US 6,363,488 · Granted 2002-03-26

The Patent That Tried to Lock Down Digital Rights Before the Internet Got Wild

This patent describes a security system that controls how digital information gets used and shared across computers. Think of it like a digital bouncer that checks permissions at every step—making sure only authorized people access files, and tracking who uses what and when. It was designed to protect both creators' rights and users' privacy in early electronic commerce.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a distributed system for managing and protecting digital content across multiple computers and networks. What's protected here is the method of creating a 'virtual distribution environment' that enforces security rules at each computer node, controlling and monitoring how electronically stored information is accessed, copied, and used. The patent covers the specific architecture and techniques for maintaining a secure chain of custody over digital rights and transactions.

Why it matters

This patent addresses a foundational problem that emerged in the 1990s: how do you protect digital content and control its use when copies are infinitely easy to make? Intertrust's approach—using tamper-resistant hardware and distributed security checks—represented an early attempt at what would become known as Digital Rights Management (DRM). The patent became significant in early electronic commerce disputes and licensing negotiations, though the broader technology landscape ultimately pursued multiple competing approaches to digital security.

Real-world use

You encounter concepts from this patent whenever a streaming service restricts how many devices can play simultaneously, or when software requires authentication before allowing use. Even modern app licensing and cloud-based access controls trace conceptual lineage back to these distributed security ideas.

Original USPTO abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection. Electronic appliances such as computers equipped in accordance with the present invention help to ensure that information is accessed and used only in authorized ways, and maintain the integrity, availability, and/or confidentiality of the information. Such electronic appliances provide a distributed virtual distribution environment (VDE) that may enforce a secure chain of handling and control, for example, to control and/or meter or otherwise monitor use of electronically stored or disseminated information. Such a virtual distribution environment may be used to protect rights of various participants in electronic commerce and other electronic or electronic-facilitated transactions. Distributed and other operating systems, environments and architectures, such as, for example, those using tamper-resistant hardware-based processors, may establish security at each node. These techniques may be used to support an all-electronic information distribution, for example, utilizing the "electronic highway."

Patent details

Publication number: US 6,363,488
Filing date: 1999-06-07
Grant date: 2002-03-26
Assignee: Intertrust Technologies Corp.
Inventor(s): GINTER KARL L., SHEAR VICTOR H., SPAHN FRANCIS J., VAN WIE DAVID M.
CPC class: G06Q50/184

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If you're designing a consumer electronics product that handles user data or digital content, search for existing security patents in this space before you commit to your architecture—the foundations were laid decades ago.

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