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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/6/2026 has been entered.
Status of Amendments.
Claims 1 – 26 are pending.
Claims 1 and 16 have been amended.
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.
Claim(s) 1 – 10 and 14 - 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grubmueller et al (US 2019/0244469) in view of Danielson et al (US 2022/0245992).
As per claims 1 and 16, Grubmueller discloses a roulette wheel system (Grubmueller para [00571), comprising:
a transparent rim positioned above and sloping downwards towards a rotatable roulette wheel (e.g. a protective cover include: a transparent covering panel (such as glass, perspex, acrylic glass/plexiglass, any form of plastic, sapphire crystal, mineral glass), para [0066]; e.g. the projector is arranged below, under or behind the screen the screen preferably has a certain transparency or is fully transparent with a layer capable to display the light signal coming from the beamer, The screen could be the mechanical wheel and/or the roulette bowl, para [0016]; para [0057]; Fig. 1);
an optical display system positioned beneath the transparent rim, the optical display system configured to provide a plurality of lighting effects visible through the transparent rim (e.g. projector is arranged below, under or behind the screen the screen preferably has a certain transparency or is fully transparent with a layer capable to display the light signal coming from the beamer. The screen could be the mechanical wheel and/or the roulette bowl. .. display the information on the mechanical wheel one projector could be used which projects symbols or number on the outer rim area of the wheel as well as an image of the pockets or a plurality of electronic displays could be used to display symbols or numbers adjacent to each pocket, para [00161); and
a controller providing signal content to the optical display system, wherein the signal content produces at least a first lighting effect corresponding to current gameplay information (e.g. display the information on the mechanical wheel one projector could be used which projects symbols or number on the outer rim area of the wheel as well as an image of the pockets or a plurality of electronic displays could be used to display symbols or numbers adjacent to each pocket, para [0016]; e.g. When the ball position in the outer rim section or in the pocket section of the mechanical wheel 20 is detected step d) matches the symbol displayed by the roulette display system 1O to the pocket or to the position of the ball by means of the label controller 44, the display controller 50 and the roulette-display-system 1 O by adjusting the spinning velocity of the image to the spinning velocity of the mechanical wheel 20, para [0072]; para [00181).
Grubmueller fails to specifically disclose a the display being “directly attached to an underside of the transparent rim…”
However, in a similar field of endeavor, wherein a roulette wheel comprises a display, Danielson teaches the attaching of a display to the bottom of a roulette wheel assembly (Danielson 0015, 0016, 0018, 0023, 0030).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify Grubmueller in view of Danielson to use a known technique to modify similar devices in the same way by means of attaching a display to the underside of a roulette wheel. This would be beneficial as Danielson teaches that the it can add additional randomness to the system. “In some examples, the display may synchronize displayed numbers, symbols, graphics (e.g., emoji), and/or positions to the physical pockets of the wheel, and may be changed and/or randomized over time to add additional randomness to the roulette spin.” (Danielson 0018)
As per claim 2, Grubmueller discloses further comprising a sensor providing real-time feedback to the controller indicative of a roulette ball position (Grubmueller para [0020)-(0028).
As per, claim 3, Grubmueller discloses wherein the first lighting effect indicates the roulette ball position (Grubmueller para (0016], [0020]-(0028], [0057] (0059).
As per claims 4 and 19, Grubmueller discloses wherein the sensor is at least one of an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, and a position sensor (Grubmueller para (0021], [0057], [0070)-(0072).
As per claims 5 and 22, Grubmueller discloses wherein the optical display system comprises a liquid crystal display (Grubmueller para [0057)-(0059]).
As per claims 6 and 23, Grubmueller discloses wherein the optical display system comprises at least one light emitting diode (LED) (Grubmueller para [0057)-(0059).
As per claim 7, Grubmueller discloses wherein the transparent rim comprises polycarbonate glass (Grubmueller para [0066]).
As per claim 8, Grubmueller discloses the first lighting effect comprises at least one letter, number, icon, flash, or color (Grubmueller para [0016]).
As per claims 9 and 17, Grubmueller discloses wherein gameplay information includes one or more of a roulette ball position, a bet, a date, a time, a player name, a game type, or a winning number (Grubmueller para [0020], [0028], [0048), (0057]).
As per claims 10 and 18, Grubmueller discloses wherein the transparent rim is positioned beneath a roulette ball launch point, and a top surface of the transparent rim comprises a plurality of raised physical elements to interact with the roulette ball (Grubmueller para [0016]-(0019], [0057], [0066]).
As per claims 13 and 24, Grubmueller discloses wherein the transparent rim includes a number circle area for displaying one or more numbers or symbols (Grubmueller para [0016]).
As per claims 14 and 25, Grubmueller discloses wherein the number circle area rotates with the rotatable roulette wheel (Grubmueller para [0016], [0020] -[0028]).
As per claims 15 and 26, Grubmueller discloses wherein the number circle area is stationary and the displaying of the one or more numbers or symbols simulates the one or more numbers or symbols rotating with the rotatable roulette wheel (Grubmueller para [0016], [0020]-[0028]).
As per claim 20, Grubmueller discloses wherein the controller is programmed to cause the optical display system to project a first lighting sequence in response to a gaming event (Grubmueller para [0016], [0020]-[0028], [0057]).
As per claim 21, Grubmueller discloses wherein the gaming event is at least one of: a ball launch, a ball contact with a gaming element, a final position (Grubmueller para [0016], [0020]-[0028], [0072]).
Claim(s) 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grubmueller et al (US 2019/0244469) in view of Danielson et al (US 2022/0245992) in view of Golden “A NEW SYSTEM FOR ROULETTE BASED ON THE PHYSICS OF THE ROULETTE WHEEL”.
Grubmueller fails to disclose :
As per claim 11, Grubmueller discloses wherein the transparent rim is tilted at an angle above a horizontal plane of the roulette wheel
As per claim 12, Grubmueller discloses wherein the angle of the transparent rim is 21°.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Golden discloses that by modifying the tilt angle of the roulette, a croupier can bias the position of the ball upon the roulette wheel. (Golden slides 8 – 11).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to modify Grubmueller in view of Golden to use a known technique of modifying similar devices in the same way to change the angle of the roulette wheel to any angle that bias’s the outcome in any manner that the game establishment prefers. This would enable the game establishment to be able to control the outcome of the game.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-26 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/RAW/Examiner, Art Unit 3715 3/6/2026
/KANG HU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715