The jury remains out on the importance of OnLive's on-demand game-streaming service for the larger industry, but the company did take an important step toward securing its own future this week. Today, OnLive announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office had granted its patent for a way to achieve cloud-based gaming, which was originally filed in December 2002.

　　The MicroConsole lets gamers access the game cloud through their TVs. Called a "fundamental patent" by OnLive CEO Steve Perlman in an interview with Venture Beat, the design lays the framework for how the company delivers its games to consumers. That process, which is currently in application with the OnLive service, allows gamers to play graphics-intensive games in high definition on virtually any PC or Mac without the need for a high-end graphics card.

　　OnLive's service is able to stream games from various server farms all over the nation by using proprietary compression technology. Initially, OnLive required users to connect to its service by way of a wired Internet hookup, but the company has now rolled out Wi-Fi connectivity as well. On December 2, OnLive also expanded its service to television sets, courtesy of the HDTV-compatible MicroConsole adapter.

　　The company has a number of new features coming to OnLive in 2011. Beginning January 15, the company will begin offering a flat-rate PlayPack plan, which grants unfettered access to all of the service's games for $10 a month. Currently, OnLive offers three different ways in which gamers can access products on the service. The Full PlayPass gives players complete access to a game for the duration of its presence on the service (minimum three years). Five-day and three-day passes are also available, carrying respective $9 and $6 price tags.

　　OnLive's Perlman has also expressed interest in streaming video and movies through the service next year. Though details on the feature remain under wraps, Perlman noted that the service is designed to compete with Netflix's increasingly ubiquitous on-demand streaming channel.