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
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Pub. 2020/0147500 by Mahlmeister.
Regarding claim 1, Mahlmeister discloses a peer highlight generation apparatus, comprising: receiving circuitry configured to receive peer profile data associated with a user (para. 103-108 – see friend identification and profile), wherein the peer profile data identifies one or more peer gaming profiles that are respectively associated with one or more peers (para. 103-108 – see friend identification and profile), wherein each peer has participated with the user in one or more video game sessions (para. 124-133 – see the user and other players in the same game); first generating circuitry configured to generate one or more candidate highlights of a given peer, wherein each candidate highlight comprises image data of one of the one or more video game sessions in which the user and the given peer participated together (para. 124-133 – see the users and other players together as part of a highlight clip), wherein at least a part of each candidate highlight comprises image data of an in-game avatar of the given peer (para. 124-133 – see the captured images of the players); selecting circuitry configured to select a highlight from among the one or more generated candidate highlights (para. 124-133 – see highlight selection); and rendering circuitry configured to render, for display, a list of one or more of the peer gaming profiles, wherein the list comprises the peer gaming profile of the given peer (para. 124-133 – see the generated video and player interactions), wherein the rendering circuitry is configured to render the list in dependence upon at least part of the received peer profile data, wherein the rendering circuitry is configured to render, for display, the selected highlight as part of an entry of the list that comprises the peer gaming profile of the given peer (para. 124-133 – see the generated clips and data).
Regarding claim 2, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rendering circuitry is configured to render, for display, the selected highlight as part of the entry of the list in response to a selection of the entry of the list by the user (para. 124-133 – see the generated highlight clip).
Regarding claim 3, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 1, comprising: first identifying circuitry configured to identify, for a given video game session in which the user and the given peer participated together, one or more portions of gameplay data of at least the given peer from the given video game session that satisfy one or more highlight generation criteria; wherein the first generating circuitry is configured to generate one or more of the candidate highlights in dependence upon the one or more identified portions of gameplay data (para. 124-133 – see the criteria driven highlight generation).
Regarding claim 4, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 3, wherein the one or more highlight generation criteria comprise at least one of: whether the avatar of the given peer is taking part in an in-game event (para. 124-133 – see the avatars participation in the in-game event as criteria).
Regarding claim 5, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 1, comprising: second identifying circuitry configured to identify, for a given video game session in which the user and the given peer participated together, one or more player-generated highlights generated by at least one of the user and the given peer from the given video game session; wherein the first generating circuitry is configured to generate one or more of the candidate highlights in dependence upon the one or more identified player-generated highlights (para. 124-133 – see the clip generation based on user prompting and highlight generation).
Regarding claim 6, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second identifying circuitry is configured to identify a starting timestamp and an ending timestamp of a given player-generated highlight, and identify gameplay data of at least the given peer from the given video game session that occurred between the starting and ending timestamps of the player-generated highlight; wherein the first generating circuitry is configured to generate a given candidate highlight in dependence upon the identified gameplay data (para. 124-133 – see the highlight stop and start time).
Regarding claim 7, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 1, comprising: a ring buffer configured to store, for a given video game session in which the user and the given peer participated together, a most recent portion of gameplay data of at least one of the user and the given peer while the given video game session is ongoing; wherein the first generating circuitry is configured to generate one or more of the candidate highlights while the given video game session is ongoing in dependence upon the most recent portion of gameplay data stored at the ring buffer (para. 71-74, 104-106 – see buffer and continuous looped recording).
Regarding claim 8, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 1, comprising: storage circuitry configured to store, for a given video game session in which the user and the given peer participated together, gameplay data of at least one of the user and the given peer from the given video game session; wherein the first generating circuitry is configured to generate one or more of the candidate highlights after the given video game session has ended in dependence upon the gameplay data stored at the storage circuitry (para. 124-133 – see post gameplay generation).
Regarding claim 9, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 1, comprising: determining circuitry configured to determine, in dependence upon one or more ranking factors, a total priority score for each generated candidate highlight, wherein, for a given ranking factor, the determining circuitry is configured to rank the generated candidate highlights in accordance with the given ranking factor, and determine, in dependence upon the ranking of the generated candidate highlights, a priority score for each generated candidate highlight, wherein the total priority score for a given generated candidate highlight comprises a combination of the priority scores determined for the given generated candidate highlight in accordance with the one or more ranking factors; wherein the selecting circuitry is configured to select, as the highlight, the generated candidate highlight whose total priority score is the largest from among the one or more generated candidate highlights (para. 124-133 – see the ranking/sorting of clips).
Regarding claim 10, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more ranking factors comprise at least one of: a significance of an in-game event depicted in the candidate highlight that was generated from a given video game session in which the user and the given peer participated together (para. 124-133 – see significance rating/salience of the selected moment for highlighting and clip generation).
Regarding claim 11, Mahlmeister discloses the peer highlight generation apparatus of claim 1, comprising: second generating circuitry configured to generate a game summary of at least a part of the video game session in which the user and the given peer participated together from which the selected highlight was generated, wherein the second generating circuitry is configured to do so in dependence upon gameplay data of at least the given peer from the video game session; wherein the rendering circuitry is configured to render, for display, the game summary as part of the entry of the list that comprises the peer gaming profile of the given peer (para. 124-133 – see gameplay based highlight generation and display).
Regarding claims 12-14, these claims are rejected as noted above regarding claims 1-11.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER J IANNUZZI whose telephone number is (571)272-5793. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-5:30PM EST.
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/PETER J IANNUZZI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715