US 2,012,274,508 · Filed 2012-01-04
Nike's Blueprint for the Modern Sports Watch
Nike patented a wristwatch designed to track your workouts and athletic performance. It has a touchscreen you can tap, and it switches between workout mode (showing your live stats) and regular mode (displaying goals and reminders). The watch displays multiple types of info at the same time.
The plain-English version
What it protects
What's protected here is the specific combination of a wristband athletic monitor with a controller, a display screen, and multiple user input methods—particularly a touch input perpendicular to the screen face. The patent covers how these components work together to generate different user interfaces for workout versus non-workout modes, and the ability to display several categories of information simultaneously on that single screen.
Why it matters
This patent represents Nike's entry into the wearable sports-tracking market, a category that exploded in the early 2010s. By securing claims on the interaction design and dual-mode interface architecture, Nike protected its ability to build smartwatch-style devices that could serve both as workout trackers and everyday wearables. Such patents are strategically important for hardware companies competing in the fitness-tech space, where interface efficiency and user experience drive market adoption.
Real-world use
When a runner puts on a sports watch to track a morning jog, then later checks it to see their daily step count, they're experiencing the workout-mode-to-regular-mode switching this patent describes.
Original USPTO abstract
A device for monitoring athletic performance of a user has a wristband configured to be worn by the user. The electronic module may include a controller and a screen and a plurality of user inputs operably associated with the controller. The user inputs may include a user input configured to be applied by the user against the screen and in a direction generally normal to the screen. The controller may further be configured to generate one or more user interfaces in response to various user inputs and conditions. For example, the controller may generate workout mode interfaces and non-workout mode interfaces including various goal information, workout data, reminders and the like. In one or more arrangements, multiple types of information may be displayed simultaneously.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 2,012,274,508
- Filing date
- 2012-01-04
- Grant date
- Application — not yet granted
- Assignee
- Nike, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- BROWN MILES W., RICE JORDAN M., WEAST AARON B., CAPOZZI MATTHEW V., HOFFMAN MICHAEL T., LAKOVIC TOMISLAV
- CPC class
- G04G17/04
Want to file your own patent?
If you're designing a fitness wearable of your own, search IsItPatented's free database to see what Nike, Fitbit, Apple, and Garmin have already locked down in the sports-watch space.
Free patentability scan