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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-13, 16 and 17 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-6, 9, 11-16, 17 and 20 respectively of U.S. Patent No. 12,179,105. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the respective claims of the ‘105 patent anticipate the instant claims.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. According to the specification, the invention relates to a method of providing a virtual environment responsive to player inputs. Exemplary claims 1, 10 and 19 includes the following underlined claim elements:
1. A method for adjusting a virtual character selection sequence performed by a first terminal associated with a first user of an online game application, the method comprising: displaying an information display position of the first user, information display positions of at least one second user and adjustment controls corresponding to the information display positions of the at least one second user; in response to a trigger operation on a first adjustment control, changing the first adjustment control from a first display status to a second display status, wherein the second display status is used to indicate that a user is waiting to accept a position exchange; and in accordance with a determination that the trigger operation on the first adjustment control is accepted by a first target user corresponding to the first adjustment control, displaying a selection screen that includes an exchange in the information display position of the first user and the information display position of the first target user
10. An electronic device associated with a first user of an online game application, comprising: a display; one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: displaying an information display position of the first user, information display positions of at least one second user and adjustment controls corresponding to the information display positions of the at least one second user; in response to a trigger operation on a first adjustment control, changing the first adjustment control from a first display status to a second display status, wherein the second display status is used to indicate that a user is waiting to accept a position exchange; and in accordance with a determination that the trigger operation on the first adjustment control is accepted by a first target user corresponding to the first adjustment control, displaying a selection screen that includes an exchange in the information display position of the first user and the information display position of the first target user
19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program, the computer program, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device associated with a first user, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: displaying an information display position of the first user, information display positions of at least one second user and adjustment controls corresponding to the information display positions of the at least one second user; in response to a trigger operation on a first adjustment control, changing the first adjustment control from a first display status to a second display status, wherein the second display status is used to indicate that a user is waiting to accept a position exchange; and in accordance with a determination that the trigger operation on the first adjustment control is accepted by a first target user corresponding to the first adjustment control, displaying a selection screen that includes an exchange in the information display position of the first user and the information display position of the first target user.
The underlined claim elements above are directed in user interaction in a game environment and applying game logic to user interactions which is the court enumerated abstract idea of certain methods of organizing human activities, following rules or instructions. The various dependent claims only further detail the abstract ideas or constitute insignificant extra solution activity and consequently are also considered abstract ideas.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims do not recite additional elements that would integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The recited “terminal”, “display”, “one or more processors” and “non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” amount to implementing the abstract idea on a general purpose computer, and/or do no more than generally link the use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use. Applicant’s specification states “In some embodiments, the client installed on the first terminal 110 is the same as the client installed on the second terminal 130, or the clients installed on the two terminals are the same type of clients of different operating system platforms (Android or iOS). The first terminal 110 may generally refer to one of a plurality of terminals, and the second terminal 130 may generally refer to another one of the plurality of terminals. In this embodiment, only the first terminal 110 and the second terminal 130 are used as an example for description. Device types of the first terminal 110 and the second terminal 130 are the same or different. The device type includes at least one of a smart phone, a tablet computer, an ebook reader, a moving picture experts group audio layer III (MP3) player, a moving picture experts group audio layer IV (MP4) player, or a laptop computer”, [0080]. This supports a conclusion that the method operates in a general computing environment and that the claim provides mere instructions to apply the judicial exception on a computer. There is no improvement made to computer technology since the claims are directed to providing a game that responds to player input. This is not related to a long standing problem in computer technology. Additionally, there is no practical application as there is no particular machine that is used to implement the claim language and only generic computer components are used to perform the invention. Also, there is no transformation of the machine used in the application into a different state or thing. Lastly, the claims do not attempt to apply the abstract idea in a meaningful way beyond simply using a generic computer. The various dependent claims only further detail the abstract idea or are insignificant extra solution activity and also fail to rise significantly more than the abstract ideas.
The claims do not recite additional elements, individually or in combination, that amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. As discussed above with respect to the lack of a practical application, the additional element in the claim amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. The same analysis applies here, i.e., mere instructions to apply an exception using generic computer component(s) cannot provide an inventive concept. The additional element(s) or combination of elements in the claim(s) other than the abstract idea(s) are: (i) mere instructions to implement the idea on a computer, and/or (ii) recitation of generic computer structures that serves to perform generic computer functions that are well-understood, routine, and conventional activities previously known to the pertinent industry. Viewed as a whole, these additional claim element(s) do not provide meaningful limitation(s) to transform the abstract idea into a patent eligible application of the abstract idea such that the claim(s) amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea itself
Therefore, the claims are directed to an abstract idea that lacks significantly more and thus is not patent eligible.
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)(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, 2, 4, 5, 7-11 and 13-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Assa (pub. no. 20130244784).
Regarding claim 1, Assa discloses a method for adjusting a virtual character selection sequence performed by a first terminal associated with a first user of an online game application (“FIG. 1 illustrates various possible implementations of the inventive multi-screen, multi-player gaming system. Elements that can function as a user terminal are indicated by (T), while elements that can function as the main board or console are indicated by (B). Shown at 100 is a system that is made of dedicated hardware, i.e., dedicated gaming board 102 and dedicated terminals 104. The board 102 and terminals 102 can function as a complete gaming system and are capable of communicating among each other. On the other hand, a conventional smart phone or a portable gaming system can also be used as user terminals and communicate with any of the boards shown in FIG. 1, provided that these terminals run the software modules described below. Similarly, a conventional PC, Tablet PC, set-top box, or a TV (either a "smart" TV or a regular TV functioning as a monitor and coupled to a set-top box, PC, conventional gaming console, etc.), may function as the main board, provided that these terminals run the software modules described below. Communication can be provided between and among any of the terminals and main board shown in FIG. 1”, [0058]),
the method comprising: displaying an information display position of the first user, information display positions of at least one second user and adjustment controls corresponding to the information display positions of the at least one second user; in response to a trigger operation on a first adjustment control, changing the first adjustment control from a first display status to a second display status, wherein the second display status is used to indicate that a user is waiting to accept a position exchange (“The "Board subsystem" manages the players' position on the board. The process may start with the collection of players with terminals or the definition of current players on the board (e.g. in case of Chess the terminal is not mandatory). Players positioning view shows a "symbol" for each player and let the users drag their symbols to their preferred side on the board. The process supports any number of players that can share the same side. The above process defines the area in which the player objects will be exchanged with the board, e.g. when he/she drop tiles from his terminal to the board, or drags cards from the board to his terminal”, [0022]);
and in accordance with a determination that the trigger operation on the first adjustment control is accepted by a first target user corresponding to the first adjustment control, displaying a selection screen that includes an exchange in the information display position of the first user and the information display position of the first target user (“The "Terminal subsystem" exchanges game objects with the board or other terminals. The "Terminal subsystem" enables in some games to share private information with other players' terminals, either by sharing the entire view or exchanging individual objects and widgets. The "Terminal subsystem" supports touch gestures and hand writing; the hand writing drawings and lists can be exchanged as other game objects”, [0027];
“According to certain aspects of the invention, the system may be implemented as a portable electronic gaming system allowing a plurality of players to play a game on a plurality of screens. When the system is implemented as a dedicated hardware, the system comprises a game board having a main display screen for displaying a portion of the game layout that is shared by the plurality of players, and a plurality of personal game terminals, each personal game terminal assigned to a respective player and having an auxiliary display screen for displaying a portion of the game layout that is associated with the respective player. The system enables communication between the main display and the personal game terminals, and optionally also among the game terminals directly. The system also enables seamlessly transferring digitized game objects between the respective auxiliary display screens and the main display screen, or among the auxiliary display screens, as triggered by, e.g., a game step or in response to touch-based interactive inputs received from the plurality of players”, [0055];
“Combining the positioning concept with the seamless motion of game pieces, according to one embodiment, during the positioning process the processor displays "gates" on the main screen for each player. The gates may be displayed graphically in any shape or form, as long as each gate is identified as corresponding to a personal unit or player participating in the game. Then, when a digital game piece is moved from the public screen to a personal screen, it is graphically moved on the public screen towards the gate corresponding to that specific personal unit. The reverse is also true: when a user moves a game piece from a personal unit onto the public screen, the game piece "enters" the public screen through the gate associated with that particular personal unit”, [0067];
“Once communication is established and a personal unit is accepted to the game, the user can utilize the personal unit to control his/her actions in the game, as described more fully below. Additionally, when the game board is displayed on the TV monitor 102b, and a user wishes to take an action on that board, e.g., move a game piece, it may be inconvenient to require the user to get up and walk to the TV, or using the TV remote control to perform the action. If the main board displayed on 102b is a duplicate of what is displayed on 102a, then the user may simply drag the game piece on board 102a. However, if it is not duplicate, then according to a feature of the invention, the user may switch his/her personal unit to operate in a control mode, wherein action on the personal units affect the TV monitor 102b. This feature is illustrated in FIG. 1F. To help the user, the display of the TV monitor 102b may be replicated on his personal terminal unit 104b”, [0096]).
Regarding claim 2, Assa discloses receiving first position status information from a server, the first position status information indicating an exchange status of the information display positions of the at least one second user; and displaying the adjustment controls corresponding to the information display positions of the at least one second user based on the first position status information ([0055], [0067]).
Regarding claim 4, Assa discloses the at least one second user comprises at least two users; and displaying the adjustment controls corresponding to the information display positions of the at least one second user based on the first position status information comprises: in response to the first position status information indicating that a third target user requests for a position exchange with a fourth target user, displaying a first indication control corresponding to the information display position of the third target user, the first indication control being used for indicating that an exchange object applied for by the third target user is the fourth target user, wherein the third target user and the fourth target user are any two of the at least two users ([0055], [0067]).
Regarding claim 5, Assa discloses the at least one second user comprises at least two users; and displaying the adjustment controls corresponding to the information display positions of the at least one second user based on the first position status information comprises: in response to the first position status information indicating that a third target user requests for a position exchange with a fourth target user, displaying a second indication control corresponding to the information display position of the fourth target user, the second indication control being used for indicating that a user who applies for the position exchange with the fourth target user is the third target user, wherein the third target user and the fourth target user being any two of the at least two users ([0055], [0067]).
Regarding claim 7, Assa discloses transmitting a position adjustment request to the server in response to the first adjustment control being in the first display status and receiving the trigger operation on the first adjustment control, the position adjustment request being used for requesting for a position exchange with the first target user; receiving second position status information transmitted by the server, the second position status information being generated by the server based on the position adjustment request; and displaying the first adjustment control in the second display status based on the second position status information ([0055], [0067]).
Regarding claim 8, Assa discloses displaying an exchange animation for exchanging the information display position of the first user with the information display position of the first target user in response to the trigger operation on the first adjustment control being accepted by the first target user; and displaying the selection screen in response to the exchange animation being displayed completely (“As mentioned above, digital game pieces can be seamlessly moved among the various private and public screens. For example, a user may move a game piece, e.g., a card, from his personal unit to the main unit using, e.g., an assigned button, softkey, or hand gesture. In this respect, the digital game pieces can be grouped into two type of digital game pieces: "dumb" game pieces, i.e., digital game pieces that have basically only graphical representation but no function, e.g., cards, chess game pieces, etc., and active or "intelligent" pieces, which have internal function, akin to a widget or applet, e.g., die, warrior, etc. Additionally, when a game piece is transferred from one terminal to another, whether personal or public, a rule set is implemented to that specific transfer. The rule set may include, for example, the location for displaying the object on the transferee screen (for example, at an indicated place on the public main game board, at a location closest to the player transferring the piece, etc.), the size of the object to display (for example, enlarge or reduce depending if moving from a small to large screen or vice versa), any motion of the piece (e.g., if moving a covered card from main screen to private screen, flip the card to reveal its face), enact action per game rule, (e.g., when moving money in Monopoly from private screen to bank at public screen, action can be activated, e.g., game piece goes out of jail if payment was made to get out of jail), activate audio corresponding to the game piece, etc”, [0066]).
Regarding claim 9, Assa discloses adjusting a display status of the first adjustment control from the second display status to the first display status in response to receiving the trigger operation on the first adjustment control in the second display status ([0055]; [0067]).
Claims 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18 are directed to devices that implement the methods of claims 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7-9 respectively and are rejected for the same reasons as claims 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7-9 respectively.
Claims 19 and 20 are directed to articles of manufacture containing code that implements the methods of claims 1 and 2 respectively and are rejected for the same reasons as claims 1 and 2 respectively.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAWRENCE STEFAN GALKA whose telephone number is (571)270-1386. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6-9 & 12-5.
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/LAWRENCE S GALKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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