PATENT
`—022500US
`
`
`
`M,
`pp rcar
`_-- ;. .‘.-=_.:-;.-.‘. :: cewr a rmre I’-'. ,
`9:
`-
`59
`5 Sliio pprcatron o.__,'___,ent -c-.~s=.~—
`DCVlC'
`' -:- ;
`:.;:¢ ’ H-9’ ‘I, 9:.
`'. ‘E 53 — -'33;
`fie
`,
`,
`so w rc
`'
`I/hereinb reference
`
`'
`
`r
`
`-
`
`I
`. if’:
`
`BACKGROUND 012‘ THE 1Nvi:NTIoN
`Today, portable consumer electronic devices are more powerful than ever.
`
`For example, small, portable music playback devices can store hundreds, even thousands, of
`
`compressed songs and can play back the songs at high quality. With the capacity for so many
`songs, a playback device can store many songs from different albums, artists, styles of music,
`etc.
`
`if
`
`1 0
`
`15
`
`Music jukeboxes implemented in software executed by a digital computer and
`portable MP3 and CD players both provide facilities for forming playlists. For example, the
`
`20 OOZIC player, distributed by the assignee of the present application, runs on a host PC and
`
`has a playlist feature that allows selection of tracks from the PC’s hard disk to be included in
`
`the playlist.
`
`As storage capacity increases and songs are compressed to shorter file lengths
`
`the number of songs that can be stored increases rapidly. Major problems facing the
`
`25
`
`consumer are organizing and accessing the tracks.
`
`Typically, ponabledevices have a user interface including a small screen and
`
`buttons. Using such a compactirser interface to navigate and select among hundreds of songs
`is inefficient and often fmstrafing. The display screen can only show a few song titles at one
`time, and the limited controls make it difficult for a user to arbitrarily select, or move among,
`the songs.
`
`30
`
`The creation of playlists is one technique to organize the playing of songs. A
`
`set of songs can be included in a playlist which is given a name and stored. When the playlist
`is accessed, the set of songs can be played utilizing various formats such as sequential play or
`
`shuffle.
`
`. ,
`
`r
`
`E
`
`. ',
`
`2.
`.-:I
`
`‘l
`'3.:2;
`‘.3’
`it5'.
`
`J,
`
`.
`
`CL 000049
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4297
`
`

`
`However, the creation of playlists itself becomes problematic as the number of
`
`songs increases, since the user often arbitrarily selects songs from a large number of tracks to
`
`form a playlist. This selection mechanism: can be fairly tedious; does not necessarily
`
`produce playlists that are of interest to the user over the course of time; may not remain
`
`5
`
`up—to-date if new songs are added that logically fit into a previously created playlist (e.g.
`
`“Favorites by Band X” might become out of date if a new favorite by Band X is added afier
`
`the playlist was created); and leads to “lost” songs that are not members of any playlist.
`
`Accordingly, improved techniques for organizing and grouping tracks useful
`
`in a portable music player are needed.
`
`10
`
` Vladu....-
`
`
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`According to one aspect of the present invention, a technique is provided for
`
`organizing tracks on a portablemusic player by automatically filing tracks in a hierarchical
`
`order based on attributes of the tracks.
`
`_
`
`According to another aspect of the invention, metadata is associated with each
`
`track that is used to automatically define the track’s appropriate place in the hierarchy.
`
`According to another aspect of the invention, the hierarchy is displayed on the
`
`portable music player so that a user can traverse the organizational hierarchy to find
`
`individual tracks or find playlists composed of logical groups of tracks.
`
`According to another aspect of the invention, the hierarchy is derived by using
`
`metadata associated with the audio content that was obtained through any source of metadata
`
`(e. g. CDDB metadata, id3v2 metadata, other obtainable metadata) and subsequently stored
`
`with or alongside the file that stores the track.
`
`25
`
`According to another aspect of the invention, a file is formatted so that an
`unaltered track is stored as file data and information about the track is stored in file attribute
`
`files.
`
`Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent in view of the
`
`following detailed description and appended drawings.
`
`30
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a tree structure for hierarchical filing of
`
`tracks;
`
`’
`
`2
`
`CL 000050
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4298
`
`

`
`..mt,’
`
`3'
`
`i
`
`5
`
`10
`
`
`
`35,
`
`5
`
`Fig. 2 is a definition file that specifies the hierarchy depicted in Fig. 1;
`
`Fig. 3 is a user’s view ofthe hierarchy;
`
`Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a user interface displaying the hierarchical
`category structure;
`
`Fig. 5 is a diagram ofa file format for storing filed data and file attributes;
`
`Fig. 6 is a flow chart depicting steps for filing tracks according to the
`
`hierarchical tree structure;
`
`Fig. 7 depicts a tree resulting from searching the tracks; and
`
`Fig. 8 depicts a format for a user interface.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in the context
`
`of a portable personal player that plays audio files stored in memory. The files may be in
`
`MP3, wav. or other digital formats.
`
`'
`
`In the presently described embodiment, users are able to see the tracks on their
`
`player in some organized fashion other than as a single list of tracks. As will be described in
`
`more detail below, in one embodiment tracks are sorted utilizing a tree structure having
`
`branches labeled according to types of metadata associated with the tracks
`
`For example, a track recorded as “Golden Slumbers” by the Beatles that
`
`appears on their album “Hey Jude” might appear as a track under the album “Abbey Road” as
`well as a track under the list of tracks by the Beatles. It might appear as a track under the
`
`genre “Pop Rock” as well as “Songs from the 60’s." Furthermore, the organization can have
`
`_.
`
`more complex hierarchies. For example, the category of “Pop Rock” might contain
`
`25
`
`subcategories “British Musicians," “American Musicians" and “Other Musicians”. Inall
`
`cases, the track is automatically filed into all appropriate locations without requiring user
`
`interaction.
`
`In the currently defined embodiment, a tree structure is defined by a file
`
`having the following structure.
`
`30
`
`The first line of a TreeDef.inf file contains a version number:
`
`V1.0
`
`Each subsequent line (at least in v1.0) contains lines of the following format:
`
`CATEGORY_NAME|TRACK_TYPE_MASK|CATEGORY_STRUCTURE
`
`3
`
`I
`
`CL 000051
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4299
`
`

`
`CATEGORY_NAMEs are the top-level names of the branch under which
`
`tracks are sorted. They include things like “Album," “Artist,” “Voice Tracks," “All Tracks,”
`etc.
`
`TRACK_TYPE__MASKs tell which types of tracks are to be filed under this
`
`particular branch. The actual value is a hexadecimal numerical value (in ‘Ox’ format, e.g.
`
`0x01) generated by ORing the following flags together as appropriate:
`
`enum tTrackType
`
`{
`
`kTTNothing=Ox0O,
`
`kT'I‘Song=OxO 1 ,
`
`kTTVoice=0xO2,
`
`kTTBook=0xO4,
`
`kTTMacro=0x08,-
`
`kTTPlaylist=0x 1 0
`
`So, for example, the “Album” branch has a TRACK_TYPE_MASK of
`
`kTTSong, because only songs are filed under that branch, but the “All Tracks” branch has a
`TRACK_TYPE_MASK of (k'I'I‘Song | kTTVoice | kTTBook).
`
`Other elements might be added to tTrackType (e.g. kTTVideo) as appropriate.
`
`CATEGORY__STRUCTUREs tell how to file the songs based on their
`
`metadata information. The CATEGORY_STRUCTURE is a string of characters that tell,
`
`from left to right, the order of hierarchy. The characters come from the following enum
`constants:
`
`
`enum tFileTag
`
`{
`
`kFTNone='@',
`
`kFTTrackType='T‘,
`kFTTitle='N‘,
`
`kFTAudioFile=‘F',
`
`kFTArtist=‘M‘,
`
`kFTAlbum='L',
`
`30
`
`05.72»o,».»Q
`
`4
`
`‘
`
`CL 000052
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4300
`
`

`
`kFTGenre='G',
`
`kFTSource='S',
`
`kFTYear=’ Y’ ,
`
`kFTAnistCountry=’C’
`
`5
`
`};
`
`
`Thus, a CATEGORY_STRUCTURE of LN tells to create a subcategory that
`
`is a list of Albums, each of which contains a list of Tracks.
`
`In total, a line like:
`
`10
`
`Album|0x0l|LN
`
`Says to create a branch called “Album” which contains tracks of type
`
`kTTSong organized first by album name, and then by track name. '
`
`The following is an example of a tree definition file similar (though not
`
`identical) to the hierarchy presented in the Nomad Jukebox product (the ‘B’ before each
`
`FileTag was used to identify that these are basic tags so that we wouldn’t run out of letters in
`
`the alphabet as we included more complex metadata V thus each group of two letters
`
`_ represents a level in the hierarchy):
`_m§___‘§
`
`V1.0
`
`Alb um|OxOl [BLBN
`
`Ar1ist|0x01|BMBN
`
`Genre|0x01|BGBN
`
`Voice Tracks|0x02|BSBGBN
`
`Playlists|0x10|BN
`Macros|0x08|BN
`All Tracks|0x07|BN
`
`Fig. 1 depicts a hypothetical organization hierarchy. The tree shows how
`tracks might be listed (as leaves in the tree) after having been organized. Example values for
`nodes in the tree are shown as well. The same track may appear more than once as a leaf in
`the tree, as described above, if it fits into multiple categories (e. g. a song that appears on the
`Abbey Road branch would also appear in the Beatles branch).
`In the example shown, the
`
`first branch contains tracks organized by album. As shown in the example, this music
`
`collection contains three tracks from “Abbey Road” and three tracks from “Hits from the
`
`‘
`
`5
`
`CL 000053
`
`
`
`“ti”M.r-
`
`
`Ii"’ltu'II‘.ZIIi"'iI _,.
`
`20
`
`25
`
`T
`
`30
`
`i
`#35:
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4301
`
`

`
`60’s”. The second branch contains tracks organized by artist, and sub organized by where the
`
`artist is from. Thus, a user browsing would first select the “Artists” branch and then choose
`
`between “British Artists" and “American Artists". Finally, they would select the particular
`
`artist. In the third branch, all tracks are shown.
`
`5
`
`The tree definition file that would specify the hierarchy shown in Figure l is
`
`_
`shown in Figure 2.
`The first line identifies the version of the tree definition file.
`
`The second line defines the “Albums” branch. The first part of the line,
`
`“Albums” defines the name of the branch. The second part, “0x01,” defines that all musical
`
`‘ 10
`
`tracks should be categorized on this branch. The third part, “BLBN,” defines that the branch
`
`lists first the names of all albums (BL) and then tracks on those albums (BN).
`
`'
`
`The third line defines the “Artists” branch. The first part of the line “Aitists"
`
`defines the name of the branch. The second part, “Ox0l ," defines that all musical tracks
`
`should be categorized on this branch. The third part, “BCBMBN,” defines that the branch
`
`lists first the names of all countries where artists in this collection come fiom (BC) and under
`
`those items, the artists’ names (BM), and then tracks by those artists (BN).
`
` user interface, one example of which is depicted in Fig. 4. An example of a user interface for
`
`Fig. 3 shows what a user’s View of this hierarchy might be ifhe/she were
`
`shown a fully expanded view of the 6-song tree. Notice that each song appears three times,
`once in each branch.
`'
`
`In consumer products the tree define file is not edited directly but through a
`
`viewing songs by category and editing the tree structure is depicted in Fig. 4.
`An embodiment of the invention is utilized in the Nomad® Jukebox,
`
`manufactured by the assignee of the present invention, and described more fully in the
`
`25
`
`copending application, filed on the same date as the present application, entitled “System for
`
`Selecting and Playing Songs in a Playback Device with a Limited User Interface,’’ (Attny.
`
`Docket No. 17002-020800).
`
`In a preferred embodiment, metadata is associated with each track and
`
`In the preferred embodiment,
`includes such information as title, genre, artist name, type, etc.
`software stored in a portable player and executed by the onboard processor automatically
`
`30
`
`files each track in the correct category utilizing the associated metadata and the tree define
`
`file. The program code can be stored in any computer readable medium including magnetic
`
`5t°F38€, CD ROM, optical media, or digital data encoded on an electromagnetic signal.
`
`5
`
`CL 000054
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4302
`
`

`
`Thus, the user is automatically provided with a powerful and flexible tool for
`
`organizing and categorizing the tracks stored on the portable player.
`If the tracks are formatted in MP3 format the metadata can be stored in ID3
`
`tags included in the MP3 file.
`
`In one embodiment of the invention, the tracks are stored in
`
`5
`
`alternate file format including file data and file attributes. The file data is the music track
`
`itself and the file attributes part of the file includes fields of arbitrary size which are used to
`
`store metadata characterizing the track stored as the file data. Again this metadata includes
`
`information about the track such as title, genre, artist name, type, etc.
`
`There are several advantages to using the altemate file format. Metadata of
`
`10
`
`types not easily included in an ID3 tag can be utilized. Further, the original track fonnat is
`
`not changed, so that error correction data such as checksums are valid. Finally, any file
`
`fonnat can be used (e.g. WAV, WMA, etc.) because the metadata is stored separately, and
`
`thus audio formats that have limited support for metadata can still be stored on the portable
`
`player in native format without transcoding. The formatted files are formed by soflware
`stored in the portable music player and executed by an on-board processor.
`
`4:;
`
`15
`
`The metadata for each track is utilized to file each track, using the categories
`defined in the hierarchical structure as described above, without any input from the user.
`
`
`
`Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the alternative file format including file data ‘
`
`in the form of an MP3 track, and metadata fields for holding data indicating the name of the
`
`album the track is from, the name of the song, the genre of the song, and the type of track.
`
`A particular embodiment of a file format will now be described. All tracks are
`created with some set of attributes as shown below:
`
`.__,_,_,._
`Definition of Tracldnfo Data Field
`
`Description
`0
`The number of attribute follow for the track
`
`
`p
`2
`Binag = 0, ASCII = l
`Attr l name len H
` Len - th of attribute name strin -
`E Lenth ofattribute data
`
`Attrl data len
`
`
`
`Attribute Count
`
`
`
`Attrl Name
`
`Attr 1 Data
`
`0
`
`1
`
`lO+N
`
`N
`
`M
`
`Attribute name strin
`
`Attribute data
`
`7
`
`-
`
`CL 000055
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4303
`
`

`
`Alt!‘ N te
`
`Re uired Attributes
`
`.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`“MP3”, “WMA", “WAV”
`
`'ReuiredB Jukebox
`
`
`
`ARTIST
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`TRACK SIZE
`
`In b es
`
`0 tional
`
`TRACK NUM
`fgx
`
`1-n track within album
`
`Otional
`
`These attributes can be subsequently changeable via a host application,
`
`5
`
`running on a personal computer connected to the portable music player.
`
`Fig. 6 shows a flow chart ofan embodiment the process used to build the
`
`hierarchical database of tracks.
`
`It starts by iterating through each track, and, for each track,
`
`iterating through each branch to find if the track belongs on the branch, and, if so, where.
`
`In
`
`this case, the term track could refer to any content, e.g. a music track, a spoken word track, or
`
`10
`
`even a video track.
`
`-
`
`8
`
`‘
`
`CL ooooss
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4304
`
`Itional
`ASCIIstring
`
`
`
`
`Ascnsmn J
`
`ASCII strin
`I tional
`
`
`
`

`
`Also, the hierarchical catalog oftracks can be used to form playlists in a
`
`structured manner. For example, ifa user wants to hear Jazz and Blues the entire sub-
`
`categories can be selected to form one playlist.
`
`An alternative hierarchical catalog generation technique will now be
`
`5
`
`described.
`
`In this alternative embodiment, at system startup and as tracks are added or
`
`changed, the hierarchy is generated as an in—mem0ry tree structure. Each track is added to
`the tree using the categories ALBUM, ARTIST and GENRE.
`
`The following example shows the algorithm for adding a track. For clarity,
`
`
`only the attributes used by the tree are shown.
`
`
`
`
`
`“Full Moon Fever”
`
`The following function is executed to build the in-memory memory tree.
`
`l0
`
`
`
`
`.
`
` __.—
`
`iBui1d Tree 0
`For each track,
`
`15
`
`Add Track To Category(Album, Track)
`
`Add Track To Category(Artist, Track)
`
`Add Track To Category(Genre,Track)
`End of Build Tree
`
`
`20
`
`.Fig. 7 depicts a tree which could result from implementing Build Tree()
`
`function. Note that “Stardust” does not have any entries for Album or Artist. The host
`
`software running on a computer connected to the portable music player could be utilized to
`
`add missing attributes to the “Stardust” track and, optionally, edit the title attribute. The
`
`25
`
`Build Tree() function would then reinsert this track in the correct location in the tree.
`
`Fig. 8 is an embodiment of a user interface according to another embodiment
`
`of the invention. In this example the root node is labeled “My Configuration” and the
`
`Playlist category has been selected and the Playlist subcategory “Meddle" has been selected.
`
`‘"''*1‘-3-C-4-Q
`
`;_.
`
`3""
`
`
`
`-
`
`9
`
`CL 000057
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4305
`
`

`
`Note that the types of Metadata, in this example, Track Name, Artist, Album, Tempo and
`Dance, are listed across the top of the screen, and the attribute values for each track are listed
`
`in a row across the screen. Various control buttons are displayed to the right of configuration
`
`window that facilitate quickly invoking selected processing on a selected track.
`
`The invention has now been described with reference to the preferred
`
`embodiments. Alternatives and substitutions will now be apparent to persons of skill in the
`art.
`
`'
`
`
`
`
`~;:l:~".‘~.'»':~4«.;‘.-:'..--t*-~
`
`
`"”%4~«v.~.:~:w.=-.u-:«'-":1-:‘1*
`
`CL 000058
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4306
`
`

`
`WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
`
`W 1.
`
`A method, performed by a processor in a portable digital music player,
`
`audio tracks stored on a computer readable media, with each audio track having
`
`
`
`10
`
`\O0O\lO\LI\.hb-lI~J
`
`
`2
`
`3
`
`1
`2
`3
`4
`5
`6
`7.
`
`3"
`
`
`
`'‘f!.‘.¢*.:'':»
`
`metadata
`
`sociated therewith including category value data for naming attributes of the track
`
`and type da a indicating the type of track, said method comprising the acts of:
`
`reading a definition file that defines an ordered hierarchical tree structure, with
`
`
`
`the file includi
`
`category names for naming the branch under which tracks are sorted, track
`
`type information
`
`
`structure informatio defining how to file tracks based on associated metadata;
`
`ecifying which type of tracks are to be sorted under the branch, and
`
`for eac
`
`track, iteratively determining, base on metadata describing the track,
`
`if the.track belongs in t e branch, and, for each branch in which the track belongs, traversing
`
`the branch to determine t
`
`appropriate location to file the track.
`
`
`
`2.
`
`The met 0d of claim 1, where said act of searching further comprises
`
`the acts of:
`
`utilizing track type information to file only tracks of a specified type under a
`
`particular branch.
`
`3.
`
`The method of clai
`
`1 further comprising the acts of:
`
`for each branch, utilizing cate ory structure information to file tracks in a
`
`specified attribute order.
`
`I 4.
`The method of claim 1, where
`id portable digital music player
`includes a display screen and a user interface for interaiting with the display, further
`comprising the acts of:
`displaying the categories and subcategories
`
`the display in a hierarchical
`
`order;
`
`
`
`displaying all names of tracks associated with a ategory or sub-category
`
`when a user utilizes the interface to select a category or sub-cate
`
`ry;
`
`
`
`'
`
`11
`
`.
`
`CL 000059
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4307
`
`

`
`utilizing the pointer to access and play a track when a user selects a track
`
`name through the user interface. and
`
`ilizing the pointer to access and play a collection of tracks within a category
`
`or subcategory w n a user selects a category or subcategory through the user interface.
`
`.
`
`A method, implemented by a processor in a portable digital music
`
`player, for assoct ting metadata with audio tracks comprising the acts of:
`opehing a formatted file for each track comprising a file data portion and a file
`
`attributes portion, wit
`
`to category types and
`
`e file attributes portion including a plurality of fieldscorresponding
`ypes;
`.
`
`storing an
`
`odified audio track in the file data portion of the formatted file;
`
`
`
`
`storing category t
`e and file type information about the unmodified track in
`
`
`and
`
`corresponding fields.
`
`A method, performed by a processor in a portable digital music player,
`
`
`
`category name dat
`
`for naming, said method comprising the acts of:
`
`upon s
`
`up or when a track is added or changed, searching the metadata of
`
`each track; and
`
`
`
`
`for each tra
`
`, automatically filing the track by category name under each
`
`selected category to form a hi archical track filing scheme.
`
`
`
`7.
`
`The method 0
`
`laim 6 further comprising the act of:
`
`selecting the categories t be the Album including the track, the title of the
`
`track, and the name of the artist that recor
`
`d the track.
`
`l2
`
`CL 000060
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4308
`
`3
`
`9
`
`10
`
`11
`
`_.
`
`2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`
`
`ll
`
`2
`
`3
`
`

`
`._t
`
`
`
`8.
`
`The method of claim 6, where said portable digital music player
`
`incl des a display Screen and a user interface for interacting with the display, further
`
`comp ‘sing the acts of:
`
`displaying the categories on the display in a hierarchical order;
`
`displaying all names of tracks associated with a category when a user utilizes
`
`
`
`the interface 0 select a category ;
`
`
`ccessing and playing a track when a user selects a track name through the
`user interface. aiid
`
`ace ssing and playing a collection of tracks within a category when a user
`
`selects a category t ough the user interface.
`
`9.
`
`A mputer program product comprising:
`
`_
`a computer eadable medium having program code embodied therein for filing
`audio tracks stored on a comimter readable media, with each audio track having metadata
`associated therewith includingxzategory value data for naming attributes of the track and type
`data indicating the type of track, aid program code comprising:
`
`program code, exec ted by a processor, for reading a definition file that
`
`defines an ordered hierarchical tree
`ructure, with the file including category names for
`naming the branch under which tracks
`e sorted, track type information specifying which
`
`
`type of tracks are to be sorted under the ranch, and structure information defining how to
`
`file tracks based on associated metadata;
`
`
`program code, executed by a
`
`rocessor, for each track, for iteratively
`
`determining, base on metadata describing the rack, if the track belongs in the branch, and,
`for each branch in which the track belongs, traxersing the branch to determine the appropriate
`location to file the track.
`
`
`
`10.
`
`A computer program product co prising:
`
`a computer readable medium for having
`
`ogram code embodied therein for
`
`filing audio tracks, stored on a computer.readable media, nder categories in an in—memory
`tree structure, with each audio track having metadata associ\ated therewith including category
`name data for naming, said program code comprising:
`
`13
`
`CL 000061
`
`5\OOO\lO\UI-J:-U3l\J
`5\DOO\lO\LJI-J>-bJl\.)>—-
`
`,_.
`
`>—a
`
`K3
`
`—- DJ
`
`3.
`
`UI-J=-l.«JI\.)>—-
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4309
`
`

`
`
`
`program code, executed by a processor, upon startup or when a track is added
`
`or changed, fo
`
`earching the meladata of each track; and
`pr
`am code, executed by a processor, for each track, for automatically filing
`
`the track by catego
`name under each selected category to form a hierarchical track filing
`scheme.
`
`6
`
`7
`3
`9
`10
`
`
`
`.-xi;_....»_-‘.;¢*,a
`
` ,J
`
`.:__
`
`ti.1-
`-3.
`
`14
`
`CL 000062 _
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4310
`
`

`
`.tomey’ Docket No.: 17002—022500US
`Client Reference No.: C11] 139
`
`DECLARATION AND POWER OF ATTORNEY
`
`As a below named inventor, I declare that:
`
`My residence, post office address and citizenship are as stated below next to my name; I believe I am the original, first and sole
`jnventor (if only one name is listed below) or an original, first and joint inventor (if plural inventors are named below) of the subject
`mane: which is claimed and for which a patent
`is sought on the invention entitled: AUTOMATIC I-IIERARCHICAL
`CATEGORIZATION OF MUSIC BY METADATA the specification of which __ is attached hereto or
`was filed on
`’’__J_____ as Application No.
`and was amended on
`(if applicable).
`
`including the claims, as amended by any
`1 have reviewed and understand the contents of the above identified specification,
`amendment referred to above.
`I acknowledge the duty to disclose information which is material to patentability as defined in Title 37,
`Code of Federal Regulations, Section 1.56.
`I claim foreign priority benefits under Title 35, United States Code, Section 119 of any
`foreign application(s) for patent or inventor’s certificate listed below and have also identified below any foreign application for patent
`or inventor's certificate having a filing date before that of the application on which priority is claimed.
`
`j
`
`1 claim the benefit under Title 35, United States Code, Section 120 of any United States application(s) listed below and, insofar as the
`subject matter of each of the claims of this application is not disclosed in the prior United States application in the manner provided by
`the first paragraph of Title 35, United States Code, Section 112, I acknowledge the duty to disclose material information as defined in
`"Title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 1.56 which occurred between the filing date of the prior application and the national or
`PCT international filing date of this application:
`
`
`
`
`
`s,2oon
`mu
`mm s.2ooi
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`I hereby appoint the following attorney(s) and/or agent(s) to prosecute this
`‘EPOWER OF ATTORNEY: As a named inventor,
`application and transact all business in the Patent and Trademark Office connected therewith.
`'
`
`.;<’l
`
`Charles E. Krueger, Reg. No. 30,077
`Paul C. Haughey, Reg. No. 31,836
`Charles J. Kulas, Reg. No. 35,809
`Daniel D. Tagliaferri, Reg. No. 43,178
`
`
`
`Direct Telephone Calls to:
`(Name, Reg. No., Telephone No.)
`Name:
`Charles E. Krueger
`Reg. No.:
`30,077
`TelePh°n¢3
`4 I 5'575'°-7-0°
`
`
`
`Send Correspondence to:
`
`Charles E. Krueger
`TOWNSEND and TOWNSEND and CREW LLP
`Two Embarcadero Center, 8"’ Floor
`San Francisco, California 941113834
`
`
`
`
`
`RON
`State/Foreign Country:
`
`
`
`Country of Citizenship:
`
`City:
`
`StatelCountry:
`
`
`
`Postal Code:
`mo
`
`-
`
`CL 000063
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4311
`
`
`
`Inventor l:
`Residence &
`c...z....ri.
`Post Office
`Address:
`
`
`
`
`GOODMAN
`CW1
`
`Post Office Address:
`zzwem
`
`
`
`

`
`|7822.02250o
`Attomey Docket No.
`Client Reference No.: CT-l I39
`
`L-'15|Narne:
`
`.
`
`CH7?
`
`PM‘ Om“ Addrcs“
`219 Elinor street
`
`First Name:
`
`Middle Name or Initial:
`
`
`
`State/Foreign Country:
`
`Country of Citizenship;
`
`_
`
`CW3
`Capitoln
`
`Slat:/Country:
`California
`
`
`Postal Code:
`95010
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Residence &
`
`Full Name of
`
`
`
`
`
`
`P05‘ Office
`Address:
`
`
`:3
`3},
`
`I funher declare that all statements made herein of my own knowledge are true and that all statements made on information and belief
`mg believed to be mic; and further that these statements were made with the knowledge that willful false statements and the like so
`made are punishable 1_=y fine 9r imprisonment, or both, under Section 100) or Title 13 of the United States Code, and that such willful
`false statements may _]C0paId1Ze the validity of the application or any patent issuing thereon
`
`
`
`signature of Inventor 1
`
`
`Signature of Inventor 2
`
`
`
`
`
`
`RON GOODMAN
`
`HOWARD N. EGAN
`
`Date
`
`SF 1175410 V1
`
`
`1'}. ,
`~-,
`I?
`«:2‘ S41
`r.
`
`Ii
`
`2of2
`
`CL 000064
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4312
`
`

`
`PR1.\TOFDRAw|Nr.~'
`LL<&<2.I.NA1.LY:
`
`n_
`
`"
`
`1/6
`
`.
`
`Root
`
`.
`
`C3t990"Y
`C 1
`
`Category
`O 2
`
`_
`
`Category
`O 3
`
`Category
`Value
`1
`
`Category
`Value
`2
`
`0 O I O O O Gtracks
`
`'
`
`0 O 0
`3 tracks
`
`O O 0
`3 tracks
`
`Subcategory
`. Vame 1
`
`Subcategory
`. Vame 2
`
`
`
`Category
`Category
`Category
`Category
`. Value . Value . Value . Value
`1
`2
`3
`4
`
`O O
`2 tracks
`
`O O
`2 tracks
`
`I
`1 track
`
`O
`1 track
`
`3-;
`47
`
`+
`
`"
`
`-
`
`For example:
`-
`Category 1 = Album Name
`Category Value 1 = Abbey Roa
`Category Value 2 = Hits from the 60's
`
`Category 2 = Artist Name
`Subcategory Value 1 = British Artists
`Subcategory Value 2 = American Artists
`Category Value 1 = The Beatles
`Category Value 2 = Petula Clark
`Category Value 3 = Mamas and the Papas
`Category Value 4 = Nick Drake
`
`Category 3 = All tracks
`
`FIG. 1.
`
`CL 000065-
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4313
`
`

`
`PRLNT OF DRAW u'iC.\'
`AS 0RIC__l_NALLY F
`
`)
`
`+
`
`'
`
`2/6
`
`V1.0
`Albums|0x01|BLBN
`Artists|0xO1]BCBMBN
`All 'Tracks|0x01 |BN
`
`FIG. 2.
`
`,
`
`-
`
`.
`
`Album Name
`
`Abbey Road
`Golden Slumbers
`Something
`Sun King
`Hits of the 60's
`Cheatin Heart
`
`Monday, Monday
`Fruit Tree
`
`Artist Name ‘
`British Artists
`Beatles
`Golden Slumbers
`
`Something
`Sun King
`Petula Clark
`Cheatin Heart
`
`Mamas and the Papas
`. Monday, Monday
`Nick Drake
`Fruit Tree
`
`.
`All tracks
`Golden Slumbers
`Something
`Sun King
`Cheatin Heart
`
`Monday, Monday
`Fruit Tree
`
`FIG. 3.
`
`-
`
`CL 000066
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4314
`
`
`
`.____:
`:1}
`
`“
`
`g
`
`

`
`PRJ..\T OF DRAWINGS
`AS ORJQENALLY I
`
`P
`
`3/6
`
`B
`
`- -: * Content
`
`F---
`[U-—r
`
`I r
`
`:33
`
`
`
`
`"ii?:i‘.“'1I:E'.-'.".'-i:E'*.'"'.'i'r'Ffii"'£5.-
`
`—- — — — -By Genre
`
`‘-----ByName
`I
`
`"I-—---ByA|bum
`
`FIG. 4.
`
`FIG. 5.
`
`+
`
`CL 000067
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4315
`
`---- -By Name
`
`— — - — -By Source
`
`I l
`
`I l
`
`‘*"":-é-"
`
`7*-J.‘-”\;.«-4.:9.-1-r::.~::2;:;7£§.;=_.&zv.;;a;gL.:.5..-_i-.:::;‘‘.,-..
`
`~
`
`lei
`;-2:
`0 33
`-::Z
`
`1?!-If
`7:3
`.3;.—'...,
`
`
`“.5.w':L::-''~ I
`
`

`
`4/5
`
`+
`
`PRLVT or osumnrsr-<
`5 osz1c:_1_I«_Ax.Lvx
`
`D
`
`_
`
`FOR EACH
`TRACK
`
`FOR EACH
`BRANCH
`
`
`
`NEXT
`BRANCH
`
`IS THIS
`
`THE RIGHT KIND OF
`
`RACK FOR THIS BRANCH (E.G.,
`
`MUSIC. VOICE,
`
`VIDEO?)
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`MORE
`= RANCHES7
`
`
` TRAVERSE BRANCH AND
`
`
`FIND THE APPROPRIATE
`LOCATION FOR THIS
`TRACK
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`.5.1':-'54‘.§i,-tilErinL’:
`
`,4:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`-y.;-''x'_-'=1‘--"~:v:;,..-.~‘-A»,_-;._-_v:--:«,1.-.~-..-3.A-7.,’
`
`
`
`
`
`»_A'L».v1"
`
`
`
`
`
`. "
`
`ET.""Li
`
`FIG. 6.
`
`-.-..
`
`
`
`CL 000068-
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4316
`
`

`
`run or nsuwuics‘
`
`45__0l’.C..9flu'Y'
`
`.9
`
`5/6
`
`.
`
`_
`
`II |
`
`| Emmom.
`
`
`
`m_Eo_mBo.m_Eo_mBo-
`
`K.0E
`
`CL 000069
`
`SONY Exhi
`
`it 1004 - Page 4317
`
`9CI-
`
`o m c
`
`u0-5
`OI
`
`N_C._O_m90I
`
`
`
`_m>m..coo»3
`
`.:m$09.
`
`IIII.:m89IIm0III
`
`
`
`
`
`| |m_Eo_m.20..m_Eo_mEo-
`
`7....u.«v..n.r:»u:.......
`
`4l>:.s...\...slLI...u..llJ.l,l.._\.§dn......J.I..:
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`. Paper or DRAwu\'r.<
`—..-.—.
`_'—_w-—.&
`AS omqI_7wu_Lv v
`
`P
`
`Qigg
`
`
`
`co=Sm:m_Eoo32->m_am_mmO
`
`QE
`..:_&m_%m_>.E E
`
`Eon.
`
`Emonazoo_.Boo
`
`
`
`Em8a__oo._.50
`
`
`
`u__moan__uE9:Emma
`
`%
`
`_I
`
`>>O_w
`
`Es.
`
`22.0,
`
`mm“.
`
`>>O_W
`
`gem
`
`
`
`mmmctomcoBar.in....>>.0;o___n_<ESEv_:_n_m>mu
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ESEx:_n_mmm_.m.mu_
`
`
`
`
`
`u>o_n_x:_n_Nmaorrcmw
`
`Bo:En.mmm
`
`E0:E5mmonom
`
`
`
`96.:v.:_n=__m>>9:l
`
`
`
`2m__>m_n___<H
`
`_
`
`CL 000070
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4318
`
`
`

`
`
`
`Page I ol‘2
`
`‘
`
`COMMISSIONER FOR Pnzrrrs
`Um-n:o sures PATENT AND Truoznmx OFFICE
`vusmucmu. :t.:. 2022!
`www.mUo.gm
`
`4,.".=.\
`9‘ i \
`.‘ i UNITED STATES PATENT AND Thmmmx Omar:
`(i
`5
`V
`'
`.x-I
`\
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` »\"‘T*-W-It’ '>~ ‘~ ‘W -*~' W-'<
`
`09/755,723
`
`OI/05/2001
`
`Ron Goodman
`
`l7002~l)225ll(l
`
`¥0O3\?V?\|SEND AND TOWNSEND AND CREW
`3ggTW§§QDERo CENTER
`SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111-3834
`
`CONFIRMATION NO. 3728
`
`FORMAUHES LETTER
`l_l(l)l[lci|<l|(ll0l(ll”ml,lll;l£ll3ll1lll5lllllllllllllllllllllllmllflllllll
`
`Date Mailed: 02/21/2001
`
`NOTICE TO FILE MISSING PARTS OF NONPROVISIONAL APPLICATION
`
`FILED UNOER 37 CFR 1.53(b)
`
`Filing Date Granted
`
`l
`
`An application number and filing date have been accorded to this application. The item(s) indicated below,
`however, are missing. Applicant is given TWO MONTHS from the date of this Notice within which to file all
`required items and pay any fees required below to avoid abandonment. Extensions of time may be obtained
`by filing a petition accompanied by the extension fee under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a).
`
`o The oath or declaration is unsigned.
`o To avoid abandonment, a late filing fee or oath or declaration surcharge as set forth in 37 CFR 1.16(e)
`of $130 for a non—smalI entity, must be submitted with the missing items identified in this letter.
`
`o The balance due by applicant is $130.
`
`The application is infonnal since it does not comply with the regulations forthe reason(s) indicated below.
`Applicant is given TWO MONTHS from the date of this Notice within which to correct the informalities
`indicated below.
`
`The required itemts) identified below must be timely submitted to avoid abandonment:
`
`a substitute drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.84 because:
`
`- drawing sheets do not have the appropriate margin(s) (see 37 CFR 1.84(g)), Each
`sheet must include atop margin of at least 2.5 cm. (1 inch), a left side margin of at
`least 2.5 cm. (1 inch), a right side margin of at least 1.5 cm.
`( 5/8 inch), and a
`bottom margin of at least 1.0 cm. (3/8 inch);
`
`
`
`A copy ofthis notice MUST be returned with the reply.
`
`CL 000071
`
`SONY Exhibit 1004 - Page 4319
`
`

`
`Page 2 of2
`
`'35}; lag
`Customer Service Center
`