DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
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 – 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Step 1: It must be determined whether the invention falls in one of the four statutory categories of invention. Claims 1 - 12 are directed towards a method, (process), and claims 13 – 18 are directed towards a server, (machine), which are statutory categories of invention.
Step 2a:
Prong 1: It must be determined whether the invention is directed to judicially recognized exception. Claim 1 is analyzed below with limitations indicating recitations of an abstract idea.
A method comprising: determining, by a computing device, that a first cellular telephone is accessing a gaming service through a first network that is known to the gaming service as being in an approved location; in response to determining that the first cellular telephone is accessing the gaming service through the first network, allowing, by the computing device, the first cellular telephone to access gaming services of the gaming service; determining, by the computing device, that a second cellular telephone is accessing a gaming service through a second network that is not known to the gaming service as being in the approved location; in response to determining that the second cellular telephone is accessing the gaming service through the second network, determining, by the computing device, that a first confidence level that the second cellular telephone is in the approved location based on a first internet protocol address of the second cellular telephone is above a threshold confidence; in response to determining that the first confidence level is above the threshold confidence, allowing, by the computing device, the second cellular telephone to access gaming services of the gaming service; determining, by the computing device, that a third cellular telephone is accessing a gaming service through the second network that is not known to the gaming service as being in the approved location; in response to determining that the third cellular telephone is accessing the gaming service through the second network, determining, by the computing device, that a second confidence level that the third cellular telephone is in the approved location based on a second internet protocol address of the third cellular telephone is below the threshold confidence; in response to determining that the second confidence level is below the threshold confidence, querying, by the computing device, a secondary location determination service for a location of the third cellular telephone; receiving, by the computing device, an indication of the location of the third cellular telephone from a secondary location determination service; allowing, by the computing device, the third cellular telephone to access gaming services of the gaming service based on the location of the third cellular telephone being in the approved location, and redetermining, by the computing device, that the first cellular telephone continues to access the gaming service through the first network.
The abstract idea is defined by the underlined portions exemplary claim 1, with substantially similar features found in claim 13. Dependent claims 2 – 12 and 14 - 18 further define the abstract idea or relate to the implementation of the abstract idea. The abstract idea is defined in at least the following grouping below:
Mental processes (observation, evaluation, judgment)
The claims are directed towards a series of steps which can practically be performed by one or more human, which fall into the category of mental processes, (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III)). More specifically, the claimed invention recites a gaming system that provides access to the gaming system to a plurality of cell phone devices, wherein access to the gaming system is approved based on a confidence level and the location of the cell phone devices. The claims recite instructions for controlling a game with these features. Here, a human can observe that the plurality of cell phone devices are attempting to access the gaming system, a human can observe the location of the plurality of cell phone devices, and a human can observe that the cell device’s access to the gaming system has been approved. A human can then determine the location of the cell phone, and can also determine a confidence level based on the location of the cell phone. For example, a human can that is possession of a cell phone can determine that the cell phone is an approved gaming location based on having access to the gaming system, wherein a human can then determine the confidence level is also in an approved location.and a human can then determine that cell phone device’s access to gaming system is approved. Therefore, since the claimed invention can practically be performed in the human mind, it represents an ineligible abstract mental process.
Prong 2: Does the Claim recite additional elements that integrate the exception in to a practical application of the exception?
The claims recite a generic computing device along with instructions that generates and provides a game service to a plurality of cell devices, which is viewed as no more than instructions to implement a judicial exception.
These additional limitations do not represent an improvement to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field, (MPEP 2106.05(a)). Nor do they apply the exception using a particular machine, (MPEP 2106.05(b)). Furthermore, they do not effect a transformation. (MPEP 2106.05(c)). Rather, these additional limitations amount to an instruction to “apply” the judicial exception using a computer as a tool to perform the abstract idea.
Step 2b: It must be determined whether the claimed invention recites additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
The claim language does recite a computing device and a plurality of cell phone devices, wherein determining locations of cell phones to grant access to gaming devices are known in the art, (See 7,435,179 regarding gaming systems determining location of wireless devices, col. 3, line 57 – col. 4, line 5). Viewed as a whole, these additional elements are indistinguishable from conventional computing elements known in the art. Therefore, the additional elements fail to supply additional elements that yield significantly more than the underlying abstract idea. Viewing the limitations as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually. There is no indication that the combination of elements improves the functioning of a computer or improves any other technology.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC M THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-1699. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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/E.M.T/Examiner, Art Unit 3715
/JUSTIN L MYHR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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