Ex Parte Roberts et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Dec 27, 2018

14093280 (P.T.A.B. Dec. 27, 2018)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
14/093,280 11/29/2013
25537 7590 12/31/2018
VERIZON
PA TENT MANAGEMENT GROUP
1320 North Court House Road
9th Floor
ARLINGTON, VA 22201-2909
UNITED ST A TES OF AMERICA
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Brian F. Roberts
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
20130309 1036
EXAMINER
NGUYEN,LEV
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2174
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
12/31/2018 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address(es):
patents@verizon.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte BRIAN F. ROBERTS, IMRAN ARIF MASKATIA,
and
PAUL BRADLEY BOWERS 1
Appeal2018-004109
Application 14/093,280
Technology Center 2100
Before CARLA M. KRIVAK, JOHN R. KENNY, and
MICHAEL J. ENGLE, Administrative Patent Judges.
KRIVAK, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a final rejection of
claims 1-6, 8-19, 24--26, and 28-31. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C.
§ 6(b).
We reverse.
1 Appellants identify Verizon and Redbox Digital Entertainment Services,
LLC, as the real parties in interest.
Appeal2018-004109
Application 14/093,280
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants' invention is directed to "systems and methods for remote
control device based interaction with a graphical user interface." Spec. 1
(Title) ( emphasis and capitalization removed).
Independent claim 1, reproduced below, is exemplary of the subject
matter on appeal.
1. A method comprising:
providing, by a user interface system, a graphical user
interface ("GUI") view for display on a display screen, the GUI
view including:
a high-level menu of a plurality of high-level menu
options respectively associated with a plurality of sub-
menus,
a first high-level menu option included in the
plurality of high-level menu options assigned to have an
active status,
a first sub-menu included in the plurality of sub-
menus and corresponding to the first high-level menu
option, the first sub-menu comprising a plurality of sub-
menu options,
a selector positioned within the first sub-menu and
configured to be moved within the first sub-menu by a
user providing input by way of a directional pad ("D-
pad") of a remote control device when the first high-level
menu option has the active status, the selector positioned
to indicate a first sub-menu option included in the
plurality of sub-menu options, and
an additional set of sub-menu options that are
hierarchical sub-menu options of the first sub-menu
option, the additional set of sub-menu options arranged in
a plurality of rows of sub-menu options, each row in the
plurality of rows of sub-menu options comprising:
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Appeal2018-004109
Application 14/093,280
a cover art image representative of at least
one media program available by way of a media
service, and
a visual representation of information
regarding previous playback of the at least one
media program by the user;
receiving, by the user interface system while the first
high-level menu option has the active status, user input
provided by way of a button of the remote control device, the
button being separate from the D-pad of the remote control
device and designated as input to toggle the active status
between the high-level menu options;
toggling, by the user interface system in response to the
receiving of the user input provided by way of the button
designated as input to toggle the active status between the high-
level menu options, the active status from the first high-level
menu option to a second high-level menu option included in the
plurality of high-level menu options; and
updating, by the user interface system in response to the
toggling of the active status, the GUI view by moving the
selector from the first sub-menu to a position within a second
sub-menu included in the plurality of sub-menus and
corresponding to the second high-level menu option in the GUI
view, the position within the second sub-menu determined
based on a previous selector position within the second sub-
menu when the second high-level menu option was previously
assigned the active status, the selector configured to be moved
within the second submenu by the user providing input by way
of the D-pad of the remote control device when the second
high-level menu option has the active status.
REJECTIONS and REFERENCES
The Examiner rejected claims 1---6, 8-19, 24--26, and 28 under
35 U.S.C. § I03(a) based upon the teachings of Wilcox (US 6,678,891 Bl;
Jan. 13, 2004), Radloff (US 2006/0267995 Al; Nov. 30, 2006), Gorczowski
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Appeal2018-004109
Application 14/093,280
(US 2010/0064258 Al; Mar. 11, 2010), Lahdesmaki (US 2004/0233239 Al;
Nov. 25, 2004), and Arriola (US 2012/0216117 Al; Aug. 23, 2012).
The Examiner rejected claims 29 and 30 under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a)
based upon the teachings of Wilcox, Radloff, Gorczowski, Lahdesmaki,
Arriola and Sandquist (US 2009/0187825 Al; July 23, 2009).
The Examiner rejected claim 31 under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) based upon
the teachings of Wilcox, Radloff, Gorczowski, Lahdesmaki, Arriola, and
Feldman (US 2004/0150670 Al).
ANALYSIS
Appellants contend the Examiner erred in finding the combination of
references teaches or suggests Appellants' invention. App. Br. 14--17.
Specifically, Appellants assert
there is no teaching or suggestion in the cited references of "a
visual representation of information regarding previous playback
of the at least one media program by the user" included within
"each row in the plurality of rows of sub-menu options" that are
"hierarchical sub-menu options of the first sub-menu option" as
recited in claim 1.
App. Br. 15-16 (emphasis added). We agree.
The Examiner cites to Radloff's Figures 32-36 and paragraphs 142,
144, 155, and 157 as teaching or suggesting this limitation. Ans. 29. The
Examiner finds "Radloff teaches that information can be in the form of a
visual presentation of information regarding previous playback of at least
one media program by the user" as the position needle and information
region advance in connection with playback. Id. Particularly, the Examiner
finds Radloffs Figure 34A shows a selector at 45 minutes and moving the
selector back 5 minutes as shown in Figure 34B, the program/asset will
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Appeal2018-004109
Application 14/093,280
playback from that previous position, thus teaching or suggesting previous
playback of a program. Id.
Appellants assert the Examiner is reading Radloff as "broadly ...
cover[ing] a known playback feature that conveys a location for viewing"
(i.e., a location for current playback) and not a visual representation of
information regardingprevious playback. App. Br. 16-17. We agree with
Appellants that Radloff' s movement of the selector needle for current
playback does not teach or suggest this limitation for previous playback. See
Figs. 9, 10; Spec. ,r 44.
Appellants have shown at least one reversible error in the Examiner's
rejection, therefore, we need not reach Appellants' remaining arguments.
We reverse the Examiner's rejection of independent claim 1, and claims 12,
15, and 29, which contain the substantially the same limitation, and claims
2---6, 8-11, 13, 14, 16-19, 24--26, and 28-31 dependent therefrom.
DECISION
The Examiner's decision rejecting claims 1---6, 8-19, 24--26, and 28-
3 1 is reversed.
REVERSED
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