Prior art

The USPTO database can be searched using their Patent Public Search tool.

Here is an analysis of the prior art cited in US patent 11257115, focusing on its relevance to the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

Non-Patent Literature:

• "PRACTICAL NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING QUESTION ANSWERING USING GRAPHS"
  • Full Citation: Fuchs, Gil E., "Practical Natural Language Processing Question Answering Using Graphs", PhD Dissertation, University of California Santa Cruz, December 2004.
  • Publication/Filing Date: December 2004.
  • Brief Description: This PhD dissertation by the inventor himself describes techniques for natural language processing, including the creation and comparison of conceptual graphs for semantic understanding, and the use of associative databases. The patent explicitly states that "the invention is related to" and "is incorporated herein by reference" to this dissertation.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This reference is highly relevant, particularly to aspects of claims 1, 13, and 16 that involve semantic comparison, statistical tokenizing and parsing, conceptual graph formalism, and associative databases (e.g., claim 1, step 6; claim 13, memory/storage and processing unit description; claim 16, step 5). Given it's by the same inventor and incorporated by reference, it likely provides foundational knowledge for these semantic processing elements.

Patent Citations:

• US6112240A

  • Full Citation: US6112240A, International Business Machines Corporation, "Web site client information tracker", issued August 29, 2000.
  • Publication/Filing Date: September 3, 1997 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This patent describes a system for tracking client information on a website, which can be used to monitor user activity and preferences.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could potentially anticipate aspects of monitoring and tracking user interaction with web pages, as described in claim 1 (step 2) and claim 13 (input device). The general concept of tracking web client information to infer interest might be disclosed.

• US6615208B1

  • Full Citation: US6615208B1, Telcordia Technologies, Inc., "Automatic recommendation of products using latent semantic indexing of content", issued September 2, 2003.
  • Publication/Filing Date: September 1, 2000 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This patent focuses on automatically recommending products by using latent semantic indexing of content, which involves analyzing the underlying meaning of text.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Likely anticipates aspects related to semantic analysis and using content meaning to recommend further content, as seen in claim 1 (step 6) and claim 13 (processing unit for semantic comparison), especially the "semantically comparing" element.

• US20040111432A1

  • Full Citation: US20040111432A1, International Business Machines Corporation, "Apparatus and methods for semantic representation and retrieval of multimedia content", published June 10, 2004.
  • Publication/Filing Date: December 10, 2002 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication details methods and apparatus for representing and retrieving multimedia content using semantic information.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could anticipate aspects of semantic analysis for content (including multimedia, though US11257115B2 focuses primarily on text) and retrieval of relevant information, as in claim 1 (step 6) and claim 13 (semantic relationships in memory/storage, processing unit for comparing semantic groups).

• US20050091106A1

  • Full Citation: US20050091106A1, Reller William M., "Selecting ads for a web page based on keywords located on the web page", published April 28, 2005.
  • Publication/Filing Date: October 27, 2003 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes selecting advertisements for a webpage based on keywords found within that page.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Directly relevant to the core idea of targeted advertising based on content analysis. It could anticipate the compilation of keywords/phrases (claim 1, step 5) and the subsequent selection and provision of relevant content/advertising (claim 1, step 7; claim 13, selecting and providing).

• US20050216844A1

  • Full Citation: US20050216844A1, Error Brett M., "Delayed transmission of website usage data", published September 29, 2005.
  • Publication/Filing Date: March 3, 2004 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication concerns the delayed transmission of website usage data.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Less directly relevant to semantic analysis or content provision, but could relate to the underlying data collection methods for user activity and viewing duration as broadly described in claim 1 (step 2) and claim 13 (input device).

• US7181438B1

  • Full Citation: US7181438B1, Alberti Anemometer, Llc, "Database access system", issued February 20, 2007.
  • Publication/Filing Date: July 21, 1999 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This patent describes a database access system.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This is a very general citation. Its relevance would depend on the specific features of the database system and whether it discloses mechanisms for storing and retrieving semantic information or word counts in a manner similar to the associative database described in US11257115B2 (claim 6 and claim 16, step 5).

• US20070208719A1

  • Full Citation: US20070208719A1, Bao Tran, "Systems and methods for analyzing semantic documents over a network", published September 6, 2007.
  • Publication/Filing Date: March 18, 2004 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication details systems and methods for analyzing semantic documents over a network.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the semantic analysis aspects of US11257115B2, particularly claim 1 (step 6), claim 13 (semantic relationships, comparing semantic groups), and claim 16 (step 5) that involve semantic comparison and understanding of text.

• US20080027798A1

  • Full Citation: US20080027798A1, Shivkumar Ramamurthi, "Serving advertisements based on keywords related to a webpage determined using external metadata", published January 31, 2008.
  • Publication/Filing Date: July 25, 2006 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes serving advertisements based on keywords related to a webpage, where these keywords are determined using external metadata.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Similar to US20050091106A1, this directly addresses serving targeted advertisements based on webpage content, specifically keywords. It could anticipate claim 1 (steps 5 and 7) and claim 13 (processing unit selecting and providing content).

• US7478089B2

  • Full Citation: US7478089B2, Kontera Technologies, Inc., "System and method for real-time web page context analysis for the real-time insertion of textual markup objects and dynamic content", issued January 13, 2009.
  • Publication/Filing Date: October 29, 2003 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This patent describes real-time web page context analysis to insert textual markup objects and dynamic content.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could anticipate aspects of analyzing content (especially in real-time) and then dynamically inserting related content, which is a core function of US11257115B2's claims 1 and 13 (selecting and providing relevant content).

• US7882115B2

  • Full Citation: US7882115B2, Scott Hirsch, "Method and apparatus for improved information representation", issued February 1, 2011.
  • Publication/Filing Date: April 27, 1999 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This patent describes methods and apparatus for improved information representation.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Another general citation. Its relevance would depend on whether its "improved information representation" touches upon semantic understanding or structured data representation in a way that anticipates the conceptual graph formalism or associative database elements of claims 6 and 16, step 5.

• US20110029511A1

  • Full Citation: US20110029511A1, Muralidharan Sampath Kodialam, "Keyword assignment to a web page", published February 3, 2011.
  • Publication/Filing Date: July 30, 2009 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes assigning keywords to a web page.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Directly relevant to the process of identifying pertinent words and phrases from web content, as described in claim 1 (steps 3-5) and claim 13 (counting words and phrases).

• US20110093479A1

  • Full Citation: US20110093479A1, Vexigo, Ltd., "System and method for use of semantic understanding in storage, searching and providing of data or other content information", published April 21, 2011.
  • Publication/Filing Date: October 19, 2009 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes a system and method for semantic understanding in storing, searching, and providing data or other content. This appears to be a direct earlier publication by the same inventor (Gil Emanuel Fuchs is an inventor on both).
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This is exceptionally relevant. Given the identical title (or very similar, "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USE OF SEMANTIC UNDERSTANDING IN STORAGE, SEARCHING AND PROVIDING DATA OR OTHER CONTENT INFORMATION" as incorporated by reference in US11257115B2) and the same inventor, this patent (or its corresponding granted patent US8880537B2, which is explicitly incorporated by reference in US11257115B2) is a very strong candidate for anticipating many aspects of US11257115B2, particularly the semantic understanding, storage, searching, and providing content elements across claims 1, 13, and 16. It is highly likely to anticipate the semantic comparison (claim 1, step 6), associative database (claim 6, claim 16 step 5), and the overall system for providing relevant content.

• US20120066359A1

  • Full Citation: US20120066359A1, Freeman Erik S, "Method and system for evaluating link-hosting webpages", published March 15, 2012.
  • Publication/Filing Date: September 9, 2010 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes a method and system for evaluating webpages that host links.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Less directly related to the semantic content analysis, but could overlap with the evaluation of links for providing additional content, as mentioned in claim 1 (step 7) and claim 13 (selecting and providing content as a link).

• US20120150784A1

  • Full Citation: US20120150784A1, Microsoft Corporation, "Immersive Planning of Events Including Vacations", published June 14, 2012.
  • Publication/Filing Date: December 11, 2010 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication relates to immersive planning of events.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This appears to be less directly relevant to the core claimed invention of US11257115B2, which is about providing content/advertising based on observed interest in currently viewed digital media, rather than planning systems.

• US20120280908A1

  • Full Citation: US20120280908A1, Rhoads Geoffrey B, "Smartphone-Based Methods and Systems", published November 8, 2012.
  • Publication/Filing Date: November 4, 2010 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes smartphone-based methods and systems, potentially including interaction tracking.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could anticipate general methods of tracking user interaction on mobile devices, which might involve pointing device movements or other inputs relevant to claim 1 (step 2) and claim 13 (input device).

• US20130080434A1

  • Full Citation: US20130080434A1, Aol Advertising Inc., "Systems and Methods for Contextual Analysis and Segmentation Using Dynamically-Derived Topics", published March 28, 2013.
  • Publication/Filing Date: September 23, 2011 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes systems and methods for contextual analysis and segmentation using dynamically-derived topics.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Very relevant to the semantic analysis and topic identification aspects of US11257115B2. It could anticipate the compilation of textural information and identification of important words/phrases (claim 1, steps 3-5) and the semantic comparison for relevant content (claim 1, step 6; claim 13, processing unit).

• US20140089097A1

  • Full Citation: US20140089097A1, Naver Business Platform Corp., "Method and system for providing advertisement based on gaze of user", published March 27, 2014.
  • Publication/Filing Date: September 24, 2012 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes providing advertisements based on a user's gaze.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Directly anticipates the concept of determining user interest by observing where they are looking on a screen. While US11257115B2 mentions eye tracking as an ideal method, its claims primarily specify pointing device movement. However, the broader concept of "monitoring and tracking the frequency and duration of viewing" in claim 1 (step 2) and claim 13 (input device) could be anticipated by methods that infer interest from gaze, even if the implementation differs.

• US20140180829A1

  • Full Citation: US20140180829A1, Dennoo Inc., "Advertising Platform", published June 26, 2014.
  • Publication/Filing Date: September 9, 2011 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes an advertising platform.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): General description, but an advertising platform would inherently involve mechanisms for targeting and delivering advertisements. Its relevance depends on whether it discloses specific methods of content analysis and user interest determination that anticipate the detailed steps of US11257115B2.

• US8775975B2

  • Full Citation: US8775975B2, Buckyball Mobile, Inc., "Expectation assisted text messaging", issued July 8, 2014.
  • Publication/Filing Date: September 21, 2005 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This patent describes expectation-assisted text messaging.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This appears to be less directly relevant to providing additional content or advertising based on analysis of user interest in viewed digital media, as its focus is on text messaging assistance.

• US20140344012A1

  • Full Citation: US20140344012A1, Intel Corporation, "Interestingness scoring of areas of interest included in a display element", published November 20, 2014.
  • Publication/Filing Date: December 12, 2011 (priority date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes scoring areas of interest within a display element.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the concept of identifying portions of content that are most important to a user. This could anticipate the "dividing into regions" (claim 1, step 1; claim 13, processing unit), "monitoring and tracking the frequency and duration of viewing" (claim 1, step 2; claim 13, input device), and the general goal of determining user interest in specific areas of content.