DETAILED ACTION
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 1-11 and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. Specifically the claims are directed to “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” in the form of “Managing Personal Behavior or Relationships or Interactions Between People”. See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2) where “rules for playing games” was determined as an abstract idea. Review of applications specification, for example Par. 32, suggests that the first and second virtual objects in the game recited by applicant are different human players participating in the game. The independent claims 1, 13, and 14 recite “the game stage comprises an action stage and a discussion stage” and “obtaining a skill configuration parameter of the first virtual object to determine an additional skill, newly added on a basis of a default skill, of the first virtual object, wherein the default skill is a skill assigned according to an identity attribute of the first virtual object; when determining that a completion progress of a virtual task in the game stage reaches a progress threshold, controlling the first virtual object to unlock the additional skill, and providing an additional skill control that is configured to trigger the additional skill…”
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional elements of a processor, storage medium, bus, non-transitory computer readable medium, and display are simply recitation of a computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea, see MPEP 2106.05(f). Further recitation of displaying game scenes via a “graphical user interface” and a with “skill control” to “trigger the skill” in the graphical user interface generically and at a high level amounts to little more than adding insignificant extra-solution display and/or data gathering activity. As such these limitation fail to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Dependent claims 2-11, 15-19 recite additional abstract details of the judicial exception and/or recite generic extra solution display activity by stating that abstract elements recited at a high level are simply displayed in the graphical user interface. Claim 20 recites a progress bar generically and a high level and without any specificity which likewise is considered insignificant extra solution display activity. As such these limitations fail to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements of a processor, storage medium, bus, non-transitory computer readable medium, and display recite well-understood, routine and conventional computer activity. Further, Toyohara et al., Col. 6 lines 21-37, teaches where it is conventional to have a display on a device provide an interface via menus and such which allow a player to control a game character and provide arbitrary inputs to advance the progress of play. As such recitation of a “graphical user interface” for displaying game scenes and allowing player control represent well-understood, routine and conventional computer activity in the gaming arts. As such, even when considered as a whole these elements fail to add significantly more than the abstract idea.
Dependent claims 2-11, 15-19 recite additional abstract details of the judicial exception and/or recite generic extra solution display activity by stating that abstract elements recited at a high level are simply displayed in the graphical user interface. Claim 20 recites a progress bar generically and a high level and without any specificity Wikipedia.org webpage “Progress Bar” teaches where progress bars in computers for showing when a particular even will occur in computer software are well-known routine and conventional when claimed generically at such a high level. As such these limitations fail to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
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.
Claims 1-8, 11, and 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over evidence of computer program “Among Us” (Innersloth) hereinafter “Among Us” in view of webpage “Town-Of-Us” which teaches a software “mod” for the Among Us game to add additional functionality. The evidence constituting Among Us consists of 1) Wikipedia.org webpage “Among Us” describing functionality of the Among Us software (AU Wikipedia), 2) Among-us.fandom.com webpage “Abilities” describing functionality of the Among Us game (AU Abilities), 3) Among-us.fandom.com webpage “Voting” describing functionality of the Among Us game (AU Voting), 4) Among-us.fandom.com webpage “Task Bar” describing functionality of the Among Us game (AU Taskbar), 5) Among-us.fandom.com webpage “Task list” describing functionality of the Among Us game (AU Tasklist) and 6) Youtube.com webpage titled “TUTORIAL || How to Catch Impostors with the Admin Table in Among us” by user “It’s Creamy Goodness” which teaches functionality of the Admin table ability in Among Us (AU ICG).
In Reference to Claims 1, 13, and 14
Among Us teaches an electronic device comprising a processor, a storage medium, and a bus, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, and method for controlling a game progress (AU Wikipedia page 1 “Platform Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows.” page 8 under Sales, “The Associated Press noted the game was the most downloaded app on the iOS App Store for both iPhones and iPads in October 2020.”), wherein a graphical user interface is provided by a terminal device, the graphical user interface comprises a virtual scene of a current game stage, and the game stage comprises an action stage and a discussion stage (AU Wikipedia page 2-3 under Gameplay which shows a screenshot of the graphical user interface provided on the iOS or Windows devices and which teaches “At the start of the game, Crewmates are assigned "tasks" to complete around the map in the form of minigames, consisting of maintenance work on vital systems such as fixing wires and downloading data.” And “Any living player may call a group meeting by reporting a dead body, or by pressing the Emergency Meeting button at any time. During a meeting, players discuss who they believe is an Impostor based on the available evidence. A plurality vote is held, and the chosen player is ejected from the map and they become a ghost.” Where the players moving around the map constitutes an action stage and the meeting constitutes a discussion stage.), and wherein the method comprises: displaying, in the action stage, at least part of a first virtual scene of the action stage and a first virtual object located in the first virtual scene in the graphical user interface (AU Wikipedia page 2 gameplay and screenshot which teach “Imposters” and “Crewmates” which are controllable player characters which can constitute a first virtual object); obtaining a skill configuration parameter of the first virtual object to determine a skill, added on a basis of a default skill, of the first virtual object, wherein the default skill is a skill assigned according to an identity attribute of the first virtual object; and providing an multiple skill controls that is configured to trigger a plurality of skills on a basis of providing a default skill control in the graphical user interface that is configured to trigger the default skill (AU Abilities “Abilities appear as large buttons in the bottom-right corner of players' screens, each with different purposes. Each role has a default ability: the Crewmates' is use, and The Impostors' is Sabotage. Standing near security systems such as Admin will replace the default ability with the security system's appropriate ability. An Impostor standing near a vent will have their default ability replaced with vent, while if they stand near a panel to resolve a Sabotage, next to the Decontamination doors, or next to the emergency button it will be replaced with use.” And “Report is positioned above the default ability and is usable whenever the player is near a dead body. Kill is positioned to the left of the default ability and is usable whenever the player meets the criteria to kill a Crewmate. The player must be An Impostor, have their kill cooldown at zero, and be within a certain range from a Crewmate, which depends on the game's options.” Which teaches various abilities activation buttons in the graphical user interface for players to activate a plurality of different abilities. And where buttons for additional abilities either contextually replace default abilities when conditionally available or are placed adjacent to the buttons for default abilities. See also the table which teaches the various abilities and a “used by” column which shows abilities are determined according to player role such as “Impostor”); and controlling the graphical user interface to display a second virtual scene corresponding to the discussion stage in response to a preset trigger event, wherein the second virtual scene comprises at least one of: a second virtual object, a character icon of the second virtual object, the first virtual object, and a character icon of the first virtual object, and wherein the discussion stage is configured to determine a game state of the second virtual object or the first virtual object according to a result of the discussion stage (AU Wikipedia under Gameplay “Any living player may call a group meeting by reporting a dead body, or by pressing the Emergency Meeting button at any time. During a meeting, players discuss who they believe is an Impostor based on the available evidence. A plurality vote is held, and the chosen player is ejected from the map and they become a ghost.[19][20] Players can communicate in a text chat,[19] but only during meetings, and only if they are alive (though ghosts can speak with one another at any time). See also AU Voting which includes a screenshot of the Voting stage of the game, where each player of a game is shown with in a list with their name, an image of their player avatar and voting controls).
Further Among Us teaches determining that a completion progress of a virtual task in the game stage (AU Wikipedia “At the start of the game, Crewmates are assigned "tasks" to complete around the map in the form of minigames, consisting of maintenance work on vital systems such as fixing wires and downloading data.”). However, Among Us does not explicitly teach obtaining a skill configuration parameter of the first virtual object to determine an additional skill, newly added on a basis of a default skill, or when determining that a completion progress of a virtual task in the game stage reaches a progress threshold, controlling the first virtual object to unlock the additional skill.
Town-Of-Us teaches obtaining a skill configuration parameter of the first virtual object to determine an additional skill, newly added on a basis of a default skill, and when determining that a completion progress of a virtual task in the game stage reaches a progress threshold, controlling the first virtual object to unlock the additional skill (See page 5-6 “Sheriff”, “Team: Crewmates”, “The Sheriff is a Crewmate that has the ability to eliminate the Impostors using their kill button. However, if they kill a Crewmate or a Neutral player they can't kill, they instead die themselves.” Which teaches a new player role which has additional abilities, in this case a crewmate role which gets a new ability which is a variation of the kill ability normally available to impostors. And well as page 12 “Snitch”, “Team: Crewmates”, “The Snitch is a Crewmate that can get arrows pointing towards the Impostors, once all their tasks are finished. The names of the Impostors will also show up as red on their screen.” Which teaches a Snitch crewmate role which games a new abilities that “unlocks” and is provided once the player “completes all their tasks” which examiner considers a completion progress of a virtual task in the game stage reaches a progress threshold).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to modify the device, medium, and method of Among Us to include additional player skills and unlocking additional skills based on task progress as taught by Town-of-Us in order to add addition strategic considerations and play variation by adding new player roles and abilities, to add a sense of ramping action and excitement as the game increases in complexity and action as the game goes on and players complete their tasks, as well as providing additional incentive for players to focus on completing tasks so that they can unlock fun and exciting abilities.
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to modify the device, medium, and method of Among Us to include additional skills and unlocking additional skills based on task progress as taught by Town-of-Us.
In Reference to Claim 2
Among Us teaches where the virtual task comprises tasks completed by all virtual objects with a first character attribute in the game stage; and the completion progress of the virtual task in the game stage indicates a progress of the virtual task being jointly completed by the virtual objects with the first character attribute in the game stage, and the first virtual object is a virtual object with the first character attribute (AU Wikipedia page 2 “At the start of the game, Crewmates are assigned "tasks" to complete around the map in the form of minigames, consisting of maintenance work on vital systems such as fixing wires and downloading data.” And AU Task Bar “The task bar is visible to both Crewmates and Impostors and is displayed above the player's task list. When the task bar is full, the Crewmates win the game. To fill the task bar, Crewmates must complete their tasks. If a task has multiple stages, Crewmates must finish all stages before the task bar's progress increases.”).
In Reference to Claim 3
Among Us as modified by Town-Of-Us teaches where the additional skill comprises at least one of: an identity gambling skill, an identity verification skill, a guidance skill, and a task doubling skill (Town-Of-Us “Sheriff” “The Sheriff is a Crewmate that has the ability to eliminate the Impostors using their kill button. However, if they kill a Crewmate or a Neutral player they can't kill, they instead die themselves.” Which examiner considers an identity gambling skill and “Snitch” “The Snitch is a Crewmate that can get arrows pointing towards the Impostors, once all their tasks are finished. The names of the Impostors will also show up as red on their screen.” As well as “Seer” “The Seer is a Crewmate that can reveal the roles of other players.” Which examiner considers “identity verification skills.”).
In Reference to Claim 4
Among Us as modified by Town-Of-Us teaches wherein a case that the additional skill comprises the identity gambling skill, the method further comprises a the identity gambling skill is unlocked, in response to an identity gambling skill control being triggered, controlling the first virtual object to perform identity gambling with the second virtual object; and when the second virtual scene corresponding to the discussion stage is displayed, displaying information related to an identity gambling result on the first virtual object or the character icon of the first virtual object comprised in the second virtual scene, or, displaying the information related to the identity gambling result on the second virtual object or the character icon of the second virtual object comprised in the second virtual scene (Town-Of-Us “Sheriff” “The Sheriff is a Crewmate that has the ability to eliminate the Impostors using their kill button. However, if they kill a Crewmate or a Neutral player they can't kill, they instead die themselves.” And where Town-Of-Us teaches unlocking abilities as described above. See also AU Voting where the Meeting screen shows that dead players are displayed. Thus when the discussion and voting stage is shown have the Sheriff uses their ability players will know the results of the ability in the form of who was killed).
In Reference to Claim 5
Among Us as modified by Town-Of-Us teaches wherein in a case that the additional skill comprises the identity verification skill, the method further comprises: in a case that the identity verification skill is unlocked, in response to an identity verification skill control being triggered, providing identity information of the second virtual object to the first virtual object (Town-Of-Us “Seer” “The Seer is a Crewmate that can reveal the roles of other players. Based on settings, the Seer can find out whether a role is Good, Evil or Neutral, or they can find out the role itself. A player's name will change color to their team or role.” See also “Seer Cooldown, The Cooldown of the Seer's Reveal button.” Where Town-Of-Us teaches unlocking additional skills as described above).
In Reference to Claim 6
Among Us as modified by Town-Of-Us teaches wherein after the providing the identity information of the second virtual object to the first virtual object, the method further comprises displaying the identity information of the second virtual object at a preset position of the second virtual object (Town-Of-Us “Seer” “A player's name will change color to their team or role.” And see AU Voting screenshot which shows that a player’s name is shown at a preset position relative to the player).
In Reference to Claim 7
Among Us teaches user interface to display the second virtual scene corresponding to the discussion stage in response to the preset trigger event comprises in response to a distance between the first virtual object and a virtual object in a target state being less than a first distance threshold, controlling the graphical user interface to display the second virtual scene corresponding to the discussion stage (AU Wikipedia “Any living player may call a group meeting by reporting a dead body” and AU Abilities “Report is positioned above the default ability and is usable whenever the player is near a dead body.” See also “Kill is positioned to the left of the default ability and is usable whenever the player meets the criteria to kill a Crewmate. The player must be An Impostor, have their kill cooldown at zero, and be within a certain range from a Crewmate, which depends on the game's options.” Where the kill ability that leads to or “trigger” emergency meetings via reported dead bodies also requires use on a player within a certain range).
In Reference to Claim 8
Among Us as modified by Town-Of-Us teaches wherein in a case that if the additional skill comprises the guidance skill, the method further comprises: in a case that after the guidance skill is unlocked, in response to a guidance skill control being triggered, obtaining position information of the virtual object in the target state within a second distance threshold range from the first virtual object; displaying, according to the position information, an indication identifier corresponding to the position information in the graphical user interface to indicate an orientation of the virtual object in the target state in the first virtual scene; and in response to a movement instruction, controlling the first virtual object to move (AU Abilities “Standing near security systems such as Admin will replace the default ability with the security system's appropriate ability.” And shows an “Admin” ability with the description “Opens up the Admin map which gives the user access to where everyone is.” Finally see AU ICG from about 0:38 – 0:48 which teaches that the location of dead bodies show up as icons on the admin table map of he game environment. Thus providing position information of dead bodies which are the objects that trigger the discussion stage when reported. See also that if a player icon on the admin map does not move for a long time it is likely showing the location of a dead body that can be reported. Examiner considers this to constitute “according to the position information, an indication identifier corresponding to the position information in the graphical user interface to indicate an orientation of the virtual object in the target state in the first virtual scene;” Finally see AU Wikipedia under Gameplay “At the start of the game, Crewmates are assigned "tasks" to complete around the map in the form of minigames, consisting of maintenance work on vital systems such as fixing wires and downloading data.” And “In each game's lobby, various options can be adjusted to customize aspects of gameplay, such as player movement speed” as well as AU ICG at around 0:00-0:06 which show the player moving around the map. Finally Town-Of-Us teaches placing abilities behind unlocks as described above).
In Reference to Claim 11
Among Us teaches where a second progress Prompt Control wherein a second progress prompt control corresponding to the additional skill control is further provided in the graphical user interface, and the second progress prompt control is configured to display a progress that the additional skill is unlocked (Au Tasklist which teaches a UI element which shows each players tasks and updates and changes color as tasks are completed. Thus this UI element constitutes a second progress prompt control corresponding to the additional skill and showing progress toward the additional skill since it a skill unlocked when the player completes their tasks would have its progress shown by the complete of a player’s task list.
In Reference to Claim 15
Among Us teaches where the first virtual scene is switched according to movement of the first virtual object (AU Wikipedia which teaches under Gameplay “Any living player may call a group meeting by reporting a dead body”, “At the start of the game, Crewmates are assigned "tasks" to complete around the map” and “player movement speed”, AU ICG 0:00-0:06 which show players moving around the map, as well as AU Abilities which teaches “Report is positioned above the default ability and is usable whenever the player is near a dead body.” Thus players moved to near the location of a dead body to report it and start an emergency meeting).
In Reference to Claim 16
Among Us teaches where the first virtual scene comprises a scene thumbnail corresponding to the first virtual scene (AU ICG which shows the admin table map being display in the first virtual scene such as at time 0:29. Where examiner considers this map of the game environment to constitute a “thumbnail scene” since it shows reduced size depictions of the current state of rooms in the game environment).
Claims 10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over evidence of computer program “Among Us”, in view of “Town-Of-Us,” and further in view of Cohen, US 2020/0167699.
In Reference to Claim 10
Among Us teaches wherein the completion progress of the virtual task is displayed through a first progress prompt control provided in the graphical user interface (AU Taskbar “The task bar, also known as the gauge in How to Play, is a UI element in Among Us that shows players the completion of tasks. It is located in the top-left corner of the screen and can update at different periods or not at all depending on the game's options” and “The task bar is visible to both Crewmates and Impostors and is displayed above the player's task list. When the task bar is full, the Crewmates win the game. To fill the task bar, Crewmates must complete their tasks.” As well as AU ICG at, for example, 0:02 which shows the game scene with a partially filled bar at the top that states “Total Tasks Completed.”).
However, Among Us does not teach the first progress prompt control is further displayed with at least one unlocking identifier configured to prompt that a corresponding additional skill is unlockable at a preset progress.
Cohen teaches a progress bar which teaches first progress prompt control is further displayed with at least one unlocking identifier configured to prompt that a corresponding additional skill is unlockable at a preset progress (Fig. 21 and Par. 127 which teach “For example, in one embodiment, when a point total is reached for unlocking or enabling Type A rewards, the rewards progress indicator 2101 presents or animates a progress level 2107 to align or match the Type A reward object 2103, wherein the progress level 2107 is a shading, progress bar, symbol, text, or equivalent digital progress indicator.”).
It would be desirable to modify the method of Among Us and Town-Of-Us to include progress indictors for unlocks on a progress bar for a player as taught by Cohen in order to reminder players when and how they unlock access to their additional skills so they can play accordingly.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to modify the method of Among Us and Town-Of-Us to include progress indictors for unlocks on a progress bar for a player as taught by Cohen.
In Reference to Claim 20
Among Us, Town-Of-Us, and Cohen teach wherein the first progress prompt control is in a form of progress bar (AU Taskbar, AU ICG at 0:02 and Cohen Fig. 21).
Claims 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over evidence of computer program “Among Us”, in view of “Town-Of-Us,” and further in view of Kiyomoto et al., US 2018/0104577.
In Reference to Claim 17
Among Us and Town-Of-Us teach additional skills as described above. However, they do not explicitly teach where the virtual object has both an active skill and a passive skill.
Kiyomoto et al. teach a game where player control player avatars and where the Avatars are controlled to have a plurality of skills including an active skill and a passive skill (Par. 139 “active type skills” and “passive type skills” and “Moreover, it would be acceptable to arrange for the active type skills to manifest their beneficial effects simultaneously with the passive type skills” which teaches where a player can have both active and passive skills at the same time).
It would be desirable to modify the method of Among Us and Town-Of-Us to include giving a player active an active additional skill and a passive additional skill as taught by Kiyomoto et al. in order to increase the possible types of ability designs that can be provided to a player and have the skills apply in a manner best deemed appropriate for their affect and increase the enjoyment of the player by providing extra bonuses that they get to actively deploy themselves as an exciting game action and bonuses that apply and make the player feel special even if there is no opportunity to use actively use a skill or the active skill is on cooldown.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the invention to modify the method of Among Us and Town-Of-Us to include giving a player active an active additional skill and a passive additional skill as taught by Kiyomoto et al.
In Reference to Claim 18
Among Us, Town-Of-Us, and Kiyomoto et al. teach wherein the additional skill refers to an additional skill that the first virtual object has an ability to actively select an object to which the additional skill is applied (Among Us and Town-Of-Us which teach additional skills as described above including skill that are activated by a button, see Town-Of-Us “Seer” and “Sheriff,” and Kiyomoto et al. “while others of the skills manifest their beneficial effects due to operation of the foot pedal 8 (i.e. predetermined operation) (hereinafter, sometimes these are termed “active type skills”)”).
In Reference to Claim 19
Among Us, Town-Of-Us, and Kiyomoto et al. teach wherein the passive skill refers to an additional skill that the first virtual object does not have the ability to actively select the object to which the additional skill is applied (Among Us and Town-Of-Us which teach additional skills as described above including skill that are do not use a button activation, e.g. see Town-Of-Us “Snitch”, and Kiyomoto et al. “it would be possible for each of the skills to be constituted so that some of the skills continue to manifest their beneficial effects without any relationship with operation from the start of the musical piece or the like (hereinafter, sometimes these are termed “passive type skills”)”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 would be allowable if the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 101 set forth in this Office action were overcome, and the claims were rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARL V LARSEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3219. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday; 10:00 am - 6:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dmitry Suhol can be reached at (571) 272-4430. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CARL V LARSEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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