DETAILED ACTION
This is in reference to communication received 04 August 2026. Claims 11 – 20 are pending for examination. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Eligibility of Patent under 35 USC § 101
Applicant’s invention is directed to programming signage content into flash memory of a system-on-a-chip (SOC) device installed in an Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) of a Virtual Display Network(VDN); a VD Available system controllers (SCs) within a network are discovered and a VDN is created associating SCs and signage displays with a game installed on an EGM; Content Application Packages are securely delivered from the SOC device to each SC within the VDN and installed on each SC in the VDN and validated by comparing metadata associated with the signage content against metadata of the installed game on the EGM, subsequent to which, the signage content is displayed on the signage displays. It is deemed that the claimed invention is not an abstract idea and therefore, it is examiner opinion that the claimed invention is eligible for patent under 35 USC 101.
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.
Claims 11 – 12, 14 – 15 and 17 – 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ansari et al. US Publication 2010/0235433 in view of Banister et al. US Publication 2009/0198816.
Regarding claim 11, Ansari teaches system and method for configuring and deploying signage content in a serverless digital signage system (Ansari, Management of subscription services and applications delivered to users' end point devices, in a system using gateway devices distributed at customer premises which provide and control application services supplied to the associated user endpoint devices.) [Ansari, 0021], the method comprising:
discovering available system controllers (SCs) within a network (Ansari, the gateway devices are capable of automatically discovering and configuring the gateway device compatible devices belonging to enabled services in the premises such as the home or business, …. the gateway device compatible endpoint devices are devices that the gateway device can communicate with and thus become the center of management for the services offered through these endpoint devices.) [Ansari, 0188];
creating a virtual display network (VDN) to associate the SCs and signage displays (Ansari, The DHCP server dynamically assigns or allocates network IP addresses to subordinate client endpoints) [Ansari, 0090] with a game installed on an electronic gaming machine (EGM) (Ansari, digital endpoint devices for which connectivity may be established with the gateway device 10 include, but are not limited to: personal music or media players, hi-fi audio equipment with media streaming capability, game stations, Internet radio devices, WiFi phones, WiFi or other wirelessly enabled digital cameras, facsimile machines, electronic picture frames, health monitors (sensor and monitoring devices), etc.) [Ansari, 0076];
programming the signage content into flash memory of a system-on-a-chip (SOC) device installed in the EGM in the VDN (Ansari, the service management center 50 sends the necessary configuration data or software through the wide area network 99 to the gateway device 10. The gateway device 10 can install the configuration data or software, to enable that device 10 to deliver the server functionality for the application service or the feature to its associated one or more endpoint device(s) that implement the client functions regarding the particular application service.) [Ansari, 0116, 0051];
programming the signage content into flash memory of a system-on-a-chip (SOC) device installed in the EGM in the VDN (Ansari, the service management center 50 sends the necessary configuration data or software through the wide area network 99 to the gateway device 10. The gateway device 10 can install the configuration data or software, to enable that device 10 to deliver the server functionality for the application service or the feature to its associated one or more endpoint device(s) that implement the client functions regarding the particular application service.) [Ansari, 0116];
securely delivering Content Application Packages from the SOC device to each SC within the VDN (Ansari, the service management center 50 sends the necessary configuration data or software through the wide area network 99 to the gateway device 10. The gateway device 10 can install the configuration data or software, to enable that device 10 to deliver the server functionality for the application service or the feature to its associated one or more endpoint device(s) that implement the client functions regarding the particular application service.) [Ansari, 0116];
installing the Content Application Packages on each SC (Ansari, the service management center 50 sends the necessary configuration data or software through the wide area network 99 to the gateway device 10. The gateway device 10 can install the configuration data or software, to enable that device 10 to deliver the server functionality for the application service or the feature to its associated one or more endpoint device(s) that implement the client functions regarding the particular application service.) [Ansari, 0116];
Ansari does not teach comparing of metadata for validation. However, Banister teaches a digital signage network comprising a plurality of content sources, a distribution node and a display node [Banister, 0013]. Banister further teaches Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC) can be performed on the received files. The CRC can be compared to an equivalent check on the data in the database to determine if the received file is new.[Banister, 0051].
Therefore, at the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ansari by adopting teachings of Banister to perform comparison of digital content to control replacement old content only when determination is made that the new content is different than the existing content.
Ansari in view of Banister teaches system and method further comprising:
validating the signage content by comparing metadata associated with the signage content against metadata of the installed game on the EGM (Banister, Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC) can be performed on the received files. The CRC can be compared to an equivalent check on the data in the database to determine if the received file is new.) [Banister, 0051, also see 0076]; and
displaying the signage content on the signage displays (Ansari, Each of the plurality of content sources generates content formatted in accordance with a common data model. The distribution node receives content from the plurality of content sources. The display node displays content it receives from the distribution node.) [Ansari, 0013].
Regarding claim 12, as combined and under the same rationale as above, Ansari in view of Banister teaches system and method, wherein the signage content comprises at least one of graphics, animations, text, or videos (Ansari, In the display representation 139, various elements including a live data overlay 140 of a clock, a video stream 142, a stock ticker 144 subject to a text effect, a text based overlay 146, an advertising logo 148 and a three dimensional rendering of data from an external data source 150 are laid over each other in an overlapping fashion.) [Ansari, 0057].
Regarding claim 14, as combined and under the same rationale as above, Ansari in view of Banister teaches system and method, wherein the signage displays comprise a plurality of signage displays (Banister, plurality of Displays) [Banister, see at least Fig. 1 and associated disclosure].
Regarding claim 15, as combined and under the same rationale as above, Ansari in view of Banister teaches system and method, wherein the network comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes (Banister, plurality of Distribution Nodes) [Banister, see at least Fig. 1 and associated disclosure].
Regarding claim 17, as combined and under the same rationale as above, Ansari in view of Banister teaches system and method, wherein securely delivering comprises at least one of using a secure connection or encrypting the Content Application Packages (Banister, Encryption keys and other authentication mechanisms known to those skilled in the art can be employed to ensure that only valid nodes, and possibly even only certain applications on those nodes, can transmit instructions to network nodes ( display nodes, content sources, distribution nodes, etc.). This has the effect of creating a private network among the display network nodes.) [Banister, 0051].
Regarding claim 18, as combined and under the same rationale as above, Ansari in view of Banister teaches system and method, further comprising verifying the integrity and accuracy of the deployed signage content (Ansari,These ASM elements may, for example, provide the necessary data to the ASE and ASL modules so that they may carry out their respective functions, oversee the overall integration and communication among all the modules and the services that are managed by the ASM, manages the overall security and integrity of the ASD, and maintains alarm, statistical, subscription and provisioning data, and data necessary for the integration of services from third-party service providers, e.g., media content aggregators.) [Ansari, 0108].
Claims 13, 16 and 19 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ansari et al. US Publication 2010/0235433 in view of Banister et al. US Publication 2009/0198816 and Purohit et al. US Publication 2021/0174634.
Regarding claim 16, Ansari in view of Banister does not teach regulatorily approved electronic gaming machine. However, Purohit teaches system and method preparation and installation of gaming devices on blockchain. Purohit teaches regulators 340 inspect and approve gaming device installations in their own jurisdictions (e.g., at operational venues within their geographic areas of influence). Prior to certifying a particular golden image of software components 334 in the database 332, regulators 340 may generate a hash of the software component 334 and compare that hash to a golden image hash provided by the test lab inspector 350 ( e.g., to verify that the software component 334 matches the software component tested and certified by the test lab inspector 350). [Purohit, 0064].
Therefore, at the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ansari in view of Banister by adopting teachings of Purohit and install regulatorily approved electronic gaming machines to be compliant with local jurisdiction rules and regulations.
as combined and under the same rationale as above, Ansari in view of Banister and Purohit teaches system and method, wherein the SOC device is part of a regulatorily approved electronic gaming machine (as responded to above) [Purohit, 0064].
Regarding claim 13, as combined and under the same rationale as above, Ansari in view of Banister and Purohit teaches system and method, wherein the EGM has a plurality of games installed thereon (Purohit, Many different types of games, including mechanical slot games, video slot games, video poker, video black jack, video pachinko, keno, bingo, and lottery, may be provided with or implemented within the depicted gaming devices 104A-104C and other similar gaming devices. Each gaming device may also be operable to provide many different games. Games may be differentiated according to themes, sounds, graphics, type of game (e.g., slot game vs.card game vs. game with aspects of skill), denomination, number ofpaylines, maximum jackpot, progressive or non-progressive, bonus games, and may be deployed for operation in Class 2 or Class 3, etc.) [Purohit, 0044, also see 0045].
Regarding claim 19, as combined and under the same rationale as above, Ansari in view of Banister teaches system and method, wherein the signage displays are at least one of internal to the EGM or include both internal and external signage [Purohit, 0044, also see Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and associated disclosure].
Regarding claim 20, as combined and under the same rationale as above, Ansari in view of Banister and Purohit teaches system and method, further comprising receiving, by the SC, real- time game events from the EGM and updating the signage content in response to the real-time game events (Purohit, During certain game events, the gaming device 200 may display visual and auditory effects that can be perceived by the player. These effects add to the excitement of a game, which makes a player more likely to enjoy the playing experience.) [Purohit, 0052].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's argument that pending claimed amended invention is eligible for patent under 35 USC 101 because claimed invention does not recited a judicial exception, integrates the invention into a practical application and ordered combination recited by the claims constitutes significantly more is acknowledged, considered and accepted.
Rejection under 35 USC 101 is not cited in this office action.
Applicant's argument that pending claimed amended invention is eligible for patent because cited prior art does not teach combination of Creating a Virtual Display Network Associated With a Game Installed on an EGM, is acknowledged and considered.
However, cited reference Ansari teaches The DHCP server dynamically assigns or allocates network IP addresses to subordinate client endpoints) [Ansari, 0090] and Ansari further teaches, digital endpoint devices for which connectivity may be established with the gateway device 10 include, but are not limited to: personal music or media players, hi-fi audio equipment with media streaming capability, game stations, Internet radio devices, WiFi phones, WiFi or other wirelessly enabled digital cameras, facsimile machines, electronic picture frames, health monitors (sensor and monitoring devices), etc.) [Ansari, 0076];
Applicant's argument that pending claimed amended invention is eligible for patent because cited prior art does not teach Validating Signage Content Against the Metadata of the Installed Game.
However, cited reference Banister teaches Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC) can be performed on the received files. The CRC can be compared to an equivalent check on the data in the database to determine if the received file is new.) [Banister, 0051, also see 0076].
Applicant's argument that pending claimed amended invention is eligible for patent because cited prior art does not teach combination of Programming and Delivering Content From a System-on-a- Chip Device Installed in the EGM.
However, cited reference Ansari teaches, the service management center 50 sends the necessary configuration data or software through the wide area network 99 to the gateway device 10. The gateway device 10 can install the configuration data or software, to enable that device 10 to deliver the server functionality for the application service or the feature to its associated one or more endpoint device(s) that implement the client functions regarding the particular application service.) [Ansari, 0116, 0051]
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jeff Brown published article “How to Create an Azure Virtual Network”.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Naresh Vig whose telephone number is (571)272-6810. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 06:30a - 04:00p.
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/NARESH VIG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3622
October 11, 2026
