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:
Apr. 24, 2001
Filed:
Nov. 12, 1999
Applicant:
Inventors:
Martin A. Shiels, Brighton, GB;
Richard S. Cole, Redhill, GB;
Paul J. Rankin, Horley, GB;
Rosa Freitag, London, GB;
Assignee:
U.S. Philips Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 7/167 ; H04N 7/08 ; G06F 3/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 7/167 ; H04N 7/08 ; G06F 3/00 ;
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided for control access to, and user interaction with, a branch structured narrative entertainment (,). Selected paths (parallel lined portions BC, DE, GY) are locked to a user and may only be accessed on presentation of predetermined access data. The access data may comprise user identification codes or may be the time of day, with such paths only being made available at specific times.