Detailed Action
1. This communication is in response to Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed on March 27, 2026 in which amended claims 1-3, 5-18, and 20 filed on February 27, 2026 are pending in the application. Claims 1, 16, and 20 are the independent claims.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. 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 Amendment
3. This Office Action is in response to the applicant’s remarks and arguments filed on February 27, 2026 with regards to the Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed on March 27, 2026.
Claims 1, 5, 16, and 20 were amended. Claims 1-3, 5-18, and 20 remain pending in the application. Claims 4 and 19 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks pages 13-17, filed February 27, 2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-3, 5-18, and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of prior art Tokgoz (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0001200) covering the amended limitations to the independent claims.
In the Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. 112 section on page 13 of the Remarks, the Applicant respectfully submitted that reconsideration is requested in view of the amendment made to claim 5.
A. The Examiner respectfully agrees with the Applicant’s assertion as claim 5 has been properly amended to no longer be indefinite. The Examiner has withdrawn the rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 112.
In the Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. 103 section starting on page 13 of the Remarks, the Applicant respectfully submitted that the cited references, alone or in combination, fail to disclose amended claim 1.
B. The Examiner respectfully agrees with the Applicant’s assertion made that the amended independent claims including claim 1 overcomes the prior art rejections. With that being said, the Examiner has conducted further search and prior art Tokgoz (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0001200) discloses the amended claim limitation “based on executing the operation instruction and based on the acquiring the multimedia resource, generating a modified version of the video by overlaying the multimedia resource on the video, and displaying the modified version of the video on the interface of the first application.” As such, the Examiner maintains that claims 1-3, 5-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
5. Claims 1, 6, 14-16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0170276) – hereinafter “Hwang”, in view of Li et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0083881) – hereinafter “Li”, Linton et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0042007) – hereinafter “Linton”, and Tokgoz (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0001200).
Regarding independent claim 1, Hwang discloses:
An application control method, performed by an electronic device, the application control method comprising: ([0062] According to an example embodiment, a user terminal 400 includes a processor 410 configured to generate a control instruction for controlling a process to be performed in a game service based on a user input, a communication unit 420 configured to transmit the generated control instruction to a game service providing server 440, and a memory 430 in which the generated control instruction and a second application for generating the control instruction for controlling the process performed in the game service are recorded.) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the user terminal including the processor controls the game service.
acquiring, by a first application, an operation instruction, and executing the operation instruction by the first application, the operation instruction being responsive to a user interaction with a video being displayed on an interface of the first application; ([0062] According to an example embodiment, a user terminal 400 includes a processor 410 configured to generate a control instruction for controlling a process to be performed in a game service based on a user input, a communication unit 420 configured to transmit the generated control instruction to a game service providing server 440, and a memory 430 in which the generated control instruction and a second application for generating the control instruction for controlling the process performed in the game service are recorded.) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the user terminal generates a control instruction based upon the user input to the display.
Hwang does not explicitly disclose:
based on executing the operation instruction, acquiring, by the first application, a multimedia resource to be displayed on the interface of the first application the multimedia resource being determined based on historical data associated with a first user account of a second application, the first user account in the second application being associated with a same user as a first user account in the first application, the first application being a video-based social media application, the second application being a gaming application or a video playing application, the first application being different than the second application, and the selection of the multimedia resource comprising:
acquiring, from the second application, a target object based on the historical data, the historical data comprising information on virtual objects acquired by the first user account in the second application; and
selecting, by the first application, the multimedia resource to be displayed on the interface of the first application, based on the target object; and
based on executing the operation instruction and based on the acquiring the multimedia resource, generating a modified version of the video by overlaying the multimedia resource on the video, and displaying the modified version of the video on the interface of the first application.
However, Li discloses:
based on executing the operation instruction, acquiring, by the first application, a multimedia resource to be displayed on the interface of the first application the multimedia resource being determined based on historical data associated with a first user account of a second application, the first user account in the second application being associated with a same user as a first user account in the first application, the first application being a video-based social media application, the second application being a gaming application or a video playing application, the first application being different than the second application, and the selection of the multimedia resource comprising: ([0023] “In one embodiment, wherein the predetermined data associated with the first application includes at least one of an image or a text selected on an execution screen of the first application by the user, a file that is being edited in the first application, and a multimedia file that is being reproduced in the first application.” and [0029] “In one embodiment, in a case where the first application has a multimedia reproduction function and multimedia is paused in the first application when the first touch input is received by the touch screen, the predetermined data includes data indicating a reproduction state of the multimedia and a paused reproduction position of the multimedia, and the predetermined data is provided to the second application having the multimedia reproduction function, and the reproduction of the multimedia is started in a paused state at the reproduction position in the second application.” and [0031] “In one embodiment, in a case where the first application has an account login function and an account is logged into in the first application when the first touch input is received by the touch screen, the predetermined data includes data indicating information about the logged-in account, and the predetermined data is provided to the second application that is the same as the first application, and the account is logged into in the second application.” and [0112] “Referring to FIG. 15, video streaming is paused in the video streaming application in the first mobile terminal 100 …” and [0121] “FIGS. 21 to 23 illustrate continuous execution of a game application having an account login function by using the stylus pen 300, according to an embodiment.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the same account is logged into the first and second application and a multimedia file associated with the first application is acquired. Also, one of the applications is a video streaming social application and the other is a game application.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add based on executing the operation instruction, acquiring, by the first application, a multimedia resource to be displayed on the interface of the first application the multimedia resource being determined based on historical data associated with a first user account of a second application, the first user account in the second application being associated with a same user as a first user account in the first application, the first application being a video-based social media application, the second application being a gaming application or a video playing application, the first application being different than the second application, and the selection of the multimedia resource comprising … as seen in Li's invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results such that historical data of user applications determines the multimedia resources that are selected based on the user’s account so that user data specializes the resources that a user sees.
In addition, Linton discloses:
acquiring, from the second application, a target object based on the historical data, the historical data comprising information on virtual objects acquired by the first user account in the second application; and ([0115] “Referring now to FIG. 4, an example method 400 for prescribing electronic resources based on observational assessments is described. The method 400 begins by identifying 402 one or more electronic resources based on observation data. In some embodiments, the recommendation engine 206 identifies 402 the one or more electronic resources by querying a library of electronic resources for resources that match one or more aspects of the observation data. If a plurality of electronic resources is identified, the recommendation engine 206 can rank and filter the electronic resources and thus recommend which electronic resources are the most suitable for a target subject. Next, the method 400 provides 404 a summary of the one or more electronic resources to an observer, such as a supervisor or evaluator, for assignment to subject that he/she is observing. For example, the client device 126 of the observer may receive a summary of training videos or other resources identified and ranked by the recommendation engine 206 and may display the summary to the observer via a user interface. The observer may use the interface to preview the videos or other resources and/or assign one or more of the videos or other resources to the target subject.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the electronic resources that are identified to match aspects of the observational data are ranked for suitability based on observational/historical data and the target object that best matches based on observation data is chosen by the supervisor.
selecting, by the first application, the multimedia resource to be displayed on the interface of the first application, based on the target object; and ([0115] “For example, the client device 126 of the observer may receive a summary of training videos or other resources identified and ranked by the recommendation engine 206 and may display the summary to the observer via a user interface. The observer may use the interface to preview the videos or other resources and/or assign one or more of the videos or other resources to the target subject.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the video is assigned to the target subject based on being the most similar to the target.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add acquiring, from the second application, a target object based on the historical data, the historical data comprising information on virtual objects acquired by the first user account in the second application; and selecting, by the first application, the multimedia resource to be displayed on the interface of the first application, based on the target object as seen in Linton’s invention into Hwang's and Li’s invention because these modifications allow the use of a known technique to a known method for improvement to yield predictable results such that the historical data selecting the target object to be displayed specializes the multimedia resource displayed for the user based on the user’s historical data with regards to multimedia resource usage.
Finally, Tokgoz discloses:
based on executing the operation instruction and based on the acquiring the multimedia resource, generating a modified version of the video by overlaying the multimedia resource on the video, and displaying the modified version of the video on the interface of the first application. (Fig. 3 and [0051-0052] “FIG. 3 illustrates the mobile application 300 running on a user device 308. The mobile application 300 may display the video player 122 or 134 provided by the editor module 102 or the player module 104, respectively, of the digital multimedia platform 100. … According to various embodiments, a transparent interactive content layer 302 may be overlaid on the video content 202 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The transparent interactive content layer 302 may include control widgets such as buttons for the user to provide an input and/or a timer. The timer may indicate the remaining time where the user can provide a gaming input. … The elements on the transparent interactive content layer 302 can be any size or color, and can be positioned anywhere on or around the displayed video content. The elements can be shown as icons, pictures, animations and/or videos.) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the mobile application displaying video has multimedia resources including input/timer elements that can be shown as videos/animations (examples of multimedia resources) overlaid on top of the video content.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add based on executing the operation instruction and based on the acquiring the multimedia resource, generating a modified version of the video by overlaying the multimedia resource on the video, and displaying the modified version of the video on the interface of the first application as seen in Tokgoz’s invention into Hwang's, Li’s, and Linton’s invention because these modifications allow applying a known technique to a known device ready for improvement to yield predictable results such that overlaying content on top of videos based on user inputs improves the experience of a video game application or social media application such that multiple layers of gameplay or icons can be used to display multiple things at a time on an application to a user.
Regarding claim 6, Hwang discloses the application control method according to claim 1, wherein after displaying the multimedia resource, but does not explicitly disclose:
acquiring, during the display of the multimedia resource, a second operation on the multimedia resource, and controlling to cancel the display of the multimedia resource, the second operation being used for instructing to stop displaying the multimedia resource and the second operation comprising any one of triggering a multimedia resource display region at a second frequency and triggering an operation control displayed on a display interface of the first application at a third frequency.
However, Li discloses:
acquiring, during the display of the multimedia resource, a second operation on the multimedia resource, and controlling to cancel the display of the multimedia resource, the second operation being used for instructing to stop displaying the multimedia resource and the second operation comprising any one of triggering a multimedia resource display region at a second frequency and triggering an operation control displayed on a display interface of the first application at a third frequency. (Figs. 12-14 and [0107-0109] “Referring to FIG. 12, a game is paused in the game application that is being executed in the first mobile terminal 100, and a touch gesture input (first touch input) having a shape of “N” is input on the touch screen by the stylus pen 300. Therefore, the first mobile terminal 100 transmits a progress state of the game and a paused position of the game to the stylus pen 300 through the wireless communication connection. Referring to FIG. 13, a touch gesture input (second touch input) having a shape of “P” is input on the touch screen in the main interface of the second mobile terminal 101 by the stylus pen 300, and the second mobile terminal 101 receives data indicating the progress state of the game and the paused position of the game, which is stored in the stylus pen 300, from the stylus pen 300 through the wireless communication connection. Referring to FIG. 14, the game application is executed in the second mobile terminal 101, the data received from the stylus pen 300 is provided to the game application, and the game is started in the paused state at the position at which the game has been paused in the first mobile terminal. The user may select “CONTINUE TO PLAY” in the interface of the game application so as to continue to play the game.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the operation to change the display from the home screen to the game application is received. The display of the home screen is cancelled and the game application is opened with the same progress state as previously closed.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add acquiring, during the display of the multimedia resource, a second operation on the multimedia resource, and controlling to cancel the display of the multimedia resource, the second operation being used for instructing to stop displaying the multimedia resource and the second operation comprising any one of triggering a multimedia resource display region at a second frequency and triggering an operation control displayed on a display interface of the first application at a third frequency as seen in Li's invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow applying a known technique to a known method ready for improvement to yield predictable results such that multimedia resources cannot be infinitely displayed and are switched when other multimedia resources should be displayed such as in a video game tying multiple animations together one after the other.
Regarding claim 14, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose:
acquiring, based on a plurality of second applications, multimedia resources respectively corresponding to the plurality of second applications;
respectively determining operation times at which first operations for the plurality of second applications are last received;
determining a multimedia resource corresponding to the second application with an operation time meeting a minimum duration threshold as the multimedia resource.
However, Li discloses:
acquiring, based on a plurality of second applications, multimedia resources respectively corresponding to the plurality of second applications; ([0023] “In one embodiment, wherein the predetermined data associated with the first application includes at least one of an image or a text selected on an execution screen of the first application by the user, a file that is being edited in the first application, and a multimedia file that is being reproduced in the first application.” and [0029] “In one embodiment, in a case where the first application has a multimedia reproduction function and multimedia is paused in the first application when the first touch input is received by the touch screen, the predetermined data includes data indicating a reproduction state of the multimedia and a paused reproduction position of the multimedia, and the predetermined data is provided to the second application having the multimedia reproduction function, and the reproduction of the multimedia is started in a paused state at the reproduction position in the second application.” and [0031] “In one embodiment, in a case where the first application has an account login function and an account is logged into in the first application when the first touch input is received by the touch screen, the predetermined data includes data indicating information about the logged-in account, and the predetermined data is provided to the second application that is the same as the first application, and the account is logged into in the second application.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the same account is logged into the first and second application and a multimedia file associated with the first application is acquired.
determining a multimedia resource corresponding to the second application with an operation time meeting a minimum duration threshold as the multimedia resource. ([0081] “According to an embodiment, when the second touch input is received by the touch screen, the second mobile terminal may receive predetermined data that is stored latest in the touch input device and has not been transmitted to the mobile terminal. In this case, by inputting the second touch input a plurality of times, the second mobile terminal may receive predetermined data stored in the touch input device at different moments in the reverse order of the storage time. The data that has been transmitted to the mobile terminal among the data stored in the memory of the touch input device may be deleted from the memory of the touch input device.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the predetermined data that relates to a multimedia resource is transferred in reverse order of storage time after a duration of time between each transfer.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add acquiring, based on a plurality of second applications, multimedia resources respectively corresponding to the plurality of second applications; and determining a multimedia resource corresponding to a second application with an operation time meeting a minimum duration threshold as the multimedia resource as seen in Li's invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow use of known technique to improve similar methods in the same way such that multimedia resources from a plurality of applications are to be represented on the display without one application constantly being the one chosen to display multimedia resources to ensure the user experience is properly met with all applications the user is interested in.
In addition, Linton discloses:
respectively determining operation times at which first operations for the plurality of second applications are last received; ([0058] “The interaction data may also include or be associated with data identifying which electronic resource was interacted with, the user who interacted with the resource, the time and date of the interaction, etc. In another example, if a user is accessing an interactive electronic book, the user application can send interaction data describing when the user begins interacting with the electronic book, pages through the electronic book, downloads files included with or embedded in the electronic book, completes surveys included with the electronic book, views videos embedded in the electronic book, comments on passages of the electronic book, or otherwise uses any other functionality provided by the user application 128 for interaction with the electronic book or the corresponding components of the professional development application engine 104.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the data for interactions of resources include the time and date of the interaction so it can be used to determine the last time operations were received.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add respectively determining operation times at which first operations for the plurality of second applications are last received as seen in Linton's invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow use of known technique to improve similar methods in the same way such that a plurality of second applications’ operations are to be serviced instead of just one application dominating all the operations ran.
Regarding claim 15, Hwang discloses the application control method according to claim 1, wherein the first application is any one of a short video type application, a social application type application, an information management type application, and a life encyclopedia type application, and the second application is any one of a game type application and a video playing type application. ([0037] “Referring to FIG. 1, a user terminal 120 may receive a user input 110, and control gameplay of a game character 131 of a user in a game service based on the received user input 110. The user terminal 120 may generate a control instruction for controlling a process to be performed in the game service through a second application 121 that provides a means of additionally generating the control instruction for controlling the game service in addition to a first application 123 that directly provides the game service. The process performed in the game service may include, for example, a process of controlling the gameplay of the game character 131 and a process of transmitting a chat message. In addition to these example processes, the process may include any process that the user performs in the game service.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the first application is a game service application (mapped to the second application) and the second application provides control instructions to manage information (mapped to the first application).
Regarding claim 16, it is an application control apparatus claim having the same limitations as cited in application control method claim 1. Thus, claim 16 is also rejected under the same rationale as addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 20, it is a non-transitory computer readable medium claim having the same limitations as cited in application control method claim 1. Thus, claim 20 is also rejected under the same rationale as addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above.
6. Claims 2, 5, 8, 11, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0170276) – hereinafter “Hwang”, in view of Li et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0083881) – hereinafter “Li”, Linton et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0042007) – hereinafter “Linton”, and Tokgoz (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0001200), further in view of Todd (U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0182924).
Regarding claim 2, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 1, wherein the displaying the modified version of the video on the interface of the first application comprises: (Fig. 1 and [0037-0038] “Referring to FIG. 1, a user terminal 120 may receive a user input 110, and control gameplay of a game character 131 of a user in a game service based on the received user input 110. The user terminal 120 may generate a control instruction for controlling a process to be performed in the game service through a second application 121 that provides a means of additionally generating the control instruction for controlling the game service in addition to a first application 123 that directly provides the game service. The process performed in the game service may include, for example, a process of controlling the gameplay of the game character 131 and a process of transmitting a chat message. In addition to these example processes, the process may include any process that the user performs in the game service. The first application 123 may refer to a general game service application that provides a graphical user interface (GUI) corresponding to a screen 130 for the game service and displays in real time a situation of the progress of the game service.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the second application generates a control instruction and the first application provides the game service that executes this instruction and displays the processes tied to the instructions including gameplay of the game characters and chat messages on the screen.
Hwang does not explicitly disclose:
acquiring the historical data, the historical data comprising virtual objects acquired by the account that is logged into the second application and object information of the virtual objects;
determining, based on a number of the virtual objects being greater than or equal to a target number, a target object that matches the account from among the virtual objects according to the object information; and
acquiring the multimedia resource based on the target object; and
displaying the multimedia resource overlaying the video based on an outward diffusion using, as a reference point, an operation control that is displayed on the interface of the first application.
However, Linton discloses:
acquiring the historical data, the historical data comprising virtual objects acquired by the account that is logged into the second application and object information of the virtual objects; ([0115] “Referring now to FIG. 4, an example method 400 for prescribing electronic resources based on observational assessments is described. The method 400 begins by identifying 402 one or more electronic resources based on observation data. In some embodiments, the recommendation engine 206 identifies 402 the one or more electronic resources by querying a library of electronic resources for resources that match one or more aspects of the observation data. If a plurality of electronic resources is identified, the recommendation engine 206 can rank and filter the electronic resources and thus recommend which electronic resources are the most suitable for a target subject.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the electronic resources that are identified to match aspects of the observational data are ranked for suitability based on observational/historical data.
determining, based on a number of the virtual objects being greater than or equal to a target number, a target object that matches the account from among the virtual objects according to the object information; and ([0115] “Referring now to FIG. 4, an example method 400 for prescribing electronic resources based on observational assessments is described. The method 400 begins by identifying 402 one or more electronic resources based on observation data. In some embodiments, the recommendation engine 206 identifies 402 the one or more electronic resources by querying a library of electronic resources for resources that match one or more aspects of the observation data. If a plurality of electronic resources is identified, the recommendation engine 206 can rank and filter the electronic resources and thus recommend which electronic resources are the most suitable for a target subject. Next, the method 400 provides 404 a summary of the one or more electronic resources to an observer, such as a supervisor or evaluator, for assignment to subject that he/she is observing. For example, the client device 126 of the observer may receive a summary of training videos or other resources identified and ranked by the recommendation engine 206 and may display the summary to the observer via a user interface. The observer may use the interface to preview the videos or other resources and/or assign one or more of the videos or other resources to the target subject.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the electronic resources that are identified to match aspects of the observational data are ranked for suitability based on observational/historical data and the target object that best matches based on observation data is chosen by the supervisor.
acquiring the multimedia resource based on the target object; ([0115] “For example, the client device 126 of the observer may receive a summary of training videos or other resources identified and ranked by the recommendation engine 206 and may display the summary to the observer via a user interface. The observer may use the interface to preview the videos or other resources and/or assign one or more of the videos or other resources to the target subject.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the video is assigned to the target subject based on being the most similar to the target.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add acquiring the historical data, the historical data comprising virtual objects acquired by the account that is logged into the second application and object information of the virtual objects; determining, based on a number of the virtual objects being greater than or equal to a target number, a target object that matches the account from among the virtual objects according to the object information; and acquiring the multimedia resource based on the target object as seen in Linton's invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results that historical data to decide the multimedia resource should be acquired so that historical game data can be used to make future game decisions to keep a user playing the game application based on historical data that kept a user playing.
In addition, Todd discloses:
displaying the multimedia resource overlaying the video based on an outward diffusion using, as a reference point, an operation control that is displayed on the interface of the first application. (Fig. 8 and [0037] “Also disclosed herein are methods of overlaying blended content within a bounded box region on a display screen that receives output created by a device such as a media processing unit that handles multiple inputs, such as HDMI inputs or an HDMI output stream. A user interface can be provided to allow an end user of a video display system with a display screen to overlay selected content within a bounded region of pixels /video container on the display screen receiving output from a media processing unit that handles multiple inputs, such as HDMI inputs, or an HDMI output stream.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the plurality of videos that are displayed such as in Fig. 8 are displayed in separate video containers on the display screen.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add displaying the multimedia resource overlaying the video based on an outward diffusion using, as a reference point, an operation control that is displayed on the interface of the first application as seen in Todd’s invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results such that the multimedia resource is to be overlayed on the display interface when shown to the user via outward diffusion as it allows transparency of multiple resources on one display seen by a user.
Regarding claim 5, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose:
determining a hash corresponding to the multimedia resource;
displaying the multimedia resource by the outward diffusion, based on the hash corresponding to an original hash of the multimedia resource; or
adjusting a transparency of the multimedia resource to obtain an adjusted multimedia resource based on the hash corresponding to the original hash of the multimedia resource and displaying the adjusted multimedia resource by the outward diffusion.
However, Todd discloses:
determining a hash corresponding to the multimedia resource; ([0116] “With their individual input devices 702, each viewer 204 may specify one or more of content, size, position, change in size or position, transparency, and the like of one or more of the video containers 602.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the viewer specifies the content and settings of the video container and thus has certain settings corresponding to the video container.
displaying the multimedia resource by the outward diffusion, based on the hash corresponding to an original hash of the multimedia resource; or
adjusting a transparency of the multimedia resource to obtain an adjusted multimedia resource based on the hash corresponding to the original hash of the multimedia resource and displaying the adjusted multimedia resource by the outward diffusion. ([0116] “With their individual input devices 702, each viewer 204 may specify one or more of content, size, position, change in size or position, transparency, and the like of one or more of the video containers 602. The viewers 204 may “battle” each other for the control of all the video containers 602 or reach a compromise regarding control over the individual windows/video containers 602. The individual viewers 204 may each control the content, size, position, transparency, and the like of one or more unique video containers. In some embodiments, each viewer 204 may provide a unique user ID to the system, allowing the system to apply user preferences and associate user data to the video container in their control including channels, color schemes, widgets, user purchase data and the like.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the viewer device selects where the video container is displayed on the screen based on using their unique user ID to control particular settings such as size, position, and transparency of video containers.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add determining a hash corresponding to the multimedia resource; displaying the multimedia resource by the outward diffusion, based on the hash corresponding to an original hash of the multimedia resource; or adjusting a transparency of the multimedia resource to obtain an adjusted multimedia resource based on the hash corresponding to the original hash of the multimedia resource and displaying the adjusted multimedia resource by the outward diffusion as seen in Todd’s invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results such that the multimedia resource to be overlayed on the display interface when shown to the user with specific transparency attached to the settings of the multimedia resource always displays properly for the user via outward diffusion which allows multiple multimedia resources to be output to the user at once.
Regarding claim 8, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 2, but does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the object information comprises at least one of an object type of the virtual object, a usage condition of the virtual object, an acquisition duration of the virtual object, a frequency at which an optimal account is acquired using the virtual object, a frequency at which a virtual resource is acquired for the virtual object, and a frequency at which an account level changes using the virtual object.
However, Linton discloses:
wherein the object information comprises at least one of an object type of the virtual object, a usage condition of the virtual object, an acquisition duration of the virtual object, a frequency at which an optimal account is acquired using the virtual object, a frequency at which a virtual resource is acquired for the virtual object, and a frequency at which an account level changes using the virtual object. ([0080] “In some embodiments, the reporting module 210 may analyze two or more data types, such as observation-related data, achievement data, and/or student data related to the target subject, to generate an effectiveness rating for that target subject. Analyzing two more data types to generate an effectiveness rating is advantageous as it can provide a more reliable effectiveness rating for a target subject compared to an effectiveness rating generated from a single data type.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the data types/object information includes multiple types such as observation-related data, achievement data, and/or student data related to the target subject which are examples of object types and are important towards usage conditions of the data types.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add wherein the object information comprises at least one of an object type of the virtual object, a usage condition of the virtual object, an acquisition duration of the virtual object, a frequency at which an optimal account is acquired using the virtual object, a frequency at which a virtual resource is acquired for the virtual object, and a frequency at which an account level changes using the virtual object as seen in Linton's invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow use of a known technique to a known method ready for improvement to yield predictable results such that usage conditions show effective object usage which leads to improved gameplay usage of objects which will keep a user playing the game longer.
Regarding claim 11, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 2, but does not explicitly disclose:
acquiring virtual resource acquisition frequencies of a plurality of virtual objects comprised in the second application based on the number of the virtual being less than the target number; and
determining a virtual object with a maximum virtual resource acquisition frequency among the plurality of virtual objects as the target object.
However, Linton discloses:
acquiring virtual resource acquisition frequencies of a plurality of virtual objects comprised in the second application based on the number of the virtual objects being less than the target number; and ([0074] “If multiple electronic resources are identified by the recommendation engine 206 as corresponding to the observation data, the recommendation engine 206 can rank them based on one or more criteria. A criterion may be any attribute associated with the electronic resources.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the resources are identified as corresponding to the observation data, but no specific resource is deemed to be the best so they can be further ranked based on criteria.
determining a virtual object with a maximum virtual resource acquisition frequency among the plurality of virtual objects as the target object. ([0074] “If multiple electronic resources are identified by the recommendation engine 206 as corresponding to the observation data, the recommendation engine 206 can rank them based on one or more criteria. A criterion may be any attribute associated with the electronic resources. For example, the criterion may include a topic; the number of times an electronic resource has been interacted with, viewed, listened to, etc.; an author; a publisher; a date of the electronic resource; the number of users connected to the target subject in the social graph who have interacted with the electronic resource; the number of times an electronic resource has been assigned to users having a similar assessment; etc. The recommendation engine 206 can generate the summary of electronic resources based on the ranking performed by it. For example, the top-ranked electronic resource may be listed first in the summary and the lowest-ranked resource may be listed last. In another example, the recommendation engine 206 may limit the summary to a certain number of top-ranked resources.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the resources are identified as corresponding to the observation data and further criteria such as maximum frequency of electronic resource usage determines the best fitting electronic resource.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add acquiring virtual resource acquisition frequencies of a plurality of virtual objects comprised in the second application based on the number of the virtual objects being less than the target number; and determining a virtual object with a maximum virtual resource acquisition frequency among the plurality of virtual objects as the target object as seen in Linton's invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow an “obvious to try” solution with a reasonable expectation of success such that the most commonly used object is to be selected as the target object even if it does not reach a threshold number so that error conditions are not constantly thrown when at the start of using objects since they might not hit a threshold but still are the most popular target object.
Regarding claim 17, it is an apparatus claim having the same limitations as cited in application control method claim 2. Thus, claim 17 is also rejected under the same rationale as addressed in the rejection of claim 2 above.
7. Claims 3 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0170276) – hereinafter “Hwang”, in view of Li et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0083881) – hereinafter “Li”, Linton et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0042007) – hereinafter “Linton”, and Tokgoz (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0001200), further in view of Todd (U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0182924) and Bagga et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0142783) – hereinafter “Bagga”.
Regarding claim 3, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 2, but does not explicitly disclose:
determining a weight parameter corresponding to the object information;
determining matching degrees between the virtual objects acquired by the first user account that is based on the object information of the virtual objects acquired by the first user account, and the weight parameter corresponding to the object information; and
determining a virtual object with a highest matching degree among the virtual objects acquired by the first user account as the target object.
However, Bagga discloses:
determining a weight parameter corresponding to the object information; ([0052] “In some embodiments, the personalized media interface 300 displays menus in a ranked order. Menus that are determined to be of the highest interest to user(s) associated with the device on which the personalized media interface 300 is displayed, may be displayed higher on the personalized media interface 300 than menus deemed to be of lower user interest. User interest in a media asset menu may be measured as a function of media consumption histories, user media preferences, time of day, and/or user location.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the user interest in a media asset (object) is determined based on the weight parameters of media consumption histories, user media preferences, time of day, and/or user location.
determining matching degrees between the virtual objects acquired by the first user account that is based on the object information of the virtual objects acquired by the first user account, and the weight parameter corresponding to the object information; and ([0052] “In order to determine which menus to display on personalized media interface 300, the narrowed set of menus may be ranked in order of amount of interest to viewer(s) of the device at which the personalized media interface 300 is displayed. Media asset lists may be assigned a composite score using the individual consumption and/or browsing history scores of each of the media asset lists' media assets. Once each media asset list is assigned such a media asset list score, media asset lists with the highest score may be selected for inclusion in the personalized media interface 300. Additional factors such as the time of day, date, and/or user location may also factored in calculating a media asset list score.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, factors such as the time of day, date, and/or user location are factored into calculating a media asset list score for a plurality of lists and thus the media asset lists with the highest score may be selected for inclusion in the personalized media interface.
determining a virtual object with a highest matching degree among the virtual objects acquired by the first user account as the target object. ([0052] “Once each media asset list is assigned such a media asset list score, media asset lists with the highest score may be selected for inclusion in the personalized media interface 300… The media asset lists may also be arranged for display in personalized media interface 300 in descending order of media asset lists scores.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the media asset list with the highest score based on the match to user historical data is displayed first on the personalized media interface.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add determining a weight parameter corresponding to the object information; determining matching degrees between the virtual objects acquired by the first user account that is based on the object information of the virtual objects acquired by the first user account, and the weight parameter corresponding to the object information; and determining a virtual object with a highest matching degree among the virtual objects acquired by the first user account as the target object as seen in Bagga’s invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow applying a known technique to a known method ready for improvement to yield predictable results such that a plurality of objects, such as dialog choices, are to be compared and the one with the highest matching degree is to be chosen as the target object so the player’s intended dialog option choice is used in a game.
Regarding claim 18, it is an apparatus claim having the same limitations as cited in application control method claim 3. Thus, claim 18 is also rejected under the same rationale as addressed in the rejection of claim 3 above.
8. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0170276) – hereinafter “Hwang”, in view of Li et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0083881) – hereinafter “Li”, Linton et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0042007) – hereinafter “Linton”, and Tokgoz (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0001200), further in view of Grundfast et al. (U.S. Patent No. 9,524,513) – hereinafter “Grundfast”.
Regarding claim 7, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose:
based on not acquiring a second operation on the multimedia resource during the display of the multimedia resource and based on a display duration of the multimedia resource meeting a minimum duration threshold, using an operation control displayed on a display interface of the first application as a reference point, and controlling to cancel the display of the multimedia resource by incorporating the multimedia resource into the operation control, the second operation being used for instructing to stop displaying the multimedia resource.
However, Grundfast discloses:
based on not acquiring a second operation on the multimedia resource during the display of the multimedia resource and based on a display duration of the multimedia resource meeting a minimum duration threshold, using an operation control displayed on a display interface of the first application as a reference point, and controlling to cancel the display of the multimedia resource by incorporating the multimedia resource into the operation control, the second operation being used for instructing to stop displaying the multimedia resource. (Col. 8, Lines 9-15 “Further, the multimedia or advertising can be initiated simultaneously with the loading process or some time before or after the loading begins. Similarly, the multimedia or advertising can be stopped, e.g., cease displaying, before the loading process is complete, at the same time the loading process is complete, or a period of time after the loading process is complete.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the video can cease displaying following a period of time after the loading process is complete since no other operations with the video have been received.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add based on not acquiring a second operation on the multimedia resource during the display of the multimedia resource and based on a display duration of the multimedia resource meeting a minimum duration threshold, using an operation control displayed on a display interface of the first application as a reference point, and controlling to cancel the display of the multimedia resource by incorporating the multimedia resource into the operation control, the second operation being used for instructing to stop displaying the multimedia resource as seen in Grundfast’s invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow applying a known technique to a known method ready for improvement to yield predictable results such that multimedia resources are not infinitely displayed and are cancelled after their video has completed its time to display so the user can maintain its progression through the game application.
9. Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0170276) – hereinafter “Hwang”, in view of Li et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0083881) – hereinafter “Li”, Linton et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0042007) – hereinafter “Linton”, and Tokgoz (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0001200), further in view of Bagga et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0142783) – hereinafter “Bagga” and Rou Hang Rung (KR 20120070753).
Regarding claim 9, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 3, but does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the determining the weight parameter comprises at least one of the following:
determining a type weight parameter of the virtual object based on an object type of the virtual object;
determining a win weight parameter of the virtual object based on a usage condition of the virtual object;
determining a duration weight parameter of the virtual object based on an acquisition duration of the virtual object;
determining an account weight parameter of the virtual object based on a frequency at which an optimal account is acquired using the virtual object;
determining a resource weight parameter of the virtual object based on a frequency at which a virtual resource is acquired for the virtual object; and
determining a level weight parameter of the virtual object based on a frequency at which an account level changes using the virtual object.
However, Rou Hang Rung discloses:
wherein the determining the weight parameter comprises at least one of the following:
determining a type weight parameter of the virtual object based on an object type of the virtual object;
determining a win weight parameter of the virtual object based on a usage condition of the virtual object;
determining a duration weight parameter of the virtual object based on an acquisition duration of the virtual object;
determining an account weight parameter of the virtual object based on a frequency at which an optimal account is acquired using the virtual object;
determining a resource weight parameter of the virtual object based on a frequency at which a virtual resource is acquired for the virtual object; and
determining a level weight parameter of the virtual object based on a frequency at which an account level changes using the virtual object. (“According to one embodiment of the present invention, the matching conditions are based on the game name, server name, ranking, level data, game history, character name, character class, item name, blood name, odds, total, game award fee, goal It is determined based on the level, goal ranking, goal win rate, goal achievement, goal time, item assist, character assist, and cost data. For example, the game name, server name, ranking, and level data are each weighted 15%, and the total 60% weight is assigned to the game experience, character name, character class, item name, blood name, odds, total, and game award data. 2% weights are assigned to the total, and 16% weights are added to the target level, goal ranking, goal win rate, goal achievement, goal date and time, target game money, target items, item assistance, character assistance, and cost. The weighting of the total has a weight of 24%.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the user data includes weighted parameters such as record and items used that show win rate.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add wherein the determining the weight parameter comprises at least one of the following: determining a type weight parameter of the virtual object based on an object type of the virtual object; determining a win weight parameter of the virtual object based on a usage condition of the virtual object; determining a duration weight parameter of the virtual object based on an acquisition duration of the virtual object; determining an account weight parameter of the virtual object based on a frequency at which an optimal account is acquired using the virtual object; determining a resource weight parameter of the virtual object based on a frequency at which a virtual resource is acquired for the virtual object; and determining a level weight parameter of the virtual object based on a frequency at which an account level changes using the virtual object as seen in Rou Hang Rung’s invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow use of known technique to improve similar methods in the same way such that multiple statistics made with determining to use an item in a game are done to determine overall success of such an item based on a plurality of parameters to not limit an item to 0% or 100% success rate on only one parameter.
Regarding claim 10, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 9, but does not explicitly disclose:
determining target values based on the object information of the virtual objects acquired by the first user account and the weight parameter corresponding to the object information; and
determining the target values as the matching degrees between the virtual objects and the first user account,
the target values being determined based on at least one of a first value, a second value, a third value, and a fourth value, the first value being determined based on the object type of the virtual object and the type weight parameter of the virtual object, the second value being determined based on the usage condition of the virtual object and the win weight parameter of the virtual object, the third value being determined based on the acquisition duration of the virtual object and the duration weight parameter of the virtual object, and the fourth value being determined based on at least one of the account weight parameter of the virtual object, the resource weight parameter of the virtual object and the level weight parameter of the virtual object.
However, Rou Hang Rung discloses:
determining target values based on the object information of the virtual objects acquired by the first user account and the weight parameter corresponding to the object information; and (“The matching condition is made based on the player suggestion information stored in the player DB 220, for example, and matches the player suggestion information corresponding to a predetermined score or more among the player suggestion information weighted according to the matching condition.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the predetermined score is made available to compare to player data such as record and items used.
determining the target values as the matching degrees between the virtual objects and the first user account, (“The matching condition is made based on the player suggestion information stored in the player DB 220, for example, and matches the player suggestion information corresponding to a predetermined score or more among the player suggestion information weighted according to the matching condition.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the predetermined score is made available to be satisfied to show specific player data that matches the player suggestion information.
the target values being determined based on at least one of a first value, a second value, a third value, and a fourth value, the first value being determined based on the object type of the virtual object and the type weight parameter of the virtual object, the second value being determined based on the usage condition of the virtual object and the win weight parameter of the virtual object, the third value being determined based on the acquisition duration of the virtual object and the duration weight parameter of the virtual object, and the fourth value being determined based on at least one of the account weight parameter of the virtual object, the resource weight parameter of the virtual object and the level weight parameter of the virtual object. (“According to one embodiment of the present invention, the matching conditions are based on the game name, server name, ranking, level data, game history, character name, character class, item name, blood name, odds, total, game award fee, goal It is determined based on the level, goal ranking, goal win rate, goal achievement, goal time, item assist, character assist, and cost data. For example, the game name, server name, ranking, and level data are each weighted 15%, and the total 60% weight is assigned to the game experience, character name, character class, item name, blood name, odds, total, and game award data. 2% weights are assigned to the total, and 16% weights are added to the target level, goal ranking, goal win rate, goal achievement, goal date and time, target game money, target items, item assistance, character assistance, and cost. The weighting of the total has a weight of 24%. The matching condition is made based on the player suggestion information stored in the player DB 220, for example, and matches the player suggestion information corresponding to a predetermined score or more among the player suggestion information weighted according to the matching condition.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the user data includes weighted parameters such as record and items used that show win rate that must match a predetermined score for win rate with a certain item.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add determining target values based on the object information of the virtual objects acquired by the first user account and the weight parameter corresponding to the object information; and determining the target values as the matching degrees between the virtual objects and the first user account, the target values being determined based on at least one of a first value, a second value, a third value, and a fourth value, the first value being determined based on the object type of the virtual object and the type weight parameter of the virtual object, the second value being determined based on the usage condition of the virtual object and the win weight parameter of the virtual object, the third value being determined based on the acquisition duration of the virtual object and the duration weight parameter of the virtual object, and the fourth value being determined based on at least one of the account weight parameter of the virtual object, the resource weight parameter of the virtual object and the level weight parameter of the virtual object as seen in Rou Hang Rung’s invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow use of known technique to improve similar methods in the same way such that a relationship between usage of an item and win rate attached to using that item are tracked to attempt to balance items in game with win rate so that no item becomes unviable.
10. Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0170276) – hereinafter “Hwang”, in view of Li et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0083881) – hereinafter “Li”, Linton et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0042007) – hereinafter “Linton”, and Tokgoz (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0001200), further in view of Todd (U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0182924) and Amer et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0275908) – hereinafter “Amer”.
Regarding claim 12, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 2, but does not explicitly disclose:
determining, based on the target object, a target skill among skills corresponding to the target object;
acquiring a reference multimedia resource when the target object performs the target skill; and
reducing pixel values of a background region in the reference multimedia resource to obtain the multimedia resource.
However, Amer discloses:
determining, based on the target object, a target skill among skills corresponding to the target object; ([0055] “Generally, certain motion types of the motion types 440 are more likely to correspond to high levels of engagement than others. In some examples, motion types 440 associated with high levels of engagement include visual effects (VFX) motion and particle systems motion. For example, motion corresponding to VFX or particle systems is often indicative of the activation of character abilities that typically result in damage or other effects to a player's characters and are therefore associated with high levels of engagement.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the target skill is the character ability that will be activated.
acquiring a reference multimedia resource when the target object performs the target skill; and ([0055] “For example, motion corresponding to VFX or particle systems is often indicative of the activation of character abilities that typically result in damage or other effects to a player's characters and are therefore associated with high levels of engagement. In some embodiments, one or more of the motion types 440 is indicative of character animations, corresponding to motion of an object in the scene or sequence of scenes, where the object has been identified as a character (e.g., based on analysis by one or more object identification algorithms, trained machine learning algorithms, convolutional filters, or the like executed via the engagement analytics engine 112).”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the character animation that is activated by the character ability is displayed on screen as the character motion.
reducing pixel values of a background region in the reference multimedia resource to obtain the multimedia resource. ([0055] “Generally, character animations are of high importance to a player or viewer, and it is desirable to encode corresponding objects (characters) with higher quality and fidelity (e.g., higher bit rates). For example, the character animation motion type of the motion types 440 is indicative that a corresponding object in motion is a character, and the engagement analytics engine identifies the corresponding object as a high-engagement object. In some embodiments, the characterized objects in motion data 436 indicate a level of engagement for each of the objects in motion 438 based on the motion types 440. In some embodiments, the engagement analytics engine 112 generates encoding parameters 118 that cause regions associated with relatively high-engagement objects of the objects in motion 438 (e.g., as indicated by the characterized objects in motion data 436) to be encoded with higher quality (e.g., higher fidelity) and higher contributions to the bitrate of the rendered scene.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the character animation that is activated by the character ability is displayed on screen as the character motion in higher quality and fidelity and thus the background region must be displayed in lower quality.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add determining, based on the target object, a target skill among skills corresponding to the target object; acquiring a reference multimedia resource when the target object performs the target skill; and reducing pixel values of a background region in the reference multimedia resource to obtain the multimedia resource as seen in Amer’s invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow use of known technique to improve similar methods in the same way such that a specific skill is used by a player character to show a multimedia resource such as an animation attached to a skill that is displayed over the background region in game rather than just using text to progress the player character’s game.
11. Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0170276) – hereinafter “Hwang”, in view of Li et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0083881) – hereinafter “Li”, Linton et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0042007) – hereinafter “Linton”, and Tokgoz (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0001200), further in view of Todd (U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0182924), Amer et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0275908) – hereinafter “Amer”, and Keita et al. (JP 6,793,235) – hereinafter “Keita”.
Regarding claim 13, Hwang discloses the application control method of claim 12, but does not explicitly disclose:
determining, based on the target object, damages caused by the target object performing skills corresponding to the target object, and determining a skill with a highest damage as the target skill; or
determining, based on the target object, frequencies at which the target object casts skills corresponding to the target object, and determining a skill cast at the maximum frequency as the target skill.
However, Keita discloses:
determining, based on the target object, damages caused by the target object performing skills corresponding to the target object, and determining a skill with a highest damage as the target skill; or (“In the above embodiment, an example in which the strengthening ability is set to have a higher priority than the weak ability and the damage ability has been described. However, the priority is not limited to this, and for example, the priority of the weak ability may be set to the highest, then the priority of the enhanced ability may be set, and the priority of the damage ability may be set to the lowest.”) The citation is interpreted to read on the claimed invention because under broadest reasonable interpretation, the damage ability is set to the lowest priority compared to the priorities of the weak ability and the enhanced abilities. Therefore, it is understood that the priority of the abilities could be changed so that the highest damage ability’s priority is set as the highest priority ability.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add determining, based on the target object, damages caused by the target object performing skills corresponding to the target object, and determining a skill with a highest damage as the target skill; or determining, based on the target object, frequencies at which the target object casts skills corresponding to the target object, and determining a skill cast at the maximum frequency as the target skill as seen in Keita’s invention into Hwang's invention because these modifications allow use of known technique to improve similar method in the same way such that a specific skill with the highest damage is determined so that the user character can do its maximum damage against an opponent based on a proper choice by the user’s player character.
Conclusion
12. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Specific prior art such as Aghdaie et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0243656) discloses historical user data being used to modify gameplay parameters similar to how historical data in this application decides the gameplay resources that appear on the screen.
Examiner has cited particular columns/paragraphs/sections and line numbers in the references applied and not relied upon to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
When responding to the Office action, applicant is advised to clearly point out the patentable novelty the claims present in view of the state of the art disclosed by the reference(s) cited or the objections made. A showing of how the amendments avoid such references or objections must also be present. See 37 C.F.R. 1.111(c).
When responding to this Office action, applicant is advised to provide the line and page numbers in the application and/or reference(s) cited to assist in locating the appropriate paragraphs.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL B TRAINOR whose telephone number is (571)272-3710. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM.
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/D.T./Examiner, Art Unit 2198
/PIERRE VITAL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2198
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