Ex Parte Fröjdh et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

May 27, 2016

13502242 (P.T.A.B. May. 27, 2016)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
13/502,242 04/16/2012 Per Fröjdh 4015-8087 / P30209-US2 2090
24112 7590 05/31/2016
COATS & BENNETT, PLLC
1400 Crescent Green, Suite 300
Cary, NC 27518
EXAMINER
DANG, HUNG Q
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2484
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
05/31/2016 PAPER
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.
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________________

BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
____________________

Ex parte PER FROJDH, CLINTON PRIDDLE, and
ZHUANGFEI WU
____________________

Appeal 2014-006820
Application 13/502,242
Technology Center 2400
____________________

Before LINZY T. McCARTNEY, MELISSA A. HAAPALA, and
MATTHEW J. McNEILL, Administrative Patent Judges.

McCARTNEY, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a rejection of claims
21, 22, 24–28, and 30–40.1 We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We REVERSE.

1 The Examiner withdrew the rejection of claims 23 and 29 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a). Ans. 10–11.
Appeal 2014-006820
Application 13/502,242

2
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
The present patent application concerns “providing supplemental
processing information useful in connection with media content processing.”
Spec. 1:4–5. Claims 21, 27, 34, and 38 are independent. Claim 21
illustrates the claimed subject matter:
21. A method of providing supplemental processing
information relating to encoded media content, the method
comprising:
providing a pseudo-identifier of a media codec employed
for encoding the media content;
providing supplemental processing information defining
post-decoding instructions for processing decoded media content
obtainable by decoding the encoded media content;
co-organizing the pseudo-identifier and the supplemental
processing information in a file to:
trigger abortion of decoding of the encoded media
content by a legacy media terminal that does not recognize
the pseudo-identifier; and
enable decoding of the encoded media content using
the media codec and post-decoding processing of the
decoded media content using the supplemental processing
information by a media terminal that recognizes the
pseudo-identifier.

REJECTIONS
Claims 21, 22, 24–28, and 30–40 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 102(e) as anticipated by Suh et al. (US 2011/0090306 A1; April 21, 2011)
(“Suh ’306”).

Appeal 2014-006820
Application 13/502,242

3
ANALYSIS
Claim 21 recites “co-organizing the pseudo-identifier and the
supplemental processing information in a file to: trigger abortion of decoding
of the encoded media content by a legacy media terminal that does not
recognize the pseudo-identifier.” App. Br. 20. Independent claims 27, 34, and
38 recite similar limitations. Id. at 22, 25, 27. Appellants argue Suh ’306
does not disclose a “pseudo-identifier” as that term is defined by the
Appellants’ specification, nor does Suh ’306 disclose “trigger[ing] abortion of
decoding . . . by a legacy media terminal that does not recognize the pseudo
identifier.” Id. at 8–10. According to Appellants, Suh ’306 discloses that
media terminals must recognize, process, and interpret the “stream_type” field
the Examiner equated to claimed “pseudo-identifier.” Id.
We find Appellants’ arguments persuasive. Claim 21 recites
“trigger[ing] abortion of decoding. . . by a legacy media terminal that does
not recognize the pseudo-identifier.” The Examiner found Suh ’306
anticipates this limitation because Suh ’306 discloses “that a legacy media
terminal (a 2D broadcast receiver), although reading the ‘stream_type’ field,
interprets the ‘stream_type’ as indicating the corresponding stream to be
private data.” Ans. 14. The Examiner found “[t]his is a wrong
interpretation . . . because the ‘stream_type’ is not to indicate the
corresponding stream as private data, but, instead, the type of stream . . . .”
Id. The Examiner reasoned that “[w]hen a legacy media terminal wrongly
recognizes the ‘stream_type’ field, it is safe to say that the legacy media
terminal does not recognize the ‘stream_type’ field . . . .” Id. at 14–15.
But the cited portions of Suh ’306 do not disclose that media terminals
incorrectly interpret the stream_type field. Rather, the cited portions
Appeal 2014-006820
Application 13/502,242

4
disclose “[a] ‘stream_type’ field may indicate a coding type . . . . [and] the
stream_type field . . . may have a specific field value that is interpreted as
private data.” Suh ’306 ¶ 77. For example, “[i]f the stream_type
information is set to 0x06, the broadcast receiver determines a corresponding
stream to be private data . . . so that the corresponding program is ignored or
discarded.” Id. ¶ 93. Thus, contrary to the Examiner’s findings, one
purpose of the stream_type field is to “indicat[e] the corresponding stream to
be private data.” Given this, correctly determining that the stream_type field
indicates a stream is private does not amount to “wrongly interpreting” the
field.
Moreover, when the disclosed terminals read a particular stream_type
field value (e.g., 0x06), the terminals ignore or discard the associated stream.
Reading the stream_type field and taking a specific action if the field is a
certain value amounts to “recognizing” the field under any reasonable
construction of the term.
We therefore agree with Appellants that the cited portions of Suh ’306
do not anticipate the disputed limitations. Accordingly, on this record, we
do no sustain the Examiner’s rejection of independent claims 21, 27, 34, and
38 or their respective dependent claims.

DECISION
For the above reasons, we reverse the rejection of claims 21, 22, 24–
28, and 30–40.

REVERSED