DETAILED ACTION
Acknowledgements
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s correspondence filed on 6/20/24.
The Examiner notes that citations to United States Patent Application Publication paragraphs are formatted as [####], #### representing the paragraph number.
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 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.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-21 are currently pending.
Claims 7, 14, 21 are objected to.
Claims 1-6, 8-13, 15-20 are rejected as set forth below.
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 Objections
Claims 7, 14, 21 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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 4-5, 11-12, 18-19 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
As per claims 4, 11, 18, the limitation “wherein the first or second player character is caused to place a placement article object having an outer appearance corresponding to each of the plurality of characters” renders the scope of the claim indefinite because the claim is inconsistent with the disclosure of the Specification. In the claim, the placement article object has an outer appearance corresponding to each of the plurality of characters. However, the Specification discloses the placement article object having an outer appearance corresponding to the player character that placed the placement article object ([0046]). See MPEP 2173.03.
By virtue of their dependence, the dependent claims are similarly rejected.
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.
Claims 1, 8, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Non-Patent Literature Title ‘Mirror Match’ to Street Fighter Wiki.
As per claims 1, 8, 15, Street Fighter Wiki teaches:
A game system including a processor and a memory coupled thereto, configured to perform a multiplay game among players of a plurality of game apparatuses matched via a network, the game system comprising: a first game apparatus; and a second game apparatus connected to the first game apparatus via the network, the game system being configured such that a processor of the first game apparatus selects a first player character to be subjected to movement control based on an operation by the player of the first game apparatus, from a character group including a plurality of characters different from each other, a processor of the second game apparatus selects a second player character to be subjected to movement control based on an operation by the player of the second game apparatus, from the character group, and in a case where the first player character and the second player character are the same character, the processor of the first game apparatus draws a game space including the first player character and the second player character, with the second player character replaced with a character different from the first player character in the character group, and the processor of the second game apparatus draws a game space including the first player character and the second player character, with the first player character replaced with a character different from the second player character in the character group. (page 2, “With Street Fighter II': Champion Edition came the true advent of mirror matches, making it possible for players to challenge each other with the same character. In the event that a mirror match is set up and two players pick the same color character, the second player's color palette changes automatically to prevent confusion. Later games of the Street Fighter series added more potential variables to mirror matches, such as the ISMs of Street Fighter Alpha 3, the different Super Arts of the Street Fighter III series, and the Ultra Combos of Super Street Fighter IV.”, The Examiner notes that later Street Fighter games such as the aforementioned Super Street Fighter IV supports online play1. Therefore, the second player is the remote opponent that the local first player is playing online.)
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 2-3, 9-10, 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Non-Patent Literature Title ‘Mirror Match’ to Street Fighter Wiki in view of Non-Patent Literature Title ‘Mario Kart 8 Electronic Manual’ to Nintendo.
As per claim(s) 2, 9, 16, Street Fighter Wiki does not explicitly teach, but Nintendo teaches:
a third game apparatus, wherein a processor of the third game apparatus selects a third player character to be subjected to movement control based on an operation by the player of the third game apparatus, from the character group; (Section 14 ‘Getting Started with Online Play’, The Examiner notes that Mario Kart 8 supports up to 12 players online2.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Nintendo to the known invention of Street Fighter Wiki would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such multiplayer features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the invention to include a third game apparatus, wherein a processor of the third game apparatus selects a third player character to be subjected to movement control based on an operation by the player of the third game apparatus, from the character group, results in an improved invention because applying said technique allows more players to compete against each other at once, thus improving the overall usability of the invention.
Street Fighter Wiki as modified does not explicitly teach, but Street Fighter Wiki teaches:
in a case where the selected player character is the same character as another player character, the processor of the first game apparatus draws a game space including the characters, with the selected player character replaced with a character different from the other characters. (page 2)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Street Fighter Wiki to the known invention of Street Fighter Wiki as modified would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such character appearance features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the invention so in a case where the selected player character, i.e. the selected third player character, is the same character as another player character, i.e. the first player character or the post-replacement second player character, the processor of the first game apparatus draws a game space including the characters, i.e. the first player character, the second player character, and the third player character, with the selected player character, i.e. the third player character, replaced with a character different from the other characters, i.e. the first player character and the post-replacement second player character, in the character group, results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the all of the characters can be distinguished from each other in the game space, thus improving the overall usability of the invention.
As per claim(s) 3, 10, 17, Street Fighter Wiki does not explicitly teach, but Nintendo teaches:
further configured to acquire replay data including at least information indicating a record of operations by a predetermined player and a usage character used in the operations, from a predetermined server, and place a replay character to be subjected to movement control based on the replay data, in the game space, wherein on the first game apparatus; (Section 12 ‘Time Trials and VS Races’, “Select a course on which to race solo, aiming for the fastest possible time. You can also view or race against ghost data. You can download ghost data uploaded by your friends or other players. Up to four ghosts can be downloaded per course, and up to sixteen can be downloaded in total.”)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Nintendo to the known invention of Street Fighter Wiki would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such replay features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the invention to acquire replay data including at least information indicating a record of operations by a predetermined player and a usage character used in the operations, from a predetermined server, and place a replay character to be subjected to movement control based on the replay data, in the game space, wherein on the first game apparatus, results in an improved invention because applying said technique allows a player to compete against their friends or other players asynchronously, thus improving the overall usability of the invention.
Street Fighter Wiki as modified does not explicitly teach, but Street Fighter Wiki teaches:
in a case where a selected character is the same character as the first player character, the selected character is placed in the game space, with the selected character replaced with a character different from the first player character in the character group. (page 2)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Street Fighter Wiki to the known invention of Street Fighter Wiki as modified would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such character appearance features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the invention so in a case where a selected character, i.e. the usage character indicated by the acquired replay data, is the same character as the first player character, the selected character, i.e. the replay character, is placed in the game space, with the selected character, i.e. the replay character, replaced with a character different from the first player character in the character group, results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the all of the characters can be distinguished from each other in the game space, thus improving the overall usability of the invention.
Claims 6, 13, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Non-Patent Literature Title ‘Mirror Match’ to Street Fighter Wiki in view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 20210031106 to Alderman.
As per claim(s) 6, 13, 20, Street Fighter Wiki does not explicitly teach, but Alderman teaches:
further configured to during play of the multiplay game, display, in accordance with an action of a predetermined player character, a message corresponding to the predetermined player character, and in a case where the player character that has performed an action to cause predetermined said message to be displayed is a specific character, the processor of the first game apparatus displays a message corresponding to the specific character; ([0064], “At block 237, the first player's computing system and/or a server computing system can transmit data to other computing systems to cause the communication action(s) to be communicated to other players.”; [0071]-[0072], [0075], “The game data can indicate one or more visual communication actions 309 for each type of unit 305 that can be communicated about. For example, a marker or icon can be displayed at the location of the unit to be communicated about. In some cases, the icon can be customized to differentiate the type of unit, such as displaying a crosshair icon for an enemy, an explosion icon for an explosive, a trap icon for traps, and other icons to symbolize other units to be communicated about. For some units, such as doors, ladders, and item containers, the visual action can include outlining and/or highlighting the unit. Another example includes showing an icon marking the player or character who made the communication. Another example includes showing a location icon that also includes a team leader if the communication was made by a team leader during certain parts of gameplay.”; [0152], “FIG. 11B shows the effects, as perceived by player 2, of player 1's acknowledgment of player 2's suggested target location 1103. In response to player 1 sending an acknowledgment, the additional details 1105 associated with the target location 1103 can be updated to list “Player 1” as a teammate who acknowledged player 1's suggestion to travel to target location 1103. The diamond icon at target location 1103 can additionally or alternatively animate, change in size, change in color, change in shape, or have other visual effects.”)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Alderman to the known invention of Street Fighter Wiki would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such messaging features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the invention to, during play of the multiplay game, display, in accordance with an action of a predetermined player character, a message corresponding to the predetermined player character, and in a case where the player character, i.e. the second player character, that has performed an action to cause predetermined said message to be displayed is a specific character, i.e. the post-replacement character, the processor of the first game apparatus displays a message corresponding to the specific character, i.e. the post-replacement character, results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the messages can be uniquely identified to the characters that sent the messages, thus improving the overall usability of the invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
United States Patent No. 6910186 to Kim discloses a new class of avatars ("organizational avatars") created in accordance with the present invention that holds a value or a significance independent from their use in a virtual environment, unlike the generic avatars whose value is limited to their being used in a chatroom. For example, an organizational avatar may be in the image of a trademark (which may be copyrighted), such as Mickey Mouse, Colonel Sanders, or Pikachu (a Pokemon character). The organizational avatars may represent certain organizations, typically the organizations that own trademark and/or copyright rights to the images used to form the avatars in virtual environments. Therefore, users of virtual environments can interface various companies by interacting with organizational avatars. Alternatively, organizational avatars may represent users independent of the organization, but under a contract with the organization that owns the image the avatars depict. By using organizational avatars, companies of all sizes can increase their interactivity with customers, advertise cost effectively, and promote a positive image for their products. Tiles are used to provide faster download of a chatroom's background. Tiles also allow rapid generation of a chatroom's background, eliminating the need to use a graphics editor.
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/JAY HUANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Street_Fighter_IV
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Kart_8