Prior art — US Patent 11301898

Prior Art Analysis for U.S. Patent 11,301,898

Analysis of the prosecution history for U.S. Patent 11,301,898 on the USPTO Patent Center portal reveals the prior art references cited by the examiner during examination. These references were considered the most relevant by the USPTO for determining the patentability of the claimed invention. The following references were central to the examiner's rejections and the applicant's arguments.

1. U.S. Patent No. 9,785,942 B1 (Hereinafter "Shin")

Full Citation: US 9,785,942 B1, "Cross-device conversions," filed by Shin et al., assigned to Google LLC.
Dates: Filed Oct 21, 2015; Issued Oct 10, 2017.
Brief Description: Shin describes a system for tracking user conversions across different devices. It involves an ad server that receives an ad request from a first device, serves an ad, and logs an impression identifier. When the user performs a conversion action on a second device (e.g., visiting an advertiser's website), the advertiser's server sends a conversion ping to the ad server. The ad server uses account information to associate the conversion on the second device with the ad impression on the first device, thereby measuring the effectiveness of the ad campaign across multiple devices.
Anticipation Analysis (35 U.S.C. § 102):
- During prosecution of the application leading to the '898 patent, the examiner cited Shin as anticipating several claims. The examiner argued that Shin's "ad server" functions as the claimed "first computer system" and that its "advertiser server" functions as the "second computer system."
- The examiner contended that Shin discloses sending a tag (an impression identifier or cookie) and later receiving a redirection (a conversion ping) to trigger a subsequent action (logging the conversion).
- However, Shin does not appear to anticipate the core limitations of claim 1 of the '898 patent. Specifically, claim 1 requires the first computer system to send a condition to the second computer system, which the second system must check before redirecting the user back to the first system. Shin's system involves the advertiser server (second system) sending a "conversion ping" unconditionally upon the user's action. The intelligence and decision-making reside with the ad server after it receives the ping, not with the advertiser server before it sends the ping. The '898 patent claims a distributed decision-making process where the second system is pre-loaded with a specific condition to evaluate. This distinction was successfully argued by the applicant to overcome the rejection. Therefore, Shin does not anticipate claim 1.

2. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0379555 A1 (Hereinafter "Zadoff")

Full Citation: US 2015/0379555 A1, "Targeted Advertising Based on In-Store Display Interactions," filed by Zadoff et al., assigned to Telenav, Inc.
Dates: Filed Jun 25, 2014; Published Dec 31, 2015.
Brief Description: Zadoff discloses a system for delivering targeted advertisements to a user's mobile device based on their interactions with in-store product displays. When a user interacts with a smart display in a retail store, the display system captures this interaction data. This data, along with a device identifier, is sent to an ad server. The ad server then uses this profile information to select and deliver relevant ads to the user's mobile device at a later time, either in the store or after they have left.
Anticipation Analysis (35 U.S.C. § 102):
- The examiner cited Zadoff, arguing that its "ad server" is the "first computer system" and the "in-store server/display" is the "second computer system." The interaction with the display triggers the creation of a profile and a subsequent ad delivery.
- Similar to the analysis of Shin, Zadoff fails to anticipate key elements of claim 1. The in-store system in Zadoff sends user interaction data to the ad server, but it does not receive a "condition" from the ad server that it must later check before initiating contact for an ad opportunity. The communication is primarily one-way: the in-store system sends profile-generating data to the ad server, which then independently decides when and what ad to push to the user's device. The '898 patent's claimed method involves the first system empowering the second system with a specific condition to check before enabling the ad serving process. Zadoff does not describe this pre-conditioned redirection mechanism. Thus, it does not anticipate claim 1.

3. U.S. Patent No. 9,412,125 B2 (Hereinafter "Raman")

Full Citation: US 9,412,125 B2, "Cross device/media channel attribution," filed by Raman et al., assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC.
Dates: Filed May 10, 2012; Issued Aug 9, 2016.
Brief Description: Raman describes a method for attributing user actions to advertisements viewed across different devices or media channels. It uses a central "attribution logic" system that collects ad exposure data from various sources (e.g., a user sees a TV ad and a web ad). When the user completes a desired action (like a purchase), the system analyzes the exposure data to determine which ad or combination of ads influenced the action. It uses identifiers like cookies and device IDs, often linked through a common user login, to track the user's journey.
Anticipation Analysis (35 U.S.C. § 102):
- Raman's system focuses on the post-action attribution problem—figuring out which ad gets credit for a conversion. While it involves multiple systems and user identifiers (tags), its core process is different from the ad delivery method claimed in the '898 patent.
- Raman does not teach a first computer system sending a specific, user-device-related "condition" to a second computer system that controls ad space, where the second system evaluates this condition to trigger a redirection for a real-time ad serving opportunity. The data flows in Raman are for the purpose of analysis after the fact, not for enabling a conditional, real-time ad call from a third-party website back to a targeting system. Therefore, Raman does not anticipate the novel process steps of claim 1.