Detailed Action
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) A person shall be entitled to a patent unless—
(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
Claims 1, 5, 12, 16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li (CN 113332717 A).
Regarding claim 1, Li discloses an item selection method in a virtual environment performed by a computer device (Abstract) comprising displaying a virtual object in the virtual environment and in response to a first item selection operation of the virtual object, displaying an item recommendation scheme for the virtual object under a first scheme label (Abstract: responding to the selection operation of the first device, displaying a plurality of role models of the second virtual role and a first target role model of the first virtual role assembling the first device on the graphical user interface), the item recommendation scheme comprising a plurality of candidate recommendation schemes (Abstract), at least one of the candidate recommendation schemes comprising a strategy view control, the strategy view control being linked to a player community (p. 2: updating the game data of the team where the first virtual role is located according to the first equipment and displaying the updated game data in the graphical user interface), and in response to a selection operation performed on the strategy view control of a target recommendation scheme (claims 5-8), displaying a scheme strategy of the target recommendation scheme in the player community, the target recommendation scheme being any candidate recommendation scheme in the item recommendation scheme that comprises the strategy view control (p. 12: other users belonging to a team can provide suggestions for the user whether to purchase the first equipment based on the displayed game data, improving the communication efficiency and social demand of the user adjusting equipment process … other users can also purchase the equipment needed by themselves based on the displayed game data, improving the rationality of equipment selection).
Regarding claims 5 and 16, Li discloses in response to a second item selection operation of the virtual object, displaying a selected target item of the virtual object and prompt information corresponding to the target item, the prompt information being configured for indicating a usage strategy of the target item (p. 12: when the user of the first virtual character recommending the second device to the target second virtual role, can update the target second virtual role (the first virtual role) of the game data according to the second device and displaying the updated game data in the graphical user interface of the terminal device corresponding to the first virtual role and the graphical user interface of the terminal device corresponding to the target second virtual role).
Claims 12 and 20 subsume the limitations of claim 1 above and are rejected for the same reasons given supra. Further regarding claims 12 and 20, Li discloses a computer device, comprising a processor, a memory and non-transitory storage device, the memory and storage device having computer programs stored therein (claims 10 and 11).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 6-11, 13-15 and 17-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and not relied upon is made of record on the attached PTO-892 form.
Xu et al (US 20240424399 A1) discloses an equipment configuration method.
Todasco et al (US 20240004456 A1) discloses automated avatar configuration.
Morel et al (US 20240004456 A1) discloses game character equipping and presentation.
LuVogt et al (US 20130290905 A1) discloses avatars with personalized content recommendations.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVE ROWLAND whose telephone number is (469) 295-9129. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 10-8. 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 number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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.
Applicant may choose, at his or her discretion, to correspond with Examiner via Internet e-mail. A paper copy of any and all email correspondence will be placed in the appropriate patent application file. Email communication must be authorized in advance. Without a written authorization by applicant in place, the USPTO will not respond via e-mail to any correspondence which contains information subject to the confidentiality requirement as set forth in 35 U.S.C. 122.
Authorization may be perfected by submitting, on a separate paper, the following (or similar) disclaimer:
PNG
media_image1.png
18
19
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Recognizing that Internet communications are not secure, I hereby authorize the USPTO to communicate with me concerning any subject matter of this application by electronic mail. I understand that a copy of these communications will be made of record in the application file.
PNG
media_image1.png
18
19
media_image1.png
Greyscale
See MPEP 502.03 for more information.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/STEVE ROWLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
Prosecution Insights