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 § 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) 1-6, 8 & 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by non patent literature Harpoon Commanders Edition (video game published by Matrix Games at least by Sept. 18, 2021, “HCE” hereafter) as evidenced by:
(a) Wikipedia Harpoon (series)
(Wikipedia article about the Harpoon video game series, “Harpoon Wikipedia”, hereafter)
[URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpoon_(series)],
b) Harpoon Commander’s Edition (HCE) Scenario Editing (video of Harpoon Scenario Editor use, dated 9/18/21, “HCE Scenario Editor”, hereafter) [URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhoDWsE4bN8];
c) ANW Scenario Design Tutorial (web page that explains the use of the Harpoon Scenario Editor, “Tutorial”, hereafter). [URL:https://web.archive.org/web/20230923014929/https://www.harplonkhq.com/Harpoon/ANWTutorial.htm].
Note, as a curtesy, examiner has provided qr codes for the youtube urls. This has been done because optical character recognition usually transposes letters to numerals and vice versa and since youtube urls have both letters and numerals this results in a non-functioning url. Similarly, many URLs contain special characters and spacing that is hard to capture from a paper document. Using a smartphone on the qr codes should provide an accurate url. The qr codes were generated by pasting the urls into a form found at https://www.qr-code-generator.com.
HCE Scenario Editor
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Regarding claim 1, HCE discloses a map model editing method for a campaign level analysis tool executed by a graphical user interface to reduce error rates, reduce time, and verify accuracy, the map model editing method comprising: providing, for display within a graphical user interface, a world map; providing a campaign displayed on the world map; providing at least one option for editing the campaign; executing the at least one option; and providing, for display within the graphical user interface, the edited campaign (User opens the “Nordic Light” scenario, is shown a map of the battle area with the various units on the map, and is able to change the location, course and speed of the carrier group, and save the changes; HCE Scenario Editor: 7:15-9:20).
Regarding claim 2, HCE discloses executing a simulation based on the at least one option; and storing the results of the simulation (User is able to load the modified scenario in the game engine; HCE Scenario Editor: 10:15-10:50).
Regarding claim 3, HCE discloses analyzing the at least one option to determine if it is an illegal modification (“2. Set starting date
The dd/mm/yyyy represents the starting day, month, and year. Enter 19, 3, and 1995 for the starting date. The starting date is important because it can determine which units are available for inclusion in the scenario.
Two options are available in the Harpoon3.ini file called ClassRestrictionByCountry and ClassRestrictionByTime. If both options have been turned ON, then only those units in service at the start of the scenario will be offered for insertion. The Harpoon3.ini file can be edited by any text editor. Restriction by Country/Time can also be enabled by the H3, ANW, or HUE Launchers under the Game Preferences Tab.
In H3, it is not possible to create a scenario before 1976 as the coastline and country border data only covers 1976 to 1994.
In ANW and HUE, it is not possible to create a scenario before 1900 or after 2154”, Tutorial, p. 5).
Regarding claim 4, HCE discloses providing, for display within the graphical user interface, the campaign of a blue force with a campaign of a red force (“1. Create a new side A maximum of 65535 sides is possible in any scenario. Each side can be assigned to the AI or be under player control. However, each additional side creates additional complexity and demand on CPU and memory. This Tutorial will only use three sides: Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. Select Sides command from the Edit pull-down menu to activate the Sides Maintenance window. Click on the Add Side button. When the New Side dialog box appears, enter "Alpha" and hit OK. The word Alpha now appears on both sides of the Side Maintenance window. The left panel of the window lists the sides currently in the game. The right side of the window lists their orders. Click on Add Side and type in "Bravo" to create it. Repeat this step and create a side for "Charlie". Once created, side names cannot be modified. To delete a side, click on the side from the left panel and hit the Del Side button”, Tutorial, p. 6), wherein the blue and red force are viewable and editable in the same world map (“Open the Side Maintenance window from the Edit pull-down menu and select Bravo from the left panel and click OK. Go to the zoom map window named Bravo. Under the Edit menu, select Units >> Add a Unit or use the Insert hotkey from the keyboard (not NumPad0). The cursor will now appear as a hand and pointed finger. Click near RefPt Keflavik and a unit will be inserted at that location. The Select Unit Type dialog box will appear. The dialog box is sensitive to the terrain selected for the unit insertion”, Tutorial, p. 9;
“Open the Side Maintenance window from the Edit pull-down menu and select Alpha from the left panel and click OK. Go to the zoom map window named Alpha. Use the Insert hotkey (not NumPad0) or the Edit >> Units >> Add a Unit command from the pull-down menu and click near RefPt Alpha. Select the radio button next to Ship and hit OK. Scroll down the list of offered ships and select the CVHG Moskva RUS 67-94 and click on OK.
Enable the Range / Bearing function (NumPad5 hotkey) and add the CG Slava RUS 90 (with the same process used for the Moskva) 10nm east of the CVHG. Repeat the process and add the BCGN Adm. Ushakov RUS 91 10nm to west of the CVHG. Repeat the process and add the LST Alligator Proj. 1171 RUS 64 10nm south of the CVHG. The process to group components together in the creation of a base is the same for the creation of a Task Force. Drag-select all four ships and hit the g-hotkey. Switch to Group Display mode to verify that the group has been created then return to Unit Display mode”, Tutorial, pp. 16 & 17).
Regarding claim 5, HCE discloses providing geographical locations to entities (“1. Set alternate starting points Open the Side Maintenance window from the Edit pull-down menu and select Charlie from the left panel and click OK. Go to the zoom map window named Charlie. One of the useful features in the Scenario Editor for increasing scenario diversity is the Alternate Starting Location option. When a game starts, the computer randomly selects between a set of pre-determined starting locations”, Tutorial, p. 20)
and events that occurred in the simulation (“Open the Side Maintenance window from the Edit pull-down menu and select Alpha from the left panel and click OK. Go to the main map window named Lesson 49 Missions The manual has an extensive description of behaviour for the various missions. Therefore, only the missions used in this specific Tutorial will be covered in detail. Ensure that the map is in Group View mode. As stated in Lesson41, the goal of this exercise is to simulate an invasion of Iceland. Therefore, the task force must reach Iceland. Drag-select the three RefPts named LZ south of Iceland and create a Transit mission named, "Transit Alpha" with a Delay Time of 1 minute and radar active. Select the Edit Now box and click on OK. The Mission Editor window will appear. The TF Alpha mission was just created thus it is the default. Select and assign the TF to it and click on OK. Click on the TF and notice that "Transit Alpha" now appears next to Mission in the Group Status window”, Tutorial, p. 22).
Regarding claim 6, HCE discloses providing, in the graphical user interface, information such as inventory, composition of units and engagement history (“1. Add aircraft to a base Open the Side Maintenance window from the Edit pull-down menu and select Bravo from the left panel and click OK. Go to the zoom map window named Bravo. Edit Aircraft There are two ways of placing aircraft into a scenario. A) The Edit >> Add a Unit >> Aircraft command will insert an airborne plane directly into the scenario not unlike the process for a facility. B) The Edit >> Units >> Edit Aircraft command will insert aircraft directly into an aircraft-holding ship or facility. Ensure that the Unit Display mode is enabled and click on the A/C Hangar Large (32 VL) facility then, under the Edit menu, select Units >> Edit Aircraft command.
The Edit Unit Aircraft window will appear. Select the Add button to bring up the Select Plane Type dialog box. This is a list of aircraft available for placement into the scenario and will only display those aircraft that fit the requirements of the unit according to size and purpose. Some aircraft may not be added to ships. Find and select the F-15E Strike Eagle US 94 then click on OK. A box will appear asking you how many F-15E to add. The default is determined by the capacity of the unit. Change the number to 16 and click on OK.
Click on the Ready button to arm the aircraft then select the AAW LR 6x AIM-120 AMRAAM loadout and click on Continue. When prompted with "How Many?", click OK to load all sixteen aircraft. A new dialog box asking "Minutes to Ready?" will appear wth the default time of 30 minutes (ANW and HUE users will see -1 in lieu of 30 minutes). This is the amount of time the selected aircraft will require to ready the first loadout once the scenario begins. Each subsequent loadout will only require the ready time as set by the database editor for that particular plane. Enter 0 and click on OK. Hit the Ready button, again. This time, select the AGM 4x AGM-130A CWW HE loadout. This loadout has 4x AIM-120 AMRAAM 4x AGM-130A CWW [HE] missiles. Click Continue. When asked, "How Many?", enter 8 and click on OK. Enter 0 when asked "Minutes to Ready?" and click on OK. Click on the Continue button to finish”, Tutorial, pp. 12-14).
Regarding claim 8, HCE discloses the at least one option may include an environment option (“6. Computer generated weather If enabled, weather conditions are generated along with the map and are affected by region, season, and time of day. Large maps have more variation in weather patterns. Weather changes during the game. Leave the option enabled”, Tutorial, p. 6).
Regarding claim 9, HCE discloses the at least one option may include an air combat option (“Click on the Ready button to arm the aircraft then select the AAW LR 6x AIM-120 AMRAAM”, Tutorial. p.14).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAWRENCE STEFAN GALKA whose telephone number is (571)270-1386. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6-9 & 12-5.
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/LAWRENCE S GALKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715