Content related patents

The new edition of the Content Market Monitor is finished and will go out today to more than 1700 subscribers in 92 countries.

When the edition is finished, there are always some items left that have looked interesting, but do not make it in the newsletter in the end. One of those curious items was published in the newsletter Paid Content by Rafat Ali.

Content-Related Patents Granted Over Last Week [by rafat] : Some interesting digital content related patents granted over last week, by the USPTO:
-- # 6,934,552 Method to select and send text messages with a mobile: Assigned to Philips
-- # 6,934,743: Method and apparatus for displaying intermediate content messages in the unused portion of a web browser display space: Assigned to Wireless 3G
-- # 6,934,841: Smart card controlled internet access: Assigned to 3M
-- # 6,934,837: System and method for regulating the transmission of media data: Assigned to RealNetworks
-- # 6,934,753: Apparatus and method for blocking access to undesirable web sites on the internet: Assigned to Planty Net Co., Ltd. (Seoul, KR)
-- # 6,934,693: System for controlling the distribution and use of digital works: Assigned to ContentGuard
-- # 6,933,928: Electronic book player with audio synchronization: Assigned to inventors [Aug.27: Link] Patents

To me the item is interesting as it indicates that there is a whole field of content technology in development. There is not just a need for software knowledge but also some knowledge of content needed. This is going to be an interesting field with formats, small routines and interesting combinations of content and technology.

The idea of content technology fits into the larger perspective of the content industry. The content industry is an area in which the combination of creativity and technology is unique. It is different from software in so far as IPR and copyrighted material play an important role in it.

This is real stuff for a students’ book on content.