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 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract idea without significantly more.
2019 PEG Analysis
Step 1: Are the claims directed to a statutory category (e.g., a process, machine, etc.)
Claims 1-17 are directed to an apparatus.
Step 2A (Prong 1): Does the claim recite an abstract idea, law of nature or natural phenomenon?
Yes, the claims recite an abstract idea. The following specific limitations in the claims under examination recite an abstract idea:
Accepting, rejecting, or validating presented bets (e.g., claims 1, 3, 10, 12, 15, and 16)
Updating bet records (e.g., claims 4 and 13)
Allowing a user to place an original bet (claim 17)
The above listed identified limitations fall within at least one of the groupings of abstract ideas enumerated in the 2019 PEG:
Mental Processes: concepts preformed in the human mind (including on observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion).
Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity: managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions or relationships of interaction between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions.
The claims are primarily directed to rules for playing/wagering on a game, wherein the game rules align with a method of organizing human activity.
Step 2A (Prong 2): Does the claim recite additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application?
Overall, the following additional claim limitations appear to merely implement the abstract idea, add insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception, or generally link the judicial exception to a particular environment or field of use, as outlined below:
Receiving/Transmitting data from various sources that may be public or private (e.g., claims 1-3, significant extra-solution activity)
Presenting (i.e., displaying) betting information (e.g., see at least claims 1, 9, 11, and 14, insignificant extra-solution activity);
Receiving user input including filtering data (e.g., see claim 1 and 5-8, significant extra-solution activity),
Step 2B: Does the claim recite additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception?
With regard to claims 1-17 the claims as a whole do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself. The above listed additional claim limitations display and process game data in a well-understood, routine, and conventional way. Further, the computer hardware of claim 1 (e.g., a server, processor, memory, and electronic user device) are well-understood, routine, and conventional in the art.
In order to satisfy the Berkheimer factual determination of conventional elements in the art, U.S. Patent No. 7,819,742 to Chamberlain is cited for disclosing the conventional features of gaming device including processors (e.g., see at least column 11, lines 14-16) and displays (e.g., see column 7, lines 12-25). Additionally, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0171588 to Atashband is cited for disclosing that servers are conventional in a wagering game system (e.g., see at least paragraph 109). Therefore, claims 1-17 are not patent eligible under 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 1-9 and 11-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0261046 to Chun.
With regard to claim 1, Chun discloses a rapid betting platform comprising a server (e.g., see at least paragraph 18 that discloses a central server; see also paragraph 69 that discusses several different servers including gaming server 225 and player tracking server 235; see also Fig. 2 for system diagram) accessible by an electronic communications network by a plurality of registered users via electronic user devices (e.g. see Fig. 2 that shows a network and users; see also paragraphs 69 and 70 for discussion of system hardware including network interface 422 and gaming device 100), the server comprising a controller operating at least one processor (e.g., see at least paragraph 22 that discloses a “processor”) and a memory (e.g., see at least paragraph 5 that discloses the device including a memory and a processor) with at least one database (e.g., see at least paragraph 102 that discusses a database), wherein each electronic user device is associated with an individual registered user (e.g., see at least paragraph 81 that discloses the use of player devices, including smart phones, tablets, etc.; see also paragraph 40 for individually associating a player with a device via identification) and configured for:
a. receiving an individual user-configured stream of bet records by other users (e.g., see at least paragraphs 18 and 19 for discussion of player data streams) , the user-configured stream of bet records comprising:
I. all or the individual user-selected subset of public bet records by other users (e.g., see at least paragraphs 81 and 99 for discussion of making player information public), each public bet record is characterized by an original public bet by another user and previous replications thereof by other users of the rapid betting platform (e.g., see at least paragraph 33 for discussion of triggering patterns that equate to previous replications), wherein each original public bet is created by said another user selecting at least one projected outcome of a selected event, betting a first wage on said selected at least one projected outcome, and designating the bet as public and visible to all users of the betting platform (e.g., see at least paragraphs 81 and 99 for discussion of making player information public; see also paragraph 108 for discussion of community display of historical bet information), and
II. all or the individual user-selected subset of private bet records (e.g., see at least paragraphs 81 and 99 for discussion of allowing a user to determine if information/statistics are to displayed publicly or privately), each private bet record is characterized by an original private bet by yet another user and previous replications thereof by other users of the rapid betting platform, wherein each original private bet is created by said yet another user selecting at least one projected outcome of a selected event, betting a second wage on said selected at least one projected outcome, and designating the bet as private and visible to only one or a group of other users of the betting platform, including said individual user (e.g., see at least paragraphs 81 and 99 for discussion of making player information private; see also paragraph 108 for discussion of community display of historical bet information),
b. presenting each received bet record to the individual user one at a time, thereby inviting the individual user to at least either accept or reject the same bet for themselves (e.g., see at least paragraphs 33, 48, and 103 for disclosure of triggering patterns for accepting a wager of a received bet record), and
c. responding to a single action input from the individual user by: A. communicating to the server of the acceptance or rejection by individual user of the currently presented bet record e.g., see at least paragraphs 33, 48, and 103 for disclosure of triggering patterns for accepting a wager of a received bet record; see paragraph 33, “the player may decide whether to place a wager or not”), B. archiving the currently presented bet record (e.g., see at least paragraph 43 for discussion of accounting/transaction server 220 to “compile, track, store, and/or monitor cash flows…and/or other transaction data for the casino operator and for the players”), and C. presenting the next bet record of the stream of bet records for adjudication by the individual user (e.g., see at least paragraph 102 for discussion of settling the bet and displaying the results; see Fig. 5, step 520);
[claim 2] wherein in step (a) the stream of bet records is transmitted in real time as said bet records by other users are validated and accepted by the server (e.g., see at least paragraphs 30, 80, and 98 for disclosure of real-time processing);
[claim 3] wherein in step (a) the stream of bet records is transmitted to the individual user following a step of corresponding bet records by other users being validated and accepted by the server and prior to the outcome of selected event is determined (e.g., see at least Fig. 6, step 606, generating gaming options based on predetermined betting structures);
[claim 4] wherein in steps (a) and (b) the server is further configured to update each bet record as further bets of other users on the same selected event are validated and accepted by the server (e.g., see at least Fig. 6, step 610, receiving a wager confirmation);
[claim 5] wherein the electronic user device is further configured to provide the individual user with at least one user-adjustable filter to select a subset of all bet records available to the individual user (e.g., see at least paragraph 101 that discloses “a player may select a channel that may determine which video feeds are displayed…may review historical data, statistic”);
[claim 6] wherein the electronic user device is further configured to provide the individual user with a plurality of user-adjustable filters to select a subset of all bet records available to the individual user (e.g., see at least paragraph 101 that discloses “a player may select a channel that may determine which video feeds are displayed…may review historical data, statistic”);
[claim 7] wherein the electronic user device is further configured to provide the individual user with at least one user-adjustable filter to select a subset of all public bet records available to the individual user (e.g., see at least paragraph 101 that discloses “a player may select a channel that may determine which video feeds are displayed…may review historical data, statistic”);
[claim 8] wherein the electronic user device is further configured to provide the individual user with at least one user-adjustable filter to select a subset of all private bet records available to the individual user (e.g., see at least paragraph 101 that discloses “a player may select a channel that may determine which video feeds are displayed…may review historical data, statistic”);
[claim 9] wherein the electronic user device is further configured to present the stream of bet records as a stack of bet record cards, each bet record card is associated with at least one selected event and a record of bets on said selected event (e.g., see at least paragraphs 25, 29, and 43 that disclose contingent betting options that are presented to the user, wherein vouchers equate to “bet record card”);
[claim 11] wherein the bet record card is first presented in a compressed form with a user-activated option to see further details thereof from the expanded form of the bet record card (e.g., see at least paragraphs 25, 29, and 43 that disclose contingent betting options that are presented to the user, wherein vouchers equate to “bet record card”; see also paragraph 108);
[claim 12] wherein the electronic user device is further configured to allow the individual user to adjust the wage amount prior to accepting or rejecting the currently presented bet (e.g., see at least paragraphs 33 and 48 for disclosure of setting/confirming a wager amount);
[claim 13] wherein the electronic user device is further configured to accumulate a record of all bets placed by the individual user and present said record to the user upon demand at a later time (e.g., see at least paragraph 48 for disclosure of searching server 242 that stores wager data);
[claim 14] further configured to cause the server to notify the individual user as to the disposition of the bet once the outcome of the selected event is known (e.g., see at least paragraph 48 for disclosure of searching server 242 that stores wager data and provides a messaging function);
[claim 15] wherein the individual electronic user device and the server are further configured to not accept a bet placed by the individual user if said bet is placed outside of predefined individual user limits (e.g., see at least paragraph 34 for disclosure of bet parameters that “include a wagering budget, bet size, and wagering limits”);
[claim 16] wherein the individual electronic user device is user-configurable to adjust a default wage amount applicable to at least some or all of the bet records transmitted to the individual user by the server of the rapid betting platform (e.g., see at least paragraph 32 for discussion of an automatic wager, which equates to a default wage amount; see also paragraphs 106 and 123); and
[claim 17] wherein the individual electronic user device is further configured to allow the individual to create an original bet by selecting an event of interest, selecting at least one projected outcome thereof, betting a wage on said selected at least one projected outcome, and designating the original bet as public or private (e.g., see at least paragraphs 81, 103, and 108 for disclosure of placing a wager).
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.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chun view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0228941 to Angapova.
With regard to claim 10, Chun discusses receiving bet records but is silent regarding a swiping action to accept or reject the offer.
Reasonably pertinent to the problem faced, Angapova teaches swiping left to accept and swiping right to reject an offer via a GUI (e.g., see at least paragraph 24).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current invention to modify Chun with the swiping input as taught by Angapova in order to use a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way. In this case, a swiping input is a quick and efficient manner of accepting or rejecting an offer.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0327221 to Masui discusses a bet acceptance method that allows for copying the bet of another (e.g., see at least paragraph 41).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0333925 to Jung discusses a GUI with swiping to initiate user input of acceptance or rejection (e.g., see at least Fig. 1 and paragraph 54).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0315276 to Persson discusses a casino game that allows copying the wagers of another player (e.g., see at least paragraph 42).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0249801 to Malek discusses a waging game that allows a player to copy an expert’s bet (e.g., see at least paragraph 503).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0116032 to Lutnick discusses a game system that allows replicating bets of another player (e.g., see at least paragraphs 1214, 1220, and 1221).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0115585 to Goldman discusses a system for sports gambling that allows copying a bet of another and discusses private/public privileges (e.g., see at least paragraphs 106 and 110).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES S MCCLELLAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7167. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kang Hu can be reached at 571-270-1344. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James S. McClellan/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715