Niantic, Inc.

Prosecution History analysis

Examiner Search analysis

Invalidity Framework analysis

Petition

Petition Analysis

## 1. Case Identification
- Case #: [IPR2025-01276](https://ai-lab.exparte.com/case/ptab/IPR2025-01276)
- Patent #: [12,070,691](https://ai-lab.exparte.com/patent/12070691)
- Filed: July 14, 2025
- Petitioner(s): [Niantic, Inc.](https://ai-lab.exparte.com/party/niantic-inc)
- Patent Owner(s): Imaginear, Inc. and Imagine AR, Inc.
- Challenged Claims: 1-28

## 2. Patent Overview
- Title: Enabling Virtual Gameplay
- Brief Description: The ’691 patent describes a computer-implemented method for enabling virtual gameplay on a computing device. The core invention involves dynamically modifying the storyline of a video game by retrieving and actuating a "local element script" based on a player's real-world geographic location and associated "local elements," such as weather or news events.

## 3. Grounds for Unpatentability
#### Ground 1: Claims 1-21, 24, 26, and 27 are obvious over Kolo
  - **Prior Art Relied Upon:** [Kolo](https://ai-lab.exparte.com/case/ptab/IPR2025-01276/doc/1013) (Application # 2012/0244945).
  - **Core Argument for this Ground:**
    - **Prior Art Mapping:** Petitioner argued that Kolo, which teaches incorporating geolocation information into an online game, discloses all limitations of the challenged claims. Kolo describes a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game where gameplay is modified based on a player's current geolocation. The petition mapped several of Kolo’s gameplay modes to the limitations of claim 1. For example, Kolo's "battle" mode, where a weapon's effectiveness depends on the weather at both the attacker's and victim's geolocations, was asserted to teach a "local element script" (the game logic) that modifies a "virtual character statistic" (damage output). Similarly, Kolo’s "werewolf" mode, where a player transforms based on the time or an environmental event (e.g., a full moon) at their location, was argued to show a script modifying character statistics (e.g., strength, appearance) and a "plot node" (introducing the werewolf into the game).
    - **Key Aspects:** Petitioner contended that Kolo also teaches the novel limitation of actuating the script only when a player's location is unique (i.e., not represented by another player). For instance, in a scavenger hunt, the script is actuated only for the first player to arrive. In the "battle" context, a POSITA would be motivated to test for location uniqueness to encourage players to explore new areas to maximize weapon effectiveness, thereby driving engagement and potential advertising revenue.

#### 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](https://ai-lab.exparte.com/case/ptab/IPR2025-01276/doc/1014) (Application # 2011/0214071).
  - **Core Argument for this Ground:**
    - **Prior Art Mapping:** This ground addressed dependent claims relating to specific types of "local elements" such as news items referring to crowds or celebrities. Petitioner asserted that Kolo provides the foundational location-based MMO. Zyda, which is also in the field of online gaming, teaches receiving real-world news in real-time, extracting occurrences (e.g., a crowd at a public park, a weather event), and modifying the virtual world in response. For example, Zyda discloses modifying non-player characters (NPCs) based on real-world events. The combination of Kolo's game engine with Zyda's specific methods for integrating diverse news types (beyond just weather) allegedly renders claims reciting storylines modified by crowds or celebrity news figures obvious. Claim 23, which recites extracting a keyword from a news stream, was argued to be taught by Zyda’s disclosure of extracting keywords like "rain" to trigger in-game events.
    - **Motivation to Combine:** A POSITA would combine Kolo's location-based game with Zyda's real-time news integration to create a more immersive, dynamic, and interactive game. Petitioner argued this combination is a predictable expansion of Kolo's existing concepts (which already use weather data) to include a broader range of real-world events, thereby increasing player engagement.
    - **Expectation of Success:** A POSITA would have a reasonable expectation of success because combining the references involves applying a known technique (Zyda's news-item extraction) to a known system (Kolo's location-based game) to achieve the predictable result of a more customized gaming experience.

## 4. Key Claim Construction Positions
- **"local element script":** Petitioner argued that this term should be given its plain and ordinary meaning. However, Petitioner contended that if the Board construes "local element script" as a means-plus-function term under §112(f), the function is the recited action in the claims (e.g., "modifying one or more of the virtual character statistic and a plot node"). The corresponding structure disclosed in the ’691 patent specification is a general-purpose computer processor and memory performing the recited functions. Petitioner maintained that the prior art discloses this same or equivalent structure, preserving the invalidity arguments even under a means-plus-function construction.

## 5. Key Technical Contentions (Beyond Claim Construction)
- **Local vs. Server Processing:** A key technical contention underpinning the obviousness grounds was that Kolo discloses its invention can be implemented in multiple ways: by local computing devices connected to an online server, as an entirely "local version of the game" with no central server required, or as a local version that occasionally updates a central server. Petitioner argued this disclosure means a POSITA would have understood that any function described as being performed by Kolo's central server could obviously be performed by the player's local computing device, and vice-versa. This allows Kolo's teachings to be flexibly mapped to the challenged claims, regardless of whether a claim limitation is performed on the client or server side.

## 6. Relief Requested
- Petitioner requested the institution of an inter partes review and the cancellation of claims 1-28 of the ’691 patent as unpatentable.

Niantic targets virtual gameplay patent: Kolo & Zyda art cited for all 28 claims as obvious over using location & news events to modify storylines.