On April 15, 2008, the United States Patent Office granted me U.S. Patent #7,360,234: “System, Method, and computer program product for selective filtering of objectionable content from a program.”
I developed this system for a company called CaptionTV. Current V-Chip technology either allows a show to be watched, or blocks it completely. My filtering technology uses closed captions and other data embedded in the caption stream to allow a television show to be watched with only specific types and levels of objectionable content blocked, thus allowing a family with young children to still watch a PG or R-rated show.
I do not own the rights to this patent, but it was still a pivotal moment for me when it was finally granted years after the work was complete. After my prior (and in my mind, much more significant) application was denied because it was “too obvious,” getting this one made me feel somehow vindicated.
My patents: #7,360,234 | #8,245,252 | #8,312,485
Gary D. Robson 