Patent · US Expired

Tracking the reproduction of documents on a reprographic device

US5299026A · kind A · utility

33Cited by
5References
36Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 12, 1991
Grant dateMar 29, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 12, 2011

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N2201/3274
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An apparatus for capturing and recording the content, ownership, and/or bibliographic source of documents reproduced on a reprographic device, and more particularly for tracking the reproduction of specified information, especially copyrighted documents, is connected, preferably detachably, to any of various reprographic devices. The apparatus includes a digitizer for digitizing desired pages (such as those containing title and author information) output from a main portion of the reprographic device, a recording device and medium for storing said digitized pages, a counter for counting the number of reproductions made and optionally inferring the number of originals, a controller for controlling the operation of the apparatus and, optionally, a control panel for interacting with the operator of the reprographic device. When reproducing copyrighted information, an operator makes a reproduction of the pages containing title and author information, digitized images of these pages being stored on the recording medium. The counter counts the total number of copyrighted and other reproductions made, the counted number of reproductions also being recorded on the recording medium. The rec…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.