Obviousness

Under 35 U.S.C. § 103, an invention is considered obvious if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA). The motivation to combine prior art references is a crucial aspect of this analysis.

US patent 11106744 claims a search engine that distinguishes itself by indexing web content based on direct user input, often gathered through a user interface separate from the main browser window (e.g., a plug-in), and subsequently ranking search results based on this user-generated content (e.g., ratings, comments, keywords).

Level of Ordinary Skill in the Art:
A PHOSITA in this field at the time of the invention (priority date March 14, 2011) would be familiar with web technologies, search engine algorithms, browser development, user interface design, and systems for collecting and managing user-generated content.

Obviousness Combination:

The independent claims (Claim 1, Claim 10, and Claim 19) of US11106744, in various forms, describe a system where:

1. A server receives an identification of web content from a user via a separate user interface (e.g., a browser plug-in) while the content is displayed in the main browser window.
2. The server indexes this web content, often incorporating user-generated content like ratings, comments, or keywords.
3. Upon a search query, the server transmits search results where the identified web content is positioned (ranked) based on user-generated content.

This core functionality would have been obvious to a PHOSITA by combining the following prior art references:

Combination 1: US20020046203A1 (Sony) + US20050216457A1 (Yahoo!) + US20070192313A1 (Finley) + US10237299B2 (Camelot)

• US20020046203A1 (Sony): This patent application describes a "Method and apparatus for providing ratings of web sites over the internet." It teaches the collection of user ratings for web content and associating these ratings with the respective content. This directly addresses the "receiving, by the server computer, a rating associated with the first web content from the first user" (Claim 2, 11) and "receiving ratings associated with the other web content from the other users" (Claim 3, 12).
• US20050216457A1 (Yahoo!): This patent application discloses "Systems and methods for collecting user annotations." Annotations, as described, can include comments and tags (keywords) related to web content. This reference thus teaches "receiving, by the server computer from the first client computer, a comment on the first web content" (Claim 7, 16, 20) and "receiving, by the server computer, keywords for the first web content" (Claim 6, 15).
• US20070192313A1 (Finley): Titled "Data search method with statistical analysis performed on user provided ratings of the initial search results," this patent application explicitly teaches using user-provided ratings to statistically analyze and influence the ranking of search results. This directly addresses the aspect of "ranking, by the server computer, the first web content from the rating in relation to the ratings of the other web content received from the other users" (Claim 4, 13) and "search results comprising the first web content identified by the first user in a position relative to identifications of other web content received from other users" (Claim 1, 10). The '744 patent's description of "human input affects the search results in real time" is a natural extension of Finley's approach given real-time web technologies.
• US10237299B2 (Camelot): This patent describes a "Browser extension for contemporaneous in-browser tagging and harvesting of internet content." This reference is highly relevant as it teaches the use of a "browser extension" (a form of plug-in and a user interface separate from the main browser window) to "tag" (add keywords/user content) and "harvest" (identify/capture) internet content while it is being viewed in the browser. This explicitly covers the element of "an identification of first web content transmitted by the first user to the server computer via a user interface separate from the main browser window" (Claim 1, 10, 19).

Motivation to Combine:

A PHOSITA would have been motivated to combine these references for several reasons:

1. Improving Search Relevance and User Experience: Conventional search engines, as acknowledged in the background of US11106744, relied on bots and complex algorithms that only indirectly reflected user interest. There was a strong motivation in the art to improve search relevance by incorporating direct user feedback. Combining the user rating and annotation systems of Sony ('203) and Yahoo! ('457) with a search system (as generally known in the art, e.g., Google '655, and specifically the ranking mechanism of Finley '213) would yield search results more reflective of human interest.
2. Streamlining User Contribution: Collecting user input (ratings, comments, keywords) traditionally required users to navigate to separate platforms or manually copy and paste information. Browser extensions and plug-ins (as taught by Camelot '299) provided a convenient and integrated way for users to interact with and submit information about web content directly from their browsing experience. A PHOSITA would readily recognize the benefit of integrating such a plug-in with systems for collecting user feedback to facilitate and encourage user participation. This would address the problem of friction in user contribution.
3. Enhancing Indexing with User-Generated Content: Once user-generated content (ratings, comments, keywords) was recognized as valuable for search relevance (Sony '203, Yahoo! '457, Finley '213), it would be an obvious step for a PHOSITA to incorporate this data directly into the indexing process (Claim 1, 10, 19). For example, if users tag content with keywords via a browser extension (Camelot '299), indexing that content using those keywords makes it more discoverable through user-defined terms. Storing this user content in association with the web content (as implicitly or explicitly taught by Sony '203 and Yahoo! '457) is a necessary prerequisite for effective indexing and retrieval.
4. Developing "Human-Powered" or "Social" Search: The overarching motivation would be to move beyond purely algorithmic search toward a more "human-powered" or "social" search model. By enabling users to directly influence content identification, indexing, and ranking through an integrated browser interface, a PHOSITA could create a system that delivers a more personalized and community-driven search experience, directly addressing the limitations of conventional search engines mentioned in the '744 patent's background.

Conclusion:

The combination of US20020046203A1, US20050216457A1, US20070192313A1, and US10237299B2 would render claims 1, 10, and 19 of US11106744 obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art. The motivation to combine these references stems from the clear desire to improve search relevance through direct user feedback, streamline the process of obtaining that feedback via integrated browser tools, and leverage this feedback to create a more effective and user-centric search experience.