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 .
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 - 20 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.
A gaming system, comprising: a communication interface; a processor coupled with the communication interface; and a computer-readable storage medium coupled with the processor, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that enable the processor to: detect a content generation event; determine a set of group content preferences based on different sets of content preferences associated with different players in a group of players; in response to the detected content generation event, generate, at least in part from the set of group content preferences, a prompt to a generative model; provide a content generation request comprising the prompt to the generative model; in response to the content generation request, receive content generated by the generative model; select at least a portion of the received content for presentation by a plurality of gaming devices in communication with the communication interface, the plurality of gaming devices being associated with the group of players; and cause the received content to be presented by the plurality of gaming devices to the group of players.
The underlined limitations fall within at least three of the groupings of abstract idea enumerated in the 2019 PEG:
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 commercial interactions 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 a server 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 recite a processor, interface, and a storage medium, however, viewed as a whole, are indistinguishable from conventional computing elements known in the art. 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by Miller et al. (U.S. 2024/0355065) (henceforth, “Miller”).
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Miller discloses a method and gaming system, (“A game system 224 provides various gaming functions within the context of the interaction client”, par. 0074), comprising a communication interface, a processor coupled with the communication interface and a computer-readable storage medium coupled with the processor, (fig. 1), the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that enable the processor to detect a generation event, (parts 504 and 506 of fig. 5), determine a set of group content preferences based on different sets of content preferences associated with different players in a group of players (“user data features include data pertaining to a group of individuals”, par. 0315); in response to the detected content generation event, generate, from at least part of the set of group content preferences, a prompt to a generative model, (“the generative machine learning models generate an artificial image/video and/or text that is responsive to the prompt”, par. 0111 and part 506 of fig. 5 and par. 0315), provide a content generation request comprising the prompt to the generative model, in response to the content generation request, receive content generated by the generative model, (“This prompt can be provided as input to the neural network engine 314. The neural network engine 314 then accesses additional sources of data, such as external data sources 316 and/or feature APIs 318 to generate content that matches the inputs of the prompt”, par. 0111), select at least a portion of the received content for presentation by a plurality of gaming devices in communication with the communication interface, the plurality of gaming devices being associated with the group of players, (“The neural network engine 314 can intelligently select one or more of the external data sources 316 to populate data to respond to the prompt received from the personal AI agent”, par. 0113 and par. 0315), and cause the received content to be presented by the plurality of gaming devices to the group of players, (“The personal AI agent 302 can then automatically augment and/or modify the image currently being presented on the user system 102 using the unique AR experience generated by the neural network engine”, par. 0113).
Regarding claims 2 and 9, Miller discloses wherein the prompt and received content each comprise one of text, image, music, audio, and video information, wherein the generative model comprises one of a variational autoencoder (VAE), generative adversarial network (GAN), autoregressive model, and transformer-based model, (“The interaction system 100 can apply Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) “, par. 0178 and “ In some examples, the interaction system 100 applies Variational Autoencoders (VAEs)”, par. 0179), and wherein the prompt comprises a content preference associated by a player profile with the player, a content preference associated with a social website posting of the player, a content preference received from a mobile device of the player, a game theme associated with the gaming device, a player activity detected by the gaming system, input received from the player, a captured image of the player, a loyalty level of the player, and a loyalty point balance of the player, (“The personalized AI agent system 232 can retrieve data from multiple data sources, such as activity on a user's mobile phone, an AR/VR device, a smart watch, a laptop, or other user device. Based on this information, the personalized AI agent system 232 identifies patterns and predicts user's interests to generate a multimodal memory for a particular user. The personalized AI agent system 232 analyzes the user's profile information, such as their age, gender, location, messages exchanged, and/or interactions performed on the user system 102 to provide personalized features”, par. 0086).
Regarding claims 3 and 10, Miller discloses wherein the processor causes the received content to be presented by the gaming device prior to a game played by the player on the gaming device, wherein the detected content generation event comprises one of successful authentication of the player by the gaming system, detection of a location of a mobile device associated with the player, detection of at least a threshold level of gameplay by the player, detection of occurrence of a predetermined state of the gaming system, detection of occurrence of a predetermined player loyalty activity by the gaming system, detection that gameplay on another gaming device currently presenting different selected content is below a threshold level of gameplay, detection that a presentation duration of the different selected content is at least a threshold duration, detection of new a new content preference associated with the player, occurrence of a predetermined random or pseudorandom number, occurrence of at least a threshold loyalty point balance or loyalty status associated with the player, and occurrence of predetermined clock setting, (“The personal AI agent 302 can then automatically augment and/or modify the image currently being presented on the user system 102 using the unique AR experience generated by the neural network engine”, par. 0113).
Regarding claims 4 and 11, Miller discloses wherein the instructions that enable the processor to cause the received content to be incorporated into a presentation operation of the gaming device, the presentation operation comprising rendering one of a slot symbol used in a game played on the gaming device, background image displayed by a display of the gaming device, payline used in the game played on the gaming device, button panel of the gaming device, sound emitted by the gaming device, animation rendered by the display, card back or face used in a game played on the gaming device, icon rendered by the display, avatar rendered by the display, character rendered by the display, shader rendered by the display, border, title, or frame rendered by the display, signage rendered by the display, and a message provided to the player by the gaming device, and wherein in selecting the at least a portion of the received content, the processor selects the presentation operation from among plural presentation operations to be modified by the received content, (“An augmentation may include audio and visual content and visual effects. Examples of audio and visual content include pictures, texts, logos, animations, and sound effects”, par. 0065).
Regarding claims 5, 12, and 18, Miller discloses wherein the processor adjusts the prompt to reflect player input in generating the content generation request, wherein the processor maps a content preference associated with the content generation event against previously generated content to determine that the content previously generated by the generative model is to be presented by the gaming device to the player, and wherein the processor selects a presentation operation of the gaming device to be modified by the received content based on player input, (“The personalized AI agent system 232 can retrieve data from multiple data sources, such as activity on a user's mobile phone, an AR/VR device, a smart watch, a laptop, or other user device. Based on this information, the personalized AI agent system 232 identifies patterns and predicts user's interests to generate a multimodal memory for a particular user, par. 0086).
Regarding claims 6, 13, and 19, Miller discloses wherein the processor maps a content preference associated with the content generation event against previously generated prompts and associated gameplay performance levels to determine to provide a prior prompt to the generative model and wherein in selecting the at least a portion of the received content, the processor determines a relatedness of the received content against a current game theme of the gaming device, (“A personalized AI agent system 232 provides personalized features to a user of an interaction client 104 by analyzing user data and behavior to understand their preferences and interests”, par. 0084).
Regarding claims 7, 14, and 20, Miller discloses wherein the set of preferences comprises a preference regarding one of a text, image, music, audio, color, style, animation , and video information and wherein the processor associates a game or session identifier associated with a game played by the player on the gaming device while the received content is presented by the gaming device to the player and gameplay information associated with the played game with a content identifier associated with the at least a portion of the selected content, (“An augmentation may include audio and visual content and visual effects. Examples of audio and visual content include pictures, texts, logos, animations, and sound effects”, par. 0065).
Regarding claim 15, Miller discloses a method comprising, detecting, by a processor, a content generation event, (“A game system 224 provides various gaming functions within the context of the interaction client”, par. 0074), determining, by a processor (fig. 1), a game theme assigned to a plurality of gaming devices and a set of group content preferences based on different sets of content preferences associated with different players in a group of players, the group of players being associated with a plurality of gaming devices logically grouped together as a bank of gaming devices in a defined area of a gaming system, (parts 504 and 506 of fig. 5, par. 0050, 0114, 0139, 0238, and 0315), in response to the detected content generation event, generating, by the processor from the assigned game theme and at least part of the set of group content preferences, a prompt to a generative model, (“the generative machine learning models generate an artificial image/video and/or text that is responsive to the prompt”, par. 0111 and part 506 of fig. 5), provide a content generation request comprising the prompt to the generative model, in response to the content generation request, receive content generated by the generative model, (“This prompt can be provided as input to the neural network engine 314. The neural network engine 314 then accesses additional sources of data, such as external data sources 316 and/or feature APIs 318 to generate content that matches the inputs of the prompt”, par. 0111), wherein the received content is free of malicious content, select at least a portion of the received content for presentation by a gaming device in communication with the communication interface, (“The neural network engine 314 can intelligently select one or more of the external data sources 316 to populate data to respond to the prompt received from the personal AI agent”, par. 0113), and cause the received content to be presented by the gaming device to the group of players, (“The personal AI agent 302 can then automatically augment and/or modify the image currently being presented on the user system 102 using the unique AR experience generated by the neural network engine”, par. 0113).
Regarding claims 16 and 17, Miller discloses wherein the prompt comprises a content preference associated by a player profile with the player, a content preference associated with a social website posting of the player, a game theme associated with the gaming device, a player activity detected by the gaming system, input received from the player, a loyalty level of the player, and a loyalty point balance of the player and further comprising incorporating input from the player into the prompt, (“The external data sources 316 can include various search engines, chat bots, email applications, calendar applications, messaging applications, social network applications, news sources, live media sources, and/or any combination thereof. The personal AI agent 302 accesses external data from external data sources 316 to generate and/or apply multimodal memory 308 for a user”, par. 0112), and parsing the received input for second malicious content and wherein the second malicious content comprises one of a quick response (“QR”) code, malware, and content violating a game rule, (“ the communication components 2336 may detect identifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. For example, the communication components 2336 may include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detect one-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code, multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code”, par. 0290).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure and is listed on the attached Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHASE E LEICHLITER whose telephone number is (571)270-7109. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (9-5).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Lewis can be reached at (571)272-7673. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHASE E LEICHLITER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715