DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
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 of this title, 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, 6-11, and 16-19 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kansara (US 20160342844), in view of Shi (US 20170163702).
Regarding claim 1, Kansara discloses, a method comprising:
receiving by a media application executing on a client device, from at least one server of a plurality of servers, first metadata for a first episode of a series (Par. 0071, plurality of episodes in a television series, not downloading common portions of video in a series that is not necessary, i.e. only download necessary portions of video episodes while skipping unnecessary portions of episodes, Par. 0076, segment in the second episode that is common with the segment in the first episode, which in this example is the opening credits segment. Par. 0182, the client computer requests a set of metadata associated with the first video title. For example, client video player computer 260 may request metadata associated with episode 302 from video catalog server computer 250. The metadata may identify one or more server computer(s) that client video player computer 260 may download episode 302 from, and/or one or more segments in episode 302), wherein the first metadata identifies:
(a) at least one segment of a content portion of the first episode (Par. 0170, A model episode may include multiple segments. For example, metadata associated with model episode 301 may indicate that model episode 301 has an opening credits segment and closing credits segment. Accordingly, video processing logic 212 may use one or more of the methods discussed herein to find the beginning boundary and ending boundary of the opening credits segment in episode 302 and the beginning boundary and ending boundary of the closing credits segment in episode 302, i.e. metadata includes identification of boundaries for opening credit and closing credit, hence it identifies the remaining segment of episode as content portion);
(b) at least one segment of a first portion of the first episode that precedes the content portion of the first episode (Par. 0170, A model episode may include multiple segments. For example, metadata associated with model episode 301 may indicate that model episode 301 has an opening credits segment and closing credits segment. Accordingly, video processing logic 212 may use one or more of the methods discussed herein to find the beginning boundary and ending boundary of the opening credits segment in episode 302 and the beginning boundary and ending boundary of the closing credits segment in episode 302); and
(c) at least one segment of a second portion of the first episode that follows the content portion of the first episode (Par. 0170, A model episode may include multiple segments. For example, metadata associated with model episode 301 may indicate that model episode 301 has an opening credits segment and closing credits segment. Accordingly, video processing logic 212 may use one or more of the methods discussed herein to find the beginning boundary and ending boundary of the opening credits segment in episode 302 and the beginning boundary and ending boundary of the closing credits segment in episode 302);
playing by the media application the first episode of the series based at least in part on the received first metadata (Par. 0108, client video player computer 260 may download episode 302 by requesting each video chunk in episode 302 that includes at least one frame that does not belong to a segment that should be skipped according to metadata);
identifying a part of a content portion of a second episode of the series to be buffered, wherein the part of the content portion of the second episode comprises a particular number of frames of the content portion of the second episode (Par. 0071, discloses downloading main portion of video content and not downloading common portions of episodes in streaming video transmission, i.e. during streaming video transmission and binge mode, next chunk of video content gets buffered before it gets played. Par. 0167, a user binge watching episodes of a series may want client video player computer 260 to automatically skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment. However, the summary segment may be different for each episode in the series. If metadata associated with the series and/or the model episode indicates that the beginning of each episode is the beginning of the opening credits segment, then segment detection logic 215 may include the summary segment with the opening credits segment for each episode in the series. Accordingly, if client video player computer 260 is configured to skip the opening credits segment, then client video player computer 260 may skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment of each episode in the series, i.e. client device receives metadata about each episode of the series, and when user selects binge watch, client device identifies opening credits and summery segment after each episode (i.e. end credit)) using the received metadata in order to skip opening credit and end credit, identifies main portion of the episode and buffers the first chunk (i.e. as disclosed in Par. 0089-0090, fig. 3, episode 301 (i.e. example or model first episode) and episode 302 (i.e. example or model second episode) each had three video chunks each chunk includes three video frames) of next episode that contains three frames in chunk);
during playing of the content portion of the first episode (Par. 0167, A user binge watching episodes of a series may want client video player computer 260 to automatically skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment, i.e. binge watch = while playing content portion of first episode, identify content portion of the next episode in order to download and play the next episode):
identifying a point before the second portion of the first episode indicated by the first metadata (Par. 0167, A user binge watching episodes of a series may want client video player computer 260 to automatically skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment, i.e. binge watch with skipping end credit and opening credit = while playing content portion of first episode, identify before the end credit portion (i.e. summary segment) of the first episode in metadata of first episode in order to skip the end credit portion and continue to download and play next episode of series in streaming environment);
accessing from at least one server of the plurality of servers, second metadata for the second episode of series, wherein the second metadata identifies (Par. 0089-0090, fig. 3, episode 301 (i.e. example or model first episode) and episode 302 (i.e. example or model second episode) each had three video chunks each chunk includes three video frames. Par. 0108, based on the metadata, client video player computer 260 may download episode 302 by requesting each video chunk in episode 302 that includes at least one frame that does not belong to a segment that should be skipped according to metadata. Par. 0167, A user binge watching episodes of a series may want client video player computer 260 to automatically skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment. However, the summary segment may be different for each episode in the series. If metadata associated with the series and/or the model episode indicates that the beginning of each episode is the beginning of the opening credits segment, then segment detection logic 215 may include the summary segment with the opening credits segment for each episode in the series. Accordingly, if client video player computer 260 is configured to skip the opening credits segment, then client video player computer 260 may skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment of each episode in the series, i.e. client device receives metadata about each episode of the series, and when user selects binge watch, client device identifies opening credits and summery segment after each episode (i.e. end credit)) using the received metadata in order to skip opening credit and end credit to download and play content portion of next or second episode of the series):
(a) at least one segment of the content portion of the second episode (Par. 0167 metadata for next or second episode identifies content portion of the next episode during binge watch play);
(b) at least one segment of a first portion of the second episode that precedes the content portion of the second episode (Par. 0167 metadata for next or second episode identifies opening credit of the next episode during binge watch play); and
(c) at least one segment of a second portion of the second episode that follows the content portion of the second episode (Par. 0167 metadata for next or second episode identifies summary or end credit of the next episode during binge watch play);
based at least in part on reaching the point: buffering at the client device, from at least one server of the plurality of servers, the identified part of the content portion of the second episode indicated by the second metadata (Par. 0071, discloses downloading main portion of video content and not downloading common portions of episodes in streaming video transmission, i.e. during streaming video transmission and binge mode, next chunk of video content gets buffered before it gets played. Par. 0108, requesting and/or downloading video received from one or more video server computer, Par. 0167, A user binge watching episodes of a series may want client video player computer 260 to automatically skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment, i.e. binge watch with skipping end credit and opening credit = while playing content portion of first episode, identify reaching before the end credit portion (i.e. summary segment) of the first episode in metadata of first episode where it skips the end credit portion and required to continue to download and play next episode of series in streaming environment); and
playing the identified part of the content portion of the second episode that was buffered at the client device (Par. 0167, user binge watching, if client video player computer 260 is configured to skip the opening credits segment, then client video player computer 260 may skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment of each episode in the series, i.e. during binge watch playing identified content portion of the second episode that is downloaded and buffered in content streaming method), wherein the client device:
skips playing of segments of the second non-content portion of the first episode indicated by the first metadata (Par. 0167, user binge watching, if client video player computer 260 is configured to skip the opening credits segment, then client video player computer 260 may skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment of each episode in the series); and
skips playing of segments of the first non-content portion of the second episode indicated by the second metadata (Par. 0167, user binge watching, if client video player computer 260 is configured to skip the opening credits segment, then client video player computer 260 may skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment of each episode in the series).
Kansara teaches identifying content portion of episodes of series and streaming in binge mode to skip opening and closing credit to start next or second episode downloading in streaming environment (par. 0071). However Kansara is silent about, identifying a particular time point and when reaching that time point, buffering the content of the next episode.
Shi discloses, identifying a particular time point and when reaching that time point, buffering the content of the next episode (Par. 0029, when user watches the 23rd minute and 30th second of the first episode of Nirvana in fire, the system sends a playback request for the second episode of Nirvan in Fire to the server, system starts downloading the second episode of Nirvan in Fire, and locally stores (i.e. buffers) a part of the second episode of Nirvan in Fire, i.e. identifying specific time point and when system reaches that time point start buffering the content of the next episode).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Kansara by teaching of identifying a particular time point and when reaching that time point, buffering the content of the next episode, as taught by Shi, to preload the media of second episode by certain time to avoid waiting for different duration caused by a limitation of network speed or performance of the playback device during watching to implement seamless switch between first episode and second episode, as disclosed in Shi par. 0035.
Regarding claim 6, The method of claim 1,
Kansara in view of Shi further discloses, wherein the identifying the particular time point before the second portion of the first episode indicated by the first metadata is based on accessing a predefined time offset (Shi Par. 0029, start buffering second episode at predefined time of 23rd minute and 30th second playtime while playing of first episode which has length of 45 minutes).
Regarding claim 7, The method of claim 1,
Kansara further discloses, wherein:(a) at least one segment of the first portion of the first episode that precedes the content portion of the first episode corresponds to opening credits of the first episode;(b) at least one segment of the second portion of the first episode that follows the content portion of the first episode corresponds to closing credits of the first episode (Par. 0170, A model episode may include multiple segments. For example, metadata associated with model episode 301 may indicate that model episode 301 has an opening credits segment and closing credits segment).
Regarding claim 8, The method of claim 7,
Kansara further discloses, wherein:(a) at least one segment of the first portion of the second episode that precedes the content portion of the second episode corresponds to opening credits of the second episode;(b) at least one segment of the second portion of the second episode that follows the content portion of the second episode corresponds to closing credits of the second episode (Par. 0167, If metadata associated with the series and/or the model episode indicates that the beginning of each episode is the beginning of the opening credits segment, then segment detection logic 215 may include the summary segment with the opening credits segment for each episode in the series. Accordingly, if client video player computer 260 is configured to skip the opening credits segment, then client video player computer 260 may skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment of each episode in the series, i.e. content series has plurality of episodes with metadata for each episode identifying, opening credit segment, closing credit segment and content portion in between the opening credit portion and closing credit portion).
Regarding claim 9, The method of claim 1,
Kansara further discloses, wherein the buffering at the client device, the identified part of the content portion of the second episode comprises buffering the identified part of the content portion of the second episode in random-access memory of the client device (Par. 0071, playing plurality of episodes of series by skipping, and/or not downloading, common portions of video in a series that are not necessary to display, thereby reducing transmission time and bandwidth consumption in the case of streaming video transmission. Par. 0167, user binge watching episodes of series where if client video player computer 260 is configured to skip the opening credits segment, then client video player computer 260 may skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment of each episode in the series. i.e. based on user watching episodes of series of episodes without playing opening and ending credits in streaming environment, chunk of each episodes will be buffered in RAM prior to playing back).
Regarding claim 10, The method of claim 1,
Kansara further discloses, wherein the identifying a part of a content portion of a second episode of the series to be buffered is based at least in part on accessing the second metadata that identifies:(a) the at least one segment of the content portion of the second episode;(b) the at least one segment of the first portion of the second episode that precedes the content portion of the second episode; and(c) the at least one segment of the second portion of the second episode that follows the content portion of the second episode (Par. 0167, If metadata associated with the series and/or the model episode indicates that the beginning of each episode is the beginning of the opening credits segment, then segment detection logic 215 may include the summary segment with the opening credits segment for each episode in the series. Accordingly, if client video player computer 260 is configured to skip the opening credits segment, then client video player computer 260 may skip both the summary segment and the opening credits segment of each episode in the series, i.e. content series has plurality of episodes with metadata for each episode identifying, opening credit segment, closing credit segment and content portion in between the opening credit portion and closing credit portion in order for binge watch playing required to skip opening and end credits of each episode and play content portion of each episodes).
Regarding claim 11, Kansara in view of Shi meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 16, Kansara in view of Shi meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 6.
Regarding claim 17-19, Kansara meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 7-9.
Claims 2 and 12 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kansara (US 20160342844), in view of Shi (US 20170163702), in further view of Keohane (US 20140282690).
Regarding claim 2, The method of claim 1,
Kansara in view of Shi discloses, wherein the identifying the part of the content portion of the second episode of the series to be buffered comprises identifying the content portion of the second episode needed for smooth transition between playing the content portion of the first episode of the series and the content portion of the second episode of the series (Kansara, Par. 0071, discloses downloading main portion of video content and not downloading common portions of episodes in streaming video transmission, i.e. during streaming video transmission and watching in binge mode, identifying next chunk of video content of next episode gets buffered before it gets played. Shi Par. 0029, when user watches the 23rd minute and 30th second of the first episode of Nirvana in fire, the system sends a playback request for the second episode of Nirvan in Fire to the server, system starts downloading the second episode of Nirvan in Fire, and locally stores (i.e. buffers) a part of the second episode of Nirvan in Fire, Shi par. 0035, preloading or buffering second multimedia to implement seamless switch or transition between first and second multimedia (i.e. episodes)).
Kansara in view of Shi does not disclose, identifying the particular number of frames to be buffered for smooth transition between playing of first and second content.
Keohane discloses, identifying the particular number of frames to be buffered for smooth transition between playing of first and second content (Par. 0034, transition between two different scene determines a required buffer amount, required buffer amount is presented in number of frames, par. 0031, buffer the media content between scene transition in order to present a more enjoyable viewing experience for user i.e. buffer the required number of frames of next scene or chapter or episode before transition to create more enjoyable viewing experience without interruption).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Kansara in view of Shi by teaching of identifying the particular number of frames to be buffered smooth transition between playing of first and second content, as taught by Keohane, to prepare the streaming media client for uninterrupted transition between media chapter or scene or episode, as disclosed in Keohane par. 0001, 0031, 0034. The rationale for making this modification would have been to combine the teaching of Keohane of buffering the minimum number of frames before transition between scene with teaching of Kansara to transition between episode portions during binge watching to improve the user experience from any interruption.
Regarding claim 12, Kansara in view of Shi in further view of Keohane meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 2.
Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kansara (US 20160342844), in view of Shi (US 20170163702), in further view of Xiao et al. (US 20150215675).
Regarding claim 3, The method of claim 1,
Kansara in view of Shi does not disclose, wherein the playing of the content portion of the first episode comprises playing the content portion of the first episode at a fast forward speed, and wherein the playing the identified part of the content portion of the second episode comprises playing the content portion of the second episode at a fast forward speed.
Xiao discloses, during streaming of program of a playlist from a server (Par. 0094-0095, a program in a playlist of programs is received by the STB as streaming media):
receiving a user interface command to control playing the program of the playlist (Par. 0097 a fast forward request (a command to control playing of the program) is received from a user);
in response to receiving the user interface command, and without detecting a further user interface command to play another program of the playlist: after conclusion of the program: identifying a rate at which the program of the playlist was played after the receiving of the user interface command; and automatically causing playing of a next program of the playlist at the identified rate to create appearance of applying trick play navigation to the single virtual media content item (Par. 0097 – when a user requests to fast forward a program, and the current program ends (e.g. the EOS, or end of stream, is reached), the next program in the playlist is searched and is played at the same rate as the previous program. Playback of the next program occurs automatically and without further user input).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Kansara in view of Shi by teaching of Xiao, to enable trick play commands to continue across episodes of the playlist. The rationale for making this modification would have been to improve user convenience when viewing episodes in a binge watch mode as a single playlist mode by eliminating the requirement for the user to input multiple selections when an episode ends (see Xiao par. 0005). When combined in this manner, the Kansara in view of Shi system would continue play from one episode to the next at a speed identified by a user’s fast forward request.
Regarding claim 13, Kansara in view of Shi in further view of Xiao meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 3.
Claims 4, 5, 14 and 15 are rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kansara (US 20160342844), in view of Shi (US 20170163702), in further view of Lowe et al. (US 20180012611).
Regarding claim 4, The method of claim 1,
Kansara in view of Shi discloses, wherein the identifying the particular time point before the second portion of the first episode indicated by the first metadata is based on evaluation of conditions of a network to which the client device is connected (Shi, Par. 0029, when user watches the 23rd minute and 30th second of the first episode of Nirvana in fire, the system sends a playback request for the second episode of Nirvan in Fire to the server, system starts downloading the second episode of Nirvan in Fire, and locally stores (i.e. buffers) a part of the second episode of Nirvan in Fire, i.e. identifying specific time point and when system reaches that time point start buffering the content of the next episode).
Kansara in view of Shi does not disclose, wherein the identifying the particular time point is based on evaluation of conditions of a network to which the client device is connected.
Lowe discloses, wherein the identifying the particular time point is based on evaluation of conditions of a network to which the client device is connected (Par. 0054, The client then can start to play the first clip, as shown at 810. At 820, at some point prior to the start of the first clip's outro, the second clip (or part thereof) can be downloaded to the client device. The start of this download can be determined, for example, by the parameters noted above, and must take into account, as noted, any network conditions, bandwidth restrictions and latency issues).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Kansara in view of Shi by teaching of the identifying the particular time point is based on evaluation of conditions of a network to which the client device is connected, as taught by Lowe, to prepare the playback of next content in series by prebuffering in advance with measured time point to start of download based on network latency or bandwidth restriction, in order to avoid interruption to viewer.
Regarding claim 5, The method of claim 4,
Kansara in view of Shi further view of Lowe further discloses, wherein the evaluation of the conditions of the network comprises evaluation of network latency (Lowe Par. 0054, The client then can start to play the first clip, as shown at 810. At 820, at some point prior to the start of the first clip's outro, the second clip (or part thereof) can be downloaded to the client device. The start of this download can be determined, for example, by the parameters noted above, and must take into account, as noted, any network conditions, bandwidth restrictions and latency issues).
Regarding claim 14, Kansara in view of Shi in further view of Lowe meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 4.
Regarding claim 15, Kansara in view of Shi in further view of Lowe meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 5.
Claim 20 is rejected under U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kansara (US 20160342844), in view of Shi (US 20170163702), in further view of BaIraj et al. (US 20090254708).
Regarding claim 20, The system of claim 19,
Kansara in view of Shi does not disclose, wherein a portion of the random-access memory is allocated for buffering episode streams.
BaIraj discloses, wherein a portion of the random-access memory is allocated for buffering episode streams (Par. 0014, “presentation” as used for discrete content instance that produced by television sitcom episodes. Par. 0071, the memory 610 can include RAM, ROM, Flash and/or any other suitable memory storage device. In one aspect, the memory 610 can include a collection memory portion 620, and a storage cache 622. Collection memory portion 620 can be utilized to collect the code packets for a presentation and perform message decoding to recover the presentation. Cache 622 can be utilized to store the presentations once decoded. Par. 0073, device is activated to subscribe to available subscription packages to receive, store and view the content. As part of the activation process, the device 600 reserves memory to satisfy a memory requirement to support the collection portion 620 and cache 622. The device 600 can allocate cache 622 to allow the user to cache multiple presentations, i.e. portion of the memory 610 that includes RAM is allocated for caching the presentations, presentation being television sitcom episodes).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Kansara in view of Shi by teaching of wherein a portion of the random-access memory is allocated for buffering episode streams, as taught by BaIraj, to keep the content in reserved portion of memory to keep until user is able to watch the content so that user does not miss the content, as disclosed in Balraj, par. 0003.
Conclusion
second
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AKSHAY DOSHI whose telephone number is (571)272-2736. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOHN W MILLER can be reached at (571)272-7353. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.D./Examiner, Art Unit 2422
/JOHN W MILLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2422
