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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/07/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Examiner acknowledges receipt of amendment/arguments filed 12/04/2026. The arguments set forth are addressed herein below. Claims 1-20 remain pending, no Claims have been newly added, and no Claims have been canceled. Currently, Claims 1, 8, 9, 11, 18, and 19 have been amended. No new matter appears to have been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 3 states, “The system of claim 2,, for…”. However, Claim 3 should state, “The system of claim 2, for…”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-20 are 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.
Claims 1 and 11 recites the limitation "cause multiple user-selectable options to be presented on the one or more displays responsive to the feature game concluding" in lines 25-26 and 21-22, respectively. (emphasis added) There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim(s).
Claims 2-10 and 12-20 have been rejected as they depend from a rejected base claim.
Prior Art
The Examiner notes that after a thorough search on the claims as currently amended, the claims currently overcome prior art. Additionally, Applicant’s arguments with regard to the 102 rejections are persuasive. The closest prior art found to date are the following:
Aoki et al. (US 2013/0102375 A1) discloses the concept of a base array of symbol positions arranged in a plurality of columns is displayed, wherein a plurality of symbols is randomly distributed such that each of the symbol positions in the base array is associated with one or more of the symbols, such that, the base array of symbol positions is to be expanded is indicated by the symbols, and the base array of symbol positions is expanded into an expanded array of symbol positions including at least one additional symbol position.
Meyer (US 2021/0335099 A1) discloses the concept of the processor selects symbols from the first set of reel strips for display in the plurality of columns of symbol positions of the first symbol state, and responsive to a trigger condition being met, the processor updates the current symbol position state to a second symbol position state comprising at least one additional active symbol position relative to the first symbol position state.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see response, filed 12/04/2025, with respect to the prior art rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 102/103 rejections of claims 1-20 have been withdrawn.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHASE E LEICHLITER whose telephone number is (571)270-7109. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (9-5).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Lewis can be reached at (571)272-7673. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHASE E LEICHLITER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715