Lotta numbers game
An interactive, lottery-oriented game that, played in a television game show setting, allows viewers to simultaneously play along—competing with each other and, or the players/contestants playing the Lotta Numbers Game on television.
Referring to the disclosure set forth in U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/396,171, an interactive, lottery-oriented game is disclosed and is played as follows:
1) Players write down a number from 21 through 321.
2) A lottery machine is used to randomly select 6 balls. The balls are numbered 1 through 56.
3) A sum of the six randomly selected balls is calculated, referred to as Target Number. The lowest possible Target Number is 1+2+3+4+5+6=21. The highest possible Target Number is 56+55+54+53+52+51=321.
4) The player with the number closest (over or under) to the Target Number is awarded points equivalent to the Target Number.
5) If more than one player writes down the same number and that number is closest to the Target Number, those players are awarded points equivalent to the Target Number.
6) If a player's number is exactly the Target Number, the player is awarded points equivalent to double the Target Number.
7) Six rounds are played.
8) The player with the most points at the end of six rounds is the winner.
9) In the event of a tie score at the end of six rounds, an additional round is played to break the tie.
With respect to the patentability of my “Lotta Numbers Game”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,089 issued to Wood on Apr. 21,1992, is most relevant.
Wood discloses a lottery summing game in which the numerical total of the numbers drawn in a lottery are summed and a player wagers on what the numerical total will be. More specifically, three lottery numbers are randomly drawn and the sum of the three numbers is calculated. Before the numbers are drawn, players select and wager on what the final sum of the three numbers will be. This final sum is compared to the numbers selected by the players and any player who selects the correct final sum is a winner.
It would be obvious to randomly select any number of lottery numbers, including three, four, five, six or some other number. In Wood, a player wins when they select a number corresponding to the final sum of three randomly selected lottery numbers. It would be an obvious variation of the lottery summing game that a player could also win if they selected a number closest to the final sum of the three randomly selected lottery numbers. In addition, any number of rounds of the game could be played.
However, no where in Wood's patent is there any reference to, or claim that, the lottery summing game is “interactive”. Nor is interactivity obvious.
Consequently, that being the primary difference between Wood's lottery summing game and my Lotta Numbers Game, a patent should be granted.
SUMMARYThe Lotta Numbers Game is lottery-oriented and interactive. I believe that those dual qualities make Lotta Numbers ideal to serve as the foundation upon which Lottery Players TV Network can successfully be built. MPEP 608.01(d).
From a field of numbers 21 through 321, six players write down a number:
A lottery machine randomly selects six numbers:38+50+26+44+30+51=239.
239 is the Target Number.
Player #2's number 201 is closest to the Target Number. Therefore, player #2 wins the round and the 239 points in the Target Number.
Six rounds, following the above format, are played.
The player with the most points at the end of the sixth round wins the Lotta Numbers Game.
In the event of a tie score at the end of the sixth round, another round is played to break the tie.
Claims
1. A method that is interactive.
2. A method that is suitable for play on television in a game show format with multiple players competing against each other in multiple rounds.
3. A method that, in a television game show setting, allows viewers to simultaneously play along—competing with each other and, or the players/contestants playing the Lotta Numbers Game on television.
Type: Application
Filed: May 2, 2011
Publication Date: Nov 24, 2011
Inventor: George Tolbert (Detroit, MI)
Application Number: 13/068,027
International Classification: A63F 9/24 (20060101);