Ex Parte Smith et al

Patent Trials and Appeals BoardAug 28, 2013

11748716 - (D) (P.T.A.B. Aug. 28, 2013)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________________ Ex parte JOHN RICHARD SMITH and JELENA TESIC ____________________ Appeal 2011-000960 Application 11/748,716 Technology Center 2400 ____________________ Before ROBERT E. NAPPI, DEBRA K. STEPHENS, and MIRIAM L. QUINN, Administrative Patent Judges. STEPHENS, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL Appeal 2011-000960 Application 11/748,716 2 STATEMENT OF CASE Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a final rejection of claims 1-20. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We REVERSE. Introduction According to Appellants, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for analyzing social and content networks to identify new relationships among users and content and link users to content (Abstract). Exemplary Claim Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: (1) A method for analyzing integrated social and content networks comprising the steps of: specifying a social network comprising multiple user nodes, at least some of the user nodes being joined to one another by one or more internal links; specifying a content network comprising multiple content nodes, wherein at least some of the content nodes comprise multimedia content, and the multimedia content nodes further comprise first multimedia content nodes and second multimedia content nodes, wherein the multimedia content of each first multimedia content node is of a type that is different from the multimedia content of each second multimedia content node, and at least a given one of the user nodes is joined to one of the first multimedia content nodes by a first hybrid link, and at least one user node other than the given user node is Appeal 2011-000960 Application 11/748,716 3 joined to one of the second multimedia content nodes by a second hybrid link; analyzing data elements associated with respective nodes of the user and content networks, in order to identify a set of nodes comprising at least first and second user nodes and at least a first multimedia content node and a second multimedia content node, wherein two of the nodes comprise end nodes; further analyzing the data elements to identify at least three commonality links that collectively join all the nodes of the set together into a structure that defines an open loop extending between the end nodes; and determining whether a further link is a valid commonality link, wherein the further link is initially inferred to extend between the two end nodes of the set, and to cooperatively join with the at least three identified commonality links to form a closed loop. REFERENCES Espelien Partovi US 2007/0226315 A1 US 2008/0052371 A1 Sep. 27, 2007 Feb. 28, 2008 REJECTIONS The Examiner made the following rejection: Claims 1-20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C §103(a) as being unpatentable over Partovi and Espelien (Ans. 4). ISSUE 35 U.S.C. § 103(a): Claims 1-20 Appellants assert Partovi does not teach two distinct networks – a social network and a content network, each comprising multiple content Appeal 2011-000960 Application 11/748,716 4 nodes – as recited in claim 1 (App. Br. 22). Instead, according to Appellants, Partovi teaches a music library database located at a personal computer of a user, and thus, teaches that the user and content nodes are combined and that all data is contained in a single database (App. Br. 22- 23). Appellants thus contend the database is not a network and would not be interpreted by an ordinarily skilled artisan to be a content network (App. Br. 23). Issue: Has the Examiner erred in finding the combination of Partovi and Espelien teaches or suggests “specifying a content network comprising multiple content nodes, wherein at least some of the content nodes comprise multimedia content, and the multimedia content nodes further comprise first multimedia content nodes and second multimedia content nodes, wherein the multimedia content of each first multimedia content node is of a type that is different from the multimedia content of each second multimedia content node . . . ” as recited in claim 1? ANALYSIS We initially determine the term “content network” has not been explicitly defined in the Specification. However, we do not construe the term as narrowly as suggested by the Examiner. The Examiner indicates each user’s music library in Partovi’s database 306 is interpreted as a content network and the music files are interpreted as content nodes (Ans. 4). However, this interpretation would not be consistent with the claim recitation which requires a content network comprising multiple content nodes at least a first and second of which are multimedia content nodes Appeal 2011-000960 Application 11/748,716 5 having multimedia content (claim 1). Additionally, although Appellants provide no explicit definition of content network in the Specification, the examples provided (see e.g., ¶¶ [0018], [0021]), as well as the Figure 1, require more than a database. Therefore, when broadly, but reasonably construed, in light of the Specification, we find that Partovi’s database does not teach a content network as recited. Accordingly, we are constrained to find the combination of Partovi and Espelien does not teach or suggest the limitations as recited in independent claim 1, 13, and 17. Dependent claims 2-12, 14-16, and 18-20 stand with their respective independent claims. Therefore, we cannot sustain the rejection of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) for obviousness over Partovi and Espelien. DECISION The Examiner’s rejection of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Partovi and Espelien is reversed. REVERSED msc