Patents by Inventor Marc Aaron Kiefer

Marc Aaron Kiefer has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Television program selection apparatus and method
    Patent number: 7716704
    Abstract: A television program selection system and method for selecting television programs for viewing or recording utilizing a guide schedule list which is received from a cable or satellite broadcaster for example, and comprises characteristics such as topic-theme, relevancy, and broadcast time data. The user can select a time period and optionally in addition a selection mode, which corresponds to one of the alternative algorithms used to sort the programs in the schedule and generate a list of suggested television programs to be displayed for the user to select a program. The default selection mode can use a conventional selection algorithm, and the optional selection mode can eliminate all programs which have any characteristics having a zero weighting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: Thomson Licensing
    Inventors: Chunzhi Wang, Darrel Wayne Randall, Marc Aaron Kiefer, Wanda G. Thompson, Carolynn Rae Johnson
  • System and method for displaying a summary menu of stored user profiles
    Publication number: 20040078806
    Abstract: A method for controlling viewing of television programs comprising storing user profile records comprising fields having values in a memory; providing a user interface having a list of the stored user profile records; and upon user command, displaying a stored user profile record in summary form in the user interface. Preferably, the user command comprises highlighting a stored user profile record in the list, resulting in the values of the highlighted stored user profile record being displayed in summary form in the user interface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2003
    Publication date: April 22, 2004
    Inventors: Carolynn Rae Johnson, Anthony Edward Stuart, Marc Aaron Kiefer, Darrel Wayne Randall
  • Television program selection apparatus and method
    Publication number: 20020188947
    Abstract: A television program selection system and method for selecting television programs for viewing or recording utilizing a guide schedule list which is received from a cable or satellite broadcaster for example, and comprises characteristics such as topic-theme, relevancy, and broadcast time data. The user can select a time period and optionally in addition a selection mode, which corresponds to one of the alternative algorithms used to sort the programs in the schedule and generate a list of suggested television programs to be displayed for the user to select a program. The default selection mode can use a conventional selection algorithm, and the optional selection mode can eliminate all programs which have any characteristics having a zero weighting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2001
    Publication date: December 12, 2002
    Inventors: Chunzhi Wang, Darrel Wayne Randall, Marc Aaron Kiefer, Wanda G. Thompson, Carolynn Rae Johnson