Appeal No. 2006-1772
Application No. 09/993,359
with matching point indicia, craps is a game of matching the sum of values indicated on
the dice with player determined match values. Thus, the game of craps is similar to the
game of Bunco and twenty six in that they are all games where the object is to have the
roll of the dice mach some other value. Note, that the nature of Matsumoto’s invention
is not directed to the game but rather for “a dice displaying apparatus for a computer
game machine which gives the pseudo-real feeling of ‘throwing dice.’ Thus, we consider
Matsumoto to provide suggestion that the device could be used to implement other dice
games. As stated supra, Edgeworth teaches a gaming machine which can be used to play
the game of “twenty six” and “Bunco.” We consider the combination to teach use of the
video display gaming machine of Matsumoto to play the game “twenty six” or Bunco.
We are not persuaded by appellants’ argument, on pages 7 and 8 of the reply brief, that
Edgeworth’s use of old mechanical technology proves that there is no suggestion to
combine or that the combination would produce a computer machine with mechanical
wheels to tumble dice. One of the important features of Matsumoto is to provide the
feeling of throwing dice, thus we consider that one would recognize that Matsumoto is a
teaching using a computer gaming system to play games such as taught by Edgeworth.
As disused supra, we consider the games of “twenty six” and Bunco to meet the Bunco-
type game as claimed in claim 109.
On page 11 and 12 of the brief, appellants present arguments directed to specific
claims. On page 11, appellants argue that:
Claim 109 requires a "video display device" and "differing gameplay dice
elements, including a subset of at least one match point" and "displaying a
random toss of a plurality of dice elements at each stage of play". Although the
Examiner contends that this embodiment of the invention would have been
obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, the
Examiner ignored the attributes of the present invention that are not found in light
of the traditional rules of Bunco. In the present invention there may be up to three
points which the player is trying to roll. Instead of being a single number, any
number that has been rolled on every stage of the current game is a match point.
On the first roll, each number that appears on a die becomes a point. On the
second roll, the player must roll one or more points matching the first roll to keep
the game going. Any
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