The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 26, 2000
Filed:
Apr. 08, 1998
Harumi Yamagishi, San Diego, CA (US);
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Sony Electronics, Inc., Park Ridge, NJ (US);
Abstract
A technique for activating a cellular or portable telephone includes a circuit for transmitting and receiving signals, a controller for the transmitting and receiving circuit, and a display device, e.g., liquid crystal display. A service program stored in a memory is accessible through a first code and a second code. The first code permits access to portions of the service program, and the second code permits access to fewer portions of the service program. The second code is generated based upon data associated with the telephone, e.g., a serial number and/or the first code. The service program is prevented from being accessed through the second code after the second code is used once. The portions of the service program that are accessible through the second code may be a subset of the portions of the service program that are accessible through the first code, and the portions of the service program that are accessible through the second code may include a routine for storing or setting the telephone number assigned to the apparatus.