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 § 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 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 14 is directed towards a computer readable medium, without explicitly claiming the medium as non transitory, which means the BRI of the limitation may include signals which are not one of the four statutory classes, and claim 15 is directed towards a program, which is not one of the four statutory classes.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8-11, 14, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stoyanov (US 11383171)
In claim 1, Stoyanov discloses
A communication interface configured to communicate with a game server and (the recording component 114 is in communication with the other portions of the online gaming platform as shown in figure 1 #105, as well as the administration servers, registry servers, and client computing platforms)
A controller configured to generate an asset code corresponding to a game asset in the game server and register the asset code on a blockchain network (figure 1 #114, column 11 lines 29-47 discloses creating of a digital asset and registering it on a blockchain network, the asset code would be figure 1A “identifier = #001”)
In claim 8, 14, ane 15 Stoyanov discloses
Generating an asset code corresponding to a game asset in a game server and (figure 1 #114, column 11 lines 29-47 discloses creating of a digital asset, the asset code would be figure 1A “identifier = #001”)
Registering the asset code on a blockchain network (figure 1 #114, column 11 lines 29-47)
In claims 2 and 9, Stoyanov discloses the controller provides status information for the asset code when obtaining intermediary information for the asset code (it is noted by examiner that the terms “status information” and “intermediary information” are extremely broad terms that can mean basically any sort of information whatsoever. Further, within applicant’s own spec, “the intermediate information may be […] a string […] the string may be the asset code itself”, meaning that a teaching of the asset code is a teaching of the intermediary information as they may be one and the same thing. However, Stoyanov discloses these limitations more narrowly, as Stoyanov discloses intermediary information such as “name = “Boss Dino Blanko”, and status information such as ownership rights and history, as per column 5 lines 32-42)
In claims 3 and 10, Stoyanov discloses the controller transmits a transaction of the asset code to the blockchain network when trading of the asset code occurs (column 7 lines 44-67, column 8 lines 1-3)
In claims 4 and 11, Stoyanov discloses the controller provides status information of the asset code, and particularly provides at least one of pieces of information about sale, rental, and shared ownership of the asset code (column 15 lines 1-36)
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.
Claim(s) 5 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoyanov.
In claims 5 and 12, Stoyanov discloses the claimed invention except the controller generates the asset code corresponding to the game asset in the game server, and deletes the game asset from a user account in the game server where the game asset is stored, however Official notice is taken that removal of redundant data after uploading data to a different storage solution was notoriously well known 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 Stoyanov with this well known technique in order to allow for server space to be reclaimed.
Claim(s) 6, 7, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoyanov in view of Andon (US 11113754).
In claims 6, 7 and 13, Stoyanov discloses the claimed invention except for restoring the asset code and store the game asset corresponding to the asset code in a user account in the game server, wherein the controller restores the asset code and provides rewards based on a management period from a time when the game asset was converted into the asset code to a time when the asset code is restored, however Andon discloses that the user may lease their crypto to another user (column 19 lines 3-27) which would involve removing the asset code from the owner’s use, and then restoring it after a time frame and providing a reward based on the management period. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Stoyanov with Andon in order to allow for the owner to profit off their digital assets without selling the assets.
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Vasat can be reached at 571-270-7625. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THOMAS H HENRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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