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:
Feb. 17, 2009
Filed:
Apr. 29, 2002
Paul L. Master, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
John Watson, Edgewood, WA (US);
Paul L. Master, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
John Watson, Edgewood, WA (US);
QST Holding, LLC, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A system for permitting new, or enhanced, functionality to be transferred to an adaptable device. In a preferred embodiment, the permitted functionality is determined according to an accounting method associated with a user's account. This approach allows a user to contract for specific services, functionality, etc. regardless of changes over time such as changes to data formats, communication protocols, external devices or infrastructure, etc. In a preferred embodiment, the functionality is stored on a ubiquitous communications network such as the Internet. Functionality is transferred to different devices as digital information over the network. This allows hardware functionality to be licensed in many forms. For example, site licenses can be obtained for companies; hardware 'trialware' can be provided to allow limited functionality for a limited time for lower-cost payments, etc.