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 § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-12 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enomoto (US 20200061471) in view of Nakagawa (US 20200101380)
In claims 1, 16, and 20, Enomoto discloses
Displaying a running screen of a target virtual game in a first time unit, the target virtual game including at least a first virtual character that is manipulated by an AI object (paragraph 7, 25, virtual character may, for example be figure 4 #455 player team member A-3)
Obtaining battle reference data associated with the running screen, the battle reference data being battle data fed back by the first virtual character when the first virtual character participates in the target virtual game in the first time unit and (figure 4, game title 410, activity 415, player state 420, game state 425)
execution prediction information of at least one to be executed candidate operation based on the battle reference data, the to-be-executed candidate operation being a candidate operation to be executed by the first virtual character in a second time unit after the first time unit, the execution prediction information including an auxiliary reference related to the battle reference data for a to-be-initiated manipulation instruction that is to be initiated by the AI object in the second time unit to cause the first virtual character to execute the to-be-executed candidate operation (the “execution prediction information” of the instant application is shown, for example in figure 8 of the instant application, which shows a list of various possible actions with associated probabilities, wherein the to-be-executed candidate operation would be the operation which is selected from the list. paragraph 30 of the prior art shows the odds of selecting various candidate options, and then randomizing the selection of an operation to be performed. This is also shown in for example figure 3 #320, 325, and 330 for various odds, and then #335 and #340 for selecting a candidate operation.)
Enomoto fails to disclose displaying of the execution prediction information, however Nakagawa discloses a probability display area for displaying the probability of a virtual occurrence (figure 9 #71). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Enomoto with Nakagawa in order to allow for the users to have a greater understanding of the mechanics of the operation of the first virtual character.
In claims 2,3, 6-9, 11, 12, 17, and 18, Nakagawa is relied upon for displaying information used in Enomoto as per figure 9 #71 and the limitations are taught in combination.
In Claims 2 and 17 Enomoto discloses a first probability distribution information of at least a first to be executed candidate operation and a second to be executed candidate operation, the first probability distribution information indicating at least a first probability that the virtual character executes the first to be executed candidate operation in the second time unit and a second probability that the first virtual character executes the second to be executed candidate operation in the second time unit (figure 8, paragraph 30, figure 3 #320, 325, 330)
In claims 3 and 18, Enomoto discloses second probability distribution information of the first virtual character executing the to be executed candidate operation on at least a first pointing object and a second pointing object, the second probability distribution information indicating at least a first probability that the first virtual character executes the to be executed candidate operation on the first pointing object in the second time unit, and a second probability that the first virtual character executes the to b e executed candidate operation on the second pointing object in the second time unit (figure 3 shows a left turn immediately as action A (which would point left) whereas actions B and 6 would begin left turns in 3 and 6 feet resulting in the player continuing along their current path for the second time unit)
In claims 4 and 19, Nakagawa discloses the running screen in a first interface and a battle viewing area, and execution prediction information in a second interface area in the battle viewing area (Figure 8, the top portion of the screen is the battle viewing area such as PC, with the bottom portion being a second interface area such as 60-1. figure 9 #71 shows the probabilities which is displayed in a second viewing area. It is noted by examiner that these limitations do not require these displays to occur simultaneously)
In claim 5, Nakagawa discloses the running screen comprises a running main screen and a running sub screen the running main screen is a real time screen of a virtual scene in the target virtual area, the running sub screen is a thumbnail screen of the virtual scene displaying in a first sub area in the interface area, the running main screen of the target virtual game in the first time, displaying in a second sub area in the first interface area, the running sub screen of the target virtual game in the first time unit (figure 8 top portion such as PC is the real time screen of the virtual scene, with the bottom portion such as 60-1 being thumbnails of the virtual scene), and displaying the execution prediction information on the running sub screen and in a third sub area in the second interface area (figure 9 #71 as before, the limitation does not require this to be displayed simultaneously with the other two screens)
In claim 6, Enomoto discloses a character position identifier of the first virtual character, the execution prediction information comprises a movement direction identifier, the movement direction identifier indicating a direction reference to a movement instruction expected to be initiated by the AI object in the second time to cause the first virtual character to move (figure 3 shows a left turn immediately as action A (which would point left) whereas actions B and 6 would begin left turns in 3 and 6 feet resulting in the player continuing along their current path for the second time unit)
In claim 7, Enomoto in view of Nakagawa discloses the claimed invention except highlighting, when a number of target candidate operations associated with a first pointing object reaches a preset threshold, an operation trajectory identifier at a position associated with a target character position identifier of the first virtual character on the running sub screen, the operation trajectory identifier providing a pointing reference to a manipulation instruction expected to be initiated by the AI object in the second time unit. However Official notice is taken that highlighting an especially relevant piece of information, including, in this case, the most likely outcome to occur in prediction information, was notoriously well known in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Enomoto in view of Nakagawa in order to allow for the user to more quickly identify the most relevant information.
In claim 8, Enomoto discloses execution prediction information of a to be executed pointing operation, the execution prediction information of the to be executed pointing operation providing a pointing reference to a manipulation instruction expected to be initiated by the AI object in the second time unit for determining a pointing object of the manipulation instruction, execution prediction information of two or more to be executed candidate operations, the execution prediction information of the two or more to be executed candidate operations providing a selection reference to two or more manipulation instructions expected to be initiated by the AI object int eh second time unit, and the two or more manipulation instructions respectively correspond to the two or more to be executed candidate operations, execution prediction information of a to be executed movement operation, providing direction reference to a movement instruction to be initiated by the AI object in the second time unit, attack operation providing a pointing reference to an attack instruction to be initiated by the AI object in the second time unit, or execution prediction information of a to be executed configuration operation, the execution prediction information of the to be executed configuration operation providing a pointing reference to a configuration instruction expected to be initiated by the AI object in the second time unit, and the to be executed configuration operation determining a pointing item of the configuration instruction (as this is a Markush group, only one of the limitations needs to be found to reject the limitation. figure 3 shows a left turn immediately as action A (which would point left) whereas actions B and 6 would begin left turns in 3 and 6 feet resulting in the player continuing along their current path for the second time unit)
In claim 9, Enomoto in view of Nakagawa discloses claimed invention except the execution prediction information associated with the first virtual character when a screen perspective of the target virtual game is of the first virtual character, switching the screen perspective of the target virtual game to a second virtual character in response to a switching instruction of the screen perspective of the target virtual game and execution prediction information associated with a second target virtual character, however Official notice is taken that switching screen perspectives (including the respective information about the character being viewed, as shown in figures 8 and 9 of Nakagawa) is notoriously well known in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Enomoto in view of Nakagawa in order to allow for a spectator to be able to view the game from the perspective of any character that is preferred including the relevant information about that respective character.
In claim 10, Nakagawa discloses displaying battle basic information of one or more AI objects, the battle basic information being basic information about the one or more objects (figure 8 “name”), battle instant information of the target virtual game in the first time unit, the battle instant information being instant information generated by the target virtual game when the targe virtual game is run in the first time unit (figure 8 “**”), displaying battle historical information of the target virtual game in the first time unit, the battle historical information being historical information generated by the target virtual game before the first time unit (figure 8, “HP”. The HP represents health including health that has been gained or lost before the first time unit), and displaying battle prediction information of the target virtual game in the first time unit, the battle prediction information being prediction information of a battle result for one or more AI objects in the target virtual game (figure 9 #71)
In claim 11, Enomoto discloses obtaining a battle screen of the target virtual game during a running process of the target virtual game, the battle screen comprising the running screen, obtaining local battle state information and overall battle state information according to the battle screen, the local battle state information including respective battle state of a plurality of virtual characters in the target virtual field and the overall battle state information including a time unit based battle state of the first time unit in the virtual game, obtaining a first recognition result based on a battle prediction model and the local battle state information, the first recognition result indicating contributions of the plurality of virtual characters respectively to a battle result, obtaining a second recognition result based on the battle prediction model, and the overall battle state information, the second recognition result indicating a contribution of the time unit based battle state of the first time unit to the battle result, fitting according to the first recognition result and the second recognition result, to obtain an evaluation function value, the evaluation function value indicating a battle progress of at least the AI object in the target virtual state, obtaining battle prediction information based on the evaluation function value of the target virtual game in the first time unit, the battle prediction information being prediction information of the battle result of at least the AI object in the target virtual game (figure 4 shows a variety of information, game title, activity, player state of multiple players, game state, past N actions, and all of those determine the probability of the optimal action, as well as tracked player actions.)
In claim 12, Enomoto discloses determining, by using the evaluation function value when the target virtual game includes AI objects in two or more opposing teams, predicted remaining durations respectively for the two or more opposing teams in the target virtual game, (paragraph 76 discloses the calculation of the optional action for achieving the action of winning the game. Figure 4 #465 shows a particular game state which shows the remaining duration.) Although Enomoto in view of Nakagawa fails to explicitly disclose obtaining predicted winrates respectively of the two or more opposing teams for the target virtual game based on the predicted remaining durations, a predicted win rate in the predicted win rates being inversely proportional to a predicted remaining duration in the predicted remaining duration, Enomoto does discloses determining the action which provides the best odds for winning. Official notice is taken that it was notoriously well known to calculated potential winrates for various actions in an AI model to then determine which action is optimal, and further it was notoriously well known that such a calculation related to a time based game would result in the team which is ahead having an inversely proportional chance of winning compared to the amount of time remaining, as the team which is ahead is more likely to win the less time that is remaining. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Enomoto in view of Nakagawa with this well known technique in order to allow for the AI to provide more accurate determinations of optimal actions
Claim(s) 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Enomoto in view of Nakagawa in view of Cella (US 20230173395).
In claim 13, Enomoto in view of Nakagawa fails to disclose obtaining an image feature of the running screen based on the running screen and according to a first network structure of an image recognition model, the battle reference data comprising the image feature, and the image recognition model being a neural network model and the displaying the execution prediction information comprises obtaining a recognition result based on the image feature of the running screen and according to a second network structure of the image recognition model, the execution prediction information comprising the recognition result, however Cella discloses obtaining an image feature of the running screen based on the running screen and according to a first network structure of an image recognition model, the battle reference data comprising the image feature, and the image recognition model being a neural network model and the displaying the execution prediction information comprises obtaining a recognition result based on the image feature of the running screen and according to a second network structure of the image recognition model, the execution prediction information comprising the recognition result (paragraph 585, 2509, 2515, 3070) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Enomoto in view of Nakagawa with Cello in order to allow for the game state information to be determined via image recognition.
In claim 14, Cello discloses performing image recognition on the running screen using a convolution layer in the first network structure to obtain at least two screen features of the running screen and performing feature concatenation on the at least two screen features using a full connection layer in the first network structure to obtain the image feature (paragraphs 585, 2509, 2515, 3070)
In claim 15, Cello discloses mapping the image feature to an attenuation mechanism layer in the second network structure to obtain a mapping result and obtaining the recognition result using an output layer in the second network structure and based on the mapping result (paragraph 2505, 571)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS HAYNES HENRY whose telephone number is (571)270-3905. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6.
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/THOMAS H HENRY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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