Patents Examined by Azam A Ansari
  • Patent number: 11501332
    Abstract: The object of the present invention is to provide an advertisement information sharing system which allows anyone to easily carry out a manuscript publication of an article with an advertisement added thereto and by presenting such an advertisement as to draw attention of readers of the article, makes it possible to accelerate the manuscript publication of the advertisement article by the contributor and the browsing and utilization of the advertisement by the readers. The advertisement information sharing system is provided with a contributor terminal for outputting an article with an advertisement added thereto, a user terminal for outputting user information and an advertisement information sharing server.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Wides Limited
    Inventors: Tatsuya Nishio, Masaaki Kamo, Kazuyuki Adachi, Takeshi Sudo, Norikazu Nakano
  • Patent number: 11494809
    Abstract: An apparatus for providing customized advertisements includes a database that stores a plurality of electronic advertisements, receives biometric information of a client from at least one biometric device of the client, and receives receptivity information of the client responding to the plurality of electronic advertisements, as well as a processor that accesses the database, and maps the biometric information and the receptivity information and analyzes the mapped information to generate customized marketing data. The processor also calculates a receptivity probability for each of the plurality of electronic advertisements based on the customized marketing data by using current biometric state of the client, selects an electronic advertisement from the plurality of electronic advertisements based on the calculated receptivity probabilities, and outputs to the client the selected electronic advertisement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: BioBrand LLC
    Inventor: James G. Brooks, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11494802
    Abstract: A service receives a persuasion-based input comprising a text and one or more marketing objectives to persuade a desired response. The service evaluates persuasion values of text segments of the text and persuasion transition values consecutively between respective persuasion values of the persuasion values across the text segments. The service generates a desired curve of persuasion factors across the text segments according to the one or more marketing objectives. The service recommends one or more replacement words to replace one or more selected words in text to move a deviation between the persuasion values and transition values in comparison to the desired curve of persuasion factors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Abhishek Shah, Ananya Aniruddha Poddar, Inkit Padhi, Nishtha Madaan, Sameep Mehta, Kuntal Dey
  • Patent number: 11481814
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed to improve selection of promotion pricing parameters. The method may determine one or more promotion pricing parameters for a promotion that is offered by a promotion and marketing service. The method includes generating one or more predictive models based on historical promotion performance data and generating a revenue equation using the one or more predictive models. The revenue equation provides an estimate of a revenue received by the promotion and marketing service based on the one or more predictive models. The method further includes determining an estimated revenue using the revenue equation based on one or more input sets of promotion pricing parameters provided as input to the revenue equation, and selecting at least one of the input sets of promotion pricing parameters for the promotion based on the estimated revenue. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Latife Genc-Kaya, Kamson Lai, Francisco Jose Larrain Wicha, Gaston L'Huillier
  • Patent number: 11481805
    Abstract: A system and method for digital retail marketing and couponing in a physical retail environment that includes collecting image data across a retail environment; tracking a user within the retail environment; processing the image data and detecting a customer-item interaction event in association with the user; and based in part on the customer-item interaction event, delivering content to an output interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Grabango Co.
    Inventors: William Glaser, Brian Van Osdol
  • Patent number: 11475479
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus, methods, and computer program products are provided for optimized and effective leading messages, which may be an email subject that may provoke a consumer to access the body portion of an email message. A system may include circuitry configured to programmatically determine a predicted access rate for a leading message when the leading message is provided as a portion of a promotional message. Circuitry may be configured to track historical data indicating the access rates of leading messages and/or leading message terms. The circuitry may be configured to leverage the historical data to determine predicted access rates for leading messages, such as based at least in part on historical access rates associated with one or more leading message terms of the leading message.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: GROUPON, INC.
    Inventors: Raju Balakrishnan, Rajesh Girish Parekh
  • Patent number: 11475477
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for programmatically generating and/or revising promotions for a provider as well as generating and providing analytics data regarding currently offered promotions in real-time. In providing such functionality, the system can be configured to, for example, monitor and analyze various promotions, including current promotions and analytics data about promotion-related purchases, that enable the system to determine the relative successfulness of a promotion for a provider and/or category of provider. Upon determining what has been more successful or is expected to be a more successful promotion for a provider, the system can present the promotion to the provider for approval and/or make the promotion to consumers programmatically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Ben Kim, Joshua Puckett, Andrey Zaytsev, Richard Park
  • Patent number: 11461813
    Abstract: Ways to associate source information with a media item are described. Source information may be validated. A media sourcing engine may receive a selected media item, collect source information associated with the selected media item, and associate the source information with the selected media item. The media source engine may be associated with, or otherwise utilized by, various publication platforms, such as social media sites, content hosting sites, etc. Source information may be associated with a media item by generating augmented media content that may be added to, embedded into, and/or otherwise associated with content associated with a received media item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Inventor: Chris Truax
  • Patent number: 11449893
    Abstract: Automated methods are provided for identifying when a first advertisement (ad) is a likely variant of a second ad. The first and second ads each include a plurality of sequential segments of a predefined time length, wherein the second ad is a reference ad, and the first ad is a sample ad. In one embodiment, a vector of segment hits is created for the second ad, wherein the second ad is used as both the sample ad and the reference ad for creating the vector of segment hits for the second ad. A vector of segment hits is also created for the first ad, wherein the first ad is used as the sample ad and the second ad is used as the reference ad for creating the vector of segment hits for the first ad.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: ALPHONSO INC.
    Inventors: Manish Gupta, Tapan Sharma
  • Patent number: 11443320
    Abstract: A transaction processing system capable of processing transactions and implementing a flexible circuit breaker process during a cyber event. A circuit breaker module initiates a circuit breaker event (CBE), an account identification module identifies one or more affected accounts, and a rule generation module generates conditional rules for evaluating each transaction presented to a transaction processing module. If a transaction presented to the transaction processing module satisfies the conditional rule, the transaction is not processed. Transactions not processed are stored in memory and groups of impacted transactions are assigned to resource modules based on common characteristics. The resource module determines if impacted transactions should be allowed to process. A message notification module monitors and receives notifications and updates a dashboard display to allow users to visualize the impact of a cyber event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: Bank of America Corporation
    Inventors: Terry L. Lewis, Swathi Chanda, Robert W. Johnston, Vanesa Mitrevski, Ravi Narasshiman, Vasan Srini Subramanian, Gopalakrishnan Kandasamy, Janan Abou-Chakra, Amit Pandey, Robert Morris Black
  • Patent number: 11430002
    Abstract: At least one embodiment of the disclosed system is directed to computer-implemented method for using machine vision to categorize a locality to conduct lead mining analyses. Embodiments of the method may include: generating locality profile scores and economic categorization for each locality of a plurality of localities, the locality profile score for each locality being derived through neural network analyses of map images of the locality, the economic categorization being derived through neural network analyses of images of entities within the locality; and generating a lead score for each entity in the locality group as a function of the locality profile score for the locality in which the entity is located, the economic categorization of the locality in which the entity is located, and campaign vehicles used in the locality in which the entity is located.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: Dell Products L.P.
    Inventors: Arun Swamy, Ravi Shukla, Prakash Sridharan, Sumant Sahoo, Ramakanth Kanagovi
  • Patent number: 11423440
    Abstract: Embodiments generally relate to a method, an apparatus, and a machine-readable medium for communicating product information, particularly where the product is a vehicle. Embodiments relate to a method comprising receiving usage information relating to an at least one feature of a product, analyzing the usage information to determine if the received information exceeds a usage threshold, and selecting educational information based on the usage information. The educational information comprises information relating to the at least one feature. The method further comprises selecting an at least one communication channel, and communicating the educational information through the at least one communication channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Inventors: Wei Wang, Daniel Grein
  • Patent number: 11416895
    Abstract: A system has a display device attached to an automobile, with a display screen visible outside the automobile. Workstations specify location-based rules regarding image content to be displayed in specified geographic areas at specific times, and further specify a predetermined threshold of a number of automobiles that display a given threshold-limited image. An application server determines from the location-based rules a dynamic content schedule of image content to display at the display device when the automobile is in the given geographic region at a given display time. When the predetermined threshold of the number of automobiles displaying the threshold-limited image in the given geographic region is reached, an update to the dynamic content schedule is generated including a different image in place of the threshold-limited image, and a current image corresponding to the updated dynamic content schedule is displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: Carduna Inc.
    Inventor: Shefer Malihy
  • Patent number: 11392997
    Abstract: Systems and methods for curating and distributing content are provided. A listing of a plurality of content items and an access condition form is presented to a user. Each respective content item is associated with a corresponding resource allotment, source, classification, and content item access conditions. The listing includes a first virtual bin that includes some content items, and a second virtual bin for each respective content item that is not in the first virtual bin. The access condition form includes initial prompts. Upon detecting a selection of a respective content item of the second virtual bin, the item is reassigned to the first virtual bin and the access condition form is updated and re-presented. A plurality of responses to updated prompts is then received. Each content item in the first virtual bin is distributed to an address associated with the user, thereby curating and distributing the content items.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: STRIKEPOINT MEDIA, INC.
    Inventors: Bryan Maxwell Rosenkrantz, Jeremy Gordon Blossom
  • Patent number: 11386461
    Abstract: Systems, methods and computer readable media for providing a point-of-sale system that can be configured to facilitate the sale of products and transmit transaction data to a cloud based system are provided herein. The cloud based system can be maintained by a promotional party and be configured to generate deal offers and/or provide other services based on the transaction data received. In some embodiments, a fee may be charged for some or all of the services offered and/or the transactional data provided to the promotional system may be governed by an agreement between the promotional party and the merchant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathaniel B. Scholl, Yishai Lerner, Francisco Larrain, Joshua Puckett
  • Patent number: 11348135
    Abstract: Methods and systems for using reinforcement learning to optimizing promotions. A promotion for a product and/or service is offered to a customer using a reinforcement learning model. The customer's reaction is observed. A reward or a penalty is collected based on the customer's reaction. The reinforcement learning model is adapted based on the reward or penalty.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP, INC.
    Inventors: Arun Karthik Ravindran, Vincent Francois Faber, Victor Kostyuk
  • Patent number: 11334907
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed to improve utilization of fine print for a document. An example method includes receiving information identifying a location and a domain associated with the document, and identifying, based on the received location and domain, a set of fine print clause data structures relevant to the location and the domain. The method further includes transmitting an indication of the set of identified fine print clause data structures to the developer device, and receiving an indication of a selection of a subset of the set of fine print data structures. Finally, the method includes causing generation of a visual representation of the document that displays fine print clauses corresponding to the subset, wherein the location of the fine print clauses in the visual representation is based on a categorization of the fine print clause data structures corresponding to the fine print clauses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: GROUPON, INC.
    Inventors: David Beeman, Neil Crist, Jon Hackbarth, Jacob Johnston, Timothy P. Galeckas, Amit Koren, Francisco Jose Larrain, Tanya Koshy, Karan Kaushik, Ricardo Andres Zilleruelo Ramos, Matias Esteban Arenas, Kavita Kochar, Stephen Wooten
  • Patent number: 11321728
    Abstract: Provided is computer-implemented process, the process including: accessing an offers engine user profile associated with a user and an offers engine, the offers engine user profile comprising a plurality of attributes associated with customization of an offers interface, the offers interface configured to provide a plurality of merchant offers; receiving over a network from a first user device and a first session of the offers interface a modification to an attribute of the plurality of attributes of the offers-engine user profile; storing the modified attribute in the offers-engine user profile; receiving over a network a request to access the offers interface in a second session from a second user device; modifying, with a processor, the offers interface based on the modified attribute to produce a customized offers interface; and transmitting over a network the customized offers interface to the second user device for use in the second session.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: RetailMeNot, Inc.
    Inventors: John Newman Faith, Jagjit Singh Bath, Eithan Zilkha
  • Patent number: 11315131
    Abstract: A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for identifying a service need via a promotional system, and offering the service need to a third party. Promotions may be offered via a promotional system for a consumer to purchase in exchange for a discounted product or service from a provider. Demand information, which may be collected based on promotions and/or other sources. A residual demand may be calculated based on the demand information and available inventory. The residual demand may be utilized to identify a service need. The service need may be identified in a geographic area having a similar demographic to a geographic area having an associated successful promotion. A service need may be provided to a third party or provider, and may indicate the need for a new business or expansion of a current business.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: GROUPON, INC.
    Inventors: Shafiq Shariff, Tyler Jennings
  • Patent number: 11315146
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus, and methods for providing promotions based on consumer interaction data are discussed herein. Some embodiments may include a system and/or apparatus including circuitry configured to provide electronic user interfaces (or impressions) of promotions to consumer devices and receive consumer interaction data indicating consumer interaction with the impressions. The system may be further configured to determine a selected promotion for providing in a subsequent impression based on the consumer interaction data. For example, the system may be configured to determine a promotion score of available promotion based on consumer interaction data indicating consumer responses to the available impressions. The promotion score may provide a rating by which available promotions may be selected and may be determined based on various criteria discussed herein to provide selected promotions to consumer devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: Groupon, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel Langdon, Gaston L'Huillier