Prior art — US Patent US5905865

An analysis of the prior art cited during the examination of US patent US5905865 reveals the landscape of technology at the time of the invention. The examiner cited several patents that touched upon the integration of broadcast media with data services. Below is an analysis of the most relevant prior art references and their potential impact on the claims of US5905865.

Analysis of Cited Prior Art

The following patents were cited by the USPTO examiner during the prosecution of the application that became US5905865. This analysis evaluates their relevance to the patent's independent claims.

1. US Patent 5,594,936: "Paging system with subscriber profile"

Full Citation: US Patent 5,594,936, "Paging system with subscriber profile," assigned to Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp.
Filing Date: June 7, 1995
Publication Date: January 14, 1997
Brief Description: This patent describes a paging system where information is broadcast to a large number of subscribers. Crucially, it allows for the creation of subscriber profiles. Based on these profiles, the system can target specific information broadcasts only to those pagers whose users have expressed an interest in that type of content. The pager can then store this information for later use.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference is highly relevant to the concept of filtering information based on user preferences, as discussed in the '865 patent's detailed description.
- Claim 34 & 35: The '936 patent discloses a paging system used to transmit information, which is a key element of claim 34. The system described, which includes a broadcaster (the paging system), a receiver (the pager), and the transmission of specific information, aligns with the components of the system outlined in claim 35. However, the '936 patent focuses on broadcasting general information based on profiles rather than specifically transmitting an "on-line address" that corresponds simultaneously with separate audio/video programming for the purpose of automatically accessing an online service. The '865 patent's invention is the real-time, synchronized link between the broadcast program and a specific, machine-usable online address. The '936 patent sends information about topics of interest, not actionable addresses for a computer to automatically access in sync with a TV or radio show.

2. US Patent 5,581,693: "Method and apparatus for integrating a computer system with a television"

Full Citation: US Patent 5,581,693, "Method and apparatus for integrating a computer system with a television," assigned to TV Interactive Data Corp.
Filing Date: November 14, 1994
Publication Date: December 3, 1996
Brief Description: This invention details a system for embedding data within a television signal, specifically in the vertical blanking interval (VBI). A computer equipped with a special tuner can receive the television signal, extract this data, and display it on the computer screen. The data can be related to the television program currently being watched.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This patent is relevant as it describes sending data related to a broadcast program to a computer.
- Claim 1, 17, & 35: The '693 patent discloses broadcasting information corresponding to video programming (Claim 1), which can be received by multiple computers (Claim 17), using a system of a broadcaster and a receiver (Claim 35). However, a key distinction is the '865 patent's claim of transmitting an address for an on-line service that the computer then automatically accesses. The '693 patent describes extracting and displaying data embedded directly in the broadcast signal itself; it does not teach the step of using that data as an address to connect to a separate, remote on-line service like an Internet website via a modem. The access is to local data, not a remote service.

3. US Patent 5,504,518: "System for providing supplemental information for a television program"

Full Citation: US Patent 5,504,518, "System for providing supplemental information for a television program," assigned to Bell Communications Research, Inc.
Filing Date: June 10, 1994
Publication Date: April 2, 1996
Brief Description: This patent describes a system where a user watching a television program can request supplemental information. The system identifies the program being watched and retrieves related data from a database, which is then sent to the user's terminal. This can be triggered by the user or by codes embedded in the program.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference relates to providing information corresponding to a broadcast.
- Claim 1 & 27: The '518 patent describes providing information corresponding to video programming. It also includes an interactive component where a user can request information, which relates to the concept in Claim 27 of sending information from the computer back to a service. However, the '518 system is fundamentally a "pull" technology—the user or a pre-set trigger requests information from a database. The core of the '865 patent's invention is the "push" nature of the address transmission, where the online address is sent out simultaneously and independently of any user action, causing the computer to automatically access the service. The '865 patent removes the user from the process of finding and entering the address.

4. US Patent 5,446,891: "Apparatus for simultaneously receiving and displaying television and computer-generated signals"

Full Citation: US Patent 5,446,891, "Apparatus for simultaneously receiving and displaying television and computer-generated signals," assigned to Kaplan.
Filing Date: March 2, 1993
Publication Date: August 29, 1995
Brief Description: This patent describes a system that allows for the simultaneous display of a television signal and a computer-generated signal on the same monitor, such as in a picture-in-picture format. It is focused on the hardware and methods for merging these two signal types for display.
Potential Anticipation of Claims: This patent's relevance is more contextual than anticipatory. It establishes the technical capability of viewing broadcast content and computer content at the same time. However, it does not disclose the core inventive concept of US5905865: the automatic linking and accessing of a remote online service based on a transmitted address synchronized with the broadcast. The '891 patent is about display integration, not automated network access driven by the broadcast itself. Therefore, it does not anticipate any of the independent claims of the '865 patent.