Obviousness

The obviousness of US patent 11763316 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 can be assessed by examining whether the claimed subject matter, as a whole, would have been obvious at the time of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) in view of the prior art. Given that US11763316B2 is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/589,551 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,996,259), filed on June 7, 2000, US7996259B2 serves as a highly significant piece of prior art.

For the purpose of this analysis, we will primarily consider US7996259B2 as the main reference, representing the state of the art based on the earliest priority date of the patent family. Without a comprehensive review of all additional prior art cited by the examiner in the prosecution history of US11763316B2 (which would typically be obtained from a direct USPTO Patent Public Search), this analysis will also draw upon general knowledge in the field of web development and e-commerce around the year 2000.

Obviousness Analysis of Independent Claims of US11763316B2

1. Independent Claim 1 (Method for Reciprocal Marketing)

• Claim Elements: This claim describes a computer-implemented method for establishing a reciprocal marketing arrangement between a first user's website and a second user's website. Key steps include hosting both websites, receiving explicit indications from both users to participate, including a functional identification element (e.g., a link) for the first website on the second website, including a functional identification element for the second website on the first website, and monitoring and charging the first user for the marketing element displayed on the second website.
• Prior Art Basis (US7996259B2): The disclosure of US11763316B2 itself, which is a continuation of US7996259B2, details these features extensively. The "STAY STICKY™ features" (FIG. 12) enable registered users to "create links option 1240" and "banner ad rotations option 1250". The system "determines other websites on which it would be most beneficial to display a link to, or banner concerning, the registered user's website" and "causes the selected websites of other registered users... to display a link and/or banner ad concerning the new website". Furthermore, the system "charges the registered user's website a fee for participation in the linking and/or banner ad functions whenever links to the registered user's website are shown on other websites, or whenever the banner ad for the registered user's website is shown on other websites". These descriptions directly cover the reciprocal arrangement, the inclusion of functional identification elements (links/banner ads) on each other's sites, and the monitoring and charging aspects. The "opting in" by both users is inherent in the system's design for selecting participation in these features.
• Motivation for Combination (if any): No specific combination beyond the teachings of US7996259B2 (or its direct disclosure within the parent application) is strictly necessary to render this claim obvious. The motivation for a PHOSITA in 2000 to implement such a system would be clear: to provide a service that facilitates cross-promotion and advertising for website owners, thereby increasing traffic and offering monetization opportunities for the platform provider. Reciprocal linking and banner ad exchanges were known marketing strategies on the internet at that time.
• Obviousness Argument: Claim 1 would likely be rendered obvious by the teachings of US7996259B2 alone, or at minimum, by combining US7996259B2 with the general knowledge of web advertising and affiliate marketing practices prevalent around its priority date of June 7, 2000. The elements of hosting, user opt-in, displaying reciprocal links/ads, and charging are all directly disclosed or inherently understood components of such a system.

2. Independent Claim 15 (Computer-Readable Storage Medium for Marketing)

• Claim Elements: This claim covers a computer-readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the method steps of Claim 1.
• Prior Art Basis (US7996259B2): The patent itself explicitly states that "the present invention further relates to a computer-readable storage medium containing computer executable code for instructing at least one computer to perform several steps" for marketing. Since the method described in Claim 1 is designed to be performed by a "computer hardware system" and specifically by the "server computer 140" using "standard computer programming techniques" and stored in a "programming database 190", it is inherently understood that the instructions for this method reside on a computer-readable storage medium.
• Motivation for Combination: It is a fundamental and common practice in software development to store executable code for any computer-implemented method on a computer-readable storage medium. No specific inventive step is required to move a method from a conceptual description to its implementation in software stored on a machine-readable medium.
• Obviousness Argument: Claim 15 is obvious over US7996259B2. A PHOSITA, upon reading the disclosure of the method of Claim 1 in US7996259B2, would readily understand that such a method would be implemented via computer-executable code stored on a computer-readable medium. This is a basic engineering choice for any software-based system.

3. Independent Claim 23 (Computer-Readable Storage Medium for E-commerce)

• Claim Elements: This claim describes a computer-readable storage medium with instructions for assisting a website designer in adding e-commerce features. This includes receiving a selection of an e-commerce feature (shopping cart or auction), receiving product information (picture, description, price, ID), receiving a merchant account identifier, and displaying the selected e-commerce feature with product information on the website upon activation.
• Prior Art Basis (US7996259B2): The patent discloses "a method of assisting a website designer in establishing an e-commerce feature on a first website". It details receiving "a selection of the e-commerce feature that is desired to be implemented on the first website, wherein the e-commerce feature is at least one of a shopping cart and an auction". The method further includes receiving product information such as "a picture of a product," "a written description of the product," "a price of the product," and "an identification number of the product". It also involves the input of a "merchant account identifier" and, upon activation, "displaying the e-commerce feature on the first website" with the product information. As with Claim 15, the implementation via a computer-readable storage medium is inherent to a computer-implemented method.
• Motivation for Combination: Providing tools for easily adding e-commerce capabilities like shopping carts and auctions to websites was a well-known desire and a common challenge for novice web designers in the early 2000s. Integrating product details and merchant account information were standard requirements for any functional e-commerce platform. The motivation would be to simplify the process for users.
• Obviousness Argument: Claim 23 is obvious over US7996259B2. The method steps for configuring e-commerce features, including shopping carts and auctions, receiving product details, and merchant account information, are all explicitly described in the disclosure originating from the parent application. The storage of these instructions on a computer-readable medium is a non-inventive implementation choice for any software system.

4. Independent Claim 29 (Internet-Based System for Marketing and E-commerce)

• Claim Elements: This claim defines an internet-based system for assisting website designers with marketing and e-commerce. It includes a server computer accessible via the internet, configured to receive marketing element information (type, target website), save this information in a database, obtain the marketing element, host both the first and second websites, and display the marketing element on the second website's webpage.
• Prior Art Basis (US7996259B2): The patent describes "an internet-based system for assisting a website designer in establishing an arrangement between a first website... and a second website in order to market the first website at the second website". It explicitly states the "system includes a server computer 140 operably connected to the internet 130" and "accessible by a plurality of registered user computers". The server "receives at a user interface... information indicating a type of an element for marketing... and information specifying the second website". It further "saves the information at a first database... and obtains an element for marketing". The server "further hosts the second website, activates the first website on the internet by hosting the first website on the internet, provides a web page of the second website... and displays the element for marketing on the web page".
• Motivation for Combination: The architecture described (server, internet connectivity, databases, user interface) was standard for web-based applications and content management systems at the time of the earliest priority date (2000). The motivation to combine these well-known components to provide an integrated platform for website design, hosting, and marketing would be to offer a comprehensive and user-friendly solution, which was a clear market demand.
• Obviousness Argument: Claim 29 is obvious over US7996259B2. The system architecture and its functionalities for facilitating marketing through reciprocal links and banner ads, including the roles of the server, databases, and user interface, are all clearly disclosed within the specification, which directly descends from US7996259B2. A PHOSITA would find it obvious to implement such a system using standard internet technologies and components available around 2000.

In summary, based on the provided patent text and the nature of US11763316B2 as a continuation of US7996259B2 (filed in 2000), it appears that the independent claims of US11763316B2 are highly likely to be obvious over the comprehensive disclosure of its parent patent, US7996259B2, possibly in combination with general knowledge in the field of internet technology and web development from that era. The features claimed were either directly taught or would have been readily apparent and implementable to a person having ordinary skill in the art aiming to achieve the disclosed goals of simplified web design, marketing, and e-commerce integration.