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:
Dec. 17, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 13, 2000
Alexander T. van Zoest, San Diego, CA (US);
Matthew John DiMeo, San Diego, CA (US);
Brian Mason Degenhardt, San Diego, CA (US);
Charles Lawrence Sismondo, San Diego, CA (US);
Brian Callahan, San Diego, CA (US);
John William DeRose, San Diego, CA (US);
George Matthew Costello, La Jolla, CA (US);
Tristan Anne Barnum, San Diego, CA (US);
James Park, San Diego, CA (US);
Joshua Stephens, San Diego, CA (US);
Michael Oliphant, San Diego, CA (US);
David M Story, San Diego, CA (US);
John P. Knott, San Diego, CA (US);
James Martin Moore, San Diego, CA (US);
MP3.com, Inc., San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention is a system and method for providing access to electronic works over a network. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention offers a user access to electronic copies of works, such as songs, albums, movies, or music videos, over a network. The user responds to the offer by requesting to access to a particular work. Before such a request is granted, the present invention may verify that the user is authorized to access to the work. In one embodiment, the user verifies that they are authorized to access an electronic copy of the work by demonstrating that they possess a physical copy of the work. In another embodiment, the user verifies that they are authorized to access an electronic copy of the work by demonstrating that they ordered or purchased a copy of the work. If a user's authorization is verified, the user may then be provided with access to an electronic copy of the work by such techniques as downloading or streaming.