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 statements (IDS) submitted on 7/30/2025 and 9/15/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Status
Claims 1-20 are pending in this Office Action.
Double Patenting
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 conflicting claims 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); 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 nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) 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 www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 11,962,817.
Claims 1-20 are further rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,401,837.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-20 are an obvious variation of the patented claims. The reasons set forth below.
Application #19/286,183
US Patent No. 11,962,817
US Patent No. 12,401,837
1. A system for cross-device frequency management, comprising: a computer processor; an online media service configured to: receive a request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier of a recipient;
identify a set of candidate media items ranked based at least partially on relevance to the recipient; and
obtain a set of cross- device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier, the set corresponding to a household;
and a frequency
management service executing on the computer processor and configured to enable the computer processor to:
identify an aggregate quantity of impressions associated with a first candidate media item of the set of candidate media items and the set of cross-device identifiers over a preceding duration of time;
identify a maximum frequency threshold; determine, based on the aggregate quantity of impressions, that the maximum frequency threshold is exceeded;
exclude the first
candidate media item from a result set based on the maximum frequency threshold being exceeded; and provide the result set comprising an identifier of a second candidate
media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request.
1. A system for
frequency management, comprising: a computer processor; an online media service configured to: receive a request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier;
identify a set of candidate media items ranked by a set of matching criteria; …
2. … obtain a set of cross-device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier
3. … the cross-device identifiers … correspond to a household.
1. … and a frequency management service executing on the computer processor and configured to enable the computer processor to: … receive a response from the lookup service comprising a quantity of impressions associated with the entity identifier and the recipient identifier over a duration of time;
2. … the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
identify a predefined frequency threshold; determine, based at least on the quantity of
impressions, that the frequency
threshold is exceeded, …
exclude the at least one candidate media item from a result set based on the frequency
threshold being exceeded; and provide the result set including an identifier of at least one other candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request.
1. A system for
frequency management, comprising: a computer processor; an online media service configured to: receive a request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier of a recipient;
identify a set of candidate media items ranked based at least partially on relevance to the recipient; and
2. … obtain a set of cross-device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier
3. … the cross-device identifiers … correspond to a household.
1. … a frequency management service executing on the computer processor and configured to enable the computer processor to:
identify a quantity
of impressions associated with a first candidate media item of the set of candidate media items and the recipient identifier over a
preceding duration of time;
2. … the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
identify a maximum frequency threshold; determine, based on the quantity of
impressions, that the maximum frequency threshold is exceeded; exclude the first
candidate media item from a result set based on the frequency
threshold being exceeded; provide the result set comprising an identifier of a response candidate
media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request; ...
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregate quantity of impressions is computed across the recipient identifier and the set of cross-device identifiers.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein … the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein … the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the frequency management service is further configured to enable the computer processor to: identify an industry identifier associated with the first candidate media item and to weight the aggregate quantity of impressions according to that industry identifier.
1. A system for frequency management, comprising: … a frequency management service … identify an industry identifier associated with one or more candidate media items …
the quantity of impressions is weighted according to an aggregate quantifier representing impressions corresponding to the industry identifier and the recipient identifier
1. A system for frequency management, comprising: … a frequency management service … identify an industry identifier associated with the first candidate media item, wherein the quantity of impressions is weighted according to an aggregate quantifier representing impressions corresponding to the industry identifier and the recipient identifier.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the frequency management service is further configured to enable the computer processor to: decay the aggregate quantity of impressions over time according to a predefined decay formula.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the quantity of impressions is decayed by the lookup service over time using a decay formula, and wherein the decay formula is configured to reduce the quantity of impressions over each of a predefined unit of time.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the quantity of impressions is decayed over time using a decay formula, and wherein the decay formula is configured to reduce the quantity of impressions over each of a predefined unit of time.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a deep learning model service configured to generate, for each candidate media item, at least one entity-probability pair; and a lookup cache communicatively coupled to the frequency management service and configured to store the entity-probability pair, the frequency management service being further configured to retrieve the stored entity-probability pair when identifying the aggregate quantity of impressions.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein: … the entity identifier is associated, in a lookup cache utilized by the lookup service, with a probability generated by an artificial intelligence model configured to perform entity detection on frames of the video; and a prior request comprising an identifier of the at least one candidate media item triggered an ingestion process resulting in the entity identifier and the probability being stored in the lookup cache.
1. … receive a response from the lookup service comprising a quantity of impressions
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the identifier of the response candidate media item is associated, in a lookup cache, with a probability generated by an artificial intelligence model configured to perform entity detection on video frames of the response candidate media item, and wherein a prior request comprising an identifier of the response candidate media item triggered an ingestion process resulting in the entity identifier and the probability being stored in the lookup cache.
1. … provide the result set comprising an identifier of a response candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request …
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the online media service is further configured to: transmit the result set to an ad exchange configured to perform real-time bidding to decide whether to serve the second candidate media item.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the online media service is further configured to: receive the result set including the identifier of the at least one other candidate media item; and utilize the quantity of impressions as an input to a realtime bidding service to determine whether to serve the at least one other candidate media item in response to the request.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the online media service is further configured to: receive the result set including the identifier of the response candidate media item; and utilize the quantity of impressions as an input to a realtime bidding service to determine whether to serve the response candidate media item in response to the request.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the frequency management service is further configured to enable the computer processor to: compare the aggregate quantity of impressions against both the maximum frequency threshold and a minimum frequency threshold and to include a candidate media item in the result set when the aggregate quantity of impressions is below the minimum frequency threshold.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein … identify a second predefined frequency threshold, wherein the second predefined frequency threshold is a minimum threshold; determine, based at least on the second quantity of impressions, that the second frequency threshold is exceeded; include the second candidate media item in a second result set based on the second frequency threshold being exceeded; and provide the second result set including the second candidate media item in response to the request.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein … identify a minimum frequency threshold; determine, based at least on the second quantity of impressions, that the minimum frequency threshold is not met; include the second candidate media item in a second result set based on the minimum frequency threshold not being met; and provide the second result set comprising an identifier of the second candidate media item in response to the second request.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the online media service is further configured to: utilize the aggregate quantity of impressions as an input to a real-time bidding service to determine whether to serve the second candidate media item.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the online media service is further configured to: … utilize the quantity of impressions as an input to a realtime bidding service to determine whether to serve the at least one other candidate media item in response to the request.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the online media service is further configured to: … utilize the quantity of impressions as an input to a realtime bidding service to determine whether to serve the response candidate media item in response to the request.
9. A method for cross-device frequency management, comprising: receive a
request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier of a recipient; identify a set of candidate media items ranked based at least partially on relevance to the recipient;
obtain a set of
cross-device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier, the set corresponding to a household;
identify an aggregate quantity of impressions associated with a first candidate media item of the set of candidate media items and the set of cross-device identifiers over a preceding duration of time;
identify a maximum frequency threshold; determine, by
a computer processor and based on the aggregate quantity of impressions, that the maximum frequency threshold is exceeded; exclude the
first candidate media item from a result set based on the maximum frequency threshold being exceeded; and provide the result set comprising an identifier of a second candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request.
9. A method for
frequency management, comprising: receiving a request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier;
identifying a set of candidate media items ranked by a set of matching criteria;
10. … obtaining a set of cross-device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier,
11. … the cross-device identifiers… correspond to a household.
9. … receiving a response from the lookup service comprising a quantity of impressions associated with the entity identifier and the recipient identifier over a duration of time;
10. … wherein the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
9. … identifying a predefined frequency threshold; determining, using at least one computer processor, that the frequency threshold is exceeded based at least on the quantity of impressions,
… excluding … the at least one candidate media item from a result set based on the
frequency
threshold being exceeded; and providing the result set including an identifier of at least one other candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request.
9. A method for
frequency management, comprising: receiving a request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier of a recipient; identifying a set of candidate media items ranked based at least partially on relevance to the recipient;
10. … obtaining a set of cross-device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier …
11. … the cross-device identifiers … correspond to a household.
9. … identifying … a quantity of impressions associated with a first candidate media item of the set of candidate media items and the recipient identifier over a preceding duration of time;
10. … wherein the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
identifying a maximum frequency threshold; determining, using the at least one computer processor, that the maximum frequency threshold is exceeded based on the quantity of impressions;
excluding the
first candidate media item from a result set based on the frequency
threshold being exceeded; providing the result set comprising an identifier of a response candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request …
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the aggregate quantity of impressions is computed across the recipient identifier and the set of cross-device identifiers.
10. The method of claim 9, … wherein the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
10. The method of claim 9, … wherein the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: identifying an industry identifier associated with the first candidate media item and to weight the aggregate quantity of impressions according to that industry identifier.
9. …
an industry identifier associated with the at least one candidate media item … wherein the quantity of impressions is weighted according to an aggregate quantifier representing impressions corresponding to the industry identifier …
9. …
identifying an industry identifier associated with the first candidate media item, wherein the quantity of impressions is weighted according to an aggregate quantifier representing impressions corresponding to the industry identifier ...
12. The method of claim 9, further comprising: decaying the aggregate quantity of impressions over time according to a predefined decay formula.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein the quantity of impressions is decayed by the lookup service over time using a decay formula, and wherein the decay formula is configured to reduce the quantity of impressions over each of a predefined unit of time.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein the quantity of impressions is decayed over time using a decay formula, and wherein the decay formula is configured to reduce the quantity of impressions over each of a predefined unit of time.
13. The method of claim 9, further comprising: generating, for each candidate media item, at least one entity-probability pair; and storing the entity-probability pair in a lookup cache, wherein the stored entity- probability pair is retrieved from the lookup cache when identifying the aggregate quantity of impressions.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein: … the entity identifier is associated, in a lookup cache utilized by the lookup service, with a probability … resulting in the entity identifier and the probability being stored in the lookup cache.
9. … receiving a response from the lookup service comprising a quantity of impressions …
14. The method of claim 9, wherein the identifier of the response candidate media item is associated, in a lookup cache, with a probability … the entity identifier and the probability being stored in the lookup cache.
9. … providing the result set comprising an identifier of a response candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request …
14. The method of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting the result set to an ad exchange configured to perform real-time bidding to decide whether to serve the second candidate media item.
16. The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving the result set including the identifier of the at least one other candidate media item; and utilizing the quantity of impressions as an input to a realtime bidding service to determine whether to serve the at least one other candidate media item in response to the request.
16. The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving the result set including the identifier of the response candidate media item; and utilizing the quantity of impressions as an input to a realtime bidding service to determine whether to serve the response candidate media item in response to the request.
15. The method of claim 9, further comprising: comparing the aggregate quantity of impressions against both the maximum frequency threshold and a minimum frequency threshold and to include a candidate media item in the result set when the aggregate quantity of impressions is below the minimum frequency threshold.
12. … identifying a second predefined frequency threshold, wherein the second predefined frequency threshold is a minimum threshold; determining, based at least on the second quantity of impressions, that the second frequency threshold is exceeded; including the second candidate media item in a second result set based on the second frequency threshold being exceeded; and providing the second result set including the second candidate media item in response to the request.
12. The method of claim 9, further comprising: … identifying a minimum frequency threshold; determining, based at least on the second quantity of impressions, that the minimum frequency threshold is not met; including the second candidate media item in a second result set based on the minimum frequency threshold not being met; and providing the second result set comprising an identifier of the second candidate media item in response to the second request.
16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
utilizing the aggregate quantity of impressions as an input to a real-time bidding service to determine whether to serve the second candidate media item.
16. The method of claim 9, further comprising: … utilizing the
quantity of impressions as an input to a realtime bidding service to determine whether to serve the at least one other candidate media item in response to the request.
16. The method of claim 9, further comprising: … utilizing the
quantity of impressions as an input to a realtime bidding service to determine whether to serve the response candidate media item in response to the request.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions for cross-device frequency management, the plurality of instructions configured to execute on at least one computer processor to enable the at least one computer processor to: receive a request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier of a recipient; identify a set of candidate media items ranked based at least partially on relevance to the recipient;
obtain a set of cross-
device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier, the set corresponding to a household;
identify an aggregate quantity of impressions associated with a first candidate media item of the set of candidate media items and the set of cross-device identifiers over a preceding duration of time;
identify a maximum frequency threshold; determine, based on the aggregate quantity of impressions, that the maximum frequency threshold is exceeded; exclude the first
candidate media item from a result set based on the maximum frequency threshold being exceeded; and provide the result set comprising an identifier of a second candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions for frequency
management, the plurality of instructions configured to execute on at least one computer processor to enable the at least one computer processor to: receive a request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier;
identify a set of candidate media items ranked by a set of matching criteria;
18. … obtain a set of cross-device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier
17. … receive a response from the lookup service comprising a quantity of impressions associated with the entity identifier and the recipient identifier over a duration of time;
18. … the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
17. … identify a predefined frequency threshold; determine, based at least on the quantity of
impressions, that the frequency threshold is exceeded, …
exclude the at least one candidate media item from a result set based on the frequency threshold being exceeded;
and provide the result set including an identifier of at least one other candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions for frequency
management, the plurality of instructions configured to execute on at least one computer processor to enable the at least one computer processor to: receive a request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier of a recipient; identify a set of candidate media items ranked based at least partially on relevance to the recipient;
18. … obtain a set of cross-device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier,
17. … identify a quantity of impressions associated with a first candidate media item of the set of candidate media items and the recipient identifier over a preceding duration of time;
18. … the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
17. … identify a maximum frequency threshold; determine, based on the quantity of
impressions, that the maximum frequency threshold is exceeded; exclude the first
candidate media item from a result set based on the frequency threshold being exceeded;
provide the result set comprising an identifier of a response candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request; …
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17,
wherein the aggregate quantity of impressions is computed across the recipient identifier and the set of cross-device identifiers.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, … wherein the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17… wherein the quantity of impressions is an aggregate of impressions corresponding to the set of cross-device identifiers and the recipient identifier.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the plurality of instructions further configured to enable the at least one computer processor to: identify an industry identifier associated with the first candidate media item and to weight the aggregate quantity of impressions according to that industry identifier.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions … configured to … enable
the at least one computer processor to: … an industry identifier associated with the at least one candidate media item … the quantity of impressions is weighted according to an aggregate quantifier representing impressions corresponding to the industry identifier …
17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions configured to … enable
the at least one computer processor to: … identify an industry identifier associated with the first candidate media item, wherein the quantity of impressions is weighted according to an aggregate quantifier representing impressions corresponding to the industry identifier ...
20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the plurality of instructions further configured to enable the at least one computer processor to: decay the aggregate quantity of impressions over time according to a predefined decay formula.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein the quantity of impressions is decayed by the lookup service over time using a decay formula, and wherein the decay formula is configured to reduce the quantity of impressions over each of a predefined unit of time.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein the quantity of impressions is decayed over time using a decay formula, and wherein the decay formula is configured to reduce the quantity of impressions over each of a predefined unit of time.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5, 11, 13, and 19 would be allowable if the above noted rejections were to be overcome and further if the claims were rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 3, 11, and 19, the prior art does not teach or suggest in combination with the other recited limitations: the frequency management service is further configured to enable the computer processor to: identify an industry identifier associated with the first candidate media item and to weight the aggregate quantity impressions corresponding to that industry identifier.
Regarding claims 5 and 13, the prior art does not teach or suggest in combination with the other recited limitations: a deep learning model service configured to generate, for each candidate media item, at least one entity-probability pair; and a lookup cache communicatively coupled to the frequency management service and configured to store the entity-probability pair, the frequency management service being further configured to retrieve the stored entity-probability pair when identifying the aggregate quantity of impressions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-2, 6-10, and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matarese et al. (US 10,846,737 B1) in view of Kumar et al. (US 2019/0295122 A1) and further in view of Bhalgat (US 2017/0193560 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 9, and 17, Matarese teaches: A system, method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for frequency management [(abstract)], comprising:
a computer processor [CPU 502 (Fig. 5)] and
an online media service configured to: receive a request for a media item, the request comprising a recipient identifier of a recipient [receiving an ad request, containing the subscriber/device ID (col. 9, lines 46-51, Fig. 2 and 6). The system is connected to the Internet 402 (Fig. 4)]
identify a set of candidate media items based at least partially on relevance to the recipient [construct a candidate list of the Campaign Lines applicable to the Ad Decision by using rules and targeting properties associated with the provided subscriber ID (col. 9, lines 48-54 and col. 12, lines 37-43, Fig. 2 and 6). A campaign line is an ad (col. 8, lines 15-17)]
obtain a set of cross-device identifiers associated with the recipient identifier [all devices on the same account (col. 10, line 40). Cross platform devices, each device tagged with a device id (col. 10, line 66 through col. 11, line 10)]
a frequency management service executing on the computer processor and configured to enable the computer processor [A frequency capping system executing on a CPU 502 (Fig. 1-3 and 5)] to:
identify an aggregate quantity of impressions associated with a first candidate media item of the set of candidate media items and the set of cross-device identifiers over a preceding duration of time [receiving the relevant Counter (of impressions) associated with the campaign line (ad) and subscriber/device ID over a period of time (col. 8, lines 24-26, col. 9, lines 48-63, Fig. 2 and 6). Identifying impressions across devices on the same account for a preceding period of time, each device tagged with a device id (col. 10, line 19 through col. 11, line 10)]
identify a maximum frequency threshold [a frequency cap (FC) for the campaign line (ad) (col. 9, lines 55-65)]
determine, based at least on the aggregate quantity of impressions, that the maximum frequency threshold is exceeded [the ADS 214 compares the (impression) Counter against its corresponding FC (frequency cap), to determine if the FC has been reached (col. 9, lines 62-65, Fig. 2 and 6-7)]
exclude the first candidate media item from a result set based on the frequency threshold being exceeded [The ADS excludes from the ad response those campaign lines that have reached or exceeded their associated frequency cap 704 (col. 9, lines 62-65 and col. 12, lines 44-53, Fig. 2 and 6-7)] and
provide the result set including an identifier of a second candidate media item of the set of candidate media items in response to the request [The ADS selects a nonexcluded campaign line (ad) for the ad response 706 and communicates the ad response (col. 9, line 52 through col. 10, line 3, col. 12, lines 50-55, Fig. 2 and 6-7)].
Matarese does not explicitly disclose: the candidate media items are ranked; and the set corresponding to a household.
Kumar teaches: the set corresponding to a household [keep track of all Ad impressions for an online visitor at an individual user level and at a household level spanning across different devices (par. 32-34 and 63)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Matarese and Kumar before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matarese by incorporating the set corresponding to a household as disclosed by Kumar. The motivation for doing so would have been so that display of advertisements can be optimally managed (Kumar – par. 33). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Matarese and Kumar in obtaining the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Kumar does not explicitly disclose: the candidate media items are ranked.
Bhalgat teaches: the candidate media items are ranked [determining a measure of relevance between the user and content items (ads) based on characteristics of the user and content item and ranking the content items based on the measure of relevance (par. 36-37, Fig. 1-2)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Matarese, Kumar, and Bhalgat before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matarese and Kumar by incorporating the candidate media items are ranked as disclosed by Bhalgat. The motivation for doing so would have been to target advertisements that are most relevant to the user by selecting the highest ranked ads for presentation to the user (Bhalgat – par. 36-37). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Matarese and Kumar with Bhalgat to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding claims 2, 10, and 18, Matarese, Kumar, and Bhalgat teach the system of claim 1; Matarese further teaches: wherein the aggregate quantity of impressions is computed across the recipient identifier and the set of cross-device identifiers [receiving the relevant Counter (of impressions) associated with the campaign line (ad) and subscriber/device ID over a period of time (col. 8, lines 24-26, col. 9, lines 48-63, Fig. 2 and 6). Identifying impressions across devices for the same subscriber account for a preceding period of time, each device tagged with a device id (col. 10, line 19 through col. 11, line 10)].
Regarding claims 6 and 14, Matarese, Kumar, and Bhalgat teach the system of claim 1; Kumar further teaches: the online media service is further configured to: transmit the result set to an ad exchange configured to perform real-time bidding to decide whether to serve the second candidate media item [sending a request to an Ad exchange 130 that performs a real-time bidding process to determine whether the ad is the highest bidder and will be sent (par. 28- 30 and 82)].
Regarding claims 7 and 15, Matarese, Kumar, and Bhalgat teach the system of claim 1; Matarese further teaches: the frequency management service is further configured to enable the computer processor to: compare the aggregate quantity of impressions against both the maximum frequency threshold and a minimum frequency threshold and to include a candidate media item in the result set when the aggregate quantity of impressions is below the minimum frequency threshold [Another feature is frequency gapping, in which a frequency cap is specified, but also a frequency minimum is specified and in which a campaign is satisfied if a number of impressions falls within the frequency gap (col. 8, lines 11-14)].
Regarding claims 8 and 16, Matarese, Kumar, and Bhalgat teach the system of claim 1; Kumar and Bhalgat further teach: the online media service is further configured to: utilize the aggregate quantity of impressions as an input to a real-time bidding service to determine whether to serve the second candidate media item [Kumar – using a real-time bidding (RTB) auction to determine whether the ad is sent (par. 30 and 82). Bhalgat - Based on various criteria, the content selection module 235 selects one or more of the candidate content items or ad requests identified as candidate content items for presentation to the user (par. 40). Using the number of impressions as an input to a bidding determination of an adjustment to a bid amount for the advertisement (par. 38-39, Fig. 2-4)].
Claims 4, 12, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matarese et al. (US 10,846,737 B1) in view of Kumar et al. (US 2019/0295122 A1), further in view of Bhalgat (US 2017/0193560 A1), and further in view of Yang (US 2020/0160389 A1).
Regarding claims 4, 12, and 20, Matarese, Kumar, and Bhalgat teach the system of claim 1; Matarese, Kumar, and Bhalgat do not explicitly disclose: the frequency management service is further configured to enable the computer processor to: decay the aggregate quantity of impressions over time according to a predefined decay formula.
Yang teaches: decay the aggregate quantity of impressions over time according to a predefined decay formula [applying a time decayed algorithm to determine aggregated impression data (par. 79-87)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Matarese, Kumar, Bhalgat, and Yang before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matarese, Kumar, and Bhalgat by incorporating decaying the aggregate quantity of impressions over time according to a predefined decay formula as disclosed by Yang. The motivation for doing so would have been to reduce the importance of earlier impressions over time (Yang – par. 79-80). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Matarese, Kumar, and Bhalgat with Yang to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Conclusion
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/ALEXANDER BOYD/Examiner, Art Unit 2424
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