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)(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) 1-16, 18 and 20-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Far Cry 5 by Ubisoft as evidenced by “Companions in Far Cry 5” published to https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1348972063 on November 26, 2019 by Na and “Co op mode doesnt work._.” published to https://steamcommunity.com/app/552520/discussions/1/3416559828453537405/ on March 29, 2018 by Kapparina.
Regarding claim 1, Na discloses a method for controlling a virtual character (Na – see the player character), comprising: controlling, in response to a touch operation exerted on a functional control in a graphical user interface (Na – see talking to Nick to recruit him), a target virtual character in a game to perform a virtual action corresponding to the functional control (Na – see recruiting Nick); and controlling, in response to a takeover control instruction for a first virtual character in the game (Na – see recruiting), the first virtual character to automatically follow the target virtual character and to automatically pick up a prop (Na – see the character piloting aircraft).
Regarding claim 2, Na discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the first virtual character to automatically follow the target virtual character comprises: controlling the first virtual character to automatically perform at least a part of the virtual action performed by the target virtual character (Na – see transit together and air support).
Regarding claim 3, Na discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein controlling the first virtual character to automatically perform at least a part of the virtual action performed by the target virtual character comprises: controlling, in response to a target touch operation out of the touch operation, the target virtual character in the game to perform a target virtual action corresponding to the functional control, and controlling the first virtual character to automatically perform the target virtual action performed by the target virtual character (Na – see transit together and air support).
Regarding claim 4, Na discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein controlling the first virtual character to automatically perform the target virtual action performed by the target virtual character, comprises any one of: wherein the functional control is a movement control, and in response to the touch operation exerted on the movement control, the target virtual character is controlled to move along a movement direction indicated by the target touch operation, while controlling the first virtual character to follow the target virtual character to move along the movement direction (Na – see transit together and air support); wherein the functional control is a posture control, and in response to the touch operation exerted on the posture control, the target virtual character is controlled to switch to a target posture indicated by the posture control, while controlling the first virtual character to switch to the target posture; wherein the functional control is an aiming control, and in response to the touch operation exerted on the aiming control, the target virtual character is controlled to adjust an aiming direction, while controlling the first virtual character to adjust an aiming direction according to the same adjustment strategy; or wherein the functional control is a shooting control, and in response to the touch operation exerted on the shooting control, the target virtual character is controlled to perform a shooting action, while controlling the first virtual character to perform the shooting action.
Regarding claim 5, Na discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: controlling, in response to the touch operation on an aiming control, the target virtual character to adjust an aiming direction; displaying a first prop interface when the aiming direction is orientated towards the first virtual character, wherein the first prop interface is configured to display the prop picked up by the first virtual character; and triggering, in response to a selection operation on an auto-picking control in the first prop interface, an automatically picking function of the first virtual character for the prop (Na – see transit together and air support with collection of the aircraft).
Regarding claim 6, Na discloses the method according to claim 5, further comprising: changing, in response to a touch operation on a first target prop in the first prop interface, a picking priority of the first target prop (Na – see character selection and hoarder skill).
Regarding claim 7, Na discloses the method according to claim 5, further comprising: controlling, in response to a use operation on a second target prop in the first prop interface, the first virtual character or the target virtual character to use the second target prop (Na – see character selection and hoarder skill).
Regarding claim 8, Na discloses the method according to claim 7, further comprising: determining an object to which the second target prop is applied based on a type of the second target prop (Na – see character selection, herbalist and hoarder skill regarding ammo).
Regarding claim 9, Na discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein determining the object to which the second target prop is applied based on the type of the second target prop comprises: in response to determining that the type of the second target prop is a recovery prop, determining the object to which the recovery prop is applied based on a health state of a virtual character belonging to the same camp as the first virtual character; and in response to determining that the type of the second target prop is a bullet prop, determining the object to which the bullet prop is applied based on number of bullet props in backpacks of the first virtual character and the target virtual character (Na – see character selection, herbalist and hoarder skill regarding ammo).
Regarding claim 10, Na discloses the method according to claim 5, further comprising: controlling, in response to the touch operation on a third target prop and a prop discard control in the first prop interface, the first virtual character to discard the third target prop (Na – see character selection, herbalist and hoarder skill regarding ammo and the use of said items).
Regarding claim 11, Na discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the first virtual character to automatically pick up the prop comprises: obtaining a backpack usage rate of the target virtual character, wherein the backpack usage rate is configured to indicate a proportion of the prop to a total backpack capacity; and controlling, in response to determination that the backpack usage rate is greater than a preset value, the first virtual character to automatically pick up the prop (Na – see character selection, herbalist and hoarder skill regarding ammo and the storage limits for characters).
Regarding claim 12, Na discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: displaying a second prop interface in response to the touch operation on a backpack control in the graphical user interface, wherein the second prop interface is configured to display the prop of the target virtual character; and controlling, in response to a use operation on a fourth target prop in the second prop interface, the target virtual character to use the fourth target prop (Na – see character selection, herbalist and hoarder skill regarding ammo).
Regarding claim 13, Kapparina discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: generating the takeover control instruction in response to the touch operation on a specified control; or receiving the takeover control instruction, wherein the takeover control instruction is generated by a server based on a preset rule (Kapparina – see Far Cry 5 server implementation as noted by the lack of ability to play when servers are down).
Regarding claim 14, Na discloses the method according to claim 13, wherein the specified control is an auto-follow control, and generating the takeover control instruction in response to the touch operation on the specified control comprises: controlling, in response to the touch operation on an aiming control, the target virtual character to adjust an aiming direction; displaying the auto-follow control when the aiming direction faces towards the first virtual character; and triggering generation of the takeover control instruction in response to a confirmation operation on the auto-follow control (Na – see character selection and control).
Regarding claim 15, Na discloses the method according to claim 13, wherein the takeover control instruction is generated by the server based on distances between a plurality of second virtual characters and the first virtual character, and wherein the plurality of second virtual characters and the first virtual character belong to the same camp (Na – see multiple characters in a team).
Regarding claim 16, Na discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first virtual character and the target virtual character have a preset relationship (Na – see the relationship between Nick and the player character).
Regarding claim 18, this claim is rejected as noted above regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 20, this claim is rejected as noted above regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 21, Na discloses the method according to claim 13, wherein the preset rule can be determined based on a game state of the first virtual character or a network state of a terminal device for manipulating the first virtual character (Na – see the game state of the characters that are acquired during play).
Regarding claim 22, Na discloses the method according to claim 21, wherein the preset rule comprises at least one of: a maximum duration during which the first virtual character remains stationary in the game; number of times or time the first virtual character receives interaction information sent by a teammate (Na – see the issuance of commands, any number of those commands meeting this limitation); number of times or a duration the first virtual character repeats the same action; or a maximum duration during which the terminal device for manipulating the first virtual character encounters network faulty.
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