Patents Examined by Alfred H Tsui
  • Patent number: 11017425
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for increasing the performance of an advertisement network by monitoring requests for advertisements from applications, detecting patterns, and developing and implementing remedial actions to increase system performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Froimowitz Greenzeiger, Weining Zhou
  • Patent number: 10977677
    Abstract: Embodiments are provided for importing contacts. A contact importer leverages the various contacts associated with a user of a content management service to find potential new users and/or customers. A contact importer may run on one or more devices of a user associated with an account on a content management system, and import various contacts of that user to a contact list. The list may be culled to weed out non-human contacts, and processed so as to assign an affinity score to each contact, expressing a degree of affinity to the user. Incentives may be offered to the user for either sending or approving an invitation to a contact to register with the content management system, paid upon the invitee successfully registering. Different incentives may be offered for an accepted invitation from various contacts or classes thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventors: Silvanus Lee, Franklin Ta
  • Patent number: 10956940
    Abstract: The current subject matter relates to generation of relevant real-time offers based on global positioning system (GPS) data of an individual. A mobile device of an individual can record the GPS data of the individual. The mobile device can be connected to a central system. The central system can receive the recorded GPS data. The central system can predict, by using a trained predictive model and based on transaction history of the individual and the GPS data, categories of likely purchases by the individual. The central system can generate or reproduce offers from merchants of the predicted categories that are located within a threshold distance from a current location of the individual. The central system can send the generated offers to the mobile device that can display the generated offers in real-time. Other applications can include improving relevance of batch offers and/or real-time offers based on a recent purchase trigger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shafi Rahman, Amit Kiran Sowani, Rakhi Agrawal, Manmeet Kaur
  • Patent number: 10939258
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a mobile advertising platform in which mobile user locations and other information are translated into indications of mobile user intent to approach certain businesses, and advertisers can fill mobile advertising requests or choose to price their bids for mobile supplies based on such indications. In certain embodiments, pre-defined places associated with business/brand names are created, and mobile advertising requests are processed to determine if the associated with mobile devices have triggered any of these pre-defined places. If a mobile advertising request is determined to have triggered one or more of the pre-defined places, it is annotated with the triggered place(s), and advertisements are selected based on the triggered places and other factors. The annotated requests with the triggered places can also be commodities in a location market place, which are auctioned to the mobile advertisers, who can place their bids on the triggered places.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Assignee: XAD, INC.
    Inventors: Huitao Luo, Nishant Khatri, Prakash Muttineni, Srihari Venkatesan, Dipanshu Sharma, Stephen Anderson, George Rekouts, Jonathan Schwartz, David Chock, Shanshan Tuo, Can Liang
  • Patent number: 10810613
    Abstract: An ad search engine comprises a click tag parser, a rich media parser, an ad copy database, a request/query processing module, a user interface module and a content preservation module. The ad search engine advantageously receives and stores information about ad placement, context and advertising statistical and metadata in the ad copy database. In response to a query, the request/query processing module searches the ad copy database for advertisements matching the input query. The user interface module receives the results and presents them in a novel user interface composed of an array of tiles where each tiles represents a placement of the advertisement. The present invention also includes a several novel methods including a method for displaying ad search results, a method for generating an ad search result user interface, a method for populating an ad database, a method for ad preservation and a method for generating derived insights.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: ORACLE AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Jonah Goodhart, Noah Goodhart, Robert Collier Crowell, Robert Ken Miller
  • Patent number: 10789619
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed to update ads on user devices that may connect to a network only intermittently by predicting and tracking various metrics associated with ads delivered to the user devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Phillip A. Kahrl, Michael Lee Loritsch, Jody D. Biggs
  • Patent number: 10706429
    Abstract: A method and system for identifying users for advertising. Users and attributes are identified. First web sites provided by ISPs accessed by the users are identified. First data received from the ISPs include content of the first web sites and user time spent thereon. The first data is analyzed to determine first attribute values indicative of interest in each attribute by each user. Second data received from ISPs include content of second web sites and user time spent thereon. Second attribute values are derived from questionnaires completed by the users, which indicate interest in each attribute by each user. Third attribute values are determined by combining the first attribute values with the second attribute values for each user. The third attribute values are processed to identify users to which a product or service may be advertised. The identified users are communicated to a provider of the product or service.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Hulikunta Prahlad Raghunandan
  • Patent number: 10565620
    Abstract: An audience matching system (“system”) maintains a plurality of audience polygons that enclose respective geographic regions and are associated with respective time periods, and respective target audiences. The system receives an advertisement request from a remote display system having a display at a particular geographic location, the request including an advertisement parameter that identifies a first target time period. The system selects a first audience polygon from the plurality of audience polygons, the selecting based in part on a geographic region associated with the first audience polygon enclosing the geographic location of the display and a time period associated with the first audience polygon being inclusive of the first target time period. The system determines a first target audience using the first audience polygon, and selects an advertisement associated with the first target audience. The system provides the advertisement to the remote display system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: Vistar Media Inc.
    Inventor: Mark Chadwick
  • Patent number: 10552871
    Abstract: An audience matching system (“system”) maintains a plurality of audience polygons that enclose respective geographic regions and are associated with respective time periods, and respective target audiences. The system receives an advertisement request from a remote display system having a display at a particular geographic location, the request including an advertisement parameter that identifies a first target time period. The system selects a first audience polygon from the plurality of audience polygons, the selecting based in part on a geographic region associated with the first audience polygon enclosing the geographic location of the display and a time period associated with the first audience polygon being inclusive of the first target time period. The system determines a first target audience using the first audience polygon, and selects an advertisement associated with the first target audience. The system provides the advertisement to the remote display system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: Vistar Media Inc.
    Inventor: Mark Chadwick
  • Patent number: 10282739
    Abstract: An online gaming system for valuing new virtual items introduced into an online game. The system may comprise one or more processors configured to execute computer program modules. The system may include a virtual shop module configured to present offers to sell instances of probability item bundles including a first offer to sell instances of a first probability item bundle that includes a first primary item and a first set of secondary items for a price, and a second offer to sell instances of a second probability item bundle that includes a second primary item and a second set of secondary items for the same price. The system may include a price determination module configured to determine a value for the second primary virtual item based on comparative sales of the first probability item bundle and the second probability item bundle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2019
    Assignee: Kabam, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephanie Schultz, Kellen Christopher Smalley, Michael C. Caldarone
  • Patent number: 10255613
    Abstract: An approach to facilitating identity-recognition-based promotions using virtual containers is provided. A first virtual container may be associated with a first virtual item set and identified by a first container identifier. Container instances of the first virtual container that are purchased through a store interface during a first time period may be configured to be activated by users in a game space to obtain item instances of virtual items of the first virtual item set. The first virtual container may be modified to be associated with a second virtual item set and identified by the first container identifier. Container instances of the first virtual container that are purchased during a second time period may be container instances of the modified first virtual container that are configured to be activated by the users in the game space to obtain item instances of virtual items of the second virtual item set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: Kabam, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephanie K. Schultz, Michael C. Caldarone
  • Patent number: 10248970
    Abstract: An approach to facilitating virtual item promotions via time-period-based virtual item benefits is provided. A store interface may present offers to users of a game space to purchase item instances of virtual items associated with in-space benefits. Item instances of a first virtual item may be configured to be activated by the users in the game space to obtain one or more first in-space benefits. A promotion that is conducted for the game space may be managed such that, during a first promotion time period, item instances of the first virtual item purchased through the store interface may be modified instances of the first virtual item. The modified instances may be configured to be activated by the users in the game space during a second promotion time period to obtain one or more second in-space benefits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: Kabam, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael C. Caldarone, Stephanie K. Schultz
  • Patent number: 10203846
    Abstract: A system and method for non-deterministically providing denominated virtual currency in a virtual space are disclosed. The units of virtual currencies may be classified by different denominations and levels. Non-purchasing utilities may be obtained for the denomination and level of the virtual currencies and provided to users in the virtual space. In one example, the denomination and level of the virtual currencies may be used as socketing elements to provide boosts to base attributes to virtual items. In some implementations, an amount of boost provided by a denomination and level of virtual currency when socketed to a virtual item may be determined based on numerical relationships among the denomination and level of the virtual currencies. The denomination and level of virtual currencies may be harvested non-deterministically by users based on probabilities determined for the users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: ELECTRONIC ARTS INC.
    Inventors: Weiwei Geng, Matthew Curtis, Michael C. Caldarone, Stephanie K. Schultz, Kellen Christopher Smalley, Xuezheng Liu
  • Patent number: 10181126
    Abstract: The systems and methods may be used to recommend an item to a consumer. The methods may comprise determining, based on a collaborative filtering algorithm, a consumer relevance value associated with an item, and transmitting, based on the consumer relevance value, information associated with the item to a consumer. The method may further comprise generating a ranked list of items based upon a plurality of consumer relevance values, transmitting a ranked list of items to a consumer, and/or re-ranking a ranked list of items based upon a merchant goal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: AMERICAN EXPRESS TRAVEL RELATED SERVICES COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Terrence Fischer, Carlos W. Korten, Marisa J. Walster
  • Patent number: 9922327
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer program are provided for providing a multi-merchant electronic shopping cart within a web browser. The shopping cart can be used at a plurality of unrelated merchant shopping sites and remains within the browser regardless of the displayed website. When a user selects the shopping cart, a user interface is displayed with information about a product on the website without navigating to a new webpage. If the product has options, the user is able to select for the options via the user interface. The user is also able to save products from a plurality of shopping sites to the shopping cart or purchase products from the shopping cart at one time. For each product to be purchased, a purchase transaction is conducted, on behalf of the user, with the merchant associated with the website from which the user added the product to the shopping cart.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: Ebates Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin H. Johnson, Tanuj Chatterjee
  • Patent number: 9881309
    Abstract: The systems and methods described herein may be used to recommend an item to a consumer. The methods may comprise determining, based on a collaborative filtering algorithm, a consumer relevance value associated with an item, and transmitting, based on the consumer relevance value, information associated with the item to a consumer. A collaborative filtering algorithm may receive as an input at least one of: a transaction history associated with the consumer, a demographic of the consumer, a consumer profile, a type of transaction account, a transaction account associated with the consumer, a period of time that the consumer has held a transaction account, a size of wallet, a share of wallet, and/or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: AMERICAN EXPRESS TRAVEL RELATED SERVICES COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Lee Chau, Terrence Fischer, Anthony Mavromatis, Andrew K. Smith, Venkat Varadachary, Henry Yuan