# US 8,543,513 B2 · Tracking details of activation of licensable component of consumer electronic device

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- Number: US 8,543,513 B2
- Document ID: US8543513B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 13/072,978
- Filed: 2011-03-28
- Published: 2012-05-17
- Granted: 2013-09-24
- Earliest claimed: 2010-11-11
- Assignees: Sony Corporation
- Applicants: Peter Shintani; Aran London Sadja; Ludovic Etienne Douillet
- Inventors: Peter Shintani; Aran London Sadja; Ludovic Etienne Douillet
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8543513B2

## CPC

- G06Q 30/018: Certifying business or products
- G06F 21/10: Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material (protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16) {; Digital rights management [DRM]}
- G06F 21/125: {by manipulating the program code, e.g. source code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code}
- G06Q 20/20: Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
- G06Q 20/306: {using TV related infrastructures (external card used for payment with client device H04N21/4185)}
- G06Q 30/0251: Targeted advertisements
- G06Q 30/0283: Price estimation or determination
- G06Q 40/10: Tax strategies
- G06Q 40/12: Accounting
- H04N 5/44: Receiver circuitry {for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards} (H04N5/14 takes precedence)
- H04N 9/641: {Multi-purpose receivers, e.g. for auxiliary information (H04N9/642 takes precedence)}
- H04N 9/642: {Multi-standard receivers}
- H04N 21/2541: {Rights Management (protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08)}
- H04N 21/2543: Billing {, e.g. for subscription services (payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21)}
- H04N 21/25816: {involving client authentication (restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code G06F21/33; cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06)}
- H04N 21/426: Internal components of the client {; Characteristics thereof} (H04N5/44 takes precedence)
- H04N 21/4263: {involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners}
- H04N 21/4347: {Demultiplexing of several video streams}
- H04N 21/4382: {Demodulation or channel decoding, e.g. QPSK demodulation (analog front ends or means for connecting modulators, demodulators or transceivers to a transmission line H04L27/0002)}
- H04N 21/4627: Rights management {associated to the content (security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08)}
- H04N 21/6547: comprising parameters, e.g. for client setup
- H04N 21/6581: {Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application}
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

## Abstract

Instead of buying blanket licenses for all licensable components of its CE devices, a manufacturer enables users to activate licensable components on a device basis and then obtains the necessary licenses individually. Seldom used activation modes and seldom activated licensable components can be pruned from future devices, while widely activated licensable components can be automatically enabled by purchasing a blanket license for those components. Characteristics of license requests and the people making them can be used to focus marketing.

## Claims

### Claim 1

Method comprising:
receiving activation requests for licensable components in consumer electronics (CE) devices;
correlating, using a digital processor operatively communicating with a computer readable storage medium, the requests to request modes by which the requests were received to establish aggregated correlations;
correlating, using a digital processor operatively communicating with a computer readable storage medium, the requests to licensable components that were subjects of the requests to establish aggregated correlations;
using a digital processor operatively communicating with a computer readable storage medium and accessing the aggregated correlations, determining to prune at least one infrequently used request mode from CE devices; and
using the aggregated correlations, using a digital processor to determine to make at least one frequently activated licensable component a subject of an automatic standard license pool and removing the frequently activated licensable component from a list of licensable components that may be individually enabled or activated by individual users post-sale.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein modes of request include Internet requests and automatically generated requests.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, comprising correlating the requests to individual characteristics of requestors making the requests to establish the aggregated correlations.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the individual characteristics include demographic information including age.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the individual characteristics include model numbers of requesting CE devices.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, comprising correlating the requests to times and dates of the requests to establish the aggregated correlations.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, comprising correlating the requests to geographic locations of requesting CE devices to establish the aggregated correlations.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, comprising using demographics and/or geographic locations of requested licenses to tailor marketing efforts and content.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, comprising using the aggregated correlations to determine to eliminate at least one seldom requested licensable component from future CE device products.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, comprising using the aggregated correlations to determine to reorder a list of features related to licensable components and presented on CE devices.

### Claim 11

Method comprising:
receiving activation requests for licensable components in consumer electronics (CE) devices;
correlating, using a digital processor operatively communicating with a computer readable storage medium, the requests to request modes by which the requests were received to establish aggregated correlations;
correlating the requests to licensable components that were subjects of the requests to establish aggregated correlations;
using the aggregated correlations, determining to execute at least one of:
pruning at least one infrequently used request mode from CE devices; and
making at least one frequently activated licensable component a subject of an automatic standard license pool and removing the frequently activated licensable component from a list of licensable components that may be individually enabled or activated by individual users post-sale.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein modes of request include Internet requests and automatically generated requests.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, comprising correlating the requests to individual characteristics of requestors making the requests to establish the aggregated correlations.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the individual characteristics include demographic information including age.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the individual characteristics include model numbers of requesting CE devices.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, comprising correlating the requests to times and dates of the requests to establish the aggregated correlations.

### Claim 17 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, comprising correlating the requests to geographic locations of requesting CE devices to establish the aggregated correlations.