US 6,240,555 · Granted 2001-05-29

Microsoft's 2001 Blueprint for Interactive TV That Never Quite Took Off

Imagine watching your favorite TV show, and while it's playing, extra interactive content pops up on the side of your screen—trivia about the show, live polls, behind-the-scenes photos, or shopping links. Microsoft patented the system that figures out which shows are interactive and automatically pulls in that side content to display alongside the video.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system where a viewer's home computer checks an electronic program guide (EPG) when you tune to a channel, determines if that program has interactive content available, and then automatically downloads and displays supplemental material (text, images, links) arranged in a specific layout alongside the broadcast video. What's protected is the method of coordinating the broadcast signal with separately-sourced interactive content and using layout instructions embedded in that content to control how everything appears on screen together.

Why it matters

This patent captures an early vision of second-screen TV experiences—the idea that video content didn't have to exist alone. At the time of filing (1996), this was genuinely novel territory; most people watched TV passively. Microsoft was betting on a future where interactive enhancements would drive viewer engagement and open new advertising and commerce channels. Though interactive TV never became mainstream in the way this patent envisioned, the underlying concept—syncing supplemental content with video—later evolved into companion apps, live social media feeds during broadcasts, and streaming platform features.

Real-world use

When you watch a live sports game on a streaming app and see player stats, real-time polls, or merchandise links displayed in a sidebar while the game plays, you're seeing a descendant of this patent's core idea in action.

Original USPTO abstract

An interactive entertainment system enables presentation of supplemental interactive content along side traditional broadcast video prams, such as television shows and movies. The programs are broadcast in a conventional manner. The supplemental content is supplied as part of the same program signal over the broadcast network, or separately over another distribution network. A viewer computing unit is located at the viewer's home to present the program and supplemental content to a viewer. When the viewer tunes to a particular channel, the viewer computing unit consults an electronic programming guide (EPG) to determine if the present program carried on the channel is interactive. If it is, the viewer computing unit launches a browser. The browser uses a target specification stored in the EPG to activate a target resource containing the supplemental content for enhancing the broadcast program. The target resource contains display layout instructions prescribing how the supplemental content and the video content program are to appear in relation to one another when displayed. When the data from the target resource is downloaded, the viewer computing unit is responsive to the layout instructions obtained from the target resource to display the supplemental content concurrently with the video content program. Embedding the layout instructions in the supplemental content advantageously places control of the presentation to the content developers. The developers are free to arrange the data and video in any manner they choose.

Patent details

Publication number: US 6,240,555
Filing date: 1996-03-29
Grant date: 2001-05-29
Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
Inventor(s): SHOFF DANIEL J., BRONSON VALERIE L., MATTHEWS, III JOSEPH H., LAWLER FRANK
CPC class: H04N21/4312

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