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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 5, 14, 17, 18, 27, 30, 31, and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ota (JP 2004267476A; machine translation provided).
Regarding claims 1, 14, 27, and 31, Ota discloses one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having stored therein instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of an information processing apparatus to execute game processing (see par. [0021], The game machine body 2 executes a game program) comprising:
controlling each of propulsive objects that generates a propulsive force and moves at least based on the propulsive force among dynamic objects which are placed in a virtual space and of which movements are controlled based on physical calculations (see par. [0036], In this car racing game, the player controls the traveling direction of the vehicle traveling in the virtual space by operating the main analog stick 109 of the controller 1, and controls the speed of the vehicle (acceleration and gear selection) by operating the R switch 106; also see par. [0050], In the present embodiment, the position of the traveling object is updated by simply adding the speed (SPEED) finally obtained through the various steps described above to the position (POS) of the traveling object, but in practice, in addition to the speed (SPEED), the position of the traveling object is determined in consideration of various other conditions (for example, the inclination of the road surface, the frictional resistance of the road surface, the change in the traveling direction due to the handling, the air resistance, and the like). For example, when a steep slope is going up, a value corresponding to the inclination angle of the slope is subtracted from the speed (SPEED) of the traveling object, and the position of the traveling object is updated based on the speed after the subtraction);
attenuating the propulsive force of the propulsive object in accordance with a moving velocity of the propulsive object (see par. [0054], In the present embodiment, the speed is determined by multiplying the speed (SPEED) of the traveling object by a numerical value (DMP) indicating a predetermined attenuation rate, and adding a numerical value (ACC) indicating the acceleration force to the multiplication result. As a result of such processing, the speed change of the traveling object when the gear is accelerated in a fixed state becomes more realistic as compared with the conventional game apparatus); and
when the moving velocity based on physical calculation exceeds a predetermined reference, controlling the propulsive force to be zero (see par. [0055], In the present embodiment, the speed of the traveling object increases with time by selecting the predetermined gear, but as shown in FIG. 10, even when any one of the gears is selected, the acceleration decreases with time and becomes constant at the time when the final maximum speed is reached).
Regarding claims 4, 17, 30, and 34, Ota discloses wherein the game processing further comprises attenuating the propulsive force in accordance with a component of the moving velocity along a direction of the propulsive force (see par. [0050], In the present embodiment, the position of the traveling object is updated by simply adding the speed (SPEED) finally obtained through the various steps described above to the position (POS) of the traveling object, but in practice, in addition to the speed (SPEED), the position of the traveling object is determined in consideration of various other conditions (for example, the inclination of the road surface, the frictional resistance of the road surface, the change in the traveling direction due to the handling, the air resistance, and the like). For example, when a steep slope is going up, a value corresponding to the inclination angle of the slope is subtracted from the speed (SPEED) of the traveling object, and the position of the traveling object is updated based on the speed after the subtraction), and
the predetermined reference is that the component along the direction of the propulsive force reaches a predetermined reference value (see par. [0055], In the present embodiment, the speed of the traveling object increases with time by selecting the predetermined gear, but as shown in FIG. 10, even when any one of the gears is selected, the acceleration decreases with time and becomes constant at the time when the final maximum speed is reached).
Regarding claims 5 and 18, Ota discloses wherein the game processing further comprises, for a first propulsive object having a first state and a second state among the propulsive objects, continuously generating the propulsive force in a predetermined direction in the first state (see par. [0052], For example, when the high gear is selected, the engine sound is increased, and when the low gear is selected, the engine sound is lowered, so that the player can easily recognize the characteristics of the currently selected gear).
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) 2, 3, 9, 11, 15, 16, 22, 24, 28, 29, 32, and 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ota (JP 2004267476A; machine translation provided) in view of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (as shown by NPL “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Basics”, hereinafter referred to as Banjo).
Regarding claims 2, 15, 28, and 32, Ota discloses the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as discussed above. However, Ota does not explicitly disclose wherein the game processing further comprises forming an assembly object by linking a plurality of the dynamic objects based on an operation input.
Banjo teaches a game wherein the game processing further comprises forming an assembly object by linking a plurality of the dynamic objects based on an operation input (see pg. 5, 4th par., When building your vehicle from scratch, keep in mind the bare necessities in creating a fully functional vehicle. You need a body kit, wheels, a seat, and of course, the driving force of the whole moving contraption, the engine; also see pg. 7, 1st par., Likewise, in the art of building a plane, you must include the most crucial element to its functionality, the wings. The plane needs wheels for landing and picking up speed at take-off, so add three wheels (two in the back, one in the front). Mount fuel tanks on the wings and complement them with Propellers so wind is drawn in and blown out the back). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media to form assembly objects as taught by Banjo in order to create unique vehicles that must adapted to the conditional requirements of the challenge (see Banjo, pg. 3, 1st par.)
Regarding claims 3, 16, 29, and 33, Ota discloses wherein the game processing further comprises:
regarding each of the dynamic objects included in the assembly object, determining a moving velocity based on physical calculations using forces from the dynamic objects to which the dynamic object is linked (see par. [0050], In the present embodiment, the position of the traveling object is updated by simply adding the speed (SPEED) finally obtained through the various steps described above to the position (POS) of the traveling object, but in practice, in addition to the speed (SPEED), the position of the traveling object is determined in consideration of various other conditions (for example, the inclination of the road surface, the frictional resistance of the road surface, the change in the traveling direction due to the handling, the air resistance, and the like). For example, when a steep slope is going up, a value corresponding to the inclination angle of the slope is subtracted from the speed (SPEED) of the traveling object, and the position of the traveling object is updated based on the speed after the subtraction); and
regarding each of the propulsive objects included in the assembly object, attenuating the propulsive force of the propulsive object in accordance with the moving velocity of the propulsive object (see par. [0054], In the present embodiment, the speed is determined by multiplying the speed (SPEED) of the traveling object by a numerical value (DMP) indicating a predetermined attenuation rate, and adding a numerical value (ACC) indicating the acceleration force to the multiplication result. As a result of such processing, the speed change of the traveling object when the gear is accelerated in a fixed state becomes more realistic as compared with the conventional game apparatus).
Regarding claims 9 and 22, Ota discloses wherein the game processing further comprises causing a third propulsive object among the propulsive objects to generate the propulsive force for a predetermined period from a timing specified based on an operation input (see par. [0047], When the R switch 106 is not pressed at all (when the analog value is 0), the accelerator is disabled, and when the R switch 106 is slightly pressed (when the analog value is 1 or more), the accelerator is valid). Banjo teaches the use of multiple propulsive objects (see pg. 3, 1st par., For example, if the challenge involves a race of some sort, you will need to ditch the extra weight and slap on extra engines for mega-horsepower).
Regarding claims 11 and 24, Banjo teaches wherein the game processing further comprises causing a fourth propulsive object among the propulsive objects to generate the propulsive force in an up direction in the virtual space (see pg. 7, 1st par. Likewise, in the art of building a plane, you must include the most crucial element to its functionality, the wings. The plane needs wheels for landing and picking up speed at take-off, so add three wheels (two in the back, one in the front). Mount fuel tanks on the wings and complement them with Propellers so wind is drawn in and blown out the back).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8, 10, 12, 13, 19-21, 23, 25, and 26 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the references, alone or in combination, teach or suggest wherein the game processing further comprises, if the first propulsive object is not a part of an assembly object and is in a predetermined orientation, controlling the first propulsive object not to generate the propulsive force in the first state; wherein the propulsive objects include a second propulsive object, and the game processing further comprises causing the first propulsive object to generate a contact determination area in the virtual space in addition to the propulsive force, and if the contact determination area comes into contact with the second propulsive object, causing the second propulsive object to generate the propulsive force; wherein the game processing further comprises, while the propulsive force is being generated in the third propulsive object, increasing mass and an inertia tensor of the third propulsive object used in the physical calculations; wherein the game processing further comprises controlling the fourth propulsive object so that the greater a predetermined parameter applied based on game processing is, the more increased the propulsive force for the fourth propulsive object and the reference value are; and wherein the game processing further comprises, while the propulsive force is being generated in the fourth propulsive object, increasing mass and an inertia tensor of the fourth propulsive object used in the physical calculations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Katayama et al. (US 7,637,813 B2), Ikeda (US 2010/0279770 A1), Tanaka (US 2017/0348592 A1)
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/ALLEN CHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715 2/13/2026