Obviousness

Obviousness Analysis of US Patent 9510040 under 35 U.S.C. § 103

This analysis will focus on Independent Claim 1, as the method, non-transitory computer-readable medium, and system claims (Claims 1, 11, and 12, respectively) share the same core functional elements. The arguments for obviousness presented for Claim 1 would similarly apply to Claims 11 and 12.

The patent itself identifies the problem it aims to solve: "most Smart TVs have yet to provide seamless and intuitive user interfaces for navigating and/or executing the various features of the Smart TV. As such, there are still issues with the consolidation of features and the presentation of these features in Smart TVs." This statement provides strong motivation for a person having ordinary skill in the art (POSITA) to combine existing technologies to create a more unified and intuitive user experience on intelligent televisions.

Independent Claim 1 Analysis

Claim 1: A method for displaying content on a television, comprising:

• receiving an indication associated with a selection by a user;
• determining, based on the received indication, a global panel to display via the television;
• retrieving from memory, a first content information for display in the global panel; and
• displaying, via the television, the retrieved content information in the specified global panel.

Combination of Prior Art References and Rationale:

A Person Having Ordinary Skill in the Art (POSITA) in the field of interactive television systems and user interface design, motivated by the recognized need for more seamless and intuitive navigation on Smart TVs, would have found it obvious to combine an existing Smart TV system with known user interface and content display techniques.

Primary Reference: A general Smart TV or Interactive Television system (as widely known and implicitly acknowledged in the patent's own definitions of "Smart TV," "Intelligent TV," and "IPTV," and reflected in classifications such as H04N21/00 - Selective content distribution, e.g., interactive television or video on demand [VOD], H04N21/40 - Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g., set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof, and H04N21/47 - End-user applications).

Such a primary reference would teach or inherently include:

• A television with a display, memory, and a microprocessor (as explicitly claimed in Independent Claim 12, a system claim).
• The ability to receive user input or "selection by a user" through various input devices (e.g., remote controls), which is fundamental to any interactive system. This is widely taught in classifications such as H04N21/42204 (User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device) and G06F3/048 (Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]).
• The capability to retrieve and display various types of "content information" from memory or other sources, as is the core function of a Smart TV. This is supported by classifications like H04N21/23109 (Content storage operation, e.g., EPG data repository) and H04N21/432 (Content retrieval operation from a local storage medium).

Secondary References and their Combination with the Primary Reference:

1. "receiving an indication associated with a selection by a user":

   • As noted above, a Smart TV inherently involves user interaction. This element is taught by countless prior art systems for interactive televisions and computing devices. A POSITA would readily implement this using a remote control (as defined in the patent and related to H04N21/42204, H04N21/42206, H04N21/4221 detailing dedicated function buttons and hardware details of remote controls) or gesture-based input (G06F3/017).

2. "determining, based on the received indication, a global panel to display via the television":

   • The concept of displaying information or secondary content in a dedicated region or "panel" on a television screen is well-established. Prior art such as H04N5/45 (Picture in picture, e.g., displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen) and H04N21/4316 (Generation of visual interfaces... for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g., an advertisement in a separate window) clearly teach this.
   • The term "global panel" refers to a unified or consistent user interface element. A POSITA seeking to improve "seamless and intuitive user interfaces" and "consolidation of features" (as stated in the patent's background) would find it an obvious design choice to implement a consistent panel system for various functions. The patent explicitly states that its panel system "allows for a same pattern of navigation—all resulting in a unified experience for a user" and "provides a consistent user experience across all applications." Designing a consistent user interface across applications is a standard goal in UI/UX development.

3. "retrieving from memory, a first content information for display in the global panel":

   • Retrieving content from various sources for display is a fundamental operation of a Smart TV. This is taught by classifications such as H04N21/432 (Content retrieval operation from a local storage medium) and H04N21/4622 (Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g., from a broadcast channel and the Internet). The content could be an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) (e.g., H04N21/23109), social media feeds (H04L51/52), web pages (H04N21/4782), or system status information.

4. "displaying, via the television, the retrieved content information in the specified global panel":

   • This is the culmination of the previous steps. Displaying content in a designated panel on a television screen is directly taught by H04N5/45 (Picture-in-picture) and H04N21/4316 (displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen). Furthermore, for an "unobtrusive design allowing the active video to always be in view" (a key benefit stated in the patent's own "Definitions"), a POSITA would find it obvious to apply known graphical interface techniques such as making the panel "translucent" or "transparent" using principles taught by G06F2203/04804 (Transparency, e.g., transparent or translucent windows).

Motivation for Combination:

The motivation to combine these elements is clearly articulated within the patent itself: to address the shortcomings of existing Smart TVs in providing "seamless and intuitive user interfaces" and better "consolidation of features." A POSITA would be motivated to improve the user experience of a Smart TV by:

• Providing quick and consistent access to diverse functionalities (e.g., web browsing, social media, system information) without interrupting the primary content viewing experience, leveraging known picture-in-picture or overlay display techniques.
• Designing these access points as "panels" that can be summoned by user input, a common GUI paradigm.
• Making these panels visually unobtrusive, for instance by making them translucent, a known technique in graphical user interfaces.
• Ensuring the content displayed in these panels is easily retrievable and potentially contextually relevant (as suggested by the patent's "information may be displayed... contextually dependent on the primary program").

Given the widespread knowledge of interactive television systems, graphical user interfaces with windows/panels, remote control interactions, and the clear problem statement in the patent regarding the need for improved Smart TV UIs, the claimed method, system, and computer-readable medium would have been obvious to a POSITA at the time of the invention.