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 .
Status of Claims
In response to the Preliminary Amendment filed on November 5th, 2025, claim 1 has been cancelled. Claims 2-21 are newly added. Claims 2-21 are currently pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 2-5, 7-12, 14-19, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (game release date November 17, 2004; as shown by NPL documents “Sinking in swamp” and “Indirect Kill”, hereinafter referred to as MGS3).
Regarding claims 2, 9, and 16, MGS3 discloses an information processing method, comprising:
outputting for display a virtual scene of a virtual environment, the virtual scene including (i) a region in the virtual environment of a predefined type and (ii) a non-player character (see figure on pg. 2 and pg. 1, 1st par. which describes swamps in the game environment);
controlling a virtual character to move within the virtual scene based on a user input (see figure on pg. 2);
based on a determination that the non-player character enters the region of the predefined type in the virtual scene, decreasing a movement speed of the non-player character (see pg. 1, 1st par., “slowing movement”); and
removing the non-player character from the virtual scene based on a predefined elimination condition being met while the non-player character is in the region of the predefined type (see pg. 2, 1st par., “In Metal Gear Solid 3, certain swamp areas can cause Snake to gradually sink into the mud. If he remains there for too long, he is pulled beneath the surface and drowns”; also see pg. 2 of “Indirect Kill”, section titled Environmental Deaths, “Dropping or kicking their [enemies/NPCs] unconscious bodies into quicksand, water, or electric fences”).
Regarding claims 3, 10, and 17, MGS3 discloses controlling the non-player character to sink in the region of the predefined type (see pg. 2, 1st par., “In Metal Gear Solid 3, certain swamp areas can cause Snake to gradually sink into the mud”).
Regarding claims 4, 11, and 18, MGS3 discloses controlling the non-player character to sink in the region of the predefined based on a freeze action being performed on the non-player character by the virtual character (see pg. 2 of “Indirect Kill”, section titled Environmental Deaths, “Dropping or kicking their [enemies/NPCs] unconscious bodies into quicksand, water, or electric fences”; the player knocking enemies unconscious can be considered a freeze action since the enemy character is immobile (i.e. frozen)).
Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19, MGS3 discloses wherein the predefined elimination condition is a distance by which the non-player character sinks reaches a distance threshold (see pg. 2, 1st par., “In Metal Gear Solid 3, certain swamp areas can cause Snake to gradually sink into the mud. If he remains there for too long, he is pulled beneath the surface and drowns”).
Regarding claims 7, 14, and 21, MGS3 discloses based on a determination that the virtual character enters the region of the predefined type in the virtual scene, decreasing a movement speed of the virtual character (see pg. 1, 1st par., “slowing movement”).
Regarding claims 8 and 15, MGS3 discloses based on the virtual character being in the region of the predefined type and an amount of time that the virtual character has not been moved reaching a time threshold, controlling the virtual character to sink in the region of the predefined type (see pg. 2, 1st par., “In Metal Gear Solid 3, certain swamp areas can cause Snake to gradually sink into the mud. If he remains there for too long, he is pulled beneath the surface and drowns”; not moving the character could simply mean the player does not attempt to leave the mud and the time threshold could start at zero).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 6, 13, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (as shown by NPL documents “Sinking in swamp” and “Indirect Kill”, hereinafter referred to as MGS3) in view of Donkey Kong 64 (as shown by NPL document “Quicksand”, hereinafter referred to as DK64).
Regarding claims 6, 13, and 20, MGS3 discloses the method as discussed above. However, MGS3 does not explicitly disclose controlling a state value of the non-player character to decrease while the non-player character is in the region of the predefined type, wherein the predefined elimination condition is the state value of the non-player character reaches a health point threshold.
DK64 teaches a game mechanic where a character’s health can decrease while in a particular region and is eliminated when reaching a health point threshold (see pg. 4, section titled Donkey Kong 64, “Any Kong that falls in quicksand loses one health point and continues to lose health as they walk or stand in it”; the character would be eliminated upon losing all of their health). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the method of MGS3 with the health penalty as taught by DK64 as this is merely combining prior art elements (different consequences for encountering hazardous areas) according to known methods to yield predictable results (the character is penalized for being in the hazardous area).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
NPL document “Deadly quicksand”- teaches a region where the character sinks and dies
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/ALLEN CHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715 10/9/2026
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