PTAB

IPR2017-00902

FanDuel Inc v. CG Technology Development LLC

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Petition
petition

1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Personalized Controller/Game System
  • Brief Description: The ’818 patent describes a video game system where a game controller includes non-volatile memory to store personalized user data, such as a user's name and age. This stored data, particularly the user's age, is used by the system's central processing unit to authorize or adjust game play, for example, by restricting access to games designed for a specific age group.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Claims 20-21, 24, and 31-32 are obvious over Walker in view of Kelly.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Walker (Patent 5,779,549) and Kelly (Patent 5,816,918).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that Walker discloses a networked gaming system where remote input/output (I/O) devices communicate wirelessly with a central controller that executes games. Walker further teaches storing detailed player account data, including the player's age, on this central controller and using a unique player identifier to retrieve that data to authorize game participation. However, Petitioner contended that Walker is silent on using the stored age information to specifically authorize or restrict gameplay. Kelly was alleged to cure this deficiency by teaching a networked gaming system that expressly authorizes tournament participation based on predefined characteristics, including a player's age.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would combine Walker's system with Kelly's age-based authorization feature to address the well-known, contemporary demand for technologies that prevented minors from accessing inappropriate online content, including games. Implementing age restrictions on networked games was a known solution to this problem.
    • Expectation of Success: A skilled artisan would have appreciated that modifying Walker's central controller software to check a player's age—a data point already stored in the system—was a simple modification. This would predictably result in a system with enhanced access control, which was a known and desired outcome.

Ground 2: Claim 25 is obvious over Walker in view of Kelly, in further view of Viescas and the knowledge of a POSITA.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Walker (Patent 5,779,549), Kelly (Patent 5,816,918), and Viescas (The Official Guide to the Prodigy Service, 1991).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: This ground builds on the Walker/Kelly combination to address limitations in claim 25, which requires a game controller with non-volatile memory for storing the player's identification code. Petitioner asserted that while Walker teaches the I/O device (controller) has non-volatile memory, it does not explicitly teach storing the player's identifier in that memory. Viescas, a user guide for the Prodigy online service—a service explicitly mentioned in Walker—was argued to disclose an "autologon" feature. This feature stores the user's member ID on their local computer (the controller in this context) to streamline the login process.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would combine the teachings of Viescas with the Walker/Kelly system to improve user convenience. Implementing an "autologon" feature by storing the player's identifier locally would predictably streamline the login process, eliminating the need for the player to remember and re-enter their ID for each session.
    • Expectation of Success: Storing user identifiers locally for automatic login was a well-known technique at the time. A POSITA would have understood that adding this feature to Walker's I/O device would involve a straightforward software modification with the predictable result of a faster and more user-friendly login experience.

Ground 3: Claims 1 and 16 are obvious over Kelly in view of Walker and the knowledge of a POSITA.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Kelly (Patent 5,816,918) and Walker (Patent 5,779,549).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: This ground reverses the primary and secondary references from Ground 1, starting with Kelly as the base system. Petitioner argued that Kelly teaches a networked video game system where a server executes games and authorizes participation based on conditions including the user's age. The user's personalized account data, including ID and performance history, is stored on the local game unit (controller). However, Kelly was asserted to be silent regarding the transmission of a unique identifier to the server as part of a login procedure before authorizing play. Walker was argued to supply this missing element by teaching a system where players transmit a unique identifier from their I/O device to a central controller to "log in" before being allowed to participate.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would combine Walker's explicit login procedure with Kelly's system as an obvious design choice. At the time, most networked gaming systems required users to transmit valid identifiers to log in. This was necessary to ensure that only registered users could access games and to allow the server to uniquely identify and track player performance.
    • Expectation of Success: Incorporating a standard login process into Kelly's networked system was a routine task for a skilled artisan. The combination would predictably result in a more secure and robust system, which was a common goal in the field.

4. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requests institution of an inter partes review and cancellation of claims 1, 16, 20-21, 24-25, and 31-32 of Patent RE39,818 as unpatentable.