Obviousness

To analyze the obviousness of US patent 10681103 under 35 U.S.C. § 103, we must consider whether the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) to which the claimed invention pertains. The effective filing date for US10681103 is January 31, 2013, as it claims priority from US14/170,149 filed on January 31, 2104 (which itself claims priority from US61/759,219 filed on January 31, 2013).

A PHOSITA is a hypothetical person who is presumed to have known the relevant prior art at the relevant time and possesses ordinary creativity, not acting as an automaton. In the context of "Social networking with video annotation," a PHOSITA would likely have a background in software engineering, with experience in developing social networking platforms, multimedia processing, and database management. They would be familiar with common techniques for handling and displaying media, as well as user interaction within online social environments. Factors in determining the level of ordinary skill in the art include the type of problems encountered, prior art solutions, the rapidity of innovations, the sophistication of the technology, and the educational level of active workers in the field.

The core aspects of US10681103, as defined by its independent claims, revolve around creating and displaying "composite virtual clips" from "Playable Media Files" within a social networking context, along with associating annotations and discussion threads. The key distinguishing features appear to be the separate storage of annotations and tables of contents from the Playable Media File, and the structured approach to creating and presenting composite virtual clips.

To establish obviousness, a prima facie case needs to be made by demonstrating that a PHOSITA would have been motivated to combine prior art references to arrive at the claimed invention. This motivation does not have to be explicitly stated in the prior art, but can be found implicitly.

The provided "Prior art keywords" from the patent itself include "file," "virtual," "clip," "virtual clip," and "program code." These general terms indicate a broad field of prior art.

Obviousness Analysis of Independent Claim 1 (Method to Make a Composite Virtual Clip)

Independent Claim 1 describes a method for selecting saved virtual clips, defining their order, and then configuring and saving pointers to these clips to create a composite virtual clip.

Combination of References:

Consider the following hypothetical prior art references that a PHOSITA would have been aware of:

1. Reference A: A social media platform with video sharing capabilities. This platform allows users to upload, share, and view video files (Playable Media Files). It includes features for organizing uploaded content, such as creating playlists or albums of videos.
2. Reference B: A multimedia editing software or online tool. This tool allows users to select segments from existing media files (creating "virtual clips" from designated start and end points), arrange them in a specific order, and then "save" a new composite file or a project file that contains pointers to the original media segments and their playback order. Such tools were common for creating highlight reels or mashups.
3. Reference C: A database management system or file system design. This would teach the concept of using pointers or links to refer to data stored in separate locations, rather than duplicating the data itself.

Motivation to Combine:

A PHOSITA, observing the functionalities of Reference A and Reference B, would be motivated to combine them to enhance the video sharing and content creation experience within a social network. The motivation would stem from a desire to allow social network users to:

• Curate and personalize shared video content: Instead of sharing an entire, potentially long video, users would want to share specific, interesting segments. Reference B provides the technical means to define these "virtual clips."
• Present narratives or themes: Combining multiple virtual clips in a specific order, as taught by Reference B, allows for the creation of a more engaging and coherent message than individual clips.
• Efficiently manage storage and bandwidth: Rather than creating a new, duplicated video file for every composite creation, using pointers to existing virtual clips (as would be understood from Reference C and the design principles of Reference B) would be an obvious and efficient solution. This would reduce storage requirements on the server and improve sharing efficiency within the social network.

The steps of Claim 1, such as "selecting (N) saved virtual clips and an order of presentation" and "configuring a (M)th pointer to indicate a storage location for a (M)th saved virtual clip," directly align with functionalities present in multimedia editing tools (Reference B) and the underlying data management principles (Reference C). Integrating these into a social media platform (Reference A) to enable users to create and share composite virtual clips would be an obvious extension to a PHOSITA seeking to improve user engagement and content customization.

Obviousness Analysis of Independent Claim 7 (Method to Display a Composite Virtual Clip)

Independent Claim 7 describes providing a storage location for a composite virtual clip file and then iteratively activating links within that file to stream the saved virtual clips to a user's device.

Combination of References:

We can continue to use the prior art references:

1. Reference A: A social media platform with video sharing capabilities. This platform includes functionality for streaming video content to user devices.
2. Reference B: A multimedia editing software or online tool. This tool, when a composite project is opened, plays back the linked segments in the defined order.
3. Reference C: A web browser or media player with playlist functionality. These widely available technologies demonstrate the ability to process a list of links (like a playlist) and sequentially play the associated media.

Motivation to Combine:

The motivation to combine these references for displaying a composite virtual clip is inherent in the desire to play back the content created by the method of Claim 1. A PHOSITA would understand that once a composite virtual clip (defined by pointers to individual virtual clips and their order) is created (as per the capabilities derived from Reference B and C), the natural and obvious next step is to provide a mechanism for users to view it.

• Leveraging existing streaming infrastructure: Reference A already has the capability to stream individual video files. Extending this to stream a series of linked virtual clips would be a straightforward application of existing technology.
• Standard playback paradigms: Web browsers and media players (Reference C) routinely handle playlists and sequential playback of media referenced by links. Applying this well-known paradigm to the composite virtual clips created in a social network environment would be an obvious engineering choice.
• User expectation: Users accustomed to playlists and curated content would expect a seamless playback experience for composite virtual clips.

Therefore, "activating a (P)th link encoded in the composite virtual clip file to stream a (P)th saved virtual clip to a user's device" and repeating this process (as described in Claim 7) would be an obvious implementation detail for a PHOSITA wanting to provide playback functionality for the composite virtual clips created using the method of Claim 1.

Obviousness Analysis of Independent Claim 13 (Non-Transitory Computer Usable Medium for Making a Composite Virtual Clip)

Independent Claim 13 is a product-by-process claim directed to a non-transitory computer usable medium encoded with a computer program product for making a composite virtual clip, where the program code causes a programmable computer processor to perform the steps of Claim 1.

Combination of References:

• Reference D: A typical computer system with a processor and non-transitory computer-readable medium. This represents the basic hardware environment.
• Reference E: Computer programming principles and best practices. This would include knowledge of how to translate algorithms into computer-readable program code and store them on a non-transitory medium for execution by a processor.
• The combined teachings of References A, B, and C (from Claim 1 analysis) describing the method steps.

Motivation to Combine:

A PHOSITA would understand that any method performed by a computer system is, by its very nature, implemented by computer program code encoded on a computer-readable medium and executed by a processor. The motivation to embody the method of Claim 1 in a computer program product (as claimed in Claim 13) is inherent in the very act of creating software to perform a desired function. It would be obvious to a PHOSITA to take the functionalities for creating composite virtual clips (derived from References A, B, and C) and implement them as a computer program product. This is a standard practice in software development and not an inventive step beyond the method itself.

Obviousness Analysis of Independent Claim 19 (Non-Transitory Computer Usable Medium for Displaying a Composite Virtual Clip)

Independent Claim 19 is similar to Claim 13, but for the method of displaying a composite virtual clip as described in Claim 7.

Combination of References:

• Reference D: A typical computer system with a processor and non-transitory computer-readable medium.
• Reference E: Computer programming principles and best practices.
• The combined teachings of References A, B, and C (from Claim 7 analysis) describing the method steps for display.

Motivation to Combine:

Similar to Claim 13, the motivation to embody the method of Claim 7 in a computer program product is self-evident to a PHOSITA. Once the method for displaying composite virtual clips (derived from References A, B, and C) is conceived, it would be an obvious engineering task to implement this method as computer readable program code on a non-transitory medium, causing a processor to execute it. This is a fundamental aspect of software development and would not require an inventive leap.

In summary, the individual steps of creating virtual clips, ordering them, and playing them back sequentially using pointers were well-known in multimedia editing and playback technologies prior to the effective filing date of US10681103. The integration of these functionalities into a social networking environment, while presenting an improved user experience, would have been an obvious extension for a PHOSITA motivated to enhance content creation and sharing options within such networks, leveraging existing technological paradigms.