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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 8, and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities: the claims state, “in response to a target trigger operation determining” in line 6 of claim 1, respectively. However, this line should state, “in response to a target trigger operation, determining”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wan et al. (US 2022/0035515 A1) (henceforth, “Wan”) in view of Miyamoto et al. (US 6,165,073) (henceforth, “Miyamoto”).
Regarding claims 1, 8, and 15, Wan teaches a virtual object control method, device, and computer-readable medium, comprising:
displaying a virtual scene and a first virtual object controlled by a current client in a display interface of a terminal device (Fig. 4);
wherein a first pose of the first virtual object in the virtual scene is linked with a second pose of a virtual camera in the virtual scene (Fig. 4 and a camera model bound to the first virtual object is disposed in the virtual environment in Para. 75);
in response to a target trigger operation determining a target virtual object which satisfies a preset interactive condition in the virtual scene based on the first pose of the first virtual object (e.g., fast casting mode is triggered in Para. 69);
determining movement information of the first virtual object based on a third pose of the target virtual object and the first pose (Para. 70-71); and
controlling the first virtual object to make a movement according to the movement information and controlling the first virtual object to perform an interactive action corresponding to the target trigger operation on the target virtual object after the movement is finished (e.g., the first virtual object 51 jumps to a position of the target virtual object 52, and casts a slash-type attack with huge damage to the target virtual object 52 in Para. 70-71).
But Wan although teaching “a camera model bound to the first virtual object is disposed in the virtual environment” (Para. 75) and “the first virtual object 51 jumps to a position of the target virtual object 52” (Para. 70-71), lacks in explicitly teaching suspending the linkage relationship between a first orientation of the first pose and a second orientation of the second pose. In a related disclosure, Miyamoto teaches a video game apparatus and memory medium adapted to display the player object and non-player object in a three-dimension virtual space of a display unit (see Col. 1 Lines 9-11). More particularly, Miyamoto teaches if the Z button 47Z is switched on, the hypothetical camera is shifted in position and photographing direction so as to photograph from the behind of the player object PO the state that the player object PO faces the non-player object (e.g., triggering operation to suspend the linkage relationship in Col. 12 Lines 54 to Col. 13 Line 10). Miyamoto states that “According to the present invention, the operation of the second operating means by a player readily sets the player object paying attention to the non-player object, thus drastically improving game operation” (Col. 2 Lines 38-48). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to modify the aiming of Wan to include the camera shifting features of Miyamoto in order to provide an improved gaming operation, as beneficially taught by Miyamoto.
Regarding claims 2, 9, and 16, Wan as modified by Miyamoto teaches the first pose further comprises a first position and the second pose further comprises a second position; the determining the target virtual object which satisfies a preset interactive condition in the virtual scene based on the first pose of the first virtual object comprises: determining, from a plurality of second virtual objects included in the virtual scene, candidate virtual objects located within a first distance range from the first position of the first virtual object; determining a target angle between a third orientation of each candidate virtual object relative to the virtual camera and the second orientation; and determining the target virtual object from the candidate virtual objects based on the target angle (Fig. 13-14 and Steps 702-708 starting in Para. 73 through Para. 136).
Regarding claims 3, 10, and 17, Wan as modified by Miyamoto teaches in response to the target trigger operation comprises: in response to a target trigger operation on a target prop of the first virtual object; the determining movement information of the first virtual object based on a third pose of the target virtual object and the first pose comprises: determining movement information of the first virtual object based on a third pose of the target virtual object, the first pose and the corresponding range of action of the target prop (e.g., range in Para. 8 and filtering target selection range in Fig. 13-14 and Steps 702-708 starting in Para. 73 through Para. 136).
Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19, Wan as modified by Miyamoto teaches subsequent to controlling the first virtual object to perform an interactive action corresponding to the target trigger operation on the target virtual object, the method further comprises: in the case where the state of the target virtual object satisfies a preset condition, reestablishing the linkage relationship between the first orientation and the second orientation (Miyamoto – Z Button trigger and release in Col. 12 Lines 54 to Col. 13 Line 10).
Regarding claims 6, 13, and 20, Wan as modified by Miyamoto teaches subsequent to suspending the linkage relationship between a first orientation of the first pose and a second orientation of the second pose, the method further comprises: in response to a movement control operation of the first virtual object, controlling the first virtual object to make a movement according to the movement control operation, and reestablishing the linkage relationship between the first orientation and the second orientation (Miyamoto – Z Button trigger and release in Col. 12 Lines 54 to Col. 13 Line 10).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Wan as modified by Miyamoto teaches subsequent to reestablishing the linkage relationship between the first orientation and the second orientation, the method further comprises: in the case where it is detected that the current first orientation of the first virtual object and the current second orientation of the virtual camera are inconsistent, adjusting the first orientation of the first virtual object, or adjusting the second orientation of the virtual camera (Miyamoto – Z Button trigger and release in Col. 12 Lines 54 to Col. 13 Line 10).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 11, and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure and is listed on the attached Notice of References Cited.
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/CHASE E LEICHLITER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715