Famous Patents
The ice cream cone was invented at the St. Louis Worlds Fair by Ernest Hamwi in 1904. His waffle booth was next to an ice cream vendor who ran short of dishes. Hamwi rolled a waffle to hold ice cream and the cone was born.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5635979 | Dynamically programmable digital entertainment terminal using downloaded software to control broadband data operations Dynamic programming of a digital entertainment terminal (DET) facilitates operation of the terminal to offer a variety of functionally different broadband services. The terminal can be reprogrammed, as-needed, for each different service offered by one or ... | 06/03/1997 |
| 5635989 | Method and apparatus for sorting and searching a television program guide A method and apparatus for searching a program guide comprising program information for a plurality of different program sources. The program information includes the titles of the programs, the channel on which each program is to be shown, and the time a... | 06/03/1997 |
| 5632681 | Universal electronic video game renting/distributing system A video game cartridge that can be plugged into a video game machine to enable a user to request and play a video game for a predetermined number of video frames. The cartridge has a receiver for receiving the video game program and the predetermined fram... | 05/27/1997 |
| 5630757 | Real-time multi-user game communication system using existing cable television infrastructure A complete multi-user game playing environment is described which provides game playing services to cable television subscribers over existing cable networks. A game player located at the end of a cable network connection has a computer or other game play... | 05/20/1997 |
| 5619250 | Operating system for interactive television system set top box utilizing dynamic system upgrades A set top box for digital audio/video interactive decoding in an interactive television system is disclosed. The set top box includes means for connecting to an interactive television system as well as means for connecting to a television set. The set top... | 04/08/1997 |
| 5583563 | Method and system for delivering an application in an interactive television network A method is disclosed for dynamically transferring an application from a server to a client station in an interactive television network. The method begins with the step of storing an application engine in the memory of the client station. The method furt... | 12/10/1996 |
| 5583562 | System and method for transmitting a plurality of digital services including imaging services A multiplex frame format for transmitting digital data in a data transmission system comprises a PACKETS portion comprising a highly error-protected region and a region having only Reed Solomon encoding as an error protection measure, the PACKETS portion ... | 12/10/1996 |
| 5579057 | Display system for selectively overlaying symbols and graphics onto a video signal A display system for the on screen display of information for a subscriber terminal of a subscription television system includes a display processor which can display information in the form of a display screen stored in a display memory. The display proc... | 11/26/1996 |
| 5561709 | Apparatus and method for electronic device for information services An electronic device and method for accessing remote electronic facilities and displaying associated information on a conventional television set. The electronic device self-configures itself upon power-up or reset by initiating a data call to a configuri... | 10/01/1996 |
| 5534941 | System for dynamic real-time television channel expansion A system is provided by which a single active video signal, along with a plurality of audio and data streams can be made to represent a number of different screens of information at a cable TV set. The system uses essentially only the bandwidth of a singl... | 07/09/1996 |
| 5526427 | Universal broadcast code and multi-level encoded signal monitoring system A multi-level encoded signal monitoring system and a universal broadcast code are provided. A plurality of encoders are provided for encoding a predetermined program source signal. The program source signal has a plurality of sequential segments. Each enc... | 06/11/1996 |
| 5483277 | Simplified set-top converter for broadband switched network For fiber-to-the-curb program switching, which is done at the central office, the same fixed frequency slot is always used for distributing the TV program selected for a video recording device at the subscriber's premises; for its related display, another... | 01/09/1996 |
| 5475835 | Audio-visual inventory and play-back control system An improved audio-visual computer-based home entertainment media inventory and control system is disclosed comprising a computer with associated software, for controlling any combination or number of video tape record-playback units, audio tape record-pla... | 12/12/1995 |
| 5461667 | Apparatus and method for electronic device for information services An electronic device and method for accessing remote electronic facilities and displaying associated information on a conventional television set. The electronic device self-configures itself upon power-up or reset by initiating a data call to a configuri... | 10/24/1995 |
| 5459507 | Terminal device for a catv system having a read out function A terminal device for a CATV system is described which includes a microcomputer for controlling the operation of the terminal device. The type of module which is connected to an input/output port of the microcomputer is recognized by a recognizing element... | 10/17/1995 |
| 5440632 | Reprogrammable subscriber terminal A reprogrammable subscriber terminal of a subscription television service which can have the control program code of its control processor modified by downloading new program code from the headend. The control processor stores a boot program in an interna... | 08/08/1995 |
| 5425100 | Universal broadcast code and multi-level encoded signal monitoring system A multi-level encoded signal monitoring system and a universal broadcast code are provided. A plurality of encoders are provided for encoding a predetermined program source signal. The program source signal has a plurality of sequential segments. Each enc... | 06/13/1995 |
| 5416508 | CATV system with transmission of program schedules, linked program broadcasts, and permissive ordering periods A CATV center facility transmits, together with the television signals of a plurality of programs, display control data indicating program names and selection numbers of the respective programs and channel data indicating the numbers of channels on which ... | 05/16/1995 |
| 5367571 | Subscriber terminal with plug in expansion card A subscriber terminal with a plug-in expansion card provides for memory expansion and security renewal. The subscriber terminal has a memory control bus including data, address, and control lines which are extended to an expansion connector. In addition, ... | 11/22/1994 |
| 5138649 | Portable telephone handset with remote control A remote control for one or more appliances and a telephone handset are combined into a single unit. A common keypad is used for both remote control and telephone functions. An appliance control signal is generated in response to the actuation of at least... | 08/11/1992 |
| 5036537 | Geographic black-out method for direct broadcast satellite system Television programs are broadcast to a plurality of receiver units in various geographic areas. Each unit has a memory for storage of a designation code representative of its location and a memory for the storage of a blackout tier indication. Prior to th... | 07/30/1991 |
| 5003591 | Functionally modifiable cable television converter system A cable television converter with remotely modifiable functionality receives firmware downloaded over a cable television network. The integrity of the firmware is verified, and if valid, the firmware is executed to provide one or more converter functions.... | 03/26/1991 |
| 4982430 | Bootstrap channel security arrangement for communication network Apparatus and a method are disclosed to enable on-line modification and upgrading of terminal software in a communication network while maintaining the integrity of communication between a service provider and a subscriber using the network. Software is d... | 01/01/1991 |
| 4943963 | Data collection and transmission system with real time clock A communication method and a data collection and transmission system are provided having at least one remotely located monitoring station. A central computer is arranged for bidirectional communication with each of the monitoring stations. Each of the mon... | 07/24/1990 |
| 4893248 | Monitoring and reporting system for remote terminals A system is disclosed for monitoring and accumulating data indicative of viewer authorized pay per view TV programs at each of a plurality of remote terminals, wherein each remote terminal is coupled illustratively by non-dedicated telephone lines to a ho... | 01/09/1990 |
| 4829558 | System and device for data transmission, and related method A system for remotely displaying screen data on televisions or the like transmits screen data over a plurality of commercial radio band carrier transmitters. A plurality of devices are provided, each being for use with a corresponding television in a home... | 05/09/1989 |
| 4698670 | Cable stereo apparatus TV cable apparatus wherein a stereo module unit at a user location automatically provides for the presentation of an FM audo channel associated with a particular TV channel. The FM frequency allocations associated with the particular TV channels are store... | 10/06/1987 |
| 4677467 | CATV addressable converter with multi-purpose, bi-directional serial digital data port A CATV addressable converter is provided with a multi-purpose bi-directional data port for transmitting and/or receiving serial digital data. A micro-computer provided within the converter is programmed to make the converter responsive to RF commands tran... | 06/30/1987 |
| 4558464 | Address-programmable CATV converter An addressable CATV converter for connection with a remote headend in a cable distribution system contains a memory into which a unique address code identifying that converter is downloaded from the remote headend.... | 12/10/1985 |
| 4326289 | Expandable communication system A communication system in which individual stations are connected to a control center by a transmission medium common to all of the stations to allow the transmission medium common to all of the stations to allow the transmission of messages in the form o... | 04/20/1982 |
