System and method for providing location-based information to mobile consumers
A location-based and preference-based system and method for matching the attributes and/or characteristics profiles of persons, places and/or things with the expressed preferences of mobile users to alert and direct such users to any places having attributes matching the user's express preferences. The system also provides access to additional information such as guidebook entries and reviews to the mobile users for any matches. In particular, the system comprises a mobile device such as a GPS-capable PDA that stores the user's preferences and communicates with a server that contains or accesses the profiles of the persons, places or things to compare the profiles and preferences. Comparison of the user's preferences with the various profiles allows the user only to be informed of those persons, places and/or things that it is likely to be interested in. The system and method thus provides for a mobile real-time point of interest exchange network.
Latest Earthcomber LLC Patents:
- System and method for notifying a user of people, places or things having attributes matching a user's stated preference
- System and method for locating and notifying a mobile user of people having attributes or interests matching a stated preference
- System and method for locating and notifying a mobile user of people having attributes or interests matching a stated preference
- System and method for providing reviews to a mobile user of restaurants having attributes matching a stated preference
- System and method for locating and notifying a mobile user of people having attributes or interests matching a stated preference
This application is a continuation in part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/609,961 filed Jun. 27, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,071,842, which claims priority based upon U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/391,982 filed Jun. 27, 2002.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to the field of communications systems and, in particular, to a system and method for providing localized resource information to mobile customers based on their explicit preferences that match subscribing merchants, managers or other entities, and still more particular, to a mobile real-time point of interest exchange network, and still yet more particularly, to a system and method using an interactive wireless mobile device to match the preference of travelers with subscribing merchants and the like and provide resource information regarding those matches.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA global positioning system of satellites (“GPS”) enables the tracking of objects on the surface of the earth through the use of satellites and receivers. In particular, the orbiting satellites of the GPS system each contain transmitters that send out radio frequency signals. GPS uses a pseudo-random data stream encoded on each satellite's carrier frequency. The receiver is synchronized with the data stream by matching an identical pseudo-random data stream with the data stream received from the satellite to give the distance to that satellite at the speed of light that the radio signal traveled. The receiver then triangulates its position using three or more satellites and by knowing where the satellites are by way of their particular data.
Stated another way, a GPS receiver receives tracking information from various GPS satellites via a GPS antenna. That information is transmitted in digital form from the receiver to a microprocessor that then makes the foregoing calculations. The information includes longitude, latitude, heading, velocity, time and elevation. The data can be processed and formatted as a data packet and immediately displayed, transmitted or stored in EEPROM until requested. Such GPS location-based information has enabled persons or vehicles equipped with GPS devices to be located, to locate their own positions, and/or to locate the best navigational paths to their destination with a great deal of accuracy.
Moreover, pursuant to recent federal emergency 911 legislation, cellular service providers must employ technology capable of locating the cellular phone within a certain distance range. This legislation was triggered by the fact that oftentimes when 911 calls were placed from a cellular phone moving away from the site of an emergency, by the time that the position of the caller was estimated using the then current technology, and by the time that the emergency vehicles were dispatched in response thereto, the caller may have traveled a significant distance from the site of the emergency. Hence, valuable time was often lost by the emergency vehicles in attempting to locate the parties in need of assistance. The ubiquitous nature of such technology enabling the determination of the accurate geographic location of a mobile user has made it feasible to provide location-based information to the mobile user while the user is literally in transit.
While other systems have attempted to use such GPS position information to provide location-based information, such as advertisements or coupons for local businesses, one shortcoming with the current systems is that they provide information or offers that are only of a general interest. Accordingly, they often target a large number of people with the hopes that a certain percentage of the recipients will favorably respond, as opposed to serving the particular, more exacting preferences of a specific recipient. An example of such general public messages is a broadcast message, or a wireless E-mail message or a cellular call to anyone within a certain geographical radius of a fast-food merchant that offers a reduced price offer for a limited time. Such general interest, location-based messages run the significant risk of annoying a recipient that is not interested in the messages or offers. As a result, the message may either be ignored by the recipient or serve to create a negative opinion about the merchant with respect to future purchasing decisions. Use of such general messages may also serve to create a negative opinion about the service provider as well. Likewise, other location-based information providers such as Vindigo and Go2 function much like mobile “Yellow Page” directories in response to specific requests for particular types of business in a certain locality by the traveler. However, such services are typically only provided on a traveler-initiated basis prompted by a specific request.
Other services like On-Star® provide location-based information in response to traveler-initiated requests related to roadside assistance, security or other such traveler support services. Other systems such as Lojac® have monitored or tracked the movement of specific assets such as vehicles—and reported the location of the vehicle to the police or owner when stolen. However, none of these location-based information providers are believed to specifically tailor such attribute-based and location-based information to the specific expressed profile or preferences of the mobile traveler that will receive such information.
Other systems have sought to use purchasing interest profiles of the user. For example, the system for providing navigational services of Lee et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,177 contains user profile databases, billing information and a purchasing interest profile. Accordingly, information in advertising databases can be compared against a user's purchasing interest profile through an adaptive profiler, so that advertisements inserted into personalized digital broadcasts mesh with that user's past buying history. Likewise, the prior system of Adaptive Personalization provided an adaptive recommendation engine that analyzed the information that individual users accessed on the mobile devices. Based on the accessed information, the recommendation engine prioritized information for mobile applications provided to that user. A significant problem with these systems is that they rely at most on an inferred or extrapolated preference of the user based on prior behavior or patterns of behavior, rather than explicitly asking the user for preferences. Accordingly, such systems do not address situations wherein the preferences of the user change or where the user has not previously been interested in a particular service or good.
These systems also do not provide a system that is both location-based and preference-based to provide information to a mobile user or consumer by matching the preferences of the person, place or thing (e.g., a merchant) and the user, so as to target a user based on a stated, rather than interpreted, preference. Furthermore, these systems do not allow the merchant or other entity to reach users at a time and place when they are most likely to purchase its goods and/or services.
Additionally, because of the mobility of individuals today and the number of different businesses and entities that provides goods and/or services, there is a need to obtain pertinent information in a timely fashion to allow the user or consumer to be aware of the available options in a local area that meet his or her preferences. Typically, individuals rely on word of mouth from friends or carry guidebooks for a particular region. However, both of these options have problems. As for word of mouth, people have different tastes and opinions. Accordingly, there is no guarantee that an individual will like the same things as his or her friends. Furthermore, by limiting the options to only one or two choices, the users are missing out on opportunities to try places, etc. that meet their specific preferences. Guidebooks, on the other hand, provide information on more places; however, guidebooks must be carried around by individuals and do not describe all of the places within a particular region. Additionally, guidebooks do not provide up-to-date information so there is no guarantee that the information contained in the guidebook is accurate. Guidebooks also do not provide an easy way to determine which places are within a desired range from the user's current location.
Therefore, there is a need to produce and offer a dual-preference matching system and method that provides a system that is both location-based and preference-based to allow for a user to obtain additional information about those persons, places and things that match the user's preferences and are within a prescribed range.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is an improvement over conventional means for providing information to users in that the system and method for providing information, which is accessible by the user, based on a location-based and preference-based system that matches the specific expressed interests and preferences of a user with the profile of a person, place or thing is unique and an improvement over the prior art. In particular, the present invention enables the user to enter and update its preference information for a wide variety of goods, services and interests to allow the user to be notified of only those persons, places and things that expressly match up with the user's stated preferences. When notified of the express matches, the user may then obtain additional information regarding the expressed matches. The information may be from a variety of sources such as books or web-based content. A publisher or other entity may therefore supply or publish its information for access by a user of the system.
In operation, a user will create a preference portfolio for various types of persons, places and/or things preferably through the use of a wireless device that has GPS capabilities. The preferences may include additional information such as: a distance range from the user, price, period of interest and the like. Persons, places and things may likewise create their own profiles on the system to list their goods, services, attractions and the like. Additionally, the information that is provided to the users may include information on a variety of events such as, but not limited to, concerts, sporting events, special appearances, exhibitions, demonstrations and the like. The system of the present invention thereafter accesses and reads the profiles of the persons, places and things to compare the user's preferences on the wireless device. If any of the persons, places or things match-up with the expressed preferences of the user, then the user will be notified of those persons, places and things. The user may thereafter, if interested, request additional information about the person, place and/or thing. Additional information may include, but is not limited to directions from the user's current location, photographs, menus, reviews and/or information from guidebooks and other content providers. Additional information may be directed to places related to, among other things, travel, history, Americana, culture, outdoor and adventure, heritage, arts and leisure, and transportation.
The present invention is also directed to a process that transforms literary works into digital works or publications and which embeds location information into the works. A universal reader application may then be used to dynamically and otherwise interact with the embedded information routinely and/or automatically, thereby allowing, among other things, a distance result to be displayed in any and all places in the guide where the markup language has embedded geospatial coordinates.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved matching system and method that allows users to obtain notice of and information about their expressed favorite or desired types of people, places and/or things as they travel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved matching system and method that uses the exact, stated preferences of the users to allow information to be specifically targeted to users who are the most interested in the information.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved system and method for providing up-to-date information on people, places and/or things that match a user's explicit preferences and are within a prescribed distance from the user.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved matching system and method that allows mobile users to use the system by way of multiple platforms.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved matching system and method that is capable of working with real-time GPS location-based systems as well as pre-loaded mapping software.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved matching system and method that is capable of using a variety of communications media.
Still another object of the present invention is to deliver timely, in-depth information about places and things nearby that match a user's explicit preferences.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved process for transforming literary works into digital works with embedded location information that triggers dynamic functions and results.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved matching system and method that generates revenue to the service provider.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts.
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail several specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered merely an exemplification of the principles of the invention and the application is limited only to the appended claims.
Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to
Examples of a PDA are a Pocket PC® Microsoft Windows CE® operating system based PDA, a Palm®, Handspring®, Sony®, other Palm® Operating System based PDA, or other handheld devices capable of receiving digital information such as the Linux® Operating System based Sharp® Zaurus. While a PDA is shown and disclosed, it is appreciated that the wireless device may be any of the known wireless devices including, but not limited to, a wireless-enabled notebook computer, a 2-way pager, a cellular phone, or an integrated vehicular navigational device. The PDA preferably has a local database 21 stored in on-board RAM or ROM such as memory cards so as to contain the preferences of the user and/or the profiles of the merchants or other points of interest along a selected route or within a specified vicinity of the user. It is also appreciated that the user preferences may be stored on the server or elsewhere and not depart from the scope of the present invention. The PDA also preferably has GPS capabilities so as to be capable of determining its geographic position by receiving and interpreting the signals of the GPS satellites. It is appreciated that the PDA may contain or work in cooperation with a GPS receiver component 22.
It is appreciated that the server 23 may be capable of being accessed wirelessly through a wireless connection (25); by non-wireless connection by way of conventional modem by the PDA via telephone line and ISP to the Internet 26; or by a land-line connection to a computer 27 with TCP/IP access to the Internet 26. A router 27A and firewall 28 are preferably interposed between the Internet and the server for security purposes. It is appreciated that other security measures and devices may be used and not depart from the scope of the present invention. A server farm is preferably used for the proprietary socket server (both clustered and redundant), as well as for web serving the application's user interface (both clustered and redundant).
While it is appreciated that a wide variety of software may be used, the preferred software is: portable GPS receiving software such as NMEA 0183 Protocol supported software; a profile matching application; Berkeley/Winsock socket server software for both the wireless device and the non-wireless device embodiments; TCP/IP access software; COM/DCOM or J2EE Compliant web server software; and an ANSI/ISO SQL database management system such as an SQL server 2000 or an Oracle® 9i database management system. The server farms for the socket server preferably run Windows® 2000 Advanced Server or better and Linux® or Solaris with J2EE web application software.
Referring now to
If a wireless TCP/IP or similar connection is available for the PDA, the PDA can download the requisite user preference profile and/or person, place or thing (heretofore, generically referred to as a merchant) profile information in real time from the remote server. If a connection is not available, then the requisite user profile and/or merchant profile information can be preloaded or downloaded into the Local Database or a separate database of the PDA at a time when such a connection is available.
Merchant information may include, but is not limited to: the type of business or location; the price ranges of the products and/or services that it provides; the hours of operation; the types of users it is most interested in reaching; its location; and a description of the products and services provided. Additionally, it is appreciated that the merchant may also include keywords that detail or describe specific products, services or features that the merchant offers. In the preferred embodiment, it is appreciated that the merchant may purchase such keywords from the system operator in order to enhance its listing.
The system and method of the present invention thereby allows users to indicate their preferences with respect to such information as, but not limited to: the type of merchant, goods, services and the like they are interested in. Additionally, the users may also include specific parameters to limit the amount of information received. Examples of parameters that may be used include, but are not limited to, the time periods during which the users are interested in such merchant (e.g., only on weekends or only at night); the price ranges that the users are willing to spend; specific type of products, services, attractions or the like that the merchant has to offer; and the maximum distance that the user is willing to travel. It is appreciated that users and merchants may enter their preferences into the system in any known way, including but not limited to, using a series of hierarchical menus on the internet, the PDA, or the like, that have a plurality of possible preference selections for a variety of topical categories. While it is appreciated that the geographic location of the merchant may be calculated in any number of ways, it is preferred that a mapping service will calculate the longitude and latitude of an address that is inputted by the merchant.
Referring to
Referring to
It is also appreciated that the present system may work with real estate. In particular, it is appreciated that homeowners, real estate brokers and the like may list homes on the system, whereby when the listed homes match the preferences of the user, the user will be notified of the home to allow it to drive by and look at. For example, a user may enter preferences related to the type and location of houses that it is interested in. Referring to
Referring to
Referring again to step 114, notification of the merchant may include information pertaining to the merchant's business, products and/or services, as well as directions to the merchant. If the user indicated he or she is interested in the merchant in step 118, the user may request more information, if desired or necessary, in step 120. The user may then elect to update its user preference profile in steps 122, wherein the process will be repeated starting in step 100. It is appreciated that the merchant profile may also be updated by the merchant at any time. Otherwise, the process restarts in step 104.
It is appreciated that the information requested in step 120 may be from a variety of content providers including publishers of guidebooks and other travel materials. Information that may be provided may include, but is not limited to, narratives about the particular merchant from a publisher or other user, reviews, photographs or hypertext links. Additionally, referring to
In a preferred embodiment, the additional content information may be accessed by a user by clicking on a particular listing, icon or link. Referring to
Referring to
On the other hand, if a suitable TCP/IP connection to the Internet of a network associated with the remote server is not available, then the user's profile is accessed from the local database of the PDA in step 214 for merchants matching the specified user profile and distance limits. Accordingly, the matching in this case will occur based on preloaded user and merchant profile information contained in the local database of the PDA as opposed to the matching process taking place on the remote server.
Depending on where the information is stored, either the local database or the remote server database will then be queried in step 216 as to whether the merchant is of the type preferred by the user. In particular, the database may be queried as to whether any merchant is within the specified distance limit of the user profile; and whether any merchant profile and/or keywords match the user's preference profile. If it is determined that the merchant is of the type preferred by the user, and it is determined in step 218 that the matching process is operating on the remote server, then the results are sent back to the client in step 220. Thereafter, the socket is closed in step 222, and the results are displayed on the PDA to the user in step 224. If, on the other hand, the matching process is not running on the server, but instead is running locally at the PDA, then the results are displayed to the user at the PDA in step 224.
The system also preferably dynamically updates the output based on the current determined location of the user and the relative distance to the particular merchants. In other words, as the user moves, the output changes to reflect the current distance to the matched location. Referring to the example shown in
If the user indicates any interest in the displayed place in step 226, then additional merchant information such as, but not limited to, narratives and pictures from content providers (e.g., a publisher of a guidebook) and reviews may be transmitted and/or displayed to the user. Additionally, directions to the merchant location from the user's position may be provided and/or additional information such as, but not limited to, hours of operation or sales may be provided. Or, if it is a historical site, information related to its history and/or historical importance may be displayed. If no interest is shown in step 226, then the process restarts in step 200, preferably after a one second threaded pause. It is appreciated that the user and/or merchant may also preferably update their preference profiles at any time.
Revenue may be generated in a number of ways from the present invention. Merchants can be allowed to list themselves for free in the system in the appropriate categories of businesses, products, services, attractions, places and the like. While it is preferred that the merchants may list themselves for free, it is also appreciated that they may pay for their initial listings as well. In addition to the initial listing, the merchants may also enhance their listing by purchasing “keywords” that may increase the chances that passing travelers using the system will be notified of the location of the merchant because of a match between the user's preference and the merchant's profile and/or keywords. Cellular phone service and other wireless service providers may also be licensed or charged to allow for the system of the present invention to be available to their subscribers. Furthermore, publishing companies, such as newspapers and phone directory publishers who normally sell ad space, can receive a commission based on the revenue generated from the sale of keywords to operators or managers of the places that list their attributes in the form of their profile. Furthermore, content providers can receive compensation for each time their information is accessed by a user, or a user may purchase rights to the content for a particular location and/or period of time. For example, if a user is traveling to New York for a week, the user may purchase information from a guidebook publisher pertaining to New York for use for that particular week's time. At the end of the week's time, the system will prevent the user's from accessing the information until an additional license is purchased.
It is also appreciated that chains of business may also be able to offer their members the benefit of a lower fee. Entities such as governmental agencies or tourism boards could also be charged for expanded information on particular places so as to encourage increased numbers of visits to such places by travelers. It is further appreciated that the places may remit a percentage of all sales from the matching system to the operator of the system of the present invention.
It is appreciated that the system may work with both real-time GPS location-based systems, and pre-loaded mapping software such as DVD-based “in-dash” navigational systems available on many high-end automobiles. While GPS positioning is described herein as an example of one possible method for determining the location of the user, other forms of locating systems and method such as through triangulation using the distance between radio towers should also be considered as being within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, it is appreciated that the system may work with remote units without GPS and no wireless connection that maintain a live cellular or a data network link (e.g., a Blackberry).
Referring to
If it is determined that the place is of the type preferred by the user, and it is determined in step 414 that the matching process is operating on the remote server, then the results are sent back to the client in step 416. Thereafter, the results are displayed on the mobile device to the user in step 418. If, on the other hand, the matching process is not running on the server, but instead is running locally at the wireless device, then the results are displayed to the user at the wireless device in step 418.
If the user indicates any interest in the displayed place in step 420, then additional merchant resource information such as narratives from guidebooks and/or reviews may be transmitted and/or displayed to the user in step 422. If no interest is shown in step 420, then the process restarts in step 400, preferably after a one second threaded pause. It is appreciated that the user and/or merchant may also preferably update their preference profiles at any time, or if the user elects not to update its user profile, it may skip step 400 and proceed to step 404.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention, but it is understood that this application is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A method of providing information to a user using a device where the information pertains to people, places and things having attributes that match explicit preferences of the user and are within a desired proximity to a location associated with the user, the method comprising the steps of:
- creating a user preference profile, wherein the user preference profile is created by the user;
- storing the user preference profile;
- creating a profile of at least one of the people, places and things;
- storing the at least one of the people, places and things profile;
- determining the location of the user;
- comparing the user preference profile and the at least one of the people, places and things profile to determine if the at least one of the people, places and things has attributes that match the preferences of the user, wherein the step of comparing the user preference profile with the at least one of the people, places and things profile comprises the step of determining whether the at least one of the people, places and things is within a distance that is specified by the user in the user preference profile;
- notifying the user of all of the at least one of the people, places and things that match the user's explicit preferences and are within the desired proximity to the user's location;
- providing access to resource information about the people, places and things that match the user's explicit preferences; and
- displaying the resource information on the device upon a request by the user.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource information comprises driving instructions to the at least one of the people, places and things.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource information comprises narratives from one or more guidebooks.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource information is stored in a database.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource information is obtained from one or more websites.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource information is inputted by other users of the system.
7. The method of claim 6 which further comprises the step of receiving information from the user regarding one or more of the people, places and things that match the user's explicit preferences for personal use.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the profile of the at least one of the people, places and things includes keywords.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of inputting the user preferences comprises selecting the preferences from a series of hierarchical menus.
10. The system of claim 1 wherein the device is an integrated vehicular device.
11. The method of claim 1, which further comprises the step of updating, if necessary, the user preference profile.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the location of the user comprises the step of using pre-loaded mapping software.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the location of the user comprises using a GPS location-based system.
14. The method of claim 1, which further comprises the step of providing means for the user to communicate with the at least one of the people, places and things.
15. A location-based and preference-based matching system for notifying a user about people, places and things having attributes that match preferences of the user and are within a desired proximity to a location associated with the user, the system comprising:
- a device comprising output means:
- input means for the user to input the user preferences;
- means for determining the location of the user;
- input means for creating a profile for the people, place and things;
- storage means for storing the user preferences;
- storage means for storing the profiles of the people, places and things;
- means for comparing the user preferences and the attribute profiles of the people, places and things to determine whether there are any matches that are within the desired proximity to the location of the user;
- means for listing all of the matches, if any, on the output means; and
- means for providing access to resource information for the matches.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein the means to determine the location of the user comprises pre-loaded mapping software.
17. The system of claim 15 wherein the means to determine the location of the user comprises a GPS location-based system.
18. The system of claim 15, which further comprises means to provide directions from the location of the user to the people, places and things that match the user preference profile.
19. The system of claim 15 wherein the device is an integrated vehicular device.
20. The method of claim 15, wherein the resource information comprises driving instructions to the at least one of the people, places and things.
21. The method of claim 15, wherein the resource information comprises narratives from one or more guidebooks.
22. The method of claim 15, wherein the resource information is stored in a database.
23. The method of claim 15, wherein the additional information is obtained from one or more websites.
24. The method of claim 15, wherein the resource information is inputted by other users of the system.
25. A method for providing resource information from guidebooks to a user's mobile device based on the user's expressed interests comprising the steps of:
- determining a location for the user;
- notifying the user of persons, places and things that match the user's express interests and are within a set distance from the location;
- providing access to the resource information for the persons, places and things that match the user's express interests;
- displaying the resource information upon request by the user.
26. A method for transforming literal works into digital works for access by a mobile device comprising the steps of:
- providing a literary work comprising material on a plurality of people, places and/or things, wherein each of the plurality of people, places and things has a location;
- compiling the literary work;
- embedding location information for the plurality of people, places and/or things into the literary work; and
- producing the digital work for access by the mobile device.
27. The method of claim 26 where the mobile device comprises means to determine a location for a person using the mobile device, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:
- providing a distance between the person's location and the location of at least one of the plurality of people, places and things; and
- dynamically updating the distance as the person's location changes.
| 5179519 | January 12, 1993 | Adachi |
| 5225842 | July 6, 1993 | Brown |
| 5323321 | June 21, 1994 | Smith |
| 5485161 | January 16, 1996 | Vaughn |
| 5539398 | July 23, 1996 | Hall |
| 5552989 | September 3, 1996 | Bertrand |
| 5565874 | October 15, 1996 | Rode |
| 5767795 | June 16, 1998 | Schaphorst |
| 5948040 | September 7, 1999 | DeLorme et al. |
| 6005494 | December 21, 1999 | Schramm |
| 6006161 | December 21, 1999 | Katou |
| 6014090 | January 11, 2000 | Rosen |
| 6035253 | March 7, 2000 | Hayashi |
| 6040829 | March 21, 2000 | Croy |
| 6067502 | May 23, 2000 | Hayashida |
| 6078865 | June 20, 2000 | Koyanagi |
| 6202026 | March 13, 2001 | Nimura |
| 6212470 | April 3, 2001 | Seymour |
| 6230199 | May 8, 2001 | Revashetti |
| 6314370 | November 6, 2001 | Curtright |
| 6366855 | April 2, 2002 | Reilly |
| 6370578 | April 9, 2002 | Revashetti |
| 6374180 | April 16, 2002 | Slominski |
| 6401036 | June 4, 2002 | Geier |
| 6405129 | June 11, 2002 | Yokota |
| 6408307 | June 18, 2002 | Semple et al. |
| 6415224 | July 2, 2002 | Wako |
| 6415227 | July 2, 2002 | Lin |
| 6430501 | August 6, 2002 | Slominski |
| 6453347 | September 17, 2002 | Revashetti |
| 6456854 | September 24, 2002 | Chern et al. |
| 6526351 | February 25, 2003 | Whitham |
| 6529143 | March 4, 2003 | Mikkola |
| 6542812 | April 1, 2003 | Obradovich |
| 6542814 | April 1, 2003 | Polidi |
| 6549678 | April 15, 2003 | Gindele |
| 6549768 | April 15, 2003 | Fraccaroli |
| 6608556 | August 19, 2003 | De Moerloose et al. |
| 6618593 | September 9, 2003 | Drutman |
| 6654800 | November 25, 2003 | Rieger, III |
| 6680694 | January 20, 2004 | Knockeart |
| 6687608 | February 3, 2004 | Sugimoto |
| 6690295 | February 10, 2004 | De Boer |
| 6693651 | February 17, 2004 | Biebesheimer |
| 6701311 | March 2, 2004 | Biebesheimer |
| 6707421 | March 16, 2004 | Drury |
| 6732045 | May 4, 2004 | Irmer |
| 6745123 | June 1, 2004 | Petzold |
| 6804605 | October 12, 2004 | Flick |
| 6812860 | November 2, 2004 | Schwarzwalder |
| 6819919 | November 16, 2004 | Tanaka |
| 6829532 | December 7, 2004 | Obradovich |
| 6931254 | August 16, 2005 | Egner |
| 6931399 | August 16, 2005 | Cheng et al. |
| 6957393 | October 18, 2005 | Fano |
| 6968179 | November 22, 2005 | De Vries |
| 6973298 | December 6, 2005 | Chang |
| 6982656 | January 3, 2006 | Coppinger |
| 7068189 | June 27, 2006 | Brescia |
| 7071842 | July 4, 2006 | Brady, Jr. |
| 7075459 | July 11, 2006 | Begin |
| 7082365 | July 25, 2006 | Sheha et al. |
| 7085806 | August 1, 2006 | Shapira |
| 7092952 | August 15, 2006 | Wilens |
| 7133813 | November 7, 2006 | Salani |
| 7254406 | August 7, 2007 | Beros |
| 7269664 | September 11, 2007 | Hütsch |
| 7289814 | October 30, 2007 | Amir |
| 7296066 | November 13, 2007 | Lehaff |
| 7321387 | January 22, 2008 | Novais |
| 7321824 | January 22, 2008 | Nesbitt |
| 7373336 | May 13, 2008 | Jasinschi |
| 7386318 | June 10, 2008 | Moon |
| 7395031 | July 1, 2008 | Ritter |
| 7400879 | July 15, 2008 | Lehaff |
| 20010034624 | October 25, 2001 | Niwa |
| 20020087266 | July 4, 2002 | Sugimoto |
| 20020178448 | November 28, 2002 | Te Kiefte |
| 20020183072 | December 5, 2002 | Steinbach et al. |
| 20030006911 | January 9, 2003 | Smith |
| 20030009281 | January 9, 2003 | Whitham |
| 20030009385 | January 9, 2003 | Tucciarone |
| 20030114171 | June 19, 2003 | Miyamoto |
| 20030115203 | June 19, 2003 | Brown |
| 20030182567 | September 25, 2003 | Barton |
| 20030224776 | December 4, 2003 | Meng |
| 20040003097 | January 1, 2004 | Willis |
| 20040036611 | February 26, 2004 | Kidney |
| 20040068552 | April 8, 2004 | Kotz |
| 20040070602 | April 15, 2004 | Kobuya et al. |
| 20040078813 | April 22, 2004 | Kobuya et al. |
| 20040138906 | July 15, 2004 | Fagan |
| 20040192346 | September 30, 2004 | Chang |
| 20040203860 | October 14, 2004 | Fellenstein |
| 20040236504 | November 25, 2004 | Bickford |
| 20050192025 | September 1, 2005 | Kaplan |
| 20060047825 | March 2, 2006 | Steenstra |
| 20060064346 | March 23, 2006 | Steenstra |
| 20060195583 | August 31, 2006 | Bellifemine |
| 20060200258 | September 7, 2006 | Hoffberg |
| 20070067098 | March 22, 2007 | Zelentsov |
| 20070093958 | April 26, 2007 | Jonsson |
| 20070185744 | August 9, 2007 | Robertson |
| 20080183376 | July 31, 2008 | Knockeart |
| 1219927 | July 2002 | EP |
| 1346569 | October 2007 | EP |
| 9957863 | November 1999 | WO |
| 9959334 | November 1999 | WO |
| 0022860 | April 2000 | WO |
| 0221864 | March 2002 | WO |
| 0251079 | June 2002 | WO |
| 02085007 | October 2002 | WO |
| 03075559 | September 2003 | WO |
| 03105463 | December 2003 | WO |
| 2004077784 | September 2004 | WO |
| 2004102925 | November 2004 | WO |
Type: Grant
Filed: Mar 9, 2006
Date of Patent: Sep 15, 2009
Assignee: Earthcomber LLC (River Forest, IL)
Inventor: James V. Brady, Jr. (River Forest, IL)
Primary Examiner: Daryl C Pope
Attorney: Patzik Frank & Samotny Ltd.
Application Number: 11/372,307
International Classification: G08B 1/08 (20060101);
