Appeal No. 2006-0648 6
Application No. 09/815,181
on the Blackjack hand could be incorporated into the Malek game instead of Baccarat;
i.e., for example, a mere substitution” (answer, page 5).
This proposed incorporation into the Malek game of the supplemental wager
taught by Aramapakul is reasonable on its face. The resulting game, however, would still
not meet the above noted limitations in claims 1, 22 and 41. Notwithstanding the
examiner’s arguments to the contrary (see page 18 in the answer), Aramapakul simply
does not teach or suggest a wager that a player’s hand will have “designated” cards
within a suit or “predetermined” cards.
The Cadaco reference describes the playing rules for TRIPOLEY, a series of three
sequentially played games based on Hearts, Poker and Michigan Rummy. The Hearts
portion of TRIPOLEY allows players to collect wagered chips for specific cards dealt to
them. Cadaco’s description of these specific cards encompasses predetermined cards and
designated cards within a suit.
The examiner contends that “[i]t would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill
in the art to substitute any type of well-known suit game in place of the disclosed suit
game of Aramapakul. . . . TRIPOLEY is such a notoriously well-known suits game”
(answer, pages 12 and 13).
The so-called “suit game” of Aramapakul, however, is merely an adjunct that
supplements a target numerical sum game such as Blackjack or Baccarat. The proposed
modification of Aramapakul in view of Cadaco is inconsistent with the supplemental
nature of Aramapakul’s “suit” wager as well as with the proposed modification of the
Malek game in view of Aramapakul. In short, the only suggestion for selectively
combining Malek, Aramapakul and Cadaco so as to arrive at a method and apparatus
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