Prior art

Analysis of Prior Art Cited in U.S. Patent No. 10,419,805

As a technical patent analyst, I have examined the prior art references cited during the prosecution of U.S. Patent No. 10,419,805. This analysis is based on the information contained within the patent's file wrapper and the content of the cited documents.

The following documents were cited by the patent examiner as relevant prior art.

U.S. Patent Documents

• U.S. Patent No. 9,456,247 B2

  • Title: System and Method for Presenting Programming Content on a Television
  • Publication Date: September 27, 2016
  • Filing Date: June 14, 2012
  • Brief Description: This patent describes a system for a television that includes a processor and memory. The system can receive broadcast content and also access applications that provide on-demand content from various sources. It features a user interface that can display a "what's on now" screen showing currently available broadcast content and a "dashboard" that provides access to different content sources and applications. The system can learn user preferences and make recommendations.
  • Potential Anticipation of Claims:
    • Claim 1 & 12 (Method & System): This patent appears to disclose a system where a television's processor and memory are used to access and present content from multiple sources, which aligns with the core concepts of claims 1 and 12. The "dashboard" can be seen as an "internal content provider module" that is activated by user action. The system's ability to access various content sources through applications is analogous to the "subservices" and "source plug-ins" described in the '805 patent. Specifically, the system's ability to pull from broadcast and on-demand sources suggests the management of "multiple distinct sources." The organization of this data for presentation in the user interface is also a key feature.
    • Claim 17 (Intelligent Television): As this patent describes the hardware (processor, memory, display) and software components of a television that performs these functions, it strongly anticipates the "Intelligent Television" claimed in claim 17. The described functionalities of accessing, organizing, and displaying content from various sources are central to the definition of the "Intelligent Television" in the '805 patent.

• U.S. Patent No. 9,668,048 B2

  • Title: Method and System for Providing Content on a Television
  • Publication Date: May 30, 2017
  • Filing Date: December 21, 2012
  • Brief Description: This patent details a method for a television to access content from a variety of sources, including broadcast channels and internet-based services. It describes a system that can present a unified user interface, integrating content from these different sources. The system uses metadata to organize and present the content, and it can also provide recommendations to the user based on their viewing habits.
  • Potential Anticipation of Claims:
    • Claim 1 & 12 (Method & System): Similar to the '247 patent, this reference teaches a system where a television's processor loads modules to fetch and display content from diverse sources. The concept of a "unified user interface" that integrates different content types is very close to the "internal content provider module" organizing data from "subservices." The use of metadata for organization aligns with the "pre-defined data model" in the '805 patent's claims. The access to both broadcast and internet content demonstrates the management of multiple sources.
    • Claim 17 (Intelligent Television): The television described in this patent, with its integrated system for accessing and presenting content from multiple sources through a unified interface, aligns with the definition of the "Intelligent Television" in claim 17.

• U.S. Patent No. 9,986,280 B2

  • Title: Systems and Methods for Providing an Interactive Media Guidance Application
  • Publication Date: May 29, 2018
  • Filing Date: July 1, 2016
  • Brief Description: This patent discloses an interactive media guidance application that provides users with a unified interface to access various types of media content, including television programming, on-demand content, and online videos. The system can receive user input to navigate and select content. It also describes a modular architecture where different components are responsible for fetching data from various sources.
  • Potential Anticipation of Claims:
    • Claim 1, 12 & 17 (Method, System & Intelligent Television): This patent's description of a "modular architecture" with components for fetching data from different sources is highly relevant. These components can be interpreted as the "subservices" and "source plug-ins" of the '805 patent. The "interactive media guidance application" acts as the "internal content provider module" that organizes and presents this data to the user. The disclosure of a unified interface for various media types further supports the potential anticipation of the independent claims.

U.S. Patent Application Publications

• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0289622 A1

  • Title: System and Method for Personalized Content Delivery
  • Publication Date: December 29, 2005
  • Filing Date: June 25, 2004
  • Brief Description: This application describes a system for delivering personalized content to a user. It involves a server that aggregates content from various sources and a client device (such as a set-top box or television) that receives and displays the content. The system can be configured to retrieve content based on user profiles and preferences.
  • Potential Anticipation of Claims:
    • Claim 1 & 12 (Method & System): While this application focuses on a client-server architecture, the client device's functionality in receiving and displaying aggregated content from various sources shares similarities with the '805 patent. The client-side software could be considered an "internal content provider module" that interacts with a "subservice" (the server) to get organized data. However, the explicit teaching of "source plug-ins" on the client device for directly communicating with multiple external sources might be less direct.

• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0271089 A1

  • Title: Method and Apparatus for Providing an Interactive Media Guidance System
  • Publication Date: October 30, 2008
  • Filing Date: April 27, 2007
  • Brief Description: This application details an interactive media guidance system that allows users to access and manage content from multiple sources, including broadcast television, video-on-demand, and personal media stored on a local network. The system provides a unified interface for browsing and selecting content.
  • Potential Anticipation of Claims:
    • Claim 1, 12 & 17 (Method, System & Intelligent Television): This document describes a system on a user device that provides a unified interface for content from diverse sources like broadcast and personal media. This strongly suggests a system with a central module ("interactive media guidance system") that relies on other components to access different content locations ("subservices"). The management of these varied sources is a key element of the independent claims of the '805 patent.

• U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0254946 A1

  • Title: System and Method for Aggregating and Displaying Content from Multiple Sources
  • Publication Date: October 8, 2009
  • Filing Date: April 2, 2008
  • Brief Description: This publication discloses a system for aggregating content from multiple sources, such as web feeds, broadcast television, and personal media libraries. It describes a user interface that presents the aggregated content in a unified manner. The system architecture includes components for connecting to and retrieving data from these different sources.
  • Potential Anticipation of Claims:
    • Claim 1, 12 & 17 (Method, System & Intelligent Television): The disclosure of an architecture with specific components for connecting to and retrieving data from various sources is very similar to the "subservices" and "source plug-ins" of the '805 patent. The central function of aggregating and displaying this content in a unified user interface mirrors the role of the "internal content provider module." The ability to handle web feeds, broadcast, and personal media explicitly addresses the "multiple distinct sources" limitation.

In summary, the cited prior art, particularly U.S. Patents 9,456,247, 9,668,048, and 9,986,280, as well as patent applications 2008/0271089 and 2009/0254946, disclose systems and methods for smart televisions to aggregate and present content from multiple disparate sources through a unified interface, utilizing a modular software architecture. These disclosures appear to teach the core elements of the independent claims of U.S. Patent No. 10,419,805, suggesting a strong basis for a potential anticipation argument under 35 U.S.C. § 102.