Patent Position Mapping and Publicly Disclosed Technology Review
Granted United States Patent Position
U.S. Patent No. 12,528,021 B2
System and Method for Facilitating Virtual Participation in a Racing Event
Granted — ActiveUnited States Patent and Trademark Office
Legal status record
Patent Status Panel
- United States Patent
- US 12,528,021 B2
- U.S. Application
- 18/559,813
- Title
- System and Method for Facilitating Virtual Participation in a Racing Event
- Listed assignee
- Sage Entertainment Pty Ltd
- Inventor
- Grant Bailey
- Claimed priority date
- 12 May 2021
- U.S. grant / publication date
- 20 January 2026
- Status
- Granted — Active
Bibliographic entries above are reproduced from patent-record sources. Where patent-record databases qualify legal-status, assignee or priority information, those qualifications apply, and such database information is not presented as an independent legal opinion. Legal status, ownership of record and priority entitlement should be confirmed against official USPTO records and the recorded assignment history.
SourceU.S. Patent No. 12,528,021 B2 — patent record|USPTO Patent Center — Application No. 18/559,813
Executive patent position
The Granted Patent Position
The granted patent concerns a computer-implemented architecture enabling one or more users to virtually participate in a real-world racing event through the generation of a multidimensional virtual environment derived from racing-event data.
The patent position accordingly relates to the technological connection between real-world racing-event data and interactive, user-controlled participation within a virtual reconstruction of that event, in which the actual participants of the event are themselves represented.
SourceU.S. Patent No. 12,528,021 B2 — abstract, summary and detailed description
Protected Technical Architecture
The granted patent position is directed to the technological connection between real-world racing-event data and user-controlled virtual participation in that event.
Real-world racing event data
Data feed associated with a live, prerecorded or historical racing event.
Multidimensional virtual reconstruction
Event data processed to generate a virtual environment substantially replicating the physical racing environment.
Virtual representation of actual participants
Virtualised representations corresponding to actual participants in the racing event.
User-controlled virtual participation
An independently controlled user avatar, with the environment presented from that avatar's viewpoint.
Competition with the real-world event participants
Virtual participation alongside, and competition against, representations of actual race participants.
SourceU.S. Patent No. 12,528,021 B2 — specification, claims and drawings
Technical Position of the Granted Patent
Four compact technical panels. Select a panel to review the corresponding element of the disclosed architecture.
Central technical proposition
From Passive Observation to Interactive Participation
Conventional consumption of racing-event information positions the remote user as an observer of the event. Information travels outward from the event to the user, and the user's relationship to the event is receptive.
The architecture addressed by the granted patent is directed to a different technical relationship. Event data is processed to generate a multidimensional virtual environment in which the actual participants in the racing event are represented, and into which an independently controlled user avatar is introduced. The user's relationship to the event becomes participatory within the reconstructed environment.
Conventional event consumption
Real-world event
Broadcast / data / replay
Remote user observes the event
Granted patent architecture
Real-world racing event
Event data feed
Multidimensional virtual reconstruction
Actual race participants represented within that environment
User-controlled avatar introduced into the reconstructed environment
User virtually participates alongside and competes against the represented participants
This comparison is provided to explain the technical proposition of the granted patent. It is not a statement as to novelty, validity or infringement, and no such conclusion is asserted or implied.
SourceU.S. Patent No. 12,528,021 B2 — specification and drawings
Claim Framework, Methodology and Evidentiary Standard
The framework upon which the limitation-by-limitation analysis in the subsequent sections will be conducted.
Claim framework
Granted Claim Framework
The granted patent contains multiple claim forms directed to the protected technology, including independent claims directed to computer-implemented method protection, system protection, and computer-readable-medium / software implementation protection, together with dependent claims further limiting those independent claims.
Computer-implemented method
Claim 1 — the first independent claim of the issued claim set, directed to a computer-implemented method of facilitating virtual participation in a racing event.
System
Independent system claim as issued, directed to computer hardware associated with each user and one or more processors in communication with that computer hardware, configured to perform the specified claimed operations.
Computer-readable medium / software implementation
Independent non-transitory computer-readable-medium claim as issued, directed to instructions which, when executed, cause the claimed operations to be performed.
The following sections of this Patent Position Mapping will assess the issued claims on a limitation-by-limitation basis against identified publicly disclosed technology and functionality.
Later sections will examine each independent and dependent claim individually. Independent claim numbering for the system and computer-readable-medium claims is stated by form in this section and will be recited verbatim, with claim numbers, from the issued claim set at the commencement of the claim-mapping sections.
SourceU.S. Patent No. 12,528,021 B2 — issued claim set|USPTO Patent Center — Application No. 18/559,813
Analytical methodology
Mapping Methodology
The granted claims constitute the controlling reference point for this analysis. Publicly disclosed third-party functionality is assessed against the requirements of those claims. The analysis does not begin with a third-party product and retrospectively identify broadly similar patent language.
- 01Granted claim
- 02Individual claim limitation
- 03Publicly disclosed functionality
- 04Supporting public evidence
- 05Technical correspondence
- 06Evidentiary gap / qualification
This methodology remains consistent throughout all subsequent sections of the mapping.
Evidentiary standard
Classifications Used in Later Sections
01Publicly established
The identified public evidence expressly supports the relevant functionality.
02Strongly corresponding
Public evidence demonstrates functionality having substantial technical correspondence, although some implementation details are not publicly established.
03Partially corresponding
Public evidence establishes only part of the relevant claim requirement.
04Not established from public disclosures
Sufficient public evidence has not presently been identified to establish the relevant requirement.
Qualification
A classification of "Not Established from Public Disclosures" does not establish that the relevant functionality is absent. It means only that the functionality has not been established from the public evidence identified for purposes of this review.
Legal qualification
Scope of Review
This presentation is a technical and patent-position mapping based upon the granted United States patent and identified publicly available information. It is prepared to facilitate technical, intellectual-property and commercial review.
References to technical correspondence are not, without further legal and factual analysis, conclusions as to patent infringement, validity, enforceability or claim construction. Such matters may require consideration of the complete prosecution history, applicable prior art, confidential implementation information and advice from qualified United States patent counsel.