Ex Parte Arling et alDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardAug 29, 201812059596 (P.T.A.B. Aug. 29, 2018) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR 12/059,596 03/31/2008 Paul D. Arling 34018 7590 08/31/2018 Greenberg Traurig, LLP 77 W. Wacker Drive Suite 3100 CHICAGO, IL 60601-1732 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. 81230.102US3 5219 EXAMINER RYAN,PATRICKA ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2426 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 08/31/2018 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): chiipmail@gtlaw.com escobedot@gtlaw.com j arosikg@gtlaw.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte PAUL D. ARLING, CHRISTOPHER CHAMBERS, WAYNE SCOTT, and MARK MOMOT Appeal 2018-002808 Application No. 12/059,596 1 Technology Center 2400 Before MAHSHID D. SAADAT, MARC S. HOFF, and JENNIFER L. McKEOWN, Administrative Patent Judges. HOFF, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from a Final Rejection of claims 1--4, 6-8, and 19.2 We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b ). We reverse. Appellants' invention is a system and method for allowing a user to save, recall, and transfer media playback and device setting states for one or more sets of home appliances. State data for associated settings can be 1 The real party in interest is Universal Electronics Inc. 2 Claims 5 and 9--18 have been cancelled. Appeal2018-002808 Application No. 12/059,596 provided dynamically based on information contained in a particular media program or file. When the channel change process is initiated via selection of a guide listing, or any method by which metadata about the program or media file may be obtained, settings can be selected based on the genre, category, rating, or other information from the guide data and/or metadata source. Spec. 1, 26. Claim 1 is reproduced below: 1. A method for using a controlling device to place a plurality of appliances in a home entertainment system into a selected state as a function of a media content, comprising: receiving at the controlling device a command to cause a one of the plurality of appliances to tune to a channel which provides the media content; obtaining metadata associated with the media content that is being provided by the channel at the time that the command is received, wherein the obtained metadata associated with the media content contains data indicative of at least one of content genre, content rating, and content category; selecting from a plurality of states for the home entertainment system that have each been associated with the channel a one of the plurality of states for the home entertainment system that has been associated with the obtained metadata; and causing the controlling device to transmit a sequence of commands that causes each of the plurality of appliances to be placed into a state that corresponds to the selected one of the plurality of states for the home entertainment system. The Examiner relies upon the following prior art in rejecting the claims on appeal: Sezan US 7,424,677 B2 Sept. 9, 2008 Claims 1--4, 6-8, and 19 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being anticipated by Sezan. 2 Appeal2018-002808 Application No. 12/059,596 Throughout this decision, we make reference to the Substitute Appeal Brief ("App. Br.," filed Aug. 25, 2017), the Reply Brief ("Reply Br.," filed Jan. 22, 2018), and the Examiner's Answer ("Ans.," mailed Nov. 28, 2017) for their respective details. ISSUES 1. Does Sezan disclose placing a plurality of appliances in a home entertainment system into a selected state as a function of media content? 2. Does Sezan disclose causing the controlling device to transmit a sequence of commands that causes each of a plurality of appliances to be placed into a state that corresponds to the selected one of the plurality of states for the home entertainment system? ANALYSIS Independent claim 1 recites, inter alia, "[a] method for using a controlling device to place a plurality of appliances in a home entertainment system into a selected state as a function of a media content," including "causing the controlling device to transmit a sequence of commands that causes each of the plurality of appliances to be placed into a state that corresponds to the selected one of the plurality of states for the home entertainment system." The Examiner finds that Sezan "discloses setting up user preferences separately for multiple devices, but also provides evidence of operating multiple devices together during playback of content ( a display device with surround sound or selecting among multiple display devices)." Ans. 3, citing Sezan col. 31:36- 33: 13. We have reviewed Sezan, and we agree with Appellants' argument that Sezan does not disclose controlling, or placing 3 Appeal2018-002808 Application No. 12/059,596 into a selected state, a plurality of appliances in a home entertainment system. App. Br. 4--6. While Sezan discloses a user's preferences being movable to "different devices, such as a personal video recorder, a TiVO player, a RePlay Networks player, a car audio player, or other audio and/or video appliance," we infer from the usage of singular terms ( e.g. "a recorder," "a player") that Sezan only discloses controlling a single device at a time. Sezan col. 31 :57---60. Similarly, in another passage, while Sezan mentions a plurality of possible presentation devices, which "may include stereo sound, mono sound, surround sound, multiple potential displays, multiple different sets of audio speakers, AC-3, and Dolby Digital," these possibilities are mentioned in the context of the "device preferences description" which "relates to the preferences for setting up the device [singular] in relation to the type of content being presented." Sezan col. 32: 15-23. Sezan's further discussion of the "device preferences descriptor 534" also refers to "[t]he settings of the device." Sezan col. 33:3--4 (emphasis added). We thus find that Sezan discloses controlling a single device at a time, or transferring settings concerning a single device (by, for example, a smart card) to a different, single device. Because we find that Sezan does not place a plurality of appliances into a selected state, we find that Sezan does not disclose all of the elements of claims 1--4, 6-8, and 19. We do not sustain the Examiner's§ 102 rejection. CONCLUSIONS 1. Sezan does not disclose placing a plurality of appliances in a home entertainment system into a selected state as a function of media content. 4 Appeal2018-002808 Application No. 12/059,596 2. Sezan does not disclose causing the controlling device to transmit a sequence of commands that causes each of a plurality of appliances to be placed into a state that corresponds to the selected one of the plurality of states for the home entertainment system. DECISION The Examiner's decision to reject claims 1--4, 6-8, and 19 is reversed. REVERSED 5 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation