Invalidity dossier
US 5410598
Database usage metering and protection system and method
Current assignee: Electronic Publishing Resources Inc
Added 9/23/2026, 5:02:43 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US5410598A
Title: Database usage metering and protection system and method
Patent number: US5410598A
Application number: US08/311,311
Inventor: Victor H. Shear
Original/current assignee (as listed): Electronic Publishing Resources Inc; a 2002 reassignment to INTERTRUST TECHNOLOGIES CORP. appears in the supplied record.
Priority date: 1986-10-14 (claimed from US06/918,109); an intermediate priority from US07/310,938 (1989-02-16) is also listed.
Filing date: 1994-09-27
Publication/grant date: 1995-04-25
Legal status (as listed): Expired – Lifetime; anticipated expiration 2012-04-25
Purpose. The patent addresses regulating usage of a computer database — preventing unauthorized use and copying of an electronic digital information database while measuring authorized users' utilization of it. It responds to stated disadvantages of centralized databases (slow transmission, contention, delays at peak usage) and to the capacity of optical disks, bubble memory and CD-related drives for local information-base libraries.
Plain-language scope. A storage medium holds an encrypted database plus index information correlating encrypted portions with index keys (the index may itself be encrypted). A host digital signal processor generates a database access request, reads the index, identifies and reads the matching encrypted portions. A secure decoder control logic device receives those portions, decrypts them, returns decrypted information to the host, measures usage quantities/parameters, and stores measurements in non-volatile, often tamperproof, memory — giving a per-file or per-"property" usage record. Decryption can be disabled if more than a certain percentage, or a specified contiguous portion, of the database has been copied. Usage information may be sent to a central billing facility, including via a replaceable non-volatile memory module mailed to that facility. A multi-level coded security access system restricts portions of the database to holders of proper security codes, and decryption can be automatically prevented after a predetermined event (module "expiration," excessive usage indicating copying) unless an "antidote" (secret input, replacement component) is applied.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US5410598](/patent/US5410598)/en
What the excerpt does not establish. It is partial: the claims, abstract, detailed description, drawings and prior-art citations are absent, so claim scope, claim count and precise limitations cannot be stated. Dates, assignee identity and legal status are expressly assumptions in the source, not legal conclusions.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:43:54 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
Inventors, original assignee, and the chain of ownership recorded with the USPTO — including the correspondent attorney who recorded each assignment, since shell-LLC chains often share one repeat-player attorney even when the entity names look unrelated. Surfaces NPE / patent-troll patterns: shell-entity transfers, known asserters in the chain, repeat correspondent fingerprints, pre-litigation assignments, and bankruptcy fire-sales.
Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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