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 .
Drawings
New corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in this application because Figures 1, 3-5, and 8-11 are grayscale. According to MPEP 608.01:
Legibility includes ability to be photocopied and scanned so that suitable reprints can be made and paper can be electronically reproduced by use of digital imaging and optical character recognition. This requires a high contrast, with black lines and a white background. Gray lines and/or a gray background sharply reduce photo reproduction quality.
Applicants are advised to employ the services of a competent patent draftsperson outside the Office, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office no longer prepares new drawings. The corrected drawings are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The requirement for corrected drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 4, 7, 11, 14, and 18 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.
Claim 4 recites “a physical playing card” (lines 3-4). Claim 1, upon which claim 4 depends, recites “a physical playing card” (line 3). The first instance of a claim element should generally subsequently be followed by referring to the element using “the” or “said”. Reciting “a physical playing card” a second time makes it unclear whether the two instances of “a physical playing card” refer to the same claim element or different claim elements. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 7 recites “the randomly selected a fixed-pay hand bonus award image” (lines 8-9). It is unclear what this is trying to say. It is possible the claim should read “the randomly selected fixed-pay hand bonus award image”. For purposes of this examination, the quoted claim language will be interpreted as “the randomly selected fixed-pay hand bonus award image”. Dependent claim 14 recites similar language and is similarly rejected. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
The determination of subject matter eligibility under 35 USC 101, relies on the Mayo/Alice two-step analysis.
In step 1 of the analysis, the claims are evaluated to determine whether they fall within one of the four statutory categories (i.e., process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter). In the present case, claims 1-7 are directed to a table game system (i.e., a machine), claims 8-14 are directed to a gaming table display assembly (i.e., a machine), and claims 15-20 are directed to a method (i.e., a process). The claims are, therefore directed to one of the four statutory categories.
Under prong 1 of step 2A, the examiner is directed to determine whether the claim recites a judicial exception. The claims are compared to groupings of subject matter that have been found by courts as abstract ideas. These groupings include
(a) Mathematical concepts—mathematical relationships, mathematical formulas or equations, mathematical calculations;
(b) Certain methods of organizing human activity—fundamental economic principles or practices (including hedging, insurance, mitigating risk); commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations); managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions); and
(c) Mental processes—concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion).
Claim 1 recites (the abstract idea is underlined) a table game system, comprising:
a physical gaming table;
a card reader device configured to acquire information from a physical playing card being dealt onto the physical gaming table; and
a gaming table display assembly coupled to the physical gaming table, the gaming table display assembly including:
a display unit for displaying computer-generated images; and
a gaming controller operably coupled to the display unit and the card reader device, the gaming controller including a processor programmed to execute an algorithm to render an animated sequence of computer-generated images on the display unit including the steps of:
rendering a game screen on the display unit including an animated progressive jackpot award image and an animated progressive award paytable image;
rendering the animated progressive award paytable image including a plurality of fixed- pay hand bonus award images, each fixed-pay hand bonus award image including a card hand image indicating a corresponding playing card hand and a modifiable bonus award image;
receiving a signal from the card reader device indicating card values associated with physical playing cards dealt to a player and a dealer; and
initiating an instance of a bonus progressive card game by:
randomly selecting a fixed-pay hand bonus award image being displayed on the animated progressive award paytable image;
randomly selecting an award boost value for the randomly selected fixed-pay hand bonus award image;
animating the modifiable bonus award image associated with the randomly selected fixed- pay hand bonus award image to transform from an initial baseline award value to the selected boosted award value;
determining a player bonus hand based on the card values associated with two playing cards dealt to the player and one playing card dealt to the dealer; and
animating an award image onto the game screen upon determining the player bonus hand matches one of the fixed-pay hand bonus award images.
Claim 8 recites (the abstract idea is underlined) a gaming table display assembly associated with a physical gaming table, comprising:
a display unit for displaying computer-generated images; and
a gaming controller operably coupled to the display unit, the gaming controller including a processor programmed to execute an algorithm to render an animated sequence of computer- generated images on the display unit including the steps of:
rendering a game screen on the display unit including an animated progressive jackpot award image and an animated progressive award paytable image;
rendering the animated progressive award paytable image including a plurality of fixed- pay hand bonus award images, each fixed-pay hand bonus award image including a card hand image indicating a corresponding playing card hand and a modifiable bonus award image;
receiving a signal from a card reader device indicating card values associated with physical playing cards dealt to a player and a dealer; and
initiating an instance of a bonus progressive card game by:
randomly selecting a fixed-pay hand bonus award image being displayed on the animated progressive award paytable image;
randomly selecting an award boost value for the randomly selected fixed-pay hand bonus award image;
animating the modifiable bonus award image associated with the randomly selected fixed- pay hand bonus award image to transform from an initial baseline award value to the selected boosted award value;
determining a player bonus hand based on the card values associated with two playing cards dealt to the player and one playing card dealt to the dealer; and
animating an award image onto the game screen upon determining the player bonus hand matches one of the fixed-pay hand bonus award images.
Claim 15 recites (the abstract idea is underlined) a method of operating a gaming table display assembly associated with a physical gaming table, the gaming table display assembly including a display unit for displaying computer-generated images and a gaming controller including a processor operably coupled to the display unit, the method including the processor performing an algorithm to render an animated sequence of computer-generated images on the display unit including the steps of:
rendering a game screen on the display unit including an animated progressive jackpot award image and an animated progressive award paytable image;
rendering the animated progressive award paytable image including a plurality of fixed- pay hand bonus award images, each fixed-pay hand bonus award image including a card hand image indicating a corresponding playing card hand and a modifiable bonus award image;
receiving a signal from a card reader device indicating card values associated with physical playing cards dealt to a player and a dealer; and
initiating an instance of a bonus progressive card game by:
randomly selecting a fixed-pay hand bonus award image being displayed on the animated progressive award paytable image;
randomly selecting an award boost value for the randomly selected fixed-pay hand bonus award image;
animating the modifiable bonus award image associated with the randomly selected fixed- pay hand bonus award image to transform from an initial baseline award value to the selected boosted award value;
determining a player bonus hand based on the card values associated with two playing cards dealt to the player and one playing card dealt to the dealer; and
animating an award image onto the game screen upon determining the player bonus hand matches one of the fixed-pay hand bonus award images.
The present claims are directed to a table game for carrying out a wagering game. The limitations fall into the category of certain methods of organizing human activity. Specifically, a wagering game is considered a fundamental economic practice, a sub-category of certain methods of organizing human activity. Rules of a game also fall into the sub-category of managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people. The limitations also fall into the category of mental processes because the determining steps can be performed in the human mind, or by a human using a pen and paper. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
Under prong 2 of Step 2A, the examiner considers whether additional elements integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. To do so, the examiner looks to the following exemplary considerations, looking at the elements individually and in combination:
• an additional element reflects an improvement in the functioning of a computer, or an improvement to other technology or technical field;
• an additional element that applies or uses a judicial exception to effect a particular treatment or prophylaxis for a disease or medical condition (not considered relevant to the present claims);
• an additional element implements a judicial exception with, or uses a judicial exception in conjunction with, a particular machine or manufacture that is integral to the claim;
• an additional element effects a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing; and
• an additional element applies or uses the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception.
The additional elements in the present claims are a physical gaming table, a card reader device, a physical playing card, a gaming table assembly, a display unit, a gaming controller, a processor, a dealer terminal, a touchscreen display device, a bet sensor, a wager area, a physical betting chip, a dealer terminal touchscreen, and a random number generator. The additional elements do no integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. In particular, the additional elements do not reflect an improvement in the functioning of a computer, or an improvement to other technology or technical field. The additional elements do not implement a judicial exception with, or uses a judicial exception in conjunction with, a particular machine or manufacture that is integral to the claim. The additional elements do not effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing. The additional elements do not apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment. Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Under step 2B, the examiner evaluates whether the additional elements amount to significantly more than the judicial exception itself. The examiner considers if the additional elements:
• add a specific limitation or combination of limitations that are not well-understood, routine, conventional activity in the field, which is indicative that an inventive concept may be present; or
• simply appends well-understood, routine, conventional activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception, which is indicative that an inventive concept may not be present.
The present claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. The additional elements are well-understood, routine, or conventional, as shown:
a physical gaming table, a gaming controller, a processor (Walker et al., US 2003/0218303 A1,. well-known examples of gaming devices include, without limitation, video poker machines, video blackjack machines, mechanical slot machines, video slot machines, video keno machines, video bingo machines, pachinko machines, and video lottery terminals; other well-known examples of gaming devices include, without limitation: table controllers, such as the table controller 92 (FIG. 5); game tables, such as virtual Blackjack table 150 (FIG. 9); and player terminals, such as those described in implementing virtual Blackjack table 150 (FIG. 9) [0176])
a card reader device, a physical playing card (Merati, US 9,092,935 B2, the electronic card reader may be incorporated into a "shoe", which is a common apparatus in casinos for housing one or more decks of physical playing cards [C5:39-60]),
a bet sensor (Ventura et al., US 2016/0243433 A1, it will be appreciated the gaming table might have other configuration, such as including other features (RFID chip tracking, electronic card identification, player tracking, etc.), as is well known in the art [0044]),
a wager area, (Hill, US 2013/0196777 A1, in one aspect, intelligent gaming table 205 includes conventional features of a Big Baccarat gaming table, such as … individual betting areas 250 (which may have specific areas to place different bets) [0040])
a physical betting chip, (Walker at al., US 2010/0244380 A1, once the dealer is accepting wagers, the player may place a primary wager (block 102) by placing one or more chips in the primary betting circle 28 as is well understood [0026])
a gaming table display assembly, a display unit, a dealer terminal, a touchscreen display device, a dealer terminal touchscreen (Merati, US 2013/0079147 A1, dealer interface 118 comprises an electronic device that allows a dealer at location 102 to communicate with gaming sever 108; it typically comprises one or more well-known techniques to provide information to, or receive information from, server 108, such as a touchscreen computer, smartphone, keyboard, keypad, display device, microphone, etc. [0042]), and
a random number generator (Orselli et al., US 5,540,442, electronic random number generators and associated circuitry for displaying the numbers on a visible display are well-known, and any suitable generator and display can be used [C4:41-C5:19]).
Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept.
As a result, the claims are not directed to patent eligible subject matter.
Prior Art
There are currently no prior art rejections against claims 1-20.
The closest prior art of record includes LaDuca et al., US 2019/0043315 A1 (hereinafter LaDuca); Mothwurf et al., US 2001/0036857 A1 (hereinafter Mothwurf); and Humphrey et al., US 2020/0357235 A1 (hereinafter Humphrey).
LaDuca discloses a method of playing and presenting a game, such as at a gaming table, a player places a game wager to play a blackjack game (LaDuca [Abstract]). The player may also place an optional bonus bet (LaDuca [Abstract]). The blackjack game is presented by dealing at least an initial player hand of two cards and an initial dealer hand of two cards (LaDuca [Abstract]). If the player places the optional bonus bet, a determination is made whether the bonus bet is winning, wherein the bonus bet is winning if a bonus winning outcome has been received relative to the initial player hand and/or initial dealer hand (LaDuca [Abstract]). A bonus bet award is awarded for a winning bonus bet and a blackjack game award is preferably awarded if the player receives a winning blackjack game outcome (LaDuca [Abstract]).
Mothwurf teaches a jackpot system that provides the casino management with a wide degree of flexibility in configuring the wins associated with the jackpot (Mothwurf [0046]). Mothwurf teaches for each trigger input, the dynamic probability matrix can modify the range of numbers within which the selection generator can generate a random number and can change the chance of the winning entry being generated accordingly (Mothwurf [0064]). That is to say, said means for varying the probability of a win comprises means for varying the range of random numbers capable of generation by said selection generator in response to each trigger input (Mothwurf [0064]).
Humphrey teaches gaming systems and methods which utilize one or more persistent supplemental awards to dynamically modify or otherwise alter one or more awards associated with one or more game outcomes of a paytable (Humphrey [Abstract]). The gaming system disclosed herein determines one or more awards based on certain static aspects of a paytable as well as based on certain dynamic or changing aspects of the same paytable (Humphrey [0013]).
The prior art, alone or in combination, absent hindsight, does not fairly teach or suggest the claimed invention
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WERNER G GARNER whose telephone number is (571)270-7147. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-15:30 EST.
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/WERNER G GARNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715