Intellectual Property
Click for a full listing of PMC’s issued patents.
PMC’s patents claim foundational positions in key technologies. These are not small features that can easily be designed around or eliminated. The patents have priority dates of 1981 and 1987, and all but one of the patents currently in force will not expire until 2027 or later (due to US Patent Office delays). Click here to read an overview of how PMC's control technologies utilize traditional networks to create cutting edge applications.
The patents read on a very broad swathe of applications and are agnostic regarding specific devices (televisions, computers, mobile devices, etc.) Fields of use include the following:
Personalized Content Presentation
PMC’s technology addresses the personalization of programming – whether audio, video, graphics, or data – by combining generic content with content specific to an individual receiver. The inventions also cover methods used to control the receiver in order to display the personalized content.
Example applications include targeted advertising, customized web pages, and personalized television.
Interactive Programming
PMC technology allows users to interact with programming they receive. The inventions cover media delivery and presentation, including options that allow a user to control what she receives. Users can also interact with received content in order to receive or to request additional services or information.
Example applications include search, online shopping, online gaming, and interactive advertising.
Multimedia Receiver Control
PMC’s inventions address the software reception used to program remotely or to update receivers. For instance, the inventions cover software delivery that subsequently initiates automatic updates to a receiver device’s operating system for computers, smartphones, or set-top boxes. The technologies also cover software delivery, such as a mobile app, that would then enable a receiver device to order and to receive media content.
Example applications include operating system updates/upgrades, web-based JavaScript applications, mobile device App installation, and media player updates.
Content Delivery
PMC’s portfolio addresses methods for delivering and unbundling packaged information. These patents read on receivers decrypting protected content, broadcasting and scheduling content, and processing content that has been received in different formats.
Example applications include digital rights management, search/targeted advertising, web conferencing, augmentation of content with geo-location data, and web caching.
System Automation, Decryption and Secure Transactions
These inventions cover using control signals embedded within a transmission to control and to monitor programming delivered over a network. Embedded control signals could be used to control the reception of content, to collect statistics stored within a user’s receiver device, to schedule received programming, or to control a receiver device remotely.
Example applications include digital television reception, automated billing, program delivery control, or control of networked devices/Internet of Things.