System for data management and on-demand rental and purchase of digital data products

US 20050144641A1
Filed: 05/18/2004
Published: 06/30/2005
Est. Priority Date: 06/12/1997
Status: Active Grant

First Claim

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1. A data delivery system for providing automatic delivery of multimedia data products from one or more multimedia data product providers, the system comprising:

a remote account transaction server for providing an end user access to multimedia data products, and for negotiating the acquisition of the multimedia data products from the multimedia data product providers; and

a programmable local receiver unit for interfacing the end user with the remote account transaction server to select specific multimedia data products for delivery, for interfacing with the multimedia data product providers to receive the specific multimedia data products, and for processing and automatically recording the multimedia data products according to user-specified programming options.

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Abstract

A system for handling data and transactions involving data through the use of a virtual transaction zone, which virtual transaction zone removes the dependency of such transaction on the delivery medium of the product. The invention may reside and operate on a variety of electronic devices such as televisions, VCRs, DVDs, personal computers, WebTV, any other known electronic recorder/player, or as a stand alone unit. The transaction zone also provides a mechanism for combining mediums, data feeds, and manipulation of those feeds. The transaction zone also provides a mechanism for controlling the content, delivery, and timing of delivery of the end consumer'"'"'s product.

267 Citations

54 Claims

1. A data delivery system for providing automatic delivery of multimedia data products from one or more multimedia data product providers, the system comprising:
- a remote account transaction server for providing an end user access to multimedia data products, and for negotiating the acquisition of the multimedia data products from the multimedia data product providers; and
  
  a programmable local receiver unit for interfacing the end user with the remote account transaction server to select specific multimedia data products for delivery, for interfacing with the multimedia data product providers to receive the specific multimedia data products, and for processing and automatically recording the multimedia data products according to user-specified programming options.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
- - 2. The system of claim 1 wherein said multimedia data products are received via Network TV broadcast, Cable TV broadcast, or Satellite TV broadcast.
  - 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said multimedia data is customer specific advertising data and said advertising data is recorded by said system in raw form and subsequently processed or edited by said content filter according to preprogrammed user suitability criteria.
  - 4. The system of claim 3 wherein said advertising data is processed or edited in multiple versions which are either played back in real time or stored in designated advertising storage sections for subsequent playback.
  - 5. The system of claim 1, wherein said multimedia data is customer specific advertising data and wherein custom software automatically analyzes one or more optimal advertising format scenarios based on one or more selected factors including total number of customers, customer profile data, customer demographics, program schedules, product showcase schedules, available advertising formats, available advertising schedules, advertising rates, ad placement timing or cost effectiveness and said system transmits advertising format scenarios according to a selected placement option.
  - 6. The system of claim 5 wherein preprogrammed or spontaneously programmed advertising format scenarios are automatically analyzed by said system.
  - 7. The system of claim 5 wherein an advertiser places a selected advertising order which activates instant or time scheduled delivery of said selected advertising order to system customers through interaction with transaction server.
  - 8. The system of claim 5 whereby said advertising may be instantly or by time schedule transmitted to a selective customer base who system monitoring indicates have available advertising space within an advertising storage section.
  - 9. The system of claim 5 whereby said advertising placement option includes placement of advertising within a scheduled issue of a subscription video magazine electronically delivered to system customers and recorded onto a designated storage area of a customer system.
  - 10. The system of claim 5 whereby advertising placement and associated financial transactions can be instantly and automatically conducted directly through the system.
  - 11. The system of claim 2, wherein control data indicating rental restrictions for a data product is stored on said local receiver.
  - 12. The system of claim 11, wherein an authorization code to unscramble or decrypt said data product is transmitted to said local receiver.
  - 13. The system of claim 12, wherein said transaction server negotiates a virtual return of a rented data product by providing that said product is erased, re-scrambled, or re-encrypted.
  - 14. The system of claim 12, wherein selections of particular data products are made through an on screen menu appearing at said local receiver, said on screen menu being configured in a graphical, hierarchical set of menus.
  - 15. The system of claim 14, wherein said transaction server verifies billing information with a financial institution of a user and authorizes charging of an account of said user prior to transferring said data product to a local receiver of said user.
  - 16. The system of claim 13, wherein said rental control data includes information containing at least one of the group consisting of rental period, a due date, and applicable late fees.
  - 17. The system of claim 1, wherein said local receiver includes a storage device with at least two read/write heads such that a data product may be viewed prior to the entire product being recorded to said storage device.
  - 18. The system of claim 16, wherein said local receiver communicates with a portable storage medium recorder/player for recording to a portable storage medium and said data product is recorded onto said portable storage medium.
  - 19. The system of claim 18, wherein said system adds copyright protection features to said data product being recorded onto said portable storage medium.
  - 20. The system of claim 18, wherein said system records control data onto said portable storage medium which uniquely identifies said portable storage medium based upon rental, purchase or subscription information unique to an associated rental, purchase or subscription agreement.
  - 21. The system of claim 12, wherein said transaction server negotiates a virtual return of a rented data product by canceling an access code.
  - 22. The system of claim 12, wherein said system alerts a user that a rented data product is due and provides a user alternate options including returning or renewing said rented data product.
  - 23. The system of claim 20, wherein said system queries a user to insert said portable storage medium into said portable storage medium recorder/player, renders said data product on said portable storage medium unusable, and signals said transaction server that said data product has been rendered unusable.
  - 24. The system of claim 1 wherein said local receiver includes a signal processor which is capable of interpreting embedded control data associated with said multimedia data products for automatically processing and recording said data product according to preprogrammed user suitability criteria.
  - 25. The system of claim 24 wherein said automatic processing includes automatically customizing the data product, wherein said customization includes at least one process from a group consisting of selecting data products or segments data segments, editing a data product or data segment, combining data, adding data, deleting data, placing data at specific locations within the data product, condensing data, rearranging data, reassembling data, abridging data, synchronizing data, and screening out data.
  - 26. The system of claim 24 wherein the system automatically constructs multiple customized versions of said data product, and subsequently processes, plays back, and/or records said data product on a storage device.
  - 27. The system of claim 25 wherein said embedded control data is a data TAG.
  - 28. The system of claim 24 wherein said data product is a multi-formatted data product, wherein multiple data formats include at least one format from a group consisting of multiple storylines, multiple language tracks, multiple scenes, multiple display/playback formats, multiple audio tracks, multiple preview formats, multiple endings, multiple editions by ratings, and multiple advertising formats.
  - 29. The system of claim 28 wherein said multiple data display/playback formats are automatically selected, displayed, and/or recorded according to preprogrammable user suitability criteria.
  - 30. The system of claim 25 wherein one or more of said customized data products are recorded onto system'"'"'s built-in storage device or stored in one or more individually programmable data storage units within said system storage device.
  - 31. The system of claim 28 wherein a user can select which of the multiple data formats is to be automatically processed, displayed, played back, or recorded.
  - 32. The system of claim 24 wherein said control data is embedded within a data feed carrying said data product or via one or more associated data feeds, which data feeds may include a broadcast TV signal, a cable feed, satellite feed, Internet data feed, UHF/VHF deed, radio signal, telephone data feed, or computer modem data feed.
  - 33. The system of claim 32 wherein embedded data is received within one or more control data channels, which control data channels further include multiple control data tracks which include indices for identifying user suitability criteria data, interactive control data, or subscription/fee based transaction information, or system control data.
  - 34. The system of claim 33 wherein said control data tracks carry processing and editing control data, which the system interprets for identifying specific data or specific data segments, for manipulation, editing, and re-assembly of said data or data segments by the system'"'"'s content filter/editor.
  - 35. The system of claim 1 wherein said system is public access system.
  - 36. The system of claim 1 which can be programmed from a location remote to system user via a telephone connection, a wireless telephone, computer modem, or Internet.
  - 37. The system of claim 1 wherein said local receiver automatically communicates with said transaction server or said product provider at regular time intervals for updating system control data or for providing TV programming schedule information.
  - 38. The system of claim 37 wherein said system automatically configures itself to automatically process or record one or more TV programs according to preprogrammed user suitability criteria, wherein said automatic processing and recording is accomplished by said system decoding embedded control data, by decoding automatic TV programming schedule codes, by decoding VCR Plus/TV Guide control data or by operating on a programmable clock timer.
  - 39. The system of claim 1 wherein said system provides one or more virtual TV channels wherein said virtual TV channels automatically process and store one or more user suitable TV programs or multimedia products according to programmable user suitability criteria for later processing and playback by a user.
  - 40. The system of claim 39 wherein said virtual TV channels are 2-way interactive TV channels, wherein interactivity between an end user and a television broadcaster is timeshifted from a real time broadcast.
  - 41. The system of claim 39 wherein said multimedia data product is a broadcast feed received from a network TV broadcast, a cable feed, satellite feed, Internet feed, UHF/VHF, or a local data feed.
  - 42. The system of claim 41 whereby said TV programming and said multimedia data may include multiple types of data including one or more broadcast TV programs, Internet data feeds, program manipulation software, TV program reviews, TV program excerpts, movies, audio or music recordings, special audio/video effects, news programming, sports programming, statistics, locally received data, email messages, data from other system users, or on-screen user selectable menus.
  - 43. The system of claim 42 wherein customized presentation of said TV programming and multimedia data is accomplished by said one or more types of data being combined and simultaneously displayed or played back according to programmable specifications of a user, wherein said simultaneous display or playback may include PIP, headers, footers, audio/video overlays, split-screen and/or multiple screens.
  - 44. The system of claim 1 wherein local receiver includes two or more TV tuners for receiving, processing, or recording two or more TV channels simultaneously.
  - 45. The system of claim 1, wherein said user-specified programming options includes a content filter/editor for automatically selecting, recording and/or processing said multimedia data according to preprogrammed user suitability criteria or user profile data.
  - 46. The system of claim 45, further including a high capacity storage device having a plurality of individual storage sections allowing specific multimedia data to be automatically stored within said individual storage section for subsequent processing or recording.
  - 47. The system of claim 46, wherein said individual storage sections are interactively monitored and controlled by either said transaction server or by said local receiver according to preset or programmable criteria.
  - 48. The system of claim 46 or 47 wherein said individual storage sections may be reserved, rented, leased, or purchased and whereby specific multimedia data may be instantly distributed to select system users according to predetermined criteria including customer profiles or demographics such that said specific multimedia data is recorded in said individual storage sections.
  - 49. The system of claim 46 wherein said multimedia data is held in buffer memory and subsequently played back or stored in an individual storage section according to user preferences.
  - 50. The system of claim 45 wherein said multimedia data is processed or edited in multiple versions which are either played back in real time or stored in designated individual storage sections for subsequent playback.
  - 51. The system of claim 46 wherein said individual storage sections are reserved, rented, leased, or purchased storage sections and are incorporated into a wide band multimedia TV set-top box which may be reserved and controlled by a TV set-top box distributor.
  - 52. The system of claim 1 wherein said system automatically configures itself to automatically process or record customer specific advertising according to preprogrammed user suitability criteria, wherein said automatic processing and recording is accomplished by said system decoding embedded control data.
  - 53. The system of claim 45 wherein said user suitability criteria includes at least one of the group consisting of title, program name, theme, plot, actor/actress, rating, year of release, genre, director, producer, and keyword.
  - 54. The system of claim 1 wherein said system receives an unedited data product from a content provider and said unedited data product is edited according to customer specific user suitability criteria and stored on a portable storage device in a customized form.

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Current Assignee
Customedia Technologies, L.L.C.
Original Assignee
Customedia Technologies, L.L.C.
Inventors
Lewis, William Henry

Granted Patent

US 8,719,090 B2
Time in Patent Office

Days
Field of Search
US Class Current

725/60
CPC Class Codes

G06Q 30/0225   Avoiding frauds

G06Q 30/0235   constrained by time limit o...

G06Q 30/0241   Advertisements

G06Q 30/0255   based on user history

G06Q 30/0269   based on user profile or at...

G11B 27/28   by using information signal...

H04N 21/2543   Billing , e.g. for subscrip...

H04N 21/278   Content descriptor database...

H04N 21/4325   by playing back content fro...

H04N 21/4331   Caching operations, e.g. of...

H04N 21/4334   Recording operations record...

H04N 21/4622   Retrieving content or addit...

H04N 21/4627   Rights management associate...

H04N 21/4751   for defining user accounts,...

H04N 21/4753   for user identification, e....

H04N 21/6581   Reference data, e.g. a movi...

H04N 5/44   Receiver circuitry for the ...

H04N 5/76   Television signal recording

H04N 5/765   Interface circuits between ...

H04N 5/775   between a recording apparat...

H04N 5/93 : Regeneration of the televis...

H04N 7/0887 : for the transmission of pro...

H04N 7/16 : Analogue secrecy systems; A...

H04N 9/7921 : for more than one processin...

H04N 9/87 : Regeneration of colour tele...

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System for data management and on-demand rental and purchase of digital data products

First Claim

1 Assignment

0 Petitions

Accused Products

Abstract

267 Citations

54 Claims

Specification

Solutions

Use Cases

Quick Links

System for data management and on-demand rental and purchase of digital data products

First Claim

1 Assignment

Subscription Required

Subscription Required

0 Petitions

Subscription Required

Accused Products

Subscription Required

Abstract

267 Citations

54 Claims

Specification

Subscription Required

Solutions

Use Cases

Quick Links