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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
The claim 1 recites “[A] design maintenance system…” which falls within the statutory category of a machine. Claim 6 recites “[A] design maintenance method…” which falls within the statutory category of a process. Claim 7 recites “[A] design maintenance server…” which fails within the statutory category of a machine.
The claims are directed to game processing involving:
Communicating information,
Notifying a person of game progression,
These steps, when viewed in their entirety, describe organizing and managing a set of rules for indicating status of a game, which is a form of managing human activity and following rules for playing a game. The USPTO recognizes “rules for playing a game” as an abstract idea (see MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2), Example 37; and In re Smith, 815 F.3d 816 (Fed. Cir. 2016)).
The recited “calculate a progress value” based on other information is a mathematical concept (measurement based on numerical parameters) and mental processes that could be performed in the human mind or with pen and paper.
Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea: rules and mathematical concepts for how a game progresses.
The claim does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
The recited “wireless equipment” and “design maintenance server” are generic computer components performing generic functions (storing information, communicating information).
The claim does not improve the functioning of the computer itself or another technology; rather, it uses the computer components as tools to implement the abstract idea of notifying a person of the progression of a game according to rules.
The additional elements (wireless equipment, design maintenance server, design maintenance tool, wireless information) do not impose a meaningful limit on the abstract idea.
Accordingly, the claim does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application under MPEP § 2106.04(d).
The claim does not recite additional elements that amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
The use of generic tool, generic server, and generic information to implement game status rules is well-understood, routine, and conventional in the field of computer gaming.
The “progress value” parameter is merely data used in the abstract notification process; it do not constitute an unconventional technical solution or improvement in computer functionality.
No specific algorithm, data structure, or hardware improvement is claimed that would transform the abstract idea into patent-eligible subject matter.
Therefore, the claim as a whole amounts to no more than the abstract idea of indicating status of a game according to rules, implemented on a generic computer.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Pub. 20150190709; US Pub. 20150181372; JP Pub. 2020141395; and JP Pub. 2021022145.
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/DAMON J PIERCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715