The PTO issues new patents on Tuesdays. Both of today's Spotllight Patents concern aspects of digital rights management. Assigned to Western Digital, the first patent addresses techniques related to digital rights management (DRM) for content that may be downloaded and securely transferred from one storage to another storage. Assigned to MobiTV, the second patent addresses techniques for media rights management on multiple devices.
8,914,634, "Digital rights management system transfer of content and distribution," assigned to Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
Abstract
The present invention relates to digital rights management (DRM) for content that may be downloaded and securely transferred from one storage to another storage. The storage may be a disk drive, or network attached storage. The storage performs cryptographic operations and provides a root of trust. The DRM system enables secure copying or transfer of content from one storage device to another storage device. In this embodiment, a trusted server that is authenticated and trusted by both storage devices brokers the transfer of content. The trusted server may be a separate entity of the DRM system or may be a component or function of an existing server of the DRM system. In another embodiment, the storage devices may transfer content in a peer-to-peer fashion. The transfer of content may be authorized and controlled based on a digital certificate associated with the content.8,910,302, "Media rights management on multiple devices," assigned to MobiTV, Inc.
Abstract
Media rights are managed to include not just device authentication, but to include elements of user, device, and service authorization. A user can play media on a mobile device, continue playing the media on a desktop computer, and subsequently move to a large screen television and media rights are automatically identified to provide the most appropriate authorized content. This allows an authorized user to seamlessly access different forms of the same content on a variety of authenticated devices using the same digital rights management mechanisms.
