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 Amendment
Examiner acknowledges receipt of amendment/arguments filed 01/12/2026. The arguments set forth are addressed herein below. Claims 1-20 remain pending, no Claims have been newly added, and no Claims have been currently canceled. Currently, Claims 1-20 have been amended. No new matter appears to have been entered.
The amendments to claims 11 and 16 are sufficient to overcome the corresponding 35 USC 112 rejections. The 112 rejections of claims 11-14 and 16 have been withdrawn.
Claim Objections
Claims 16-19 are objected to because of the following informalities: claims 16-19 state, “The gaming device of claim…”. However, claims 16-19 should state, “The Electronic Gaming Machine of claim…” in order to maintain consistency with claim 15.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-14 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "wherein the bonus game comprises…" in line 12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2-14 are rejected as they depend from rejected claim 1.
Prior Art
The Examiner notes that after a thorough search on the claims as currently amended, the claims 1-20 currently overcome the prior art. Additionally, Applicant’s arguments with regard to the 102 rejections are persuasive. The closest prior art found to date are the following:
Webb et al. (US 2005/0070353 A1) discloses the concept of a gaming device with a primary game scheme including one or more symbol generators and a plurality of wheels where each wheel is associated with a different one of the symbol generators.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-20 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments/arguments, see remarks, filed 01/12/2026, with respect to the 35 USC 101 and 102 rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 101 and 102 rejections of claims 1-20 have been withdrawn.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/CHASE E LEICHLITER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715