Invalidity dossier
US 7684673
Managing a digital video recorder via a network
Current assignee: International Business Machines Corp
Added 9/23/2026, 5:37:38 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
US 7684673 — Managing a Digital Video Recorder via a Network
Title: Managing a digital video recorder via a network
Patent number: US7684673B2
Inventor: Belton L. Monroe
Original/Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corp (as listed; the source notes listed assignees may be inaccurate)
Application number: US11/324,870
Priority/Filing date: 2006-01-03
Publication date (grant): 2010-03-23
Legal status: Active, expires 2029-01-23 (adjusted expiration)
Purpose. The patent addresses limitations of conventional digital video recorders (DVRs): programming and content are tied to a single unit's hard-wired, non-replaceable hard drive; storage is hard to expand; stored program information is non-transferable and lost on replacement of the unit; and recorded content can generally be viewed only where the DVR is connected to a television. The invention relates to managing DVR programming via a network, described as managing a DVR system via the internet.
Plain-language scope. A content manager receives user instructions (input/output via a graphical user interface) over a network and executes them to schedule recording of content for the user. When multiple users designate the same content, only a single instance of that content is stored, forming "common stored content"; upon a request from one of those users, that common stored content is transmitted back over the network. The description also covers managing a data processing system, aggregation-engine processing, sharing a content manager with another user, and shared storage. Content is broadly defined to include scheduled broadcasts (show episodes, songs, movies, music videos, documentaries, news) and user-uploaded digital pictures. The specification includes figures for a network of data processing systems, a data processing system block diagram, a DVR system, a content-manager GUI, and flowcharts (FIGS. 5A–9).
Classifications include H04N5/76, H04N5/765, H04N21/2747 (remote storage of video received via the downstream path), H04N21/4334 (recording operations), H04N21/47214, H04N21/6587 (trick play commands), and H04N7/17318.
What the excerpt does not establish. The supplied text is a Google Patents page excerpt; it omits the full description and the actual claims, so the precise claim scope, claim count, and dependencies cannot be confirmed here. It offers no findings on validity, prior art, or litigation, which are outside this overview's scope. Claim-level detail should be verified against the full source.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:43:27 PM
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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