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 .
Applicants’ submission filed on 06/27/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-20 are examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/27/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4, 9-12,17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harlamert et al. Publication No. US 2017/0068690 A1 (Harlamert hereinafter) in view of Hendrey et al. Publication No. US 2012/0265749 A1 ( Hendrey hereinafter)
Regarding claim 1,
Harlamert teaches a computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving, at a server, a [..]image request from a browser associated with a webpage (¶ 0032 - When a browser renders a web page or when an email client renders an HTML email it can load the entire document source first. The browser can then find all references to images or other items that are to be requested from server 105. Among those images can be the pixel, which is requested and loaded into the email or web page – ¶ 0033 - the user device 100 requests an image (the pixel) that did not actually exist at the time. For example, email can include a link to what appears to be a path of an image, but where the image is missing from the server 105. Instead, a request can be received at the server, and a PHP script can be executed);
generating, based on receipt of the [..] image request, a [..] image (¶ 0034 - The PHP script can dynamically build the image in real-time once executed completely, rather than in advance as discussed above with respect to step 305. The PHP script can alter the HTML headers so that a response to a request can come in the form of an image); and
providing the [..] image to a browser cache of the browser, the [..]image being utilized to determine whether a user of the webpage is a return user (Claim 6 - wherein sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage comprises sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage in an image cache of the user device – ¶ 0030 - the pixel can be transmitted by email to a browser-based email platform (e.g., Gmail® or Yahoo®) and, when opened by the user's browser, the pixel can be stored in image cache – ¶ 0035 - the server of the web page can then search the memory of the visitor to identify the visitor. In some embodiments, the process can determine whether the user has a user identification tag stored in image cache at the user device by reading the image cache of the user device (e.g., within the memory of the user device) ¶ 0036 - the pixel can be converted to an HTML canvas element and a script can extract the RGBA or other identifying data from the pixel to determine the user identification number- ¶ 0037 - the system has determined that a user who previously inputted or had their user information inputted to the server has visited an electronic location such as a web page or sent email – ¶ 0039 - when the user subsequently visits an electronic location such as a web page, the user identification tag can be retrieved, the RGB components can be determined, and the user can be identified based on the association of the user identification number to the RGB components).
However, Harlamert does not explicitly teach that the image is steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image
Hendrey teaches
Steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image (¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Regarding claim 2,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches
utilizing a steganography-based SVG image identification (ID) token to generate the steganography-based SVG image (Hendrey - ¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image – Note: same motivation as claim 1 ).
Regarding claim 3,
Harlamert further teaches
utilizing the [..] image ID token to determine whether the user of the webpage is the return user(Claim 6 - wherein sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage comprises sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage in an image cache of the user device – ¶ 0030 - the pixel can be transmitted by email to a browser-based email platform (e.g., Gmail® or Yahoo®) and, when opened by the user's browser, the pixel can be stored in image cache – ¶ 0035 - the server of the web page can then search the memory of the visitor to identify the visitor. In some embodiments, the process can determine whether the user has a user identification tag stored in image cache at the user device by reading the image cache of the user device (e.g., within the memory of the user device) ¶ 0036 - the pixel can be converted to an HTML canvas element and a script can extract the RGBA or other identifying data from the pixel to determine the user identification number- ¶ 0037 - the system has determined that a user who previously inputted or had their user information inputted to the server has visited an electronic location such as a web page or sent email – ¶ 0039 - when the user subsequently visits an electronic location such as a web page, the user identification tag can be retrieved, the RGB components can be determined, and the user can be identified based on the association of the user identification number to the RGB components – ¶ 004 The pixel can later be identified by using JavaScript® or similar web-based languages when the user visits a page.).
However, Harlamert does not explicitly teach that the image ID token is steganography -based scalable graphics (SVG) image ID token
Hendrey teaches
Steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image ID token ( ¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Regarding claim 4,
Harlamert further teaches
wherein: the [..] image ID token includes information that identifies the user of the webpage (¶ 0005 - the present application discloses a method including creating a user identification tag having an associated user identification number adapted to identify a user to an electronic location - ¶ 0026 - the user identification tag is an RGBA pixel that includes a user identification number, for example, a seven digit integer - ¶ 0039 - The user identification number can be a seven digit number associated with the RGB values of the pixel, for example. Accordingly, when the user subsequently visits an electronic location such as a web page, the user identification tag can be retrieved, the RGB components can be determined, and the user can be identified based on the association of the user identification number to the RGB components. Claims 1 & 2 - creating a user identification tag having an associated user identification number adapted to identify a user visiting an electronic location).
However, Harlamert does not explicitly teach that the image ID token is steganography- based image ID token
Hendrey teaches
steganography- based image ID token (¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Regarding claim 9,
Harlamert teaches a system comprising:
a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the processor, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising code that receives, a [..]image request from a browser associated with a webpage (¶ 0032 - When a browser renders a web page or when an email client renders an HTML email it can load the entire document source first. The browser can then find all references to images or other items that are to be requested from server 105. Among those images can be the pixel, which is requested and loaded into the email or web page – ¶ 0033 - the user device 100 requests an image (the pixel) that did not actually exist at the time. For example, email can include a link to what appears to be a path of an image, but where the image is missing from the server 105. Instead, a request can be received at the server, and a PHP script can be executed);
generates, based on receipt of the [..] image request, a [..] image (¶ 0034 - The PHP script can dynamically build the image in real-time once executed completely, rather than in advance as discussed above with respect to step 305. The PHP script can alter the HTML headers so that a response to a request can come in the form of an image);and
provides the [..] image to a browser cache of the browser, the [..]image being utilized to determine whether a user of the webpage is a return user (Claim 6 - wherein sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage comprises sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage in an image cache of the user device – ¶ 0030 - the pixel can be transmitted by email to a browser-based email platform (e.g., Gmail® or Yahoo®) and, when opened by the user's browser, the pixel can be stored in image cache – ¶ 0035 - the server of the web page can then search the memory of the visitor to identify the visitor. In some embodiments, the process can determine whether the user has a user identification tag stored in image cache at the user device by reading the image cache of the user device (e.g., within the memory of the user device) ¶ 0036 - the pixel can be converted to an HTML canvas element and a script can extract the RGBA or other identifying data from the pixel to determine the user identification number- ¶ 0037 - the system has determined that a user who previously inputted or had their user information inputted to the server has visited an electronic location such as a web page or sent email – ¶ 0039 - when the user subsequently visits an electronic location such as a web page, the user identification tag can be retrieved, the RGB components can be determined, and the user can be identified based on the association of the user identification number to the RGB components).
However, Harlamert does not explicitly teach that the image is steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image
Hendrey teaches
Steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image (¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Regarding claim 10,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches
utilizing a steganography-based SVG image identification (ID) token to generate the steganography-based SVG image (Hendrey - ¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image – Note: same motivation as claim 9 ).
Regarding claim 11,
Harlamert further teaches
utilizing the [..] image ID token to determine whether the user of the webpage is the return user(Claim 6 - wherein sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage comprises sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage in an image cache of the user device – ¶ 0030 - the pixel can be transmitted by email to a browser-based email platform (e.g., Gmail® or Yahoo®) and, when opened by the user's browser, the pixel can be stored in image cache – ¶ 0035 - the server of the web page can then search the memory of the visitor to identify the visitor. In some embodiments, the process can determine whether the user has a user identification tag stored in image cache at the user device by reading the image cache of the user device (e.g., within the memory of the user device) ¶ 0036 - the pixel can be converted to an HTML canvas element and a script can extract the RGBA or other identifying data from the pixel to determine the user identification number- ¶ 0037 - the system has determined that a user who previously inputted or had their user information inputted to the server has visited an electronic location such as a web page or sent email – ¶ 0039 - when the user subsequently visits an electronic location such as a web page, the user identification tag can be retrieved, the RGB components can be determined, and the user can be identified based on the association of the user identification number to the RGB components – ¶ 0004 The pixel can later be identified by using JavaScript® or similar web-based languages when the user visits a page.).
However, Harlamert does not explicitly teach that the image ID is steganography -based scalable graphics (SVG) image ID token
Hendrey teaches
Steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image ID token ( Hendrey - ¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Regarding claim 12,
Harlamert further teaches
wherein: the [..] image ID token includes information that identifies the user of the webpage (¶ 0005 - the present application discloses a method including creating a user identification tag having an associated user identification number adapted to identify a user to an electronic location - ¶ 0026 - the user identification tag is an RGBA pixel that includes a user identification number, for example, a seven digit integer - ¶ 0039 - The user identification number can be a seven digit number associated with the RGB values of the pixel, for example. Accordingly, when the user subsequently visits an electronic location such as a web page, the user identification tag can be retrieved, the RGB components can be determined, and the user can be identified based on the association of the user identification number to the RGB components. Claims 1 & 2 - creating a user identification tag having an associated user identification number adapted to identify a user visiting an electronic location).
However, Harlamert does not explicitly that the image ID token is steganography- based image ID token.
Hendrey teaches
Steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image ID token (¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Regarding claim 17,
Harlamert teaches a user device, comprising:
a processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the processor, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising code that: receives a [..] identification (ID) token; receives a [..] image embedded with the [..] image ID token associated with user device identification information; and utilizes the [..] image embedded with the [..] image ID token to identify a user as a return user of a webpage (Claim 6 - wherein sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage comprises sending the user identification tag to the user device for storage in an image cache of the user device – ¶ 0030 - the pixel can be transmitted by email to a browser-based email platform (e.g., Gmail® or Yahoo®) and, when opened by the user's browser, the pixel can be stored in image cache – ¶ 0035 - the server of the web page can then search the memory of the visitor to identify the visitor. In some embodiments, the process can determine whether the user has a user identification tag stored in image cache at the user device by reading the image cache of the user device (e.g., within the memory of the user device) ¶ 0036 - the pixel can be converted to an HTML canvas element and a script can extract the RGBA or other identifying data from the pixel to determine the user identification number- ¶ 0037 - the system has determined that a user who previously inputted or had their user information inputted to the server has visited an electronic location such as a web page or sent email – ¶ 0039 - when the user subsequently visits an electronic location such as a web page, the user identification tag can be retrieved, the RGB components can be determined, and the user can be identified based on the association of the user identification number to the RGB components).
However, Harlamert does not explicitly teach that the token ID is steganography-based identification (ID) token and that the image is steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image.
Hendrey teaches
the token ID is steganography-based identification (ID) token and that the image is steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image (¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Regarding claim 18,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches
the non-transitory computer readable medium further includes code that: determines whether the steganography-based SVG image is embedded with the steganography-based SVG image ID token. (Hendrey - ¶ 0016 - The present invention enables high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages – ¶ 0017 - A spatial key is a numeric value, typically a 32-bit number, that can be used as a spatial reference and for spatial searching – ¶ 0021 - When image rendering software 110 receives a request for a map (at the URL specified by the map URL 108), it returns an image of the requested map, encoded with a spatial key and bounding box supplied by spatial key engine 112. ¶ 0054 - one of the following methods is used to allow a search engine 102 crawling the web to be able to differentiate maps containing a spatial key from those that do not. ¶ 0059 - Web crawler checks the checksum against the first 160 bytes. Note that using this method it is possible for any party to know the checksum algorithm to spatially key any image – Note: same motivation as claim 17).
Regarding claim 19,
Harlamert further teaches
wherein: the [..] image ID token includes information that identifies the user of the webpage (¶ 0005 - the present application discloses a method including creating a user identification tag having an associated user identification number adapted to identify a user to an electronic location - ¶ 0026 - the user identification tag is an RGBA pixel that includes a user identification number, for example, a seven digit integer - ¶ 0039 - The user identification number can be a seven digit number associated with the RGB values of the pixel, for example. Accordingly, when the user subsequently visits an electronic location such as a web page, the user identification tag can be retrieved, the RGB components can be determined, and the user can be identified based on the association of the user identification number to the RGB components. Claims 1 & 2 - creating a user identification tag having an associated user identification number adapted to identify a user visiting an electronic location).
However, Harlamert does not explicitly teach that the image ID token is steganography- based image ID token.
Hendrey teaches
Steganography-based scalable vector graphics (SVG) image ID token (¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Claims 5,13,20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harlamert in view of Hendrey further in view of Vlajic et al. “ Rethinking the use of Resource Hints in HTML5: is Faster Always Better !?” – Publication date : 12-05-2017 ( Vlajic hereinafter) .
Regarding claim 5,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches the steganography-based SVG image ID token ( Hendrey- ¶ 0044, ¶ 0047, claim13 &14- Note: same motivation as claim 1). However, Harlamert in view of Hendrey does not explicitly teach
the image ID token is configured to allow the server to identify the return user is a valid return user.
Vlajic teaches
an image ID token is configured to allow the server to identify the return user is a valid return user (Scenario 5, Fig.10 - ABC sends trackingImg.jpg back to Bob’s browser together with an assigned ETag value that is unique to Bob (12345) and a maximum possible cache control age, which will ensure that the tracking image gets stored and kept in the browser’s Web-cache for a sufficiently long period of time. As a result, if/when Bob clicks on (i.e., requests) any other page from server ABC8, the browser will attempt to revalidate the copy of trackingImg.jpg already stored in its cache by sending a HTTP GET request to server ABC with ‘If-None- Match’ field set to the previously received value of ETag (12345). When this re-validation request arrives at server ABC, the server will not only learn that the request for the respective/originating Web-page has been made by a returning visitor, but will also be able to reveal the visitor’s actual (previously assigned) identity –12345) - Bob’s browser will recognize that the given image has already been retrieved and stored in its cache. Subsequently, the browser will attempt to re-validate this image by sending a GET request to trudy.com with 'If-None-Match' set to mallory 12345. By receiving such request trudy.com will be easily able to deduce that the visitor to the respective/originating Webpage (i.e., Bob) is one of the visitors who has previously, at some point, also visited mallory.com).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert in view of Hendrey to include the teachings of Vlajic. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to easily able to deduce that the visitor to the respective/originating Web-page is one of the visitors who has previously, at some point, also visited web page (Vlajic – Scenario 5, Fig.10).
Regarding claim 13,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches the steganography-based SVG image ID token ( Hendrey- ¶ 0044, ¶ 0047, claim13 &14 -Note: Same motivation as claim 9). However, Harlamert in view of Hendrey does not explicitly teach that
the image ID token is configured to allow the processor to identify the return user is a valid return user.
Vlajic teaches
an image ID token is configured to allow the processor to identify the return user is a valid return user (Scenario 5, Fig.10 - ABC sends trackingImg.jpg back to Bob’s browser together with an assigned ETag value that is unique to Bob (12345) and a maximum possible cache control age, which will ensure that the tracking image gets stored and kept in the browser’s Web-cache for a sufficiently long period of time. As a result, if/when Bob clicks on (i.e., requests) any other page from server ABC8, the browser will attempt to revalidate the copy of trackingImg.jpg already stored in its cache by sending a HTTP GET request to server ABC with ‘If-None- Match’ field set to the previously received value of ETag (12345). When this re-validation request arrives at server ABC, the server will not only learn that the request for the respective/originating Web-page has been made by a returning visitor, but will also be able to reveal the visitor’s actual (previously assigned) identity –12345) - Bob’s browser will recognize that the given image has already been retrieved and stored in its cache. Subsequently, the browser will attempt to re-validate this image by sending a GET request to trudy.com with 'If-None-Match' set to mallory 12345. By receiving such request trudy.com will be easily able to deduce that the visitor to the respective/originating Webpage (i.e., Bob) is one of the visitors who has previously, at some point, also visited mallory.com).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert in view of Hendrey to include the teachings of Vlajic. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to easily able to deduce that the visitor to the respective/originating Web-page is one of the visitors who has previously, at some point, also visited web page (Vlajic – Scenario 5, Fig.10).
Regarding claim 20,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches the steganography-based SVG image ID token ( Hendrey- ¶ 0044, ¶ 0047, claim13 &14 -Note: Same motivation as claim 17). However, Harlamert in view of Hendrey does not explicitly teach that
the image ID token is configured to allow the server to identify the return user is a valid return user.
Vlajic teaches
an image ID token is configured to allow the server to identify the return user is a valid return user (Scenario 5, Fig.10 - ABC sends trackingImg.jpg back to Bob’s browser together with an assigned ETag value that is unique to Bob (12345) and a maximum possible cache control age, which will ensure that the tracking image gets stored and kept in the browser’s Web-cache for a sufficiently long period of time. As a result, if/when Bob clicks on (i.e., requests) any other page from server ABC8, the browser will attempt to revalidate the copy of trackingImg.jpg already stored in its cache by sending a HTTP GET request to server ABC with ‘If-None- Match’ field set to the previously received value of ETag (12345). When this re-validation request arrives at server ABC, the server will not only learn that the request for the respective/originating Web-page has been made by a returning visitor, but will also be able to reveal the visitor’s actual (previously assigned) identity –12345) - Bob’s browser will recognize that the given image has already been retrieved and stored in its cache. Subsequently, the browser will attempt to re-validate this image by sending a GET request to trudy.com with 'If-None-Match' set to mallory 12345. By receiving such request trudy.com will be easily able to deduce that the visitor to the respective/originating Webpage (i.e., Bob) is one of the visitors who has previously, at some point, also visited mallory.com).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert in view of Hendrey to include the teachings of Vlajic. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to easily able to deduce that the visitor to the respective/originating Web-page is one of the visitors who has previously, at some point, also visited web page (Vlajic – Scenario 5, Fig.10).
Claims 6-8,14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harlamert in view of Hendrey further in view of Vlajic further in view Shemesh et al. Publication No. US 2012/0066586 A1 ( Shemesh hereinafter).
Regarding claim 6,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches appending the steganography-based SVG image ID token to [..] an SVG image( Hendrey - ¶ 0044, ¶ 0047, claim13 &14 – Note: Same motivation as claim 1 ). However, Harlamert in view of Hendrey does not explicitly teach that the ID token is appended to a URL representation of the image.
Shemesh teaches
ID token is appended to a URL representation of the image (¶ 0203 - if in the HTML the image URL was originally identified as http://www.cdn.com/ml .jpg, it is now converted to http:// www. server. com/ml.jpg? special identifier - ¶ 0210 - The browser opens 4 connections to the present system (server), requesting http: //www.server.com/ml.jpg?special_identifierhttp://www.server.com/m4.jpg?special_identifier) – ¶ 210 - the JavaScript initiates a special notification request to the present system, http://www.server.com/notify?url =http:// www.cdn.com/ml .jpg. At the moment this notification arrives, the present system releases the request for http:// www.server.com/ml .jpg?special_identifier and the response is a redirection assigning this request to the original CDN request, that is http: //www.cdn.com/ml.jpg. ¶ 0204 - A client-side script (JavaScript segment) is
injected, that loads the original request from the CDN. (for example, http://www.cdn.com/ml .jpg). This script also notifies the present system of download completion of the resource from the CDN. This notification is done
via a fictitious request to the present system that indicates the resource that was downloaded).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert in view of Hendrey to include the teachings of Shemesh. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to accelerate web page loading without requiring modifications to user client software (Shemesh – ¶ 0002).
Regarding claim 7,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches appending the steganography-based SVG image ID token to [..] an SVG image( Hendrey - ¶ 0044, ¶ 0047, claim13 &14 - Note: Same motivation as claim 1).
However, Harlamert in view of Hendrey does not explicitly teach appending the ID token to the URL representation of the image notifies the server that a script in the webpage is awaiting a response from the server.
Shemesh teaches
appending the ID token to the URL representation of the image notifies the server that a script in the webpage is awaiting a response from the server (¶ 0203 - if in the HTML the image URL was originally identified as http://www.cdn.com/ml .jpg, it is now converted to http:// www. server. com/ml.jpg? special identifier - ¶ 0210 - The browser opens 4 connections to the present system (server), requesting http: //www.server.com/ml.jpg?special_identifier ... http://www.server.com/m4. jpg?special_identifier) – the JavaScript initiates a special notification request to the present system, http://www.server.com/notify?url =http:// www.cdn.com/ml .jpg. At the moment this notification arrives, the present system releases the request for http:// www.server.com/ml .jpg?special_identifier and the response is a redirection assigning this request to the original CDN request, that is http: //www.cdn.com/ml.jpg. ¶ 0204 - A client-side script (JavaScript segment) is injected, that loads the original request from the CDN. (for example, http://www.cdn.com/ml .jpg). This script also notifies the present system of download completion of the resource from the CDN. This notification is done via a fictitious request to the present system that indicates the resource that was downloaded).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert in view of Hendrey to include the teachings of Shemesh. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to accelerate web page loading without requiring modifications to user client software (Shemesh – ¶ 0002).
Regarding claim 8,
Harlamert does not explicitly teach
wherein: steganography is utilized to embed the steganography-based SVG image ID token into the SVG image to generate the steganography-based SVG image.
However, Hendrey teaches
wherein: steganography is utilized to embed the steganography-based SVG image ID token into the SVG image to generate the steganography-based SVG image (¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Regarding claim 14,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches appending the steganography-based SVG image ID token to [..] an SVG image( Hendrey - ¶ 0044, ¶ 0047, claim13 &14 - Note: Same motivation as claim 9).
However, Harlamert in view of Hendrey does not explicitly teach that the ID token is appended to a URL representation of the image.
Shemesh teaches
ID token is appended to a URL representation of the image (¶ 0203 - if in the HTML the image URL was originally identified as http://www.cdn.com/ml .jpg, it is now converted to http:// www. server. com/ml.jpg? special identifier - ¶ 0210 - The browser opens 4 connections to the present system (server), requesting http: //www.server.com/ml.jpg?special_identifierhttp://www.server.com/m4.jpg?special_identifier) – the JavaScript initiates a special notification request to the present system, http://www.server.com/notify?url =http:// www.cdn.com/ml .jpg. At the moment this notification arrives, the present system releases the request for http:// www.server.com/ml .jpg?special_identifier and the response is a redirection assigning this request to the original CDN request, that is http://www.cdn.com/ml.jpg. ¶ 0204 - A client-side script (JavaScript segment) is
injected, that loads the original request from the CDN. (for example, http://www.cdn.com/ml .jpg). This script also notifies the present system of download completion of the resource from the CDN. This notification is done
via a fictitious request to the present system that indicates the resource that was downloaded).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert in view of Hendrey to include the teachings of Shemesh. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to accelerate web page loading without requiring modifications to user client software (Shemesh – ¶ 0002).
Regarding claim 15,
Harlamert does not explicitly teach
utilizes a steganography-based SVG image ID token to generate the steganography-based SVG image.
However, Hendrey teaches
utilizes a steganography-based SVG image ID token to generate the steganography-based SVG image. (¶ 0044 - For vector formats that transmit images in cleartext, like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a comment in the text file can be used to embed the spatial key – Claim 24 - an image rendering engine, executed by the processor, adapted to obtain a spatial key for a specified location from the spatial key engine and to render a map including the spatial key in response to receiving a query at the resource address from the search engine for the specified map content – Claim 13&14 - wherein the image is a map, wherein the spatial key is steganographically encoded in red, green and blue values of the image – ¶ 0047 - In addition to the spatial key and bounding box, an alternative embodiment of this invention allows arbitrary information to be steganographically encoded in the image).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert to include the teachings of Hendrey. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to enable high precision Internet local searching by embedding spatial keys into maps displayed as part of web pages. By indexing the spatial keys along with the related content of a web page, a search engine is thus able to return relevant content to queries for local information (Hendrey – ¶ 0016).
Regarding claim 16,
Harlamert in view of Hendrey teaches appending the steganography-based SVG image ID token to [..] an SVG image( Hendrey - ¶ 0044, ¶ 0047, claim13 &14 - Note: Same motivation as claim 9).
However, Harlamert in view of Hendrey does not explicitly teach that appending the ID token to the URL representation of the image notifies the processor that a script in the webpage is awaiting a response from the server.
Shemesh teaches
appending the ID token to the URL representation of the image notifies the processor that a script in the webpage is awaiting a response from the server (¶ 0203 - if in the HTML the image URL was originally identified as http://www.cdn.com/ml .jpg, it is now converted to http:// www. server. com/ml.jpg? special identifier - ¶ 0210 - The browser opens 4 connections to the present system (server), requesting http: //www.server.com/ml.jpg?special_identifier ... http://www.server.com/m4. jpg?special_identifier) – the JavaScript initiates a special notification request to the present system, http://www.server.com/notify?url =http:// www.cdn.com/ml .jpg. At the moment this notification arrives, the present system releases the request for http:// www.server.com/ml .jpg?special_identifier and the response is a redirection assigning this request to the original CDN request, that is http: //www.cdn.com/ml.jpg. ¶ 0204 - A client-side script (JavaScript segment) is injected, that loads the original request from the CDN. (for example, http://www.cdn.com/ml .jpg). This script also notifies the present system of download completion of the resource from the CDN. This notification is done via a fictitious request to the present system that indicates the resource that was downloaded.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Harlamert in view of Hendrey to include the teachings of Shemesh. The motivation to do so is to allow the system to accelerate web page loading without requiring modifications to user client software (Shemesh – ¶ 0002).
Conclusion
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/YOUNES NAJI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445
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