Presenting An Attractive Game To A Player: Non-technical

1. The invention relates to a method of operating an electronic gaming system configured for playing a game of chance.

According to the application, page 1, lines 9 to 13 a common trend within the online gaming industry is to provide potentially new and current players with promotional offers for attracting players to the newly introduced games. For example, the players will receive a predetermined number of free turns for playing the games, a concept sometimes denoted as "free spins" for example in relation to a simulated multi-reel slots game. This concept is reflected in features (a1) to (d2) of claim 1 of the main request.

For reducing the potential tediousness in case of a high number of predetermined numbers of favorable outcomes and a low probability of favorable outcome per turn of the game (i.e. resulting in a large plurality of turns before the redemption mode offering the free turns has been completed), the number of turns that in fact are visualized for the player is reduced, see the application, page 2, lines 28 to 32.

As claimed, use of an "adjustable threshold" according to features (f1) and (f2) and of two visualization modes according to features (g1) to (g3) is made.

(e1) – performing, using the server, a large plurality of turns of the game in the background before the step of visualizing any turns to the player within the GUI of the client device,

(f1) – introducing an adjustable threshold to the electronic game system, and

(f2) – determining, using the server, for each of the large plurality of turns if a specific outcome of the large plurality of turns should be defined as favorable or non-favorable by comparing outcomes of each of the large plurality of turns with the adjustable threshold,

wherein:

(g1) – the step of visualizing the plurality of turns is divided into an initial visualization mode and a thereafter following later visualization mode determined by the control unit,

(g2) – the later visualization mode further comprises the step of selecting, using the server, only favorable outcomes of the turns to be visualized within the GUI of the client device, and

(g3) – the later visualization mode being activated by the control unit based on a function of a duration of playing the game.

2.2.1 The appellant argued that the invention provided advantages in the field of operating electronic gaming systems, such as for computer systems used in relation to online gaming where a large plurality of electronic client devices each are arranged in network communication with a "centrally" arranged computer server.

2.2.2 It had generally been suggested to promote a specific online game to players operating electronic client devices by allowing the players to experience the success of multiple winnings of the specific online game, without having to provide a payment for such an experience. This was implemented by providing a player with an "offer".

In case of an "offer" to take part in an enhanced gaming experience, the server executing all of the N turns of the game (with N being the selected number of winnings divided by the selected probability of favorable outcome per turn of the specific game) would continuously, and for each of the N turns of the game, have to communicate information to each of the electronic client devices, thus placing a severe strain on both the server and the network connecting the server and the multiple electronic client devices.

2.2.3 The inventors had solved this problem by implementing a "compression method" to be used by the server, purposely adapted to reduce the amount of data that needed to be transmitted from the server to the multiple electronic client devices. This compression method was implemented firstly by executing the N games at the server, then secondly by arranging the results from the N games into two "bins", where favorable outcomes were placed in one bin and non-favorable outcomes in another bin (based on the adjustable threshold) and then thirdly by communicating only data relating to the results in the bin comprising the favorable outcomes to the multiple electronic client devices for visualization at respective graphical user interfaces of the multiple electronic client devices.

The threshold according to features (f1) and (f2) would be a "clear definition" of how to "bin" the turns of the game that were performed by the server in the first step.

2.2.4 The claimed method had several technical advantages. Executing turns in the background reduced real-time computational constraints on the server. Dynamically applying an adjustable threshold allowed to control data filtering in response to game conditions. Selectively transmitting results reduced the amount of data to be transmitted between the server and the multiple electronic client devices, thereby reducing the computational constraints on the network and the bandwidth used. Such a reduction was actually observed in existing technical implementations of claim 1.

Moreover, the player needed to spend less time by not having to observe visualized turns of the game that resulted in non-favorable outcomes.

By reducing both computational load and data transmission requirements per player session, the claimed method also enhanced the scalability of the gaming system.

2.2.5 The appellant accepted that a reduction of the amount of data transferred between the server and the client devices due to the data filtering was not explicitly disclosed in the application. However, the skilled person would understand from page 8, lines 6 to 15 that only data which was to be visualized on a player's client device would be transmitted from the server, the remaining data only being stored in the database of the server. This was the only sensible interpretation of a skilled person reading the application with a mind willing to understand.

2.2.6 The present invention therefore did not simply implement game rules for psychological impact. Instead, it provided a structured method for optimizing data flow, reducing system load, and improving scalability of the gaming system, making it a technical solution to a clearly defined technical problem.

2.3.1 The application as a whole is silent about any reduc­tion of the amount of data transferred between the server and a client device, a "unique compression method" or a "statistical mathematical algorithm looped for several times".

According to the application as originally filed, in a situation when a player requests to redeem an offer corresponding to an opportunity of receiving a predetermined number of favorable outcomes when playing the game without further payment ("free wins", see e.g. page 8, lines 1 to 5), the aim of not visualizing a number of (unfavorable) outcomes is to improve the attraction of the game, see page 1, lines 20 to 23, page 2, lines 11 to 20, "improve the attraction", "to experience all aspects of the game, including experiencing the success of winning the game", "the offerings will have an in comparison lower threshold of acceptance, as a sure win is the result of such an acceptance", page 2, lines 28 to 34, "reducing the potential tediousness", page 3, lines 13, "advantageous psychological effect", "heighten the experience of the game", "remembered in an overall positive manner", page 8, line 29 to 34, "In case all (or at least a few) wins results in a payment being below the predetermined threshold, the server 102 may select to dynamically lower threshold such that a suitable number of wins are visualized to the player to keep the positive psychological effect to presenting wins to the player.", page 9, lines 18 to 26.

These psychological effects cannot be considered as solutions to any technical problem. Instead, they are related to the aim of presenting an attractive game to a player.

2.3.2 The skilled person would not derive from the application that the distinguishing features necessarily result in a reduction of data transfer between the server and the client devices.

The passage indicated by the appellant, page 8, lines 6 to 15 merely states that the turns of the games are stored in the database of the server and that the server selects the ones to be visualized within the GUI of the client device. The passage does not define the amount of data transferred. In the board's view it is not excluded that data related to all turn of the game are transferred to the client device.

Page 3, lines 14 to 21 or page 8, lines 18 to 34 describe the use of an adjustable threshold for determining if a specific outcome is to be be considered as favorable or non-favorable, and as such to be visualized for the player or not. In other words, a turn or outcome of the game is visualized on the basis of said threshold. The passage does not provide any indications of how much data is transferred.

The application as a whole does not provide any technical details on how the "adjustable threshold" is used to define whether the outcome of a given turn is favourable or not, see page 3, lines 14 to 21 or page 8, lines 18 to 25. As an aside, the board notes that claim 1 does not include any step of visualizing only the favorable outcomes determined using the threshold. The threshold and its use in steps (f1) and (f2) are thus not more than rules specified by the creator of the game.

Step (e1) also does not necessarily imply any reduction of data transfer, because it only refers to performing turns.

Page 3, lines 1 to 7 disclose the use of an initial and later visualization mode. In the initial visualization mode, all turns of the games are visualized to the player, while in the later visualization mode, only a few turns are visualized. Hence, at least in the initial visualization mode, the data for all favorable and non-favorable outcomes are transferred to the client device. The application is completely silent about any reduction of data transfer when entering the later visualization mode. The application does not exclude that in the later visualization mode data for all favorable and non-favorable outcomes is transferred while only the number of outcomes visualized is smaller.

Steps (g1) to (g3) merely imply that during games of a given duration, a later visualization mode is activated wherein only favorable outcomes of the turns are selected to be visualized. Strictly speaking, the wording of steps (g1) to (g3) does not imply any reduction of data transfer, but merely that less information is presented to the player. Said features represent not more than rules specified by the creator of the game to render the game attractive.

2.3.3 Therefore, the board disagrees with the appellant that the invention is an operational protocol for a gaming environment, which ensures that time is saved in the system and less communication bandwidth for the network is used, which allows the scalability of the gaming system or which reduces computational load and data transmission.

Instead, the board concurs with the examining division that the distinguishing features of claim 1 are non-technical and relate to the playing of a game involving several rules. That is, they only define an aim to be achieved in the non-technical field of gaming.

2.3.4 Even if it were assumed that the distinguishing features resulted in a reduced data transfer between the server and the client devices, they could not be considered to be based on technical considerations. As set out above, the application only discloses psychological effects as their aim. Thus, in line with what was pointed out by the examining division, any supposed effects such as "reduction of the time needed to be spent to proceed with operation", "reduced bandwidth", "lossy communication protocol", "reduction in time-lag" would have to be considered as being merely secondary effects resulting from the implementation of a gaming scheme and the direct technical consequences of such an implementation by generally known technical means in a straightforward manner.

In other words, the distinguishing features would only define an aim to be achieved in a non-technical field even if they resulted in a reduced data transfer between the server and the client devices.

This was different in cases T 650/13 and T 107/87, as the competent boards held that the claimed features indeed contributed to a technical solution. In T 650/13, the claimed algorithm features of the independent claims were found by the competent board to be regarded as redundancy-reducing coding rules explicitly used in a process for transmitting compressed data. In decision T 107/87, the competent board held that a data coding rule for identifying and eliminating statistical redundancy contributed to the solution of a technical problem where it was used to reduce the amount of data to be stored or transmitted.

2.3.5 According to the relevant case law, when aspects of the claim only define an aim to be achieved in a non-technical field (in particular, in the gaming or business field) and thus do not contribute to the technical character of the invention, this aim may legitimately appear in the formulation of the objective technical problem in the form of a requirements specification provided to the person skilled in a technical field (e.g. a computer specialist) as part of the framework of the technical problem that is to be solved, in particular as a constraint that has to be met.

It would be straightforward to implement the rules of playing a game defined in the distinguishing features on the server/client network of D1.