US 7,181,758 · Granted 2007-02-20

The Push-Based Data System That Sent Info Without Being Asked

Imagine a system that automatically sends you information to your device without you having to request it first. The data includes clickable links that let you dig deeper into topics you're curious about, pulling additional details from a database on demand. It's like getting a personalized news feed where you control what rabbit holes you explore.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system architecture where a sender pushes digital content to multiple processing units without waiting for a request. What's protected here is the combination of: automatically delivering displayable data plus non-displayable symbols and linking references, allowing a user to select and activate those references, which then query a database for additional information and return results. The linking mechanism that bridges user selection to database lookup is core to the protection.

Why it matters

This patent captures an early architectural approach to information delivery that anticipates push-based content systems and interactive data retrieval. Filed in 2002, it describes a model where information reaches users proactively rather than on-demand, combined with user-controlled drill-down into details. While the specific mechanics may seem basic by today's standards, the patent protects the conceptual framework of pairing unsolicited content delivery with interactive database lookups—a pattern that influenced how news feeds, recommendation systems, and linked content platforms evolved.

Real-world use

Every time you scroll through a social media feed that automatically loads new posts and click on a link to see more details about one, you're interacting with a system that uses ideas from this architectural approach.

Original USPTO abstract

An information distribution and processing system contains a sender and a plurality of processing units. The sender delivers a set of digital data, without receiving a request signal, to the plurality of processor units. The set of digital data contains a first set of displayable data, a second set of displayable data, at least one non-displayable symbol, and at least one linking reference associated with the second set of displayable data. If desired, a user can select the second set of displayable data. The associated linking reference is sent to a database. The database contains additional information. The associated linking reference is used by the database to search for the additional information, and returns the requested information to the user.

Patent details

Publication number: US 7,181,758
Filing date: 2002-12-19
Grant date: 2007-02-20
Assignee: Data Innovation, L.L.C.
Inventor(s): CHAN HARK C.
CPC class: H04N7/17318

View original record on Google Patents →

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