PTAB

IPR2025-01273

Niantic Inc v. ImagineAR Inc

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Key Events
Petition
petition

1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Enabling Virtual Gameplay Based on Real-World Local Elements
  • Brief Description: The ’827 patent discloses systems and methods for modifying the storyline of a virtual world based on a player's real-world geographic location. The system detects a player's location, retrieves "local elements" (e.g., weather, news) associated with that location from a database, and uses a corresponding "local element script" to alter gameplay, such as by modifying a virtual character's statistics or a plot node.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Claims 1-21, 24, 26, and 27 are obvious over Kolo

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Kolo (Application # 2012/0244945).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that Kolo, which discloses a location-based Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game, teaches every limitation of the challenged claims. Kolo described incorporating a player's geolocation to modify the gaming environment. Petitioner asserted that Kolo’s various gameplay modes—such as "Battle," "Scavenger Hunt," "Weather," and "Werewolf"—are analogous to the claimed "local element scripts" that modify gameplay based on location-specific conditions. For example, Kolo's "Battle" mode modifies weapon effectiveness based on the weather at both the wielding and victim players' distinct geolocations. The "Weather" mode alters a player's character abilities or transforms them into a monster based on real-world weather at their location. Petitioner contended these examples meet the core limitations of detecting a location, retrieving an associated script, and modifying character statistics or plot nodes.
    • Motivation to Combine (for §103 grounds): This ground is based on a single reference. Petitioner argued a person of ordinary skill in the art (POSITA) would have found it obvious to implement the various complementary gameplay aspects described in Kolo (battle, weather, etc.) together in a single MMO.
    • Expectation of Success (for §103 grounds): A POSITA would have had a reasonable expectation of success because Kolo itself suggests that its described methods can be combined in various ways to create different game embodiments.
    • Key Aspects: A central argument addressed claim 1[d]'s requirement to actuate a script only when the player's location is "not represented by another player." Petitioner argued this was obvious from Kolo’s game mechanics. For instance, in a scavenger hunt, the script to collect a clue would only actuate for the first player to arrive at a unique location. For weather effects, it would be obvious to actuate the script only for the first player arriving to avoid redundant script execution, while the effect would continue for all players at the location.

Ground 2: Claims 22-23, 25, and 28 are obvious over Kolo in view of Zyda

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Kolo (Application # 2012/0244945) and Zyda (Application # 2011/0214071).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: This ground built upon Kolo as the base location-based MMO and added Zyda to teach the specific "local elements" recited in the remaining claims. Zyda discloses "Information Channels in MMOGs" and teaches receiving real-world news in real-time, extracting occurrences from the news, and modifying a virtual world based on those occurrences. Petitioner argued Zyda explicitly teaches using news items about crowds of people, local celebrities, or extracting keywords from a news stream to modify gameplay, such as by introducing non-player characters (NPCs). This combination allegedly rendered obvious the claims directed to local elements comprising a news item referring to a crowd (claim 22), a keyword from a news stream (claim 23), or a local celebrity/news figure (claim 25).
    • Motivation to Combine (for §103 grounds): A POSITA would combine Kolo and Zyda to create a more customized and immersive gaming experience. Kolo already taught using local data like weather to modify gameplay; integrating Zyda's teachings on using a wider range of real-time news feeds was presented as a natural and obvious extension to enhance player engagement by making the game world more reflective of the player's real-world surroundings.
    • Expectation of Success (for §103 grounds): The combination involved applying a known technique (Zyda's method for extracting information from news feeds) to a known system (Kolo's location-based MMO) to achieve the predictable result of a more dynamic and interactive game. The required modifications, such as accessing news sources based on location, were well within the skill of a POSITA.

4. Key Claim Construction Positions

  • Petitioner argued that if the term "local element script" is construed as a means-plus-function term, the claims are indefinite. However, should the Board find otherwise, Petitioner contended that the corresponding structure disclosed in the ’827 patent specification is a processor and memory in a computer performing the recited functions of retrieving, actuating, and modifying gameplay elements. Petitioner asserted that the prior art discloses this same or an equivalent structure.

5. Key Technical Contentions (Beyond Claim Construction)

  • Petitioner asserted that Kolo's disclosure is flexible as to where computations occur. Kolo teaches that game functions performed by its central server can also be performed by the player's local computing device (e.g., mobile phone), and vice-versa. Therefore, Petitioner argued that both Kolo's central server and its local devices independently meet the limitations of the "computing device" recited in the challenged claims.

6. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requested the institution of an inter partes review and the cancellation of claims 1-28 of the ’827 patent as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. §103.