US 2,005,251,827 · Filed 2005-07-11

The Patent That Made Your Smart Home Actually Work Together

Imagine having three TVs in your house that all know what you like to watch, remember your settings, and talk to each other automatically. This patent covers the system that lets all those devices stay in sync so you don't have to set up the same preferences over and over again on every screen.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system where multiple television devices in one home share and coordinate their settings with each other. What's protected here is the method of adjusting program guide preferences (like favorite channels, recording schedules, parental controls, and language settings) on one TV and having those same settings automatically apply to the other TVs in the house. It also extends to coordinating other applications like web browsers, shopping apps, and games across multiple devices.

Why it matters

This patent addresses a real pain point in multi-TV households: the repetitive frustration of configuring the same settings separately on each device. United Video Properties, a major player in TV guide technology, locked down the concept of a centralized, synchronized program guide system across household devices. This became foundational to how modern smart home entertainment systems work, ensuring that once you tell your system your preferences, it remembers them everywhere you watch.

Real-world use

When you set your DVR to record a show on the living room TV and then walk to the bedroom and see the same recording already queued up there, you're experiencing the coordination this patent protects.

Original USPTO abstract

An interactive television program guide system based on multiple user television equipment devices in a single household is provided. The system provides a user with an opportunity to adjust program guide settings with a given one of the interactive television program guides. The system coordinates the operation of the interactive television program guides so that the program guide settings that were adjusted with the given interactive television program guide are used by the other interactive television program guides. Program guide setting include features related to setting program reminders, profiles, program recording features, messaging features, favorites features, parental control features, program guide set up features (e.g., audio and video and language settings), etc. The operation of applications such as web browser applications, home shopping applications, home banking applications, game applications, etc. may also be coordinated.

Patent details

Publication number: US 2,005,251,827
Filing date: 2005-07-11
Grant date: Application — not yet granted
Assignee: United Video Properties, Inc.
Inventor(s): ELLIS MICHAEL D., THOMAS WILLIAM L., LEMMONS THOMAS R.
CPC class: H04N21/4227

View original record on Google Patents →

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