Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/702,302

Remote competition control and transmission

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Apr 17, 2024
Examiner
REED, STEPHEN T
Art Unit
2627
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Escs Operations Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 10m
To Grant
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allow Rate
342 granted / 474 resolved
+10.2% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+15.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 10m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
497
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.3%
-37.7% vs TC avg
§103
56.5%
+16.5% vs TC avg
§102
20.6%
-19.4% vs TC avg
§112
18.0%
-22.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 474 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Claims 1-19 are currently pending and prosecuted. 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 17 April 2024 was considered by the examiner. 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 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Paradise et al., US PG-Pub 2017/0266552, hereinafter Paradise. Regarding Claim 1, Paradise teaches a method of controlling a remote competition of a game (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0028], “FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a process 100 enabling a tournament lobby and player access to event streaming.”), said method including: providing (S120) a frontend to be displayed (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0070], “FIG. 5 is an example graphical user interface (GUI) 500 of an event streaming video control and display”); instructing (S130) the game to initiate a match (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0045]-[0053], [0057]-[0062]); determining (S140) a result of the match (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0054]-[0068], “intra-game score and final score reporting occurs according to the game's normal process”); and controlling (S150) the remote competition (Figs. 1-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0046]-[0053], describing tournament mode; [0054]-[0068], describing how the peer-to-peer tournament is run). Regarding Claim 2, Paradise teaches the method according to claim1, further including: receiving (S110) a competition parameter set (101) (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0060]-[0062]); wherein the controlling includes generating (S155) a match parameter set (102) for each of a plurality of matches according to the competition parameter set (101) (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0060]-[0062]), and performing the instructing (S130) according to the match parameter set (102) and determining (S140) for each of the matches (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0060]-[0062]). Regarding Claim 3, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving (S121) player input via the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059]). Regarding Claim 4, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving (S135) a watch signal from the game (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0023]-[0025], [0069]-[0071]). Regarding Claim 5, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising: providing(S145) competition controls via the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059, [0069]-[0072]). Regarding Claim 6, Paradise teaches a method of controlling a remote competition of a game (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0028], “FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a process 100 enabling a tournament lobby and player access to event streaming.”), said method comprising: displaying (S220) a frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0070], “FIG. 5 is an example graphical user interface (GUI) 500 of an event streaming video control and display”); initiating (S230) a match according to a match parameter set (102) (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0045]-[0053], [0057]-[0062]); returning (S240) a result of the match (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0054]-[0068], “intra-game score and final score reporting occurs according to the game's normal process”); and controlling (S250) the remote competition (Figs. 1-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0046]-[0053], describing tournament mode; [0054]-[0068], describing how the peer-to-peer tournament is run). Regarding Claim 7, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 6, further comprising transmitting (S221) player input (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059]). Regarding Claim 8, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 6, further comprising signaling (S235) a watch signal from the game (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0023]-[0025], [0069]-[0071]). Regarding Claim 9, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 6, further comprising displaying (S245) competition controls on the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059, [0069]-[0072]). Regarding Claim 10, Paradise teaches [a] method of transmitting a remote competition of a game (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0028], “FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a process 100 enabling a tournament lobby and player access to event streaming.”), said method comprising: capturing (S310) a video feed of the remote competition in the game (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0042]-[0047], [0066]-[0075]); storing (S320) one of pictures or video snippets based on the video feed (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0069]-[0075]); providing (S330) the pictures or snippets to a frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0069]-[0075]); playing (S340) a video feed reconstructed from the pictures or video snippets in the front end (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0069]-[0075]); generating (S350) a video stream based on the reconstructed video feed in the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0069]-[0075]); and transmitting (S360) the video stream (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions, [0069]-[0075]). Regarding Claim 11, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 2, further comprising: receiving (S121) player input via the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059]). Regarding Claim 12, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 2 further comprising: receiving (S135) a watch signal from the game (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0023]-[0025], [0069]-[0071]). Regarding Claim 13, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 2, further comprising: providing (S145) competition controls via the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059, [0069]-[0072]). Regarding Claim 14, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 3 further comprising: receiving (S135) a watch signal from the game (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0023]-[0025], [0069]-[0071]). Regarding Claim 15, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 3, further comprising: providing (S145) competition controls via the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059], [0069]-[0072]). Regarding Claim 16, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 4, further comprising: providing (S145) competition controls via the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059], [0069]-[0072]). Regarding Claim 17, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 7, further comprising signaling (S235) a watch signal from the game (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0023]-[0025], [0069]-[0071]). Regarding Claim 18, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 7, further comprising displaying (S245) competition controls on the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059], [0069]-[0072]). Regarding Claim 19, Paradise teaches the method according to claim 8, further comprising displaying (S245) competition controls on the frontend (Figs. 1-3 and 5-7, and corresponding descriptions; [0055]-[0059], [0069]-[0072]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN T REED whose telephone number is (571)272-7234. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 0800-1800. 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, Ke Xiao can be reached at 571-272-7776. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Stephen T. Reed/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 17, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 09, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
72%
Grant Probability
88%
With Interview (+15.9%)
1y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 474 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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