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. 28, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 11, 1998
Harold L. Peterson, Los Gatos, CA (US);
James B. Williams, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Harold L. Peterson, Los Gatos, CA (US);
James B. Williams, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Digital Delivery Networks, Inc., Scotts Valley, CA (US);
Abstract
A digital content vending machine, DCVM (), in which a client () on a personal computer, PC (), contains an infrastructure () and an inventory (). The infrastructure () and inventory () may both be stored in a hard drive (), or the inventory () may instead be stored on a removable media (), such as a CD (), DVD (), or tape (). The infrastructure () presents a graphical user interface on the client () which metaphorically resembles a village () containing a plurality of stores () operated by vendors (). Customers () shop in the stores () by selecting assets (), constituting the inventory (), and sending money () and an identifier () to a clearing house () via a communications system such as telephone (), private network (), or the Internet (). The clearing house () returns a key () used to at least partially remove a digital wrapper () protecting the asset () from unauthorized use. A master server () may also be provided to update the infrastructure () and inventory (), and to provide additional keys () used to remove the digital wrappers ().