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
Claim 36 objected to because of the following informalities: Line 6 recites “ virtual person” instead of virtual persona. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 48 objected to because of the following informalities: Lines 30-36 are duplicates of lines 24-29 of the claim that recites “ receive a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, including an authenticator generated using the ACKP; verify the request to access the virtual persona on the DLT by (a) verifying the requestor has permission to access the virtual persona in the permissions and (b) authenticating the authenticator using the ACKP; and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allow the requestor software application to access the virtual persona.” . Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“a virtual persona tokenization system configured to” in claim 48.
“a virtual persona access system configured to” in claim 48.
“a real-time virtual persona presence system configured to” in claim 50.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claim 51 is 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 51 recites the limitation “ wherein the real-time virtual persona presence system…”in the first line of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation of the claim. Examiner recommends that this claim be amended to depend on claim 50 in order to overcome this rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 11,25,31,32,33, 36, 39 ,40,41,44, 46,47 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), and in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1).
In regards to claim 1, Vijayan teaches a method for generating and using a tokenized virtual persona, the method comprising:
creating a virtual persona for a first user, the virtual persona comprising one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona (Vijayan: NFTs can be created around a large range of real world media content and intellectual property. Movie studios (CIPO) can mint digital collectibles for their movies, characters, notable scenes and/or notable objects. For example, a collectible movie character NFT can also be used cross-platform in a video game as the player's avatar; [Para 68]. Examiner asserts movie characters are known to have one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits.);
associating the virtual persona with a unique first user account having an associated unique authorized cryptographic key pair (ACKP) (Vijayan: The content creator application includes a set of content creator wallet keys 1212 that can include a public key/private key pair that the content creator application can use to sign NFTs minted by the content creator application [Para 119].);
generating a master virtual persona token (MVPT) for the virtual persona by associating the virtual persona to the first user account as a non-fungible token (NFT) (Vijayan: NFTs can be created around a large range of real world media content and intellectual property. Movie studios can mint digital collectibles for their movies, characters, notable scenes and/or notable objects. For example, a collectible movie character NFT can also be used cross-platform in a video game as the player's avatar; [Para 68]); and
recording the MVPT on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) configured to track ownership rights to the virtual persona (Vijayan: Possession of the NFT reflects the ownership of the collectible. It is non-interchangeable as each collectible is unique and serialized.[Para 65].);
But Vijayan does not explicitly disclose encrypting the virtual persona; storing the encrypted virtual persona at a storage location within a virtual persona media database; configuring one or more permissions defining usage rights for the virtual persona, the permissions including one or more application permissions authorizing one or more of a plurality of software applications to access and use the virtual persona; and recording the application permissions as a transaction for the MVPT on the DLT.
However, Goossens in a similar field of endeavor, teaches a system for customized avatars that disclose encrypting the virtual persona; storing the encrypted virtual persona at a storage location within a virtual persona media database (Goossens: In one embodiment the one or more messaging server(s) 1301 can maintain an avatar database 1302 which has, for each avatar, the corresponding token and a corresponding time-to-live value. The avatar database 1302 and/or each avatar can be stored in an encrypted format.[Fig 13;Para 83].);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vijayan to include encrypting avatars in order to increase the security of the avatar when it is shared.
But the combination of Vijayan and Goossens still does not explicitly disclose configuring one or more permissions defining usage rights for the virtual persona, the permissions including one or more application permissions authorizing one or more of a plurality of software applications to access and use the virtual persona; and recording the application permissions as a transaction for the MVPT on the DLT.
However, Zimmerman in a similar field of endeavor teaches an avatar apparatus that discloses configuring one or more permissions defining usage rights for the virtual persona, the permissions including one or more application permissions authorizing one or more of a plurality of software applications to access and use the virtual persona (Zimmerman; In step e, the AI processor device of the avatar uses a directory of all authorized entities in its communication authentication storage to check whether said AI processor device is authorized to provide information to said entity[Para 42], wherein the authorizations are specified the person or central institution[Para 50].) ; and recording the application permissions as a transaction for the MVPT on the DLT (Zimmerman: The avatar preferably comprises a storage (log storage) in which the historical course of the changes is stored (for example using blockchains or the like)[Para 52]. Examiner asserts that these mechanisms collectively establish and enforce permission rights for other entities to access the avatar in conjunction with maintaining records on the blockchain which are functionally equivalent to the claimed limitations) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Zimmerman such that permissions for accessing and using the avatar are logged on the blockchain. This ensures that the permissions are verifiable to control access to the avatar.
In regard to claim 6, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, wherein a smart contract generates the MVPT by associating the virtual persona to the first user account. (Vijayan: One embodiment of the invention is a media wallet including: a processor; a network interface; and memory containing a media wallet application. In addition, the processor is capable of being configured by the media wallet application to: securely store non-fungible tokens (NFTs), where each NFT is associated with a programmatically defined smart contract written to at least one immutable ledger; [Para 11].).
In regard to claim 11, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, wherein the DLT is selected from the group consisting of: blockchain technology; and directed acyclic graph (DAG) technology (Vijayan: (minting NFTs to an NFT blockchain; paragraphs [0085]-(0086]).
In regard to claim 25, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, wherein the first user is a character intellectual property owner (CIPO) that owns intellectual property rights in a character and the first user account is a CIPO account of the CIPO (Vijayan: if a content creator such as a movie studio (character intellectual property owner) owns a virtual media property, like an animated character from a movie, that studio can utilize the content engagement platform to mint an NFT to tokenize the character(creating a virtual persona) into a digital collectible, where official digital trading cards can be made from likeness of celebrities, cartoon characters and/or gaming avatars (appearance attributes, physical attributes); paragraphs [0065], [0068]), and wherein creating the virtual persona comprises: receiving a request from the CIPO account to create the virtual persona (Vijayan: a media wallet application associated with the movie studio owning the virtual media property requests that the NFT was minted; paragraphs [0009], [0084], [0119], [claim 18].); authenticating the request from the CIPO account using the ACKP (Vijayan: the request is authorized using the set of content creator wallet keys; paragraphs [0084], [0119],[claim 18]));receiving character data for the character comprising one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the character (Vijayan: an administrator of the content engagement platform can vet an applicant, corresponding to the movie studio, to confirm that the movie studio holds necessary intellectual property rights to mint an NFT with respect to a particular character, where vetting the content creator would reasonably include requiring the content creator to provide attributes specific to the character or unreleased content as proof of ownership; paragraph[0084]-[0086]); ; and creating the virtual persona using the character data (Vijayan: the NFT corresponding to the character is minted after the applicant is vetted; paragraphs [0084]-[0086]) .
In regard to claim 31, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, further comprising: creating a sub virtual persona (SVP) entity account (Vijayan: In a still further embodiment, the at least one computer system configured as an NFT registry service is further capable of minting NFTs that are programmatically defined to transfer non-fungible tokens to a content creator account upon the occurrence of at least one transaction type involving the NFT.[Para 25].)and generating an SVP ACKP associated with the SVP entity account ; creating an authorized SVP entity account wallet and registering the SVP ACKP in the SVP entity account wallet (Vijayan: A yet further embodiment also includes user devices configured by media wallet applications capable of securely storing NFTs owned by the user on the user device, wherein the media wallet application manages accounts on multiple immutable ledgers using wallet keys. [Paras [27],[29][118]); granting the SVP entity account access and use rights to the virtual persona for the first user; generating a SVP token (SVPT) by associating the access rights to the virtual persona as a non-fungible token; and recording the SVPT as a transaction on the DLT (Vijayan: the media wallet applications are capable of requesting that the plurality of computer systems authenticate that an NFT was minted by a particular content creator. In addition, the plurality of computer systems authenticate the NFT based upon at least one process selected from the group including: a comparison of a signature of a content creator that minted the NFT and cryptographic information published by the particular content creator identified by a specific media wallet application; and confirming that transactions in the at least one immutable ledger involving the NFT and the particular content creator are consistent with a smart contract underlying the NFT.[Para45].).
In regard to claim 32, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 31, wherein granting the SVP entity account access rights to the virtual persona for the first user comprises: configuring a permission granting access rights to the virtual persona to the SVP entity account (Zimmerman; In step e, the AI processor device of the avatar uses a directory of all authorized entities in its communication authentication storage to check whether said AI processor device is authorized to provide information to said entity[Para 42]).
In regard to claim 33, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 32, wherein the SVPT is generated by a smart contract which combines the SVPT ACKP with the storage location (Vijayan: The plurality of computer systems authenticate the NFT based upon at least one process selected from the group including: a comparison of a signature of a content creator that minted the NFT and cryptographic information published by the particular content creator identified by a specific media wallet application; and confirming that transactions in the at least one immutable ledger involving the NFT and the particular content creator are consistent with a smart contract underlying the NFT..[Para 45].).
In regards to claim 36, Vijayan teaches a method for generating and using a tokenized virtual persona, the method comprising:
creating a virtual persona utilizing character data for a character owned by a character intellectual property owner (CIPO), the virtual persona comprising one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona (Vijayan: NFTs can be created around a large range of real world media content and intellectual property. Movie studios (CIPO) can mint digital collectibles for their movies, characters, notable scenes and/or notable objects. For example, a collectible movie character NFT can also be used cross-platform in a video game as the player's avatar; [Para 68]. Examiner asserts movie characters are known to have one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits.) ;
associating the virtual person with a unique CIPO account having an associated unique authorized cryptographic key pair (ACKP) (Vijayan: The content creator application includes a set of content creator wallet keys 1212 that can include a public key/private key pair that the content creator application can use to sign NFTs minted by the content creator application [Para 119].);
generating a master virtual persona token (MVPT) of the virtual persona by associating the virtual persona to the CIPO account as a non-fungible token (NFT), (Vijayan: NFTs can be created around a large range of real world media content and intellectual property. Movie studios can mint digital collectibles for their movies, characters, notable scenes and/or notable objects. For example, a collectible movie character NFT can also be used cross-platform in a video game as the player's avatar; [Para 68]);
recording the MVPT as a transaction on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) configured to track ownership rights to the virtual persona (Vijayan: Possession of the NFT reflects the ownership of the collectible. It is non-interchangeable as each collectible is unique and serialized.[Para 65].);
But Vijayan does not explicitly disclose encrypting the virtual persona; storing the encrypted virtual persona at a storage location within a virtual persona media database; configuring a license to a first user to access and use the virtual persona; recording the license for the first user as a transaction for the MVPT on the DLT; receiving a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, including an authenticator generated using the ACKP;verifying the request to access the virtual persona on the DLT by verifying the first user has permission to access the virtual persona in the license, and authenticating the authenticator using the ACKP; and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allowing the requestor access to the virtual persona.
However, Goossens in a similar field of endeavor, teaches a system for customized avatars that disclose encrypting the virtual persona; storing the encrypted virtual persona at a storage location within a virtual persona media database (Goossens: In one embodiment the one or more messaging server(s) 1301 can maintain an avatar database 1302 which has, for each avatar, the corresponding token and a corresponding time-to-live value. The avatar database 1302 and/or each avatar can be stored in an encrypted format.[Fig 13;Para 83].);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vijayan to include encrypting avatars in order to increase the security of the avatar when it is shared.
But the combination of Vijayan and Goossens still does not explicitly disclose configuring a license to a first user to access and use the virtual persona; recording the license for the first user as a transaction for the MVPT on the DLT.
However, Zimmerman in a similar field of endeavor teaches an avatar apparatus that discloses configuring a license to a first user to access and use the virtual persona; recording the license for the first user as a transaction for the MVPT on the DLT (Zimmerman: Using a cryptographic storage in which access keys are administered, the avatar can preferably check what entity has what rights to receive information, and in what scope. Using this key, it is furthermore ensured that only the real person is authorized to make changes in the personal storage of the avatar. Since the ethical avatar can be trained by the real person not only once, but said person can preferably make changes to the content of the personal storage at any time, the avatar preferably comprises a storage (log storage) in which the historical course of the changes is stored (for example using blockchains or the like)[Para 51-52]. Examiner asserts that these mechanisms collectively establish and enforce permission rights for a user to access and use the avatar in conjunction with maintaining records on the blockchain which are functionally equivalent to the claimed limitations) . receiving a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, including an authenticator generated using the ACKP; verifying the request to access the virtual persona on the DLT by verifying the first user has permission to access the virtual persona in the license, and authenticating the authenticator using the ACKP; and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allowing the requestor access to the virtual persona.(Zimmerman:[Fig 2] Step a is communication with the real person. In step b, the AI processor device uses its cryptographic storage to verify whether the person is authorized to make changes in, and/or to communicate with, the personal storage. In step c, yes/no decisions are made as to whether to allow training and/or yes/no decisions are made as to whether to provide information. Step d is a received query relating to a particular topic from an entity such as a research organization. In step e, the AI processor device of the avatar uses a directory of all authorized entities in its communication authentication storage to check whether said AI processor device is authorized to provide information to said entity and on what topics said AI processor device is authorized to provide information to said entity, wherein, in particular, of a protocol of the communication in the communication authentication storage is used. In step f, the result of the check is provided. [Para 42]. ;
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Zimmerman such that permissions for accessing and using the avatar are logged on the blockchain. This ensures that the permissions are verifiable to control access to the avatar.
In regard to claim 39, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 36, further comprising: recording a transaction on the DLT for allowing the requestor software application to access the virtual persona (Vijayan: When a transaction 608 occurs using the NFT, the NFT blockchain automatically processes the rules associated with the transaction[Para 109].).
In regard to claim 40, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 36, wherein a smart contract generates the MVPT by associating the virtual persona to the CIPO account. (Vijayan: One embodiment of the invention is a media wallet including: a processor; a network interface; and memory containing a media wallet application. In addition, the processor is capable of being configured by the media wallet application to: securely store non-fungible tokens (NFTs), where each NFT is associated with a programmatically defined smart contract written to at least one immutable ledger; [Para 11].).
In regard to claim 41, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 36, wherein the character data comprises one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the character, the method further comprising: receiving a request from the CIPO account to create the virtual persona (Vijayan: a media wallet application associated with the movie studio owning the virtual media property requests that the NFT was minted; paragraphs [0009], [0084], [0119]),; authenticating the request from the CIPO account using the ACKP (Vijayan: The content creators can be authenticated by the content engagement platform to confirm that the content creator holds the necessary intellectual property rights to mint an NFT with respect to a particular character and/or piece of content.[Para 84].); and receiving the character data (Vijayan: An administrator of the content engagement platform can vet an applicant prior to approval as a content creator. Once approved, the content creator can mint an NFT with respect to character and/or piece of IP content.[Para 84].).
In regard to claim 44, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 36, wherein the virtual persona is (Vijayan: NFTs can be created around a large range of real world media content and intellectual property. Movie studios can mint digital collectibles for their movies, characters, notable scenes and/or notable objects; where each NFT has a set of attributes that define its unique properties [Para 68] Examiner asserts that creating multiple NFTs based on characters where each NFT is unique is functional equivalent to the sub virtual persona. ).
In regard to claim 46, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 36, further comprising: creating a sub virtual persona (SVP) entity account (Vijayan: In a still further embodiment, the at least one computer system configured as an NFT registry service is further capable of minting NFTs that are programmatically defined to transfer non-fungible tokens to a content creator account upon the occurrence of at least one transaction type involving the NFT.[Para 25].) and generating an SVP ACKP associated with the SVP entity account; creating an authorized SVP entity account wallet and registering the SVP ACKP in the SVP entity account wallet (Vijayan: A yet further embodiment also includes user devices configured by media wallet applications capable of securely storing NFTs owned by the user on the user device, wherein the media wallet application manages accounts on multiple immutable ledgers using wallet keys. [Paras [27],[29][118]).; granting the SVP entity account a license to access the virtual persona for SVP entity; generating a SVP token (SVPT) by associating the license to the virtual persona as a non- fungible token (NFT); and recording the SVPT as a transaction on the DLT (Vijayan: the media wallet applications are capable of requesting that the plurality of computer systems authenticate that an NFT was minted by a particular content creator. In addition, the plurality of computer systems authenticate the NFT based upon at least one process selected from the group including: a comparison of a signature of a content creator that minted the NFT and cryptographic information published by the particular content creator identified by a specific media wallet application; and confirming that transactions in the at least one immutable ledger involving the NFT and the particular content creator are consistent with a smart contract underlying the NFT.[Para45].).
In regard to claim 47, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 46, wherein the SVPT is generated by a smart contract which combines the SVPT ACKP with the storage location (Vijayan: The plurality of computer systems authenticate the NFT based upon at least one process selected from the group including: a comparison of a signature of a content creator that minted the NFT and cryptographic information published by the particular content creator identified by a specific media wallet application; and confirming that transactions in the at least one immutable ledger involving the NFT and the particular content creator are consistent with a smart contract underlying the NFT..[Para 45].).
Claim(s) 2,3,5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), and in further view of Rodefer (US-20080306951-A1).
In regard to claim 2, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, further comprising:
(Vijayan: the NFT is authenticated by comparing a signature (authenticator) of a content creator that minted the NFT and cryptographic information published by the particular content creator identified by a specific media wallet application (ACKP); and confirming that transactions in the at least one immutable ledger involving the NFT and the particular content creator are consistent with a smart contract underlying the NFT;paragraphs [0045], [0119]) ;
verifying the request to access the virtual persona using the DLT (Vijayan: when a transaction 608 occurs using the NFT, the NFT blockchain automatically processes the rules (verifying the request) associated with the transaction; paragraph [0109]),(Vijayan: comparing (authenticating) a signature (authenticator) of a content creator that minted he NFT and cryptographic information published by the particular content creator identified by a specific media wallet application (ACKP),paragraphs [0045], [0109]).
But the combination does not explicitly disclose receiving a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, the request including an authenticator generated using the ACKP; verifying the request to access the virtual persona using the DLT by (a) verifying the requestor software application has permission to access and use the virtual persona in the permissions and (b) authenticating the authenticator using the ACKP; and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allowing the requestor software application to access the virtual persona and to only use the virtual persona as set forth in the permissions.
However, Rodefer in a similar field of endeavor teaches receiving a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, the request including an authenticator (Rodefer: a user (first user), via an authorized client program (requester software application), connects to the avatar server where the client program initiates the programming libraries of the avatar server by providing them with the license key (authenticator); paragraphs [0028]-[0029]);
(Rodefer: upon confirming the validity of the license file, e.g., ensuring that it corresponds with the program and that the format is valid, a client application can open a TCP/IP or UDP connection with the primary avatar server S310 and transmit the key; paragraph [0029]); and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allowing the requestor software application to access the virtual persona and to only use the virtual persona as set forth in the permissions (Rodefer: On the other hand, if the authentication process succeeded, a list of avatars (virtual persona) associated with the provided login information is then sent to the programming library S391, which is then transmitted to the host program S392; paragraph [0029]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Rodefer in order to load, customize and render avatar data unique to a user in games and different types of applications (Rodefer; [paragraph 07]).
In regard to claim 3, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Rodefer teach the method of claim 2, wherein access to the virtual persona is provided by one of uploading, downloading or streaming the virtual persona to the requestor software application (Rodefer: the primary avatar server will prepare the necessary information, package it and transfer it to the client application (download); paragraph [0030]). This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 2 above.
In regard to claim 5, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Rodefer teach the method of claim 2, further comprising: recording a transaction on the DLT for allowing the requestor software application to access the virtual persona (Vijayan: (when a transaction 608 occurs using the NFT, the NFT blockchain automatically processes the rules (allowing access) associated with the transaction; paragraph (0109]).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), in further view of Rodefer (US-20080306951-A1), and further in view of Valli (US-20170339372-A1).
In regard to claim 4, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Rodefer teach the method of claim 2, wherein the virtual persona is uploaded, downloaded or streamed to the requestor in encrypted packets for rendering in real-time by the requestor without providing storage of the virtual persona.
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the virtual persona is uploaded, downloaded or streamed to the requestor in encrypted packets for rendering in real-time by the requestor without providing storage of the virtual persona.
However, Valli in a similar field of endeavor, discloses wherein the virtual persona is uploaded, downloaded or streamed to the requestor in encrypted packets for rendering in real-time by the requestor without providing storage of the virtual persona(Valli: wherein the 3D-data stream depicting the first participant is a live video feed of the participant in a remote meeting site [Claim 9].).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Rodefer by substituting the downloaded avatar data taught by Rodefer with the streamed 3D data taught by Valli such that the encrypted avatar is provided to a user through streaming in order to yield the predictable result of rendering the unique avatar data.
Claim(s) 7,8,9,10,26,27,42,43 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), and in further view of Berrod et al. (US-20190378120-A1).
In regard to claim 7, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, further comprising:
(Vijayan: the content creator application includes a wallet (first user account) and a set of content creator wallet keys (ACKP); paragraph [0119]).
But the combination does not explicitly disclose creating the first user account by a process comprising: authenticating an identity of the first user by transmitting an authentication message to a messaging address provided by the first user, and receiving an authenticating response from the first user in response to the authentication message; generating the ACKP in response to receiving the authenticating response; and creating an authorized digital account wallet for the first user and registering the ACKP in the digital account wallet of the first user.
However, Berrod in a similar field of endeavor teaches a system and method for identifying and authenticating a user in the process of opening a new account that discloses creating the first user account by a process comprising: authenticating an identity of the first user by transmitting an authentication message to a messaging address provided by the first user, and receiving an authenticating response from the first user in response to the authentication message (Berrod: The user may be prompted (authentication message) to enter a code on the computer 220 which was previously communicated to the mobile device 222 via text or messaging(messaging address), e.g. two factor authentication etc. (receiving authenticating response); paragraph [0030]); generating the response (Berrod: upon successful authentication the account is opened and added to the wallet [paras 49-51]); and creating an authorized digital account wallet for the first user and registering the (Berrod: the institution 212 can prepare and send account/ card setup information to the digital wallet at step 336. Account/card setup information is used by the digital wallet to add the new account, or a card associated with the new account , to the digital wallet [paras[49 -51]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan such that the account owner such as a movie studio is created by incorporating the teachings of Berrod. The motivation to do so would be to provide a fast, convenient and secure method and system of identifying and authenticating an individual applying for a new account (Berrod;[para 05]).
In regard to claim 8, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Berrod teach the method of claim 7, wherein the messaging address is one of a mobile phone number and an email address, and the authentication message is one of a text message transmitted to the mobile phone number and an email sent to the email address (Berrod: The user may be prompted (authentication message) to enter a code on the computer 220 which was previously communicated to the mobile device 222 via text or messaging [para 30]). This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 7 above.
In regard to claim 9, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Berrod teach the method of claim 7, wherein the process for creating the first user account further comprises: verifying that the first user is a real person using a live image detection on a real- time photo capture device to eliminate fake users, including bots, and to prevent plagiarism of another user's identity (Berrod: (the user can identify himself via a biometric or non - biometric input at step 119. The biometric input may be a mechanism available on the digital channel 221, for example running on the mobile device 222, such as physical biometrics, e.g.,fingerprint recognition, facial recognition (live image detection) or retina scanning and voice recognition, liveness detection (verifying that the first user is a real person), etc.; [paras 28-29]). This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 7 above.
In regard to claim 10, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Berrod teach the method of claim 9, wherein the live image detection comprises one of a single image, passive facial liveness detection or other suitable method of verifying liveness (Berrod: (the user can identify himself via a biometric or non - biometric input at step 119. The biometric input may be a mechanism available on the digital channel 221, for example running on the mobile device 222, such as physical biometrics, e.g., fingerprint recognition, facial recognition (verifying liveness) or retina scanning and voice recognition, liveness detection(verifying liveness), etc.; [paras 28-29]) . This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 7 above.
In regard to claim 26, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 25, further comprising(Vijayan: the content creator application includes a wallet (first user account) and a set of content creator wallet keys (ACKP); paragraph [0119]).
But the combination does not explicitly disclose creating the CIPO account by a process comprising: authenticating an identity of the CIPO by transmitting an authentication message to a messaging address provided by the CIPO, and receiving an authenticating response from the CIPO in response to the message; generating the ACKP in response to receiving the authenticating response; and creating an authorized digital account wallet for the CIPO and registering the ACKP in the digital account wallet of the CIPO
However, Berrod in a similar field of endeavor teaches a system and method for identifying and authenticating a user in the process of opening a new account that discloses
creating the CIPO account by a process comprising: authenticating an identity of the CIPO by transmitting an authentication message to a messaging address provided by the CIPO, and receiving an authenticating response from the CIPO in response to the message (Berrod: The user may be prompted (authentication message) to enter a code on the computer 220 which was previously communicated to the mobile device 222 via text or messaging(messaging address), e.g. two factor authentication etc. (receiving authenticating response); paragraph [0030]); generating the (Berrod: upon successful authentication the account is opened and added to the wallet [paras 49-51]).) ; and creating an authorized digital account wallet for the CIPO and registering the (Berrod: the institution 212 can prepare and send account/ card setup information to the digital wallet at step 336. Account/card setup information is used by the digital wallet to add the new account, or a card associated with the new account , to the digital wallet [paras[49 -51]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan such that the account of the IP owner such as a movie studio is created by incorporating the teachings of Berrod. The motivation to do so would be to provide a fast, convenient and secure method and system of identifying and authenticating an individual applying for a new account (Berrod;[para 05]).
In regard to claim 27, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Berrod teach the method of claim 26, wherein the messaging address is one of a mobile phone number and an email address, and the authentication message is one of a text message transmitted to the mobile phone number and an email sent to the email address (Berrod: The user may be prompted (authentication message) to enter a code on the computer 220 which was previously communicated to the mobile device 222 via text or messaging [para 30]). This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 26 above.
In regard to claim 42, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 41, further comprising(Vijayan: the content creator application includes a wallet (first user account) and a set of content creator wallet keys (ACKP); paragraph [0119]).
But the combination does not explicitly disclose creating the CIPO account by a process comprising: authenticating an identity of the CIPO by transmitting an authentication message to a messaging address provided by the CIPO, and receiving an authenticating response from the CIPO in response to the message; generating the ACKP in response to receiving the authenticating response; and creating an authorized digital account wallet for the CIPO and registering the ACKP in the digital account wallet of the CIPO
However, Berrod in a similar field of endeavor teaches a system and method for identifying and authenticating a user in the process of opening a new account that discloses
creating the CIPO account by a process comprising: authenticating an identity of the CIPO by transmitting an authentication message to a messaging address provided by the CIPO, and receiving an authenticating response from the CIPO in response to the message (Berrod: The user may be prompted (authentication message) to enter a code on the computer 220 which was previously communicated to the mobile device 222 via text or messaging(messaging address), e.g. two factor authentication etc. (receiving authenticating response); paragraph [0030]); generating the (Berrod: upon successful authentication the account is opened and added to the wallet [paras 49-51]).) ; and creating an authorized digital account wallet for the CIPO and registering the (Berrod: the institution 212 can prepare and send account/ card setup information to the digital wallet at step 336. Account/card setup information is used by the digital wallet to add the new account, or a card associated with the new account , to the digital wallet [paras[49 -51]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan such that the account of the IP owner such as a movie studio is created by incorporating the teachings of Berrod. The motivation to do so would be to provide a fast, convenient and secure method and system of identifying and authenticating an individual applying for a new account (Berrod;[para 05]).
In regard to claim 43, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Berrod teach the method of claim 42, wherein the messaging address is one of a mobile phone number and an email address, and the authentication message is one of a text message transmitted to the mobile phone number and an email sent to the email address (Berrod: The user may be prompted (authentication message) to enter a code on the computer 220 which was previously communicated to the mobile device 222 via text or messaging [para 30]). This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 42 above.
Claim(s) 12,17,18,19,20, 34, 35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), and in further view of Taliercio et al. (US-20020143622-A1).
In regard to claim 12, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, wherein creating the virtual persona comprises:
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein creating the virtual persona comprises:
receiving a digital image of the user from the first user, the digital image being one of a digital photo, a digital video and a digital scan; and converting the digital image into three-dimensional avatar data thereby forming a virtual persona base (VPB), wherein the VPB includes base digital files for constructing the virtual persona, including one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona.
However, Taliercio in a similar field of endeavor teaches wherein creating the virtual persona comprises:
receiving a digital image of the user from the first user, the digital image being one of a digital photo, a digital video and a digital scan (Taliercio: A three-dimensional avatar of an actual person is created based on capturing photographs (digital photo) of the actual person;[ paras 20 -22]) ; and
converting the digital image into three-dimensional avatar data thereby forming a virtual persona base (VPB), wherein the VPB includes base digital files for constructing the virtual persona, including one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona (Taliercio: various collected data, including the digital photos are assembled (converted) in order to determine physical characteristics (VPB including base digital files) for creating the three-dimensional avatar, where collected data includes the actual person's speech patterns, facial expressions, and body movements [paras 20-22]) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to include the teachings of Taliercio in order to generate an avatar having a likeness of a user in order to provide a service for well-known individuals to be paid for their services based on their physical presence and use of their likeness for endorsements (Taliercio; [Para 23]).
In regard to claim 17, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1,
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein creating the virtual persona comprises: capturing a digital image of a two-dimension or three-dimension source selected from the group consisting of a photo, a video, a real-world animate object and a real-world inanimate object; converting the digital image into three-dimensional avatar data thereby forming a virtual persona base (VPB).
However, Taliercio in a similar field of endeavor, teaches wherein creating the virtual persona comprises: capturing a digital image of a two-dimension or three-dimension source selected from the group consisting of a photo, a video, a real-world animate object and a real-world inanimate object (Taliercio: a three-dimensional avatar of an actual person is created based on capturing photographs (digital image) of the actual person (real-world animate object) [paras 20-22]);converting the digital image into three-dimensional avatar data thereby forming a virtual persona base (VPB) (Taliercio: various collected data, including the digital photos are assembled (converted) in order to determine physical characteristics (VPB) for creating the three-dimensional avatar; [paras 20-22]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to include the teachings of Taliercio in order to generate an avatar having a likeness of a user in order to provide a service for well-known individuals to be paid for their services based on their physical presence and use of their likeness for endorsements (Taliercio; [Para 23]).
In regard to claim 18, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Taliercio teach the method of claim 17, wherein the digital image is captured by digital scanning, computer vision or other suitable image capturing process which converts the source into a digital image file (Taliercio: the individual is photographed (other suitable image capturing process) [para 20]) . This claim is rejected based on the same rationale cited for claim 17 above.
In regard to claim 19, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein creating the virtual persona comprises: using a computer design software application to produce a set of digital files representing one or more of the appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona.
However, Taliercio in a similar field of endeavor disclose wherein creating the virtual persona comprises: using a computer design software application to produce a set of digital files representing one or more of the appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona (Taliercio: data concerning appearance of an individual are collected in order to determine physical characteristics and animations (set of digital files) used to generate a three dimensional avatar of the individual, which would require the use of computer software [paragraphs 19-22]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to include the teachings of Taliercio in order to generate an avatar having a likeness of a user in order to provide a service for well-known individuals to be paid for their services based on their physical presence and use of their likeness for endorsements (Taliercio; [Para 23]).
In regard to claim 20, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Taliercio teach the method of claim 19, wherein the computer design software application is one of manually operated by a user, semi-automated by user input and automated generation, and fully automated without user input.(Taliercio: since computer software is required to generate the three dimensional avatar, any part of the data collection and avatar generation process would have to be manually operated if it is not automate [paras 19- 22]) . This claim is rejected based on the same rationale cited for claim 19 above.
In regard to claim 34, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, wherein configuring the one or more permissions further includes one or more of: authorizing one or more other users to access and use the virtual persona and configuring access rights, usage rights and restrictions on use for the one or more other users (Zimmerman; In step e, the AI processor device of the avatar uses a directory of all authorized entities in its communication authentication storage to check whether said AI processor device is authorized to provide information to said entity[Para 42], wherein the authorizations are specified the person or central institution[Para 50].);
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein configuring the one or more permissions further includes one or more of: authorizing the one or more other users to view the virtual persona and configuring the viewing rights and restrictions for the one or more other users.
However, Taliercio in a similar field of endeavor disclose wherein configuring the one or more permissions further includes one or more of: authorizing one or more other users to access and use the virtual persona and configuring access rights, usage rights and restrictions on use for the one or more other users (Taliercio: a sponsor 120(user) licenses the use of an individual's three dimensional avatar for a specific purpose, where a specific use (access rights, usage rights) of the avatar is defined, along with any necessary restrictions and terms of payment; [para 25]); and authorizing the one or more other users to view the virtual persona and configuring the viewing rights and restrictions for the one or more other users (Taliercio: the sponsor 120 is able to retain the services (authorizing the one or more other users) of the avatar, where specific use of the avatar is defined, along with any other necessary restrictions, and the specific use includes displaying the avatar during a television commercial or web page [paras 25-26]) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to include the teachings of Taliercio in order to generate an avatar having a likeness of a user in order to provide a service for well-known individuals to be paid for their services based on their physical presence and use of their likeness for endorsements (Taliercio; [Para 23]).
In regard to claim 35, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Taliercio teach the method of claim 34, further comprising: configuring license terms for the access rights, usage rights and viewing rights granted to the one or more other users, including one or more of: amount of payment; and term of the license.(Taliercio: license terms for use of the avatar include compensation comprising payment of a fee (amount of payment), where multiple payment arrangements are, of course, possible [para 26]) . This claim is rejected based on the same rationale cited for claim 34 above.
Claim(s) 13,14,15,16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), in further view of Taliercio et al. (US-20020143622-A1), and further in view of Yantis et al. (US-20210248594-A1).
In regard to claim 13, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Taliercio teach the method of claim 12, wherein creating the virtual persona further comprises:
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein creating the virtual persona further comprises: adding a virtual persona attribute (VPA) to the virtual persona, wherein the VPA is one or more of a digital object and data to change one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual person; and wherein the VPA is directly controllable only by an owner of the MVPT, user(s) authorized by the owner of the MVPT, and software applications authorized by the permissions.
However, Yantis in a similar field of endeavor, teaches wherein creating the virtual persona further comprises:
adding a virtual persona attribute (VPA) to the virtual persona, wherein the VPA is one or more of a digital object and data to change one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual person (Yantis: Virtual world avatars may represent a user (e.g., a potential buyer) and may interact with virtual items in a virtual world environment. Users may “shop” by controlling a virtual world avatar in a virtual world store. For example, a virtual world avatar may try on a virtual representation of a tokenized physical world hat in a virtual world dressing room [Para 933].) ; and wherein the VPA is directly controllable only by an owner of the MVPT, user(s) authorized by the owner of the MVPT, and software applications authorized by the permissions (Yantis: In embodiments, the virtual world presence system may also include a virtual asset display system that displays items related to a user, including but not limited to: items that are owned by the user, in the custody of the user, desired by the user, and the like.[Para 933].).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to include the teachings of Yantis in order to provide both the flexibility and convenience of virtual item transactions by providing a set of capabilities for storing, transacting, transferring, exchanging, and otherwise processing a set of secure, tokenized links between virtual item and a physical item such that ownership and control of the virtual representation corresponds to ownership and control of the physical item.
In regard to claim 14, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, Taliercio, and Yantis teach the method of claim 13, further comprising: generating a virtual persona attribute token by associating the VPA to the first user account as an NFT which documents ownership of the virtual persona attribute token by the first user; and registering the virtual persona attribute token on the DLT (Yantis: The method includes maintaining a distributed ledger that stores: a plurality of public addresses, wherein each respective public address corresponds to a respective account of a respective user of the tokenization platform; a plurality of virtual representations of a plurality of respective items; and for each virtual representation, a set of tokens that respectively correspond to a respective instance of the item represented by the virtual representation, and ownership data of each respective token. In embodiments, the set of tokens corresponding to a virtual representation includes non-fungible tokens. [paras 09- 10].). This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 13 above.
In regard to claim 15, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Taliercio teach the method of claim 12, wherein creating the virtual persona further comprises: adding a virtual persona modification (VPM) to the virtual persona; wherein the VPM is one or more of a digital object and data to change one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona; and wherein the VPM can be used only as authorized by the first user.
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein creating the virtual persona further comprises: adding a virtual persona modification (VPM) to the virtual persona; wherein the VPM is one or more of a digital object and data to change one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona; and wherein the VPM can be used only as authorized by the first user.
However, Yantis in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein creating the virtual persona further comprises: adding a virtual persona modification (VPM) to the virtual persona; wherein the VPM is one or more of a digital object and data to change one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona (Yantis: The method includes maintaining a distributed ledger that stores: a plurality of public addresses, wherein each respective public address corresponds to a respective account of a respective user of the tokenization platform; a plurality of virtual representations of a plurality of respective items; and for each virtual representation, a set of tokens that respectively correspond to a respective instance of the item represented by the virtual representation, and ownership data of each respective token [Para 09].; and wherein the VPM can be used only as authorized by the first user (Yantis: In addition to item data (e.g., virtual representations), tokens, and transaction data relating to the tokens, the distributed ledger may further store account information. For example, in embodiments the distributed ledger may store the public addresses of each valid account. In embodiments, a valid account may belong to an entity that is verified and authorized by the platform to participate in a transaction. Thus, in embodiments, a party may only sell, purchase, gift, receive, or otherwise transfer a token if the party has a known account [Para 846].) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to include the teachings of Yantis in order to provide both the flexibility and convenience of virtual item transactions by providing a set of capabilities for storing, transacting, transferring, exchanging, and otherwise processing a set of secure, tokenized links between virtual item and a physical item such that ownership and control of the virtual representation corresponds to ownership and control of the physical item.
In regard to claim 16, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, Taliercio, and Yantis teach the method of claim 15, further comprising: generating a virtual persona modification token by associating the VPM to the first user account as an NFT (Yantis: In response to the transaction, the platform 100 may update the distributed ledger to indicate an assignment of the token to the user (e.g., to a wallet associated with an account of the user), wherein tokens may be NFTs [Paras [847],[852].), the virtual persona modification token having no mathematical relationship to the VPA (Yantis: the platform can generate virtual representations of one or more respective items, such that each virtual representation represents a respective item that is available for a transaction [Para 847].).; and registering the virtual persona modification token on the DLT. (Yantis: The platform may store the virtual representation and the corresponding tokens on the distributed ledger. [para 847].). This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 15 above.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), and in further view of Zhou et al. (US-20210383377-A1).
In regard to claim 21, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, further comprising:
creating a sub virtual persona (SVP) for the first user separate from the virtual persona, the SVP comprising one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the SVP (Vijayan: NFTs can be created around a large range of real world media content and intellectual property. Movie studios can mint digital collectibles for their movies, characters, notable scenes and/or notable objects; where each NFT has a set of attributes that define its unique properties [Para 68] Examiner asserts that movie characters are known to have one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits . Examiner also asserts that creating multiple NFTs based on characters where each NFT is unique is functional equivalent to the sub virtual persona. ).
associating the SVP with the first user account (Vijayan: The content creator application includes a set of content creator wallet keys 1212 that can include a public key/private key pair that the content creator application can use to sign NFTs minted by the content creator application [Para 119].);
encrypting the SVP; storing the encrypted SVP in the virtual persona media files database (Goossens: In one embodiment the one or more messaging server(s) 1301 can maintain an avatar database 1302 which has, for each avatar, the corresponding token and a corresponding time-to-live value. The avatar database 1302 and/or each avatar can be stored in an encrypted format.[Fig 13;Para 83].);
configuring one or more permissions defining usage rights for the SVP, the permissions including one or more application permissions authorizing one or more of a plurality of software applications to access and use the SVP (Zimmerman; In step e, the AI processor device of the avatar uses a directory of all authorized entities in its communication authentication storage to check whether said AI processor device is authorized to provide information to said entity[Para 42], wherein the authorizations are specified the person or central institution[Para 50].); and registering the SVP and its application permissions (Zimmerman: The avatar preferably comprises a storage (log storage) in which the historical course of the changes is stored (for example using blockchains or the like)[Para 52]. Examiner asserts that these mechanisms collectively establish and enforce permission rights for other entities to access the avatar in conjunction with maintaining records on the blockchain which are functionally equivalent to the claimed limitations).
But does not explicitly disclose registering the SVP and its application permissions within the MVPT on the DLT.
However, Zhou in a similar field of endeavor, teaches registering the SVP and its application permissions within the MVPT on the DLT (Zhou: Master avatar data may be stored in a table, for example, containing one or more of the following columns: unique verified ID (e.g., HMAC(Driver License)), master avatar public address (e.g., master avatar ID), certificate authority verified (e.g., Bank1PrivateKey(HMAC(Driver License))), unique trusted certificate authority index ID (e.g., index ID), master avatar trusted public key (e.g., public key), subset avatar (e.g., subset avatar ID), and/or other columns., wherein the user is associated with a master avatar identifier on a blockchain network[Paras [19],[135]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Zhou such that each addition avatar to also represent the user. The motivation to do so would be to enable the user to use each different avatar for different purposes.
Claim(s) 22, 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), in further view of Zhou et al. (US-20210383377-A1), and further in view of Yantis et al. (US-20210248594-A1).
In regard to claim 22, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Zhou teach the method of claim 21, further comprising:
But the combination does not explicitly disclose creating a virtual persona attribute (VPA) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or the SVP to change one or more of the appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence of the virtual persona or SVP via direct control of the first user and any software application authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPA is owned by the first user; and registering the VPA within the MVPT on the DLT.
However, Yantis in the same field of endeavor, teaches creating a virtual persona attribute (VPA) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or the SVP to change one or more of the appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence of the virtual persona or SVP via direct control of the first user and any software application authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPA is owned by the first user; and registering the VPA within the MVPT on the DLT ((Yantis: The method includes maintaining a distributed ledger that stores: a plurality of public addresses, wherein each respective public address corresponds to a respective account of a respective user of the tokenization platform; a plurality of virtual representations of a plurality of respective items; and for each virtual representation, a set of tokens that respectively correspond to a respective instance of the item represented by the virtual representation, and ownership data of each respective token. In embodiments, the set of tokens corresponding to a virtual representation includes non-fungible tokens. [paras 09- 10].Virtual world avatars may represent a user (e.g., a potential buyer) and may interact with virtual items in a virtual world environment. Users may “shop” by controlling a virtual world avatar in a virtual world store. For example, a virtual world avatar may try on a virtual representation of a tokenized physical world hat in a virtual world dressing room [Para 933]. In embodiments, the virtual world presence system may also include a virtual asset display system that displays items related to a user, including but not limited to: items that are owned by the user, in the custody of the user, desired by the user, and the like.[Para 933]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to include the teachings of Yantis in order to provide both the flexibility and convenience of virtual item transactions by providing a set of capabilities for storing, transacting, transferring, exchanging, and otherwise processing a set of secure, tokenized links between virtual item and a physical item such that ownership and control of the virtual representation corresponds to ownership and control of the physical item.
In regard to claim 23, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Zhou teach the method of claim 21, further comprising: creating a virtual persona modification (VPM) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or the SVP to change one or more of their appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence via any means authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPM is not owned by the first user; and registering the VPM within the MVPT on the DLT.
But the combination does not explicitly teach creating a virtual persona modification (VPM) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or the SVP to change one or more of their appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence via any means authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPM is not owned by the first user; and registering the VPM within the MVPT on the DLT.
However, Yantis in the same field of endeavor teaches creating a virtual persona modification (VPM) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or the SVP to change one or more of their appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence via any means authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPM is not owned by the first user(Yantis: the platform can generate virtual representations of one or more respective items, such that each virtual representation represents a respective item that is available for a transaction [Para 847]. ((Yantis: The method includes maintaining a distributed ledger that stores: a plurality of public addresses, wherein each respective public address corresponds to a respective account of a respective user of the tokenization platform; a plurality of virtual representations of a plurality of respective items; and for each virtual representation, a set of tokens that respectively correspond to a respective instance of the item represented by the virtual representation, and ownership data of each respective token. In embodiments, the set of tokens corresponding to a virtual representation includes non-fungible tokens. [paras 09- 10].Virtual world avatars may represent a user (e.g., a potential buyer) and may interact with virtual items in a virtual world environment. Users may “shop” by controlling a virtual world avatar in a virtual world store. For example, a virtual world avatar may try on a virtual representation of a tokenized physical world hat in a virtual world dressing room [Para 933].); and registering the VPM within the MVPT on the DLT(Yantis: The platform may store the virtual representation and the corresponding tokens on the distributed ledger. [para 847].).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to include the teachings of Yantis in order to provide both the flexibility and convenience of virtual item transactions by providing a set of capabilities for storing, transacting, transferring, exchanging, and otherwise processing a set of secure, tokenized links between virtual item and a physical item such that ownership and control of the virtual representation corresponds to ownership and control of the physical item.
Claim(s) 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), and further in view of Hamilton et al. (US-20090259948-A1).
In regard to claim 24, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 1, further comprising: (Vijayan: the NFT is authenticated by comparing a signature (authenticator) of a content creator that minted the NFT and cryptographic information published by the particular content creator identified by a specific media wallet application (ACKP); and confirming that transactions in the at least one immutable ledger involving the NFT and the particular content creator are consistent with a smart contract underlying the NFT;paragraphs [0045], [0119]);recording the first permission as a transaction on the DLT (Zimmerman: The avatar preferably comprises a storage (log storage) in which the historical course of the changes is stored (for example using blockchains or the like)[Para 52].; (Vijayan: the NFT is authenticated by comparing a signature (authenticator) of a content creator that minted the NFT and cryptographic information published by the particular content creator identified by a specific media wallet application (ACKP); and confirming that transactions in the at least one immutable ledger involving the NFT and the particular content creator are consistent with a smart contract underlying the NFT;paragraphs [0045]; and verifying the request to access the virtual persona using the DLT by verifying the requestor software application has permission to access the virtual persona in the permissions, and authenticating the authenticator using the second ACKP (Zimmerman; Using a cryptographic storage in which access keys are administered, the avatar can preferably check what entity has what rights to receive information, and in what scope. In step e, the AI processor device of the avatar uses a directory of all authorized entities in its communication authentication storage to check whether said AI processor device is authorized to provide information to said entity, wherein the authorizations are specified the person or central institution[Paras [42],[ 50-52].).
But the combination does not explicitly disclose configuring a first permission of the one or more permissions to authorize a second user to use the virtual persona, the second user having a unique second user account or receiving a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the second user.
However, Hamilton in a similar field of endeavor, teaches configuring a first permission of the one or more permissions to authorize a second user to use the virtual persona, the second user having a unique second user account (Hamilton: A surrogate avatar controller 82 is configured to supply tokens, wherein the token comprises a permission for a second entity to control at least one aspect of the avatar. The aspects comprise, for example, the avatar's gestures, recording, utterances, ability to move, teleport, remove items, purchase items, and/or the like. The token(s) may be supplied and/or received from a primary user via the primary entity control component 80 and/or supplied and/or received from a secondary entity via the secondary entity control component 86.[Para 44].) and receiving a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the second user(Hamilton: a virtual universe grid receives a request to transfer avatar control from the user of the avatar to another entity. For example, as discussed herein, the request may be accompanied by receipt of a permission token receipt by the entity (i.e., transferee).[Para 52]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Hamilton to improve upon the system of Vijayan such that a user can securely share their avatars with secondary users in order to increase content engagement.
Claim(s) 28, 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), in further view of in further view of Berrod et al. (US-20190378120-A1), and further in view of Hamilton et al. (US-20090259948-A1).
In regard to claim 28, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Berrod teach the method of claim 26, further comprising: (Vijayan: the NFT is authenticated by comparing a signature (authenticator) of a content creator that minted the NFT and cryptographic information published by the particular content creator identified by a specific media wallet application (ACKP); and confirming that transactions in the at least one immutable ledger involving the NFT and the particular content creator are consistent with a smart contract underlying the NFT;paragraphs [0045], [0119]); verifying the request to access the virtual persona using the DLT by (a) verifying the requestor has permission to access and use the virtual persona in the permissions and (b) authenticating the authenticator using the second ACKP (Zimmerman; Using a cryptographic storage in which access keys are administered, the avatar can preferably check what entity has what rights to receive information, and in what scope. In step e, the AI processor device of the avatar uses a directory of all authorized entities in its communication authentication storage to check whether said AI processor device is authorized to provide information to said entity, wherein the authorizations are specified the person or central institution[Paras [42],[ 50-52].); and
But the combination does not explicitly : configuring a permission to grant access rights to the virtual persona to a second user, wherein the second user has a unique second user account having an associated unique second ACKP; receiving a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the second user, and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allowing the requestor software application to access the virtual persona and to only use the virtual persona as set forth in the permissions.
However, Hamilton in a similar field of endeavor, teaches configuring a permission to grant access rights to the virtual persona to a second user, wherein the second user has a unique second user account having an associated unique second ACKP (Hamilton: A surrogate avatar controller 82 is configured to supply tokens, wherein the token comprises a permission for a second entity to control at least one aspect of the avatar. The aspects comprise, for example, the avatar's gestures, recording, utterances, ability to move, teleport, remove items, purchase items, and/or the like. The token(s) may be supplied and/or received from a primary user via the primary entity control component 80 and/or supplied and/or received from a secondary entity via the secondary entity control component 86.[Para 44].); receiving a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the second user (Hamilton: a virtual universe grid receives a request to transfer avatar control from the user of the avatar to another entity. For example, as discussed herein, the request may be accompanied by receipt of a permission token receipt by the entity (i.e., transferee).[Para 52]), and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allowing the requestor software application to access the virtual persona and to only use the virtual persona as set forth in the permissions (Hamilton: the system verifies if the transferee (i.e., second entity, surrogate controller, etc.) is logged in [Para 53]. Any applicable business control logic is invoked, from the avatar control database 84, for the duration of the takeover session so as to ensure that the transferee may not use the avatar or its assets in a way that would violate the business logic For example, the business logic may include restrictions on how much virtual universe 12 currency may be spent; how the virtual universe 12 currency is spent; who the avatar may chat with; and/or the like [Para 57].) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Hamilton to improve upon the system of Vijayan such that a user can securely share their avatars with secondary users in order to increase content engagement.
In regard to claim 29, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, Berrod, and Hamilton teach the method of claim 28, wherein the virtual persona is a sub virtual persona (SVP) created by the CIPO (Vijayan: NFTs can be created around a large range of real world media content and intellectual property. Movie studios can mint digital collectibles for their movies, characters, notable scenes and/or notable objects; where each NFT has a set of attributes that define its unique properties [Para 68] Examiner asserts that creating multiple NFTs based on characters where each NFT is unique is functional equivalent to the sub virtual persona. ). This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 28 above.
Claim(s) 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), in further view of in further view of Berrod et al. (US-20190378120-A1), in further view of Hamilton et al. (US-20090259948-A1), and further in view of Andon et al. (US-20200184041-A1)
In regard to claim 30, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, Berrod, and Hamilton teach the method of claim 29, wherein the SVP is created by using at least one of the following processes: (1) creating a virtual persona attribute (VPA) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of the appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence of the virtual persona or SVP via direct control of the first user and any software application authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPA is owned by the first user, and using the VPA to create the SVP; and (2) creating a virtual persona modification (VPM) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of their appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence via any means authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPM is not owned by the first user, and using the VPM to create the SVP.
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the SVP is created by using at least one of the following processes: (1) creating a virtual persona attribute (VPA) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of the appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence of the virtual persona or SVP via direct control of the first user and any software application authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPA is owned by the first user, and using the VPA to create the SVP; and (2) creating a virtual persona modification (VPM) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of their appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence via any means authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPM is not owned by the first user, and using the VPM to create the SVP.
However, Andon in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the SVP is created by using at least one of the following processes: (1) creating a virtual persona attribute (VPA) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of the appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence of the virtual persona or SVP via direct control of the first user and any software application authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPA is owned by the first user (Andon: In general, the blockchain 60 may include at least one non-fungible token registered thereon that includes genomic information representative of a digital asset. The user 11, via the user device 39, may be in possession of, or may be lined with a locker/wallet that includes a private cryptographic key that permits the user device to read the encrypted data associated with the token. This key may further enable the user 11 to freely transfer ownership of the token. In one embodiment, a virtual object generator 62 may be provided to create a digital object on the basis of the genomic information associated with the token. Examples of such a use may include skins on 3.sup.rd party video game characters, objects capable of being used by 3.sup.rd party video game characters (see FIG. 9), digital artwork displays, physical print generation, manufacturing production, and the like. In one embodiment, the genomic information and/or rarity score may be made available, and may alter the traits or abilities of a user's video game character in a video game played on the user's device 39 (see FIG. 10)[Paras [66],[67],[ 69].)., and using the VPA to create the SVP (Andon: the integration of the virtual object with the avatar, character, or athlete operatively modifies at least one attribute score [Para 134].);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Andon in order to alter the appearance or attributes of the different avatars to make them distinguishable to the user.
Claim(s) 37,38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), and in further view of Valli (US-20170339372-A1).
In regard to claim 37, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 36,
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein access to the virtual persona is provided by one of uploading or streaming the virtual persona to the requestor.
However, Valli, in the same field of endeavor, teaches an immersive 3d telepresence system that discloses wherein access to the virtual persona is provided by one of uploading or streaming the virtual persona to the requestor (Valli: One embodiment takes the form of a method that includes receiving a 3D-data stream depicting a first participant; rendering a virtual meeting space having a virtual window for display of the first participant; rendering a first perspective projection stream of the received 3D-data stream from a first virtual viewpoint; displaying the rendered first perspective projection stream in the virtual window for the first virtual viewpoint; rendering a second perspective projection stream of the received 3D-data stream from a second virtual viewpoint; and displaying the rendered second perspective projection stream in the virtual window for the second virtual viewpoint.[Para 07].).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman to include streaming 3D data as taught by Valli such that the encrypted avatar is provided to a user through streaming in order to render the unique avatar data.
In regard to claim 38, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Zimmerman, and Valli teach the method of claim 37,wherein the virtual persona is uploaded or streamed to the requestor in encrypted packets for rendering in real-time by the requestor without providing storage of the virtual persona (Valli: wherein the 3D-data stream depicting the first participant is a live video feed of the participant in a remote meeting site [Claim 9].) .
Claim(s) 45 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), and in further view of Andon et al. (US-20200184041-A1).
In regard to claim 45, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, and Zimmerman teach the method of claim 44, wherein the SVP is created by using at least one of the following processes: (1) creating a virtual persona attribute (VPA) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of the appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence of the virtual persona or SVP via direct control of the first user and any software application authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPA is owned by the first user, and using the VPA to create the SVP; and (2) creating a virtual persona modification (VPM) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of their appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence via any means authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPM is not owned by the first user, and using the VPM to create the SVP.
But the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the SVP is created by using at least one of the following processes: (1) creating a virtual persona attribute (VPA) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of the appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence of the virtual persona or SVP via direct control of the first user and any software application authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPA is owned by the first user, and using the VPA to create the SVP; and (2) creating a virtual persona modification (VPM) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of their appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence via any means authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPM is not owned by the first user, and using the VPM to create the SVP.
However, Andon in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the SVP is created by using at least one of the following processes: (1) creating a virtual persona attribute (VPA) comprising a digital object or data which can be added to the virtual persona or to the SVP to change one or more of the appearance, sound, actions, and intelligence of the virtual persona or SVP via direct control of the first user and any software application authorized by the permissions, wherein the VPA is owned by the first user (Andon: In general, the blockchain 60 may include at least one non-fungible token registered thereon that includes genomic information representative of a digital asset. The user 11, via the user device 39, may be in possession of, or may be lined with a locker/wallet that includes a private cryptographic key that permits the user device to read the encrypted data associated with the token. This key may further enable the user 11 to freely transfer ownership of the token. In one embodiment, a virtual object generator 62 may be provided to create a digital object on the basis of the genomic information associated with the token. Examples of such a use may include skins on 3.sup.rd party video game characters, objects capable of being used by 3.sup.rd party video game characters (see FIG. 9), digital artwork displays, physical print generation, manufacturing production, and the like. In one embodiment, the genomic information and/or rarity score may be made available, and may alter the traits or abilities of a user's video game character in a video game played on the user's device 39 (see FIG. 10)[Paras [66],[67],[ 69].)., and using the VPA to create the SVP (Andon: the integration of the virtual object with the avatar, character, or athlete operatively modifies at least one attribute score [Para 134].);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Andon in order to alter the appearance or attributes of the different avatars to make them distinguishable to the user.
Claim(s) 48, 49, 51, 52 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Meadows (US-20190138914-A1), in further view of Rodefer (US-20080306951-A1), and further in view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1).
In regards to claim 48, Vijayan teaches a system for generating and using a tokenized virtual persona, the system comprising:
a tokenized virtual persona system comprising:
a
create a virtual persona for a first user, the virtual persona comprising one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits for the virtual persona; associate the virtual persona with a unique first user account having an associated unique authorized cryptographic key pair (ACKP) (Vijayan: NFTs can be created around a large range of real world media content and intellectual property. Movie studios (CIPO) can mint digital collectibles for their movies, characters, notable scenes and/or notable objects. For example, a collectible movie character NFT can also be used cross-platform in a video game as the player's avatar; [Para 68]. Examiner asserts movie characters are known to have one or more of appearance attributes, physical attributes, sound traits, capability traits and personality traits. The content creator application includes a set of content creator wallet keys 1212 that can include a public key/private key pair that the content creator application can use to sign NFTs minted by the content creator application [Para 119].)); and
a virtual persona tokenization system configured to (Vijayan: Fig 13):
generate a master virtual persona token (MVPT) of the virtual persona by associating the virtual persona and permissions to the first user account as a non-fungible token (NFT) (Vijayan: NFTs can be created around a large range of real world media content and intellectual property. Movie studios can mint digital collectibles for their movies, characters, notable scenes and/or notable objects. For example, a collectible movie character NFT can also be used cross-platform in a video game as the player's avatar; [Para 68]);
record the MVPT on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) configured to track ownership rights to the virtual persona (Vijayan: Possession of the NFT reflects the ownership of the collectible. It is non-interchangeable as each collectible is unique and serialized.[Para 65].); and
But Vijayan does not explicitly disclose a virtual persona user control panel ;encrypt the virtual persona; a virtual persona container system configured to store the encrypted virtual persona at a storage location within a virtual persona files database; virtual persona access system configured to :receive a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, request to access the virtual persona, allow the requestor software application to access the virtual persona.
However, Goossens, in a similar field of endeavor teaches encrypt the virtual persona; a virtual persona container system configured to store the encrypted virtual persona at a storage location within a virtual persona files database (Goossens: In one embodiment the one or more messaging server(s) 1301 can maintain an avatar database 1302 which has, for each avatar, the corresponding token and a corresponding time-to-live value. The avatar database 1302 and/or each avatar can be stored in an encrypted format.[Fig 13;Para 83].);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vijayan to include encrypting avatars in order to increase the security of the avatar when it is shared.
But this combination still does not explicitly disclose a virtual persona user control panel ;virtual persona access system configured to :receive a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, including an authenticator generated using the ACKP; verify the request to access the virtual persona on the DLT by (a) verifying the requestor has permission to access the virtual persona in the permissions and (b) authenticating the authenticator using the ACKP; and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allow the requestor software application to access the virtual persona.receive a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, including an authenticator generated using the ACKP; verify the request to access the virtual persona on the DLT by (a) verifying the requestor has permission to access the virtual persona in the permissions and (b) authenticating the authenticator using the ACKP; and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allow the requestor software application to access the virtual persona.
Meadows in a similar field of endeavor, teaches a virtual persona user control panel (Meadows: FIG. 3 illustrates a authoring interface system for authoring one or more attributes of a bot, according to an embodiment. The authoring interface system can enable a user to select or modify one or more bot attributes. These are tools can enable a person to define a conversation style, character appearance, and mannerisms[Paras 32-33].).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art , before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve the system of Vijayan by incorporating the authoring interface taught by Meadows in order to allow the user to allow the user to define their character’s appearance and attributes.
But this combination still does not explicitly disclose virtual persona access system configured to :receive a request from a requestor software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, including an authenticator ; verify the request to access the virtual persona on the DLT by (a) verifying the requestor has permission to access the virtual persona in the permissions and (b) authenticating the authenticator using the ACKP; and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allow the requestor software application to access the virtual persona.
Rodefer,in a similar field of endeavor, discloses a virtual persona access system configured to: receive a request from a requester software application to access the virtual persona on behalf of the first user, including an authenticator (Rodefer: a user (first user), via an authorized client program (requestor software application), connects to the avatar server where the client program initiates the programming libraries of the avatar server by providing them with the license key (authenticator); paragraphs [0028]-(0029]); verify the request to access the virtual persona by (a) verifying the requester has permission to access the virtual persona in the permissions and (b) authenticating the authenticator (Rodefer: upon confirming the validity of the license file, e.g., ensuring that it corresponds with the program and that the format is valid, a client application can open a TCP/IP or UDP connection with the primary avatar server S310 and transmit the key; paragraph (0029]); and upon verifying the request to access the virtual persona, allow the requester software application to access the virtual persona (Rodefer: On the other hand, if the authentication process succeeded, a list of avatars (virtual persona) associated with the provided login information is then sent to the programming library S391, which is then transmitted to the host program S392; paragraph (0029]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Rodefer in order to load, customize and render avatar data unique to a user in games and different types of applications (Rodefer; [paragraph 07]).
Zimmerman, in a similar field of endeavor teaches verify the request to access the virtual persona on the DLT (Zimmerman; In step e, the AI processor device of the avatar uses a directory of all authorized entities in its communication authentication storage to check whether said AI processor device is authorized to provide information to said entity[Para 42], wherein the authorizations are specified the person or central institution[Para 50]. The avatar preferably comprises a storage (log storage) in which the historical course of the changes is stored (for example using blockchains or the like)[Para 52]. Examiner asserts that these mechanisms collectively establish and enforce permission rights for other entities to access the avatar in conjunction with maintaining records on the blockchain which are functionally equivalent to the claimed limitations))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Vijayan to incorporate the teachings of Zimmerman such that permissions for accessing and using the avatar are logged on the blockchain. This ensures that the permissions are verifiable to control access to the avatar.
In regards to claim 49, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Meadows, Rodefer, and Zimmerman teach the system of claim 48, wherein the virtual persona access system further comprises: a virtual persona smart contract software program configured to record and control the permissions for the virtual persona (Vijayan: in addition, the processor is capable of being configured by the media wallet application to: securely store non-fungible tokens (NFTs), where each NFT is associated with a programmatically defined smart contract written to at least one immutable ledger; display a user interface through which user instructions concerning data access permissions are received; and cause media consumption data to be written to the at least one immutable ledger in conjunction with a set of data access permissions determined in accordance with user instructions concerning data access permission received via the user interface.[Para11].).
In regards to claim 51, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Meadows, Rodefer, and Zimmerman teach the system of claim 49, further comprising: wherein the real-time virtual persona presence system is further configured to coordinate with the virtual persona access system to cross-reference access rights to a plurality of virtual personas that the first user is authorized to use and allows searching of connections across an authorized software application (Rodefer: FIG. 3 depicts a process by which a user, via an authorized client program, connects to the avatar server and authenticates both the user and the client program. The authentication described in FIG. 3 is similar to the authentication described above in step S230 of FIG. 2. Upon completion of the authentication, a list of avatars associated with the user account can be transmitted back to the client program, providing the user the opportunity to select the avatar that he/she wants to use inside the client program [Para28].).
In regards to claim 52, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Meadows, Rodefer, and Zimmerman teach the system of claim 48, wherein the virtual persona access system is further configured to allow the first user to define all aspects of the virtual persona via a user interface configured to access the virtual persona and all virtual persona data for the virtual persona, including defining, modifying and adjusting one or more of visual, audio, controls, interactivity, artificial intelligence, permissions, and economic exchanges for the virtual persona (Meadows: FIG. 3 illustrates a authoring interface system for authoring one or more attributes of a bot, according to an embodiment. The authoring interface system can enable a user to select or modify one or more bot attributes. These are tools can enable a person to define a conversation style, character appearance, and mannerisms[Paras 32-33].). This claim is rejected based on the same rationale as claim 48 above.
Claim(s) 50 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vijayan et al (US-20200005284-A1) in view of Goossens et al. (US-20170358117-A1), in further view of Meadows (US-20190138914-A1), in further view of Rodefer (US-20080306951-A1), and further in view of Zimmerman (US-20240005580-A1), and further in view of Reece et al.(US-20090069084-A1).
In regards to claim 50, the combination of Vijayan, Goossens, Meadows, Rodefer, and Zimmerman teach the system of claim 49, further comprising:
But the combination does not explicitly teach a real-time virtual persona presence system configured to track real-time use of the virtual persona, including maintaining a database of software applications actively using the virtual persona and their actions and behaviors with the software applications.
However, Reece in a similar field of endeavor teaches a real-time virtual persona presence system configured to track real-time use of the virtual persona, including maintaining a database of software applications actively using the virtual persona and their actions and behaviors with the software applications (Reece: As an avatar interacts with objects and other avatars in the virtual environment, the server-side of the application collects data and maintains a database pertaining to the actions and responses chosen by an avatar while in the virtual environment. The collected data can be compiled by any of a variety of statistical or mathematical techniques known to a person with skill in the art.[Para 13].).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to improve the system of Vijayan to include the teachings of Reece in order to track an avatar’s performance in virtual environments.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Baldwin et al. (US-20200306637-A1) discloses Systems methods for receiving a request to display an avatar within a graphical user interface of a client device, authenticating the request based on user data, retrieving the avatar from a database, transmitting the avatar to the client device and presenting the avatar within the user interface of the client device.
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/P.E.W./Examiner, Art Unit 2493
/CARL G COLIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2493
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