US 5,594,509 · Granted 1997-01-14

Apple's 1997 Blueprint for the Interactive TV Remote We Never Got

Imagine a super-smart box that sits between your TV, cable box, and VCR and lets you control everything with one remote. This patent describes that box—one that could show you multiple channels of info at once, let you browse listings with arrow buttons, and switch between different entertainment sources seamlessly. Apple filed this in 1993, betting that living rooms would become interactive hubs.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a hardware-software system that acts as a central hub for A/V devices, switching data between a program provider and connected equipment like TVs, VCRs, and cable boxes. What's protected is the specific architecture: a CPU-based transceiver with tuners, decoders, processors, and encoders working together, plus a remote control with specialized button groups (info, interactive controls, arrow navigation) that lets users browse and select from multiple information layers displayed on screen simultaneously.

Why it matters

Filed during the early 1990s when interactive television was a hot industry bet, this patent represents Apple's early vision for the connected home—predating streaming and smart TVs by decades. The patent stakes out territory around the idea of a unified A/V control hub with layered on-screen information, a concept that influenced set-top box design and remote control standards. Though Apple never mass-manufactured this exact device, the patent demonstrates how the company thought about convergence between computing, television, and telecommunications during an era when those industries still felt separate.

Real-world use

Every time you use a cable box remote with an on-screen guide, arrow buttons to navigate channels, and info screens that pop up—you're using interaction patterns this patent tried to lock down decades earlier.

Original USPTO abstract

An interactive audio-visual (A/V) transceiver is advantageously coupled to a television and/or telephone (T/T) cable, a TV, a video recorder (VCR), and other A/V devices. The A/V transceiver switches data between a program/service provider and the connected A/V devices. In one embodiment, the transceiver includes three primary modules, a main module including a CPU, a system bus, system memory, an infra-red (IR) control unit, an audio-visual bus, an A/V decoder, an A/V processor, and an A/V encoder, an A/V connect module including a number of tuner/demodulators and a switch, and an optional CD ROM module. The A/V transceiver hardware is complemented with an operating system and software program which supports the functions provided in the A/V user interface. Additionally, a remote control device is provided to communicate with the A/V transceiver to interactively manage selection of program and service sources, selection program and service offerings from any selected source, viewing of selected program offerings, and interaction with selected service offerings. The remote control device is advantageously provided with a basic A/V control button group, an interactive control button group, an auxiliary control button group and a numeric key pad to facilitate control of the transceiver. The interactive control button group includes an info button, a list button, a categories button, a pix button, a mark button, a jump button, and a pointing device consisting of up, down, left, and right arrow buttons, and a center select button.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,594,509
Filing date: 1993-06-22
Grant date: 1997-01-14
Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
Inventor(s): FLORIN; FABRICE, BUETTNER; MICHAEL, COREY; GLENN, FRITSCHE; JANEY, MARESCA; PETER, MILLER; PETER, PURDY; BILL, SHARPE; STUART, WEST; NICK
CPC class: H04N7/15

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