Prior art

US Patent 12070691, titled "Systems and methods for capture and use of local elements in gameplay," is a continuation patent. For continuation applications, the most relevant "citations" typically refer to their direct parent applications in the same family, from which they claim priority. These parent applications usually contain the same or substantially similar disclosure as the current patent.

The effective prior art date for the subject matter common to US12070691 and its parent applications is November 19, 2012, based on the U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/796,715. While a continuation patent claims priority to its parent applications, meaning the parent applications generally do not anticipate the claims of the continuation under 35 U.S.C. § 102 if the claims are fully supported by the earlier disclosure, they are still considered relevant citations representing the evolution of the claimed invention. However, if any claims in US12070691 were to introduce new matter not disclosed in the priority applications, or if the priority claim was deemed invalid for certain subject matter, then the published parent applications could theoretically serve as anticipatory prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102 for that specific new or unsupported subject matter.

Based on the provided patent text, the following are the most relevant patent citations, which are all members of the same patent family:

1. U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/796,715

• Full Citation: U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/796,715
• Publication/Filing Date: November 19, 2012
• Brief Description: This provisional application is the earliest priority document for the patent family, disclosing systems and methods for capturing and using real-world local elements to impact the storyline and gameplay of a virtual world.
• Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: While US12070691 claims priority to this provisional application, if any claim in US12070691 were to lack proper support in this provisional application (i.e., contain new matter), then the disclosure of US61/796,715 could potentially anticipate such unsupported claims, as its filing date establishes the earliest effective prior art date for the disclosed invention. All claims of US12070691 are potentially disclosed in this application.

2. U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 14/084,113

• Full Citation: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/084,113 (now abandoned)
• Publication/Filing Date: November 19, 2013
• Brief Description: This application is a continuation of the provisional application 61/796,715 and describes systems and methods for capturing and using real-world local elements to impact the storyline and gameplay of a virtual world.
• Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: As a direct parent application to which US12070691 claims priority, it generally would not anticipate claims that are fully supported by the common disclosure and entitled to the 2012-11-19 priority date. However, if claims in US12070691 include subject matter not entitled to the earlier priority date, and this application's disclosure fully describes such subject matter, it could potentially anticipate those specific claims. All claims of US12070691 are potentially disclosed in this application.

3. U.S. Pat. No. 10,946,284

• Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 10,946,284, issued from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/215,406
• Publication/Filing Date: Application filed July 20, 2016 (Patent published March 16, 2021)
• Brief Description: This patent, part of the same family, describes systems and methods for enabling virtual gameplay where a player's real-world location influences the storyline and virtual characters through local element scripts.
• Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: This patent generally would not anticipate claims of US12070691 that are supported by the common priority date of 2012-11-19. However, if US12070691 contains any new subject matter not properly carried forward from the original provisional filing, and if this patent's disclosure fully describes that new subject matter, then US10,946,284 could potentially anticipate such claims. All claims of US12070691 are potentially disclosed in this application.

4. U.S. Pat. No. 11,484,797

• Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 11,484,797, issued from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/172,623
• Publication/Filing Date: Application filed February 10, 2021 (Patent published November 1, 2022)
• Brief Description: This patent, a continuation of the family, details methods and systems for dynamically modifying virtual gameplay storylines based on real-world local elements detected at a player's geographic location.
• Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: Similar to the other family members, this patent generally would not anticipate claims of US12070691 that are supported by the common priority date of 2012-11-19. It could potentially anticipate claims in US12070691 if they cover new matter not traceable back to the earliest priority date and are fully described in US11,484,797. All claims of US12070691 are potentially disclosed in this application.

5. U.S. Pat. No. 11,666,827

• Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 11,666,827, issued from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/952,026
• Publication/Filing Date: Application filed September 23, 2022 (Patent published June 6, 2023)
• Brief Description: This patent, the immediate parent of US12070691, describes computer-implemented methods for enabling virtual gameplay by detecting player location, retrieving local element scripts, and actuating them to modify the video game's storyline.
• Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102: As the direct parent to which US12070691 claims priority, this patent typically would not anticipate the claims of US12070691 for subject matter that is common and fully supported by the shared priority date of 2012-11-19. However, if US12070691 were to contain new matter not supported by the common priority chain, and this patent's disclosure fully encompasses that new matter, then US11,666,827 could potentially anticipate those specific claims. All claims of US12070691 are potentially disclosed in this application.