Prior art — US Patent 8180198

US patent 8180198, titled "Playlist creating apparatus and method, and dubbing list creating apparatus and method," is active and is set to expire on June 26, 2027. It was filed on February 9, 2005, and published on May 15, 2012. The current assignee is Maxell Ltd.

The patent describes a digital image recording and reproducing apparatus and method for easily creating a playlist or a dubbing list. It achieves this by selecting a digital image (program) based on user input, then automatically retrieving other digital images whose associated information (e.g., recording time, channel, title, series information) matches conditions of the user-selected program. These candidate programs are then displayed (e.g., in a telop or as thumbnails) for the user to add to a playlist or dubbing list, often with options for rearrangement or bit rate conversion for dubbing.

Here is an analysis of the patent citations listed in US8180198, focusing on their potential to anticipate claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102. Please note that a definitive determination of anticipation would require a full claim construction and detailed comparison, which is beyond the scope of this summary. The potential anticipations are based on the titles and available brief descriptions/abstracts.

Cited Prior Art for US8180198:

US20010018858A1 (Dwek Norman Scott)
- Full Citation: US20010018858A1, "Multimedia content delivery system and method"
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2001-09-06, Filing: 2000-03-01
- Brief Description: This patent application describes a system and method for delivering multimedia content, including on-demand delivery, and managing content from various sources. It discusses aspects of content categorization and retrieval.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Claims 1, 6: The broad concept of managing and selecting multimedia content from a recording medium (digital images in 8180198) could potentially overlap. However, US8180198 specifically details automatic retrieval of related content based on a user-selected item and displaying a list of candidates in a specific manner (telop/thumbnail on the same screen), which may distinguish it.
JP2002100161A (Kenwood Corp)
- Full Citation: JP2002100161A, "Audio player"
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-04-05, Filing: 2000-09-22
- Brief Description: This Japanese patent describes an audio player. Without further details on its specific features from the provided text or a detailed external search, its relevance to video playlist or dubbing list creation is unclear beyond the general concept of playing recorded content.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Likely limited. As an "Audio player," it might anticipate very generic elements of "playlist creating" if they are purely audio-focused. However, US8180198 specifically deals with "digital images" (video/programs). If this patent contains features for automatically suggesting related audio tracks or similar content for a playlist, it could potentially anticipate the broad idea of content selection for a playlist, but likely not the detailed video-specific or visual display aspects of US8180198's claims.
US20020105541A1 (Fujitsu Limited)
- Full Citation: US20020105541A1, "Multimedia information arranging apparatus and arranging method"
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-08-08, Filing: 1999-10-27
- Brief Description: This patent application describes an apparatus and method for arranging multimedia information. It may involve selecting and ordering multimedia files, potentially based on metadata. The abstract mentions "generating playlist information" for selected music data.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Claims 1, 6: The core concept of "arranging multimedia information" and "generating playlist information" directly aligns with US8180198's goal. If it involves automatic retrieval of related content based on user selection and displaying it for user interaction, it could potentially anticipate these claims, especially regarding the playlist creation aspect. The display methods (telop, thumbnail) and dubbing aspects of US8180198 would need careful comparison.
US20020127001A1 (Masanori Gunji)
- Full Citation: US20020127001A1, "Recording/reproducing apparatus"
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-09-12, Filing: 2000-11-08
- Brief Description: This patent application describes a recording/reproducing apparatus. Without a detailed abstract, it's difficult to ascertain its specific relevance. However, "recording/reproducing apparatus" is a very broad category.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Potentially broad elements of the apparatus itself (e.g., control module, output module, recording medium). However, without specifics on playlist or dubbing list creation, or the specific user interface interactions described in US8180198, it's less likely to anticipate the method claims (Claims 6, 13) or the detailed interactive display aspects (Claims 1, 5, 12, 16).
US6463426B1 (Massachusetts Institute Of Technology)
- Full Citation: US6463426B1, "Information search and retrieval system"
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-10-08, Filing: 1997-10-27
- Brief Description: This patent describes a system for searching and retrieving information. It focuses on intellectual property, such as patent documents, and uses categorization and keyword matching for retrieval. It's a general information retrieval system.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - The underlying "retrieving other digital images whose related information is the same as the selected digital image" (Claim 1, 6, 13) could be broadly anticipated by a general information search and retrieval system. However, US8180198 applies this specifically to digital images/programs for playlist/dubbing list creation with specific display methodologies (telop, thumbnail, on the same screen), which would likely differentiate it from a general document retrieval system.
US20040028379A1 (Koichi Ozaki)
- Full Citation: US20040028379A1, "Recording/reproducing apparatus"
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-02-12, Filing: 2002-07-25
- Brief Description: This patent application describes a recording/reproducing apparatus. Similar to US20020127001A1, without a detailed abstract or description of its interactive content management features, its direct relevance to the specific playlist/dubbing list creation and display methods of US8180198 is difficult to assess.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Similar to US20020127001A1, it might anticipate broad apparatus elements. Its utility as prior art for the specific inventive steps of US8180198, such as automatically finding related video content for a playlist/dubbing list and displaying it interactively, would depend on specific features not immediately apparent from the title.
JP2004062921A (Orion Denki Kk)
- Full Citation: JP2004062921A, "Recording / playback device"
- Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-02-26, Filing: 2002-07-25
- Brief Description: The background section of US8180198 explicitly mentions this patent (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-62921) as "one means for solving the above problem." It states: "The above reference describes a technique for extracting a program that coincides in conditions such as the same time zone with the program that the user has selected from a plurality of programs recorded in a recording medium." However, US8180198 argues this reference "does not consider how to display a relevant retrieved program from a recording medium or how the user handles the program."
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Claims 1, 6, 13: This reference is explicitly acknowledged in US8180198 as performing the step of "retrieving other digital images whose related information is the same as the selected digital image" based on conditions like "same time zone." This directly addresses a core part of claims 1, 6, and 13. However, US8180198 distinguishes itself by the display and user interaction aspects, particularly "adds information showing the selected digital image to the display module through the output module for display" (Claim 1), "displaying said plurality of image data, said associated information, said listed information identifying the other image data, and said playlist including a plurality of said digital image data added in a same display" (Claim 6), and the equivalent for dubbing (Claim 13), along with the telop/thumbnail display (Claims 4, 5, 12, 14, 16). Therefore, JP2004062921A would strongly anticipate the retrieval step but potentially not the specific display and interactive selection methods as claimed in US8180198.