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Patent 2280163 Summary

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(12) Patent Application: (11) CA 2280163
(54) English Title: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RECOGNISING VIDEO SEQUENCES
(54) French Title: RECONNAISSANCE DE SEQUENCES VIDEO
Status: Dead
Bibliographic Data
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC):
  • H04N 21/454 (2011.01)
  • H04N 21/4627 (2011.01)
(72) Inventors :
  • HIRZALLA, NAEL (Canada)
  • STREATCH, PAUL (Canada)
  • MACLEAN, ROGER (Canada)
  • MENARD, ROBERT (Canada)
(73) Owners :
  • HIRZALLA, NAEL (Not Available)
  • STREATCH, PAUL (Not Available)
  • MACLEAN, ROGER (Not Available)
  • MENARD, ROBERT (Not Available)
(71) Applicants :
  • TELEXIS CORPORATION (Canada)
(74) Agent: MARKS & CLERK
(74) Associate agent:
(45) Issued:
(86) PCT Filing Date: 1998-02-05
(87) Open to Public Inspection: 1998-08-13
Availability of licence: N/A
(25) Language of filing: English

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): Yes
(86) PCT Filing Number: PCT/CA1998/000069
(87) International Publication Number: WO1998/035492
(85) National Entry: 1999-08-04

(30) Application Priority Data:
Application No. Country/Territory Date
2,196,930 Canada 1997-02-06

Abstracts

English Abstract




A method of detecting video sequences involves creating on-the-fly candidate
digital signatures uniquely characteristic of successive groups of frames in
accordance with a predetermined algorithm. The candidate digital signatures
are compared with at least one signature of a stored sequence created in
accordance with the predetermined algorithm. A candidate is identified as
corresponding to the stored sequence in the event of a positive match.


French Abstract

Cette invention se rapporte à un procédé pour détecter les séquences vidéo, qui consiste à créer à la volée des signatures numériques candidates qui, par leur nature unique, sont caractéristique de groupes successifs de trames en fonction d'un algorithme prédéterminé. Les signatures numériques candidates sont comparées à au moins une signature d'une séquence mise en mémoire, créée en fonction de l'algorithme prédéterminé. Un candidat est identifié comme correspondant à la séquence mise en mémoire en cas de correspondance positive.

Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.





-10-
Claims:
1. A method of detecting video sequences comprising the steps of receiving an
incoming video stream consisting of sequences of successive frames, creating
on-the-fly
digital signatures in accordance with a predetermined algorithm, comparing
said digital
signatures with a plurality of stored digital signatures created in accordance
with said
predetermined algorithm, and identifying a candidate sequence of said incoming
video
stream as corresponding to said stored sequence in the event of a positive
match of said
digital signatures in accordance with predetermined criteria, characterized in
that selected
special frames of predetermined type are identified in said sequences, unique
digital
signatures are created for said special frames, said unique digital signatures
being
uniquely dependent on the individual characteristics of said special frames,
said digital
signatures of said special frames of a sequence collectively form a signature
file for the
sequence, and the digital signatures of the special frames are matched with
the digital
signatures of frames of the same type in stored signature files to identify a
candidate
sequence.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said digital signature comprises a
table
for each special frame identifying the proportion of pixel values in defined
categories.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said defined categories are
luminance
and hue.
4. A method as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein said signature file also
includes the
duration of the sequence.
5. A method as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, wherein said signature file
also
includes the number of luminance or hue categories considered.
6. A method as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5, wherein said signature file
also
includes information relating the difference in pixel value pairs of frames in
a sequence.
7. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6, wherein said special frames
are
correspond to a Cut, a Startframe, or a Timeout.
8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein when a match is found between the
digital signature of a frame in the candidate sequence and the stored
sequence, the frame




-11-
in the stored sequence is tagged, an attempt is made to match each successive
frame of the
same type in the target sequence with the corresponding frame of the same type
in the
stored sequence and so on to the end of the stored sequence, and a match of
sequences is
determined to occur when the number of matches in a sequence exceeds a
predetermined
value.
9. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a slider is
assigned to
each special frame in a signature file that matches a special frame in a
candidate sequence,
and the slider is moved by one special frame toward the end of the file
whenever a match
occurs.
10: An apparatus for detecting video sequences comprising means for receiving
an
incoming video stream consisting of sequences of successive frames, means for
creating
on-the-fly digital signatures in accordance with a predetermined algorithm,
means for
comparing said digital signatures with a plurality of stored digital
signatures created in
accordance with said predetermined algorithm, and means for identifying a
candidate
sequence of said incoming video stream as corresponding to said stored
sequence in the
event of a positive match of said digital signatures in accordance with
predetermined
criteria, characterized in that said means for creating on-the-fly digital
signatures selects
special frames of predetermined type in said sequences and creates unique
digital
signatures for said special frames, said unique digital signatures being
uniquely dependent
on the individual characteristics of said special frames, and said digital
signatures of said
special frames of a sequence collectively forming a signature file for the
sequence, and
said means for identifying a candidate sequence snatches the digital
signatures of the
special frames with the digital signatures of frames of the same type in
stored signature
files to identify the candidate sequence.
11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a memory for
storing a
table for each special frame identifying the proportion of pixel values in
defined
categories, said table constituting a said stored digital signature.
12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein said defined categories are
luminance and hue.




-12-
13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 11 or 12, wherein said signature file
also stores
the duration of the sequence.
14. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 11 to 13, wherein said signature
file also
stores the number of luminance or hue categories considered.
15. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 11 to 14, wherein said signature
file also
includes information relating the difference in pixel values pairs of frame in
a sequence.
16. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 11 to 15, wherein said special
frames
correspond to a Cut, a Startframe, or a Timeout.
17. An apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein when a match is found between
the
digital signature of a frame in the candidate sequence and the stored
sequence, said
comparing means tags the frame in the stored sequence and attempts to match
each
successive frame of the same type in the target sequence with the
corresponding frame of
the same type in the stored sequence and so on to the end of the stored
sequence, said
identifying means determining that a positive match has occurred when the
number of
matches in a sequence exceeds a predetermined value.

Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.



~. CA 02280163 1999-08-04
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VIDEO SEQUENCE RECOGNITION
This invention relates to video processing; and more particularly to a method
and
apparatus for the automatic recognition of video sequences.
The reliable automatic recognition of video sequences has application in a
number
of areas. One application, for example, is the recognition of video
commercials.
Marketing executives, for example, may wish to know when and how often a
particular
commercial has been broadcast.
Clearly, one possibility would be to store an entire video sequence and
continually
compare broadcast signals with a library of stored sequences. This solution is
not very
practical since it would require a prohibitive amount of memory and processing
power to
implement.
EP 283570 teaches the use of digital signatures to match video sequences.
However, such signatures, for example, represem:ing the time between black
scenes or
color changes are insufficient to permit fast and accurate matching of complex
video
sequences.
EP 367585 describes a method of video recognition that involves creating
digital
signatures for all the frames in a sequence. This method involves an undue
amount of
processing power.
An object of the invention is to alleviate this problem and provide a
practical
method of recognizing a predetermined video sequence that is reasonably
accurate yet at
the same time requires an acceptable amount of processing power.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of detecting
video
sequences comprising the steps of receiving an incoming video stream
consisting of
sequences of successive frames, creating on-the-i1y digital signatures in
accordance with a
predetermined algol-ithm, comparing said digital signatures with a plurality
of stored
digital signatures created in accordance with said predetermined algorithm,
and
identifying a candidate sequence of said incoming video stream as
corresponding to said
stored sequence in the event of a positive match of said digital signatures in
accordance
with predetermined criteria, characterized in that selected special frames of
predetermined
type are identified in said sequences; unique digital signatures are created
for said special
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CA 02280163 1999-08-04
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frames, said unique digital signatures being uniquely dependent on the
individual
characteristics of said special frames, said digital signatures of said
special frames of a
sequence collectively form a signature file for the sequence, and the digital
signatures of
the special frames are matched with the digital sil;natures of frames of the
same type in
stored signature files to identify a candidate sequence.
The video sequence is in digital form, either as a result of analog-to-digital
conversion of an analog broadcast signal or the signal being in digital
format.
A video stream is composed of a sequence of frames, each being consisting of a
grid of pixels. Pixel values can be represented, fo:r instance, by their red,
green, and blue
components, or by hue, luminance and saturation.. In a preferred embodiment,
the digital
signature is derived from the pixel values of the firames intelligently
selected from those
forming a video sequence.
The digital signature can be created from a live or recorded video sequence.
It can
be stored in a file, which can, for example, contain the duration of the
sequence, the
number of hue or luminance categories considered, and for each selected frame
in the
sequence, a histogram representing the percentage of pixels in the defined
categories, and
scene information taken from a SmartFrameT"" encoder, as described in our co-
pending
patent application number 2,190,785, filed on November 20, 1996 and entitled
METHOD
OF PROCESSING A VIDEO STREAM, which is herein incorporation by reference. This
encoder extracts information relating the difference in pixel values pairs of
frame in a
sequence.
The processing engine can then compare one or more stored signatures to a
candidate live or recorded video stream to find a match. The candidate
signature is created
in the same manner as the stored signatures, except that in the case of the
candidate
sequence, the signature is created "on-the-fly", i.e. on a real-time basis.
The candidate
signature is a moving signature. This means that it is created from successive
overlapping
groups of frames.
The processing engine must continually slot the stored signature in time with
the
target video stream and generate an alert when thf:re is a positive match. A
signature must
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CA 02280163 1999-08-04
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' be re-slotted when it is determined that the target stream stops following
or matching it. °
This operation is performed using a slider routine: to be described in detail
below.
It should be noted that the stored video signature frame size and sample rate
do
not have to match the video frame size and sample rate of the candidate
sequence, which
may, for example, be a broadcast signal. The vidf;o signature matching will
tolerate
varying broadcast quality.
In order to reduce the amount of required processing and memory power, the
signature file preferably only contains the signatures or histograms of a
limited number of
frames in a video sequence. These frames are preferably frames having a
particular
° significance, namely "cuts" which represent sudden changes in scene,
"time-outs", which
are frames which occur after a predetermined period of time in the sequence
when no
"cuts" have been detected, and "start-frames", which are simply the first
frame in a
particular sequence. For example, if the signature file is to be created for a
particular
commercial, first a histogram is taken for the first frame in the sequence and
this is stored
as the first signature in the signature file. The system then waits for the
first frame
corresponding to a cut, and stores this as the next signature unless a certain
time, say two
seconds, has elapsed without a cut occurnng, in which case the signature of
the next
frame is taken and this is tagged as a "time-out" frame. This is to ensure
that histograms
are stored even when a sequence does not include; cuts.
The present invention can offer a high percentage hit rate and a low
percentage
false hit rate.
The invention also provides an apparatus for detecting video sequences
comprising means for receiving an incoming vidf:o stream consisting of
sequences of
successive frames, means for creating on-the-fly digital signatures in
accordance with a
predetermined algorithm, means for comparing said digital signatures with a
plurality of
stored digital signatures created in accordance with said predetermined
algorithm, and
means for identifying a candidate sequence of said incoming video stream as
corresponding to said stored sequence in the event of a positive match of said
digital
signatures in accordance with predetermined critf:ria, characterized in that
said means for
creating on-the-fly digital signatures selects special frames of predetermined
type in said
sequences and creates unique digital signatures for said special frames, said
unique digital '
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CA 02280163 1999-08-04
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n signatures being uniquely dependent on the individual characteristics of
said special
frames, and said digital signatures of said special frames of a sequence
collectively
forming a signature file for the sequence, and said means for identifying a
candidate
sequence matches the digital signatures of the special frames with the digital
signatures of
frames of the same type in stored signature files to identify the candidate
sequence.
The invention can be implemented in an IBM compatible personal computer
equipped, for example, with a Pentium microprocessor and a commercial video
card.
The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, only
with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: -
Figure 1 is a block diagram of an video recognition apparatus in accordance
with
the invention;
Figure 2 shows the main routine of the memorize module of the apparatus shown
in Figure 1;
Figure 3 shows the main routine of the search module of the apparatus shown in
Figure 1;
Figure 4 shows the algorithm for obtaining a digital signature;
a~~~.nED SHEET


CA 02280163 1999-08-04
WO 98/35492 PCT/CA98/00069
Yet another advantage of the invention is the ability to have multiple
channels that transfer the information in surround sound.
Yet another advantage is elimination of the need for several cables to
transfer the information from one receiver to the next in surround sound.
Brief Description of Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an MTS stereo and surround
sound encoder embodying features of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a first section of the encoder of
Fig. 1 shown in greater detail.
Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a second section of the encoder of
Fig. 1 shown in greater detail.
Fig. 4 is a schematic block diagrarn of a third section of the encoder of
Fig. 1 shown in greater detail.
Fig. 5 is a graph illustrating the siignal-to-noise ratio of the encoder of
Fig. 1.
Detailed Descrint;ion of Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a Multichannel Television Sound
(MTS) stereo and surround sound encodE;r, generally designated by a reference
numeral 10, having a left audio input 12, a right audio input 14, a video
input
16, an output 18, an audio breakout matrix (ABM) 20, a surround sound
conditioner (SSC) 22, a video stripper matrix (VSM) 24, a L+R low pass
clamping filter 25, a mixer 26, an amplifier circuit 28, and a timing circuit
29.
The encoder 10 utilizes two pilot signal frequencies. Output of the VSM 24 is
coupled to the timing circuit 29 to produce the two pilot signal frequencies
as
discussed below. One pilot signal is at 15.734 kHz, which is a television's
horizontal rate, for synchronizing the encoder 10. The second pilot signal is
at
31.468 kHz, which is two times the horizontal rate of the television, for
synchronizing transfer of a L-R signal information.
In Fig. 2, the ABM 20 is shown in greater detail. The ABM 20 receives a
left input signal and a right input signal at the left audio input 12 and the
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CA 02280163 1999-08-04
WO 98/35492 PCTlCA98/00069
right audio input 14, respectively. The input signals are matrixed by a
resistor
network 30. The resistor network 30 has a plurality of resistors, each
resistors
has a value of approximately 100 KS2, generates stereo information and
surround sound information, collectively referred to as the L-R signal, and
monaural information, referred to as the L+R signal. Use of large resistors in
the resistor network 30 causes attenuation in the signals. Therefore, audio
amplifiers for the L-R and the L+R signals, designated 32 and 34 respectively,
return the levels of the signals to normal. Resistors 36 and 38 are selected
in
conjunction with the amplifiers 32 and 34, respectively, to produce the
desired
amplification of the signals. The L+R signal is transmitted through the L+R
low pass clamping filter 25 and the amplifier circuit 28 to the output 18. The
L+R low pass clamping filter 25 is a low pass filter (LPF) that will clamp the
signal at 15.734 kHz and at 31.468 kHz to prevent interference with the pilot
signals operating at 15.734 kHz and 31.468 kHz. The L-R signal output of the
ABM 20 is transmitted to the SSC 22.
As shown in Fig. 3, the SSC 22 includes a pre-emphasizes 39, a Dolby
noise reduction (dbx) compander 40, a low pass (LP) filter network 42, a
regeneration amplifier 44, an L-R clamping filter 46, and a diode circuit 48.
The L-R signal is received at the SSC 22. The pre-emphasizes 39 operates at
396 usec. The pre-emphasizes 39 is used to condition the L-R signal for the
dbx
compander 40. In operation, the pre-emphasizes 39 gives higher frequencies of
the L-R signal the same power as lower frequency of the L-R signal. The
higher frequencies need a boost in power because the lower frequencies travel
much easier due to Doppler effects. Thus, the surround sound information
contained at the higher frequencies of the L-R signal now has more power.
The pre-emphasized signal is then sent to the dbx compander 40. The dbx
compander 40 amplitude compresses the L-R signal according to the MTS
standard. Amplitude compression is used to reduce the signal-to-noise (SN/R}
ratio. Amplitude compression is performed by routing the output of the L-R
clamping filter 46 through a transistor buffer stage 54 (Fig. 4) through a
-4-


CA 02280163 1999-08-04
WO 98/35492 PCT/CA98/00069
constant current circuit 50 and to the dbx compander 40. The constant current
circuit 50 is a root-mean-square (RMS) e;tage of the dbx compander 40, which
controls the amplitude of the L-R signal.
The output L-R signal of the compander 40 is passed through the LP
filter network 42. The LP filter network. 42 filters out any unwanted noise to
produce a filtered L-R signal. The LP filter network 42 attenuates the
original
L-R signal during the filter process so that the filtered L-R signal will be
slightly attenuated. Therefore, the filtered L-R signal is passed through the
amplifier 44. The amplifier 44 returns the filtered L-R signal back to the
proper signal level.
At this point, the filtered L-R signal must be clamped oft' at 15.734 kHz
and 31.468 kHz frequencies to prevent interference with the pilot signals. The
L-R clamping filter 46 is used to clamp the signals at 15.734 kHz and 31.468
kHz frequencies. The L-R clamping filter 46 will trap the signal to create
about 45dB roll-off at 15.734 kHz and 31..468 kHz frequencies. The L-R
clamping filter 46 effectively traps the L-R signal, at 15.734 kHz, to ground
and
prevents the 15.734 kHz pilot signal from taking hits. Likewise, the L-R
clamping filter 46 traps any switching signal contained in the L-R signal at
31.468 kHz to ground to provide clean stereo/surround sound output. Thus, the
information signal will be reduced to minimal levels and will not interfere
with
or allow the pilot signal to take hits. In addition to clamping the filtered L-
R
signal at the 15.734 kHz and 31.468 kH2; frequencies, voltage spikes in the
filtered L-R signal must be eliminated. The diode circuit 48 eliminates
voltage
spikes by leveling off voltage spikes so the peak-to-peak (P-P) voltage does
not
exceed 1.4 volts. The diode circuit 48 will take the filtered L-R signal and
produce a leveled L-R signal. The leveled L-R signal will have the frequencies
clamped off at the two frequencies 15.734 liHz and 31.468 kHz.
Fig. 4 shows the VSM 24, the L+R, low pass clamping filter 25, the mixer
26, the amplifier circuit 28, the timing circuit 29, and the transistor buffer
stage 54. As discussed above, the output; of the L-R clamping filter 46 is
sent
_5_


CA 02280163 1999-08-04
WO 98/35492 PCT/CA98/00069
to the transistor buffer stage 54. The output of the transistor buffer stage
54 is
inputted to a balance modulator 56. The balance modulator 56 modulates the
leveled L-R signal to produce an upper side band and a lower side band, around
the pilot signal at the 31.468 kHz switching rate, as a reduced carrier
amplitude modulated (AM) L-R signal. The switching rate of 31.468 kHz for
the balance modulator 56 is produced by the timing circuit 29 as discussed
below. A combining amplifier 58 blends the AM L-R signal output of the
balance modulator 56 with the pilot signal at 15.734 kHz to produce a mixed L-
R signal. Timing for the pilot signal at 15.734 kHz is produced by the
modulator timing circuit 59. The modulator timing circuit 59 is synchronized
to the 15.734 kHz rate of the television, which is produced by a synchronizing
circuitry.
The synchronization circuitry synchronizes the switching rate at 31.768
kHz with the pilot signal at 15.734 kHz. The synchronization circuitry is made
up of the VSM 24 and the timing circuit 29. The VSM 24 removes color or
chroma information from a video signal to produce a luminous video pattern
signal. The luminous video pattern signal is used to keep the encoder 10 (Fig.
1) in sync with the 15.734 kHz horizontal rate of the television. The luminous
video pattern signal is sent to a synchronous separator 62. The synchronous
separator 62 looks only at the 15.734 kHz horizontal rate to produces a clean
horizontal sync signal. The sync signal is sent to a JK flip-flop 64. The JK
flip-
flop 64 produces a "saw" like signal pattern which drives a phase lock loop
(PLL) 66 at a switching rate of 31.468 kHz.. The PLL 66 in turn provides the
31.468 kHz switching rate to the balance modulator 56. Also, a JK flip-flop 65
provides the 15.734 kHz timing for the modulator timing circuit 59. Thus, the
timing circuit 29 produces the sync signal that keeps the pilot signal at
15.734
kHz in sync with the pilot signal at 31.468 kHz switching rate. Accordingly,
the balance modulator 56 is switched at 31.468 kHz in step with the pilot
signal at 15.734 kHz to produce the AM L-R signal in step with the horizontal
rate of the television.
-6-


- CA 02280163 1999-08-04
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whether the current frame represents a cut, a timf;out or a Searchstarted
frame, i.e. the first
frame in a search sequence.
Step 52 sets the variable FirstDifference f;qual to the difference between the
current histogram and the first signature histogram (0), i.e. the histogram
for frame zero in
the signature file.
Step 53 determines whether the frame represents a cut and the stored signature
file
contains at least one cut-tagged histogram. If so, block 57 sets the variable
Index equal to
Firstcutindex, and the variable SecondDifference equal to the result of
comparing the
histogram for the frame with the first cut-tagged histogram for the signature
file. If not the
variable Index is set to 1 in block 56 and the variable SecondDifference is
set to the result
of the comparison between the current histogram (Histogram) and the second
histogram
of the signature file (corresponding to the Index l.. The variable Index
starts at 0).
Step 54 then determines whether either of the FirstDifference or Second
Difference is less than a threshold. If yes, which indicates a positive match
of the
histogram for the current frame with the selected histogram in the signature
file, the
program sets the variable Position to the Index value that corresponds to the
smaller of the
two (FirstDifference and SecondDifference), and calls an assign slider routine
(block 63),
which will be described in more detail below. If not, which indicates the
absence of a
match, the program calls a compare with previous sliders routine at block 60.
Both these
routines will be described in more detail.
The assign slider routine is shown in Figure 7. The slider is essentially a
pointer
identifying a particular frame in the signature file whose histogram matches
the current or
most recently matched frame in the video sequence. Each time a first match
occurs, a
"slider" is assigned. The compare sliders routine to be described below with
reference to
Figure 8 then attempts to match the subsequent histograms in the signature
file with the
current video sequence, and moves the pointer (slider) by one histogram
towards the last
histogram in the file whenever a match occurs.
In the search routine, the system in effect builds one large file adding one
table or
histogram every time a scene changes (cut) or a timeout occurs. An attempt is
made to fit
the stored signature of the candidate sequence by "sliding" it within the
large signature
AMEf~I~ED SNEE i

Representative Drawing
A single figure which represents the drawing illustrating the invention.
Administrative Status

For a clearer understanding of the status of the application/patent presented on this page, the site Disclaimer , as well as the definitions for Patent , Administrative Status , Maintenance Fee  and Payment History  should be consulted.

Administrative Status

Title Date
Forecasted Issue Date Unavailable
(86) PCT Filing Date 1998-02-05
(87) PCT Publication Date 1998-08-13
(85) National Entry 1999-08-04
Dead Application 2001-02-05

Abandonment History

Abandonment Date Reason Reinstatement Date
2000-02-07 FAILURE TO PAY APPLICATION MAINTENANCE FEE
2000-11-07 FAILURE TO RESPOND TO OFFICE LETTER

Payment History

Fee Type Anniversary Year Due Date Amount Paid Paid Date
Application Fee $300.00 1999-08-04
Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
HIRZALLA, NAEL
STREATCH, PAUL
MACLEAN, ROGER
MENARD, ROBERT
Past Owners on Record
None
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Representative Drawing 1999-10-15 1 5
Abstract 1999-08-04 1 55
Description 1999-08-04 9 493
Claims 1999-08-04 3 140
Drawings 1999-08-04 2 56
Cover Page 1999-10-15 1 38
Correspondence 1999-09-15 1 2
Assignment 1999-08-04 2 99
PCT 1999-08-04 21 852