US 5,893,101 A · Protection of an electronically stored image in a first color space by the alteration of digital component in a second color space

Abstract

Digitized images are associated with English language captions and other data, collectively known as the metadata associated with the images. A natural language processing database removes ambiguities from the metadata, and the images and the metadata are stored in databases. A user formulates a search query, and natural language processing is used to determine matches between the query and the stored metadata. Images corresponding to the matches are then viewed, and desired images are selected for licensing. The license terms for selected images are displayed, and a subset of the selected images are ordered as desired by the user.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented process of protecting an electronically stored image from unauthorized use in a first color space, comprising:

storing the image in a second color space;
altering a constituent second color space component of the stored image responsive to relative magnitude of said component to form an altered image by making a first alteration to first image portions having characteristics above a threshold and by making a second alteration to second image portions having characteristics below the threshold;
and
distributing the altered image for use in the second color space.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

08/828,924Filed 28 Mar 1997 · continuation

Priority

8 Jun 1994

Granted

6 Apr 1999

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification26 codes

G06F 16/70
Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor: of video data
G06F 16/54
Of still image data: browsing; Visualisation therefor
G06F 16/58
Of still image data: retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
G06F 16/5838
Using metadata automatically derived from the content: using colour

Protection of an electronically stored image in a first color space by the alteration of digital component in a second color space

Life of this patent

Protection of an electronically stored image in a first color space by the alteration of digital component in a second color space

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims4