Prior art

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 10165324, I need to access the patent's file wrapper, which contains the references cited by the examiner and the applicant. While I can't directly "search the USPTO database" in real-time as a user would, I can look for a list of cited prior art within the provided patent text or via Google Patents. The USPTO's website offers tools for patent public search to access prior art documents.

Based on the provided patent text, I will list the prior art explicitly mentioned or incorporated by reference within US10165324B2.

Most Relevant Prior Art for US Patent 10165324

The patent text for US10165324B2 explicitly incorporates two U.S. Patent Application Publications by reference, which are considered prior art. Additionally, the description references an earlier-filed patent application from which it claims priority.

1. Ellis et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20030149988

• Full Citation: Ellis et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20030149988
• Publication Date: The full publication date is not provided in the snippet, only the year (2003). Assuming the publication number format indicates the year, it was published in 2003.
• Brief Description: This reference describes systems for remote recording of media content.
• Potentially Anticipates (35 U.S.C. § 102): The patent states, "Systems for remote recording of media content are described in more detail in Ellis et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 20030149988 and 20050229213, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties." This suggests that elements related to remote recording functionality, which might be a component of the interactive media environment described in US10165324, could be anticipated. Specifically, aspects of Claims 1 and 8 involving recording media content and the underlying system components (e.g., control circuitry interacting with recording devices) might be relevant. Claims 14 and 16, which deal with portable profiles and managing viewing across devices, could also be informed by the foundational remote recording capabilities described.

2. Ellis et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050229213

• Full Citation: Ellis et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050229213
• Publication Date: The full publication date is not provided in the snippet, only the year (2005). Assuming the publication number format indicates the year, it was published in 2005.
• Brief Description: This reference also describes systems for remote recording of media content, building upon or further detailing the concepts in the earlier Ellis et al. publication.
• Potentially Anticipates (35 U.S.C. § 102): Similar to the 2003 publication, this reference could anticipate aspects of Claims 1 and 8 related to the remote recording of media content within an interactive media environment. The advancements or specific implementations detailed in this later publication might bear on the novelty of how recording is managed or integrated within the broader system for episode tracking.

3. Moore et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20010047298

• Full Citation: Moore et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20010047298
• Publication Date: The full publication date is not provided in the snippet, only the year (2001). Assuming the publication number format indicates the year, it was published in 2001.
• Brief Description: This reference describes a system for delivering metadata-linked content.
• Potentially Anticipates (35 U.S.C. § 102): The patent states, "Further features of an illustrative system for delivering metadata-linked content is described in Moore et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20010047298, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety." This directly implicates the aspects of US10165324 related to using metadata (e.g., "profile flags" mentioned in FIGS. 8A and 8B) to analyze and filter content. Therefore, elements of Claims 1 and 8 pertaining to processing and utilizing content metadata for filtering or replacement, and potentially the underlying mechanisms for associating descriptive data with media, could be anticipated.

4. U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 11/324,187

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 11/324,187, filed Dec. 29, 2005.
• Filing Date: December 29, 2005.
• Brief Description: This reference describes a method where closed captioning data is analyzed and used to create content summaries.
• Potentially Anticipates (35 U.S.C. § 102): The patent states, "closed captioning data is analyzed and used to create content summaries, as described in more detail in patent application Ser. No. 11/324,187, filed Dec. 29, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety." This is highly relevant to the "summary selection 1110" feature mentioned in the description of FIG. 11, where a user can be presented with a content summary. This could potentially anticipate aspects of Claims 1 and 8 that involve providing users with content summaries, particularly if those summaries are generated using techniques like analyzing closed captioning data.

It is important to note that US10165324B2 also lists a "Prior art date" of 2005-12-29 and a "Priority date" of 2005-12-29, which corresponds to the filing date of U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 11/324,187. This indicates that US10165324B2 is a continuation or divisional of an earlier application, and therefore benefits from the earlier filing date for much of its subject matter. Therefore, the cited patent applications would be prior art against the claims of US10165324 if they were filed before December 29, 2005, and disclose the same invention. The Ellis et al. and Moore et al. references clearly precede this priority date.