US 9079107

US Patent 9079107, titled "Game control method, game control device, and recording medium," was issued to GREE Holdings Inc. (formerly GREE Inc.). The sole named inventor is Kazuki Oono. The patent was filed on March 5, 2014, and issued on July 14, 2015.

Abstract:
The patent provides a game control method carried out by a game control device connected to communication terminals used by users who play a game. The device has a storage unit for storing group information indicative of a group consisting of users and game piece information indicative of game pieces constituting one item. The method includes giving a game piece to each user in accordance with a user operation to his/her communication terminal; storing obtained game piece information indicative of the game piece given to each user in the storage unit; determining whether all of the game pieces necessary to constitute the one item indicated by the game piece information are given to users constituting a group indicated by the group information based on the obtained game piece information; and giving a reward to users constituting the group if it is determined that all of the game pieces are given. [Abstract]

Independent Claims Overview:

• Claim 1 (Method Claim): This claim describes a game control method involving a game control device connected to multiple user communication terminals. The method encompasses giving individual users game pieces based on their actions, recording these obtained game pieces, determining if a group of users has collectively acquired all the necessary game pieces to form a complete item, and then awarding a reward to that group if the collection is complete. [Description, "This game control method includes the steps of giving a game piece to each of the plurality of users in accordance with an operation of the user to a communication terminal used by the user, storing obtained game piece information indicative of the game piece given to each of the plurality of users in the storage unit, determining whether all of the plurality of game pieces necessary to constitute the one item indicated by the game piece information are given to a plurality of users constituting a group indicated by the group information based on the obtained game piece information stored in the storage unit, and giving a reward to a plurality of users constituting a group indicated by the group information in a case where it is determined that all of the plurality of game pieces are given."]

• Claim 9 (Device Claim): This claim defines a game control device for implementing the game control method. It specifies that the device includes a storage unit configured to store group information (about user groups) and game piece information (about game pieces forming an item). It also includes a game control unit that is configured to perform the actions outlined in the method of Claim 1: giving game pieces, storing obtained game piece information, determining if a group has collected all necessary pieces for an item, and providing a reward to the group upon successful collection. [Description, "the game control device has a storage unit for storing group information indicative of a group consisting of a plurality of users who play the game and game piece information indicative of a plurality of game pieces constituting one item.", "This game control method includes the steps of giving a game piece to each of the plurality of users in accordance with an operation of the user to a communication terminal used by the user, storing obtained game piece information indicative of the game piece given to each of the plurality of users in the storage unit, determining whether all of the plurality of game pieces necessary to constitute the one item indicated by the game piece information are given to a plurality of users constituting a group indicated by the group information based on the obtained game piece information stored in the storage unit, and giving a reward to a plurality of users constituting a group indicated by the group information in a case where it is determined that all of the plurality of game pieces are given."]

• Claim 10 (Recording Medium Claim): This claim covers a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium that stores a program. When executed by a computer, this program causes the computer to carry out the steps of the game control method described in Claim 1. [Description, "a game control method carried out by a game control device connected to a plurality of communication terminals used by each of a plurality of users who play a game so as to be capable of communicating therewith."]

Regarding CAFC 2026 dockets, a search for "US patent 9079107" in CAFC 2026 dockets did not yield specific results for this patent. The search results provided general information about CAFC decisions in April and May 2026, including a case affirming patent invalidity for omitting a coinventor (U.S. Patents 9,790,707 and 10,883,290) and other patent-related summaries. However, none of these directly mention US9079107. There is no authoritative information to confirm whether US9079107 has been involved in any CAFC cases in 2026.