...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7237121 | Secure bootloader for securing digital devices A secure bootloader for securing software and systems in a digital device 110 by ensuring only encrypted and authenticated boot software is loaded and executed in the digital device 110. The encrypted boot software is read into the device 110 an... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7236958 | Electronic software license with software product installer identifier An anti-piracy software licensing system associates a license file with a particular software product, so that the license file cannot be used with a separate product. The license is associated with one and only one product by associating an Installer Identifier (II... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7236686 | Method and apparatus for transmitting a signal, method and apparatus for receiving a signal, VBI signal generating apparatus, video signal transmitting apparatus, video signal processing apparatus, video signal receiving apparatus, decoding apparatus, and recording medium for recording a video signal Additional information is transmitted by means of assigning a code to a particular scanning line in a VBI (vertical blanking interval). An initial value of a CRCC (Cyclic Redundancy Check Code) or a formula used to generate a CRCC is switched depending upon the type... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7237123 | Systems and methods for preventing unauthorized use of digital content Theft, distribution, and piracy of digital content (software, video, audio, e-books, any content of any kind that is digitally stored and distributed) is generally accomplished by copying it, if possible, or, if it is protected from being copied in any fashion, such... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7234109 | Equality of extensible markup language structures A computer-implemented mechanism for comparing information sets is described. The mechanism may include a comparison system that concentrates on the schema in each information set. An alternative embodiment includes an equality comparison mechanism that performs set... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7233937 | Method, apparatus, and system for searching based on filter search specification According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided in which a search request containing search criteria is received from a first user. The search criteria include at least one search category. Filter search specification associated with the at le... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7231664 | System and method for transmitting and receiving secure data in a virtual private group A novel system and method for transmitting and receiving secure data in a virtual private group (VPG). In one embodiment, a method for transmitting secure data from a first node to a second node includes accessing a group membership table on the first node, the grou... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7231373 | Transaction processing A customer inserts a security device (D) into the USB port of his computer (C). When a transaction request confirmation (1) is transmitted to a merchant server (M), the merchant server (M) instructs an account server (AS). The account server (AS) performs cus... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7231669 | Binding content to a portable storage device or the like in a digital rights management (DRM) system Digital content is rendered on a device by transferring the content to the device and obtaining a digital license corresponding to the content. A sub-license corresponding to and based on the obtained license is composed and transferred to the device, and the conten... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7231370 | Method and apparatus for organizational software license sharing A method, computer program product, and apparatus for efficiently utilizing software licenses in a large organization having multiple divisions is disclosed. A preferred embodiment of the present invention accomplishes this goal by providing for a pool of organizati... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7231360 | Time-based software licensing approach The present invention is directed to a time-based licensing scheme for software deployment. According to an aspect of the present invention, lime-based software can be disseminated through various channels, for example, a network, CD's, floppy disks, etc., but befor... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7228288 | Method of repeatedly securitizing intellectual property assets and facilitating investments therein The present invention relates to methods of repeatedly valuing intellectual property assets and securitizing such assets. The present invention provides a means whereby holders or owners of proprietary intellectual property may readily determine the value to the bus... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7228567 | License file serial number tracking A system for monitoring licensing eligibility of a computational component, the computational component being associated with a unique identifier, is provided. The system comprises (i) an input and/or interface 120 operable to receive a request to authorize o... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7227350 | Bias technique for electric utility meter The invention contemplates an electrical power meter and method of operating the same, where the meter has electronic components (e.g., a power supply and a voltage sensing circuit) and receives alternating current (AC) voltage from an electrical power line. The inv... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7228280 | Finding database match for file based on file characteristics A signature array of digitally sampled audio is formed from segment(s) of the digitally sampled audio by counting the number of occurrences within the segment(s) in each of a plurality of value bands or slots, such as amplitude bands. The signature array undergoes a... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7225164 | Method and apparatus for implementing revocation in broadcast networks A method of revoking a descrambling privilege for copy controlled content to a host device is provided. The method includes receiving copy controlled content at a conditional access module. A revocation list is also received at the module. The method includes determ... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7225165 | License-issuing system and method The invention enables a provider and a retailer of digital contents to issue an electronic license to a consumer without wasting its own resources. A retailer sells digital contents to a consumer via the Internet. The retailer requests a license-issuing center to is... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7225167 | Merchandise-integral transaction receipt and auditable product ownership trail Techniques are disclosed for writing data directly onto a product to record each ownership transfer. As a result, the product itself now carries a traceable, auditable, non-forgeable, non-repudiable proof of ownership (and, optionally, ownership history) that can be... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7225157 | Limited-use browser and security system A limited-use browser and related security system control access to content stored on a server computer linked to a network. The security system secures the content on the server and only permits it to be downloaded to a client computer running the limited-user brow... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7225159 | Method for authenticating and securing integrated bookstore entries A method and system for providing an electronic shopping service integrated into a software application, and for controlling the set of web sites that are reachable from within the shopping service. Each web site is represented by data which is signed by a private k... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7225160 | Digital works having usage rights and method for creating the same Digital work adapted to be distributed within a system for controlling at least one of the distribution and use of digital works. The digital work includes: digital content representing a portion of a digital work suitable for being rendered by a rendering device an... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7222106 | Mechanisms for handling software license agreements on multi-user system A method, a data structure, a computer program product and a computer-readable medium for handling license agreements for multiple software packages in a computer system, each software package being identified by a unique package ID and comprising one or more compon... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7222142 | Methods and systems for moving data objects utilizing data identifiers and lock objects The present invention provides methods and systems for archiving of data, that is, for moving a selected data object in a computer system from a first to a second storage location. The selected data object is assigned at least one identifier (ID) that is stored in a... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7222104 | Method and apparatus for transferring usage rights and digital work having transferrable usage rights A method and apparatus for facilitating transfer of usage rights for digital content. The system comprises digital content, a usage rights module containing usage rights information associated with the content for a user, a transfer permission module containing tran... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7222183 | Authorized units music distribution system Systems for distributing music to a plurality of customers via the Internet provide each customer with a uniquely identified proprietary device for receiving, playing and recording music. A music server computer system is provided for distributing the music to the p... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7222312 | Secure exchange of information in electronic design automation Described herein are methods and systems for secure exchange of information related to electronic design automation. Information deemed sensitive and otherwise worthy of protection may be secured by methods such as encryption, obfuscation and other security measures... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7222101 | System and method for securing data through a PDA portal Consumers may utilize computing devices to assist in the purchase and/or loyalty process, and in particular, the consumer may utilize a PDA to facilitate the purchase and/or loyalty process. During the purchase and/or loyalty process, the consumer may need to insure... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7222087 | Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network A method and system for placing an order to purchase an item via the Internet. The order is placed by a purchaser at a client system and received by a server system. The server system receives purchaser information including identification of the purchaser, payment ... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7222367 | System for computer-aided monitoring of the use of licenses The use of licenses is monitored in a computer or communication system which has a plurality of terminals and in which at least one license is associated with at least one user. The use of the license or licenses by each user is recorded during a defined period afte... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7222100 | System and method for maintaining customer privacy A system and method for maintaining customer privacy where an identity of the customer must be divulged. The invention includes separating data associated with the institution into a first database of private data and a second database of public data; storing an enc... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7222341 | Method and system for processing software dependencies in management of software packages A software package manager uses a distribution unit containing components for a software package and a manifest file that describes the distribution unit to manage the installation, execution, and uninstallation of software packages on a computer. Information in the... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7219134 | Network system A network system having a client, a content server, application servers and a proxy server is described. The proxy server relays content and data between the client, the content server and the application servers upon a request for content from the client. The appli... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7219222 | Method and system to grant access to software options resident on a medical imaging device A system and method are provided that remotely grants limited access and permits use of resident software options in accordance with terms consistent with an access grant. The invention includes receiving an access request from a user to access a software option res... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7216804 | Postage metering system A postage metering system for applying indicia including postage value on mail items, the system including: a keyboard for inputting information; a printer for printing indicia; an accounting module for accounting for postage value applied to mail items; and a secur... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7218921 | Method and system for inviting and creating accounts for prospective users of an instant messaging system A system and method for assigning a unique identifier to a prospective user of an instant messaging system. The IM system comprises a plurality of clients (111) having IM applications of the same or different types, selectively interconnected to an IM server ... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7216178 | System and method for distributing music to customers over the internet using uniquely identified proprietary devices Systems for distributing music to a plurality of customers via the Internet provide each customer with a uniquely identified proprietary device for receiving, playing and recording music. A music server computer system is provided for distributing the music to the p... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7216368 | Information processing apparatus for watermarking digital content This invention relates to an information processing apparatus for managing copyrights under SDMI provisions as well as the copyrights for contents distributed over the Internet. Data Enc(Kc, Content) generated by encrypting a given content using a content key Kc are... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7216363 | Licensing duplicated systems The present invention is directed to a system, comprising: (i) first and second computational components 102a and b having, respectively, first and second unique identifiers; (ii) a license file 112 comprising third and fourth identifiers... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7213269 | Application rights enabling Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for controlling capabilities of a user software application. A user software application is provided, the user software application including a set of disabled operations. ... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7213005 | Digital content distribution using web broadcasting services A method, a system and computer readable medium of securely receiving data on a user's system from a web broadcast infrastructure with a plurality of channels. The method includes encrypting the data using a first encrypting key, wherein the first encrypting key is ... | 05/01/2007 |