Patent ID: 7218243

Claim:
A method for configuring a controlling device to command the operation of an appliance, comprising: receiving into the controlling device data that functions to identify the appliance; causing the data that functions to identify the appliance to be uploaded from the controlling device to a device having Internet connectivity; causing the data that functions to identify the appliance to be uploaded from the device having Internet connectivity via a wide area communication link to an Internet server having access to a database of control codes for commanding the operation of a plurality of appliances of different types and different manufacturers; using at the Internet server the data that functions to identify the appliance to retrieve from the database control codes to which the appliance is adapted to respond; receiving the control codes retrieved from the database at the device having Internet connectivity; causing the control codes retrieved from the database to be downloaded from the device having Internet connectivity into the controlling device; and storing the control codes retrieved from the database in the controlling device whereby the control codes are available for use in commanding the operation of the appliance.