DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 19-20 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/16/26.
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)(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.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Brammer (US Pub. 2023/0039903).
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Brammer discloses a system of a peripheral device (fig.1 element 118B) that is associated with an exercise machine (fig.1 element 102A), the system comprising:
a processor; and memory connected with the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions that cause the processor to perform a method (par.0129-0131 “the computer system 700 may be employed in….exercise machine……the processor…..to execute instruction stored….storage media”), the method including:
determining whether the peripheral device can establish a direct connection with
the exercise machine (par.065 “and/or one or more of the network devices may be able
to connect directly to the exercise machine 102”); and
when the peripheral device cannot establish the direct connection with the exercise machine (par.065 “One or more of the network devices 118 may be unable to connect directly via Bluetooth to the exercise machine 102…….the network device 118B is a smartphone”):
establishing a connection with a remote data service associated with the exercise machine (par.0159 “the two or more exercise machines may query a network connection…..The server may be remote from the two or more exercise machines”); and
exchanging data captured from a user of the exercise machine with the exercise machine via the established connection with the remote data service (par.060 “the video workout program may be transmitted from the server 104 to the exercise machines 102”, par.0148 “The exercise machine system 900 may include a local database 921”, par.0150 “The device 910 may synchronize the local database 921 with the server 920 to update the state of the workout server”).
Regarding claims 2 and 11, Brammer discloses the peripheral device can establish the direct connection with the exercise machine: establishing the direct connection with the exercise machine (par.096 “Operating parameters of some exercise machines……or on a directly connected device such as the tablet 116”); and exchanging data captured from the user of the exercise machine with the exercise machine via the direct connection (par.060 “a separate tablet 116….may function in connection with a console….of the exercise machine 102……to browse available video workout programs”).
Regarding claims 3 and 12, Brammer discloses the data captured from the user of the exercise machine includes heart rate data captured during an exercise activity performed by the user on the exercise machine (par.022 “the video workout program at the exercise machine and the heart rate monitor”).
Regarding claims 4 and 13, Brammer discloses the peripheral device is a smart watch worn by the user during an exercise activity performed by the user on the exercise machine (par.0129-0130 “the computer system may be part of………..the tablet………a smartwatch”) .
Regarding claims 5 and 14, Brammer discloses the peripheral device is a heart rate monitor worn by the user during an exercise activity performed by the user on the exercise machine (par.073 “a heart-rate strap or heart rate watch…..worn by the user”).
Regarding claims 6 and 15, Brammer discloses the exercise machine is an exercise bicycle, and wherein the remote data service is located at a server remote from the exercise bicycle that is configured to stream content displayed by the exercise bicycle during an exercise activity performed by the user on the exercise machine (fig. 1 elements 102B, par.049 “a stationary bike 102B”).
Regarding claims 7 and 16, Brammer discloses the exercise machine is a treadmill (fig.1 element 102A), and wherein the remote data service is located at a server remote from the treadmill (fig.1 element 104) that is configured to stream content displayed by the exercise bicycle during an exercise activity performed by the user on the exercise machine (par.051 “the server 104 may provide video workout…..at the…..the consoles 110”).
Regarding claims 8 and 17, Brammer discloses establishing a connection with a remote data service associated with the exercise machine includes establishing a connection between a metrics service of the peripheral device and the remote data service (par.051 “the server 104 may provide video workout…..at the…..the consoles 110”, par.0138 “a stream of performance metrics to the server 820”).
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Brammer discloses the system is part of a mobile application supported by the peripheral device (par.0130 “a mobile phone”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Tu Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-7883. The examiner can normally be reached on 8AM-5PM Eastern Time.
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 Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on 571-272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300 or mailed to:
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Hand-delivered responses should be brought to
Customer Service Window
Randolph Building
401 Delany Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TU X NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642