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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on November 11th, 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Long Game (as shown by NPL document “Truist Plays ‘Long Game’ with Gamified Mobile App to Boost Deposits”).
Regarding claims 1 and 17, Long Game discloses a computer gaming system for facilitating progressive advancement, the computer system comprising:
at least one processor (see figure on pg. 3, shows a smartphone which would contain a processor, communication interface, and memory device);
a communication interface communicatively coupled to the at least one processor (see figure on pg. 3, shows a smartphone which would contain a processor, communication interface, and memory device); and
a memory device storing executable code that (see figure on pg. 3, shows a smartphone which would contain a processor, communication interface, and memory device), when executed, causes the at least one processor to:
determine that a game user has completed a predetermined amount of actions within a game, wherein each action of the predetermined amount of actions is limited by an amount of allocated resources attributed to the game user (see pg. 3, 4th par., “Truist Long Game has various mini-games that serve as standalone sweepstakes. Each mini-game costs a number of “coins,” the in-app currency, to play.”; thus game play is limited by the amount of coins the player has);
ascertain whether opportunities for game advancement remain after the game user has completed the predetermined amount of actions, wherein the ascertaining comprises identifying at least one opportunity for game advancement (see pg. 3, 3rd par., “The main game board calls to mind a treasure hunt, with a map of the entire journey towards the savings goal that the user has selected to work towards. Users save towards their goals with real money that they deposit in a Truist account. When they hit the goal, the game suggests they set a new one.”);
store, based on identifying the at least one opportunity for game advancement, data associated with a current progress level of the game user within the game (see pg. 4, 4th par., “At the end of a session, the main game board appears so users can see what progress they are making towards their own financial goals.”);
receive transmitted authentication information to access the game (see pg. 4, 5th par., “Truist clearly intends the mobile app to be for customers. Once the brief trial period is over, progress is halted until users input their account information”);
verify that the authentication information received matches stored credentials of the game user from a database of authorized users, and based on the verifying evaluate whether additional resources are available to the game user (see pg. 4, 6th par., “An incentive to sign up for a Truist account and be able to fully participate in Long Game is an introductory reward of 1 million in-game coins.”); and
transmit, based on the additional resources being available to the game user, a control signal to an electronic device to cause the electronic device to provide access, via a user interface of the electronic device, to the game at the current progress level (see pg. 4, 5th par., “Truist clearly intends the mobile app to be for customers. Once the brief trial period is over, progress is halted until users input their account information”; thus the player is able to continue playing at the current progress level after creating an account).
Regarding claims 2 and 18, Long Game discloses wherein the executable code, when executed, further causes the at least one processor to assign a resource exchange rate to the predetermined amount of actions, wherein the predetermined amount of actions are capable of being completed based on the amount of allocated resources due to the assigned resource exchange rate (see pg. 3, 4th par., “Truist Long Game has various mini-games that serve as standalone sweepstakes. Each mini-game costs a number of “coins,” the in-app currency, to play.”; thus the player is exchanging a certain amount of coins to play in the mini-games).
Regarding claims 3 and 19, Long Game discloses wherein the executable code, when executed, further causes the at least one processor to establish one or more rules directing accumulation of the amount of allocated resources attributed to the game user (see pg. 3, 4th par. and pg. 4, 1st par., “Users can earn coins to play games by performing various actions including, depositing money into their linked Truist deposit account to make progress towards their savings goal, setting up direct deposit, answering financial wellness trivia questions within the app, and more.”).
Regarding claim 4, Long Game discloses wherein the executable code, when executed, further causes the at least one processor to generate and transmit the user interface of the game, wherein the generated user interface comprises a plurality of video images configured to depict the progressive advancement of gameplay of the game (see figure on pg. 3).
Regarding claims 5 and 20, Long Game discloses wherein the game comprises a single-player game in which the game user provides one or more inputs via a user interface of the electronic device to play the game (see figure on pg. 3).
Regarding claim 6, Long Game discloses wherein the control signal is transmitted across a wireless network, the wireless network comprising a plurality of network nodes (see figure on pg. 3, shows a smartphone connected to wireless networks (Wi-Fi and cellular networks)).
Regarding claim 7, Long Game discloses wherein the expending the amount of allocated resources enables the game user to perform the predetermined amount of actions within the game, wherein the allocated resources comprise in-game resources having a predefined value, wherein the in-game resources are earnable based on the game user performing real-world actions associated with financial objectives designated by the game user (see pg. 3, 4th par. and pg. 4, 1st par., “Truist Long Game has various mini-games that serve as standalone sweepstakes. Each mini-game costs a number of “coins,” the in-app currency, to play. Users can earn coins to play games by performing various actions including, depositing money into their linked Truist deposit account to make progress towards their savings goal, setting up direct deposit, answering financial wellness trivia questions within the app, and more. Depending on the mini-game, users have a chance to win more coins or real cash.”).
Regarding claim 8, Long Game discloses wherein the financial objectives comprise financial savings goals and the real-world actions comprise financial deposits to one or more financial savings accounts (see pg. 3, 4th par. and pg. 4, 1st par., “Users can earn coins to play games by performing various actions including, depositing money into their linked Truist deposit account to make progress towards their savings goal, setting up direct deposit, answering financial wellness trivia questions within the app, and more.”).
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) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Long Game (as shown by NPL document “Truist Plays ‘Long Game’ with Gamified Mobile App to Boost Deposits”) in view of Fisher et al. (US 2020/0228610 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Long Game discloses the computer gaming system as discussed above. However, Long Game does not explicitly disclose wherein the game is accessible via a link from an enterprise application of a financial institution.
Fisher teaches an invitation link for launching multi-user applications where games can be accessible via a link from an enterprise application (see fig. 8 and par. [0034], The electronic communication may be received via a communication application 805 executing on the first electronic device 800 and contain a multiplayer game link 810; the application being from a financial institution is merely intended use). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the computer gaming system of Long Game with the selectable link of Fisher in order to enable a user (or any other third party such as company/institution) to invite others directly into a multi-user application, such as a game (see Fisher, par. [0020]).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Long Game (as shown by NPL document “Truist Plays ‘Long Game’ with Gamified Mobile App to Boost Deposits”) in view of Murrell et al. (US 7,997,969 B1).
Regarding claim 10, Long Game discloses the computer gaming system as discussed above. However, Long Game does not explicitly disclose wherein the received authentication information is encrypted, and based on receiving the authentication information the executable code, when executed, causes the at least one processor to decrypt the encrypted authentication information.
Murrell teaches a system and method for implementing a game for financial data extraction wherein the received authentication information is encrypted, and based on receiving the authentication information the executable code, when executed, causes the at least one processor to decrypt the encrypted authentication information (see col. 11, lines 59-64, In block 302, user identification information may be received and an authentication module (e.g., authentication module 201) may attempt to authenticate a user using the user identification information. In an exemplary embodiment, user identification information received may be encrypted ciphertext and decrypted according to any security protocols). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the computer gaming system of Long Game with the encryption/decryption of Murrell in order to secure the user’s identification information.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Edwards et al. (US 2020/0372823 A1), Taylor (US 2013/0097060 A1), Hopper (AU 2013100954 A4)
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/ALLEN CHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715 12/25/2025