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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. Applicant should include element of manual and automatic training.
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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to mental steps without significantly more. As per step 1 examiner recognizes the claims are directed towards a gaming system or a method which causes a computer to perform the method steps and therefore step 1 is met. As per step 2A the claim(s) recite(s) “a game for simulating training of a training object, which is a game object to be a training target, the game system comprising a computer configured to: accept selection of an event object associated with an event for changing a parameter indicating a state of the training object; select either an automatic advancement mode or a manual advancement mode in accordance with an operation of a user; and automatically advance an action to be executed by the training object in the automatic advancement mode, and advance the action in accordance with the operation of the user in the manual advancement mode.” which is directed towards game rules for training of an object which includes selecting the object to be trained and to select either manual or automatic training which advance according to rules. The dependent claims further include additional rules on how the manual and automatic are carried out such as training plans, what is modified, and other features. Specifically this reads on a game wherein a character is trained and a user can select how to train them including an automated method which removes at least some decisions or a manual method wherein they make the decisions for training. Examiner recognizes this is directed towards a series of mental steps as indicated above since the claims are directed towards rules on how to play and includes the function of an RPG which is a game that can be carried out as a mental step. See classic RPG games such as Dungeons and Dragons for examples of wherein characters are trained, or leveled, up as the game progresses. Further the action of manual or automatic is the decision of whether or not to declare a training complete, such as automatically according to rules, or to carry out the entire training by the player which would involve carrying out a series of additional rules of the game. For example a player can declare a character has been trained in a skill or a player can perform a series of tasks to train the skill. Therefore these are mental steps that can be performed by a player. This includes the action of observing a state of the game and making a determination based on this including making choices on how to train and what character to train. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because remains directed towards rules for a game which are mental steps. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claims are directed towards playing of a game and does not involve a technical improvement. Skipping game steps via automation, as currently claimed, involve a change in how the game is played and not an improvement to the function of a machine.
As per step 2B the claims are directed towards a generic computing device and are commonly found in the gaming art related to electronic gaming machines and therefore are no more than a generic recitation of computer hardware elements including input and display elements and therefore does not provide a practical application that amounts to more than the identified abstract idea.
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 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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by "Lecture Guide | How to Instruct | Fire Emblem: Three Houses (FE3H)" by Fire Emblem: Three Houses (FE3H) Walkthrough Team (08/28/2020) (https://web.archive.org/web/20210119112515/https://game8.co/games/fire-emblem-three-houses/archives/291798)(hereinafter referred to as Fire Emblem).
As per claims 1 and 9-10, Fire Emblem teaches a game system, computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing a game program for a game system, and a control method for a game system (page 1, paragraph [0001] “Fire Emblem: Three Houses (FE3H) for the Nintendo Switch” see Nintendo switch which is a gaming system for playing of electronic games) that provides a game for simulating training of a training object (page 1, paragraph [0001] indicates the game includes elements of training students), which is a game object to be a training target (page 2, see figure which shows a virtual character for training), the game system comprising a computer (page 1, paragraph [0001] “Fire Emblem: Three Houses (FE3H) for the Nintendo Switch” see Nintendo switch which is a computing device for playing games) configured to: accept selection of an event object (Page 4, see Group tasks which is an event selected for characters) associated with an event for changing a parameter indicating a state of the training object (page 2, see Select a Unit to instruct which details selecting a character to train); select either an automatic advancement mode or a manual advancement mode in accordance with an operation of a user (page 2, paragraph [0002] “You can choose to instruct manually, letting you choose which students and which skills to train, as well set goals and assign group tasks. Alternatively, you can also choose to instruct automatically to automatically train your students based on their motivation levels and goals” player can choose between manual or automatic training); and automatically advance an action to be executed by the training object in the automatic advancement mode (Page 3, see Auto-Instruct Feature and Group tasks which is a mode which takes a player’s activity points to train a character and in which a group is assigned a weekly task and continues to automatically perform the assignment until changed), and advance the action in accordance with the operation of the user in the manual advancement mode (page 2, See Select a Unit to Instruct and Choose a skill to train wherein a player selects which skills to train in the manual section).
As per claim 2, Fire Emblem teaches a system wherein the computer advances the action to change the parameter and automatically decides the action corresponding to the selected event object in the automatic advancement mode (page 2, paragraph [0002] “you can also choose to instruct automatically to automatically train your students based on their motivation levels and goals” and Page 3, see Auto-Instruct Feature and Group tasks which is a mode which takes a player’s activity points to train a character based on selected goals in order to advance skills and in which a group is assigned a weekly task and continues to automatically perform the assignment until changed while advancing skills as per the listed table. Examiner recognizes that event object would include the group task.).
As per claim 3, Fire Emblem teaches a system wherein the computer advances the action to change the parameter and automatically decides the action based on a training policy input by the user in the automatic advancement mode (page 2, paragraph [0002] “you can also choose to instruct automatically to automatically train your students based on their motivation levels and goals”, Page 3, see Auto-Instruct Feature, and Page 4, See Setting Goals which combined teaches the automatic mode which takes a player’s activity points to train a character based on selected goals (see Page 4) in order to advance skills. Examiner recognizes that training policy would read on selecting of a goal since this sets a skill the player desires to see trained and which is used during the automatic function.).
As per claim 4, Fire Emblem teaches a system wherein the computer advances the action to change the parameter, decides occurrence of the event corresponding to the event object, and automatically advances the event in the automatic advancement mode (page 2, paragraph [0002] “you can also choose to instruct automatically to automatically train your students based on their motivation levels and goals” and Page 3, see Auto-Instruct Feature and Group tasks which is a mode which takes a player’s activity points to train a character based on selected goals in order to advance skills and in which a group is assigned a weekly task and continues to automatically perform the assignment until changed while advancing skills as per the listed table. Examiner recognizes that event object would include the group task and which is set to occur weekly.).
As per claim 5, Fire Emblem teaches a system wherein, in the automatic advancement mode, the computer automatically advances the action by automatically executing a plurality of the actions which have been decided, or automatically advances the action by automatically acquiring change results of the parameter due to the plurality of the actions which have been decided (page 2, paragraph [0002] “You can choose to instruct manually, letting you choose which students and which skills to train, as well set goals and assign group tasks. Alternatively, you can also choose to instruct automatically to automatically train your students based on their motivation levels and goals” player can choose between manual or automatic training with automatic training automating the steps taken during manual training such as page 2, See Select a Unit to Instruct and Choose a skill to train wherein a player selects which skills to train in the manual section).
As per claim 6, Fire Emblem teaches a system wherein the computer automatically advances another event different from the event in the automatic advancement mode (page 4, See Suggesting Goals which occurs as an automatic function of time passing and involves an event wherein a character suggests a goal).
As per claim 7, Fire Emblem teaches a system wherein the computer reflects only a part of a result that is to be obtained in the manual advancement mode on a change in the parameter in the automatic advancement mode (page 3, See Passing and Failing which is information in the manual operation which would not be included in the automatic since the system handles the actual results of training).
As per claim 8, Fire Emblem teaches a system wherein the computer automatically decides the actions which differ according to a type or number of the selected event object in the automatic advancement mode (page 2, paragraph [0002] “you can also choose to instruct automatically to automatically train your students based on their motivation levels and goals” and Page 3, see Auto-Instruct Feature and Group tasks which is a mode which takes a player’s activity points to train a character based on selected goals in order to advance skills and in which a group is assigned a weekly task and continues to automatically perform the assignment until changed while advancing skills as per the listed table. Examiner recognizes that event object would include the group task and which is set to occur weekly.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lee (US Pub. No. 2020/0376379 A1) teaches a gaming system "Provided are a player character promotion method capable of promoting a player character in a second virtual space according to a promotion scenario determined or combined based on a selected team, a selected player character and/or a selected trainer character, among multiple promotion scenarios configured for each team, each player character and/or each trainer character" paragraph [0005].
Fujito (US Pub. No. 2008/0045285 A1) teaches a gaming system teaches a game involving breeding of characters wherein a training plan is included for training characters.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN L MYHR whose telephone number is (571)270-7847. The examiner can normally be reached 10AM-6PM.
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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 phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN L MYHR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715 7/28/2026
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