US 8,046,801 · Granted 2011-10-25

The Remote TV Guide Patent That Invented Channel Surfing From Your Phone

Before smartphones, if you wanted to see what was on TV, you had to sit on the couch and flip through menus. This patent describes a way to control your TV's program guide from a remote device—like checking what's on from your bedroom or setting up recordings without being in front of the TV.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system where a handheld remote device can wirelessly connect to your TV equipment and let you access program guide functions from anywhere in your house. What's protected here is the ability to adjust settings like recording schedules, program reminders, parental controls, and language preferences through a device that's separate from the main TV box.

Why it matters

This patent, granted in 2011, captures an early vision of how people would interact with television outside the living room. United Video Properties held a foundational patent on letting users manage their TV experience remotely—a concept that became standard as smartphones grew powerful enough to control home entertainment systems. The patent shows how the TV industry was already thinking about distributed control before the iPhone era.

Real-world use

When you open a cable company's app on your phone and set a recording for a show airing tonight, you're using the kind of remote access to TV settings this patent pioneered.

Original USPTO abstract

An interactive television program guide with remote access is provided. The interactive television program guide is implemented on interactive television program guide equipment. A remote program guide access device is connected to the interactive television program guide equipment by a remote access link to provide a user with remote access to program guide functions. An interactive television program guide system based on multiple user television equipment devices in a single household is provided. The system provides a user with an opportunity to adjust program guide settings with a given one of the interactive television program guides. Program guide setting include features related to setting program reminders, profiles, program recording features, messaging features, favorites features, parental control features, program guide set up features (e.g., audio and video and language settings), etc.

Patent details

Publication number: US 8,046,801
Filing date: 2004-08-26
Grant date: 2011-10-25
Assignee: United Video Properties, Inc.
Inventor(s): ELLIS MICHAEL D., THOMAS WILLIAM L., HASSELL JOEL G., LEMMONS THOMAS R., BEREZOWSKI DAVID M., KNEE ROBERT A., MCCOY ROBERT H.
CPC class: H04N21/4227

View original record on Google Patents →

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