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 .
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) 1-3, 6-10, 15, 16 and 18-20, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sato et al. (hereinafter ‘Sato’, Pub. No. 2024/0082736).
Regarding claims 1, 19 and 20, Sato teaches an apparatus (2, Fig. 6) (with corresponding method and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) for controlling a companion object, the apparatus comprising:
processing circuitry (81, Fig. 6) configured to:
display a virtual scene, the virtual scene including a first virtual object and a companion object of the first virtual object, the companion object being configured to switch between a first state and a second state (Figs. 11-14; [0098]; [0136]-[0138]); and
control the companion object to switch between the first state and the second state, wherein when the companion object is in the first state, the companion object is in a first form that is attached to the first virtual object, and when the companion object is in the second state, the companion object is (i) in a second form that is not attached to the first virtual object and (ii) configured to move separately from the first virtual object, the first form of the companion object being different from the second form of the companion object (Figs. 11-14; [0098]; [0136]-[0138]).
Regarding claim 2, Sato teaches wherein the companion object in the first form is configured to perform a first function and the companion object in the second form is configured to perform a second function that is different from the first function ([0138]-[0140], where the actions/attacks are according to respective playing mode and character configuration for each user input).
Regarding claim 3, Sato teaches further comprising: displaying a second virtual object in the virtual scene; and controlling the first virtual object to convert the second virtual object to the companion object (Figs. 12-14, where there are additional objects that convert/adjust to the characters configurations based on user’s selections/inputs, [0138]-[0140]).
Regarding claim 6, Sato teaches wherein a part of the first virtual object to which the companion object in the first form is attached is based on a type of the companion object, the type of the companion object being one of a plurality of types of companion objects to be attached to different parts of the first virtual object (Figs. 15 and 16, where the tables shows how the items are attached and the actions based on the type: wind, electrical, ice and/or fire categories, [0171]-[0180]).
Regarding claim 7, Sato teaches wherein at least one function of the companion object is based on a type of the companion object, the type of the companion object being one of a plurality of types of companion objects that provide different functions for the first virtual object (Figs. 15 and 16, where the tables shows how the items are attached and the actions based on the type: wind, electrical, ice and/or fire categories, [0171]-[0180]).
Regarding claim 8, Sato teaches wherein the companion object is attached to a body part of the first virtual object in the first form, and the first form of the companion object is based on a type of the companion object, the type of the companion object being one of a plurality of types of companion objects that correspond to different first forms (Figs. 11-14; [0098]; [0136]-[0138], if the object is the character or any of the other items that can be embedded to either character whether they are attached to each other or not. If the object is a weapon, Figs. 15 and 16, where the tables shows how the items are attached and the actions based on the type: wind, electrical, ice and/or fire categories, [0171]-[0180]).
Regarding claim 9, Sato teaches wherein a type of the companion object includes at least one of a shield type ([0115]), a scouting type ([0119]), and an attack type, when the companion object is the shield type, the companion object is configured to reduce an effect of an attack performed by another virtual object in the virtual scene on the first virtual object ([0155]);
when the companion object is the scouting type, the companion object is configured to detect whether the other virtual object is in a scouting region; and when the companion object is the attack object, the companion object is configured to assist the first virtual object in attacking the other virtual object ([0155]-[0157]).
Regarding claims 10 and 15, Sato teaches wherein the controlling the companion object comprises:
controlling the companion object to switch from the first state to the second state in response to a first user input; and controlling the companion object to switch from the second state to the first state in response to a second user input (Figs. 11-14; [0098]; [0136]-[0138]).
Regarding claim 16, Sato teaches further comprising:
when the companion object is in the second form and in an unresponsive state, displaying an indication that the companion object is currently not switchable from the second state to the first state ([0126], [0127], where the state are disabled when the energy is zero or very low).
Regarding claim 17, Sato teaches wherein the companion object is immune to damage while the companion object switches between the first state and the second state ([0155]).
Regarding claim 18, Sato teaches further comprising:
controlling the companion object in the first state to enhance the first virtual object; and controlling the companion object in the second state to assist the first virtual object ([0155]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5 and 11-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR S PARRA whose telephone number is (571)270-1449. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: Mostly 10-6PM.
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/OMAR S PARRA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421