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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/1/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting Rejection
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Independent claims 1 and 11 and their dependent claims 2-10 and 12-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-17 of US 12382117 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the current application are broader in scope and all the elements of the claims read on the claims of US 12382117 B2.
Current Application 19/257,340 US Patent 12382117 B2
21. (Currently Amended) A method comprising: extracting, by a computing system, features from media content; generating, by the computing system, using the extracted features, repetition data for respective portions of the media content, wherein the generated repetition data for the respective portions comprises a list of other portions of the media content matching the selected portion, and wherein the list includes respective reference identifiers for the other portions of the media content, each reference identifier corresponding to a respective different time that the other portion of the media content was presented; determining, by the computing system, transition data for the media content; selecting, by the computing system, a portion within the media content using the transition data, classifying, by the computing system, using the generated repetition data for the selected
portion, the selected portion as being either an advertisement segment or a program segment wherein the advertisement segment is presented during two or more unique programs within the media content, and wherein the classifying is based at least in part on (i) a number of unique reference identifiers within the list of other portions of the media content in the generated repetition data for the selected portion relative to (ii) a total number of reference identifiers within the list of other portions of the media content in the generated repetition data for the selected portion; and outputting, by the computing system, data indicating a result of the classifying for the selected portion.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein: extracting the features comprises extracting fingerprints, and generating the repetition data comprises generating the repetition data using the fingerprints.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein: extracting the features comprises extracting closed captioning, and generating the repetition data comprises generating the repetition data using the closed captioning.
24. The method of claim 21, wherein: extracting the features comprises extracting keyframes, and generating the repetition data comprises (i) identifying a portion between two adjacent keyframes of the keyframes and (ii) searching for other portions within the media content having features matching features for the identified portion.
25. The method of claim 21, wherein: the transition data comprises predicted transitions between different content segments, and selecting the portion comprises selecting the portion based on the portion being between two adjacent predicted transitions of the predicted transitions.
26. The method of claim 21, wherein: classifying the selected portion comprises classifying the selected portion as a program segment, the method further comprises determining that the selected portion classified as a program segment corresponds to a program specified in an electronic program guide using a timestamp of the selected portion, and the data indicating the result of the classifying comprises a data file for the program that includes an indication of the selected portion.
27. The method of claim 21, wherein: classifying the selected portion comprises classifying the selected portion as an advertisement segment, the features comprises metadata for the selected portion, and the data indicating the result of the classifying comprises a data file that includes the metadata and an indication of the selected portion.
28. The method of claim 21, further comprising: determining, by the computing system, logo coverage data indicative of a percent of time that a logo overlays the selected portion; and comparing, by the computing system, the percent of time to a threshold, wherein classifying the selected portion as either an advertisement segment or a program segment using the generated repetition data for the selected portion is further based on an output of the comparison of the percent of time to the threshold.
29. (Currently Amended) A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a processor, cause performance of a set of acts comprising: extracting features from media content; generating, using the extracted features, repetition data for respective portions of the media content, wherein the generated repetition data for the respective portions comprises a list of other portions of the media content matching the selected portion, and wherein the list includes respective reference identifiers for the other portions of the media content, each reference identifier corresponding to a respective different time that the other portion of the media content was presented; determining transition data for the media content;
selecting a portion within the media content using the transition data classifying, using the generated repetition data for the selected portion, the selected portion as being either an advertisement segment or a program segment wherein the advertisement
segment is presented during two or more unique programs within the media content, and wherein the classifying is based at least in part on (i) a number of unique reference identifiers within the list of other portions of the media content in the generated repetition data for the selected portion relative to (ii) a total number of reference identifiers within the list of other portions of the media content in the generated repetition data for the selected portion; and outputting data indicating a result of the classifying for the selected portion.
30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein: extracting the features comprises extracting fingerprints, and generating the repetition data comprises generating the repetition data using the fingerprints.
31. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein: extracting the features comprises extracting closed captioning, and generating the repetition data comprises generating the repetition data using the closed captioning.
32. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein: extracting the features comprises extracting keyframes, and generating the repetition data comprises (i) identifying a portion between two adjacent keyframes of the keyframes and (ii) searching for other portions within the media content having features matching features for the identified portion.
33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein: classifying the selected portion comprises classifying the selected portion as a program segment, the set of acts further comprises determining that the selected portion classified as a program segment corresponds to a program specified in an electronic program guide using a timestamp of the selected portion, and the data indicating the result of the classifying comprises a data file for the program that includes an indication of the selected portion.
34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein: classifying the selected portion comprises classifying the selected portion as an advertisement segment, the features comprises metadata for the selected portion, and the data indicating the result of the classifying comprises a data file that includes the metadata and an indication of the selected portion.
35. (Currently Amended) A computing system configured for performing a set of acts comprising: extracting features from media content; generating, using the extracted features, repetition data for respective portions of the media content, wherein the generated repetition data for the respective portions comprises a list of other portions of the media content matching the selected portion, and wherein the list includes respective reference identifiers for the other portions of the media content, each reference identifier corresponding to a respective different time that the other portion of the media content was presented; determining transition data for the media content; selecting a portion within the media content using the transition data classifying, using the generated repetition data for the selected portion, the selected portion as being either an advertisement segment or a program segment wherein the advertisement segment is presented during two or more unique programs within the media content, and wherein the classifying is based at least in part on (i) a number of unique reference identifiers within the list of other portions of the media content in the generated repetition data for the selected portion relative to (ii) a total number of reference identifiers within the list of other portions of the media content in the generated repetition data for the selected portion; and outputting data indicating a result of the classifying for the selected portion.
36. The computing system of claim 35, wherein: extracting the features comprises extracting fingerprints, and generating the repetition data comprises generating the repetition data using the fingerprints.
37. The computing system of claim 35, wherein: extracting the features comprises extracting closed captioning, and generating the repetition data comprises generating the repetition data using the closed captioning.
38. The computing system of claim 35, wherein: extracting the features comprises extracting keyframes, and generating the repetition data comprises (i) identifying a portion between two adjacent keyframes of the keyframes and (ii) searching for other portions within the media content having features matching features for the identified portion.
39. The computing system of claim 35, wherein: the transition data comprises predicted transitions between different content segments, and selecting the portion comprises selecting the portion based on the portion being between two adjacent predicted transitions of the predicted transitions.
40. The computing system of claim 35, wherein: classifying the selected portion comprises classifying the selected portion as a program segment, the set of acts further comprises determining that the selected portion classified as a program segment corresponds to a program specified in an electronic program guide using a timestamp of the selected portion, and the data indicating the result of the classifying comprises a data file for the program that includes an indication of the selected portion.
41. (New) The method of claim 25, wherein the transition data reflects a probability that that a transition exists between the respective portions of the media content.
42. (New) The method of claim 21, wherein determining transition data for the media content includes implementing a recurrent neural network.
43. (New) The method of claim 42, wherein the recurrent neural network includes an extraction layer, and a classification layer.
44. (New) The method of claim 21 wherein generating repetition data further includes generating repetition data according to a plurality of detection tiers.
45. (New) The method of claim 44, wherein generating repetition data further includes generating repetition data according to the plurality of detection tiers includes an audio tier, a video tier, and a closed caption tier.
46. (New) The method of claim 45, wherein the repetition data is generated based on closed caption text data.
1. A system for dynamic bitrate switching of media streams in a media video production, the system comprising: a plurality of content providing devices that each have a variable encoder configured to encode a media stream at a media production quality and at a non-media production quality that is lower than the media production quality; and a production system located remotely from the plurality of content providing devices in a cloud-computing environment and configured to transmit respective control signals to at least one content providing device of the plurality of content providing devices to control an encoding process by the variable encoder of the at least one content providing device, wherein the respective control signals sent to the at least one content providing device configure the at least one content providing device to encode the respective media stream at a visually lossless compression, wherein the production system includes a control system for transmitting the respective control signals to each variable encoder of the plurality of content providing devices to dynamically adjust respective bitrates of each media stream transmitted by the plurality of content providing devices to maintain a total bandwidth consumption of a data transmission link between the plurality of content providing devices and the production system below a predefined bandwidth consumption threshold, wherein the control system is further configured to reset each variable encoder of the plurality of content providing devices at a top of each frame of each media stream to dynamically adjust the respective bitrates of each media stream instantaneously, wherein the at least one content providing device is a media production camera and the respective control signal sent to the at least one content providing device is a tally signal indicating the media stream of the at least one content providing device is currently being distributed in a live media production by the production system, such that the variable encoder of the at least one content providing device encodes the media stream in the media production quality, wherein the production system is configured to generate the live media production based on the media stream received from the at least one content providing device.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of content providing devices are located at a venue for providing each media stream of live video content for a live media production.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein each variable encoder of the plurality of content providing devices are configured to encode the respective media stream at a plurality of compression rates including compression rates for the media production quality and the non-media production quality.
4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission link has a total predefined bandwidth with the variable encoders each being configured to dynamically adjust the compression of each of the media streams to ensure that a total consumed bandwidth by the media streams is at or below the predefined bandwidth consumption threshold.
5. A system for dynamic bitrate switching of media streams in a media video production, the system comprising: a plurality of content providing devices that each have a variable encoder configured to encode a media stream at a media production quality and at a non-media production quality that is lower than the media production quality; and a production system located remotely from the plurality of content providing devices on a cloud computing environment and configured to transmit respective control signals to at least one content providing device of the plurality of content providing devices to control an encoding process by the variable encoder of the at least one content providing device, wherein the respective control signals sent to the at least one content providing device configure the at least one content providing device to encode the respective media stream at a visually lossless compression, wherein the production system includes a control system for transmitting the respective control signals to each variable encoder of the plurality of content providing devices to dynamically adjust respective bitrates of each media stream transmitted by the plurality of content providing devices to maintain a total bandwidth consumption of a data transmission link between the plurality of content providing devices and the production system below a predefined bandwidth consumption threshold, wherein the control system is further configured to reset each variable encoder of the plurality of content providing devices at a top of each frame of each media stream to dynamically adjust the respective bitrates of each media stream instantaneously.
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the at least one content providing device is a media production camera and the respective control signal sent to the at least one content providing device is a tally signal indicating the media stream of the at least one content providing device is currently being distributed in a live media production by the production system, such that the variable encoder of the at least one content providing device encodes the media stream in the media production quality.
7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the production system is configured to generate the live media production based on the media stream received from the at least one content providing device.
8. The system according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of content providing devices are located at a venue for providing each media stream of live video content for a live media production.
9. The system according to claim 5, wherein each variable encoder of the plurality of content providing devices are configured to encode the respective media stream at a plurality of compression rates including compression rates for the media production quality and the non-media production quality.
10. The system according to claim 5, wherein the production system is further configured as a virtual router panel and production system in a cloud-computing environment.
11. The system according to claim 5, wherein the data transmission link has a total predefined bandwidth with the variable encoders each being configured to dynamically adjust the compression of each of the media streams to ensure that a total consumed bandwidth by the media streams is at or below the predefined bandwidth consumption threshold.
12. A system for dynamic bitrate switching of media streams in a media video production, the system comprising: at least one content providing device having a variable encoder configured to encode a media stream at a media production quality and at a non-media production quality that is lower than the media production quality; and a production system located remotely from the at least one content providing device on a cloud computing environment and configured to transmit a control signal to the at least one content providing device to control an encoding process by the variable encoder, wherein the control signal sent to the at least one content providing device configures the at least one content providing device to encode the respective media stream at a visually lossless compression, wherein the production system includes a control system for transmitting the control signal to each variable encoder of the at least one content providing devices to dynamically adjust a bitrate of the media stream transmitted by the at least one content providing device to maintain a total bandwidth consumption of a data transmission link between the at least one content providing device and the production system below a predefined bandwidth consumption threshold, wherein the control system is further configured to reset each variable encoder of the at least one content providing devices at a top of each frame of each media stream to dynamically adjust the respective bitrates of each media stream instantaneously.
13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the at least one content providing device is a media production camera and the respective control signal sent to the at least one content providing device is a tally signal indicating the media stream of the at least one content providing device is currently being distributed in a live media production by the production system, such that the variable encoder of the at least one content providing device encodes the media stream in the media production quality.
14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the production system is configured to generate the live media production based on the media stream received from the at least one content providing device.
15. The system according to claim 12, wherein the variable encoder of the at least one content providing device is configured to encode the media stream at a plurality of compression rates including compression rates for the media production quality and the non-media production quality.
16. The system according to claim 12, wherein the production system is further configured as a virtual router panel and production system in a cloud-computing environment.
17. The system according to claim 12, wherein the data transmission link has a total predefined bandwidth with the variable encoders each being configured to dynamically adjust the compression of each of the media streams to ensure that a total consumed bandwidth by the media streams is at or below the predefined bandwidth consumption threshold.
Although independent claims 1 and 11 of the current application, at issue in the current application, and the claims 1-17 of US Patent 12382117 B2 are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the current application are broader in scope and all the elements of the claims read on the claims of said reference application. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify claims 1-17 of US Patent 12382117 B2 because the claims merely broaden the scope of elements already taught in claims 1-17 of US Patent 12382117 B2 and the modification or rearrangement of known elements is obvious since it has been held that omission of elements and its function in a combination where the remaining elements perform the same function as before involves only routine skill in the art. In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 4 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as failing to set forth the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant regards as the invention. Evidence that claim 4 fail(s) to correspond in scope with that which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA applications the applicant regards as the invention can be found in the analysis of claims 1 and 13 wherein claim 1 recites that “the second stream has a higher bitrate than the first stream” but claims 4 and 14 recite that “the first stream has a higher bitrate than the second stream.” A person of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to practice the invention and determine the scope of the invention wherein both streams are indicated as having a higher bitrate than the other. Correction is required. For the purpose of compact prosecution, the first stream will be interpreted as having a bitrate that is lower than the second stream as independent claim 1 initially establishes that the second stream has a higher bitrate.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Silvestri; Vince et al. US 20180308523 A1 (Silvestri)and in further view of Nordquist; Nick et al. US 20230353861 A1 (hereafter Nordquist) and in further view of Meyer; Charles S. US 20180220166 A1 (hereafter Meyer).
Regarding claim 1, “a method for producing media production, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of media content streams from a plurality of content providing devices; producing a live production using a first stream of the plurality of media content streams; based on a determination to change a media stream to a second stream of the plurality of media streams, transmitting a control signal to a content providing device of the plurality of content providing devices, wherein the second stream has a higher bitrate than the first stream; and producing a media production using the second stream” Silvestri Fig. 1 and para 35-45 disclose element 140 control station for receiving a plurality of media content streams 110 from remote elements 104, 106, 108; see also 119-126 disclosing an interface for receiving a plurality of streams at an interface of the control station; see also 80-86, 128-132 control station is able to control the switching and swapping of media content streams to be received and displayed. Silvestri para 92 corresponds to transmitting a control signal to a content providing device of the plurality of content providing devices wherein Silvestri teaches the control station is able to control infrastructure equipment control modules, video equipment configuration module (e.g., providing adjustment of chroma/luma gain in video), media asset management modules, video server access modules, remote desktop control modules (e.g., VNC), encoder/decoder configuration modules, digital signage control modules, media wall control modules, and other 3.sup.rd party interface modules. Silvestri para 37, 45, 79-82, 100, 119, 122, 138-140 teaches the control station controls receiving media streams and switching between video and/or audio interpreted as video streams comprise higher bitrate than audio stream only.
With respect to transmitting a control signal to a content providing device of the plurality of content providing devices and the inferences made with respect to Silvestri, Nordquist teaches modifying the elements of Silvestri wherein Nordquist para 12-19 teaches a user is able to control a remote stream providing device by transmitting signals and to control image related parameters of the remote providing device.
In analogous art, Meyer teaches modifying the teachings of Silvestri and Nordquist for enabling a video control center to transmit commands to remote cameras (Fig. 1-4, para 9, 14, 33, 37, 40, 49).
Therefore it would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Silvestri’s invention comprising an operator console to remotely control a plurality of remote content providing devices by transmitting commands to each plurality of remote content providing devices to control the activation, deactivation, and production quality of the plurality of remote content providing devices by further incorporating known elements of Nordquist comprising a control unit remote from a plurality of remote content providing devices to make a determination as to which a plurality of remote content providing devices is on-air or active in order to remotely control a combination of cameras providing a plurality of different angles as disclosed in Meyer.
Regarding claim 2, “wherein producing the live production further comprises generating a continuous stream of data to a distribution network” is further rejected on obvious grounds as discussed in the rejection of claim 1 wherein Silvestri Fig. 1 and para 35-45 disclose element 140 control station for receiving a plurality of media content streams 110 from elements 104, 106, 108; see also 119-126 disclosing an interface for receiving a plurality of streams at an interface of the control station; see also 80-86, 128-132 control station is able to control the switching and swapping of media content streams to be received and displayed as a continuous stream of data.
Regarding claim 3, “wherein producing the live production further comprises transmitting the first stream as the live production or generating the media production to include the first stream” is further rejected on obvious grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 1-2 wherein Silvestri Fig. 1 and para 35-45 disclose element 140 control station for receiving a plurality of media content streams 110 from elements 104, 106, 108; see also 119-126 disclosing an interface for receiving a plurality of streams at an interface of the control station; see also 80-86, 128-132 control station is able to control the switching and swapping of media content streams to be received and displayed as a continuous stream of data. See also Nordquist para 39, 51, para 56-57, 63 Table 1. See also Meyer para 28, 34, 37, 40.
Regarding claim 4, “wherein the first stream has a higher bitrate than the second stream” is further rejected on obvious grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 1-3 wherein Silvestri para 37, 45, 79-82, 100, 119, 122, 138-140 teaches the control station controls receiving media streams and switching between video and/or audio interpreted as video streams comprise higher bitrate than audio stream only. See also Meyer para 29-38.
Regarding claim 5, “further comprising: determining to change the media stream to the second stream of the plurality of media streams based on receiving a control input identifying the second stream” is further rejected on obvious grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 1-4 wherein Silvestri para 92 corresponds to transmitting a control signal to a content providing device of the plurality of content providing devices wherein Silvestri teaches the control station is able to control infrastructure equipment control modules, video equipment configuration module (e.g., providing adjustment of chroma/luma gain in video), media asset management modules, video server access modules, remote desktop control modules (e.g., VNC), encoder/decoder configuration modules, digital signage control modules, media wall control modules, and other 3.sup.rd party interface modules. Silvestri para 37, 45, 79-82, 100, 119, 122, 138-140 teaches the control station controls receiving media streams and switching between video and/or audio interpreted as video streams comprise higher bitrate than audio stream only. See also Nordquist teaches modifying the elements of Silvestri wherein Nordquist para 12-19 teaches a user is able to control a remote stream providing device by transmitting signals and to control image related parameters of the remote providing device. See also Meyer teaches enabling a video control center to transmit commands to remote cameras (Fig. 1-4, para 9, 14, 33, 37, 40, 49).
Regarding claim 6, “wherein the control input is obtained from a user input device” is further rejected on obvious grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 1-5 wherein Silvestri teaches the control station is able to control infrastructure equipment control modules, video equipment configuration module (e.g., providing adjustment of chroma/luma gain in video), media asset management modules, video server access modules, remote desktop control modules (e.g., VNC), encoder/decoder configuration modules, digital signage control modules, media wall control modules, and other 3.sup.rd party interface modules. Silvestri para 37, 45, 79-82, 100, 119, 122, 138-140 teaches the control station controls receiving media streams and switching between video and/or audio interpreted as video streams comprise higher bitrate than audio stream only. See also Nordquist teaches modifying the elements of Silvestri wherein Nordquist para 12-19 teaches a user is able to control a remote stream providing device by transmitting signals and to control image related parameters of the remote providing device. See also Meyer teaches enabling a video control center to transmit commands to remote cameras (Fig. 1-4, para 9, 14, 33, 37, 40, 49).
Regarding claim 7, “wherein the control signal indicates that the second stream is the live stream” is further rejected on obvious grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 1-6 wherein Silvestri para 119-126 disclosing an interface for receiving a plurality of streams at an interface of the control station; see also 80-86, 128-132 control station is able to control the switching and swapping of media content streams to be received and displayed as a live stream. See also Nordquist para 39, 51, para 56-57, 63 Table 1. See also Meyer para 28, 34, 37, 40.
Regarding claim 8, “wherein the control signal identifies an encoding rate for the content producing devices” is further rejected on obvious grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 1-7 wherein Silvestri para 92 teaches the control station is able to control infrastructure equipment control modules, video equipment configuration module (e.g., providing adjustment of chroma/luma gain in video), media asset management modules, video server access modules, remote desktop control modules (e.g., VNC), encoder/decoder configuration modules, digital signage control modules, media wall control modules, and other 3.sup.rd party interface modules. Silvestri para 37, 45, 79-82, 100, 119, 122, 138-140 teaches the control station controls receiving media streams and switching between video and/or audio interpreted as video streams comprise higher bitrate than audio stream only. See also Nordquist teaches modifying the elements of Silvestri wherein Nordquist para 12-19 teaches a user is able to control a remote stream providing device by transmitting signals and to control image related parameters of the remote providing device. See also Meyer teaches modifying the teachings of Silvestri and Nordquist for enabling a video control center to transmit commands to remote cameras (Fig. 1-4, para 9, 14, 33, 37, 40, 49).
Regarding claim 9, “wherein receiving the plurality of media content streams from the plurality of content providing devices further comprises receiving the second stream based on a first encoding method and the control signal identifies a second encoding method” is further rejected on obvious grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 1-8 Silvestri para 92 teaches the control station is able to control infrastructure equipment control modules, video equipment configuration module (e.g., providing adjustment of chroma/luma gain in video), media asset management modules, video server access modules, remote desktop control modules (e.g., VNC), encoder/decoder configuration modules, digital signage control modules, media wall control modules, and other 3.sup.rd party interface modules. Silvestri para 37, 45, 79-82, 100, 119, 122, 138-140 teaches the control station controls receiving media streams and switching between video and/or audio interpreted as video streams comprise higher bitrate than audio stream only. See also Nordquist teaches modifying the elements of Silvestri wherein Nordquist para 12-19 teaches a user is able to control a remote stream providing device by transmitting signals and to control image related parameters of the remote providing device. See also Meyer teaches modifying the teachings of Silvestri and Nordquist for enabling a video control center to transmit commands to remote cameras (Fig. 1-4, para 9, 14, 33, 37, 40, 49).
Regarding claim 10, “wherein the plurality of content providing devices are located at a venue for providing each media stream of live video content for a live media production” is further rejected on obvious grounds as discussed in the rejection of claims 1-9 wherein Silvestri Fig. 1 and para 35-45 disclose element 140 control station for receiving a plurality of media content streams 110 from remote elements 104, 106, 108; see also 119-126 disclosing an interface for receiving a plurality of streams at an interface of the control station; see also 80-86, 128-132 control station is able to control the switching and swapping of media content streams to be received and displayed. Nordquist para 12-19 teaches a user is able to control a remote stream providing device by transmitting signals and to control image related parameters of the remote providing device. Meyer teaches enabling a video control center to transmit commands to remote cameras (Fig. 1-4, para 9, 14, 33, 37, 40, 49).
Regarding the system claims 11-19 the claims are grouped and rejected with the method claims 1-10 because the steps of the method claims are met by the disclosure of the apparatus and methods of the reference(s) as discussed in the rejection of claims 10-10 and because the steps of the method are easily converted into elements of computer implemented systems by one of ordinary skill in the art.
CONCLUSION
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/ALFONSO CASTRO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421
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