Method and apparatus for selectively blocking video signals
CA 2179474 C · Owner: Wi-Lan V-Chip Corp. · Inventors: Collings, Timothy David
Overview
Its claims, description and drawings are in the Canadian Patents Database.
Open the CIPO recordAbstract From the Canadian patent
A method and apparatus block the reception of television programming which meets specified criteria. Data packets describing television programming are broadcast with the television signal. The data packets include at least packets which contain category information specifying a level in one or more multi-level categories and/or label information specifying labels applied to the program content of the signal. Data packets in an incoming video signal are detected by a blocking apparatus and compared to preferences stored in non-volatile memory in the blocking apparatus. If the contents of the data packets match or exceed the stored preferences then the video signal is blocked. The apparatus …
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Listed from its CIPO record in Patent Yard's archive of Canadian patents past their term. Its claims, description and drawings are in the CIPO record and on Google Patents, and the Claude kit works from them.
Why it's free to use
- Filed June 19, 1996 and granted January 16, 2001. A Canadian patent filed from October 1, 1989 lasts 20 years from filing, so its term ended June 19, 2016.
- A certificate of supplementary protection adds at most two years for a drug, so even that would have ended by June 19, 2018.
- We check Canadian rights only. A patent in its family in another country could still be in force: check its family on Google Patents.
Timeline
Timeline From CIPO dates
Sources & verification
Official CIPO records
Everything on this page comes from the CIPO record linked above. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.