US 5,926,624 · Granted 1999-07-20

How Audible Patented the Digital Library Your Phone Now Uses

Imagine a massive online library where you can download books, music, or other files to a small portable player you carry around. This patent covers the whole system: the secure server that stores everything, the computer that requests files, and the portable device that plays them back. It's basically the blueprint for how digital media gets from the cloud to your pocket.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The patent covers a networked system where a central library server holds digital files, a client computer requests and downloads specific files from that server using secure authentication and encryption, and then transfers those files to a removable mobile playback device. What's protected here is the combination of the server architecture, the download logic on the client side, and the ability to format files specifically for the target mobile device—not just one piece, but the whole ecosystem working together.

Why it matters

Filed in 1996 and granted in 1999, this patent arrived at a pivotal moment when digital media was moving online but portable devices were still limited. Audible held intellectual property on the core mechanics of secure digital distribution to mobile players, which became fundamental to how companies like Apple, Amazon, and streaming services deliver content today. The encryption and targeting logic described here helped establish the legal framework for protecting digital media commerce.

Real-world use

Every time you download an audiobook, podcast, or ebook to your phone or tablet using an app like Audible, Kindle, or Apple Books, you're using the networked download and device-targeting system this patent describes.

Original USPTO abstract

A computer network based digital information library system employing authentication and encryption protocols for the secure transfer of digital information library programs to a client computer system and a mobile digital information playback device removably connectable to the client computer system. The present invention is a computer network based library and information delivery system for accessing and obtaining selected digital information files. The library and information delivery system comprises: 1) a library server having a plurality of digital information files; 2) a client computer system coupled to the library server over a network; and 3) a mobile device removably connectable to the client computer system, the client computer system including logic for requesting a download of a selected one or more of the digital information files from the library server, the client computer system further including logic for downloading the selected one or more of the digital information files to the mobile device.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,926,624
Filing date: 1996-09-12
Grant date: 1999-07-20
Assignee: Audible, Inc.
Inventor(s): KATZ; DONALD R., LAU; EDWIN J., MOTT; TIMOTHY, BRENNEMAN; SCOTT A., JUN; BENJAMIN CHE-MING, PAI; SAMUEL HONG-YEN
CPC class: G11B20/00195

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