DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed September 11, 2025 has been entered. Claims 1-23 are pending in the application. Claims 1, 8, and 15 are noted as amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et. al. (hereinafter “Wang”) (U.S. Pub. 2018/0361203 A1) in view of Lake, II et. al. (hereinafter “Lake”) (U.S. Pub. 2015/0005911 A1), and further in view of Barnes et al. (hereinafter “Barnes”) (U.S. Pub. 2016/0151672).
With regard to claims 1, 8, and 15, Wang teaches a method [claim 1] (Abstract; Paragraph 0016; “methods”), a non-transitory computer readable medium including at least one sequence of instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations [claim 8] (Paragraphs 0067-0068; “non-transitory computer-readable storage media” storing program instructions that are executed by the processor(s)), and a system (Paragraph 0066) comprising: at least one processor (Paragraph 0066); and a non-transitory computer readable medium including at least one sequence of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations [claim 15] (Paragraphs 0066-0068), comprising:
obtaining, by a workout application on a computing device (Paragraph 0048 teach the user device can include applications for collecting and displaying information), sensor data comprising user activity data that is based on monitoring physical activity of a user by two or more sensors on a wearable device worn by the user (Paragraphs 0020, 0036, 0042 teach the system can gather exercise information via sensors attached to a user device which can include body-worn devices and/or fitness watches (wearable device)), wherein the two or more sensors comprise a heartrate sensor and a motion sensor (Paragraphs 0016, 0035 teach the sensors may include an accelerometer (motion sensor) and/or a heartrate sensor/monitor);
determining, by the workout application, a workout category, of a plurality of pre-determined workout categories, of the predicted workout that was (a) performed by the user and (b) determined by the workout application by analyzing the sensor data (Paragraphs 0024, 0029, 0038, 0041, 0053 teach the system can use the exercise and fitness information, including the sensor data related to the users exercise performance, to determine a exercise category for the user including characteristics of the exercise and exercise information wherein the classification of a workout category occurs based in part on historical data input to a machine learning model which classifies the data into known (pre-determined) categories such as cardio and weight lifting);
wherein the workout category is associated with a plurality of different types of workouts including the predicted workout (Paragraphs 0029, 0049 teach the categories can be related to various workout types such as cardio and weight lifting);
obtaining, by the workout application, a catalogue of workouts provided by a workout service associated with the workout application (Paragraphs 0031, 0058 teach the system includes a database of exercise-related recommendations (catalogue of workouts));
generating, by the workout application, workout recommendations from the catalogue of workouts based on the characteristics of the workout category of the predicted workout (Paragraphs 0024, 0039, 0101 teach the system can recommend exercises based on matching the user’s exercise category wherein the recommendations come from the database of recommendations); and
causing, by the workout application, the workout recommendations to be presented on a display (Paragraphs 0048, 0065 teach the exercise recommendations can be output and provided to the user via the user device on a display).
Wang may not explicitly teach analyzing, by the workout application, the sensor data to predict a workout performed by the user. However, Lake teaches a system and method for exercise analysis including analyzing, by the workout application, the sensor data to predict a workout performed by the user (Paragraphs 0038, 0049, 0051 teach the sensor data is analyzed to identify an exercise type performed by the user).
It would have been prima facie obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the method disclosed by Lake with the method disclosed by Wang to analyze sensor data to determine the type of exercise a user is performing, for the purpose of accurately determining a category of user workout and determining user exercise performance including accuracy and form, as both references and the claimed invention are direct to exercise analytic system and methods identifying user workouts/exercises. Upon modification, Wang would include analyzing, by the workout application, the sensor data to predict a workout performed by the user and the generation of recommendations being based on characteristics of the workout category of the predicted workout.
Wang in view of Lake may not explicitly teach subsequent to determining the workout category: determining, by the workout application, characteristics of the workout category of the predicted workout, the characteristics of the workout category being different than any of the plurality of pre-determined workout categories. However, Barnes teaches a system and method for recommending an exercise activity for a user based in part on previous user actions/activities wherein the system determine a user action or exercise performed based on matching a generated motion pattern to stored motion patterns wherein the system updates the stored patterns based on user motion patterns (characteristics) and wherein the system identifies an exercise activity category based on the stored motion patterns (characteristics) which are specific to each training activity which are grouped/associated with the categories thereby when the system updates the patterns after a determination of a user’s performance and unique features/characteristics, the updated patterns and categories would be specific/unique from each other category (Paragraphs 0022, 0056-0057, 0060, 0069).
It would have been prima facie obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the method disclosed by Barnes with the method disclosed by Wang in view of Lake to include a plurality of predetermined workout categories and determine motion patterns/characteristics of a workout activity and category and update the characteristics, for the purpose of accurately determining a category of user workout based on unique user characteristics and motions and recommending corresponding workouts based on the workout category, as the references and the claimed invention are direct to exercise analytic systems and methods identifying user workouts/exercises. Upon modification, Wang in view of Lake would include subsequent to determining the workout category: determining, by the workout application, characteristics of the workout category of the predicted workout, the characteristics of the workout category being different than any of the plurality of pre-determined workout categories.
With regard to claims 2, 9, and 16, Wang further teaches further comprising: selecting, by the workout application, a particular workout from the catalogue of workouts based on the workout type (Paragraphs 0024, 0039, 0101 teach the system can recommend exercises based on matching the user’s exercise category wherein the recommendations come from the database of recommendations); and causing, by the workout application, the particular workout to be presented as a recommended workout (Paragraphs 0048, 0065 teach the exercise recommendations can be output and provided to the user via the user device on a display), but may not explicitly teach determining, by the workout application, a workout type corresponding to the predicted workout. However, Lake further teaches determining, by the workout application, a workout type corresponding to the predicted workout (Paragraphs 0049, 0051 teach the system can identify an exercise type performed by the user such as a fly, dumbbell, deadlift, etc. exercise).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Wang to incorporate the teachings of Lake by incorporating the step of identifying an exercise type, as both references and the claimed invention are directed to exercise analytic system and methods identifying user workouts/exercises. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Wang by coding the system to include identifying the type of exercise for the exercise information gathered by the sensors of Wang and thereby including the exercise type as part of the determination for a workout recommendation. Upon such modification, the method and system of Wang would include determining, by the workout application, a workout type corresponding to the predicted workout and selecting a workout recommendation based on the workout type. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Lake with Wang’s system and method in order to more accurately determine user exercises and provide more comprehensive recommendations.
With regard to claims 3, 10, and 17, Wang further teaches further comprising: selecting, by the workout application, a particular workout from the catalogue of workouts based on the workout category, where a second workout category associated with the particular workout corresponds to the workout category (Paragraphs 0027, 0031, 0039, 0044, 0053 teach the system can recommend/select exercise recommendations based on the user’s exercise category including recommending different machines or sets of exercises (second category) related to/within the category); and causing, by the workout application, the particular workout to be presented as a recommended workout (Paragraphs 0048, 0065 teach the exercise recommendations can be output and provided to the user via the user device on a display).
With regard to claims 4, 11, and 18, Wang further teaches further comprising: selecting, by the workout application, a particular workout from the catalogue of workouts based on the workout category, where a second workout category associated with the particular workout corresponds to the workout category (Paragraphs 0027, 0031, 0039, 0044 teach the system can recommend/select exercise recommendations based on the user’s exercise category including recommending different machines and/or categories of exercises (second category) distinct from one another); and causing, by the workout application, the particular workout to be presented as a recommended workout (Paragraphs 0048, 0065 teach the exercise recommendations can be output and provided to the user via the user device on a display).
With regard to claims 5, 12, and 19, Wang further teaches further comprising: obtaining, by the workout application, user workout data describing internal workouts previously performed by the user through the workout application (Paragraph 0044 teaches the system can receive/obtain subsequent exercise information based on the user performing the recommended (internal) exercises); determining, by the workout application, the workout category associated with the predicted workout and the internal workouts (Paragraphs 0024, 0029, 0038, 0041, 0045, 0053 teach the system can use the exercise and fitness information, including the sensor data related to the users exercise performance, to determine a exercise category for the user including characteristics of the exercise and exercise information including updating the model based on user performance of recommended/internal exercises); and selecting, by the workout application, a particular workout from the catalogue of workouts based on the workout category, where a second workout category associated with the particular workout is distinct from the workout category (Paragraphs 0027, 0031, 0039, 0044 teach the system can recommend/select exercise recommendations based on the user’s exercise category including recommending different machines and/or categories of exercises (second category) distinct from one another); and causing, by the workout application, the particular workout to be presented as a recommended workout (Paragraphs 0048, 0065 teach the exercise recommendations can be output and provided to the user via the user device on a display).
With regard to claims 6, 13, and 20, Wang further teaches further comprising: obtaining, by the workout application, user workout data describing internal workouts previously performed by the user through the workout application (Paragraph 0044 teaches the system can receive/obtain subsequent exercise information based on the user performing the recommended (internal) exercises); selecting, by the workout application, a particular workout from the catalogue of workouts based on the workout category, where a second workout category associated with the particular workout corresponds to the first workout category (Paragraphs 0027, 0031, 0039, 0044 teach the system can recommend/select exercise recommendations based on the user’s exercise category including recommending different machines and/or categories of exercises (second category) distinct from one another); and causing, by the workout application, the particular workout to be presented as a recommended workout (Paragraphs 0048, 0065 teach the exercise recommendations can be output and provided to the user via the user device on a display), but may not explicitly teach determining, by the workout application, that the workout category is not associated with an internal workout described in the user workout data; and selecting a particular workout in response to determining that the workout category is not associated with the internal workout described in the user workout data. However, Lake further teaches the system can record new exercise types that the user has not performed before thereby not being associated with an “internal workout” and identifying the category and type of new exercise and update the statistical model (Paragraphs 0028, 0049, 0051, 0073, 0119).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Wang to incorporate the teachings of Lake by incorporating the step of identifying a new exercise type, as both references and the claimed invention are directed to exercise analytic system and methods identifying user workouts/exercises. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Wang by coding the system to include identifying new types of exercise based on the exercise information gathered by the sensors of Wang and thereby including the exercise type as part of the determination for a workout recommendation wherein new exercise types would not be an “internal workout” and the system could thereby generate workout recommendations after the recording of a new exercise type thereby selecting/recommending workouts in response to the new exercise type that did not match (is not associated with) previous internal workouts. Upon such modification, the method and system of Wang would include determining, by the workout application, that the workout category is not associated with an internal workout described in the user workout data; and selecting a particular workout in response to determining that the workout category is not associated with the internal workout described in the user workout data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Lake with Wang’s system and method in order to more accurately determine user exercises and provide more comprehensive recommendations.
With regard to claims 7, 14, and 21, Wang further teaches further comprising: causing, by the workout application, the workout recommendations to be presented by a playback device that is distinct from the computing device (Paragraphs 0048, 0065, 0081, 0088 teach the recommendation engine can be executed on a service provider computer (computing device) separate/distinct from the user device (playback device) wherein the recommendations are displayed on the user device).
With regard to claim 22, Wang may not explicitly teach wherein the characteristics of the workout category of the predicted workout indicate at least one of: cardiovascular training, strength training, flexibility training, and core training. However, Lake further teaches wherein the exercise identified can be a cardio, weight, strength, flexibility, and/or crunch (core) exercise (Paragraph 0049).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Wang to incorporate the teachings of Lake by incorporating the step of identifying an exercise type including a category, as both references and the claimed invention are directed to exercise analytic system and methods identifying user workouts/exercises. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Wang by coding the system to include identifying the type of exercise for the exercise information gathered by the sensors of Wang and thereby including the exercise type as part of the determination for a workout recommendation wherein the type can be part of a larger group such as cardio, weight, strength, flexibility, and/or crunch (core) exercises. Upon such modification, the method and system of Wang would include wherein the characteristics of the workout category of the predicted workout indicate at least one of: cardiovascular training, strength training, flexibility training, and core training. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Lake with Wang’s system and method in order to more accurately determine user exercises and provide more comprehensive recommendations.
With regard to claim 23, Wang may not explicitly teach wherein the workout category is one of: cardiovascular training, strength training, flexibility training, and core training. However, Lake further teaches wherein the exercise identified can be a cardio, weight, strength, flexibility, and/or crunch (core) exercise (Paragraph 0049).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Wang to incorporate the teachings of Lake by incorporating the step of identifying an exercise type including a category, as both references and the claimed invention are directed to exercise analytic system and methods identifying user workouts/exercises. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify Wang by coding the system to include identifying the type of exercise for the exercise information gathered by the sensors of Wang and thereby including the exercise type as part of the determination for a workout recommendation wherein the type can be part of a larger group such as cardio, weight, strength, flexibility, and/or crunch (core) exercises. Upon such modification, the method and system of Wang would include wherein the workout category is one of: cardiovascular training, strength training, flexibility training, and core training. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate these teachings from Lake with Wang’s system and method in order to more accurately determine user exercises and provide more comprehensive recommendations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed September 11, 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1-23 under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection(s) of claims 1-23 under 35 U.S.C. 101 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, see pages 16-18, filed September 11, 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-23 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection(s) has/have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of the newly cited combination of prior art.
Conclusion
Accordingly, claims 1-23 are rejected.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CORRELL T FRENCH whose telephone number is (571)272-8162. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-5pm; Alt Fri 7:30am-4pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kang Hu can be reached on (571)270-1344. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CORRELL T FRENCH/Examiner, Art Unit 3715
/KANG HU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715