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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 1, "comprising;" should read "comprising:". Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6-8 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blumenstock et al. (US 2009/0315257), hereafter referred to as Blumenstock, in view of Brennan et al. (US 5,906,369), hereafter referred to as Brennan, and Koeppel (US 2020/0184295).
Regarding claim 1, Blumenstock discloses a game (Title), comprising:
a plurality of game cards (Figures 5a-5f, elements 51-55), wherein each of said plurality of game cards includes an identifier (Figures 5a-5f, elements 58, 59, 87, and 88) that can be used to electronically identify a game card from said plurality of game cards (“use of RFID technology allows the game to read "enabled" cards”, Paragraph [0036]);
a game board (Figure 2, element 1) defining spaces to hold at least some of said plurality of game cards (“Player Card Home areas”, Figure 2, elements 5, 6, 7, and 8), wherein said game board contains a reader for reading said identifier on said at least some of said plurality of game cards (“reader”, Figure 2, element 10), a memory for holding audio files (Figure 2, element 12, Paragraph [0030]), and a speaker for broadcasting said audio files (Figure 2, element 14, Paragraph [0027]), wherein one of said audio files is assigned to each said game card in said plurality of game cards (“Preferably, the machine-readable coding in the card is in the form of a unique serial number (S/N), which is indexed by the Look Up Table to correspond to a specific selection of music or audio clip in the LUT memory”, Paragraph [0035]), and
wherein said game board plays one of said audio files assigned to one of said plurality of game cards each time one of said game cards is waved near or swiped by the reader (Figure 2, element 10; paragraph [0036]).
Blumenstock does not disclose a plurality of game cards that includes matched sets of game cards, and wherein said identifier for each of said matched sets of game cards is the same. Furthermore, Brennan teaches a matching game that includes a plurality of game pieces that includes two matching baby farm animals (Figure 1, element 28) for each of the mother farm animals, wherein the pieces have the same identifier (“projections”, Figure 7, elements 74A-74D). Brennan reveals that it is known in the art of matching games to provide a matched set of game pieces wherein the identifier for each of the mated sets of game pieces is the same to facilitate the game pieces triggering the same audio play back when placed on the base. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the game of Blumenstock to incorporate the teachings of Brennan to provide matched sets of game cards, wherein the identifier for each of said matched sets of game cards is the same to facilitate the matching game cards trigger the same audio playback.
Blumenstock in view of Brennan also does not disclose a game board that plays one of said audio files assigned to one of said plurality of game cards each time one of said game cards is removed from said game board. Furthermore, Koeppel teaches a charging device that plays an audio file (“audible alarm”, claim 3, line 2) after determining that a transaction card has been removed from a charging slot. Koeppel reveals that it is known in the art of electronically identifiable cards to provide a method to play an audio file when a card is a removed, to signify to a user that charging has ceased. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the game of Blumenstock in view of Brennan to incorporate the teachings of Koeppel to provide a game board that plays one of said audio files assigned to one of said plurality of game cards each time one of said game cards is removed from said game board to allow a player to listen to a predetermined sound when a card is removed.
Regarding claim 2, Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel teaches the game according to claim 1, and Brennan further teaches a game wherein said audio files for each of said matched sets of game cards is the same (“the baby pig projections are arranged in a like formation to that of the mother pig…that the arrangement of projections and switches is operative for generating the matching sound.”, col. 6, lines 1-16). Brennan reveals that it is known in the art of matching games to provide a matched set of game pieces wherein said audio files for each of said matched sets of game cards is the same to facilitate the game pieces triggering the same audio play back when placed on the base. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the game of Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel to incorporate the teachings of Brennan to provide matched sets of game cards, wherein said audio files for each of said matched sets of game cards is the same to facilitate the matching game cards trigger the same audio playback.
Regarding claim 3, Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel teaches the game according to claim 1, and Blumenstock further discloses a game board that contains circuitry for operating said reader and playing said audio files (“circuitry”, Paragraph [0027]).
Regarding claim 6, Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel teaches the game according to claim 1, and Blumenstock further discloses an identifier that is a scan code (Figure 5b, element 59) printed onto each of said plurality of game cards and said reader is an optical scanner (“optical reader”, Paragraph [0037]) that reads said scan code.
Regarding claim 7, Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel teaches the game according to claim 1, and Blumenstock further discloses an identifier is an RFID chip (Figure 5a, element 58) and said reader is an RFID reader (“RFID reader”, Paragraph [0036]).
Regarding claim 8, Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel teaches the game according to claim 1, and Brennan further teaches a game wherein each of said audio files contain a sound of an animal (“five different sounds, corresponding to the five different types of animals”, col. 5, lines 55-56) or object and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that show said animal or object (Figure 12, element 36). Brennan reveals that it is known in the art of matching games to provide audio files that contain a sound of an animal and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that show said animal to allow a player to match the game pieces by sound. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the game cards of Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel to incorporate the teachings of Brennan to provide audio files that contain a sound of an animal and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that show said animal to allow a player to match the game cards by sound.
Regarding claim 10, Blumenstock discloses a method of playing a game, comprising:
providing a plurality of game cards (Figures 5a-5f, elements 51-55), wherein each of said plurality of game cards includes an identifier (Figures 5a-5f, elements 58, 59, 87, and 88) that can be used to electronically identify a game card from said plurality of game cards (“use of RFID technology allows the game to read "enabled" cards”, Paragraph [0036]);
providing a game board Figure 2, element 1) with spaces to hold at least some of said plurality of game cards (“Player Card Home areas”, Figure 2, elements 5, 6, 7, and 8), wherein said game board contains a reader for reading said identifier on said at least some of said plurality of game cards(“reader”, Figure 2, element 10), an audio file associated with each of said plurality of game cards, and circuitry for playing audio files (“Preferably, the machine-readable coding in the card is in the form of a unique serial number (S/N), which is indexed by the Look Up Table to correspond to a specific selection of music or audio clip in the LUT memory”, Paragraph [0035]);
placing at least some of said plurality of game cards onto said spaces of said game board (“the game board (1) is prepared by placing the "Who, What, Where" Cards (8), "Listen" Cards (5), "Cue" Cards (7) and the "Soloist" or "Maestro" Cards (6) in their designated spaces on the board, Paragraph [0043]);
Blumenstock does not disclose a plurality of game cards that includes matched sets of game cards, and wherein said identifier for each of said matched sets of game cards is the same. Furthermore, Brennan teaches a matching game that includes a plurality of game pieces that includes two matching baby farm animals (Figure 1, element 28) for each of the mother farm animals, wherein the pieces have the same identifier (“projections”, Figure 7, elements 74A-74D). Brennan reveals that it is known in the art of matching games to provide a matched set of game pieces wherein the identifier for each of the mated sets of game pieces is the same to facilitate the game pieces triggering the same audio play back when placed on the base. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the game of Blumenstock to incorporate the teachings of Brennan to provide matched sets of game cards, wherein the identifier for each of said matched sets of game cards is the same to facilitate the matching game cards trigger the same audio playback.
Also, Blumenstock does not disclose selecting a first of said game cards from said spaces on said game board, wherein said reader reads said identifier of said first of said game cards and said audio file associated with said first of said game cards is played; selecting a second of said game cards from said spaces on said game board, wherein said reader reads said identifier of said second of said game cards and said audio file associated with said second of said game cards is played; removing said first of said game cards and said second of said game cards if said audio file associated with said first of said game cards matches said audio file associated with said second of said game cards.
Furthermore, Brennan teaches a method of selecting a first game piece, wherein the reader reads said identifier of said first game piece and said audio file associated with said first game piece is played (“selecting and placing one of the primary game pieces, i.e. mother farm animals, into a receptacle on the base assembly wherein the base assembly generates a first sound corresponding to the respective mother farm animal”, Abstract); then selecting a second game piece, wherein said reader reads said identifier of said second game piece and plays said audio file associated with said game piece (“selecting one of the concealed secondary game pieces, i.e. baby farm animals, and placing the baby farm animal game piece into a receptacle on the base assembly wherein the base assembly generates a sound corresponding to the baby farm animal”, Abstract), removing said first of said game pieces and said second of said game pieces if said audio file associated with said first of said game cards matches said audio file associated with said second of said game cards (“The object of the game is to match the concealed baby animals to the mother animal by matching the sounds of each of the game pieces”, Abstract). Brennan reveals that it is known in the art of matching games to provide a method of selecting matched game pieces by selecting a first game piece, wherein the reader reads the identifier of said first game piece and said audio file associated with said first game piece is played, then selecting a second game piece, wherein the reader reads the identifier of said second game piece and said audio file associated with said second game piece is played, then finally if the first audio file played matches the second audio file played, the first and second game pieces are removed to facilitate a matching game based on sound. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the game of Blumenstock in view of Brennan to incorporate the teachings of Brennan to provide a method of selecting matched game cards by selecting a first game card, wherein the reader reads the identifier of said first game card and said audio file associated with said first game card is played, then selecting a second game card, wherein the reader reads the identifier of said second game card and said audio file associated with said second game card is played, then finally if the first audio file played matches the second audio file played, the first and second game cards are removed to facilitate a matching game based on sound.
Blumenstock in view of Brennan also does not disclose a game board that plays one of said audio files assigned to one of said plurality of game cards each time one of said game cards is removed from said game board. Furthermore, Koeppel teaches a charging device that plays an audio file (“audible alarm”, claim 3, line 2) after determining that a transaction card has been removed from a charging slot. Koeppel reveals that it is known in the art of electronically identifiable cards to provide a method to play an audio file when a card is a removed, to signify to a user that charging has ceased. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the game of Blumenstock in view of Brennan to incorporate the teachings of Koeppel to provide a game board that plays one of said audio files assigned to one of said plurality of game cards each time one of said game cards is removed from said game board to allow a player to listen to a predetermined sound when a card is removed.
Regarding claim 11, Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel teaches the method according to claim 10, and Brennan further teaches a method wherein each of said audio files contain a sound of an animal (“five different sounds, corresponding to the five different types of animals”, col. 5, lines 55-56) or object and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that show said animal or object (Figure 12, element 36). Brennan reveals that it is known in the art of matching games to provide audio files that contain a sound of an animal and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that show said animal to allow a player to match the game pieces by sound. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the method of Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel to incorporate the teachings of Brennan to provide audio files that contain a sound of an animal and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that show said animal to allow a player to match the game cards by sound.
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blumenstock (US 2009/0315257), in view of Brennan (US 5,906,369), and Koeppel (US 2020/0184295) as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Nelson et al. (US 9,770,648), hereafter referred to as Nelson.
Regarding claim 4, Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel teaches the game according to claim 3, but does not teach a game wherein said games cards placed on said game board electrically interconnect with said circuitry within said game board. Furthermore, Nelson teaches a game wherein the game pieces placed on the game board electrically interconnect (“When the electrical circuit formed by the game pieces is completed, an induced current flow is experienced by the electrical circuit.”, col. 7, lines 20-22) with the circuity with the game board (“An electrical control circuit is included in the game board beneath the planar surface.”, col 7, lines 16-18). Nelson reveals that it is known in the art of electronic games to provide game pieces that electrically interconnect with the circuitry within a game board to create an interesting and engaging puzzle game. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the game cards of Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel to incorporate the teachings of Brennan to provide game cards that electrically interconnect with the circuitry within a game board to create an interesting and engaging puzzle game.
Regarding claim 5, Blumenstock in view of Brennan, Koeppel and Nelson teaches the game according to claim 4, and Blumenstock further discloses circuity that sends an electrical signal through said identifier in said game card to identify said game card (“receives radio frequency (RF) energy from the RFID reader”, paragraph [0036]).
Claim(s) 9 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blumenstock (US 2009/0315257), in view of Brennan (US 5,906,369), and Koeppel (US 2020/0184295) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Garrett (US 2013/0277915).
Regarding claim 9, Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel teaches the game according to claim 1, but does not teach a game wherein each of said audio files is the pronunciation of a word and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that illustrate said word. Furthermore, Garrett teaches a game wherein each of said audio files is the pronunciation of a word (“audio pronunciation”, Paragraph [0014]) and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that illustrate said word (Figure 2, element 215, 220). Garrett reveals that it is known in the art of card games to provide audio files for the pronunciation of a word and corresponding game cards containing graphics that illustrate said word to facilitate the learning of foreign languages through gameplay. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the game cards of Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel to incorporate the teachings of Garrett to provide audio files for the pronunciation of a word and corresponding game cards containing graphics that illustrate said word to facilitate the learning of foreign languages through gameplay.
Regarding claim 12, Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel teaches the method according to claim 1, but does not teach a method wherein each of said audio files is the pronunciation of a word and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that illustrate said word. Furthermore, Garrett teaches a method wherein each of said audio files is the pronunciation of a word (“audio pronunciation”, Paragraph [0014]) and each of said plurality of game cards contains graphics that illustrate said word (Figure 2, element 215, 220). Garrett reveals that it is known in the art of card games to provide audio files for the pronunciation of a word and corresponding game cards containing graphics that illustrate said word to facilitate the learning of foreign languages through gameplay. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to modify the method of Blumenstock in view of Brennan and Koeppel to incorporate the teachings of Garrett to provide audio files for the pronunciation of a word and corresponding game cards containing graphics that illustrate said word to facilitate the learning of foreign languages through gameplay.
Conclusion
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/K.G.Y./Examiner, Art Unit 3711
/NICHOLAS J. WEISS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3711
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