Thursdays the PTO publishes new pending patent applications. Today's Spotlight Applications concern aspects of digital watermarking and digital fingerprinting. Assigned to IBM, the first application discloses techniques for tagging media with identity of creator or scene. Assigned to Vobile, the second application discloses techniques for fingerprinting and identifying media contents.
20140146204, "Method and apparatus for tagging media with identity of creator or scene," assigned to IBM.
An electronic device and method for contemporaneously obtaining, with a processor connected to a memory, a forward image from a forward facing camera of the electronic device and a rear image from a rear facing camera of the electronic device, and embedding the rear image in the forward image or the forward image in the rear image, thereby creating a composite image. Optionally, the rear image is embedded as a watermark in the forward image thereby creating the composite image. Alternatively, the rear image is steganographically embedded in the forward image thereby creating the composite image.
20140140682, "Systems and methods of fingerprinting and identifying media contents," assigned to Vobile, Inc.
Systems and methods are provided for identifying a video object using digital fingerprints. The digital fingerprints are generated from information extracted from the video object including encoded video. The digital fingerprints can be calculated in a manner that permits identification of both the video object and operational characteristics of the video object based on matching calculated digital fingerprints with known fingerprints of known video objects. Systems and methods are described that allow a DVD to be uniquely identified and identify whether the DVD is original, copied or pirated. Systems and methods are described for computing digital fingerprints from strings of bits in which certain additional data is optionally embedded. Systems and methods are described that permit media players to access known signatures of known video objects maintained on one or more databases and to identify video objects presented for playing on the media player. In the present continuation application, the video object is extended to media content including video and audio, and DVD is extended to media file, network stream and other content mediums.