Board sports, i.e., sporting activities involving boards and riders are become increasingly popular. Part of the draw of these types of sporting activities is the gliding sensation associated with maneuvering the board or boards over a gliding medium. Additionally, the configuration of the boards often allows the participant to perform stunts, tricks, or jumps within the sporting activities.
With the rise in popularity of these activities, participants often look for ways to improve the performance and personalize the boards. Performance improvements conventionally seek to improve properties of the boards, such as strength, flexibility, or durability, or seek to improve the performance of the board in relationship to the medium on which the board travels. Personalization of the board often entails customizing graphics, board part colors, or board shape.
Although there are many possible graphic designs that can be implemented on a board apparatus and several dramatic colors to choose from with board parts, the differentiation between the customization efforts may not be large. That is, although two graphic designs may seem different upon close inspection, they may appear similar to a casual observer because of limited visible differences in the designs. For example, a red spider-web design on one sporting board may appear similar to a red shaded mountain on another sporting board.
Additionally, shape modification generally has limits associated with the functionality of the board. That is, drastic shape changes in the sporting board design may significantly decrease the performance of the board due to non-optimal structural features.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds