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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I- Species 1(a) including claims 1-3 in the reply filed on 10/17/2025 is acknowledged. As such claims 4-7 have been withdrawn from consideration.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of the instant application’s claim for priority to PCT/US2022/13434 which was filed 01/22/2022, which further claims priority to provision application 63/140,538 filed on 1/22/2021, and as such the earliest date of priority of 01/22/2021 is granted to the instant application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 03/04/2024, and 07/21/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities:
On lines 4-5, “measured in a direction at least one of parallel to a direction of a race event or perpendicular to the direction of the race event.” should be –measured in at least one of a direction parallel to a direction of a race event or a direction perpendicular to the direction of the race event.--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “an apparatus configured to alter a resistance of the mechanical energy storage device with an added resistance and dissipate the energy of the mechanical energy storage device” in claim 1.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
Paragraph [0033] of the instant application’s specification states “In this way, an apparatus (e.g., the electrical machine 110) can be configured to alter a resistance of the mechanical energy storage device (described below) with an added resistance and dissipate the energy of the mechanical energy storage device.” With paragraph [0030] previously outlining the exemplary structures that electrical 110 can be for the purposes of the invention when it stated, “In various embodiments, the electrical machine 110 can be any suitable device including, but not limited to, a separately excited electric machine, alternating current induction motor, permanent-magnet alternating current motor, or brushed or brushless direct current motor.”
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s)1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schaefer et al. US 20180099178 A1.
Regarding claim 1:
Schaefer discloses a computer-implemented system for a system of exercise machines comprising (“These systems and methods can provide networked communication between multiple exercise machines to provide machine users with a common exercise experience that simulates aspects of joint operation of a single athletic apparatus or of operation in a common environment of separate athletic apparatuses.” See paragraph [0029]): a plurality of exercise machines (“In an example, the network 230 comprises a number of exercise machines that are similar to exercise machine 204 and are interconnected by cabled or wireless channels, where machine 204 and the machines with which it is in communication act as communicative nodes in a network topology. In another example, the network 230 is the internet.” See paragraph [0035]), each exercise machine (The examiner notes that as stated in paragraph [0035] above the exercise machines connected through the network are all similar and therefore have the same structures/functions) of the plurality of exercise machines comprising: a mechanical energy storage device (flywheel 616, which the examiner notes is described as one possible mechanical energy storage device in paragraph [0058]) mounted to the exercise machine (See figure 6A); and an apparatus configured to alter a resistance of the mechanical energy storage device with an added resistance and dissipate the energy of the mechanical energy storage device (The examiner notes that the exemplary exercise system shown in figures 6A-6B, and discussed accordingly below are stated as being an example of the system shown in figure 2 and therefore they have the same structures and functions. Therefore, paragraph [0034] states, “the computer 214 may transmit signals that cause the excitation current in a winding of the electrical machine 210 to increase or decrease, thus altering the torque placed by the electrical machine 210 on the inertial mechanism 208 and ultimately altering the mechanical load felt by the athlete 202” , which corresponds directly to the generator 618 and load bank 626, shown in the example exercise device of figure 6 where paragraph [0054] states more specifically how the generator increases the resistance to acceleration of the flywheel, and paragraph [0061] stating the possible structures the generator 618 can be where it states, “ the electrical generator 618 can be any suitable device including, but not limited to, a separately excited electric machine (SEPEX), alternating current (AC) induction, permanent-magnet alternating current (PMAC), brushless direct current motor (BLDC), etc.”, which all correspond directly to the structures listed in the claim interpretation under 35 USC 112(f) above. Furthermore the examiner notes that paragraph [0064] states, “Additionally, the electrical load bank 626 can comprise various different structures to achieve the goal of dissipating the electrical energy created by physical work by the rower 602 input into the electrical generator 618.” As such, the combination of the generator 618 and the load bank 626 together are an apparatus that both alter the resistance of the flywheel with an added resistance and dissipate the energy of the flywheel.); a server (server 518) featuring a processor, memory, and networking interface (The examiner notes that paragraph [0047] states, “ The server 518 can be a computing device (e.g., laptop, desktop, tablet) capable of overseeing coordination of trainers, communications between trainers and operators, simulation of team operation of virtual apparatuses, other simulation tasks (e.g., virtual reality generation), and storage, retrieval, and generation of data pertaining to the operation of the system 500 (e.g., data pertaining the conduct of simulated training runs and competitions)”, with it being common knowledge that laptops computers and tablets all have processors, memories, and networking interfaces, which the networking is discussed in the citation above and shown in figure 5.); and a communication pathway, wherein the communication pathway enables the server to communicate with each exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines (“A communication pathway enables exchange of data between multiple associated exercise machines such that multiple associated operators on multiple associated exercise machines have a common experience.” See abstract) to communicate a virtual position of each exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines relative to every other exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines (“Audiovisual feedback is in some embodiments provided to the operator by a virtual reality device (e.g., Oculus Rift) to endow the training experience with a high degree of psychophysical realism. In one example, rowers on a virtual crew team—every one of whom is hundreds of kilometers away from every other—share a virtual reality in which each operator occupies a definite point of view in a virtual watercraft, and movement of the virtual watercraft (and potentially of competing virtual watercraft) in the virtual reality is determined algorithmically from the physical efforts of the operators.” See paragraph [0011]. The examiner notes that movement of the virtual watercraft, whether it be the watercraft the team is operating or a competing watercraft operated by competitors, shown virtually to the user, is the system communicating a virtual position of the exercise machines to each other); wherein the server: receives data from each exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines (“Data received by the computer 214 via the network 230 during computation of the team algorithm typically include real-time data on the activities of the M−1 real athletes other than the real local athlete 202 on the virtual team. Real-time data on the activities of the real local athlete 202 are gathered directly by the computer 214 from machine 204.” See paragraph [0039]); extracts performance information from the data (“The team algorithm can also accept as input real-time data representing the activities of N athletes, N≧1, one of whom may be the operator 202 of the exercise machine 204.” See paragraph [0037], with the examiner noting that athlete activity is performance information); and transmits the performance information to each exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines to alter the resistance of the mechanical energy storage device (“The team algorithm, operating on real activity data from M real athletes and simulated activity data from N−M simulated athletes, and consequently modifying the loads specified for both real and simulated athletes on an N-member team, is designed to approximate the performance of an actual athletic apparatus (e.g., rowboat) operated jointly by the N team members” See paragraph [0041]) based upon the relative position of each exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines to every other exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines (“Real athletes participating in a virtual team experience time-varying resistance from their exercise machines that reflects the efforts of other team members, real and simulated, in a manner approximating joint team operation of a real physical apparatus, even though other real team members are operating physically separate machines that may be geographically distant” See paragraph [0041]).
[AltContent: textbox (Fig. 2: a schematic representation of an illustrative exercise system according to at least one aspect of the present disclosure.)]
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[AltContent: textbox (Fig. 5: a schematic representation of an exemplary centralized network comprising a number of exercise systems, each similar to the exercise system of FIG. 2)]
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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.
Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer et al. US 20180099178 A1, and further in view of Oishi et al. US 6881176 B1.
Regarding claim 2:
Schaefer teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 1, but fails to teach the virtual position comprising a virtual measurement of a virtual distance between each exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines and every other exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines, the virtual measurement measured in a direction at least one of parallel to a direction of a race event or perpendicular to the direction of the race event.
Oishi, however, teaches an exercise assistance apparatus which arouses a sense of rivalry in the user so that the user can exhibit an active will in the exercise which has an exercise equipment where a movable section for a user to perform a traveling movement operation in a loaded status and a detection section for detecting the movement of the movable section are disposed (See col.1 lines 37-45), and further teaches the virtual position comprising a virtual measurement of a virtual distance between each exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines and every other exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines (“The above mentioned speed calculation section 302 and the position calculation section 303 repeatedly performs processing at a predetermined time pitch, and the position calculation section 303 outputs the relative fore and aft positional relationship between the self bike position and the opponent character position, which is determined by the later mentioned opponent bike position calculation section 362, to the drawing instruction section 31.” See col.7 lines 50-56 and figure 8 which depicts not only opponent characters 105 but also the three opponents 120b-d nearest to the user 120a), the virtual measurement measured in a direction at least one of parallel to a direction of a race event (See figure 8 where the opponent characters 105 are depicted in front of the user point of view following the direction of the virtual race, therefore parallel to the direction of the race event. The examiner further notes that col. 10 lines 45-53 discuss how the distance detection section 365 specifies an opponent which would be a substantial target for the user to pass who is near the user is calculated to be within 10 meters ahead of the user which would be in the same direction as the virtual race depicted as well.) or perpendicular to the direction of the race event (See figure 8 which depicts the three nearest opponents to the user as virtual representations 120b-d, specifically 120c which is depicted laterally as the user passes them in the virtual space showing that the system measures distance in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the race in order to provide a three-dimensional visual to the user.)
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It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Schaefer to determine the virtual position of the other exercise machines by calculating a virtual distance between each exercise machine from each other in either a parallel or perpendicular direction to the race as taught by Oishi, as this would allow the resistance adjustments and the audiovisual feedback system to more accurately present teammates, or opponents’ performances, to the user in the form of load adjustments or visuals depicted virtually which the positions of each exercise machine throughout the race.
Regarding claim 3:
Schaefer teaches the computer-implemented system of claim 1, but fails to teach the virtual position comprising a virtual measurement of a virtual distance between each exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines and every other exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines, the virtual measurement including a component measured in a direction perpendicular to a direction of a race event and the virtual measurement including a component measured in a direction parallel to the direction of a race event.
Oishi, however, teaches an exercise assistance apparatus which arouses a sense of rivalry in the user so that the user can exhibit an active will in the exercise which has an exercise equipment where a movable section for a user to perform a traveling movement operation in a loaded status and a detection section for detecting the movement of the movable section are disposed (See col.1 lines 37-45), and further teaches the virtual position comprising a virtual measurement of a virtual distance between each exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines and every other exercise machine of the plurality of exercise machines (“The above mentioned speed calculation section 302 and the position calculation section 303 repeatedly performs processing at a predetermined time pitch, and the position calculation section 303 outputs the relative fore and aft positional relationship between the self bike position and the opponent character position, which is determined by the later mentioned opponent bike position calculation section 362, to the drawing instruction section 31.” See col.7 lines 50-56 and figure 8 which depicts not only opponent characters 105 but also the three opponents 120b-d nearest to the user 120a), the virtual measurement including a component measured in a direction perpendicular to a direction of a race event (See figure 8 where the opponent characters 105 are depicted in front of the user point of view following the direction of the virtual race, therefore parallel to the direction of the race event. The examiner further notes that col. 10 lines 45-53 discuss how the distance detection section 365 specifies an opponent which would be a substantial target for the user to pass who is near the user is calculated to be within 10 meters ahead of the user which would be in the same direction as the virtual race depicted as well.) and the virtual measurement including a component measured in a direction parallel to the direction of a race event (See figure 8 which depicts the three nearest opponents to the user as virtual representations 120b-d, specifically 120c which is depicted laterally as the user passes them in the virtual space showing that the system measures distance in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the race in order to provide a three-dimensional visual to the user.).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Schaefer to determine the virtual position of the other exercise machines by calculating a virtual distance between each exercise machine from each other in a parallel and perpendicular direction to the race as taught by Oishi, as this would allow the resistance adjustments and the audiovisual feedback system to more accurately present teammates, or opponents’ performances, to the user in the form of load adjustments or visuals depicted virtually which the positions of each exercise machine throughout the race.
Conclusion
The following prior art made of the record has not been relied upon but has been found to be pertinent to the content of the applicant’s disclosure:
Lagree et al. US 10702760 B1: System and Method for Networking Fitness Machines, which teaches a system and method for networking fitness machines for allowing a fitness trainer or instructor to control various settings for a plurality of exercise machines simultaneously, and further for allowing an individual user and/or trainer to modify the settings of an individual exercise machine.
Smith et al. US 10471297 B1: Rowing, which teaches a rowing technology including a first rowing machine having an electromagnetic brake providing a resistance to a rower of the machine in each rowing stroke of a series of rowing strokes of the rower, and an electronic controller causes the resistance of the electromagnetic brake to vary over each rowing stroke in a profile that emulates resistance to which another rower in a shell on water or on a second rowing machine is subjected in each rowing stroke of a corresponding series of rowing strokes.
Foley et al. US 10022590 B2: Exercise System and Method, which teaches a method for displaying live and archived cycling classes comprising displaying information about cycling classes that can be accessed by a first user using a first stationary bike via a digital communication network on a display screen at a first location, whereby the first user can select either a live cycling class or select among a plurality of archived cycling classes, outputting digital video and audio content comprising the selected cycling class, detecting performance parameters from the first stationary bike at a particular point in the selected class, displaying at least one of the performance parameters on the display screen, and displaying performance parameters from a second stationary bike at a second location on the display screen such that at least one of the performance parameters from the first stationary bike and at least one of the performance parameters from the second stationary bike at the same point in the class are presented for comparison.
Hood et al. US 5213555 A: Exercise Equipment Information, Communication and Display System, which teaches an information, communication and control system for use in a health club which accumulates data from various types of exercise equipment and permits a number of exercise machines to be raced against one another.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN ANGELO DICUIA whose telephone number is (703)756-4713. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, LoAn Jimenez can be reached at (571) 272-4966. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.A.D./Examiner, Art Unit 3784
/LOAN B JIMENEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3784