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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 26, 2024 was filed on the filing date of the application on April 26, 2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on April 26, 2024. These drawings are accepted.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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(s) 1-10 and 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lane et al. (US 2017/0046882).
As to claim 1, Lane et al. disclose a non-transitory storage medium (Figure 8, system memory 20) has stored therein an information processing program (e.g. code 25 and data 26) for generating a virtual terrain ([0076] notes system memory 20 store program instructions and data implementing one or more desired functions of the present invention, e.g. [0012] notes techniques for virtual area generation and manipulation, including terrain and objects), wherein the information processing program causes a computer to function as: a terrain object allocating section (e.g. sub-area components 241 include terrain components 241A for performing terrain-related operations and object distribution components 241B for performing object distribution-related operations) configured to allocate a terrain object automatically selected from a plurality of terrain object candidates as a selected terrain object (e.g. terrain data 234 “selected” from plurality of types of terrain data, e.g. flat space, mountains, valleys, berms, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc., [0021]) to each of a plurality of areas segmented in a planar direction in a three-dimensional virtual space (Figure 2, sub-areas 211-226 of virtual area 210)([0029] notes dividing a virtual area 210 into sixteen sub-areas 211-226, [0030], [0031] notes assigning sub-area components 241 to each of sub-areas 211-226, sub-area components 241 include terrain components 241A for performing terrain-related operations and object distribution components 241B for performing object distribution-related operations, [0033] notes terrain components 241A may use information 231-237 to generate and update terrain data 234 for sub-area 211, where terrain data may indicate which types of terrain occupy which areas of space, the characteristics of certain types or portions of terrain, and other information associated with terrain of an area or sub-area (see [0021]), [0034] notes object distribution component 241B may use information 231-237 as well as terrain data from terrain components 241A to generate and update object data 235 for sub-area 211, where object data may include an indication of which objects occupy which positions, the speed and direction of movement of objects, and other object characteristics (e.g. color, texture, size, shape, seasonal characteristics)(see [0022])); a height parameter determining section (e.g. sub-area components 241 include terrain components 241A for performing terrain-related operations and object distribution components 241B for performing object distribution-related operations) configured to automatically determine a height parameter indicating a height position in the three-dimensional virtual space for each of a plurality of the selected terrain objects (e.g. determine characteristics, e.g. height, for terrain data 234 for each sub-area 211-226)(e.g. as noted above, terrain components 241A may use information 231-237 to generate and update terrain data 234 for sub-area 211, where [0021] notes terrain data may include an indication of which types of terrain (e.g. flat space, mountain, valleys, berms, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.) occupy which areas of space, the characteristics of certain types or portions of terrain (e.g. height, sharpness, intensity, color, texture, weather-related characteristics, seasonal characteristics, time of day characteristics), and other information associated with terrain of a virtual area); and a terrain generating section (e.g. sub-area components 241 include terrain components 241A for performing terrain-related operations and object distribution components 241B for performing object distribution-related operations) configured to generate the virtual terrain including the selected terrain object placed at a position which is based on the height parameter and is corresponding to the area to which the selected terrain is allocated (e.g. generating terrain data 234 and object data 235 at a position in the sub-areas based on the characteristics of the terrain data 234 and object data 235, including height)([0031] notes rule information 231 may indicate various rules that are, e.g. globally applicable to the virtual area 210 and/or locally applicable to sub-area 211, [0036] notes the various components, e.g. sub-area components including terrain components 241A and object distribution component 241B described above, may be used to generate and update terrain data, object data, and other data, where terrain data and object data may be used to render portions of a virtual area, e.g. by one or more GPUs at a client device, see Figure 3).
As noted above, Lane et al. describes its sub-area components 241 may include terrain components 241A for performing terrain-related operations and object distribution components 241B for performing object distribution-related operations, where these components may collectively perform each of the operations of a terrain object allocating section, a height parameter determining section, and a terrain generating section as described, but would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time to implement separate components for performing the operations, yielding predictable results, without changing the scope of the invention.
As to claim 2, Lane et al. disclose with the information processing program further causes the computer to function as an area information assigning section configured to assign area information selected from a plurality of pieces of area information to each of the plurality of areas segmented in the planar direction in the three-dimensional virtual space (e.g. as noted in claim 1, Figure 2, dividing a virtual area 210 into sixteen sub-areas 211-226 and assigning sub-area components 241 to each of sub-areas 211-226, sub-area components 241 include terrain components 241A for performing terrain-related operations, e.g. for terrain data 234, and object distribution components 241B for performing object distribution-related operations, e.g. for object data 235).
As to claim 3, Lane et al. disclose the terrain object allocating section is configured to allocate to each of the plurality of areas the selected terrain object from the plurality of terrain object candidates corresponding to the area information assigned to the area (e.g. as noted in claims 1 and 2, terrain data 234 and object data 235 may be assigned to each of sub-areas 211-226).
As to claim 4, Lane et al. disclose the height parameter determining section is configured to determine the height parameter within the range of parameters that is mapped in advance to the selected terrain object (e.g. as noted in claim 1, terrain data 234 may include an indication of characteristics of certain types or portions of terrain, including height, where Figure 3, [0038] notes server 350A may generate terrain data 312A by applying terrain rules 311A, then sending the terrain data 312A to client 360A for rendering).
As to claim 5, Lane et al. disclose the information processing program further causes the computer to function as an environmental object arranging section configured to arrange one or more environmental objects corresponding to the selected terrain object in association with the selected terrain object (e.g. as noted in claim 1, generating and updating object data 235, which may be based on terrain data, where [0018] notes objects may include objects such as trees, bushes, rocks, snow, grass, fish, birds, animals, people, vehicles, buildings, and many others).
As to claim 6, Lane et al. disclose the environmental object arranging section is configured to arrange an environmental object based on at least one piece of theme information automatically selected based on an environmental object selection condition out of a plurality of theme information to be associated with the selected terrain object (e.g. as noted in claim 1, [0034] notes objects distribution components 241B may use information 231-237 as well as terrain data from terrain components 241A to generate and update object data 235 for sub-area 211, object data 235 may include an indication of which objects occupy which positions, the speed and direction of movement of objects, and other object characteristics (e.g., color, texture, size, shape, seasonal characteristics), where [0022] further notes applying one or more object rules when generating and modifying object data, e.g. which may allow or restrict object data from being generated at or near certain types of terrain).
As to claim 7, Lane et al. disclose the environmental object selection condition includes a condition for the position of the selected terrain object determined by the height parameter determining section (e.g. as noted in claim 6, object data 235 may include an indication of which objects occupy which positions, where object rules may be applied based on terrain data 234, e.g. which may allow or restrict object data from being generated at or near certain types of terrain).
As to claim 8, Lane et al. disclose at least one of the terrain objects has a shape corresponding to two or more of the plurality of areas (e.g. as noted in claim 1, terrain data may include an indication of which types of terrain (e.g. flat space, mountain, valleys, berms, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.) occupy which areas of space, the characteristics of certain types or portions of terrain (e.g. height, sharpness, intensity, color, texture, weather-related characteristics, seasonal characteristics, time of day characteristics), and other information associated with terrain of a virtual area, where rule information may indicate various rules that are, e.g. globally applicable to the virtual area 210 and/or locally applicable to sub-area 211, thus may correspond to two or more sub-areas).
As to claim 9, Lane et al. disclose the terrain object has a portion protruding from the corresponding one or more of the plurality of areas, and has a shape that can constitute a terrain surface on the side of the protruding portion, and the terrain generating section causes the plurality of selected terrain objects adjacent to each other to be allocate so that the portion protruding from the area overlaps with each other (e.g. as noted in claim 8, terrain data may include an indication of which types of terrain (e.g. flat space, mountain, valleys, berms, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.) occupy which areas of space, the characteristics of certain types or portions of terrain (e.g. height, sharpness, intensity, color, texture, weather-related characteristics, seasonal characteristics, time of day characteristics), and other information associated with terrain of a virtual area, where rule information may indicate various rules that are, e.g. globally applicable to the virtual area 210 and/or locally applicable to sub-area 211, such as applicable to a lake or other type of space that is wholly or partially included in or adjacent to sub-area 211).
As to claim 10, Lane et al. disclose the generation of the terrain is performed when a game is started for the first time in offline play, when the three-dimensional virtual space is updated under predetermined conditions in offline play, or when a session is created in online play ([0020] notes content provider compute node 120 may include one or more servers and may execute, e.g. in combination with clients 130, an electronically presented content item, such as a video game, a massive multi-player online (MMO) video game, or other media item, content provider 120 includes four systems 121-124 that enable efficient generation and manipulation of a virtual area for use in an executing content item, which may be performed at any time throughout a game session).
As to claim 14, Lane et al. disclose the terrain object is classified as either a terrain object of the first type or a terrain object of the second type ([0018] notes one or more terrain types, such as flat and/or buildable spaces).
As to claim 15, Lane et al. disclose the information processing program further functions as a game process executing section configured to execute game processes using the virtual terrain generated by the terrain generating section (e.g. as noted in claim 10, generating and manipulation of a virtual area, e.g. with terrain data and object data, may be when executing a video game).
As to claim 16, Lane et al. disclose an information processing apparatus (Figure 8, computing device 15 implementing system of Figure 1) for generating virtual terrain, comprising: a terrain object allocating section… a height parameter determining section…and a terrain generating section each performing respective functions as performed by the same in claim 1. Please see the rejection and rationale of claim 1.
As to claim 17, Lane et al. disclose an information processing method for generating virtual terrain, comprising: a terrain object allocating step…a height parameter determining step…and a terrain generating step configured to perform the steps by each of a terrain object allocating section, a height parameter determining section, and a terrain generating section, respectively, as performed in claim 1. Please see the rejection and rationale of claim 1.
Claims 18 and 19 are similar in scope to claims 2 and 3, respectively, and are therefore rejected under similar rationale.
As to claim 20, Lane et al. disclose an information processing system (Figure 8, computing device 15 implementing system of Figure 1) for generating virtual terrain, comprising: a terrain object allocating section… a height parameter determining section…and a terrain generating section each performing respective functions as performed by the same in claim 1. Please see the rejection and rationale of claim 1.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lane et al. (US 2017/0046882) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hooker et al. (US 2023/0149812).
As to claim 11, Lane et al. do not disclose, but Hooker et al. disclose the terrain object allocating section further specifies a rotation angle in the plane direction for the selected terrain object ([0072] notes parameters of the selected height layer may then be set, which include scale, offset, position, size and rotation, the scale setting determines the altitude of white value in the height map, the scale may be set in inches, the offset value changes the value of the whole height map of the terrain up or down, and position, size, and rotation allow manipulating the position, scale, and orientation of the height map on the terrain, [0087] further notes rules include Slope, Altitude, Noise, Peaks and Valleys, Direction, Other Layer, where Slope may include minimum and maximum angles).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Lane et al.’s system and method of generating virtual areas with terrain data, e.g. objects, for video games with Hooker et al.’s method of specifying parameters for terrain objects to allow manipulations of the terrain objects, thus enhancing user functionality of the system ([0072] of Hooker et al.).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lane et al. (US 2017/0046882) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Canelhas (US 2024/0070981)
As to claim 12, Lane et al. do not explicitly disclose, but Canelhas discloses the terrain object is a three-dimensional object ([0035] notes generating a three-dimensional game world, e.g. video game, based on terrain data, where [0001] notes the video game feature three-dimensional (3D) terrain).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Lane et al.’s system and method of generating virtual areas with terrain data, e.g. objects, for video games with Canelhas’ three-dimensional terrain objects to create a more realistic environment, enhancing user experience while playing a video game (see Background of Canelhas).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lane et al. (US 2017/0046882) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Robertson (US 2006/0030405).
As to claim 13, Lane et al. do not disclose, but Robertson discloses the terrain object has a lateral hole portion ([0088] notes physical features include application-specific features 164, which may include holes).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Lane et al.’s system and method of generating virtual areas with terrain data, e.g. objects, for video games with Robertson’s terrain object having a lateral hole portion as an additional type of terrain objects that may be selected amongst a plurality of terrain objects ([0041] of Robertson).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACINTA M CRAWFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-1539. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m.
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/JACINTA M CRAWFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2617