Penthera, a company that makes software that manages the secure downloading of TV shows, movies and other large digital files to mobile devices, said it has received three additional patents, including a pair tied to advertising insertion technologies.
Penthera, which has secured eight patents so far, said the three most recently awarded are:
- No. 8,718,445 and No. 8,701,145, which both describe “Commercials on Mobile Devices;”
- “Notifying A User Of An Available Media Object” (Penthera has been notified of the patent status, but it has not yet been assigned a number by the U.S. Patent Office).
On the advertising end, Penthera’s patents cover elements such as the downloading of metadata associated with the commercials and on how commercials selected for insertion are played back to the user of the mobile device, according to the documentation.
The patents also describe how one or more substitute commercials can be swapped into shows that are originally recorded to a DVR and later side-loaded to a mobile device.
Penthera’s baseline Cache&Carry platform enables smartphones and tablet users to download TV shows, movies and other content for offline viewing. Among its customers is Comcast, which is using Penthera technology for a new video check-out system for its cloud-enabled X1 platform that allows users to transfer DVR recordings to mobile devices for later playback.
“We’re proud of our technology and will continue to invest in innovation,” said Michael Willner, CEO of Penthera, in a statement.
Willner and Sidney Knafel, two co-founders of Insight Communications (sold to Time Warner Cable in February 2012) reunited to invest in and head up Penthera, a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based company founded in 2007.
