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 .
Applicant’s Submission of a Response
Applicant’s submission of a response was received on 04/30/2026. Presently, claims 1-6 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 03/03/2026 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(3)(i) because it does not include a concise explanation of the relevance, as it is presently understood by the individual designated in 37 CFR 1.56(c) most knowledgeable about the content of the information, of each reference listed that is not in the English language. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regard to claim 2, the claim requires, “determining the music piece of content is performed by a lottery regardless of an operation input made by the player,” (emphasis added). However, claim 1 specifically requires, “determining, in response to receiving the second operation input, a music piece of content from a plurality of kinds of content,” (emphasis added). Thus, claim 2 directly contradicts claim 1 in that claim 1 requires that it is done in response to receiving second operation input and claim 2 does it regardless of play input. Prior art has been applied below only as best understood as to what Applicant is trying to claim.
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.
Claims 1 and 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0005070 to Monahan.
With regard to claim 1¸Monahan discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a method comprising: displaying, on a display device in a player terminal a jukebox function within a computer game (0022); receiving, from an input unit in the player terminal, a first operation input from a player in response to displaying the jukebox function within the computer game (0022-0024; 0032; 0035; 0051; 0081); displaying, on the display device and in response to receiving the first operation input corresponding to the jukebox function, a music selection screen (0022-0024; 0032; 0035; 0051; 0081); receiving, from the input unit a second operation input from a player in response to displaying the music selection screen (0022-0024; 0032; 0035; 0051; 0081); determining, in response to receiving the second operation input a music piece of content from a plurality of kinds of content (0022-0024; 0032; 0035; 0051; 0081); wherein the music piece of content is based on a selection within the music selection screen corresponding to the second operation input (0022-0024; 0032; 0035; 0051; 0081); performing, by the jukebox function and at least one speaker, the music piece of content within the computer game in response to determining the music piece of content that is played back (0022-0024; 0032; 0035; 0051; 0081; while a speaker is not explicitly mentioned, it discusses presenting the media to the player and the media can be music and thus one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that a speaker of some sort would be involved); determining a display pattern of an object associated with the music piece of content that is played back (0022-0024; 0032; 0035; 0051; 0081); and displaying, on the display device, the object in the display pattern during a playback of the music piece of content within the computer game and in a state based on the music piece of content (Fig. 6A; 0022-0024; 0032; 0035; 0051; 0081).
With regard to claim 4, Monahan discloses enabling a player to evaluate the music piece of content that is played back (0060).
Claims 5 and 6 are mirrored claims to claim 1 and are rejected in like manner.
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.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Monahan in view of US Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0310476 to Gadwa.
With regard to claim 2, Monahan does not appear to explicitly disclose determining music performed by a lottery regardless of an operation input made by the player. However, such is taught by Gadwa (0085; 0090 wherein shuffle or random mode for an online jukebox is synonymous with the claim language).
With regard to claim 3, Monahan discloses that the object is a character and wherein a display mode of the character differs depending on the display pattern that is determined (Fig. 6A; 0022-0024; 0032; 0035; 0051; 0081).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to combine the teachings of Gadwa with the disclosure of Monahan in order to provide well-known jukebox functions as well as provide the player the opportunity to have random music played when the player is not entirely sure what piece of music they want to listen to at a given time.
Response to Arguments
Foreign priority is acknowledged and all certified copies have been received.
Based upon Applicant’s amendments, the rejection based upon 35 USC 101 has been withdrawn at the present time.
Applicant’s arguments related to the prior art have been considered, but are moot based upon Applicant’s amendments and the new grounds of rejection presented above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jay Liddle whose telephone number is (571)270-1226. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 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, Dmitry Suhol can be reached at (571)272-4430. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jay Trent Liddle/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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