Technical Problem Addressed by the Granted Patent
Granted U.S. Patent — US 12,528,021 B2
This section explains, from the granted patent itself, the technical problem addressed by the invention and the architecture disclosed for solving it. No third-party technology is assessed in this section.
The Technical Transition
The granted patent addresses the technological transition from observing or conventionally simulating a racing event to enabling interactive virtual participation in an environment generated from real-world racing-event information.
Real-world racing event
Event data
Data processing
Multidimensional virtual environment
Representations of actual event participants
Independently controlled user avatar
Virtual participation and competition
Qualification
This architecture provides a technical overview of the disclosed invention. The precise scope of protection is defined by the issued claims and is addressed separately in the claim-mapping sections of this presentation.
SourceUS 12,528,021 B2 — abstract, summary of the invention and detailed description
The Problem in Technical Terms
Four panels addressing the pre-existing technical environment, the event-data problem, the sources of event information, and reconstruction of the event environment.
Pre-existing technical environment
Conventional Digital Racing Environments
Conventional racing games and simulators may include a wide range of features. Considered individually, these features describe the general digital-racing field rather than the relationship addressed by the granted patent.
- Digitally modelled racing circuits
- Simulated vehicles
- Computer-controlled competitors
- Multiplayer competitors
- Physics engines
- Vehicle-performance models
- Prerecorded racing content
- Real-world vehicle specifications
- Driver names and likenesses
- Racing telemetry generated within the simulation
- Virtual representations of real-world racing assets
The presence of these features alone does not establish correspondence with the granted claims.
The patent analysis instead requires examination of the particular relationship between the following elements:
- 01The real-world racing event
- 02The event data
- 03The generated virtual environment
- 04The representations corresponding to actual event participants
- 05The independently controlled user participating within that environment
This distinction becomes material when publicly disclosed third-party technology is later assessed against the issued claims.
CitationUS 12,528,021 B2 — background and detailed description|US 12,528,021 B2 — issued claims
Participants, User Control and the Competition Layer
The distinction between simulated competitors and represented event participants, and the introduction of an independently controlled user into the same environment.
Conceptual distinction
From Simulated Competitors to Represented Event Participants
Computer-generated competitor
A virtual competitor whose movement is determined principally by game logic, artificial intelligence or simulation rules.
Represented real-world participant
A virtual representation corresponding to an actual participant in the relevant physical racing event, where the relevant patent requirements concern the relationship between that participant's physical movement and the movement of the corresponding virtual representation.
Actual participant
- Physical movement
- Position
- Speed
- Race progression
Event data
Corresponding virtual representation
- Virtual movement
- Virtual position
- Virtual race progression
It is not asserted that all representations described in the specification necessarily satisfy every issued claim. This distinction is identified here because it becomes central to the later limitation-by-limitation claim mapping.
CitationUS 12,528,021 B2 — description of participant representations and movement correspondence|US 12,528,021 B2 — issued claims (controlling language)
Physical Event → Data → Virtual Participation
The principal technical diagram of this section, describing the architecture disclosed in the patent from the physical racing event through to interactive virtual participation.
- 01
Real-world racing event
Actual participants compete within a physical racing environment.
- 02
Event information
Relevant physical-event information is captured or otherwise made available.
- 03
Data feed
Event data is communicated for processing.
- 04
Computational processing
Event information is processed for generation and operation of the virtual environment.
- 05
Multidimensional environment
A virtual representation associated with the physical racing environment is generated.
- 06
Event participant representation
Corresponding virtual representations of actual participants are presented within the environment.
- 07
Movement correspondence
Relevant movement of the represented participants corresponds with information concerning movement of the physical participants.
- 08
User avatar
An independently controlled user avatar is introduced.
- 09
User navigation
The user controls the avatar through the virtual race environment.
- 10
Virtual participation
The user participates alongside and, where required by the applicable claim, competes against the represented participants.
This diagram describes the architecture disclosed in the patent specification. It does not establish the scope of any individual issued claim, which is determined by that claim's own language.
SourceUS 12,528,021 B2 — detailed description and drawings|US 12,528,021 B2 — issued claims|USPTO Patent Center — Application No. 18/559,813
Analytical discipline
The Patent Position Is Not Established Merely By:
- Digitally recreating a real racetrack
- Using real vehicle specifications
- Including licensed real-world drivers
- Providing multiplayer racing
- Generating simulation telemetry
- Providing esports competition
- Displaying live race statistics
- Using a physics engine
- Providing a driving simulator
- Offering a virtual racing game
Each item above may be present in conventional digital racing products. None of them, alone or in combination with each other, addresses the relationship on which the claims depend.
Analytical discipline
The Relevant Analysis Requires the Claimed Combination
The later claim analysis will examine whether the required relationship exists across the full claimed combination, in the order and form required by the issued claim under consideration.
Real-world event
Event data
Virtual environment
Represented physical participants
Corresponding movement
Independently controlled user
Interactive participation
Technical significance
Technical Significance
The specification contemplates that the disclosed architecture potentially enables a racing event to become an interactive computational environment rather than remaining solely a physical event, a broadcast, a replay or a conventional simulation.
The patent describes potential technical consequences including:
- Remote virtual participation
- Interaction with representations corresponding to physical competitors
- Replay or reconstruction of prior racing events
- Participation in historically derived racing environments
- Integration of event data into an interactive virtual system
- Different forms of user engagement with racing-event information
No conclusion as to novelty, inventive step, validity or enforceability is advanced by the statements in this panel.
Analytical importance
Why This Distinction Matters
The later third-party technology analysis will not ask simply whether a platform provides realistic virtual racing. It will ask whether publicly disclosed functionality corresponds with the specific limitations of the issued claims, including the required relationships between physical racing-event information, virtual representations of event participants and independently controlled user participation.
Similar industry
Claim correspondence
Feature similarity
Satisfaction of every claim limitation
Issued claim
Every required limitation
Public evidence
Technical assessment
The patent position concerns the technical bridge between a real-world racing event and interactive virtual participation.
The precise legal scope of that position is defined by the issued claims and will be examined limitation by limitation in the subsequent analysis.