Ex Parte Yahata et alDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardJun 27, 201611996698 (P.T.A.B. Jun. 27, 2016) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE 111996,698 01124/2008 52349 7590 06/29/2016 WENDEROTH, LIND & PONACK LLP, 1030 15th Street, N.W. Suite 400 East Washington, DC 20005-1503 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR Hiroshi Y ahata 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. 2008_0081A 9820 EXAMINER GRACIA, GARY S ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2491 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 06/29/2016 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): ddalecki@wenderoth.com eoa@wenderoth.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Exparte HIROSHI YAHATA, WATARU IKEDA, and SHIGEKI MATSUNAGA 1 Appeal2015-000818 Application 11/996,698 Technology Center 2400 Before JASON V. MORGAN, SHARON PENICK, and MICHAEL J. ENGLE, Administrative Patent Judges. ENGLE, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a final rejection of claims 1-13. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b ). We AFFIRM. Technology The application is related to tracking information on a recording medium such as a Blu-Ray Disc, including information regarding titles and playlists. Spec. ,-r,-r 177, 51, Abstract. 2 1 Appellants state the real party in interest is Panasonic Corp. App. Br. 2. 2 Citations to the Specification are to the published application. 1 Appeal2015-000818 Application 11/996,698 Representative Claim Claim 1 is representative and reproduced below with the key limitations emphasized: 1. A non-transitory information recording medium on which a digital stream is recorded, wherein the following are stored on said non-transitory information recording medium: a playlist for identifying at least one segment and a reproduction order of the at least one segment in the digital stream; a program for reproducing the digital stream according to the playlist by calling the playlist, the playlist comprising at least one playlist; a title for calling the program; index information in which the title and the program are associated with each other; and extension information which includes a title-playlist pair located under the extension information in a hierarchical structure of said non-transitory information recording medium, the title-playlist pair identifying, in one-to-one correspondence, (i) the title for calling the program for reproducing the digital stream according to the playlist by calling the playlist and (ii) the playlist for identifying the at least one segment and the reproduction order of the at least one segment in the digital stream, wherein the title-playlist pair included in the extension information is utilized to identifj; the title and the playlist. Rejections Claims 1, 2, and 13 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over the combination of Yoo et al. (US 2005/0141877 Al; June 30, 2005) and Seo (US 2005/0141867 Al; June 30, 2005). Final Act. 6, 12. Claim 3 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over the combination of Yoo, Seo, and Nakashika et al. (US 2005/0058434 Al; Mar. 17, 2005). Final Act. 18. 2 Appeal2015-000818 Application 11/996,698 Claims 4--8 and 10-12 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over the combination of Yoo, Seo, and Jung et al. (US 2005/0259957 Al; Nov. 24, 2005). Final Act. 20. Claim 9 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being obvious over the combination of Yoo, Seo, Jung, Nakashika, and Janz et al. (US 2002/0103791 Al; Aug. 1, 2002). Final Act. 26. ISSUE Did the Examiner err in finding Seo teaches or suggests the "extension information" and "title-playlist pair" as recited in claim 1 and commensurately recited in claim 13? ANALYSIS Claims 1-13 Like the present application, Seo relates to tracking information on a recording medium such as a Blu-Ray Disc. Seo i-f 6, Abstract. An index file called index.bdmv includes title information. Id. i-f 35. In this context, a "title is an audio and video (AV) content which constitutes a segment corresponding to a part of a digital stream or the entire stream." Spec. i-f 51. In other words, a title is simply a named portion for part or all of the video. However, the claims of the present application have a slightly different requirement for the word "title." Specifically, claim 1 requires "a program for reproducing the digital stream according to the playlist by calling the playlist" and "a title/or calling the program" (emphasis added). For example, in tying the "title" in claim 1 to the Specification, Appellants point to Figure 34 because "'Title3' includes 'ProgramIDRef=k"' which indicates 3 Appeal2015-000818 Application 11/996,698 "'Program#k' is executed." App. Br. 2. Thus, to constitute a "title" for purposes of the claims, it is the identification of a program that matters. Each title in Seo' s index table is "respectively linked with a corresponding specific object (OBJ) within the object file (Object.bdmv)," which is indicated "within the index file" by "object identification information (OBJ_id)." Seo i-f 35. For example, Normal Title #1 designates the corresponding object to be OBJ #1. Id. i-f 36. Each object includes one or more commands, each of which identifies both a playlist and what should be done with the playlist (e.g., "Play"). Id. Using Figure 3A as an example: when the user selects Title #1 ... , an object #1 (OBJ #1) command is executed . . . . The command includes an execute command of Play List # 1 (e.g., Play Play List # 1 ). Therefore, when object #1 (OBJ #1) executes PlayList #1, the clip ... related to the actual Title # 1 is played-back ... Id. Thus, Seo teaches tracking which playlist corresponds with each title and which program should be used to execute the playlist, as well as the data structures for doing so. See also App. Br. 5 (admitting same). Appellants contend the Examiner erred in finding Seo teaches or suggests the claimed "extension information" because "the objects (OBJ) of Seo merely correspond to a program, called by a title, for reproducing a digital stream according to a playlist" (App. Br. 5) whereas "the extension information required by the presently claimed invention cannot be construed as a 'program."' Reply Br. 2. According to Appellants, "the specification of the present application makes it clear that the extension information is composed of only data" and "does not include any command." Id. (emphasis omitted). However, we agree with the Examiner that the "specification and independent claim 1 do[] not exclude or restrict the extension information from being a separate distinct program" nor a list of 4 Appeal2015-000818 Application 11/996,698 one or more commands. Ans. 4. While Appellants broadly cite twenty-four paragraphs and one figure for support (Reply Br. 2), they have not sufficiently explained their assertion, nor identified any express definition or disavowal. Limiting claims to one embodiment in the Specification would go against the Federal Circuit's repeated warning that "[ w ]e do not read limitations from the specification into claims." Thorner v. Sony Comp. Entm 't Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1366 (2012). Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, a list of one or more commands is "information," and Appellants do not persuasively dispute Seo's objects are "an extended area" which "stores information" and hence "extension information." Spec. i-f 543. Thus, Appellants have not persuaded us the Examiner erred in finding Seo taught or suggested the claimed "extension information." Appellants further argue Seo fails to teach or suggest the claimed "title-playlist pair" because "Seo merely teaches that the title and playlist are only associated with each other using a program (e.g., the object)" whereas claim 1 requires "the title and playlist are associated with each other as the extension information in addition to ... associated with each other using the program." App. Br. 6. According to Appellants, Seo's lack of this feature results in "additional processing load" "when deleting the title" because "the playlist needs to be analyzed in order to identify the playlist related to the title." Id. However, in addition to rejecting the "program" and "extension information" arguments above, we are not persuaded because Appellants rely on structure or benefits not found in the claims as written. Ans. 5---6. We agree with the Examiner that "the title playlist pair merely identifies the one to one correspondence" and "[ t ]here is no further explanation as to how the title-playlist pair identi[f]ies the title and the playlist." Id. 3. Claim 1 5 Appeal2015-000818 Application 11/996,698 only requires that the title-playlist pair identify "(i) the title for calling the program for reproducing the digital stream according to the playlist by calling the playlist" (e.g., Seo's "Play") and "(ii) the playlist for identifying the at least one segment and the reproduction order of the at least one segment in the digital stream" (e.g., Seo's "PlayList #1"), and Seo teaches both of these. Seo i-f 36, FIG. 3A. Thus, Appellants have not persuaded us that the Examiner erred in finding Seo teaches or suggests the claimed "title- playlist pair." Accordingly, we sustain the Examiner's rejection of claim 1, and claims 2-13, which Appellants argue are patentable for similar reasons. See App. Br. 7; 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(l)(iv) (2013). DECISION For the reasons above, we affirm the Examiner's decision rejecting claims 1-13. TIME TO RESPOND No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a). See 37 C.F.R. § 41.50(±). AFFIRMED 6 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation