean, keyword, and/or full text searches. In addition, a more complex search/query operation may be able to sort the tree data model 716 into a plurality of bucket data models 717 with associated views 511 based on certain user-defined criteria”). Weidenfeller fails to explicitly teach rendering the one or more related assets in the asset bucket, wherein the rendered one or more related assets comprises displaying the related asset, based on the information, the information comprising a geolocation proximity or a temporal proximity associated with the selected asset; performing an action on at least one of the selected asset or the one or more related assets; and storing an output of the performed action over the at least one of the selected asset or the one or more related assets. However, in the same field of endeavor, Gottstein teaches rendering the one or more related assets in the asset bucket, wherein the rendered one or more related assets comprises displaying the related asset, based on the information, the information comprising a geolocation proximity or a temporal proximity associated with the selected asset (Gottstein Fig. 5, i.e., displaying a Storyboard which includes related objects in an incident (asset bucket)); performing an action on at least one of the selected asset or the one or more related assets (Gottstein ¶0048, e.g., edit or delete a media file in the Storyboard); and storing an output of the performed action over the at least one of the selected asset or the one or more related assets (Gottstein ¶0049, i.e., the Storyboard is updated). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Weidenfeller by incorporating the teachings of Gottstein. The motivation would be for providing a media facilitator that allows a user to generate a user-customized display of the incident based on a plurality of media objects (Gottstein Abstract). As to claim 2, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein searching the one or more related assets comprises: determining that the one or more related assets are related to the selected asset based on the geolocation proximity of the one or more related assets to a geolocation of the selected asset (Gottstein ¶0041, “In another example, a doorbell camera may have a source time and a squad camera that can be seen driving by the doorbell camera at a particular instant”, i.e., the squad camera and the doorbell camera are in geolocation proximity). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Weidenfeller by incorporating the teachings of Gottstein. The motivation would be for providing a media facilitator that allows a user to generate a user-customized display of the incident based on a plurality of media objects (Gottstein Abstract). As to claim 3, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein searching the one or more related assets comprises: determining that the one or more related assets are related to the selected asset based on the temporal proximity of the one or more related assets to a timestamp of the selected asset (Gottstein ¶0037, “the system will preferably sequentially load the media files and/or file portions using metadata and using spatial temporal techniques to automatically create a storyboard of the incident starting at the beginning and playing the corresponding files as they progress through the incident”, and ¶0048, i.e., a search functionality that includes timeline flag). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Weidenfeller by incorporating the teachings of Gottstein. The motivation would be for providing a media facilitator that allows a user to generate a user-customized display of the incident based on a plurality of media objects (Gottstein Abstract). As to claim 4, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein the selection of the asset in the asset bucket comprises: detecting a dragging of the asset from a window to a pane, wherein the window is associated with an asset selections folder, and the pane is associated with the asset bucket (Weidenfeller Col 7 Ln 27-33, i.e., “A user may create an empty bucket and then add managed objects 522 by any common data entry technique including key entry from a keyboard, mouse movement (drag-and-drop), voice commands, etc. For example, managed objects 522 from the tree browser window 615 or from an existing bucket window 500 can be selected and then dragged to the empty bucket window”). As to claim 5, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 4, wherein the asset selections folder comprises a plurality of assets that are stored in a database (Weidenfeller Col 1 ln 67 to Col 2 Ln 3, i.e., “a managed object management system stores a managed object naming tree and data relating to the managed objects in the model 101”) or received from a third-party server. As to claim 6, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein the selection of the asset in the asset bucket comprises an opening of the asset in the asset bucket (Gottstein ¶0035). As to claim 7, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein the information is first information, and wherein the selection of the asset in the asset bucket comprises detecting an input of second information into the asset bucket, the second information being configured to identify the asset (Gottstein ¶0049, i.e., adding one or more tags relative to the media). As to claim 8, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein storing the output of the performed action comprises: generating a case file that comprises the output of the performed action in the asset bucket, the case file comprising at least one of an identification of the selected asset or the one or more related assets, a record of the performed action, or a configuration of the selected asset or the one or more related assets (Gottstein ¶0034, i.e., “Additionally, a unique case number (CN) is also used to identify the storyboards. The case number may refer to an internal police department file system, a court docket number or any other suitable indicator”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Weidenfeller by incorporating the teachings of Gottstein. The motivation would be for providing a media facilitator that allows a user to generate a user-customized display of the incident based on a plurality of media objects (Gottstein Abstract). As to claim 9, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 8, wherein the configuration comprises at least one of following operations: generating a shortened length of the selected asset or the one or more related assets (Gottstein ¶0047, i.e., create a particular snip to the selected video); or generating an annotation on the selected asset or the one or more related assets (Gottstein ¶0036, i.e., i.e., create a summary). As to claim 10, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 1, wherein performing the action on the at least one of the selected asset or the one or more related assets comprises performing at least one of following operations: tagging the one or more related assets to the selected asset (Gottstein ¶0049, i.e., adding one or more tags relative to the media); integrating the one or more related assets with the selected asset; or initiating monitoring of the asset bucket. Regarding claim 11, Weidenfeller teaches a computer-implemented system, comprising: one or more processors (Weidenfeller Abstract, i.e., GUI includes processor); and a memory comprising instructions (Weidenfeller Abstract, GUI includes memory) that are executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: displaying a window that is associated with an asset selections folder, the asset selections folder comprising a plurality of assets (Weidenfeller Fig. 11, i.e., tree browser window 615); displaying a pane that is associated with an asset bucket (Weidenfeller Fig. 11, i.e., bucket window 615); receiving a selection of one of the plurality of assets from the window to the pane (Weidenfeller Col 6 Ln 66 to Col 7 Ln 3). Weidenfeller fails to explicitly teach displaying one or more related assets associated with the selected asset based on information associated with the selected asset, the information comprising a geolocation proximity or temporal proximity of the one or more related assets to the selected asset. However, in the same field of endeavor, Gottstein teaches displaying one or more related assets associated with the selected asset based on information associated with the selected asset, the information comprising a geolocation proximity or temporal proximity of the one or more related assets to the selected asset (Gottstein Fig. 5, i.e., displaying a Storyboard which includes related objects (asset bucket)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Weidenfeller by incorporating the teachings of Gottstein. The motivation would be for providing a media facilitator that allows a user to generate a user-customized display of the incident based on a plurality of media objects (Gottstein Abstract). As to claim 12, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 11, wherein the selection of the one of the plurality of assets comprises a dragging of the one of the plurality of assets from the window to the pane (Weidenfeller Col 7 Ln 27-33, i.e., “A user may create an empty bucket and then add managed objects 522 by any common data entry technique including key entry from a keyboard, mouse movement (drag-and-drop), voice commands, etc. For example, managed objects 522 from the tree browser window 615 or from an existing bucket window 500 can be selected and then dragged to the empty bucket window”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Weidenfeller by incorporating the teachings of Gottstein. The motivation would be for providing a media facilitator that allows a user to generate a user-customized display of the incident based on a plurality of media objects (Gottstein Abstract). As to claim 13, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 11, wherein the selection of the one of the plurality of assets comprises an opening of the one of the plurality of assets in the window (Gottstein ¶0035). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Weidenfeller by incorporating the teachings of Gottstein. The motivation would be for providing a media facilitator that allows a user to generate a user-customized display of the incident based on a plurality of media objects (Gottstein Abstract). As to claim 14, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 11, wherein the selection of the one of the plurality of assets comprises an input of a link associated with the one of the plurality of assets in the pane (Gottstein ¶0053). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Weidenfeller by incorporating the teachings of Gottstein. The motivation would be for providing a media facilitator that allows a user to generate a user-customized display of the incident based on a plurality of media objects (Gottstein Abstract). As to claim 15, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of assets are stored in a database (Weidenfeller Col 1 ln 67 to Col 2 Ln 3, i.e., “a managed object management system stores a managed object naming tree and data relating to the managed objects in the model 101”) or received from a third-party server. As to claim 16, Weidenfeller as modified by Gottstein also teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise triggering an event for monitoring the asset bucket (Gottstein ¶0036, i.e., different user actions trigger different engagement options in the Storyboard (asset bucket)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Weidenfeller by incorporating the teachings of Gottstein. The motivation would be for providing a media facilitator that allows a user to generate a user-customized display of the incident based on a plurality of media objects (Gottstein Abstract). Claim(s) 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gottstein in view of Brousseau et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,615,630 B1, hereinafter “Brousseau”). Regarding claim 17, Gottstein teaches a computer-implemented system, comprising: a server implemented by one or more processors (Gottstein ¶0005) and configured to: receive a search request from a user device (Gottstein ¶0034); search one or more related assets squad camera that can be seen driving by the doorbell camera at a particular instant”, i.e., the squad camera and the doorbell camera are in geolocation proximity, and ¶0048, i.e., a search functionality by categories). search the one or more related assets render the one or more related assets in an asset bucket based on the search request (Gottstein Fig. 5, i.e., displaying a Storyboard which includes related objects in an incident (asset bucket)). Gottstein fails to explicitly teach the search is using a geolocation threshold and/or a temporal threshold. However, Brousseau teaches using a geolocation threshold and/or a temporal threshold (Brousseau Col 1 Ln 53-58). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gottstein by incorporating the teachings of Brousseau. The motivation would be for verifying a condition to initiate the collection of the second context image (Brousseau Col 1 Ln 59-60). As to claim 18, Gottstein as modified by Brousseau also teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 17, wherein the geolocation feature comprises a geolocation proximity of the one or more related assets to a geolocation of the selected asset (Gottstein ¶0041). As to claim 19, Gottstein as modified by Brousseau also teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 17, wherein the temporal feature comprises a temporal proximity of the one or more related assets to a timestamp of the selected asset (Gottstein ¶0037). As to claim 20, Gottstein as modified by Brousseau also teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 17, wherein the server is further configured to: generate a case file that store the one or more related assets in the asset bucket (Gottstein ¶0034, i.e., “Additionally, a unique case number (CN) is also used to identify the storyboards. The case number may refer to an internal police department file system, a court docket number or any other suitable indicator”). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Form PTO-892. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER KHONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7127. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8am-5pm EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Rones can be reached on (571)272-4085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ALEXANDER KHONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2168
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 26, 2025
Application Filed
Jan 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
84%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+27.9%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 646 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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