Patents by Inventor Theodore Shaffer

Theodore Shaffer 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).

  • Patent number: 9743147
    Abstract: Providing content to content receiving devices, such as digital video recorders, connected to a computer network through a content provider is described. According to one aspect, a server maintains a database correlating contact information to content receiving devices in its network. A user navigates to a web site of the content provider and selects a piece of content, which prompts the content provider to query the server for the contact information, and then transmit a request to download the piece of content to the content receiving device. The request can be a set of content identification information that automatically populates a content guide at the receiving device with an entry corresponding to the requested piece of content. This entry allows the user to confirm, interrupt, resume and cancel a download of the content as desired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: THE DIRECTV GROUP, INC.
    Inventors: Mark D. Goodwin, Theodore Shaffer
  • Patent number: 9467746
    Abstract: Providing content to content receiving devices, such as digital video recorders, connected to a computer network through a content provider is described. According to one aspect, a server maintains a database correlating contact information to content receiving devices in its network. A user navigates to a web site of the content provider and selects a piece of content, which prompts the content provider to query the server for the contact information, and then transmit a request to download the piece of content to the content receiving device. The request can be a set of content identification information that automatically populates a content guide at the receiving device with an entry corresponding to the requested piece of content. This entry allows the user to confirm, interrupt, resume and cancel a download of the content as desired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark D. Goodwin, Theodore Shaffer
  • Patent number: 9426531
    Abstract: Providing content to content receiving devices, such as digital video recorders, connected to a computer network through a content provider is described. According to one aspect, a server maintains a database correlating contact information to content receiving devices in its network. A user navigates to a web site of the content provider and selects a piece of content, which prompts the content provider to query the server for the contact information, and then transmit a request to download the piece of content to the content receiving device. The request can be a set of content identification information that automatically populates a content guide at the receiving device with an entry corresponding to the requested piece of content. This entry allows the user to confirm, interrupt, resume and cancel a download of the content as desired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark D. Goodwin, Theodore Shaffer
  • Patent number: 5065309
    Abstract: A personal computer having an associated telephone is provided with a note-taking facility integrated therewithin. The operation of the note-taking facility is automatically initiated by the computer in response to the entering into a telephone transaction by the user. Specifically, the user is prompted when the telephone transaction is entered into for an indication as to whether notes are to be taken during that transaction. If the user gives an affirmative such indication, the facility immediately adapts itself to begin to receive the notes and present them on the computer display. An association is maintained between the notes taken during an individual telephone transaction and the party with whom the user was engaged during the transaction and the notes associated with a party are automatically retrieved and displayed for the user when a subsequent telephone transaction with that party is entered into.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Assignees: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Conversion Technologies
    Inventors: William H. Putnam, Theodore A. Shaffer