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 claims at issue 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); and 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
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Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over Claims 1-20 of US Patent No. 12,183,157. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the inventions are directed to substantially similar subject matter. The subject matter claimed in the instant application is anticipated by the referenced US Patent, as follows: the difference between independent Claim 1 of instant application, 18/952658 and Claim 1 of US Patent No. 12,183,157 are highlighted in the following table.
Claim 1 of 18/952658
Claim 1 of 12,183,157
An electronic gaming system comprising:
An electronic gaming device comprising:
at least one memory with instructions stored thereon; and
at least one memory with instructions stored thereon; and
at least one processor in communication with the at least one memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
at least one processor in communication with the at least one memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
cause display of a plurality of reels for an electronic game, wherein the plurality of reels are displayed in a first display area including a plurality of symbol positions;
store bingo card data associated with a plurality of bingo cards and a player account in the at least one memory, wherein each bingo card of the plurality of bingo cards is associated with an input amount of a plurality of input amounts, and wherein the bingo card data comprises a plurality of bingo card statuses for the plurality of bingo cards, the plurality of bingo card statuses corresponding to a plurality of amounts of symbols accumulated on the plurality of bingo cards
receive first input data associated with the player account and a first electronic gaming device, the first input data comprising a first input amount of the plurality of input amounts;
receive a first input of a first input amount for the electronic game;
perform a first lookup in the at least one memory based upon the first input amount to determine a first bingo card status of the plurality of bingo card statuses, the first bingo card status corresponding to a first bingo card of the plurality of bingo cards, the first bingo card being associated with the first input amount;
cause the first bingo card to be displayed at the first electronic gaming device according to the first bingo card status;
cause display of a first bingo card for the electronic game in a second display area, wherein the first bingo card includes a plurality of bingo positions and is associated with the first input amount;
cause display of a plurality of symbols at the plurality of symbol positions, wherein the plurality of symbols is associated with a game outcome for the electronic game;
based on the plurality of symbols including a prize symbol at a symbol position of the plurality of symbol positions, cause display of an animation of the prize symbol being displayed at a bingo position of the plurality of bingo positions that corresponds to the symbol position to provide a visual cue that the prize symbol is being displayed at the bingo position based on the prize symbol being displayed at the symbol position;
cause the prize symbol being at the bingo position of the plurality of bingo positions to be stored as being associated with the first input amount;
receive second input data associated with the player account and a second electronic gaming device, the second input data comprising a second input amount of the plurality of input amounts;
receive a second input of a second input amount for the electronic game; and
perform a second lookup in the at least one memory based upon the second input amount to determine a second bingo card status of the plurality of bingo card statuses, the second bingo card status corresponding to a second bingo card of the plurality of bingo cards, the second bingo card being associated with the second input amount; and
cause the second bingo card to be displayed at the second electronic gaming device according to the second bingo card status.
cause display of a second bingo card for the electronic game in the second display area, wherein the second bingo card includes the plurality of bingo positions and is associated with the second input amount.
Furthermore, at least claims 4, 11, and 18 of the instant Application contain substantially identical claimed subject matter to claims 4, 12, and 18 of the referenced US Patent.
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 1-2, 4-9, 11-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
The claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter because the claim(s) as a whole, considering all claim elements both individually and in combination, do not amount to significantly more than an abstract idea.
In Step 1, it must be determined whether the claims fall into one of the four statutory categories of invention. The instant invention claims an electronic gaming system (i.e., a machine) in claims 1-2 and 4-7, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (i.e., a manufacture) in claims 8-9 and 11-14, and a method of electronic gaming (i.e., a process) in claims 15-16 and 18-20. As such, the claimed invention falls into the broad statutory categories of invention. However, claims that fall within one of the four statutory categories may nevertheless be ineligible if they encompass laws of nature, physical phenomena, or abstract ideas.
Under Step 2A, prong one, it must be determined whether the claimed invention recites an abstract idea, law of nature, or natural phenomenon. According to the specification, the invention is directed to “[t]he processor populates the matrix of bingo positions with the first prize symbol to a bingo position of the matrix of bingo positions corresponding to a position of the prize symbol in the matrix of symbol positions” (abstract). More particularly, representative claim 1 recites the following (with emphasis):
1. An electronic gaming system comprising:
at least one memory with instructions stored thereon; and
at least one processor in communication with the at least one memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
store bingo card data associated with a plurality of bingo cards and a player account in the at least one memory, wherein each bingo card of the plurality of bingo cards is associated with an input amount of a plurality of input amounts, and wherein the bingo card data comprises a plurality of bingo card statuses for the plurality of bingo cards, the plurality of bingo card statuses corresponding to a plurality of amounts of symbols accumulated on the plurality of bingo cards;
receive first input data associated with the player account and a first electronic gaming device, the first input data comprising a first input amount of the plurality of input amounts;
perform a first lookup in the at least one memory based upon the first input amount to determine a first bingo card status of the plurality of bingo card statuses, the first bingo card status corresponding to a first bingo card of the plurality of bingo cards, the first bingo card being associated with the first input amount;
cause the first bingo card to be displayed at the first electronic gaming device according to the first bingo card status;
receive second input data associated with the player account and a second electronic gaming device, the second input data comprising a second input amount of the plurality of input amounts;
perform a second lookup in the at least one memory based upon the second input amount to determine a second bingo card status of the plurality of bingo card statuses, the second bingo card status corresponding to a second bingo card of the plurality of bingo cards, the second bingo card being associated with the second input amount; and
cause the second bingo card to be displayed at the second electronic gaming device according to the second bingo card status.
The underlined portions of claim 1 generally encompass the abstract idea. Such features, as underlined above, are substantially identical in independent claims 8 and 15. Dependent claims 2, 4-7, 9, 11-14, 16, and 18-20 further define the abstract idea by introducing further steps/rules for playing/executing a game. The abstract idea may be viewed, for example, as:
a method of organizing human activities (e.g., managing personal behavior including following rules); and/or
a mental process (e.g., concepts performed in the human mind including observation, evaluation, and judgment).
The claimed abstract idea reproduced above is effectively a process of rules/steps for displaying bingo cards in relation to input amount. The limitations about controlling a display, in response to the receipt of an input, and storing are, as drafted, processes that, under broadest reasonable interpretation, cover a method of organizing human activity and/or a mental process but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, other than reciting “at least one memory” and “at least one processor” nothing in the claim elements precludes the steps from being a method of organizing human activity and/or a mental process. A game operator monitoring a plurality of bingo cards and displaying/populating bingo cards based on an input amount is akin to managing personal behavior and/or a mental process. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers managing personal behavior and/or a mental process but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
Under Step 2A, prong two, the judicial exception, as outlined above, is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claims recite the additional elements – using a memory device, and a processor to perform rules/steps for displaying bingo cards in relation to input amount. The components in these steps are recited at a high-level of generality (e.g., as a generic processor, a display, and a button can perform the generic computer functions of receiving, executing, updating, and displaying information) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2B requires that if the claim encompasses a judicially recognized exception, it must be determined whether the claimed invention recites additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Claim 1 encompasses the following additional element(s) or combination of elements in the claim(s) other than the abstract idea per se: a memory device, and a processor. 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.
Additionally, the specification makes it clear that the method and system can be implemented on generic computers.
[0021] …The gaming devices 104A-104X may alternatively be portable and/or remote gaming devices such as, but not limited to, a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop, or a game console, although such devices may require specialized software and/or hardware to comply with regulatory requirements regarding devices used for wagering or games of chance in which monetary awards are provided.
As such, the display, memory and processor, for storing, lookup, and controlling a display, in response to the receipt of an input, may require no more than generic, conventional, and well-known computer devices such as a general purpose computer (as evidenced in Para. 21).
The dependent claims fail to add “significantly more” because they merely represent further use of generic computers for routine data-processing functions related to steps/rules for playing/executing the game (Claims 2, 4-7, 9, 11-14, 16, and 18-20).
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements of a display, memory and a processor to perform the game steps amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using well-known generic computer components. Mere instructions to apply an exception using the generic computer components cannot provide an inventive concept. The claim(s) is not patent eligible.
However, in light of the 2019 PEG, dependent claims 3, 10, are 17 appear to meet the requirements of §101 as the dependent claims, for example, include the limitation of display of an animation between at least one symbol position including the at least one symbol in a first display area and at least one bingo position of the first bingo card in a second display area to communicate that the at least one symbol is being added to the first bingo card based upon the at least one symbol being displayed at the at least one symbol position in the first display area, is a claim limitation outside the realm of abstract steps/rules of organizing human activity. Thus, dependent claims 3, 10, and 17 have not been rejected.
Prior Art
Claims 1-20 have not been rejected over prior art.
For instance, a thorough search of the prior art fails to disclose any reference or references, which, taken alone or in combination, teach or suggest, in combination with the other limitations:
“store bingo card data associated with a plurality of bingo cards and a player account in the at least one memory, wherein each bingo card of the plurality of bingo cards is associated with an input amount of a plurality of input amounts, and wherein the bingo card data comprises a plurality of bingo card statuses for the plurality of bingo cards, the plurality of bingo card statuses corresponding to a plurality of amounts of symbols accumulated on the plurality of bingo cards;
receive first input data associated with the player account and a first electronic gaming device, the first input data comprising a first input amount of the plurality of input amounts;
perform a first lookup in the at least one memory based upon the first input amount to determine a first bingo card status of the plurality of bingo card statuses, the first bingo card status corresponding to a first bingo card of the plurality of bingo cards, the first bingo card being associated with the first input amount;
cause the first bingo card to be displayed at the first electronic gaming device according to the first bingo card status;
receive second input data associated with the player account and a second electronic gaming device, the second input data comprising a second input amount of the plurality of input amounts;
perform a second lookup in the at least one memory based upon the second input amount to determine a second bingo card status of the plurality of bingo card statuses, the second bingo card status corresponding to a second bingo card of the plurality of bingo cards, the second bingo card being associated with the second input amount; and
cause the second bingo card to be displayed at the second electronic gaming device according to the second bingo card status” (substantially encompassed by independent claims 1, 8, and 15).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure and is listed on the attached Notice of References Cited.
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/CHASE E LEICHLITER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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