Patents Examined by Rob Pond
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Patent number: 8732033Abstract: An automated ticket auctioning system receives and evaluates bid information records received from a plurality of remote terminals. Each bid information record corresponds to at least one bid for one or more desired seats at a venue. Each bid information record may also include a plurality of additional bids identified for different seats in the venue. The separate bids in each bid information record are prioritized. The automated ticket auctioning system includes a central controlling computer operable to receive the bid information records and determine, in order of priority, whether any of the bids in a bid information record is accepted. If one bid in a bid information record is accepted, all lower priority bids in that bid information record are dismissed.Type: GrantFiled: August 10, 2006Date of Patent: May 20, 2014Assignee: Ticketmaster, L.L.C.Inventor: Kenton F. Brett
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Patent number: 8732037Abstract: A method to facilitate network-based commerce includes determining a site that a user accesses, the site being one of multiple sites operated by a network-based commerce facility. A category list available for the site is retrieved, the category list identifying categories of offerings available via the site. The category list is communicated to the user. The site is a regional site, and the category list is a region-specific category list.Type: GrantFiled: July 16, 2012Date of Patent: May 20, 2014Assignee: eBay Inc.Inventors: Barry Boone, Nathan Sacco, Rhys Chard
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Patent number: 8712866Abstract: A system and method for ordering a print of a digitally represented still image on a calendar using a remote computer is provided. The system includes a remote computer connected to a photofinisher through a network. A computer readable medium is located on the photofinisher and has computer-executable instructions for performing the method that includes selecting an image using the remote computer and displaying the image in an image tray pane. A calendar workspace pane includes separate calendar image windows associated with each of the calendar pages. One of the images displayed in the image tray pane is associated with one or more of the calendar image windows. A calendar print order data file is established, which includes the association of the selected image with one or more of the calendar image windows. The computer-executable instructions are in HTML and JavaScript.Type: GrantFiled: September 3, 2013Date of Patent: April 29, 2014Assignee: FUJIFILM North America CorporationInventors: Ryan Moore, Johnathan Nick, Mike Anello
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Patent number: 8706570Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods and systems for transmitting streams of data. The present invention also relates to generating packet watermarks and packet watermark keys. The present invention also relates to a computerized system for packaging data for transmission to a user. The system may utilize computer code to generate a bandwidth rights certificate that may include: at least one cryptographic credential; routing information for the transmission; and, optionally, a digital signature of a certificate owner; a unique identification code of a certificate owner; a certificate validity period; and pricing information for use of bandwidth. The present invention also relates to an electronic method and system for purchasing good and services by establishing an account whereby a customer is credited with a predetermined amount of bandwidth usage, and then charges are assessed against the account in an amount of bandwidth usage which corresponds to the agreed upon purchase value for the selected item.Type: GrantFiled: July 17, 2012Date of Patent: April 22, 2014Inventor: Scott A. Moskowitz
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Patent number: 8700486Abstract: Methods of the present invention allow for rating eCommerce transactions. An exemplary method for rating an eCommerce transaction may comprise the steps of identifying a plurality of data indicating the trustworthiness of a Hosting Provider, a Merchant, and/or a Customer, collecting the data, and generating a Transaction Trust Rating for an eCommerce transaction, with the Transaction Trust Rating being based upon the collected data. The Transaction Trust Rating may be stored in a Repository accessible to Internet users. A Transaction Trust Rating Indicator (indicative of the Transaction Trust Rating) also may be provided to the Hosting Provider, Merchant, and/or Customer and may take the form of a certificate for display on a webpage, a change in color of an address bar on a browser, and/or an alphanumeric ranking.Type: GrantFiled: August 8, 2012Date of Patent: April 15, 2014Assignee: Go Daddy Operating Company, LLCInventor: Neil Warner
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Patent number: 8694388Abstract: Disclosed is a delivery management system and method using a smart communicator that include a selling server for selling articles online; a delivery server for managing delivery of articles sold by the selling server; a mailbox which reads information from an information storage attached to an arrived article at a destination under the control of the delivery server; and a home network server, which stores ordered article information, determines whether the arrived article is correctly delivered based on a comparison between the ordered article information and the arrived article information read from the information storage, transmits the result of the comparison to a smart communicator, controls follow-up management of the delivery according to a remote control of the smart communicator, to verify article arrival, and controls follow-up management using the smart communicator.Type: GrantFiled: August 16, 2012Date of Patent: April 8, 2014Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.Inventor: Se Jin Kwak
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Method and apparatus for enabling purchase of or information requests for objects in digital content
Patent number: 8682750Abstract: A client computing system renders digital content (such as, for example, a movie or TV program) for a user. Based on the user's interest, the user may select an object image in a video frame of a sequence of video frames of the digital content being rendered. The user input data indicating the object image selection may be sent to a service provider server coupled to the client computing system over a network via a secure communications channel. The server obtains information about an object corresponding to the user-selected object image. The server sends the object information to the client computing system for display to the user. The object may be an object in the physical world, such as a consumer good. The object information may include information enabling the user to purchase the object.Type: GrantFiled: March 11, 2011Date of Patent: March 25, 2014Assignee: Intel corporationInventors: Mojtaba Mirashrafi, Mousumi M. Hazra, Ramesh Pendakur -
Patent number: 8676660Abstract: Once a purchaser has proceeded through a check out experience with an online retail system, the settings established during that checkout experience will be applied to future checkout experiences by that purchaser. By capturing and thereafter using checkout settings in this manner, a purchaser can proceed from a shopping cart directly to a checkout review page with the checkout review page being pre-populated with such prior established settings. Furthermore, the methodology allows the purchaser to have a virtually unlimited number of goods in their shopping cart and to have multiple different types of order fulfillment options (e.g., shipping, store pickup, delivery to an organization, etc.) automatically established for those goods.Type: GrantFiled: January 11, 2011Date of Patent: March 18, 2014Assignee: Sears Brands, L.L.C.Inventors: James Yu, Greg Franczyk, Jason Ruud, Brian Jordan, Robert Richard Roy, Eric J. Klondnick, Mahesh Bommireddy
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Patent number: 8660911Abstract: Systems and methods are provided to facilitate online transactions via mobile communications. In one aspect, a system includes a communication interface to receive an input from a merchant; a plurality of converters to interface with a plurality of controllers for delivery of messages sent by the system to collect funds for purchases made by customers; and a common format processor coupled with the plurality of converters to send the messages. The common format processor determines a total price of one or more messages, in response to a first customer making a first purchase from the merchant at a first price. The total price of the one or more messages is based on the first price and a portion of service charges associated with the one or more messages, where the portion is specified by the input received via the interface.Type: GrantFiled: September 20, 2010Date of Patent: February 25, 2014Assignee: Boku, Inc.Inventors: Ron Hirson, Michael Cahill
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Patent number: 8645226Abstract: In general, the subject matter described in this disclosure can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products. A server system receives a request to purchase a product from a first computing device. The first computing device is one of multiple computing devices assigned to a user account. The server system requests to charge an account associated with a user of the first computing device for a price. The server system receives an indication that the account has been charged. The server system sends for receipt by each of the computing devices a notification that a purchasing event has occurred. The server system receives, as sent by each of at least a subset of the multiple computing devices, a request for details. The server system sends, for receipt by each of the at least subset of the multiple computing devices, an indication that the product has been purchased.Type: GrantFiled: September 25, 2012Date of Patent: February 4, 2014Assignee: Google Inc.Inventors: Linda K. Nguyen, Jasper S. Lin
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Patent number: 8639584Abstract: A service provider system enables a subscriber to purchase services over a network from a service provider for the benefit of third parties located in different locations. The service provider system provides service flexibility by allowing parameters to be set, such as place and time of service delivery. Further, conditions allowing third-party recipients to change service parameters include delivery time and place, exchange of purchased service for another service, return of the purchased service, etc. Reporting options to both the subscriber and the third party can additionally be provided. Reporting messages or notifications may be sent to the purchasing subscriber to indicate which of the third parties had taken advantage of the purchased service, when and where the service was consumed, and/or what the actual cost of delivering the service was. The service provider system can also provide incentives for third parties to take advantage of the purchased service.Type: GrantFiled: July 2, 2012Date of Patent: January 28, 2014Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.Inventors: John Bruce Harlow, Robert Sayko, Norman Shaye, Richard A. Stubing
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Patent number: 8626610Abstract: A shopping register creating part (111) creates shopping information including a purchase planned quantity of materials by each term based on an inventory standard master (110) in which inventory standard information at least including a lower limit amount of the material in the inventory is set and a maintenance calendar including a planned date of a maintenance work. A material order management part (112) accepts an order of a desired material from the shopping information in accordance with an operation of a user, then inputs a purchase result of the desired material. An inventory management purchase actual performance management part (113) updates an inventory management table managing a material quantity in the inventory based on the purchase result. An equipment master updating part (101) updates the inventory standard master (110) based on an updated result of the inventory management table.Type: GrantFiled: July 14, 2010Date of Patent: January 7, 2014Assignee: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal CorporationInventors: Ichiro Kodama, Hirohide Shimono, Naoki Sato
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Patent number: 8620770Abstract: Paths followed by a plurality of devices are recorded. Devices of the plurality have sent content requests similar to a current content request. Behaviors exhibited by respective ones of the plurality of devices after sending content requests are recorded. The respective ones of the plurality of devices into intent groupings. A path followed by a device is assembled. The assembling the path comprises recording a plurality of physical location readings generated with respect to the device prior. An intent grouping matching the path is identified. The intent grouping is associated with an expected behavior. Content calculated to facilitate the expected behavior is identified.Type: GrantFiled: March 30, 2011Date of Patent: December 31, 2013Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventor: Elmore Eugene Pope
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Patent number: 8612313Abstract: Exemplary metadata subscription methods and systems are disclosed herein. An exemplary method includes a metadata subscription system receiving data representative of a subscription by a user to one or more metadata values, identifying at least one media content instance that has the one or more metadata values, and providing the user with access to the identified at least one media content instance. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: March 3, 2010Date of Patent: December 17, 2013Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.Inventors: Brian F. Roberts, Donald H. Relyea, Alex Zavatone
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Patent number: 8612307Abstract: The invention provides a method and system to enable buyers and sellers of data items to adjust fees for one or a plurality of data items according to the compatibility of the data items with research and dataset compatibility requirements of the end user or buyer of the data items. It further provides a method for constructing data item pairs consisting of targets for observations and observations upon targets compatible with the requirement of the purchaser of the data.Type: GrantFiled: July 5, 2011Date of Patent: December 17, 2013Inventor: Stanley Benjamin Smith
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Patent number: 8606649Abstract: The invention is characterized as a data processing architecture and method for multi-stage processing of buyers' purchase information documents where information of actual purchases are delivered to a server on the Internet and users of the system are able to view aggregated information of actual purchases, purchase dates, and store locations of anonymous buyers.Type: GrantFiled: November 2, 2009Date of Patent: December 10, 2013Inventors: Ellis Barlow Keener, Jr., Vishal Kumar
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Patent number: 8600824Abstract: Exemplary product marketing systems and methods are disclosed. An exemplary method includes a product marketing system receiving, from an access device, a product search request and image data representative of an image associated with a product, searching, in response to the product search request, a repository of product image data to identify at least one match to the image associated with the product, generating, based on the at least one match, search results data comprising product information for at least one product, and transmitting the search results data to the access device. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: April 28, 2010Date of Patent: December 3, 2013Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.Inventor: Gururaj Sunkada
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Patent number: 8600832Abstract: One aspect relates to managing deliveries of at least one goods, items, and/or services that could be received by at least one customer, at least partially by recognizing an exemplar as corresponding to the at least one goods, items, and/or services. Another aspect relates to considering selling goods, items, and/or services from an exemplar merchant and/or store at least partially utilizing an exemplar item information as derived from a customer's previous history, wherein at least some of the exemplar item information as derived from the customer's previous history could be stored in certain embodiments of at least a portion of a shopping control mechanism. Yet another aspect relates to receiving an exemplar item information that can be used to recognize an exemplar as corresponding to an at least one goods, items, and/or services.Type: GrantFiled: April 23, 2010Date of Patent: December 3, 2013Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, LLCInventors: Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo, Jr.
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Patent number: 8600834Abstract: A floral network system and method allows for collecting, storing and retrieving data regarding the processing of personalized or custom floral arrangements linked to personal accounts for a plurality of customers. For example, a floral network method and system may store one or more close-up or detailed images of a personalized or custom-made floral arrangement for a customer along with data regarding the order, the customer, and a recipient. The next time that the customer places an order, the close-up or detailed images and data on past orders can be retrieved and viewed by the customer and used by the florist in the preparing a subsequent floral arrangement. Reminders may also be sent to the customers for important events where floral arrangements may be desired.Type: GrantFiled: October 22, 2010Date of Patent: December 3, 2013Assignee: The Golub CorporationInventors: Jerel T. Golub, Raymond J. Strom
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Patent number: 8600825Abstract: A method for providing on-line payment services is provided where a payment service provider pays for a plurality of purchases that are made by a user during a plurality of on-line shopping sessions. An authorization is received for the payment service provider to collect a reimbursement amount from a financial institution of the user. The reimbursement amount is at least equal to a cumulative amount of the payments for the plurality of purchases made by the user during the plurality of on-line shopping sessions. The payment service provider collects the reimbursement amount in a single transaction from the financial institution of the user and pays a fee to the financial institution of the user. The fee is based on the single transaction carried out to collect the reimbursement amount rather than being applied to each of the plurality of purchases or assessed as a percentage of the reimbursement amount, which allows the payment service provider to reduce the costs associated with providing payment services.Type: GrantFiled: September 21, 2010Date of Patent: December 3, 2013Assignee: eBay Inc.Inventor: Partha Sarathi Mukherjee