US 5,774,664 · Granted 1998-06-30

The 1996 Patent That Tried to Merge TV and the Web

Imagine watching TV and seeing a link pop up on your screen that takes you to a website with more info about what you're watching — all synced perfectly to the show. This patent describes exactly that: a system that embeds internet addresses into TV broadcasts so your computer can automatically grab and display related web pages alongside your program.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a computer-based system that receives video programming signals alongside embedded URLs (web addresses), retrieves the web pages those URLs point to, and displays them synchronized with the video content on a user's screen. What's protected here is the specific method of time-stamping web pages so they appear when relevant video content plays, and the ability to either embed those URLs in the broadcast itself or transmit them separately over an internet connection on a schedule set by the broadcaster.

Why it matters

This patent represents an early attempt to bridge television and the internet during the mid-1990s, when those were still seen as separate media. It captures the idea of 'enhanced TV' — letting broadcasters deliver supplemental information to viewers in real time. Though the exact business model didn't dominate mainstream broadcasting, the patent illustrates how innovators were experimenting with synchronized, multi-platform viewing experiences years before streaming and second-screen apps became common.

Real-world use

When you watch a cooking show today and see a recipe link appear on your smart TV, or when a sports broadcast displays stats on your phone synced to the live game, you're using technology descended from ideas this patent explores.

Original USPTO abstract

A system for integrating video programming with the vast information resources of the Internet. A computer-based system receives a video program and uniform resource locators (URLs). The URLs, the effective addresses of locations or Web sites on the Internet, are interpreted by the system and direct the system to the Web site locations to retrieve related Web pages. Web pages related to the video programming appear upon receipt through the user's browser. The video program signal can be displayed on a video window on a conventional personal computer screen. The actual retrieved Web pages can be time stamped to also be displayed, on another portion of the display screen, when predetermined related video content is displayed in the video window. The computer-based system can receive the URLs embedded in the video program or directly through an Internet connection, at times specified by TV broadcasters in advance. The system interprets the URLs and retrieves the appropriate Web pages. The Web pages are synchonized to the video content for display in conjunction with a television program being broadcast to the user at that time. This system allows the URLs to be entered for live transmission to the user.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,774,664
Filing date: 1996-03-25
Grant date: 1998-06-30
Assignee: Actv, Inc.
Inventor(s): HIDARY; JACK D., ULLMAN; CRAIG, SPIVACK; NOVA T.
CPC class: H04N21/8547

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