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 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) 1-5.9-13 and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tilston (US 2007/0218966).
Regarding claim 1, Tilston discloses virtual scene interaction method, performed by an electronic device (see fig. 1) and comprising:
outputting for display in a graphical user interface a virtual scene (see fig. 6 and para. 49-50, including the game Perfect Dark for N64), a skill selection control (para. 56, 62; wherein the user may toggle between weapons and also toggle between weapon modes), and a skill release control (para. 62; wherein a user pushes an input button), the virtual scene comprising a first virtual object (609, fig. 6), the skill release control being in a first display style (para. 62; e.g. shooting a selected weapon in the default/primary mode), and the first display style representing that the skill release control is currently associated with a first skill (para. 62, 56, 49);
switching the skill release control from the first display style to a second display style in response to a trigger operation for the skill selection control (para. 62, 56; shooting selected weapon in secondary mode), the second display style representing that the skill release control is currently associated with a second skill (para. 62, 56), the second skill comprising a plurality of types (para. 62, 56), and the skill selection control used for selecting one target type from the plurality of types (see targets 607a-c in fig. 6 and para. 62); and
controlling the first virtual object to release the second skill of the target type in response to a trigger operation for the skill release control (para. 62, 56).
Regarding claim 2, Tilston discloses wherein the skill selection control is in a disabled state by default (see default mode in para. 62), and the disabled state represents that the second skill is in an inactive state (para. 62; wherein default mode is selected), and the method further comprises:
switching, based on the trigger operation for the skill selection control, the skill selection control from the disabled state to an enabled state, the enabled state representing that the second skill is in an active state (para. 56, 62; wherein the user toggles the weapon from default/primary mode to secondary mode).
Regarding claim 3, Tilston discloses wherein:
the target type is a first type (see primary mode in para. 56, 62) selected by default from the plurality of types (see second mode or tertiary mode in para. 56),
a default display style of the skill selection control is a third display style (see fig. 6 and para. 56),
the third display style represents that the skill selection control is currently associated with the second skill of the first type (para. 56, 62), and
the first type comprises one of a type selected last time or a type selected for a largest quantity of times (para. 56, 62; wherein e.g. a pistol starts in default or primary mode).
Regarding claim 4, Tilston discloses wherein the target type is a second type manually selected by using the skill selection control (para. 56, 62), and the method further comprises:
outputting for display a plurality of types of second skills in response to a trigger operation for the skill selection control in the enabled state (para. 62, 56); and
switching the skill selection control to a fourth display style (fig. 6 and para. 56) based on a determination that the second type in the plurality of types is selected (para. 62, 56), the fourth display style representing that the skill selection control is currently associated with the second skill of the second type (para. 62, 56).
Regarding claim 5, Tilston discloses wherein a type of the trigger operation comprises a tap operation (para. 62), and wherein the controlling the first virtual object to release the second skill of the target type in response to a trigger operation for the skill release control comprises:
based on the tap operation for the skill release control (para. 62), controlling the first virtual object to release the second skill of the target type towards a first direction to drive a first virtual prop (e.g. a bullet) to autonomously move along the first direction (para. 56, 62) and to apply a corresponding effect to an object colliding with the first virtual prop (para. 69, 92, 55), the first direction being a current orientation of the first virtual object (para. 69, 92).
Regarding claim 9, Tilston discloses wherein the applying a corresponding effect to an object colliding with the first virtual prop comprises at least one of the following:
knocking down a collided second virtual object;
outputting for display a collision identifier on a collided third virtual object to increase a capture probability of the first virtual object for the third virtual object;
destroying a collided virtual object;
or activating a mechanism associated with a particular collided interactive object (para. 100, 117).
Regarding claim 10, Tilston discloses wherein the driving the first virtual prop to autonomously move along the first direction or the second direction further comprises:
driving the first virtual prop to bounce for a specified quantity of time when encountering a ground or an obstacle (see bouncing grenades in para. 59 and physics engine para. 52).
Regarding claim 11, Tilston discloses wherein after driving the first virtual prop to bounce for the specified quantity of times, the method further comprises:
canceling display of the first virtual prop in the virtual scene (para. 80); or
controlling the first virtual prop to explode to destroy a virtual object colliding with the first virtual prop (para. 80, 94).
Regarding claim 12, Tilston discloses wherein the driving the first virtual prop to bounce when encountering a ground or an obstacle comprises:
limiting movement of the first virtual prop to a plane with the bounce direction being a forward direction or a backward direction along the plane (para. 59, 52),
the plane being a plane formed by a throwing direction and an anti-gravity direction of the first virtual prop (para. 59, 52, 94);
determining an elevation angle and a speed of bouncing of the first virtual prop (para. 52, 59), the elevation angle and the speed being positively correlated to a charge level (para. 56, 59-61; wherein different types of weapons have different charge levels, e.g. sniper rifle versus a shotgun); and
driving the first virtual prop to bounce according to the bounce direction, the elevation angle, and the speed (para. 52, 59, 94).
Regarding claim 13, Tilston discloses wherein driving the first virtual prop to bounce comprises:
multiplying displacement of the first virtual prop in each frame by a specified adjustment coefficient so that a height of the first virtual prop during each bounce is the same (para. 52; wherein the physics engine is used to determine each bounce); or
attenuating a flight speed of the first virtual prop in each frame based on a deceleration coefficient that conforms to a motion law (para. 52; wherein a physics engine is used).
Claims 15-18 are rejected for the same reasons as stated for claims 1-4, respectively. See above rejections.
Claims 19-20 are rejected for the same reasons as stated for claims 1-2, respectively. See above rejections.
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.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tilston in view of Borodovsky (US 2015/0258441), hereinafter referred to as “Boro”.
Regarding claim 6, Tilston fails to disclose a virtual joystick.
Boro discloses wherein a type of the trigger operation comprises a press operation (para. 72), and the controlling the first virtual object to release the second skill of the target type in response to a trigger operation for the skill release control comprises:
switching, based on the press operation for the skill release control (para. 72), the virtual scene to a magnification mode (see sniper mode in para. 72) in a period in which the press operation is not released (para. 72);
outputting for display a virtual joystick (see 630 in fig. 8) and a crosshair (620 and 622 in fig. 6) corresponding to an orientation of the first virtual object (para. 58);
controlling, based on a shake operation for the virtual joystick, the crosshair to synchronously rotate (para. 58; wherein e.g. the user’s view and corresponding crosshair rotates right or left); and
based on the press operation being released (para. 72), controlling the first virtual object to release the second skill of the target type towards a second direction to drive a first virtual prop to autonomously move along the second direction (para. 58, 72), and to apply a corresponding effect to an object colliding with the first virtual prop (para. 57, 59), the second direction being a direction corresponding to the crosshair after the rotation (para. 58, 72).
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of Boro in the device of Tilston. The motivation for doing so would have been to have a sniper mode for hitting targets more accurately, wherein the targets are located at far away distances (Boro; para. 72). Further wherein using a scope on sniper rifle in a FPS is conventional.
Claim(s) 7 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tilston in view of Boro in further view of McMain (US 2015/0273331).
Regarding claim 7, Tilston fails to disclose charging weapons.
McMain discloses wherein based on the press operation for the skill release control, the method further comprises:
controlling the second skill of the target type to enter a charge state (para. 47), wherein at least one of prominence of the first virtual prop or an influence range of the first virtual prop increases as a charge level increases (para. 47), the charge level being positively correlated to a duration of the press operation (para. 47, 40); and controlling, based on the press operation being released, the second skill of the target type to exit the charge state (para. 47; wherein e.g. a critical hit/shot is triggered through charging the weapon).
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of McMain in the device of Tilston. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide the user with the ability to have a charge weapon for power shots to be used on the enemy (McCain; para. 47). Further wherein charge weapons are conventional in FPSs.
Regarding claim 14, Tilston discloses wherein: the type of the trigger operation comprises a tap operation (para. 62), and
the controlling the first virtual object to release the second skill of the target type in response to a trigger operation for the skill release control comprises:
controlling, based on the tap operation for the skill release control, the first virtual object to release the second skill of the target type at a first location (para. 62, 56).
Tilston fails to disclose a virtual wind field in determining e.g. a bullet trajectory.
McMain discloses to create a virtual wind field at the first location (para. 34; see simulated wind), and apply a corresponding effect to an object entering the virtual wind field, the first location being a location of the first virtual object (para. 34-35; wherein the probability of destruction/hit is affected by the simulated wind).
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of McMain in the device of Tilston. The motivation for doing so would have been to create a more realistic game by incorporating simulated wind into bullet trajectories (McMain; para. 34).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tilston in view of Boro in view of McMain in further view of Weaver (US 2022/0076532).
Regarding claim 8, Tilston fails to disclose a status bar.
Weaver discloses wherein the controlling the second skill of the target type to enter a charge state comprises:
outputting for display a status progress control (3220 in fig. 32) in the graphical user interface (para. 32), wherein a progress of the status progress control continuously decreases as the duration of the press operation increases (para. 195-196), and wherein the progress of the status progress control represents a remaining status value of the first virtual object (para. 195-197).
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of Weaver in the device of Tilston. The motivation for doing so would have been to allow the user to hold their breath when firing to reduce guy sway, ultimately resulting in a more accurate shot (Weaver; para. 195-196).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBIN J MISHLER whose telephone number is (571)270-7251. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-5:00 M-F.
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/ROBIN J MISHLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628
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