Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – In a game requiring strategy or problem solving by a...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-25
2003-12-09
Dolinar, Andrew M. (Department: 3747)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
In a game requiring strategy or problem solving by a...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06659862
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of electronic games. In particular, it relates to an electronic guessing game involving certain subtle characteristics inherent with the English language, viz. acronyms.
BACKGROUND
Over the past three decades, a host of intellectual mind games, primarily of the guessing types and both mechanically and electronically implemented, were advanced. The subjects of these games have to do with words of languages, numbers, cryptography, confectionery and mechanical pieces. A list of these games invented over the years is presented below as subject matter references:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,648 (1970) “Puzzle apparatus”;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,792 (1971) “Game apparatus involving magnetized selection of game pieces”;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,255 (1974) “Number guessing game device”;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,218 (1975) “Decoding crossword-type game”;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,526 (1976) “Game apparatus for a game of hangman”;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,044 (1977) “Hangman game apparatus”;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,742 (1980) “Land and sea war game apparatus”;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,078 (1981) “Guessing game”;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,389 (1982) “Word finding and guessing game”;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,666 (1983) “Electronic game”;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,373 (1986) “Numerical guessing game”;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,672 (1987) “Guessing game and associated playing period”;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,863 (1988) “Confectionery game”;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,953 (1989) “Numbering guessing game structure”;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,043 (1994) “Cryptographic guessing game”;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,780 (1994) “Bow sight assembly”;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,506 (1995) “Cryptographic guessing game”;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,243 (1998) “Cryptographic guessing game”.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,389 issued to Dumond et al. in 1982 (listed above), the disclosure describes a game to be played by two players and which involves the guessing by one player of a word selected by the opposite player. By questions and answers, the player will try to locate the position occupied by the word to be guessed, opposite a particular column, after which he will try to identify each letter of the word to be guessed. In his turn, the opposite player will also try to arrive at guessing the word selected by the first player. While this game is an excellent tool to develop the vocabulary of a person, it is totally different from the present invention which is a guessing game about acronyms of the English language and not directly about the guessing of words.
As a matter of fact, the most popular games about words and languages over the past several decades have been the games of Scrabble and Wheel of Fortune. Both of these well-known language games are based upon and played around language words. For example, the game of Scrabble tests the players with their depth of knowledge about the words of the language. The players have to compose valid words (according to a standard dictionary) to score points using letters in their possession. On the other hand, players of Wheel of Fortune have to guess at letters in order to get to the words that compose and reveal the puzzle. Again both of these “words” games are different from the present invention which takes advantage of the subtle characteristics of the English language as expressed by its many acronyms.
According to the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, an acronym is a word (as “radar” or “snafu”) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term. An acronym is not the same as abbreviation which is a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole. The use of acronyms can be dated back a long way, at least in the English language. In the U.S., the use of acronyms appears to originate initially for simplifying the identification of certain public organizations such as associations or trade unions. The best example is the acronym “PTA” which stands for Parent-Teacher Association. No doubt many acronyms in the U.S. can probably be traced back even to before the early 1900's, however many acronyms started to appear in 1930's and 1940's. Examples are “UAW” which stands for United Automobile Workers and “AMA” which stands for American Medical Association and also for American Management Association. Even in the English language itself, acronyms sometimes also show up. One example is “TWIMC” which stands for To Whom It May Concern.
But the proliferation of acronym usage across the American society at large did not start in earnest until after the World War II. There are several reasons to account for this occurrence.
The most prominent is the continued growth of the population in peace time while the English language remains virtually unchanged, both in size and usage. By that we mean very few new English words have been added to the language from the period after World War II until today. Meanwhile more and more organizations and associations are being formed thereby creating the more acronym usage just for identification purposes. Examples are “UNESCO” which stands for United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization and “NAACP” which stands for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Another reason is the continued growth of scientific disciplines in society thereby springing many new professional associations which do not exist before. Examples are “DISA” which stands for Data Interchange Standards Association and “ACAA” which stands for Agricultural Conservation and Adjustment Administration. Still another reason is due to the Government agencies, particularly the Defense Department and the Pentagon. During the period prior to the recent end of the so-called “Cold War”, a tremendous amount of research and development was earmarked for conventional and nuclear weaponry, space satellite communication and missile and rockets deployment. A host of acronyms quickly appeared on the scene, partly to conceal to some extent the nature and contents of many of the research projects from foreign nationals and average citizens and partly as jargons to impress the US Congress for project funding appropriations. The most familiar acronyms include “ICBM” which stands for Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, “SDI” which stands for Starwar Defense Initiative, “MSP” which stands for Mosaic Sensor Program and a host of others.
But by far the greatest reason why so many acronyms are in use in American society today is the advancement of science and technology during the past several decades. This ushers in many new industries including computer hardware and software, microelectronics or the microchip, medical instruments, pharmaceuticals and drugs, genetic engineering and finally the Internet and the World Wide Web. The advent of these new sciences and technologies literally impacts all aspects of the American society. One example is the electronic banking and commerce. As an example of the volumetric use of acronyms in this industry alone, over 200 of them are listed in Appendix I. There are many other industries like the electronic banking and commerce and they too have their equally large arsenal of acronyms widely in use today.
The widespread use of acronyms in just about every industry today has pretty much created artificial barriers or walls separating professionals, workers and the average citizen alike in different industrial disciplines. For example, a chemical engineer, accustomed to only reckoning acronyms or jargons in the chemical industry, has a hard time understanding a software engineer's acronyms used in the day to day transactions of the electronic banking and commerce industry. Because of this situation, the average citizen is getting harder and harder to understand the phrasing and terminology of many of society's fabrics which he has to interact and deal with on a daily basis. Unless something is done to counteract this unhealthy situation, many of the citizens in society will be by default becoming more and more isolated from one another. The prog
Dolinar Andrew M.
Rabin & Berdo P.C.
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