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 § 102
2. 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.
(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.
3. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102 (a1)(a2) as being anticipated by U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0083331 to Carpenter.
In Reference to Claims 1 and 12
Carpenter discloses a live streaming platform server (Fig. 1 control center server 101 controlling one or more banks of gaming machines 103 [0060]), comprising:
a processor (server 101 [0060] implements a tournament controller [0060]); and
a memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the processor following an occurrence of a community game triggering event (the server implements programming that occur at one of more selected times during any period of time [0064], the program code stored in memory [0083[), cause the processor to:
enable a plurality of selected users at a plurality of devices to each to participate in a community game (tournament game [0060]; two or more a players may qualify {be selected} for live stream tournament play [0226] at their respective gaming machines 103 of Fig. 28),
responsive to a receipt of first data associated with the community game, cause a client device to display a live stream comprising at least the community game (“During tournament play, the tournament controller communicates with the various gaming machines 103 participating in the tournament, maintains information on the conduct of the tournament, such as real-time standings and scores, and makes tournament information available to the gaming machines 103” [0060], the first data being at least the live stream tournament game being played as in Fig. 28 on primary display 115 [0217]), and
allocate, based on second data associated with the community game, at least a portion of the displayed live stream to comprise content captured of a designated user of the plurality of users selected to participate in the community game (Fig. 28 live stream of tournament on primary display 115 [0217], also shows second data of John Doe 1 in the standings on a portion of client display 113 as well as a live feed of a designated player in portion of display at 2804. It is noted that the “content captured of a designated user” is non-functional descriptive matter as the content captured has no functional relationship to the substrate i.e., the game structure or operations of the balance of the claimed limitations. Nonetheless, Carpenter discloses a designated player in the form of that John Doe 1 is named; associated with an image shown; and is an eligible selected player ([0217, 0240]).
In Reference to Claim 10
Carpenter discloses a live streaming platform server (Fig. 1 control center server 101 controlling one or more banks of gaming machines 103 [0060]), comprising:
a processor (server 101 [0060] implements a tournament controller [0060]); and
a memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the processor following an occurrence of a community game triggering event (the server implements programming that occur at one of more selected times during any period of time [0064], the program code stored in memory [0083[), cause the processor to:
enable a plurality of selected users at a plurality of devices to each to participate in a community game (tournament game [0060]; two or more a players may qualify {be selected} for live stream tournament play [0226] at their respective gaming machines 103 of Fig. 28),
during a first period of time, responsive to a receipt of first data associated with the community game, cause a client device to display a live stream comprising a first portion of the community game and captured audio/video data of a first subset of the selected users (“During tournament play, the tournament controller communicates with the various gaming machines 103 participating in the tournament, maintains information on the conduct of the tournament, such as real-time standings and scores, and makes tournament information available to the gaming machines 103” [0060] where “during a first period of time” would be one instance of the tournament that occurs over a day, week, or month [0064]; the “first data” being at least the live stream tournament game itself being played as in Fig. 28 on primary display 115 [0217]; causes the game machine 103 in Fig. 28 to show a portion of the live stream tournament game on display 115 and captured image of a player John Doe 1 who is a subset of the players on the leader board on display 113 where “audio/video” data is construed as audio data, video data, or both audio and video data), and
during a second, different period of time, responsive to a receipt of second data associated with the community game, cause the client device to display the live stream comprising a second, different portion of the community game and captured audio/video data of a second, different subset of the selected users (Carpenter discloses in Fig. 40 and associated text that at the end of the tournament the image of the winner is streamed to all gaming machines where “one or more winners may be identified based on the accumulated totals obtained during a predetermined period of time, which may correspond to a programmed or manually initiated definitive start and stop time or a predetermined number of plays.” [0065], and “At the completion of the tournament event, a celebratory event may be displayed on overhead 111 to name the winner and present fanfare. The celebratory event may be displayed on one or more of displays 113, for example at the winner’s gaming machine 103.” [0092]. See also Fig. 40 where ”FIG. 40 shows the display 115 of gaming machine 103 divided to show a game in area 4007 and also a player dashboard 4003 similar to player dashboard 2803 described above in connection with FIG. 28. In particular, player dashboard 4003 includes a video feed area 4004 for showing a player video feed, an area 4005 for showing a player score, and an area 4006 for showing player rank. As discussed in connection with player dashboard 2803 above, the rank and score may be those for the player at the particular gaming machine 103, while the player video may switch between a number of players in the tournament, and in some cases just the top-ranked players for the ongoing tournament. The video shown at area 4004 may also be switched to the winning player upon completion of the given tournament.” [0287]. It is noted that “audio/vide data of a second, different subset of the selected users” is non-functional descriptive matter as the content captured has no functional relationship to the substrate i.e., the game structure or operations of the balance of the claimed limitations. Nonetheless, Carpenter discloses a designated winning player in the form of that John Doe 2 is named; associated with an image shown; and is at the top of the leaderboard and designated the winner Fig. 28, [0217, 0287]).
In Reference to Claims 2 and 13
Carpenter discloses a winner ([0287]).
In Reference to Claims 3-4 and 14-15
Carpenter discloses rankings and designated users each having a ranking above a
threshold ranking (Fig. 28 leader board showing top five players [0065]).
In Reference to Claims 5-7 and 16-18
The claims are deemed to be non-functional descriptive matter falling under the printed matter exception as the content that is a portion of the live stream displayed has no functional relationship to the claimed steps. There is no difference in the operation or performance or new qualities imparted as a result of any particular content. Nonetheless, Carpenter discloses video stream 2804 of a designated player [0217], chat data from the system of a message [0245], and independent of the user’s device, for example, showing a winner who is not the user [0287], see also announcements of emcee [0245]).
In Reference to Claims 8 and 19
Carpenter transitions to the screen of Fig. 28 when a player elects to participate in the tournament and switches back to a full screen when not in tournament mode (Fig. 4 [0065, 0217, 0225, 0240-0245], the tournament for a predetermined period of time [0064, 0091, 0274]).
In Reference to Claims 9 and 20
Carpenter disables capturing of content of any non-designated user of the plurality of users selected to participate in the community game (first because the player is not participating in the tournament and does not switch to the dash board of Fig. 28, second because a player may opt for anonymity while playing [0065]).
In Reference to Claim 11
Carpenter discloses wherein during the first period of time, the captured audio/video data of the first subset of the selected users of the live stream is scaled based on a ranking of each of the selected users of the first subset of the selected users where “In particular, the video feed received from the cameras 401 may be scaled down in resolution and formatted properly to be displayed in area 4004 of the respective gaming machine display 115” [0288] which includes only showing the top five players in the leader board [0065, 0086]).
Conclusion
4. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is in the Notice of References Cited.
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Paul A. D’Agostino whose telephone number is (571) 270-1992.
6. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
7. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kang Hu can be reached on (571) 270-1344. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-2992.
/PAUL A D'AGOSTINO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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