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:
Jun. 15, 2004
Filed:
Jul. 02, 1997
Yuichi Yagawa, Yokohama, JP;
Koichi Sano, Yokohama, JP;
Hitachi, Ltd., Toyko, JP;
Abstract
In a digital content distribution method and system, a storage medium is composed of a ROM area in which a key is stored and a RAM area in which a digital content is stored. A storage medium certification unit of a terminal equipment judges whether or not the key of the storage medium exists in the ROM area. Thereby, the use of an illegal copy of the digital content is prevented. If the key is valid, a digital content execution unit of the terminal equipment reads the digital content and executes it. A digital content updating unit of the terminal system transmits to a distributor a request for transmission of the digital content together with a user profile code. The distributor refers to a user management file to check the validity of the user profile code and the number of times of distribution. If they are valid, the latest edition of the digital content is transmitted to the terminal system so that the digital content is updated by the digital content updating unit. Thereby, the distribution and version-up of a digital content are facilitated.