DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Claims 1, 3-5, 7-11, 13-15, and 17-24 are pending and are considered below. Claims 2, 6, 12, and 16 are cancelled by Applicant.
On pages 7- 8 of Remarks filed 12/16/2025, Applicant refers to the telephonic interview held on 12/16/2025. Examiners agreed in the interview that the proposed amendments overcame the existing 35 U.S.C. § 102 rejections of claims 1 and 8 over Pierce but cautioned Applicant that further search or consideration would be required, specifically noting that the proposed amendments would require further consideration over Kolen.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to for the following informality: In lines 2-3, "generating the gaming music includes generating the gaming music" should read, "generating the gaming music." Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 15 is objected to for the following informality: In lines 1-2, "generating the gaming music includes generating the gaming music" should read, "generating the gaming music." Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4-5, 7-11, 14-15, and 17-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 as anticipated by Kolen et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 20200306641 A1, October 1, 2020), hereinafter Kolen.
Regarding claim 1, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method (Kolen ¶0018: "a system comprising one or more computers") comprising: receiving, by a first device (Kolen fig. 1, ref. no. 100) from a second device (Kolen fig. 1, ref. no. 110), a request for gaming music (Kolen ¶0046, referring to fig. 1: "the game system 110 may provide game information 114 to the music personalization and generation system 100."), wherein the request indicates a game state of a game (Kolen ¶0046: "it may be appreciated that an electronic game may adjust music being presented to a user based on a current game state. For example, if the user encounters a particular boss then the electronic game may output certain boss, or battle, music. The electronic game may thus utilize the game state as a trigger to access certain music for output to the user."); generating, by the first device, gaming music in response to the request (Kolen ¶0048: "The music personalization and generation system 100 may thus utilize the game information 114 to select one or more musical cues. These musical cues may be created, for example by a composer, for utilization in certain game contexts. Thus, there may be one or more musical cues associated with battling enemies, certain enemies, and so on."), wherein the gaming music is generated dynamically (Kolen ¶0047: "the music personalization and generation system 100 may utilize received game information 114 to generate personalized music 102 appropriate for the current game state.") to include at least one musical motif selected based at least in part on the game state (Kolen ¶0048: "An example musical cue may include a motif, theme, snippet of audio, and so on, which the composer indicates is to be utilized for one or more game contexts."); and outputting, by the first device, the gaming music (Kolen ¶0083: "As described in FIGS. 1-2, the system may generate personalized music based on one or more obtained musical cues and the style preference… The system may then provide (e.g., as a stream, or as a download) the personalized music to the user's user device.").
Regarding claim 4, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method comprising the features of claim 1.
Kolen further discloses that the game state corresponds to a current gaming situation within an electronic game (Kolen ¶0046: "it may be appreciated that an electronic game may adjust music being presented to a user based on a current game state. For example, if the user encounters a particular boss then the electronic game may output certain boss, or battle, music. The electronic game may thus utilize the game state as a trigger to access certain music for output to the user."), and the request indicates a type of music (Battle music comprises a type of music.).
Regarding claim 5, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method comprising the features of claim 1.
Kolen further discloses that generating the gaming music is based at least in part on at least one of a music genre, music style, song title, identification of a musical artist (Kolen ¶0053: "Information included in the playlist 124 may be provided to the music personalization and generation system 100. Example information may include an indication of the songs included in the playlist 124 (e.g., song title, artist name, and so on). Example information may further include an indication of metadata associated with the songs… and the music personalization and generation system 100 may utilize genre or style information associated with the artist."), composer (Kolen ¶0012: "These musical cues may be created by a game composer"), and user feedback (Kolen ¶0053: "The user may have subscribed to this artist's playlist, and the music personalization and generation system 100 may utilize genre or style information associated with the artist.").
Regarding claim 7, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method comprising the features of claim 1.
Kolen further discloses that generating gaming music includes selecting the at least one musical motif from a music library (Kolen ¶0017: "Accessing a musical cue comprises: receiving, from a user device executing the electronic game, a unique identifier associated with a musical cue; and accessing one or more databases, and obtaining the musical cue based on the unique identifier.") based at least in part on a user preference (Kolen ¶0012: "the generated music may be based on specific musical cues, but adjusted for each user based on the user's empirically determined genre preferences.") and game elements of the game state (Kolen ¶0046: "it may be appreciated that an electronic game may adjust music being presented to a user based on a current game state. For example, if the user encounters a particular boss then the electronic game may output certain boss, or battle, music. The electronic game may thus utilize the game state as a trigger to access certain music for output to the user.").
Regarding claim 8, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method comprising the features of claim 9.
Kolen further discloses that outputting the gaming music includes outputting the gaming music to the second device to be played in coordination with output of the game on the second device (Kolen ¶0042: "The music personalization and generation system 100 may then generate personalized music 102 for output by the game system 110. The personalized music 102 may be based on current game information 114 associated with an electronic game being played on the game system 110.").
Regarding claim 9, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method comprising the features of claim 1.
Kolen further discloses that the game is being executed by the second device (Kolen ¶0042: "The music personalization and generation system 100 may then generate personalized music 102 for output by the game system 110. The personalized music 102 may be based on current game information 114 associated with an electronic game being played on the game system 110.").
Regarding claim 10, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method comprising the features of claim 1.
Kolen further discloses that outputting the gaming music (Kolen ¶0064: "the personalized music 102 may be generated utilizing a musical cue 142 [which] may comprise a musical encoding 144A or an audio waveform 144B.") includes transferring metadata (¶0069: "The audio waveform 144B may be provided along with label information. The label information may indicate features of the audio waveform, such as instruments represented in the audio waveform 144B.") for creation of dynamic music (Kolen ¶0059: "Thus, the game engine 112 may perform a forward pass of a machine learning model utilizing e a musical cue and style preference as an input.").
Regarding claim 11, Kolen discloses a first device comprising: a memory comprising computer-executable instructions (Kolen ¶0104: "A processor can include electrical circuitry configured to process computer-executable instructions."); and a processor configured to access the memory and execute the computer- executable instructions to perform operations (Kolen ¶0104: "A processor can include electrical circuitry configured to process computer-executable instructions.") comprising receiving, by the first device (Kolen fig. 1, ref. no. 100) from a second device (Kolen fig. 1, ref. no. 110), a request for gaming music (Kolen ¶0046, referring to fig. 1: "the game system 110 may provide game information 114 to the music personalization and generation system 100."), wherein the request indicates a game state of a game (Kolen ¶0046: "it may be appreciated that an electronic game may adjust music being presented to a user based on a current game state. For example, if the user encounters a particular boss then the electronic game may output certain boss, or battle, music. The electronic game may thus utilize the game state as a trigger to access certain music for output to the user."), generating, by the first device, gaming music in response to the request (Kolen ¶0048: "The music personalization and generation system 100 may thus utilize the game information 114 to select one or more musical cues. These musical cues may be created, for example by a composer, for utilization in certain game contexts. Thus, there may be one or more musical cues associated with battling enemies, certain enemies, and so on."), wherein the gaming music is generated dynamically (Kolen ¶0047: "the music personalization and generation system 100 may utilize received game information 114 to generate personalized music 102 appropriate for the current game state.") to include at least one musical motif selected based at least in part on the game state (Kolen ¶0048: "An example musical cue may include a motif, theme, snippet of audio, and so on, which the composer indicates is to be utilized for one or more game contexts."), and outputting, by the first device, the gaming music (Kolen ¶0083: "As described in FIGS. 1-2, the system may generate personalized music based on one or more obtained musical cues and the style preference… The system may then provide (e.g., as a stream, or as a download) the personalized music to the user's user device.").
Regarding claim 14, Kolen discloses a first device comprising the features of claim 11 as discussed above.
Kolen further discloses that the game state corresponds to a current gaming situation within an electronic game (Kolen ¶0046: "it may be appreciated that an electronic game may adjust music being presented to a user based on a current game state. For example, if the user encounters a particular boss then the electronic game may output certain boss, or battle, music. The electronic game may thus utilize the game state as a trigger to access certain music for output to the user."), and the request indicates a type of music (Battle music comprises a type of music.).
Regarding claim 15, Kolen discloses a first device comprising the features of claim 11 as discussed above.
Kolen further discloses that generating the gaming music is based at least in part on at least one of a music genre, music style, song title, identification of a musical artist (Kolen ¶0053: "Information included in the playlist 124 may be provided to the music personalization and generation system 100. Example information may include an indication of the songs included in the playlist 124 (e.g., song title, artist name, and so on). Example information may further include an indication of metadata associated with the songs… and the music personalization and generation system 100 may utilize genre or style information associated with the artist."), composer (Kolen ¶0012: "These musical cues may be created by a game composer"), and user feedback (Kolen ¶0053: "The user may have subscribed to this artist's playlist, and the music personalization and generation system 100 may utilize genre or style information associated with the artist.").
Regarding claim 17, Kolen discloses a first device comprising the features of claim 11 as discussed above.
Kolen further discloses that generating gaming music includes selecting the at least one musical motif from a music library (Kolen ¶0017: "Accessing a musical cue comprises: receiving, from a user device executing the electronic game, a unique identifier associated with a musical cue; and accessing one or more databases, and obtaining the musical cue based on the unique identifier.") based at least in part on a user preference (Kolen ¶0012: "the generated music may be based on specific musical cues, but adjusted for each user based on the user's empirically determined genre preferences.") and game elements of the game state (Kolen ¶0046: "it may be appreciated that an electronic game may adjust music being presented to a user based on a current game state. For example, if the user encounters a particular boss then the electronic game may output certain boss, or battle, music. The electronic game may thus utilize the game state as a trigger to access certain music for output to the user.").
Regarding claim 18, Kolen discloses a first device comprising the features of claim 19 as discussed above.
Kolen further discloses that outputting the gaming music includes outputting the gaming music to the second device to be played in coordination with output of the game on the second device (Kolen ¶0042: "The music personalization and generation system 100 may then generate personalized music 102 for output by the game system 110. The personalized music 102 may be based on current game information 114 associated with an electronic game being played on the game system 110.").
Regarding claim 19, Kolen discloses a first device comprising the features of claim 11 as discussed above.
Kolen further discloses that the game is being executed by the second device (Kolen ¶0042: "The music personalization and generation system 100 may then generate personalized music 102 for output by the game system 110. The personalized music 102 may be based on current game information 114 associated with an electronic game being played on the game system 110.").
Regarding claim 20, Kolen discloses a first device comprising the features of claim 11 as discussed above.
Kolen further discloses that outputting the gaming music (Kolen ¶0064: "the personalized music 102 may be generated utilizing a musical cue 142 [which] may comprise a musical encoding 144A or an audio waveform 144B.") includes transferring metadata (¶0069: "The audio waveform 144B may be provided along with label information. The label information may indicate features of the audio waveform, such as instruments represented in the audio waveform 144B.") for creation of dynamic music (Kolen ¶0059: "Thus, the game engine 112 may perform a forward pass of a machine learning model utilizing e a musical cue and style preference as an input.").
Regarding claim 21, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method comprising the features of claim 1.
Kolen further discloses that the request is in a first format (Kolen ¶0081: "As the user plays the electronic game, the game state may be adjusted based on gameplay. The system may monitor this game information to ascertain which music is to be played via the electronic game. As described above, the electronic game may provide one or more unique identifiers associated with musical cues to the system.); and the computer-implemented method further comprises formatting, by the first device, the request into formatted request having a second format that allows for the first device to use the game state to generate the game music (Kolen ¶0082: "Thus, the system may utilize the game information, such as a unique identifier, to obtain the corresponding musical cue.), wherein generating the game music is based at least in part on the formatted request (Kolen ¶0082: "The system may then generate personalized music 410 based on these musical cues.").
Regarding claim 22, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method comprising the features of claim 21.
Kolen further discloses that the game state of the request in the first format is not readable by the first device (Kolen ¶0081: "That is, instead of the system utilizing a game state to identify a musical cue, the system may receive information identifying a specific musical cue.").
Regarding claim 23, Kolen discloses one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (Kolen ¶0102: "The code modules may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other computer storage device.") comprising computer-executable instructions (Kolen ¶0102: "software code modules executed by a computing system that includes one or more computers or processors.") that, when executed by one or more processors of a first device, cause the first device to perform operations comprising: receiving, by the first device (Kolen fig. 1, ref. no. 100) from a second device (Kolen fig. 1, ref. no. 110), a request for gaming music (Kolen ¶0046, referring to fig. 1: "the game system 110 may provide game information 114 to the music personalization and generation system 100."), wherein the request indicates a game state of a game (Kolen ¶0046: "it may be appreciated that an electronic game may adjust music being presented to a user based on a current game state. For example, if the user encounters a particular boss then the electronic game may output certain boss, or battle, music. The electronic game may thus utilize the game state as a trigger to access certain music for output to the user."), generating, by the first device, gaming music in response to the request (Kolen ¶0048: "The music personalization and generation system 100 may thus utilize the game information 114 to select one or more musical cues. These musical cues may be created, for example by a composer, for utilization in certain game contexts. Thus, there may be one or more musical cues associated with battling enemies, certain enemies, and so on."), wherein the gaming music is generated dynamically (Kolen ¶0047: "the music personalization and generation system 100 may utilize received game information 114 to generate personalized music 102 appropriate for the current game state.") to include at least one musical motif selected based at least in part on the game state (Kolen ¶0048: "An example musical cue may include a motif, theme, snippet of audio, and so on, which the composer indicates is to be utilized for one or more game contexts."), and outputting, by the first device, the gaming music (Kolen ¶0083: "As described in FIGS. 1-2, the system may generate personalized music based on one or more obtained musical cues and the style preference… The system may then provide (e.g., as a stream, or as a download) the personalized music to the user's user device.").
Regarding claim 24, Kolen discloses one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising the features of claim 23.
Kolen further discloses that the game is being executed by the second device (Kolen ¶0042: "The music personalization and generation system 100 may then generate personalized music 102 for output by the game system 110. The personalized music 102 may be based on current game information 114 associated with an electronic game being played on the game system 110.").
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Kolen in view of Pierce (U.S. Patent No. 7,674,966 B1, March 9, 2010), hereinafter Pierce.
Regarding claim 3, Kolen discloses a computer-implemented method comprising the features of claim 1.
Kolen further discloses that the request is received by the first device via network communication (Kolen ¶0043: "the music personalization and generation system 100 may represent a cloud-based system which receives information from multitudes of game systems.").
Kolen does not explicitly disclose an application programming interface (API).
However, Pierce discloses an application programming interface (API) (Pierce col 5, lines 54-58: "The API (FIG. 3) defines the format for the messages 102 that the GameEngine 101 uses to communicate its state to the MusicEngine 103. There are three types of messages: Theme Messages 301, Mood Messages 302, and Custom Messages 303.").
Regarding claim 13, Kolen discloses a first device comprising the features of claim 11 as discussed above.
Kolen further discloses that the request is received by the first device via network communication (Kolen ¶0043: "the music personalization and generation system 100 may represent a cloud-based system which receives information from multitudes of game systems.").
Kolen does not explicitly disclose an application programming interface (API).
However, Pierce discloses an application programming interface (API) (Pierce col 5, lines 54-58: "The API (FIG. 3) defines the format for the messages 102 that the GameEngine 101 uses to communicate its state to the MusicEngine 103. There are three types of messages: Theme Messages 301, Mood Messages 302, and Custom Messages 303.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the computer-implemented method of Kolen by adding the API of Pierce to standardize access to the music personalization and generation system across a multitude of game systems executing different electronic games (Kolen ¶0043).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILIP SCOLES whose telephone number is (703)756-1831. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dedei Hammond can be reached on 571-270-7938. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PHILIP G SCOLES/
Examiner, Art Unit 2837
/DEDEI K HAMMOND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837