Appeal 2007-2021
Application 09/790,726
Nevertheless, we find the Examiner’s reliance on Balabanovic
reasonable for the teaching of utilizing SMIL files for synchronized
playback of media content. While Balabanovic relates to walkthrough
narratives, the reference ultimately pertains to recording and playing back
multimedia content in a predetermined manner. In this regard, Balabanovic
notes that an SMIL formatted file enables viewing various diverse media
types, such as audio clips, corresponding electronic documents, etc., in a
predetermined order using a viewer such as the RealPlayer G2 (Balabanovic,
col. 10, ll. 17-25).
We see no reason why such functionality based on the SMIL file
format could not also be utilized in an electronic music distribution system
such as that disclosed by Wiser. As we indicated previously, Wiser enables
the artist to incorporate diverse media into the media data file prior to
uploading (e.g., text and images associated with the audio data (Wiser, col.
6, ll. 47 – col. 8, l. 17; Fig. 2)). Providing an SMIL file format would, at a
minimum, enable artists to present the diverse media related to the audio in a
sequenced format similar to a presentation (e.g., commensurate with a music
video) with a relatively modest file size using readily-available media
players.4 Such value-added synchronization achieved by an SMIL file
4 See Specification ¶ 0019 (“Since only text files and image files are added
to the original music file in an SMIL file, the size is raised to only 1 or 2
megabits over an MP3 file, and a service of contents similar to a music video
can be provided.”); see also Lloyd Rutledge, SMIL - Synchronized
Multimedia Integration Language: Moving to the Beat, iX, Magazin für
professionelle Informationstechnik, Oct. 1999, at 58, available at
http://www.heise.de/ix/artikel/E/1999/10/058/ (last visited Aug. 7, 2007)
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