Prior art — US Patent 10681103

For US patent 10681103, titled "Social networking with video annotation," the most relevant prior art documents cited are largely a family of patents by Krikorian et al., which extensively cover methods and systems for providing annotation content in mediated communications. US patent 10681103 has an earliest priority date of January 31, 2013, derived from U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/759,219.

From the citations listed on US10681103's Google Patents page under "References," several Krikorian et al. patents predate this priority date. The abstracts of these patents are largely identical, indicating a consistent disclosure across the family. For this analysis, US8346850B2 by Krikorian et al. is selected as a representative example due to its publication date (January 1, 2013) being very close to the priority date of US10681103, making it highly relevant.

Most Relevant Prior Art Reference:

1. US8346850B2

Full Citation: US8346850B2, "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING ANNOTATION CONTENT IN A MEDIATED COMMUNICATION," inventors Krikorian et al., published January 1, 2013.
Publication/Filing Date: Published January 1, 2013. The filing date of this specific patent application (for the B2 version) is July 21, 2011, but it claims priority back to earlier applications, with the earliest in the family being June 14, 2005.
Brief Description: This patent describes a method and apparatus for providing annotation content in a mediated communication between multiple participants. The annotation content can include text, images, video, audio, and URL links, among other media forms. It can be provided in an annotation channel separate from the primary media content channel and optionally synchronized to a timeline of the primary mediated communication. The annotation content can be saved for later retrieval and configured as public or private, accessible to a subset of participants. It can be transmitted as part of a content stream or as metadata.
Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102:
- General Concepts of US10681103's Abstract and Background: US8346850B2, as representative of the Krikorian et al. patent family, broadly anticipates the core inventive concept described in the abstract and background of US10681103 regarding "social networking with video annotation." Specifically, it anticipates:
  - Annotating playable media files (e.g., video) within a multi-participant communication environment (analogous to a social network).
  - Receiving and creating annotations.
  - Saving annotations separately from the main media file (e.g., in a separate channel or as metadata).
  - Providing data about the annotation's location (synchronizing to a timeline).
  - Managing access permissions (public or private access).
- Specific Claims (US10681103 Claims 1-24): The claims of US10681103 (Claims 1-24, as provided in the full patent text) are specifically directed to the creation, display, and modification of "composite virtual clips" by selecting multiple saved virtual clips and ordering them using pointers or links. Based on the abstract of US8346850B2 (and other Krikorian patents examined), the specific methodology for defining and combining user-created "virtual clips" into a "composite virtual clip" using pointers for sequential playback, as detailed in claims like 1, 7, 13, and 19 of US10681103, is not explicitly disclosed. Therefore, while US8346850B2 is highly relevant to the general field of video annotation in a social context, its abstract does not appear to directly anticipate the precise elements and steps related to the "composite virtual clip" functionality as recited in US10681103's claims. A more detailed analysis of the full specification of US8346850B2 would be required to definitively confirm or deny anticipation of these specific "composite virtual clip" elements.

Non-Patent Prior Art:

1. "The Future of Video Annotation is Here, Available at http://www.techcrunch.com/2012/03/13/video-annotation"

Full Citation: Wauters, Robin. "The Future Of Video Annotation Is Here (And It’s Called Veed.me)." TechCrunch, March 13, 2012.
Publication/Filing Date: March 13, 2012.
Brief Description: This article discusses Veed.me, a platform launched in 2012 that enabled users to add "interactive and actionable annotations" to videos directly within a web browser. These annotations could include links, images, and HTML elements placed on specific frames of a video, allowing for interactive experiences.
Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: This non-patent literature clearly demonstrates the public availability and functionality of video annotation tools prior to the priority date of US10681103. It anticipates the general concept of adding interactive annotations to video content at specific timeline locations. While it describes a platform that allows sharing of annotated videos, the article does not explicitly detail the "social networking" aspect to the same extent as the Krikorian patents, nor does it describe the specific "composite virtual clip" functionality found in the claims of US10681103.