Appeal 2007-2810
Application 09/894,501
The Examiner has finally rejected claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being
anticipated over Hoke (US Patent No. 2,102,532).
We AFFIRM.
The subject appeal is directed to a method of playing a gaming machine.
There are two types of games – games of chance such as slot machines and games
of skill such as video poker machines. Specification, p. 1. There are also
“secondary event bonus round games.” Specification, p. 2. As an example of such
a game, the main game or first level may be a slot machine game which, when a
player lines up spin symbols on the pay line, qualifies a player to go on to a
secondary bonus round where the player may spin a wheel to receive a payout
indicated on the wheel when the wheel stops rotating. Specification, p. 3. In this
example, the secondary bonus round is a game of chance. “Secondary event bonus
round games” have also been added to video poker games (i.e., games of skill).
Specification, p. 4.
The invention is a new “secondary event bonus round game” that “gives the
player the feel that he is playing a game of skill.” Specification, p. 4. That is to say,
the invention is a “secondary event bonus round game” that adds a secondary
bonus round in the form of an “apparent” game of skill, rather that a true game of
skill, to a first level game of chance. According to the Specification, p. 4, “the
outcome of the secondary event bonus round game has been predetermined” – thus
transforming the “secondary event bonus round games” from one involving skill to
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