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 Office Action is responsive to the communications filed on 25 July 2025. Claims 1-29 are pending.
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.
Claims 1, 11, and 16 recite an “adapter server”. However, the original Specification lacks a description of the claimed “adapter server”. Consequently, Examiner considers Applicant was not in possession of the claimed invention at the time of the filing date.
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.
Claims 1-7, 11-13 and 16-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maitre et al. (Hereinafter, Maitre, US 2012/0158984 A1) in view of Danciu et al. (Hereinafter, Danciu, US 9,490,998 B1).
Per claim 1, Maitre discloses a server system for controlling content presentation on televisions(Abstract; paragraph [0003]; paragraph [0023]), comprising:
at least one adapter server(paragraph [0023], “For example, a translation layer on a PC that receives markup language code and/or scripting language code (e.g., code that complies with the HTML5/W3C standard) from a remote server via a web browser can automatically convert such code into corresponding calls in a streaming protocol (e.g., a streaming protocol specified by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)) in order to stream digital content (e.g., digital video, digital audio, or digital images) to a wide range of remote devices (e.g., a digital television, digital audio player, game console, or other digital content playback device)….”; paragraph [0046], “In examples described herein, markup language code and/or scripting language code can be used to deliver content to a local computing device. For example, markup language and/or scripting language code is provided by a remote server and processed by a web browser on a local computing device ...”), comprising:
a processor( e.g., processing unit 1010 as shown in Fig. 10; paragraph [0137], “ With reference to FIG. 10, the computing environment 1000 includes at least one processing unit 1010 coupled to memory 1020. In FIG. 10, this basic configuration 1030 is included within a dashed line ... “); and
a memory containing executable instructions( e.g., memory 1020 as shown in Fig. 10; paragraph [0137], “ With reference to FIG. 10, the computing environment 1000 includes at least one processing unit 1010 coupled to memory 1020. In FIG. 10, this basic configuration 1030 is included within a dashed line ... “);
where the processor is configured by the executable instructions (paragraph [0137], “ …The processing unit 1010 executes computer-executable instructions. In a multi-processing system, multiple processing units execute computer-executable instructions to increase processing power. The memory 1020 may be non-transitory memory, such as volatile memory (e.g., registers, cache, RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, etc.), or some combination of the two. The memory 1020 can store software 1080 implementing any of the technologies described herein. “) to:
receive, via the Internet (e.g., step 210 as shown in Fig. 2; paragraph [0035]; paragraph [0133] ,”This section describes exemplary approaches to user interaction. FIG. 8 shows an example user interface 810. User interface 810 can be used to switch seamlessly between local and remote playback of content (e.g., content provided by a media server over the Internet via a web page)…” ), a message (paragraph [0034], “FIG. 2 shows an exemplary technique 200 for translating markup language code or scripting language code (e.g., interface calls) for elements representing digital content. A system such as the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 or other system performs the technique 200.”; Examiner’s Note: Maitre discloses receiving an interface call which the Examiner is interpreting as a message.) containing:
a command concerning loading a specific media player on a target device(paragraph [0052]; Table 2 ), where the target device is a television and the command includes an identifier for the specific media player(e.g., step 220 as shown in Fig. 2; paragraph [0036], “At 220, the system parses the received markup language code or scripting language code to obtain information representing an interface call associated with an element representing digital content. In described examples, elements representing digital content can include software elements (e.g., media elements that represent digital media content, or image elements that represent digital still image content) that implement interfaces…”; paragraph [0038]);
when target verification is successful:
interpret the command concerning loading the specific media player on the target device and convert the command concerning loading the specific media player on the target device into a specific command recognizable to the television(e.g., step 960 as shown in Fig. 9; paragraph [0135], “… At 960, the system automatically translates the interface call into translated code that complies with a streaming protocol (e.g., a UPnP protocol specified by DLNA) ... “); and
direct the television to load the specific media player by sending the specific command to the television via the Internet(e.g., step 970 as shown in Fig. 9; paragraph [0135], “… At 970, the system sends information representing translated code to a remote device on a local network. The remote device is operable to render the digital media content. “).
Maitre does not expressly disclose:
user account information; and
perform target verification using the user account information.
Danciu discloses:
user account information (Abstract; column 1, lines 39-67 to column 2, lines 1-40); and
perform target verification using the user account information (e.g., step 254 as shown in Fig. 2; Abstract; column 14, lines 10-36).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the network-based remote control of Danciu with the remote playback of Maitre for improving direct communications home electronics such as a target device as suggested by Danciu (column 1, lines 26-35).
Per claim 2, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 1, wherein the specific command is capable of causing the television to load the specific media player from a non-volatile storage device into the memory of the television(Maitre, e.g., void load() as shown in Table 1 and Table 4; Paragraph [0065];paragraphs [0108- 0109]).
Per claim 3, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 1, wherein the specific command is capable of causing the television to load the specific media player by establishing a secure Internet connection with a server system of an appropriate content provider and obtain the specific media player via the secure connection(Maitre, paragraph [0063];paragraph [0132]).
Per claim 4, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 1,wherein the specific command is further capable of causing the television to control playback of content using the specific media player(Maitre, paragraph [0043]).
Per claim 5, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 1 wherein; the command concerning loading the specific media player on the target device further includes an identifier of user-selected content (Maitre, paragraph [0152]); and the specific command is further capable of causing the television to play the user-selected content using the specific media player(Maitre, paragraph [0152]).
Per claim 6, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 5, wherein the specific command further comprises a transmission code that instructs the television to load the specific media player and play the user- selected content(Maitre, paragraph [0003]; paragraphs [0022-0023]).
Per claim 7, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 1, wherein the specific command is a JavaScript object(Maitre, paragraph [0100]; paragraph [0129]).
Per claim 11, Maitre discloses a server system for controlling content presentation on televisions(Abstract; paragraph [0003]; paragraph [0023]), comprising:
at least one adapter server(paragraph [0023], “For example, a translation layer on a PC that receives markup language code and/or scripting language code (e.g., code that complies with the HTML5/W3C standard) from a remote server via a web browser can automatically convert such code into corresponding calls in a streaming protocol (e.g., a streaming protocol specified by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)) in order to stream digital content (e.g., digital video, digital audio, or digital images) to a wide range of remote devices (e.g., a digital television, digital audio player, game console, or other digital content playback device)….”; paragraph [0046], “In examples described herein, markup language code and/or scripting language code can be used to deliver content to a local computing device. For example, markup language and/or scripting language code is provided by a remote server and processed by a web browser on a local computing device ...”), comprising:
a processor( e.g., processing unit 1010 as shown in Fig. 10; paragraph [0137], “ With reference to FIG. 10, the computing environment 1000 includes at least one processing unit 1010 coupled to memory 1020. In FIG. 10, this basic configuration 1030 is included within a dashed line ... “); and
a memory containing executable instructions(( e.g., memory 1020 as shown in Fig. 10; paragraph [0137], “ With reference to FIG. 10, the computing environment 1000 includes at least one processing unit 1010 coupled to memory 1020. In FIG. 10, this basic configuration 1030 is included within a dashed line ... “);
where the processor is configured by the executable instructions (paragraph [0137], “ …The processing unit 1010 executes computer-executable instructions. In a multi-processing system, multiple processing units execute computer-executable instructions to increase processing power. The memory 1020 may be non-transitory memory, such as volatile memory (e.g., registers, cache, RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, etc.), or some combination of the two. The memory 1020 can store software 1080 implementing any of the technologies described herein. “) to:
receive, via the Internet (e.g., step 210 as shown in Fig. 2; paragraph [0035]; paragraph [0133] ,”This section describes exemplary approaches to user interaction. FIG. 8 shows an example user interface 810. User interface 810 can be used to switch seamlessly between local and remote playback of content (e.g., content provided by a media server over the Internet via a web page)…” ), a message (paragraph [0034], “FIG. 2 shows an exemplary technique 200 for translating markup language code or scripting language code (e.g., interface calls) for elements representing digital content. A system such as the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 or other system performs the technique 200.”; Examiner’s Note: Maitre discloses receiving an interface call which the Examiner is interpreting as a message.) containing:
a command concerning loading a specific media player on a target device(paragraph [0052]; Table 2 ), where the target device is a television and the command includes an identifier for the specific media player(e.g., step 220 as shown in Fig. 2; paragraph [0036], “At 220, the system parses the received markup language code or scripting language code to obtain information representing an interface call associated with an element representing digital content. In described examples, elements representing digital content can include software elements (e.g., media elements that represent digital media content, or image elements that represent digital still image content) that implement interfaces…”; paragraph [0038]);
when target verification is successful:
interpret the command concerning loading the specific media player on the target device and convert the command concerning loading the specific media player on the target device into a specific command recognizable to the television (e.g., step 960 as shown in Fig. 9; paragraph [0135], “… At 960, the system automatically translates the interface call into translated code that complies with a streaming protocol (e.g., a UPnP protocol specified by DLNA) ... “); and
direct the television to load the specific media player and play the user-selected content by sending the specific command to the television via the Internet, where the specific command is capable of causing the television to load the specific media player by establishing a secure Internet connection with a server system of an appropriate content provider and obtain the specific media player via the secure connection (e.g., step 970 as shown in Fig. 9; paragraph [0135], “… At 970, the system sends information representing translated code to a remote device on a local network. The remote device is operable to render the digital media content. “).
Maitre does not expressly disclose:
user account information; and
perform target verification using the user account information.
Danciu discloses:
user account information (Abstract; column 1, lines 39-67 to column 2, lines 1-40); and
perform target verification using the user account information (e.g., step 254 as shown in Fig. 2; Abstract; column 14, lines 10-36).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the network-based remote control of Danciu with the remote playback of Maitre for improving direct communications home electronics such as a target device as suggested by Danciu (column 1, lines 26-35).
Per claim 12, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 11, wherein the specific command further comprises a transmission code that instructs the television to load the specific media player and play the user- selected content(Maitre, paragraph [0003]; paragraphs [0022-0023]).
Per claim 13, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 11, wherein the specific command is a JavaScript object(Maitre, paragraph [0100]; paragraph [0129]).
Per claim 16, Maitre discloses a server system for controlling content presentation on target devices, comprising:
at least one adapter server(paragraph [0023], “For example, a translation layer on a PC that receives markup language code and/or scripting language code (e.g., code that complies with the HTML5/W3C standard) from a remote server via a web browser can automatically convert such code into corresponding calls in a streaming protocol (e.g., a streaming protocol specified by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)) in order to stream digital content (e.g., digital video, digital audio, or digital images) to a wide range of remote devices (e.g., a digital television, digital audio player, game console, or other digital content playback device)….”; paragraph [0046], “In examples described herein, markup language code and/or scripting language code can be used to deliver content to a local computing device. For example, markup language and/or scripting language code is provided by a remote server and processed by a web browser on a local computing device ...”), comprising:
a processor( e.g., processing unit 1010 as shown in Fig. 10; paragraph [0137], “ With reference to FIG. 10, the computing environment 1000 includes at least one processing unit 1010 coupled to memory 1020. In FIG. 10, this basic configuration 1030 is included within a dashed line ... “); and
a memory containing executable instructions( e.g., memory 1020 as shown in Fig. 10; paragraph [0137], “ With reference to FIG. 10, the computing environment 1000 includes at least one processing unit 1010 coupled to memory 1020. In FIG. 10, this basic configuration 1030 is included within a dashed line ... “);
where the processor is configured by the executable instructions (paragraph [0137], “ …The processing unit 1010 executes computer-executable instructions. In a multi-processing system, multiple processing units execute computer-executable instructions to increase processing power. The memory 1020 may be non-transitory memory, such as volatile memory (e.g., registers, cache, RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, etc.), or some combination of the two. The memory 1020 can store software 1080 implementing any of the technologies described herein. “) to:
receive, via the Internet (e.g., step 210 as shown in Fig. 2; paragraph [0035]; paragraph [0133] ,”This section describes exemplary approaches to user interaction. FIG. 8 shows an example user interface 810. User interface 810 can be used to switch seamlessly between local and remote playback of content (e.g., content provided by a media server over the Internet via a web page)…” ), a message (paragraph [0034], “FIG. 2 shows an exemplary technique 200 for translating markup language code or scripting language code (e.g., interface calls) for elements representing digital content. A system such as the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 or other system performs the technique 200.”; Examiner’s Note: Maitre discloses receiving an interface call which the Examiner is interpreting as a message.) containing:
a command concerning loading a specific media player on a target device(paragraph [0052]; Table 2 ), where the target device is a television and the command includes an identifier for the specific media player(e.g., step 220 as shown in Fig. 2; paragraph [0036], “At 220, the system parses the received markup language code or scripting language code to obtain information representing an interface call associated with an element representing digital content. In described examples, elements representing digital content can include software elements (e.g., media elements that represent digital media content, or image elements that represent digital still image content) that implement interfaces…”; paragraph [0038]);
when target verification is successful:
interpret the command concerning content playback and convert the command concerning content playback into a specific command recognizable to the target device (e.g., step 960 as shown in Fig. 9; paragraph [0135], “… At 960, the system automatically translates the interface call into translated code that complies with a streaming protocol (e.g., a UPnP protocol specified by DLNA) ... “); and
direct content playback on the target device by sending the specific command to the target device via the Internet (e.g., step 970 as shown in Fig. 9; paragraph [0135], “… At 970, the system sends information representing translated code to a remote device on a local network. The remote device is operable to render the digital media content. “).
Maitre does not expressly disclose:
user account information; and
perform target verification using the user account information.
Danciu discloses:
user account information (Abstract; column 1, lines 39-67 to column 2, lines 1-40); and
perform target verification using the user account information (e.g., step 254 as shown in Fig. 2; Abstract; column 14, lines 10-36).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the network-based remote control of Danciu with the remote playback of Maitre for improving direct communications home electronics such as a target device as suggested by Danciu (column 1, lines 26-35).
Per claim 17, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 16 wherein; the target device is a television(Abstract; paragraph [0003]; paragraph [0029] ); the command concerning content playback includes an identifier for a specific media player (Maitre, paragraph [0152]); and he specific command recognizable to the target device directs the television to load the specific media player (Maitre, paragraph [0152]).
Per claim 18, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 17, wherein the specific command is capable of causing the television to load the specific media player from a non-volatile storage device into the memory of the television(Maitre, e.g., void load() as shown in Table 1 and Table 4; Paragraph [0065];paragraphs [0108- 0109]).
Per claim 19, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 17, wherein the specific command is capable of causing the television to load the specific media player by establishing a secure Internet connection with a server system of an appropriate content provider and obtain the specific media player via the secure connection(Maitre, e.g., void load() as shown in Table 1 and Table 4; Paragraph [0065];paragraphs [0108- 0109]).
Per claim 20, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 17, wherein the specific command is further capable of causing the television to control playback of content using the specific media player (Maitre, paragraph [0043]).
Per claim 21, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 16, wherein; the command concerning content playback further includes an identifier of user-selected content (Maitre, paragraph [0152]); and the specific command is further capable of causing the television to play the user-selected content (Maitre, paragraph [0152]).
Per claim 22, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 1 wherein; the command concerning content playback further includes an identifier of user-selected content (Maitre, paragraph [0152]); and the specific command is further capable of causing the target device to play the user- selected content using a specific media player(Maitre, paragraph [0152]).
Per claim 23, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 22, wherein the specific command further comprises a transmission code that instructs the target device to load the specific media player and play the user-selected content (Maitre, paragraph [0003]; paragraphs [0022-0023]).
Per claim 24, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 16, wherein: the command concerning content playback further includes: an identifier of user-selected content(Maitre, paragraph [0152]); and an identifier of a specific media player; and the specific command is further capable of causing the target device to play the user- selected content using the specific media player(Maitre, paragraph [0152]).
Per claim 25, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 24, wherein the specific command further comprises a transmission code that instructs the target device to load the specific media player and play the user-selected content(Maitre, paragraph [0003]; paragraphs [0022-0023])..
Per claim 26, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 16, wherein the specific command is a JavaScript object(Maitre, paragraph [0100]; paragraph [0129]).
Claims 8, 14, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maitre et al. (Hereinafter, Maitre, US 2009/0313666 A1) in view of Danciu et al. (Hereinafter, Danciu, US 2012/0158984 A1), and further in view of Redford et al. (Hereinafter, Redford, US 8,660,545 B1).
Per claims 8 and 14, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 1 and claim 11 but do not expressly disclose the server system as further comprising: at least one database server capable of maintaining a database in which a connection between a personal computing device and the television is recorded; and at least one server configured to: receive, via the Internet, a message sent by the personal computing device; verify that the connection between the personal computing device and the television is recorded within the database; and generate the message received by the adapter server in response to receipt of the message sent by the personal computing device.
Redford discloses the server system as further comprising: at least one database server capable of maintaining a database in which a connection between a personal computing device and the television is recorded(e.g., database 831 as shown in Fig. 8A; column 27, lines 16--32); and at least one server (e.g., computer 283 as shown in Fig. 8A) configured to: receive, via the Internet, a message sent by the personal computing device(column 26, lines 57-67 to column 27, lines 1-3); verify that the connection between the personal computing device and the television is recorded within the database(column 27, lines 16-33); and generate the message received by the adapter server in response to receipt of the message sent by the personal computing device(e.g., video request as shown in Fig. 6B; column 22, lines 5-46).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the remote control device of Redford with the remote playback of Maitre and Danciu for a request for coordinating displays, of video on the television and supplementary information on a handheld device in a
timely manner as suggested by Redforrd (column 2, lines 42-49).
Per claim 27, Maitre and Danciu disclose the server system of claim 16, further comprising: at least one database server capable of maintaining a database in which a connection between a personal computing device and the target device is recorded; and at least one server configured to: receive, via the Internet, a message sent by the personal computing device; verify that the connection between the personal computing device and the target device is recorded within the database; and generate the message received by the adapter server in response to receipt of the message sent by the personal computing device.
Redford discloses the server system as further comprising: at least one database server capable of maintaining a database in which a connection between a personal computing device and the television is recorded(e.g., database 831 as shown in Fig. 8A; column 27, lines 16--32); and at least one server (e.g., computer 283 as shown in Fig. 8A) configured to: receive, via the Internet, a message sent by the personal computing device (column 26, lines 57-67 to column 27, lines 1-3); verify that the connection between the personal computing device and the target device is recorded within the database (column 27, lines 16-33); and generate the message received by the adapter server in response to receipt of the message sent by the personal computing device (e.g., video request as shown in Fig. 6B; column 22, lines 5-46).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the remote control device of Redford with the remote playback of Maitre and Danciu for a request for coordinating displays, of video on the television and supplementary information on a handheld device in a
timely manner as suggested by Redford (column 2, lines 42-49).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10, 15, and 28-29 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARRIN HOPE whose telephone number is (571)270-5079. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thr - 6:45-4:15, Fri - 6:45-3:15, Alt. Fri Off.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen S Hong can be reached at (571)272-4124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DARRIN HOPE
Examiner
Art Unit 2178
/STEPHEN S HONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2178