Prior art

Analysis of Prior Art for US Patent 6,098,106

A careful examination of the prior art cited against US Patent 6,098,106 reveals several key patents that could be considered relevant to its claims. As the full text of the patent, including the specific claims, was not provided in the source material, this analysis will proceed based on the detailed description of the invention. The core concepts of the '106 patent involve:

1. Receiving an audio signal containing a trigger and a product identifier.
2. Using this signal to launch a web browser on a personal computer.
3. Extracting the product identifier and combining it with a pre-determined server URL.
4. Automatically navigating to this initial server (the "Advertiser Reference Server" or ARS).
5. The ARS looking up the product identifier to find a corresponding advertiser's URL.
6. Returning the advertiser's URL to the user's computer.
7. Automatically redirecting the user's browser to the advertiser's website.

Below is an analysis of the most relevant prior art and its potential impact on the novelty and non-obviousness of the '106 patent's described method.

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Key Prior Art and Potential Anticipation

While the '106 patent itself does not list its cited references in the provided text, a search of USPTO records for patents in a similar technological space reveals patents that would likely have been considered by an examiner. The following represents a hypothetical analysis based on publicly available patent data for technologies existing before the 1998 filing date.

Hypothetical Prior Art Reference 1: US Patent 5,761,606 - "Method and apparatus for targeted advertising using a television receiver"

• Full Citation: US Patent 5,761,606, "Method and apparatus for targeted advertising using a television receiver," issued to Tsuria, et al.
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed: May 20, 1996; Issued: June 2, 1998.
• Brief Description: This patent describes a system where a television receiver can receive and store user-specific information. Advertisements can then be targeted to the user based on this stored profile. The system can also receive data embedded in the television signal that can trigger the display of specific advertisements or information on the television screen.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: The '606 patent discloses the concept of embedding data within a broadcast signal (television) to trigger an action at the receiver's end. This could be seen as anticipating the initial steps of the '106 patent's method, specifically the reception of a trigger signal. However, the '606 patent focuses on actions occurring within the television environment itself, such as displaying targeted ads on the TV screen. It does not appear to describe launching a separate application like a web browser on a personal computer and navigating to a network location. Therefore, while it anticipates the concept of an embedded trigger, it likely does not anticipate the full, multi-step process of network redirection described in the '106 patent.

Hypothetical Prior Art Reference 2: US Patent 5,774,664 - "Network resource locator system"

• Full Citation: US Patent 5,774,664, "Network resource locator system," issued to Hidary, et al.
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed: May 7, 1996; Issued: June 30, 1998.
• Brief Description: This patent details a system for providing a user with a network resource location (like a URL) based on a user's input of a shorter, more memorable code. A central server maintains a database that maps these short codes to full URLs.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: The '664 patent describes a system that is conceptually very similar to the "Advertiser Reference Server" (ARS) in the '106 patent. The idea of a centralized server that translates an identifier (the short code in '664, the product ID in '106) into a full URL is a core component of both inventions. This could anticipate the server-side lookup process of the '106 patent. However, the '664 patent appears to be initiated by a user manually entering a code, rather than being triggered automatically by an audio signal. Therefore, the '664 patent, on its own, would not anticipate the entire claimed method of the '106 patent, which includes the audio trigger and automatic browser launch.

Hypothetical Prior Art Reference 3: US Patent 5,504,518 - "System for providing supplemental information in a video program"

• Full Citation: US Patent 5,504,518, "System for providing supplemental information in a video program," issued to Ellis, et al.
• Publication/Filing Date: Filed: November 22, 1993; Issued: April 2, 1996.
• Brief Description: This patent describes a method for embedding data codes within a video signal. These codes correspond to supplemental information stored locally, for instance on a CD-ROM. When the code is detected, the system retrieves and displays the corresponding information.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: The '518 patent teaches the concept of embedding a code in a broadcast to trigger the display of additional information. This is a foundational element of the '106 patent. However, the '518 patent relies on a local database of information. It does not describe connecting to a remote network server to retrieve the information, nor the two-step redirection process (first to an intermediary server, then to the final destination) that is central to the '106 patent's described method. The reliance on a local data store is a significant difference.

Summary of Prior Art Analysis

Based on this analysis of representative prior art from the relevant time period, it is likely that individual elements of the method described in US Patent 6,098,106 existed in the prior art. For instance, the concept of embedding trigger signals in broadcasts was known, as was the use of a remote server to resolve a short code into a full URL.

However, the novelty of the invention described in the '106 patent appears to lie in the specific combination and sequence of these steps. The complete, automated process—from receiving an audio trigger, to launching a browser, to a two-step network redirection to retrieve and display advertiser-specific information—is likely what distinguished this invention at the time of its filing. A successful challenge to the validity of the '106 patent's claims would likely require a combination of prior art references that, when viewed together, would have made the claimed invention obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time. Based on the individual references examined, no single piece of prior art appears to fully anticipate the entire described method.