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 § 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.
Claims 1-20 is/are directed towards a statutory category they are directed to either a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter (Step 1, Yes).
Claim 15 recites, in part, the limitations of […]; receive, […], one or more input which sets a plurality of customizable parameters of the template user interface, the plurality of customizable parameters of the template user interface corresponding to a plurality of interactive features of the customizable 3D virtual environment; and […]. These limitations, individually and in combination, describe or set forth the abstract idea in claim 15 (substantially similar to claims 1 and 10). The Examiner notes that the specific limitations that describe or set forth the abstract idea in Step 2A Prong 1 can be identified either individually or in combination (see p. 54 of 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance).
Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the claims recite limitations that are considered a fundamental economic principle or practice (e.g., relating to commerce and economy), commercial interactions, business relations, managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people. The Examiner notes that certain activity between a person and a computer may fall within the certain methods of organizing human activity grouping (see p. 5 of the October 2019 Update: Subject Matter Eligibility).
Therefore, the claims fall under the following enumerated groupings of abstract ideas: mental processes (e.g., concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, or opinion)), and/or certain methods of organizing human activity (e.g., 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), or managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions)) (Step 2A, Prong 1, Yes).
Claim 15 recites the additional elements of “one or more processors”, “a computer-readable memory device”, “an environment generator engine”, “a plurality of displays”, and “a plurality of guest computing devices”. These additional elements, when considered individually or in combination, are not integrated into a practical application because they are all recited at a high level of generality and are merely used as tools to implement or perform the steps of the abstract idea. The additional elements when considered alone and in combination amount to no more than using generic computing components to apply the judicial exception. The recitations “provide a template user interface for…” and “cause the virtual interactive environment to be presented…” are insignificant extra-solution activity i.e., data gathering and/or data output. Accordingly, even in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application (Step 2A Prong 2, No). Thus, the claim is directed to an abstract idea.
Claim 15 does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed with respect to Step 2A - Prong Two, the additional elements in the claim amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components and the insignificant extra-solution activity of providing and presenting is no more than data gathering and data output. The same analysis applies here in step 2B and does not provide an inventive concept (Step 2B, No).
The dependent claims fail to add “significantly more” because they merely represent further use of generic computers for routine data-processing functions related to steps/rules for generating a customizable 3D virtual environment based on user input (Claims 2-9, 11-14, and 16-20).
For these reasons, there is no inventive concept. The claims are not patent eligible. Even when viewed as a whole, nothing in the claims add significantly more to the abstract idea.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Rogers et al. (US 2019/0287307 A1) (henceforth, “Rogers”).
Regarding claims 15, 1, and 10, Rogers teaches a method and system for providing a virtual interactive environment, the system comprising:
one or more processors (e.g., the exemplary system includes a processor 120 in Fig. 1 and Para. 70); and
a computer-readable memory device (e.g., the exemplary system includes memory 130 in Fig. 1 and Para. 70) storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
provide, with an environment generator engine, a template user interface for creating a customizable computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment (e.g., 3D virtual environment is preferably divided into a plurality of zones, wherein each zone is associated with at least one application that dictates the ability of users to interact the 3D virtual environment within the zone, property servers may contain or have access to a suite or set of applications that enable the administrator of the property server (owner of the property) to create and store zones and to associate applications with the zones, as well as perform other development activities on the property that effect the user's experience, and create zones by, for example, selecting an “add zone” option, the selection preferably triggers a “development mode” that presents an overhead view of the virtual property and a set of basic shapes (e.g. square, rectangle, circle, oval, triangle, and trapezoid) in Para. 19, Para. 92, and Para. 112);
receive, with the environment generator engine, one or more input which sets a plurality of customizable parameters of the template user interface, the plurality of customizable parameters of the template user interface corresponding to a plurality of interactive features of the customizable 3D virtual environment (Para. 112), and the plurality of interactive features include an avatar feature (e.g., customize avatars in Para. 173), a product model feature (e.g., items or products in Para. 159), and a game feature (e.g., jumping, running, or other actions and games through the virtual environment in Para. 159-160); and
cause the virtual interactive environment to be presented, at a plurality of displays of a plurality of guest computing devices accessing the customizable 3D virtual environment, as a plurality of different virtual avatars corresponding to the plurality of guest computing devices, the plurality of different virtual avatars being navigable in a computer-generated 3D space of the computer-generated 3D virtual environment including the plurality of interactive features (e.g., visitors (i.e., guests) accessing websites provides a 3D virtual environment where visitors are visualized as avatars that move through the environment in Para. 19, Para. 38, and Para. 172-175).
Regarding claim 2, Rogers teaches receiving a navigation-specific input (e.g., a single virtual environment that users navigate through by controlling an avatar in Para. 80 and Para. 91); and cycling between a plurality of predefined location coordinates of the customizable 3D virtual environment responsive to the navigation-specific input (e.g., points on a map in Para. 148).
Regarding claim 3, Rogers teaches presenting a mini-map portion at a graphical user interface (GUI) of the one or more guest computing devices (e.g., map HUD tool in Para. 142); detecting an interaction with the mini-map portion of the GUI; and cause an avatar location to change to a predefined location coordinate corresponding to the interaction with the mini-map portion of the GUI (e.g., selecting a point on the map will teleport the avatar to the location selected in Para. 148).
Regarding claim 4, Rogers teaches wherein the one or more customizable parameters control the interactive features including a 3D model rendered to form a virtual structure, a virtual building, or a virtual room, the 3D model defining the computer-generated 3D space of the customizable 3D virtual environment (e.g.,. structures in Para. 159).
Regarding claim 5, Rogers teaches the environment generator engine receives the one or more input at a moderator computing device which hosts the computer-generated 3D space for the one or more guest computing devices accessing the customizable 3D virtual environment (e.g., developer or system administrator in Par. 77 and Para. 92).
Regarding claim 6, Rogers teaches the one or more customizable parameters includes one or more product models mapped to one or more virtual surfaces of the computer-generated 3D space (e.g., an electronics store may have a hyperlink zone for each product in Para. 119 and Para. 121-122).
Regarding claim 7, Rogers teaches the one or more product models include a link which, responsive to receiving a user interaction, causes a computing device hosting the customizable 3D virtual environment to: retrieve product data related to the one or more product models stored at a product information database; and cause the product data to be presented at the one or more guest computing devices overlayed onto the customizable 3D virtual environment (e.g., an electronics store may have a hyperlink zone for each product and when an avatar is within the hyperlink zone and the user activates the hyperlink, the system may direct the user to the 2D webpage for a product's description and specifications in Para. 121-122).
Regarding claim 8, Rogers teaches the one or more customizable parameters control one or more of a lighting source layer, a reflective material layer, or a texture layer mapped to a 3D model to define the computer-generated 3D space (e.g., light and texture in Para. 155).
Regarding claim 9, Rogers teaches the one or more customizable parameters include a first set of avatar customization parameters selected to be mutable by the one or more input, and a second set of avatar customization parameters selected to be immutable by the one or more input (Para. 173).
Regarding claim 11, Rogers teaches receive an environment input from one or more sensors of the one or more guest computing devices, the environment input indicating a real world spatial surrounding of the one or more guest computing devices, the computer-generated 3D space representing the environment input overlayed with the plurality of interactive features (e.g., augmented reality in Para. 81-84 and GPS coordinates in Para. 123-124).
Regarding claim 12, Rogers teaches the game feature includes a tile-flipping memory game integrated into the customizable 3D virtual environment, and the one or more customizable parameters further include: a number of tiles of the tile-flipping memory game; one or more images disposed on one or more tiles of the tile-flipping memory game; and a visual indicator of a prize associated with successful completion of the tile-flipping memory game (e.g., gaming zones, wherein, applications with zones to apply certain characteristics/capabilities which may include sets of human and/or programmed rules and regulations, and games through the virtual environment, virtual arcade, and game creation tools in Para. 117, Para. 159-160, Para. 162, Para. 211).
Regarding claim 13, Rogers teaches the game feature includes a virtual claw-machine game integrated into the customizable 3D virtual environment, and the one or more customizable parameters include: a plurality of images or virtual objects, corresponding to a plurality of virtual prizes; and a visual indicator associated with a successful completion of the virtual claw-machine game (e.g., gaming zones, wherein, applications with zones to apply certain characteristics/capabilities which may include sets of human and/or programmed rules and regulations, and games through the virtual environment, virtual arcade, and game creation tools in Para. 117, Para. 159-160, Para. 162, Para. 211).
Regarding claim 14, Rogers teaches the game feature includes a virtual scavenger hunt game integrated in the customizable 3D virtual environment, and the one or more customizable parameters include: one or more images or objects uploaded to the environment generator engine; one or more hidden object locations coordinates, selected with the one or more input, associated with the one or more images or objects; and a visual indicator associated with a successful completion of the virtual scavenger hunt game (e.g., gaming zones, wherein, applications with zones to apply certain characteristics/capabilities which may include sets of human and/or programmed rules and regulations, and games through the virtual environment, virtual arcade, and game creation tools in Para. 117, Para. 159-160, Para. 162, Para. 211).
Regarding claim 16, Rogers teaches the template user interface includes an avatar customization parameters interface representing different portions of an avatar, and the plurality of customizable parameters include customized sets of selectable avatar features that correspond to the different portions of the avatar (Para. 173).
Regarding claim 17, Rogers teaches the plurality of interactive features include a guide avatar (e.g., employees in Para. 102) and the plurality of customizable parameters include one or more of: one or more images or objects associated with product data (e.g., products in Para. 5, Para. 17, Para. 25, Para. 121, Para. 126), uploaded to the environment generator engine, for outputting by the guide avatar in the customizable 3D virtual environment responsive to an interaction with a virtual avatar of the plurality of different virtual avatars; or one or more predefined location coordinates of the customizable 3D virtual environment for navigating the guide avatar responsive to the interaction with the virtual avatar.
Regarding claim 18, Rogers teaches determine a user preference from a database storing user profile information associated with a user of a guest computing device; and determine a customizable parameter based at least partly on the user preference, the customizable parameter corresponding to a content file rendered at a surface in the customizable 3D virtual environment (e.g., profiled settings in Para. 147 and Para. 173).
Regarding claim 19, Rogers teaches create, using a generative AI content engine, a plurality of selectable options for a customizable parameter, the template user interface including a user interface portion presenting the plurality of selectable options (e.g., ai in Para. 210).
Regarding claim 20, Rogers teaches the plurality of selectable options define a customizable parameter which determines a 3D model virtual building structure, a room arrangement, a color scheme, a wallpaper design, a surface texture, a virtual architectural features, or a lighting arrangement (e.g., light and texture in Para. 155).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHASE E LEICHLITER whose telephone number is (571)270-7109. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (9-5).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Lewis can be reached at (571)272-7673. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHASE E LEICHLITER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715