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 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) 1-4 and 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Left 4 Dead (game released on November 18, 2008; as shown by NPL “The Director – Left 4 Dead Wiki”, hereinafter referred to as Director).
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Director discloses a method performed by a computing device including one or more processors, the method comprising:
determining a generation probability for one or more random objects to be placed on a field based on a game progress situation within the field where game play of a plurality of users is performed (see pg. 1, 2nd par., “Instead of set spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies in varying positions and numbers based upon each player's current situation, status, skill, and location, creating a new experience for each play-through”; also see pgs. 2-5, sections Enemy Spawning and Item Spawning, which discusses various characters and items that will appear in the field/environment depending on game progress; thus probabilities are adjusted based on whether the game is too easy to too difficult); and
generating the one or more random objects on the field based on the generation probability (see pg. 1, 2nd par., “Instead of set spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies in varying positions and numbers based upon each player's current situation, status, skill, and location, creating a new experience for each play-through”).
Regarding claims 2 and 9, Director discloses wherein the one or more random objects include an object for which at least one of generation time, generation location, and whether-or-not-to-generate is determined based on the game progress situation (see pg. 1, 2nd par., “Instead of set spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies in varying positions and numbers based upon each player's current situation, status, skill, and location, creating a new experience for each play-through”).
Regarding claims 3 and 10, Director discloses wherein the game progress situation includes at least one of a position of a game character of each of the plurality of users within the field, a movement path of the game character of each of the plurality of users, a movement amount of the game character of each of the plurality of users, a physical strength of the game character of each of the plurality of users, a number of remaining game characters among game characters of each of the plurality of users, and a remaining time until the end of the game (see pg. 1, 2nd par., “Instead of set spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies in varying positions and numbers based upon each player's current situation, status, skill, and location, creating a new experience for each play-through”; also see pg. 3, 3rd par., “Special Infected spawn in different types of locations, depending on their type. For example, Boomers are spawned ahead of the Survivors, while Smokers try to find an area above the Survivors.”; also see pg. 4, 5th par. through pg. 5, 1st par., “The Director is still capable of changing items based on the team's performance; for example, if they are low on health, it may spawn health kits nearby at the pre-placed spawn points.”…” The sole exception is Pain Pills, where the Director will put them in first aid cabinets. The Director will change this to either Medkits (if survivors are on low health, but not in black and white) or Defibrillators if someone is about to die, especially on Advanced or lower difficulty.”).
Regarding claims 4 and 11, Director discloses wherein the determining comprises determining the generation probability for each area within the field based on the location of the game character of each of the plurality of users within the field (see pg. 1, 2nd par., “Instead of set spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies in varying positions and numbers based upon each player's current situation, status, skill, and location, creating a new experience for each play-through”).
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.
Claim(s) 5, 6, 12, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Left 4 Dead (game released on November 18, 2008; as shown by NPL “The Director – Left 4 Dead Wiki”, hereinafter referred to as Director) in view of Lord et al. (US 9,120,018 B2).
Regarding claims 5 and 12, Director discloses the method as discussed above. However, Director does not explicitly disclose wherein the determining further comprises determining the generation probability so that an area with a higher density of game characters for each of the plurality of users within the field has a higher generation probability.
Lord teaches a system for creating encounters in a computer game including determining the generation probability so that an area with a higher density of game characters for each of the plurality of users within the field has a higher generation probability (see col. 6, lines 4-18, The encounter system works by in part monitoring the player character population in the zone, as well as the population of spawned encounters. The population data is then employed to trigger encounters, as is described in greater detail below. Special varieties of encounters may also be spawned, such as “rare” encounters as well as encounters that are added as needed for in-game or world events; also see col. 7, lines 29-32, If the calculation of population and encounter density or numbers determines that an encounter is appropriate, an encounter may be selected using the encounter selection module 73 and subsequently spawned (step 78)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the method of Director with the character density calculations of Lord so that users may find new content even in zones they have previously explored, thus maintaining interest in the area and also to trigger encounters in ways that keep the zone from appearing too static or too random (see Lord, col. 6, lines 8-12).
Regarding claims 6 and 13, Director discloses the method as discussed above. However, Director does not explicitly disclose wherein the determining further comprises determining the generation probability so that an area where the game character of each of the plurality of users stays for a longer time has a higher generation probability.
Lord teaches a system for creating encounters in a computer game including determining the generation probability so that an area where the game character of each of the plurality of users stays for a longer time has a higher generation probability (see col. 6, lines 54-56, The last two factors may be employed to determine the “dwell time” for a player character; also see col. 7, lines 56-61, Rare encounters may appear in one or more zones, and may include appearances from particular predetermined non-player characters or other such significant scenarios. They may offer special gameplay and rewards, and such scenarios encourage players to visit different areas frequently; thus, the system determines how long a player stays in an area/zone and uses different techniques to encourage movement in the game). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the method of Director with the time calculations of Lord in order to trigger encounters in ways that keep the zone from appearing too static or too random and also to encourage players to visit different areas frequently (see Lord, col. 6, lines 8-12 and col. 7, lines 56-61).
Claim(s) 7 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Left 4 Dead (game released on November 18, 2008; as shown by NPL “The Director – Left 4 Dead Wiki”, hereinafter referred to as Director) in view of Teo Ron Han (US 11,964,206 B2).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Director discloses the method as discussed above and also discloses wherein the field includes a safe zone and a danger zone (see pg. 6, 6th, par. “Upon leaving the safe zone, the Director enters Build Up mode. In this mode, Commons and Specials will spawn normally, and Mobs will appear regularly.”; hence outside of the safe zone, the player will be vulnerable to attacks from enemies). However, Director does not explicitly disclose the safe zone is updated at each preset area update cycle, such that some areas within an existing safe zone are set as a new safe zone each time the area update cycle starts, and remaining areas within the existing safe zone, excluding the new safe zone, are changed to the danger zone each time the area update cycle ends, and some areas of the danger zone are randomly generated within the existing safe zone or the new safe zone regardless of the area update cycle.
Teo Ron Han teaches a method for shrinking an area in battle royale games where the safe zone is updated at each preset area update cycle, such that some areas within an existing safe zone are set as a new safe zone each time the area update cycle starts, and remaining areas within the existing safe zone, excluding the new safe zone, are changed to the danger zone each time the area update cycle ends, and some areas of the danger zone are randomly generated within the existing safe zone or the new safe zone regardless of the area update cycle (see figs. 2a-2f and col. 13, lines 34-38, Referring to FIG. 2 b , a first shrink operation is performed after the predetermined time period (e.g., 2 minutes) elapses from the start of the match. For example, the first shrink operation is performed to gradually shrink the playing area from the starting size (not shown) to a first reduced-size 231; also see col. 7, lines 52-55, For example, the first reduced-size playing area is smaller than the game environment and encompasses a randomly-selected portion of the game environment). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the method of Director with the shrinking safe zone of Teo Ron Han in order to facilitate engagements between players as the game progresses (see Teo Ron Han, col. 1, lines 58-65).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hur (US 2023/0146565 A1; teaches spawning items in a battle royale game)
Stanley et al. (US 2010/0323775 A1; teaches spawning content into a game world based on a probability)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLEN CHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5529. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 11:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST.
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/ALLEN CHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715 7/25/2026
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