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. 01, 2011
Filed:
Aug. 31, 2000
Mark R. Williams, San Jose, CA (US);
Mark R. Williams, San Jose, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses whereby legally obtained media files are marked so they are associated with the legal owner. A legally obtained media file is delivered normally, without any form of interruption. However, when an illegally obtained media file is delivered, a message file is delivered in association with the media file. According to an embodiment, a method of the invention comprises receiving a media file, retrieving an identifier that uniquely identifies a player unit, appending the identifier onto the media file, and storing the appended media file in a data storage medium. According to another embodiment, a method of the invention comprises receiving a media file with a first identifier, retrieving a second identifier, comparing the first identifier with the second identifier, retrieving a message file from a non-volatile memory and producing a message output if the first identifier does not correspond to the second identifier, and producing a media output from the media file.