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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to amendments filed on 01/07/2025.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. Title does not include inventive feature of virtual object body parts and treatment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-13 and 15-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a mental step without significantly more. As per step 1 examiner recognizes that the claims are directed towards a gaming device or methods performed with a terminal device and therefore step 1 is met. As per step 2A the claim(s) recite(s) “the method comprises: displaying a graphical user interface corresponding to a controlled virtual object, and receiving a first control operation for a virtual treatment prop through the graphical user interface, wherein the controlled virtual object corresponds to a terminal device; in response to the first control operation acting on the virtual treatment prop, determining a target virtual treatment prop, and displaying a target body part of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop in the graphical user interface, wherein the controlled virtual object comprises a plurality of body parts, and the target body part is configured for the target virtual treatment prop to apply to; and in response to a second control operation for the target body part, determining a body part to be processed of the controlled virtual object from the target body part, performing consumption on the target virtual treatment prop, and performing a game effect corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop on the body part to be processed.” Which is directed towards game rules for a virtual object wherein the virtual object has target body parts and the rules include using a treatment item being consumed to treat the body part. Further dependent claims include rules regarding how to sort and display the information, characteristics of the parts such as health pools, and rules on how the treatment item is used. Examiner recognizes the bold sections are directed towards mental steps on rules for a game that comprising how to determine information or status of a game character (see body parts) and then apply treatment based on rules (such as consuming a treatment object). These are rules for how the game is played and are mental steps that can be carried out by a player. Specifically the act of determining information about a character can be performed on a table top using known RPG systems such as Dungeons and Dragons and therefore can be performed mentally. Applying a treatment object is a game action that can be performed mentally by deciding to use a treatment object to change the status of a body part and can be performed solely in the mind of a person. For example a player can determine mentally that their character has a broken arm and then determine mentally to restore the art using a healing game item. Therefore the steps recited can be performed in the mind without the use of a computer. As per the computer elements see below. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because it remains directed towards game rules which are a mental step. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claims are directed towards how to play a game and game functions without comprising an improvement to the function of a machine or computer or other practical application. Specifically this is how to play the game.
As per step 2B examiner recognizes that additional elements are directed to conventional activities or extra solution activity. See below.
Limitations directed towards GUI and display elements and other associated hardware. The hardware elements are commonly found in the gaming art related to electronic gaming such as displays and GUI used in electronic gaming. The action of displaying information in a GUI is commonly known in the art with Fallout page 7 providing an example of a display GUI showing character information allowing a user to view information on the state of the machine. Therefore the hardware features do not provide a practical application.
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) 1-6, 11-13, and 15-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by The game "Fallout 3" developed by Bethesda Softworks released 10/28/2008 as evidenced by "Crippled Limbs" from Nukapedia: The Fallout Wiki (11/29/2021), "How do i heal limbs? Fallout 3" from gamefags.gamespot.com (12/6/2008) (hereinafter referred to as Fallout), and "Stimpak (Fallout 3)" from fallout.wiki (7/13/2021).
As per claims 1 and 15-16, Fallout teaches a method for virtual prop processing, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, and an electronic device (page 8, see Fallout 3 for Xbox 360 and paragraph [0007] of page 8 “Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” which teaches the game is played on the Xbox 360 which is a well-known game console which includes processor and memory for playing of electronic games), comprising: a processor (page 8, see Fallout 3 for Xbox 360 and paragraph [0007] of page 8 “Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” which teaches the game is played on the Xbox 360 which is a well-known game console which includes processor and memory for playing of electronic games); and a memory, configured to store an executable instruction for the processor (page 8, see Fallout 3 for Xbox 360 and paragraph [0007] of page 8 “Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” which teaches the game is played on the Xbox 360 which is a well-known game console which includes processor and memory for playing of electronic games); wherein, the processor is configured to perform a method for virtual prop processing by executing the executable instruction (page 7, see displayed player character), and the method comprises: displaying a graphical user interface corresponding to a controlled virtual object (page 7, see displayed virtual player character (image from page 5 gallery) and page 8 “Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.”), and receiving a first control operation for a virtual treatment prop through the graphical user interface, wherein the controlled virtual object corresponds to a terminal device (page 2, see Fallout 3 which describes crippled limbs of a player character which needs to be treated with a stimpack , page 7 show individual parts that are crippled (see dotted line), and page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Where a player can cycle through the limbs on the GUI to individually apply Stimpacks to fix the crippled limb); in response to the first control operation acting on the virtual treatment prop, determining a target virtual treatment prop, and displaying a target body part of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop in the graphical user interface (page 7, individual limbs and the head are displayed including status such as crippled), wherein the controlled virtual object comprises a plurality of body parts, and the target body part is configured for the target virtual treatment prop to apply to (page 7, see displayed virtual player character (image from page 3 gallery) and page 8 “Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.”), and receiving a first control operation for a virtual treatment prop through the graphical user interface, wherein the controlled virtual object corresponds to a terminal device (page 2, see Fallout 3 which describes crippled limbs of a player character which needs to be treated with a stimpack , page 7 show individual parts that are crippled (see dotted line), and page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Where a player can cycle through the limbs on the GUI to individually apply Stimpacks to fix the crippled limb); and in response to a second control operation for the target body part, determining a body part to be processed of the controlled virtual object from the target body part, performing consumption on the target virtual treatment prop, and performing a game effect corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop on the body part to be processed (page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Stimpaks are used, an act of consuming, on limbs to restore the limb to function).
As per claims 2 and 17, Fallout teaches a method and medium wherein displaying the body part of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop in the graphical user interface comprises: displaying the at least one target body part of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop according to a display position of the target virtual treatment prop in the graphical user interface (page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Limbs are displayed corresponding to which would be treated by the virtual treatment prop, or stimpack, and therefore a location is associated with the prop. Specifically during the cycling if the left arm is displayed then that means the virtual treatment prop would be located on the left arm for treatment).
As per claims 3 and 18, Fallout teaches a method and medium wherein displaying the target body part of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop in the graphical user interface comprises: displaying an object model corresponding to the controlled virtual object on the graphical user interface (page 7); and displaying the target body part of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop on the object model corresponding to the controlled virtual object (page 7, see limbs and head).
As per claim 4, Fallout teaches a method wherein the virtual treatment prop comprises any one of: a virtual treatment prop owned by the controlled virtual object, and a virtual treatment prop scattered in a virtual game scene (page 2, see Fallout 3 for Stimpack which is an item owned by a player and used for treatment and page 13, See locations which describes various places the item can be found).
As per claims 5 and 19, Fallout teaches a method and device wherein displaying the target body part of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop in the graphical user interface comprises: in response to determining that a plurality of target body parts corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop are present in the controlled virtual object, obtaining a target arrangement sequence by sorting the plurality of target body parts of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop (page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Limbs are displayed in a cycling fashion which would be a form of sorting); and displaying the plurality of target body parts of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop in the graphical user interface according to the target arrangement sequence (page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Limbs are displayed in a cycling fashion which would be a form of sorting).
As per claim 6, Fallout teaches a method wherein obtaining the target arrangement sequence by sorting the plurality of target body parts corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop in the controlled virtual object comprises: obtaining the target arrangement sequence by sorting a target damaged body part of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop, wherein the target damaged body part is a damaged body part in the target body part (page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Limbs are displayed in a cycling fashion which would be a form of sorting).
As per claims 11 and 20, Fallout teaches a method and device wherein performing consumption on the target virtual treatment prop and performing the game effect corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop on the body part to be processed comprises: updating a current remaining health value corresponding to the body part to be processed according to a treatment value of the target virtual treatment prop until the current remaining health value corresponding to the body part to be processed reaches a total health value or the target virtual treatment prop is exhausted (page 13, See Characteristics and Uses which describes healing amount including healing significantly more for a limb).
As per claims 12 and 21, Fallout teaches a method and device wherein displaying the target body part of the controlled virtual object corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop in the graphical user interface comprises: displaying a sub-interface in the graphical user interface, wherein the sub-interface comprises a part item of the target body part (page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Limbs are displayed in a cycling fashion individually and are interacted with individually when cycling); and determining the body part to be processed of the controlled virtual object from the target body part in response to the second control operation for the at least one target body part comprises: in response to a third control operation for the part item in the sub-interface, determining the body part to be processed of the controlled virtual object from the target body part (page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Limbs are displayed in a cycling fashion individually and are interacted with individually when cycling).
As per claim 13, Fallout teaches a method wherein the sub-interface further comprises an item for all treatments, and determining the body part to be processed of the controlled virtual object from the target body part in response to the second control operation for the target body part comprises: in response to a fourth control operation for the item for all treatments, taking all target damaged body parts as body parts to be processed of the controlled virtual object, wherein the target damaged body parts are damaged body parts in the target body part (page 13, See Uses where a stimpack can be used to heal the whole body and will also slightly heal all damaged limbs).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over The game "Fallout 3" developed by Bethesda Softworks released 10/28/2008 as evidenced by "Crippled Limbs" from Nukapedia: The Fallout Wiki (11/29/2021), "How do i heal limbs? Fallout 3" from gamefags.gamespot.com (12/6/2008) (hereinafter referred to as Fallout), and "Stimpak (Fallout 3)" from fallout.wiki (7/13/2021) in view of "How does a monster prioritize ranged heals?" from r/Gloomhaven (12/4/2017)(hereinafter referred to as Gloomhaven).
As per claim 7, Fallout does not specifically teach a method wherein obtaining the target arrangement sequence by sorting the target damaged body part corresponding to the target virtual treatment prop in the controlled virtual object comprises: obtaining the target arrangement sequence by sorting the target damaged body part according to a damage severity corresponding to the target damaged body part. However, Fallout teaches sorting limbs for view in the GUI by a player (page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Limbs are displayed in a cycling fashion which would be a form of sorting) and Gloomhaven teaches a game wherein healing is prioritized by most damaged object (page 1, see zeCrazyEye post which describes monster healing targets most damaged ally). Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have combined the teachings of Fallout with Gloomhaven, since Fallout can include priority in the cycling to show the most damaged, such as Gloomhaven taught priority, limb in order to allow players to quickly repair the most critical limb thereby saving time or avoiding wasting a healing item on a lower priority limb by presenting it first.
As per claim 8, Fallout does not specifically teach a method wherein sorting the target damaged body part according to the damage severity corresponding to the target damaged body part comprises: sorting body parts with a same damage severity in the target damaged body part according to a damage type. However, Fallout teaches sorting limbs for view in the GUI by a player (page 8, paragraph [0007] “You could always try applying stimpaks directly to the limb. Open up your Pipboy, go to the menu that shows your body, press x (if playing on xbox) and it should allow you to cycle through the limbs.” Limbs are displayed in a cycling fashion which would be a form of sorting) and Gloomhaven teaches a game wherein healing is prioritized by most damaged object (page 1, see zeCrazyEye post which describes monster healing targets most damaged ally). Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have combined the teachings of Fallout with Gloomhaven, since Fallout can include priority in the cycling to show the most damaged, such as Gloomhaven taught priority, limb in order to allow players to quickly repair the most critical limb thereby saving time or avoiding wasting a healing item on a lower priority limb by presenting it first. Examiner notes this can include type of damage such as crippled limbs presented first since those need treatment first.
As per claim 9, Fallout teaches a method wherein the determining the damage severity corresponding to the target damaged body part according to a current remaining health value and a total health value corresponding to the target damaged body part (page 7, see crippled or not crippled based on health of limb).
As per claim 10, Fallout teaches a method wherein the displaying one or more of a damage type, a current remaining health value, and a total health value of the target damaged body part in the graphical user interface (page 7, see crippled or not crippled based on health of limb with a green health bar presented next to the limb showing total health with the crippled limbs shown as crippled by having their respective bar empty or not shown while non-crippled are missing portions of their health pool).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tinari (US Pub. No. 2020/0316474 A1) teaches a virtual game wherein a virtual object is divided into body parts, such as arms, which can be targeted for game actions such as stealing.
Yang et al. (US Pub. No. 2020/0298123 A1) teaches a virtual game wherein healing items are sorted based on the health of a character.
Kojima et al. (US Pat. No. 7,635,300 B2) teaches a virtual game wherein game characters have stats regarding individual body parts including damage.
"Subsystem Damage" from TVTropes provides examples of games with subsystems, such as body parts, which can be damaged during play of the game.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN L MYHR whose telephone number is (571)270-7847. The examiner can normally be reached 10AM-6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dmitry Suhol can be reached at (571) 272-4430. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN L MYHR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715 8/11/2026
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