Patents by Inventor James Kroon

James Kroon has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10140805
    Abstract: A method of conducting a wagering game includes: conducting a base game on an electronic gaming machine; detecting a first trigger condition in the base game; initiating a feature game in response to the first trigger condition; detecting a second trigger condition in the feature game; granting access to a plurality of bonus feature game levels in response to the second trigger condition; and determining an outcome of the feature game.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Publication number: 20180268657
    Abstract: An electronic gaming machine includes a display in the form of a matrix of rows and columns and a controller configured to conduct a game instance upon receiving a wager via a player input. In conducting each game instance, the controller activates a number of columns on the display based on the wager and controls a display to indicate which columns in the display have been activated. The controller determines if any of the activated columns meets a triggering condition and controls the display to display the activated columns which meet the triggering condition with a modified background. The controller then determines an outcome of the game instance based on whether a predetermined number of activated columns which meet the triggering condition are adjacent one another and makes an award to the player based on the outcome of the instance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2018
    Publication date: September 20, 2018
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Patent number: 9997021
    Abstract: A gaming machine configured to provide a play of a game, the gaming machine comprising a symbol selector for selecting a) a plurality of backgrounds from a set of backgrounds for display at respective ones of a plurality of display positions, the set of backgrounds including winning backgrounds and non-winning backgrounds, and b) a plurality of symbols from a set of symbols for display at respective ones of said plurality of display positions, the selected symbols being displayed at each display position overlaid upon a selected background. The gaming machine also comprises an outcome evaluator for determining when a trigger event occurs, said trigger event being defined when at least two winning backgrounds of said plurality of backgrounds are selected for display adjacent to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Patent number: 9747755
    Abstract: A gaming system comprises at least one display for displaying a main window and a plurality of activatable additional windows and a game controller. The game controller is arranged to activate one or more of the activatable additional windows in response to one or more activation conditions being met and conduct at least one game round.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Publication number: 20160364943
    Abstract: A method of conducting a wagering game includes: conducting a base game on an electronic gaming machine; detecting a first trigger condition in the base game; initiating a feature game in response to the first trigger condition; detecting a second trigger condition in the feature game; granting access to a plurality of bonus feature game levels in response to the second trigger condition; and determining an outcome of the feature game.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Publication date: December 15, 2016
    Inventor: James KROON
  • Publication number: 20160049037
    Abstract: A gaming machine configured to provide a play of a game, the gaming machine comprising a symbol selector for selecting a) a plurality of backgrounds from a set of backgrounds for display at respective ones of a plurality of display positions, the set of backgrounds including winning backgrounds and non-winning backgrounds, and b) a plurality of symbols from a set of symbols for display at respective ones of said plurality of display positions, the selected symbols being displayed at each display position overlaid upon a selected background. The gaming machine also comprises an outcome evaluator for determining when a trigger event occurs, said trigger event being defined when at least two winning backgrounds of said plurality of backgrounds are selected for display adjacent to each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2015
    Publication date: February 18, 2016
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Publication number: 20140248939
    Abstract: A gaming system comprises at least one display for displaying a main window and a plurality of activatable additional windows and a game controller. The game controller is arranged to activate one or more of the activatable additional windows in response to one or more activation conditions being met and conduct at least one game round.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2014
    Publication date: September 4, 2014
    Applicant: Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Patent number: 8696447
    Abstract: A method for use with a plurality of linked gaming machines, the plurality of linked gaming machines each having a game controller. The method comprises initiating a feature at the end of the play of a game on at least one of the plurality of gaming machines, enabling a bidding sequence during the feature, the bidding sequence ending at a time that is unknown to the players playing at the plurality of the linked gaming machines, enabling at least one of the players playing at the plurality of linked gaming machines to place at least one bid during the bidding sequence, and awarding a feature award to the player who places a highest bid during the bidding sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Publication number: 20130296037
    Abstract: A method for use with a plurality of linked gaming machines, the plurality of linked gaming machines each having a game controller. The method comprises initiating a feature at the end of the play of a game on at least one of the plurality of gaming machines, enabling a bidding sequence during the feature, the bidding sequence ending at a time that is unknown to the players playing at the plurality of the linked gaming machines, enabling at least one of the players playing at the plurality of linked gaming machines to place at least one bid during the bidding sequence, and awarding a feature award to the player who places a highest bid during the bidding sequence.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2013
    Publication date: November 7, 2013
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Patent number: 8491382
    Abstract: A method for use with a plurality of linked gaming machines, the plurality of linked gaming machines each having a game controller. The method comprises initiating a feature at the end of the play of a game on at least one of the plurality of gaming machines, enabling a bidding sequence during the feature, the bidding sequence ending at a time that is unknown to the players playing at the plurality of the linked gaming machines, enabling at least one of the players playing at the plurality of linked gaming machines to place at least one bid during the bidding sequence, and awarding a feature award to the player who places a highest bid during the bidding sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Publication number: 20110151968
    Abstract: A method of gaming in a gaming system comprising a) conducting a plurality of games, each game including determining whether to award an entitlement, and, upon awarding the entitlement, controlling a size of the entitlement based on a size of at least part of a wager made in the game and adding the entitlement to a current total entitlement, b) determining to apply the total entitlement, and c) applying the total entitlement to subsequent game play independently of the most recent wager size.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2010
    Publication date: June 23, 2011
    Inventors: Matthew Chan, Ryan Paul Hawkins, Alexander Sandford Todd Young, James Kroon
  • Publication number: 20110081962
    Abstract: A method for use with a plurality of linked gaming machines, the plurality of linked gaming machines each having a game controller. The method comprises initiating a feature at the end of the play of a game on at least one of the plurality of gaming machines, enabling a bidding sequence during the feature, the bidding sequence ending at a time that is unknown to the players playing at the plurality of the linked gaming machines, enabling at least one of the players playing at the plurality of linked gaming machines to place at least one bid during the bidding sequence, and awarding a feature award to the player who places a highest bid during the bidding sequence.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Publication date: April 7, 2011
    Inventor: James Kroon
  • Publication number: 20070277299
    Abstract: This invention relates generally to smokeless tobacco, and more specifically, to systems and methods for the use and storage of smokeless tobacco. In one embodiment, the invention includes a spittoon that includes a spittoon bucket and a spittoon cap. The spittoon cap is configured to be coupled to the spittoon bucket and the spittoon cap includes a tube, a first cap lip and a second cap lip. Additionally, the first cap lip and the second cap lip define a cap cavity, which is configured to hold a smokeless tobacco can. Furthermore, the tube is configured to provide a passage that allows matter to pass through the tube and be contained within the spittoon bucket.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2006
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Inventor: Rick James Kroon
  • Patent number: D840429
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED
    Inventors: James Kroon, Amy Batsiokis, Karen Kendall