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:
Jul. 18, 2006
Filed:
Mar. 12, 2001
Cary Lee Bates, Rochester, MN (US);
Eric John Nelson, Rochester, MN (US);
John Matthew Santosuosso, Rochester, MN (US);
Cary Lee Bates, Rochester, MN (US);
Eric John Nelson, Rochester, MN (US);
John Matthew Santosuosso, Rochester, MN (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
Applications/functions within an electronic processing device having a GPS card and antenna, such as a laptop or personal digital assistant, can be enabled only when in a specified geographic location. For each critical application/function, its accessibility is programmed to be enabled/disabled only in specified geographic regions. No additional passwords are required: access or abortion of an running program are automatic. The geographic regions can be input into the electronic processing device using GPS processing or using a graphical user interface on a map. Other methods of determining the boundaries of the appropriate geographic regions for each applications/functions are disclosed. An application/function will not be opened if the electronic device is not within the geographic region associated with the application/function. When an existing application/function is running and the user changes geographic regions, an abort message is automatically generated for those applications/functions that should not be active in the new geographic regions. A GPS card and antenna within the electronic processing device receive and process the device's current location.