Obviousness

US Patent 11227303, with a priority date of April 6, 2009, generally describes a method and apparatus for presenting multimedia content in association with a telephone call, specifically before (pre-ring), during (in-call), and after (post-call) the call, utilizing parallel data and voice channels. The content can be related to the call parties or third parties (e.g., advertisers) and may include actuable controls. The patent also covers call server-managed content auctions.

The following analysis for obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103 considers the independent claims of US11227303 in light of the prior art documents listed on its Google Patents page, which predate the priority date. A Person Having Ordinary Skill in the Art (PHOSITA) in 2009 would have possessed knowledge of telecommunications, computer networks, multimedia content delivery, and basic commercial practices.

References considered:

• US7280649B1 (Call Sciences, Inc., "System and method for providing services based on real time data communications for callers and called parties of a telecommunication call," published October 9, 2007)
• US20050036611A1 (America Online, Inc., "Method and system for providing enhanced communications during call set up," published February 17, 2005)
• US20080287103A1 (Verizon Services Group, "System and method for presenting targeted information during a phone call," published November 20, 2008)
• US20080070564A1 (Call Control, LLC, "Method and apparatus for advertising during a telephone call," published March 20, 2008)

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Obviousness Analysis for Independent Claim 1: Method of controlling content presentation during a call

Claim 1 elements:

1. Initiating a telephone call from a calling device to a called device, wherein a voice portion of the telephone call is configured to be routed via a voice channel.
2. Delaying the routing of the voice portion of the telephone call to the called device.
3. Establishing a data connection between the calling device and a call controller.
4. Receiving, at the call controller, an identification of a caller associated with the calling device and an identification of a destination associated with the called device.
5. Selecting, at the call controller and based at least in part on the identification of the caller or the identification of the destination, multimedia content.
6. Transmitting the selected multimedia content from the call controller to the calling device via the data connection for presentation on the calling device.
7. Routing the voice portion of the telephone call via the voice channel after the multimedia content has been presented on the calling device.

Combination of References: US7280649B1, in view of US20050036611A1, and further supported by US20080287103A1.

Rationale for Obviousness:
US7280649B1 teaches a system and method for providing services (e.g., enhanced caller ID, multimedia advertisements, product information) based on real-time data communications for callers and called parties of a telecommunication call. This system establishes a data communication link parallel to a voice communication link, and these services can be initiated "prior to, during, or after" the voice communications. This directly addresses elements 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, showing a call initiated, parallel data/voice channels, a service provider (call controller) receiving caller/called party info, selecting content based on this info, transmitting it for presentation, and then the voice communication proceeding.

US20050036611A1 teaches sending "supplemental data" (which can be visual information) along with a call setup request to a terminating party, to be displayed "during an alerting phase of the call, e.g., during ringing, prior to answering the call."

A PHOSITA would be motivated to combine the teachings of US7280649B1 and US20050036611A1 to enhance the "prior to" services of US7280649B1 with the explicit "pre-ring" content presentation described in US20050036611A1. To effectively present rich multimedia content prior to the voice communication or "during an alerting phase" before the call is answered (as taught by these references), it would be an obvious design choice for a PHOSITA to temporarily delay the establishment or routing of the voice portion of the call (element 2). This delay ensures that the data connection is fully established, the multimedia content is retrieved and transmitted, and the user has sufficient time to view and assimilate the content before engaging in the voice conversation. Without such a delay, the "prior to" content presentation would be ineffective if the user answered the call immediately or before the content loaded. This optimization would be apparent to a PHOSITA seeking to implement the combined teachings effectively.

US20080287103A1 further teaches selecting content based on call information and providing it to a communications device for presentation during a phone call, reinforcing the concept of content selection and display.

Therefore, all elements of Claim 1, including the delayed voice routing, would have been obvious to a PHOSITA.

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Obviousness Analysis for Independent Claim 11: Apparatus for controlling content presentation during a call

Claim 11 elements:

1. An apparatus comprising a processor and a memory.
2. The memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to:
   a. establish a data connection with a communication device;
   b. receive, from the communication device, a telephone number of a caller and a telephone number of a destination;
   c. select multimedia content based at least in part on the telephone number of the caller or the telephone number of the destination;
   d. transmit the selected multimedia content to the communication device for presentation on the communication device; and
   e. arrange for a voice portion of a telephone call to be routed via a voice channel.

Combination of References: US7280649B1, in view of US20050036611A1.

Rationale for Obviousness:
US7280649B1 describes a "system" with a "service provider" that establishes "real-time data communications" and "voice communication links" with calling and called parties. This system inherently comprises a processor and memory. The service provider's role includes receiving information related to the calling/called parties, providing services (which include transmitting multimedia advertisements), and managing the communication links. This directly discloses an apparatus (the service provider/call controller) with a processor and memory configured to perform steps 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, and 2e.

The combination with US20050036611A1, as explained for Claim 1, motivates the delay of the voice portion to facilitate content presentation during call setup. Implementing this method via an apparatus would be a straightforward engineering task for a PHOSITA using standard computing and telecommunications equipment. The instructions for establishing data/voice connections, receiving numbers, selecting and transmitting content, and arranging voice routing would be basic functions programmed into such a system to carry out the described methods.

Therefore, an apparatus configured to perform the method steps, which are themselves obvious, would also be obvious to a PHOSITA.

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Obviousness Analysis for Independent Claim 12: Method involving a call processor and delayed voice channel

Claim 12 elements:

1. Detecting, by a call processor of a communication device, an initiation of an outgoing telephone call from the communication device.
2. Connecting the call processor to a call server.
3. Transmitting, by the call processor to the call server, a telephone number of a caller and a telephone number of a destination.
4. Receiving, by the call processor from the call server, multimedia content selected by the call server based at least in part on the telephone number of the caller or the telephone number of the destination.
5. Presenting the multimedia content on the communication device.
6. Delaying, by the communication device, establishing a voice connection for the outgoing telephone call until after the multimedia content has been presented on the communication device.

Combination of References: US7280649B1, in view of US20050036611A1, and further supported by US20080287103A1.

Rationale for Obviousness:
As discussed for Claim 1, US7280649B1 discloses a system providing services via a data link in parallel with a voice link, before, during, or after a call, where content is selected based on caller/called party information. US20050036611A1 teaches presenting supplemental data during the call's alerting phase.

The concept of a "call processor" on a communication device (elements 1, 2, 3, 4) is a conventional component or application responsible for managing outgoing calls. A PHOSITA would readily understand that such a processor could be configured to initiate a data connection to a call server (service provider in US7280649B1) and transmit call details. Receiving and presenting multimedia content (elements 4, 5) is also a standard function of modern communication devices, especially in light of references like US20080287103A1 which mentions content presentation during a call.

Element 6, "Delaying, by the communication device, establishing a voice connection... until after the multimedia content has been presented," is an obvious implementation detail for realizing the "pre-ring" content presentation of US20050036611A1 and the "prior to" services of US7280649B1. To ensure the effectiveness of displaying content before the voice call begins, the communication device (via its call processor or associated logic) would logically delay connecting the voice channel until the content is ready and displayed. This allows the user to fully observe the content, thereby making the enhanced communication feature truly functional and valuable. Such an action by the communication device would be an expected engineering solution for a PHOSITA designing systems based on the combined teachings.

Therefore, the method described in Claim 12 would have been obvious.

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Obviousness Analysis for Independent Claim 20: Method involving content auctions and call routing

Claim 20 elements:

1. Maintaining, by a call server, a list of organizations and associated telephone numbers.
2. Holding, by the call server, an auction for a right to present content to callers that place telephone calls to at least one of the organizations associated with the list.
3. Receiving, by the call server, a notification of a telephone call being placed by a caller to one of the organizations.
4. Selecting, by the call server, content provided by a winning bidder of the auction.
5. Transmitting the selected content from the call server to a communication device of the caller for presentation on the communication device.
6. Routing a voice portion of the telephone call to the one of the organizations.

Combination of References: US7280649B1, in view of US20080070564A1, combined with the general knowledge of advertising and auction mechanisms.

Rationale for Obviousness:
US7280649B1 describes a "service provider" (analogous to a call server) that provides services based on information related to calling and/or called parties, including the ability to "send multimedia advertisements." This service provider would necessarily maintain information about destinations (organizations and their numbers) to provide these services (element 1). It also teaches routing the voice portion of the call (element 6) and transmitting multimedia content for display (element 5). US20080070564A1 specifically discloses methods for "advertising during a telephone call," where an advertisement server determines and provides advertisements to a telephone user during a call.

The motivation for combining these would be to monetize the call-associated advertising opportunities. Given that both US7280649B1 and US20080070564A1 teach presenting advertisements during calls, a PHOSITA would be driven by commercial interests to find efficient methods for allocating these valuable advertising slots to various advertisers. By 2009, online advertising platforms frequently used auction models (e.g., keyword bidding) to sell ad space. Applying a well-known commercial method like an "auction" to allocate the right to present content to callers (element 2) in the context of telecommunication services (elements 3, 4, 5, 6) would have been an obvious business decision for a PHOSITA. The call server acting as an intermediary to manage these ads and collect bids is a straightforward application of existing online advertising models to the telecommunications domain.

Therefore, Claim 20, which combines known telecommunication content delivery with a known commercial mechanism for allocating advertising rights, would have been obvious.