DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
This is in response to the amendments filed on 12/10/25. Claims 8 – 10 and 18-20 have been cancelled. Claims 1 – 7, 11 – 17, and 21 – 24 are now pending in the current application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1 – 7, 11 – 17, and 21 – 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Step 1:
I. The claims are drawn to apparatus, process and CRM categories.
II. Thus, initially, under Step 1 of the analysis, it is noted that the claims are directed towards eligible categories of subject matter.
Step 2a:
III. Prong 1: Does the claim recite an abstract idea, law of nature, or natural phenomenon?
Representative claim 1 is analyzed below, with italicized limitations indicating recitations of an abstract idea.
(Currently Amended) A computer-implemented method for recommending video game gameplay to a user, comprising: receiving, at a networked computer device, information from a social media feed of the user; analyzing, at the networked computer device, the information from the social media feed to determine a sentiment of the user; selecting, using the networked computer device and based on the sentiment of the user, a scene of a video game from among a plurality of video games each having a plurality of scenes, the selection being based on a mapping of different possible user sentiments to the plurality of scenes of the plurality of video games; identifying, by the networked computer device, an asset used in the selected scene of the video game; generating, by the networked computer device and based on the sentiment of the user, a prompt for a generative artificial intelligence (Al) for modifying the identified asset; modifying, by the generative Al and based on the prompt, an appearance of the asset to generate a modified asset related to the user sentiment; and presenting, via a user interface in communication with the networked computer device, a recommendation of the
The underlined limitations fall within at least three of the groupings of abstract ideas enumerated in the 2019 PEG:
Fundamental economic principles or practices
Commercial or legal interactions
Managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people
The claims are directed towards incentivizing the behavior of users playing a game via group agreements or contract. This is viewed by the Examiner as a fundamental economic practice, an agreement in the form of contracts, and managing personal behavior or relationships between people, which are all considered to be abstract ideas according to the 2019 guidelines.
Prong 2: Does the Claim recite additional elements that integrate the exception in to a practical application of the exception?
iii. Although the claims recite additional limitations, such as one or more processors and at least one server, the said additional limitations do not integrate the exception into a practical application of the exception. For example, the claims require
additional limitations such as an interface, processor, memory, sever, and display components.
iv. These additional limitations do not represent an improvement to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field, (MPEP 2106.05(a)). Nor do they apply the exception using a particular machine, (MPEP 2106.05(b)). Furthermore, they do not effect a transformation. (MPEP 2106.05(c)). Rather, these additional limitations amount to an instruction to “apply” the judicial exception using a computer as a tool to perform the abstract idea.
Step 2b:
Under Step 2B, the claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because they amount to conventional and routine computer implementation and mere instructions for implementing the abstract idea on generic computing devices.
For example, the claim language does not recite any additional elements. Therefore, the additional elements fail to supply additional elements that yield significantly more than the underlying abstract idea. Viewing the limitations as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually. There is no indication that the combination of elements improves the functioning of a computer or improves any other technology.
For these reasons, it appears that the claims are not patent-eligible under 35 USC §101.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 12/10/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicants argue that “the claimed solution goes beyond merely using a computer as a tool and instead provides concrete improvements to the video gaming experience by providing a user with a personalized game scene based on their social media activity”. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claims are directed towards a video game system that comprises an instruction to apply artificial intelligence, (AI), in order to modify a gaming asset, which is viewed as no more than instructions to implement a judicial exception on a computer. The current claim language does not reflect an improvement to gaming technology nor does the claim language provide a technical solution to a problem. Therefore, the Examiner maintains that the claims are not patent eligible because the claims recite a judicial exception and the claims as a whole does not integrate the exception into a practical application and is thus directed to an abstract idea.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC M THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-1699. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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/E.M.T/Examiner, Art Unit 3715 /DAVID L LEWIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715