Patents on the soles of your shoes...: July 2017

Monday, July 31, 2017

Oh, patents! Spanx® (1)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

In 1998, Sara Blakely is purported to have cut off the feet on a pair of pantyhose for a smooth and tight look under a pair of white pants and the freedom to wear open-toe sandals to match. An idea that she then patented, and successfully marketed into a billion-dollar business called Spanx®. Thus, with a single control top, body smoothing and footless pantyhose product, the shapewear industry was re-born, providing women with a whole line of new and comfortable undergarments that support and lift, while offering the desirable aesthetics of “smooth” body contours. A shapewear line that also diversified to such products as bodysuits, slips, high-waisted shorts, camis, tanks and shaping thongs, boyshorts and briefs, while also expanding to include specific undergarments for Mamas during pregnancy, and more recently undergarrments for men,

Add crimson packaging for the fine line of super comfortable body shaping products with cartoon characters featuring Sara Blakely, in a world of nudes, beige and blush, and the spectacular story of Spanx® also documents itself.

In 2012, the founder and inventor of the original product, Sara Blakely, was named the world’s youngest, self-made female billionaire by Forbes Magazine and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential people.

The following is a list of the Spanx® US utility and design patent applications, and granted patents, including a WIPO patent. These patents cover both the Spanx® garments and Spanx® product display systems. Many more Spanx® patent family members have been filed at the European Patent Office, and at the national patent offices of Australia, Canada, Austria, Germany and elsewhere.

US2001035032 (A1) ― 2001-11-01 - Pantyhose under garment
US2003196252 (A1) ― 2003-10-23 - Two-ply body-smoothing undergarment
US2016206012 (A1) ― 2016-07-21 - Abdominal-restraint garment and methods of assembling the same
USD760471 (S) ― 2016-07-05 - Garment
US9320366 (B1) ― 2016-04-26 - Product storage unit and method of arrangement
US2015342265 (A1) ― 2015-12-03 - Flocked shapewear garments
USD741631 (S) ― 2015-10-27 - Display tower
USD733994 (S1) ― 2015-07-14 - Garment
US2015255011 (A1) ― 2015-09-10 - Display Fixture
USD724874 (S) ― 2015-03-24 - Multi-faceted display tower
US2014317823 (A1) ― 2014-10-30 - Reversible Compression Garments and Methods of Assembling and Using Same
US2014273742 (A1) ― 2014-09-18 - Posterior-Lifting Garment and Methods of Assembling The Same
US2014273741 (A1) ― 2014-09-18 - Abdominal-restraint garment and methods of assembling the same
USD707920 (S) ― 2014-07-01 - Garment
US2008127683 (A1) ― 2008-06-05 - Tubular knit bra
US2007199134 (A1) ― 2007-08-30 - Hosiery Garment and Method of Making the Same
WO0176398 (A2) ― 2001-10-18 - A pantyhose undergarment and method for manufacturing

References

Spanx®

www.spanx.com

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Oh, patents! Mary Phelps Jacob’s brassière

In the United States, Mary Phelps Jacob’s 1914 patented brassière, US1115674, is usually credited as one of the first bra garments, separate from the corset. Bra lore informs us that it was originally cobbled from handkerchiefs, primarily in response to the dictates of early 20th-century fashion, which included plunging necklines, backless evening gowns, made of sheer and vaporous material. The new brassière garment was designed “comfortable and cool”, with none of the constricting pressures of corsets or the whale bones that stiffened them, and stuck out under finer and lighter garments.

Indeed, the Phelps Jacob patent states, in regard the purpose of this brassiere invention, that it is:

…to provide a garment which is characterized by exreme simplicity, by freedom from bone so that it may be finished with laces or embroideries, for wear beneath a shear waist, or diapahanous gown, and which when worn is both comfortable and cool, and so efficient that it may be worn even by persons engaged in violent exercises, such as tennis; and which has other advantages that are characteristic for the invention herein set forth, some of which may be summarized by saying that it does not confine the person anywhere, except where it is needed.

The included figure drawing from the Phelps Jacob patent shows the brassiere with its two trapeze-shaped pieces of cloth (10) sewn together, its straps (16) and ties (15) which are meant to be crossed in the back, and tied in the front.

The Phelps Jacob brassiere patent was assigned to the Warner Bros Corset Company for 1500$ where the commercial success of the brassiere, in the following years, was estimated at 15 million! (Phelps Family History)

Incidentally, Phelps Jacob is also known as Caresse Crosby (wife of Harry Crosby). Together, the husband and wife team were the editors of the Black Sun Press they founded, in Paris, in the 1920s. The Black Sun Press is known for having exquisitely published the early works of such famous post-World War I Lost Generation expatriate American authors as Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller, Anais Nin, Kay Boyle, Hart Crane and Robert Duncan, plus more, then-struggling authors, such as James Joyce, T.S.Eliot, and Ezra Pound.

References

Black Sun Press

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/crosby/blacksun.htm

Phelps Family History

http://www.phelpsfamilyhistory.com/bios/mary_phelps_jacob.asp
Crosby, C. (1968) The Passionate Years (Autobiography) Southern Illinois Press.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Oh, patents! The corset-bra (1898)

A corset-bra?... No wonder women burned their bras in the 1960s!

Actually, the corset-bra was originally a French invention, called the corselet-gorge, which eventually led to the commonly used term soutien-gorge.

The corselet-gorge was quite a versatile invention in 1898! First, it could be worn with or without a corset. Without a corset, the two front sections of the corselet-gorge attached to a back laced portion with elastic side pieces. With a corset, the corselet-gorge attached to the corset, functioning in both cases as a breast "improver", since the front sections of the corselet-gorge (termed gussets) included bent whalebone stiffeners mounted on silk or thule, thus providing augmented breast forms!

Herminie Sardon (widow Cadolle), filed several patents in connection with her invention, and exhibited her corselet-gorge at the 1898 Exposition Universelle in Paris, an event that had prompted construction of the Eiffel Tower.

A list of the Herminie Sardon (widow Cadolle) patents follows with two patent figure drawings, extracted from the British version of the corselet-gorge patent showing the front and the back corselet gorge:

FR279823 - 1898-07-16 - Corselet-gorge [Listing only - Bulletin des Lois de la RF]
GB189816955 (A) ― 1899-07-15 - Improvements in or relating to Corsets
FR326297 – 1902-05-21 - Corset perfectionné dit “modern style”
FR443731C 1902 -10-01 - Corselet-guimpe

The original lingerie store in Paris, Cadolle, founded by Herminie Cadolle, the inventor of the corselet-gorge still exists 24 rue Chaussée d’Antin (Paris 9). Several additional Cadolle lingerie boutiques also exist around the world, where six generations of Cadolle daughters and daughters-in-law have managed the business of luxury custom lingerie!

References
Bulletin des lois de la République Française - Brevet 279823 - 16 juillet 1898 - Corselet-gorge - Cadolle (Mme veuve) née Herminie Sardon.
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k215037p.image.r=sardon.f993.hl

Cadolle

www.cadolle.com

Stanley, A. (1995) Mothers and daughters of invention: Notes for a revised history of technology. Rutgers University Press

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Oh, patents! Thirdlove

Thirdlove Shades of Nude

Viral online bra sales…. What’s with MIT and target objects?!

Plenty, in terms of comfort and vibrant style, re-invented technologies, participatory design, high-tech Moms and savvy young female entrepreneurs, who happened to have transited through the MIT MBA program!

Thirdlove is all about a virtual bra-shopping experience! Getting the all time best-fitted bra, without searching, or even trying one on! As a result, the company is the first to offer half sizes and 30% more cup options, in a bid to accommodate all women, rather than just those larger, or smaller than a single standard.

To achieve the hitherto deemed impossible task of a virtual bra fitting, the company developed a body-imaging and sizing app. This invention is recited in the US patent Application US20140270540A1 titled Determining dimension of target object in an image using reference object.

Virtual fitting requires the user stand in front of a mirror and position certain virtual scanning guides relative to the target objects at a specified distance. The app then calculates several measurements including both the front, and side, overbust and underbust, relative to an apex and the distance between the two. The app also adjusts and estimates contours.

In terms of privacy, Thridlove only uses the calculated measurements for delivering a perfectly fitted bra. The data might be aggregated for various research purposes, in which case client IDs would be deleted. However, the scans used for measurements are performed natively, on each user’s mobile device, and are never forwarded to the company.

The included abstract of this invention is short and sweet. Figure 17 of 41 figure drawings in the patent application shows one of the interfaces of the app for determining the size of targeted objects. Figure 18 shows the measurements taken.

Systems and methods for determining one or more dimensions of an object using a digital image are described [Abstract US20140270540A1]

Interestingly, the scope of this invention fully extends to the customization of clothing for both men and women, since the imaging invention may ultimately be used to size varying targets or body parts.

To date, however, the bottom line is $68 for a customized virtual bra fitting without leaving the comforts of your own home, a patented bra that is so comfortable you will forget you are wearing one, and a 30-day trial period for a 100% perfect fit, guaranteed!

References

Welch, L. (Nov 2016) How an MIT Grad Made a $68 Bra So Perfect, You'll Forget You're Wearing It. Inc.com Magazine https://tinyurl.com/y9q756cu

Thridlove

https://www.thirdlove.com/

Monday, July 10, 2017

EPO Inventor Awards - The 2017 Trophy

On May 11, 2017, the post at Patents on the soles of your shoes covered Murano glass and its intimate connection to the origins of patents, some 600 years ago, in the Republic Venice. This was hardly coincidental, considering that the European Inventors’ Award ceremony would be taking place the following month in Venice, Italy, and that the finalists had just been announced.

The post ended with an educated guess regarding the 2017 trophies that would be awarded to the 6 inventors (or teams of inventors).

The design of the EPO Inventor Award trophy represents a sail (with and without a pun), It was created by Miriam Irle, a German industrial designer. However, what also makes the design so striking and uncommon is that each year the sail trophies are crafted from a different material or process, of significance to the country hosting the awards ceremony. For example, last year, in Lisbon, Portugal, Miriam Irle selected the famous Portuguese azulejo ceramic tile for casting and production of the trophy. (Herrmann, June 10, 2016). Likewise in 2015, in Paris, France, the trophy was cast in bronze, using a 3D printing process. (Herrmann, June 13, 2015)

So, my guess for the European Inventor's Award trophy, this year in Venice, was the following:

In regards the 2017 EPO Inventor Awards…my conjecture is that the 2017 trophy will be made of Murano glass. […] Of course, I might be zapped… and completely wrong. [Herrmann, May 11, 2017]

The good news is that there was no blood shed for the guesswork…Indeed, according to the following, recently released EPO video, the 2017 European Inventor Award trophies were made of Murano glass, as predicted, on the Island of Murano, just a few nautical miles from the ancient city Venice.

References

Herrmann F. (May 11, 2017) Oh, patents! Murano glass

http://patentsonthesolesofyourshoes.blogspot.com/2017/05/oh-patents-murano-glass.html
Herrmann, F. (June 10, 2016) EPO Inventor Awards - The 2016 Trophy
https://patentsonthesolesofyourshoes.blogspot.com/2016/06/epo-inventor-awards-2016-trophy.html
Herrmann, F. (June 13, 2015) EPO Inventor Awards - The 2015 Trophy
https://patentsonthesolesofyourshoes.blogspot.com/2015/06/european-inventor-awards-2015-trophy.html

Miriam Irle

http://www.miriam-irle.com/

Saturday, July 8, 2017

Oh, patents! Traditional African medicine (1)

Copyright @ Françoise Herrmann

In countries where trained physician density, measured as the ratio of 1 physician to 1000 [WHO(1), WHO(2), World Bank], is to the order of 1:20,000 compared to the ratio of 1:200-400 for traditional healthcare practitioners, it makes sense, according to Professor Dbodossou, founder of PRO.ME.TRA, to consider, rather than to outlaw, the parallel indigenous healthcare system. Especially, when a given population favors, respects and trusts the healers, or when their practices are effective. Indeed, it makes sense to actively explore and research the vast depository of traditional indigenous knowledge and practices, in view of embracing all of the possibilities for healthcare services. According to the World Health Organization, the minimum standard of care is 23 doctors, nurses and midwives for a population of 10,000 [WHO (3)]

The non-profit organization PRO.ME.TRA International precisely seeks to recognize and promote indigenous practices and knowledge, in an effort to build bridges between both Western and traditional healthcare systems. PRO.ME.TRA International headquarters are located in Dakar, Senegal, on the West Coast of Africa. The organization was founded in 1971, with a mission to promote traditional African medical practices. Thus, PRO.ME.TRA conducts research, hosts conferences, maintains chapters in 28 countries, and is an officially recognized partner of Senegal’s public health institutions. PRO.ME.TRA also circulates various publications, including a bilingual (French and English) newsletter called Médecine Verte. Members of the organization’s International Board of Directors are all trained medical doctors.

The organization’s research agenda focuses on the use of indigenous knowledge and practices for the treatment of such diseases as AIDS, ebola, cancer, diabetes, viral hepatitis and various sorts of skin diseases. Several of the researched herbal therapies are already patented.

The following non-exhaustive and hyperlinked list of patents includes WIPO, EPO and US patent families for each of several herbal therapies, including a list of 11 OA patents granted by the OAPI, the intellectual property organization for French-speaking African countries:

WIPO, EPO and US patents

WO2016181214 (A1) ― 2016-11-17 - Compositions and methods for the treatment of ebola virus disease
US2012009289 (A1) ― 2012-01-12 - Water-soluble antiviral product containing cyperus articulatus, for the treatment and prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids) and the variants thereof
WO2010112967 (A1) ― 2010-10-07 - Water-soluble antiviral product containing cyperus articulatus, for the treatment and prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids) and the variants thereof
EP2437765 (A1) ― 2012-04-11 - Water-soluble antiviral product containing cyperus articulatus, for the treatment and prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids) and the variants thereof
US2012009286 (A1) ― 2012-01-12 - Water-soluble antiviral product containing momordica balsamina, for the treatment and prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids) and the variants thereof
EP2437761 (A1) ― 2012-04-11 - Water-soluble antiviral product containing momordica balsamina, for the treatment and prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids) and the variants thereof
WO2010112968 (A1) ― 2010-10-07 - Water-soluble antiviral product containing momordica balsamina, for the treatment and prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids) and the variants thereof

Aframomum melegueta
EP2437766 (A1) ― 2012-04-11 - Water-soluble antiviral product containing aframomum melegueta, for the treatment and prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids)
US2012052140 (A1) ― 2012-03-01 - Water-soluble antiviral product containing aframomum melegueta, for the treatment and prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids)
WO2010112966 (A1) ― 2010-10-07 - Water-soluble antiviral product containing aframomum melegueta, for the treatment and prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids)
WO02062364 (A1) ― 2002-08-15 -Antiviral composition made from medicinal plants for combating hiv/aids
EP1357924 (A1) ― 2003-11-05 - Antiviral composition made from medicinal plants for combating hiv/aids
WO02094299 (A1) ― 2002-11-28 - Medicinal plant extracts used in the treatment of diabetic diseases

OAPI patents

Acacia senegalensis

OA12548 (A) ― 2006-06-05 - Nouveau produit pharmaceutique à partir d'écorce d'Acacia Seyal et son utilisation pour le traitement des hémorroides
OA12547 (A) ― 2006-06-05 - Nouveau produit pharmaceutique à partir d'écorce de Euphorbia balsamifera et son utilisation pour le traitement des hémorroides
OA12546 (A) ― 2006-06-05 - Nouveau produit pharmaceutique à partir d'écorce de Guiera senegalensis et son utilisation pour le traitement de hémorroides.
OA12545 (A) ― 2006-06-05 - Nouveau produit pharmaceutique à partir d'écorce de Leptadenia hastata et son utilisation pour le traitement des hémorroides
OA12439 (A) ― 2006-05-22 - Nouveau produit pharmaceutique obtenu à partir d'écorce de l'Acacia senegalensis et son utilisation dans le traitement des dermatoses
OA12438 (A) ― 2006-05-22 - Nouveau produit pharmaceutique obtenu à partir d'écorce de Lannea acida et son utilisation dans le traitement des dermatoses
OA11763 (A) ― 2005-07-19 - Produit pharmaceutique obtenu à partir de Prosopisafricana et son utilisation dans le traitement des maladies diabétiques
OA11762 (A) ― 2005-07-19 - Produit pharmaceutique obtenu à partir de Sclerocarya birrea et son utilisation dans le traitement des maladies diabétiques
OA11761 (A) ― 2005-07-19 - Produit pharmaceutique obtenu à partir de Moringa oleifera et son utilisation dans le traitement des maladies diabétiques
OA11720 (A) ― 2005-01-26 - Produit pharmaceutique obtenu à partir de l'Anacardium occidentale et son utilisation dans le traitement des maladies diabétiques

OA11602 (A) ― 2004-07-30 - Nouvelles compositions antivirales à usage thérapeutique pour le traitement de la maladie du syndrome d'immuno déficience acquise (SIDA) et ses variante

References

OAPI – Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle

http://www.oapi.int/

PRO.ME.TRA

http://prometra.org/

PRO.ME.TRA – Médecine verte

http://prometra.org/media-centre/medecine-verte

PRO.ME.TRA - Publications

http://prometra.org/media-centre/publications
PRO.ME.TRA International Rapport d'activités 2016
http://prometra.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/PROMETERA-International-RAPPORT-TECHNIQUE-2016-French.pdf

WHO (1) – Density of physicians (per 1000 population latest available year)

http://www.who.int/gho/health_workforce/physicians_density/en/

WHO (2)- Density of doctors, nurse and midwives in 49 priority countries

http://www.who.int/hrh/fig_density.pdf?ua=1

WHO (3) - Achieving the health-related MDGs. It takes a workforce!

http://www.who.int/hrh/workforce_mdgs/en/

World Bank = Physicians per 1000

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Oh, patents! Velib’ and JC Decaux (3)

Velib’ is a public bike sharing program of the city of Paris. The term Velib’ is a French acronym referring to two French words vélo + liberté derived from the concept of “vélo en libre service”, which means self-service bike rental. The term velib' is used to refer both to the program and the “bike”.

To use the velib’ bike sharing program, users just check out a bike at any Velib’ hub in the city of Paris. and increasingly in the Paris metropolitan area. To return the bike, users just dock it at any of the Paris or metropolitan hubs. Users pay-as-they-go or buy a yearly subscription.

The Vélib' program was launched in 20O7 by the city of Paris, and management of the program was awarded to JC Decaux through to 2018, since JC Decaux recently lost the contract to the Smoovengo Consortium, operating in several other cities in France and abroad.

The original technology for managing a fleet of bikes using a docking system, and its more recent embodiments, including the electric components of the bike to enable users to cover greater distances, the system’s connectivity, security against vandalism, and the automation of the docking and management system, were invented and patented by JC Decaux.

The following non-exhaustive and illustrative list of JC Decaux patents tracks the original technology for managing a fleet of bikes with a docking system, patented in 2002, through to the more recent inventions related to the shift to electric bikes, patented in 2017.

The list includes such major inventions as the on-board maintenance CPU designed to detect malfunctions of the bike (FR2865994), the docking system features that enable users to park their bikes at a hub for a short period of time, without returning the bike (FR2897589), mobile phone assisted rental of the bike (FR2988506), improvements for user-friendly adjustment of the bike saddle (EP2927517), the Bluetooth®-enabled communication between the bike battery and a user's mobile phone enabling the user to monitor the bike's electric charge, including a device for attaching the user's phone on the bike's handlebar (EP2979967), the temporary docking stations that can be hauled, with bikes, for special events and at special locations (EP2366610), plus much more!

Indeed, a list of JC Decaux patents reciting both the old and the new velib' technology, that JC Decaux must have franchised or licensed, and that velib' users, in Paris, will be discovering, beginning Jan 1st 2018, when they start using the new Smoovengo bikes and hubs!

Bluetooth®-enabled bike
EP2979967

FR3039496 - 2017-02-03 - Cycle à motorisation électrique
FR3031494 - 2016-07-15 - Cycle à motorisation électrique et système automatique de stockage de tels cycles
EP3012182 - 2016-04-27 - Cycle à motorisation électrique et système automatique de stockage de tels cycles
EP2979967 - 2016-02-03 - Vélo à assistance électrique
EP2927517 - 2015-10-07 - Cycle comportant un dispositif de réglage rapide de selle et dispositif de réglage de selle pour un tel cycle
EP2883785 - 2015-16-17 - Vélo a assistance électrique
FR3003537 - 2014-09-26 - Cycle à assistance électrique et système automatique de stockage de cycles comprenant de tels cycles
EP2781446 - 2014-09-24 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles et batterie pour un tel système
EP2781440 - 2014-09-24 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles et batterie pour un tel système
EP2781397 - 2014-09-24 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles et batterie pour un tel système
FR2991658 – 2013-12-13 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles et cycle pour un tel système
FR2988506 - 2013-09-27 – Procédé et système automatiques de mise à disposition de cycles
FR2988068 - 2013-09-20- Système automatique de stockage de cycles, cycle pour un tel système et utilisation d'une batterie pour un tel cycle
EP2639143 - 2013-09-18 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles et poste de verrouillage de cycle pour un tel système
FR2978415 -2013-02-01 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles et ensemble pour un tel système
FR2978414 - 2013-02-01 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles et cycle pour un tel système
WO2012090120 - 2013-02-01- Système de location de vélos
FR2962401 - 2013-01-13 - Ensemble d'assise pour bicyclette et bicyclette ayant un tel ensemble d'assise
EP2366610 - 2011-09-21 - Station de stockage de cycles
EP2338779 - 2011-06-29 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles, cycle pour un tel système et structure d'accueil pour un tel cycle
EP2039598 – 2009-03-25- Procédé et système de stockage de cycles
WO2008034985 - 2009-03-25 - Procédé et système automatique de stockage de cycles
EP1902934 - 2008-03-26 - Système de stockage automatique de cycles, cycle pour un tel système et poste de verrouillage pour un tel système
EP1883054 -2008-01-30 - Bicyclette, procédé de gestion d'une flotte de bicyclettes et système de gestion d'une telle flotte
FR2900631 - 2007-11-09 - Bicyclette dotée d'une suspension de roue arrière
EP1820722 - 2007-08-22 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles
EP1820721 - 2007-08-22 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles, cycle pour un tel système et dispositif de verrouillage pour un tel cycle
FR2888558 - 2007-01-19 - Véhicule agence pour le transport de cycles
WO2006120328 - 2006-11-16 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles
EP1659531 – 2006 - 05-24 - Procédé et système de gestion d'une flotte de véhicules, et véhicule associé
EP1655214 – 2006 - 05-10 - Dispositif antivol à câble pour un cycle et cycle equipé d'un tel dispositif
WO2006024738 - 2006 - 03-09 - Bicyclette equipée d'un dispositif antivol
WO2006021650 - 2006 - 03-02 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles
FR2866602 – 2005-08-26 - Dispositif anti-vandalisme, valve pour un tel dispositif et cycle comportant une telle valve
WO2005077740 - 2005-08-25 - Bicyclette munie d'un système de contrôle embarqué et système automatique de location comprenant de telles bicyclettes
FR2865994 (A1) ― 2005-08-12 – Bicyclette equippée d’un système de contrôle embarqué
WO2005068280 - 2005-07-28 - Système automatique de stockage de cycles
FR2864015 – 2005-08-24 - Bicyclette comportant un dispositif antivol de roue
EP1544091 - 2005-06-22 - Bicyclette munie d'un dispositif de blocage de roue
WO2005055161 – 2005-06-16 – Procédé et système de location automatique de bicyclettes
WO2005001781 – 2005-01-06- Système automatique de stockage de cycles
FR2824942 (A1) ― 2002-11-22 - Bicycle fleet management system records user badge data in bicycle memory
WO02095698 (A1) ― 2002-11-28 - System for managing a fleet of bicycles, bicycles and storage equipment for such a device
FR2825967 (A1) ― 2002-12-20 – Dispositif de parking pour byciclette