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 . This Office action is based on the communications filed December 9, 2025. Claims 1 – 13 are currently pending and considered below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 5 of the Remarks, filed December 9, 2025, with respect to the rejection of claim 13 under 35 U.S.C. 101 and claims 1 – 13 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The aforementioned rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 – 8 and 11 – 13 in regards to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and with respect to claims 9 and 10 in regards to the rejection 35 U.S.C. 103 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Haughay, Jr. et al. (US 2010/0188405 A1), hereinafter Haughay.
Claim 1: Haughay discloses a computer-implemented method for generating an exercise program comprising a plurality of exercise intervals (see at least, “Displaying a graphical representation of a bum
graph associated with a media playlist (e.g., such as user interface 400 of FIG. 4) can increase the enjoyment and benefits received by a user who may workout to that play list. For example, the burn graph can provide interesting, supplementary information about a workout by visually representing
to a user the effort levels of different intervals of a workout and its relation to music being played. In this manner, by viewing a burn graph, a user can easily perceive areas of the workout where he can be prompted to exert more energy (e.g., with a faster song) and prompted to exert less energy (e.g.,
with a slower song),” Haughay [0037]), the method comprising the consecutive steps of: - providing a playlist comprising at least one music track (see at least, “FIG. 7 shows illustrative process 700 for generating a burn graph from a playlist. At step 702, a playlist can be received. The playlist can include, for example, a user-selected collection of songs or other media items the user enjoys, a computer-generated random "shuffle" of media items, a pre-packaged playlist of media items that can be purchased, or any combination of the above. The media items can be songs, audio files, videos, or any combination of suitable media types,” Haughay [0051], “receive a playlist comprising at least one media item,” Haughay claim 11), - analyzing the at least one music track to identify a plurality of music sections in said at least one music track, wherein each of the plurality of music sections is identified based on identification of musical characteristics including musical elements and time flow (see at least, “At step 704, the workout attributes of the first media item in the play list can be determined. For example, the media item's BPM, tempo, genre, mood, brightness, or any combination of the above can be analyzed. Based on the workout attributes, an effort level can be assigned to the first media item at step 706,” Haughay [0052], “determine workout attributes for the at least one media item; and define the graph from the determined workout attributes,” Haughay claim 14), - generating the exercise program based on the analysis of the at least one music track, said exercise program comprising the plurality of exercise intervals, wherein at least the timing and intensity of each of the plurality of exercise interval intervals correspond to one or more consecutive identified music sections among the identified plurality of music sections of said at least one music track in said playlist (see at least, “At step 712, a burn graph can be generated that is associated with the playlist received at step 702. The magnitude of the burn graph can be related to the effort levels values assigned to the media items at step 706. For example, a burn graph such as burn graph 602 of FIG. 6 can be generated,” Haughay [0054], “generate a graph representing the workout effectiveness of the received playlist; and direct the display to display the generated graph,” Haughay claim 11, Haughay FIG. 4).
Claim 2: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein said step of identifying a plurality of music sections comprises analyzing said at least one music track and identifying said music sections based on said analysis (see at least, “In some embodiments, to determine the expected effort level associated with a song or other type of media, various workout attributes of the media item can be determined. The determined workout attributes can include, for example, the beats per minute of the media item, the tempo of the media item, the genre of the media item, the mood of the media item, the brightness of the media item, or any combination of the above. By analyzing the entire play list of media
items and determining the expected effort levels for the media items, a burn graph representing the workout effectiveness of the playlist can be generated,” Haughay [0006], “Based on the attributes of the media item (e.g., the BPM, tempo, genre, mood, or brightness of a song) in play list 404, playlist 404 can be correlated to bum graph 402. For example, media item 406 ("Song A") can be a slower song that correlates to the relatively low effort level of section 410 of burn graph 402. If the next song in play list 404 ("Song B") has a faster BPM than Song A, section 412 of burn graph 404 can accordingly depict a higher effort level than section 412. Song C may have roughly the same BPM as Song B, and can
be associated with section 414 of bum graph 404 that is roughly the same effort level as section 412. Similarly, Song D can be associated with section 416 of bum graph 402, and Song E can be associated with section 418 of bum graph 402,” Haughay [0034]).
Claim 3: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein said step of identifying a plurality of music sections comprises reading metadata attached to said music track and identifying said music sections based on said metadata (see at least, “For example, the user device may access a remote database (e.g., access through communication circuitry 210 of FIG. 2) containing information related to various songs and media items. The information can include, for example, song titles, song durations, song artists, song composers, song albums, song genres, song moods, song brightness, song BMP, song tempo, or any combination of the above,” Haughay [0045]).
Claim 4: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein musical characteristics comprise one or more of the following music characteristics; data song title, artist title, beat, meter, dynamics, harmony, melody, pitch, rhythm, tempo, texture, timbre, intro, verse, chorus, bridge (see at least, “The information can include, for example, song titles, song durations, song artists, song composers, song albums, song genres, song moods, song brightness, song BMP, song tempo, or any combination of the above,” Haughay [0045]).
Claim 5: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein a musical section is defined and identified as an interval having at least one musical characteristic being substantially identical during the entire musical section (see at least, “For example, if a song averages 100 BPM, a user who is listening to the song may be encouraged to adjust their strides to 100 strides per minute, 50 strides per minute, or 25 strides per minute. Thus, the magnitude of a portion of a burn graph can be related to the BPM of a song that is associated with that portion of the burn graph,” Haughay [0032]).
Claim 6: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein an exercise interval corresponds to at least two consecutive identified musical sections (see at least, “Song C may have roughly the same BPM as Song B, and can be associated with section 414 of bum graph 404 that is roughly the same effort level as section 412,” Haughay [0034]).
Claim 7: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein an exercise interval in said exercise program is generated with an intensity based on the intensity of said music (see at least, “Thus, the magnitude of a portion of a burn graph can be related to the BPM of a song that is associated with that portion of the burn graph,” Haughay [0032], “In this manner, by viewing a burn graph, a user can easily perceive areas of the workout where he can be prompted to exert more energy (e.g., with a faster song) and prompted to exert less energy (e.g., with a slower song),” Haughay [0037]).
Claim 8: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein high intensity music sections result in high intensity exercise interval (see at least, “Thus, the magnitude of a portion of a burn graph can be related to the BPM of a song that is associated with that portion of the burn graph,” Haughay [0032], “In this manner, by viewing a burn graph, a user can easily perceive areas of the workout where he can be prompted to exert more energy (e.g., with a faster song) and prompted to exert less energy (e.g., with a slower song),” Haughay [0037]).
Claim 9: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a playlist comprises defining said playlist by combining a number of music tracks in a desired order (see at least, “In some embodiments, a burn graph that is associated with a playlist of media items can be customized or updated. FIG. 6 shows illustrative user interface 600 including burn graph 602 that can be generated from play list 604. In some embodiments, burn graph 602 can include workout time 606 that corresponds to the duration of play list 604. A user may, for example, determine from burn graph 602 that if they workout to play list 604, they will exercise harder at the beginning of the workout than at the end of the workout. However, the user may instead desire to exercise hardest at the end of the
workout. Thus, in some embodiments, a user can change the order of play list 604 to generate a bum graph 602 that represents a more desirable workout. As one example, as a user changes the order of the songs in play list 604, bum graph 602 can update in real-time to portray the expected effort level of
a user exercising to the updated playlist,” Haughay [0041]).
Claim 10: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a playlist comprises selecting said playlist from a list of predefined playlists (see at least, “In some embodiments, a user may already possess a particular playlist or collection of songs. The playlist can
include, for example, a user-selected collection of songs or other media items the user enjoys, a computer-generated random "shuffle" of media items, a pre-packaged playlist of media items that can be purchased, or any combination of the above. The user may desire to exercise while listening to this
playlist, and may like to see how well this playlist would function as a workout routine (e.g., the user would like to see what expected workout would result if he were to exercise while listening to this playlist).Accordingly, in some embodiments, a bum graph can be generated from a selected play list
to depict the play list's workout effectiveness,” Haughay [0038]).
Claim 11: Haughay discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein the identification of a plurality of music sections in said at least one music track is further based on historic data linking music previously selected by users in relation to their exercise programs (see at least, “For example, the user device may access a remote database (e.g., access through communication circuitry 210 of FIG. 2) containing
information related to various songs and media items. The information can include, for example, song titles, song durations, song artists, song composers, song albums, song genres, song moods, song brightness, song BMP, song tempo, or any combination of the above. A user can than create
sample playlists from the song information and generate associated bum graphs,” Haughay [0045], “In some embodiments, a playlist, generated bum graph, or both can be shared with other users or user devices. For example, user interface 600 illustrates Share option 616 that can allow a user to share playlists and burn graphs. In some embodiments, the play list or bum graph can be shared on a local network or made available to other devices that are coupled to the user device. In other embodiments, Share option 616 can allow the play list to be posted to the Internet or added as an attachment to an email. In some embodiments, in order to prevent illegal sharing of media items that are not available to the general public ( e.g., media items that must be paid for before they can be used) metadata or other tags can be embedded into the shared media items,” Haughay [0046]).
Claim 12: Haughay discloses a system for generating an exercise program comprising a plurality of exercise intervals, the system comprising: a memory; and at least one processor, coupled to the memory, operative to perform the steps substantially similar in scope to claim 1 and therefore is rejected for the same reasons (see also at least, “Control circuitry 202 can include any processing
circuitry or processor operative to control the operations and performance of user device 200. For example, control circuitry 200 can be used to run operating system applications, firmware applications, media playback applications, or any other application,” Haughay [0023], “Memory 206 can include one or more of cache memory, semi-permanent memory such as RAM, or different types of memory used for temporarily storing data. In some embodiments, memory 206 can also be used for storing data used to operate user device applications, or any other type of data that can be stored in storage 204. In some embodiments, memory 206 and storage 204 can be combined as a single storage medium,” Haughay [0025]).
Claim 13: Haughay discloses a non-transitory machine readable storage medium containing one or more programs for performing a method of providing an interactive training environment for athletic activities according to claim 1 (see at least, “Machine-readable media for representing the workout effectiveness of a playlist, comprising machine-readable instructions recorded thereon for:,” Haughay claim 20, “Memory 206 can include one or more of cache memory, semi-permanent memory such as RAM, or different types of memory used for temporarily storing data. In some embodiments, memory 206 can also be used for storing data used to operate user device applications, or any other type of data that can be stored in storage 204. In some embodiments, memory 206 and storage 204 can be combined as a single storage medium,” Haughay [0025], “Displaying a graphical representation of a bum graph associated with a media playlist (e.g., such as user interface 400 of FIG. 4) can increase the enjoyment and benefits received by a user who may workout to that play list. For example, the burn graph can provide interesting, supplementary information about a workout by visually representing to a user the effort levels of different intervals of a workout and its relation to music being played. In this manner, by viewing a burn graph, a user can easily perceive areas of the workout where he can be prompted to exert more energy (e.g., with a faster song) and prompted to exert less energy (e.g., with a slower song),” Haughay [0037], “In some embodiments, a burn graph that is associated with a playlist of media items can be customized or updated. FIG. 6 shows illustrative user interface 600 including burn graph 602 that can be generated from play list 604. In some embodiments, burn graph 602 can include workout time 606 that corresponds to the duration of play list 604. A user may, for example, determine from burn graph 602 that if they workout to play list 604, they will exercise harder at the beginning of the workout than at the end of the workout. However, the user may instead desire to exercise hardest at the end of the workout. Thus, in some embodiments, a user can change the order of play list 604 to generate a bum graph 602 that represents a more desirable workout. As one example, as a user changes the order of the songs in play list 604, bum graph 602 can update in real-time to portray the expected effort level of a user exercising to the updated playlist,” Haughay [0041]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Watterson (US 2012/0237911 A1) discloses in regards to systems, methods, and devices for interactive exercise, “By way of example, system 10 may select specific music to correspond to specific segments of a workout based on the characteristics of the music and the workout. For instance, system 10 may select music having a relatively slow tempo when the operating parameters of treadmill 12a are of relatively low intensity or when the simulated terrain is relatively level. When the operating parameters change to a higher intensity or the simulated terrain is more varied, system 10 may select music having a more upbeat tempo. Conversely, system 10 may simulate terrain or adjust other operating parameters of treadmill 12a based on characteristics of music selected by the user. For instance, if a user selects music with an upbeat tempo, system 10 may simulate terrain that is steep or increase the speed belt 42,” [0168].
Waller et al. (US 2024/0017123 A1) directed to a workout generator. See at least, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and paragraph [0007] in regards to beat-led workouts.
Huang (US 6,605,020 B1) directed to a treadmill whose speed is controlled by music.
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 JOSEPH SAUNDERS whose telephone number is (571)270-1063. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 4 p.m., EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn R Edwards can be reached at (571)270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH SAUNDERS JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
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