Patent · US Active

Electronic book rentals

US9129322B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by
2References
29Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 29, 2010
Grant dateSep 8, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 7, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06Q30/00
  • WIPO fieldIT methods for management
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Architectures and techniques are described to rent electronic books. In particular, a content provider can rent electronic books to individuals for a specified rental term. The individuals may have the option to modify the rental term for an electronic book. The rental term for a particular electronic book may be modified by extending the rental term of the particular electronic book or decreasing the rental term of the particular electronic book. Individuals may also convert the rental of an electronic book to a purchase and a purchase of an electronic book to a rental. In order to rent the electronic books to individuals, the content provider may acquire permission from the publishers of the electronic books. In some cases, the content provider may acquire a pool of time-bound rentable licenses from the publishers to allocate to individuals renting electronic books from the content provider.

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