Granted U.S. PatentUS 12,528,021 B2

Patent Position Mapping

08Patent Position Mapping

Independent Claim 7 — Detailed System Claim Mapping

Publicly Disclosed iRacing System Architecture Assessed Against Issued Claim 7. Claim 7 is an independent system claim and is mapped independently on its own issued wording: hardware, processors, communications, displays, input devices, server/network architecture, event-data processing, participant representation and user interaction are each assessed separately.

Granted U.S. Patent —US 12,528,021 B2

View Issued Claim 7

Opening claim position

Claim 7 — Independent System Claim

View Issued Claim 7

Claim 7 is directed to a system for facilitating one or more users in virtually participating in a real-world racing event.

Unlike Claim 1, which is framed as a method, Claim 7 expressly claims a combination of:

  • computer hardware associated with users;
  • processors communicating with that hardware; and
  • processor configuration performing the specified event-data, virtual-environment and user-participation functions.

Claim 7 is mapped independently on its own issued wording. The Claim 1 analysis of Section 06 is not reused or relabelled: system hardware, processors, communications, user-side equipment, displays, input devices, server/network architecture, virtual-environment functionality, event-data processing, participant representation and user interaction are each assessed separately. The controlling text is the issued claim set of US 12,528,021 B2.

Methodology

Controlling Analytical Sequence

  1. Issued Claim 7
  2. System component
  3. System function
  4. iRacing public evidence
  5. Entity / product attribution
  6. Assessment
  7. Evidentiary gap
  8. Whole-system claim conclusion

Four assessment terms are used throughout: Publicly Established, Strongly Corresponding, Partially Corresponding, and Not Established From Public Disclosures. No percentage scoring is applied and no infringement conclusion is drawn.

Claim 7 — exact system architecture

The Claimed System as a Combination

Real-world racing event

Event data feed

One or more processors

Processing

Multi-dimensional virtual environment

Virtualized participants

Corresponding movement

User avatar

Network / communication

User computer hardware

Display

User instructions

Race-path navigation

Virtual participation / competition

Claim 7 requires the claimed system architecture as a combination. Public evidence for individual hardware and software components does not by itself establish the entire system claim.

Claim 7 — system component breakdown

Analytical Groups 7A–7R

Limitation 7A

System for Virtual Participation in a Real-World Racing Event

Real-world motorsport context is established; the claimed system purpose is not.

Issued claim language — verbatim

A system for facilitating one or more users in virtually participating in a real-world racing event, the system comprising

Reproduced verbatim from the granted claim, without correction, paraphrase or reordering. Controlling text: issued claims of US 12,528,021 B2

System architecture — analytical restatement

The preamble and system purpose: a system for facilitating one or more users in virtually participating in a real-world racing event.

System requirement

  • The claim is not directed merely to a racing simulation system.
  • The system purpose is tied to virtual participation in a real-world racing event.

Publicly disclosed iRacing architecture

iRacing operates virtual motorsport simulation, online user participation, official racing products, real-world motorsport partnerships and professional telemetry integration.

Evidence, source and date

  1. iRacing publicly operates a subscription online motorsport simulation service with organised official series and licensed real-world motorsport content.

    iRacing First PartyiRacing.com (first-party)Evergreen product site; accessed for this review August 2026

  2. iRacing publicly documents formal relationships with real-world motorsport organisations and technology partners.

    iRacing First PartyiRacing Partners (first-party)Accessed for this review August 2026

Entity / product attribution

  • iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations, LLC
  • NASCAR / INDYCAR (licensed content and sanctioning relationships)

System gap

Public evidence does not presently establish a particular iRacing system configured to facilitate virtual participation in a corresponding physical race through the full Claim 7 architecture.

Technical / legal noteThe preamble is analysed on its own terms because the remaining limitations define the system by reference to the real-world event.

Section closing

Claim 7 — Current System Position

iRacing publicly operates much of the surrounding computing, communication, simulation and user-participation infrastructure contemplated by the granted system claim.

But the central physical-event-data-to-event-participant system bridge is not presently established from the public record.

Strategic significance

Because iRacing already possesses the surrounding system architecture, integration of real-world race-event data and event-driven physical participant representations would move the technology materially closer to the territory defined by Claim 7.

Next

Dependent System Claims 8–12

Claim 8

User performance data

Claim 9

2D / 3D environment

Claim 10

Modifiable conditions

Claim 11

Modifiable equipment

Claim 12

Racing surface

These dependent system claims will be assessed independently as Claim 7 plus their respective additional limitations.