46th week of 2013 patent applcation highlights part 63 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20130304513 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INSURANCE BASED ON MONITORED CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AUTONOMOUS DRIVE MODE SELECTION SYSTEM - A property of an insurance policy may be determined, at least in part, upon characteristics of a vehicle autonomous drive mode selection system. The characteristics may pertain to any capability, configuration, and/or operating state of the autonomous drive mode selection system (and/or vehicle). For example, a property of the insurance policy may be based upon whether the autonomous drive mode selection system is enabled or disabled. In some embodiments, the property of the insurance policy may be based upon which of one or more autonomous driving modes is selected via an autonomous drive mode selection system. The property of the insurance policy may be dynamic, and may be updated in response to changes to the autonomous drive mode selection system. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304514 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INSURANCE BASED ON MONITORED CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AUTONOMOUS DRIVE MODE SELECTION SYSTEM - A property of an insurance policy may be determined, at least in part, upon characteristics of a vehicle autonomous drive mode selection system. The characteristics may pertain to any capability, configuration, and/or operating state of the autonomous drive mode selection system (and/or vehicle). For example, a property of the insurance policy may be based upon whether the autonomous drive mode selection system is enabled or disabled. In some embodiments, the property of the insurance policy may be based upon which of one or more autonomous driving modes is selected via an autonomous drive mode selection system. The property of the insurance policy may be dynamic, and may be updated in response to changes to the autonomous drive mode selection system. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304515 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPUTING AND SORTING TRIP SIMILARITIES USING GEO-SPATIAL INFORMATION - Systems and methods are disclosed herein for pricing an insurance premium based on a vehicle trip similarity score. The system includes a computer memory and a processor in communication with the computer memory. The computer memory stores telematics data received from a sensor within a vehicle. The telematics data includes at least one of geo-position information of the vehicle and vehicle kinematics data. The processor is configured to compute a similarities score based on the telematics data. The processor is also configured to determine a price, price adjustment, or any other benefit for automobile insurance based on the similarities score. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304516 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VALIDATING AUDIT DATA RELATED TO THE PERFORMANCE OF INSURANCE RELATED TASKS - Disclosed herein are computer-implemented methods, computing systems, and related technologies that may be used for the verification of self-audits that are performed by a third-party service provider for an insurance company. Periodically, the service provider performs a self-audit, providing audit information to the insurance company that indicates whether the service provider has been meeting required service levels. An auditing application may be used to analyze the audit information provided by the service provider, and to determine whether the service provider's self-audit was accurate. Further, the auditing application provides functionality for determining what portions of the provided audit data have been validated, and for searching and displaying the audit and validation information. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304517 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO SCREEN INSURANCE CLAIMS TO IDENTIFY SUBROGATION POTENTIAL - Systems and methods are disclosed herein for screening insurance claims to identify subrogation potential. According to some embodiments, a loss report associated with a plurality of insurance claims, includes, for each insurance claim: (i) a claim identifier, (ii) a claim date, (iii) a claim loss amount, and (iv) a claim description. Data from the loss report may be loaded into a subrogation engine, such as by loading the data into cells of a spreadsheet application. The spreadsheet application may then automatically calculate a subrogation potential score for each insurance claim in the loss report based on the claim date, claim loss amount, claim description, and a library containing keywords and associated keyword values. The spreadsheet application may then output an indication of the claim identifier and associated subrogation potential score for each insurance claim in the loss report. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304518 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR APPRAISING AN OBJECT - An appraisal system includes a network device, a processor coupled to the network device, and a memory device coupled to the processor. The memory device includes a plurality of computer-executable instructions that program the processor to establish a connection with a computing device using the network device, receive an identifier of an insurer from the computing device, and present an appraisal template to a user through the computing device. The appraisal template is customized to the insurer based on the identifier, and the appraisal template includes a plurality of appraisal fields for use in appraising an object. The processor is further programmed to receive data within the appraisal fields and generate an appraisal submission based on the data received. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304519 | System and Method for Estimating Loss Propensity of an Insured Vehicle and Providing Driving Information - A system and method for estimating loss propensity of a vehicle and providing driving information are provided. A loss propensity estimation server receives information from a telematics device installed in a vehicle, determines at least one loss cost area through which vehicle has traveled, and calculates a numeric loss cost factor based upon the at least one loss cost area relative to the amount of risk indicated by the vehicle's garaging loss cost. The numeric loss cost factor can be transmitted to an insurer for subsequent use by the insurer in underwriting or pricing a future insurance policy. A driving information database in the loss propensity estimation server stores driving information obtained from the telematics device installed in the vehicle, which can subsequently be transmitted to an insurer. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304520 | METHOD FOR ACTIVATING AN INSURANCE POLICY ONLINE AND DEVICE FOR CARRYING OUT SAID METHOD - A method for the computer-assisted activation of an insurance certificate for vehicles on a homepage is described, in which the policyholder himself is authorized to access a clearing system of the insurance, in order to the able to prepare an electronic insurance certificate and send it electronically directly to the permitting authorities, after which the policyholder is automatically requested to retrieve the license plates and the vehicle registration document at the permitting authorities. With this method, a policy of other insurances can also be electronically transacted, including the electronic payment and the electronic preparation of the policy and the electronic automated claim regulation. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304521 | Ticket Exchanger - A portable processing device capable of communicating wirelessly with one or more other processing devices is provided. The portable processing device may display information regarding at least one venue within a predetermined distance of a current location of the portable processing device. A user may select a venue and may request and receive, via the portable processing device, information regarding one or more tickets to an event in progress at the selected venue. The portable processing device may obtain and display information regarding available tickets from users of other portable processing devices located within the predetermined distance of the selected venue. The user may offer, via the portable processing device, an amount of money, a ticket swap, or nothing for one or more of the available tickets. The portable processing device may permit the user to rate a second user, who is a party to a finalized deal. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304522 | COMPUTER BASED METHOD OF MANAGING, SAVING FOR, AND ARRANGING TRAVEL - The invention is a computer-based method of saving for and booking travel arrangements. The method generally includes a full service travel website and computer accessible interest bearing bank account that is set up for the express purpose of saving funds for future travel. The method preferably includes a reward system that allows users to pay for travel with the savings account funds, interest from the account, and the rewards points. The method also preferably includes notification mechanisms and gifting mechanisms to allow the transfer of funds between users for the booking of travel. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304523 | System and Method for Allocating Tickets Using a Draft - The present invention is a system and method that enables individuals, partnerships, companies and any other entity to ease the ownership and administration of ticket lots and other properties by alleviating the difficulties mentioned above. The system achieves this by providing a utility to build ticket or time-share member groups by matching compatible users and to allocate to the group's members shares of ticket lots or access to properties by time-share or rental. The system establishes user compatibility and ticket and property allocation based on requirements, preferences and attributes of the group, the ticket or property, and the system users. For example, a website based on the system of the present invention can be used by a holder of a season ticket package in order to connect with website users seeking a share of such tickets, form a member group of such users that are compatible with parameters set by the season ticket holder, and automatically allocate the tickets equitably to group members based on ticket event attributes, requirements and preferences indicated by the members and ticket allocation rules set by the ticket holder. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304524 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR JOINTLY OPTIMIZING PRICING AND SEAT ALLOCATION - A system and method for jointly optimizing pricing and allocation contains a memory and a processor. The processor is configured by the memory to perform the steps of: analyzing raw data to detruncate a demand for bookings and to determine how a change in fares affects a volume of bookings; determining how booking limits censor the demand; determining revenues of all time frames for which seats are available; and determining fares and booking limits maximizing total revenues. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304525 | METHOD FOR DEVELOPING INTERACTIVE PRE-FABRICATED CINEMA VENUES - An interactive digital cinema with at least one pre-fabricated auditorium room with state of the art wall-to-wall screen, a multichannel digital sound system including a sound processor having a digital sound equalization system and a surround sound speaker system; and an online booking system for accepting and processing a general public booking for a featured digital event to be put on in the digital cinema. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304526 | METHODS FOR CROSS-SELLING FLIGHTS AND TRAVEL-RELATED GOODS - One variation of a method for cross-selling flight reservations and travel-related goods includes: receiving a detail of a flight itinerary from a flight reservation interface of an airline; receiving a discounted fare for the flight itinerary; querying a travel-related good inventory system for a standalone price and a discounted price for a travel-related good based on the detail of the flight itinerary; calculating a package rate for the flight itinerary and the travel-related good according to the discounted fare of the flight itinerary and the discounted price of the travel-related good; calculating a savings amount for the package rate over a total standalone rate for the flight itinerary and the standalone price for the travel-related good; and returning a travel package comprising the travel-related good and a flight reservation specified in the flight itinerary, the package rate for the travel package, and the savings amount to the flight reservation interface. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304527 | MOBILE SOCIAL-BUSINESS NETWORK - Systems, methods, machines and platforms are provided which detail a technique for utilizing a mobile social-business platform capable of building and managing a community of people so they can plan, coordinate and manage their lives in an efficient, social and financially beneficial way from a mobile device. Additionally, this application details a technique for building a network of select unique people's who will gain access to incentives from a vast combination of sources within their networks previously unavailable to them. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304528 | MANAGEMENT DEVICE AND MANAGEMENT METHOD - A management device provides to members a solicitation page to solicit reservations of a target for use that is jointly used by plural members via the Internet | 2013-11-14 |
20130304529 | NUTRITIONAL MONITORING AND FEEDBACK - A method and system for tracking items is provided. The method includes retrieving, from empty food packages in garbage containers, data associated with multiple attributes of multiple consumed food products from the empty food packages. Package data objects associated with the data are generated. The package data objects include identification numbers and attributes associated with the empty food packages. The package data objects are transmitted to a central processing server for generation of aggregated data. The aggregated data is analyzed with respect to nutritional content of the multiple consumed food products. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304530 | AUTOMATED GENERATION OF PROCESS MONITORING SYSTEM COMPONENTS - Systems and methods provide automatic configuration of a process monitoring system to monitor some or all business activity in a business process. Structured business process information that defines the business process is accessed and parsed, to automatically generate one or more process monitoring components to form part of the process monitoring system. The process monitoring system monitors events with respect to a plurality of unmanaged enterprise applications that perform business process activities. The unmanaged enterprise applications perform the process activities without central orchestration by a business process management application. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304531 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING DETAILED PLANNING FUNCTIONS - A system, method and computer program product for performing detailed planning functions for businesses, enterprises and other types of organizations. According to an embodiment, the system comprises a graphical user interface configured to allow a user to define calculations based on data associated with an entity that may have scalar attributes for each entity, and/or a time series, and execution of the defined calculation generates time series result. According to another aspect, a calculation definition may be configured to be adjustable allowing a user to adjust parameter value(s) for each entity associated with the calculation definition. According to another aspect, a calculation definition may be configured to be discretionary allowing a user to attach or assign a calculation to each entity individually. According to another aspect, multiple calculations may be created and have the same name. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304532 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MAINTENANCE AND MONITORING OF FILTRATION SYSTEMS - A method is disclosed comprising retrieving information from a remote computer node including a database circuit. The database may store usage, status, and location information from a plurality of fluid monitoring apparatus for respective fluid treatment systems located at a respective customer site. It may be determined, from the information, whether at least one of the fluid treatment systems is in need of service. The method may include determining automatically whether one or more additional fluid treatment systems, located in a predefined area surrounding another fluid treatment system, is in need of service. The method may include generating, for display, a service plan for a service agent including a service route and location of one or more fluid treatment systems to be serviced, and indicating type of service or estimated duration of service to be performed on each fluid treatment system. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304533 | SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING WORK SCHEDULES - Disclosed are new approaches for scheduling workers at remote locations. Work assignments may be organized into shifts associated with one or more workers and one or more recipients. Tasks are associated with the shift and have an updatable status. Shifts may be replicated by cutting and pasting or by specifying a recurrence definition. The tasks associated with a shift may then be replicated. The status of tasks may be updated using a voice telephony system. The status of tasks may also be reported from a computer located on the recipient premise. Text and/or voice comments and the task status may be accessible by managers, clients, and concerned parties from a web portal accessible using a computing device, such as a tablet computer. Methods for automatically associating providers with shifts and verifying eligibility of providers and recipients are also disclosed. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304534 | Wait Time Notification System - A system and method for determining the wait information for a service provider and notifying a user about the wait information. The system provides the wait information to the user in response to a request from the user. The wait information may include the wait time for the service provider or the time a user may be allowed to arrive after an appointment time for the user. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304535 | BUSINESS SOLUTION MANAGEMENT (BSM) - Systems and techniques to allow a user to design and manage business solutions. The business solution management system ( | 2013-11-14 |
20130304536 | Harvest Customer Tracking Information - An embodiment of a system comprises one or more processors; and one or more memories adapted to store machine-readable instructions which when executed by the processor(s) cause the system to: receive tracked user device information from a distributed network of sensors configured for tracking user device information associated with one or more user devices of corresponding users in a proximity of the distributed network of sensors, wherein the user device information is tracked even when the corresponding users have not opted in the one or more user devices to be tracked by the distributed network of sensors; store the tracked user device information in a tracking database, wherein the tracked user device information is stored even for corresponding users that have not been identified and is for later use when such corresponding users are identified; and analyze the tracked user device information to infer interests of the corresponding users. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304537 | System and Method for Access to, Management of, and Display of Property Data - A system and method for analyzing property data includes accepting links from a plurality of property files and to at least one library on a data storage device. Each property file has data identifying a property. Thereafter, the system receives at least one set of assumptions of property data for storage at the at least one library. The system also permits the at least one set of assumptions to be selected for use with a plurality of the property files linked to the at least one library. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304538 | CONSUMER FEEDBACK COLLECTION SYSTEM - The systems, methods and apparatuses described herein provide for consumer feedback input and retention management, allowing feedback providers to provide inputs using electronic devices. According to the present disclosure, feedback providers are able to provide feedback to a wide variety of feedback recipients, and an application running on the user's device may automatically locate and deliver these inputs via the correct communications channel associated with a specific feedback recipient location. Feedback recipients may be able to manage the inputs, listen, read voice to text translation, and respond to inputs with emails and/or coupons. Feedback recipients may be able to use the given inputs to feed positive and negative comments back to employees, add comments, set priorities for internal uses, and extract transcripts to combine with existing analyses of customer complaints and service measurements. The systems, methods and apparatuses described herein may also allow customers to provide feedback on specific products by requesting a product identifier and assisting customers in locating product production codes. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304539 | User recommendation method and device - Techniques for user recommendation are described herein. These techniques include sorting, by a server, sellers from transaction records of buyers according to sequential orders associated with these transaction records. The server also creates transaction tracks for individual buyers, determines identical transaction tracks among transaction tracks of different buyers, and establishes associations among the sellers included in identical transaction tracks. Based on the associations, the server may make user recommendations. These techniques increase accuracy of associations among sellers as well as of user recommendation, and also save computing resources. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304540 | ANALYSIS OF MARKETING AND ENTERTAINMENT EFFECTIVENESS USING MAGNETOENCEPHALOGRAPHY - Example methods, apparatus, systems and machine readable media are disclosed herein for analyzing magnetoencephalographic response data from subjects exposed to media. An example method includes identifying a degree of phase synchrony between a first pattern of oscillation in a first frequency band and a second pattern of oscillation in a second frequency band of magnetoencephalographic response data gathered from a subject exposed to an advertisement or entertainment. In the example method, the magnetoencephalographic response data comprises the first frequency band and the second frequency band. In addition, the example method includes determining an effectiveness of the advertisement or entertainment based on the degree of phase synchrony | 2013-11-14 |
20130304541 | CONSUMER-INITIATED DEMAND-DRIVEN INTERACTIVE MARKETPLACE - Disclosed herein are systems and methods for managing consumer demand in an online marketplace. In one aspect, a method for managing consumer initiated demand in an online marketplace comprises: receiving a first request for a product or service from a first consumer; identifying one of a plurality of categories as corresponding to the first request; assigning the first request to the identified category; receiving at least one additional request for a product or service from a second consumer and assigning the at least one additional request to the identified category; determining, using a processor, a demand for the identified category based at least on the number of requests assigned to the identified category; and selectively generating a merchant notification for at least one merchant based on the determined demand for the identified category. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304542 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OBTAINING DATA FROM A DATABASE - A method of collecting input from individuals comprising searching a database containing individual consumer data, assigning a unique customer key to each individual consumer data and removing the identifying characteristics from the individual consumer's data with a computer having a memory and a processor operating a privacy filter to provide de-identified individual consumer data, maintaining a confidential record of each individual consumer's identifying characteristics associated with the unique customer key. De-identified individual consumer data are analyzed to define members of a target group. An electronic communication including a survey is passed through a linker/delinker to link contact information associated with the unique customer key of a member of the target group, sending the electronic communication to a member of the target group. A response from the member is received and passed through the privacy filter to associate the response with the unique customer key. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304543 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING WEB ANALYTICS - The present generally relates to a method of processing open-ended responses to customer feedback surveys. The method stores open-ended responses from a plurality of received customer feedback surveys in a database. The method further processes each open-ended response to identify a concept based on a concept library. The method further processes each open-ended response to assign a corresponding rating, and generates a consumer satisfaction metric for one of the concepts based on the ratings. The method also generates a report to present the consumer satisfaction metric and a user-operable control for extracting open-ended responses corresponding thereto. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304544 | Fuel price activation and management system - A computer implemented method and system provides a fuel price management server (FPMS) for managing actions associated with fuel prices, and a fuel price activation system (FPAS). The FPMS is accessible by multiple user devices and fuel stations at multiple geographical locations via a network. The FPAS communicates with the FPMS and one or more display units positioned at each fuel station via the network. The FPMS dynamically acquires and sorts the fuel prices based on geographical locations via the network. The FPMS selectively transmits the sorted fuel prices to the FPAS at each fuel station via the network based on their geographical location. The FPAS performs actions at each fuel station based on the selectively transmitted fuel prices, for example, dynamically activating and displaying the fuel prices on the display units, scheduling refueling of fuel tanks, transmitting notifications on a low fuel price to user devices, etc. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304545 | INTEGRATED ASSET MANAGEMENT - A system for integrated asset management is disclosed. According to one embodiment, information from a first reporting source about an asset is received. In addition, information is received about the asset from a second reporting source. Inspection information about the asset is received from a first enabled device. A database is then populated with the information from the first reporting source, the information from the second reporting source, and the inspection information from the first enabled device, such that the information from the first reporting source, the information from the second reporting source, and the inspection information from the first enabled device can be collected or accessed in an integrated manner from the database for use by a client information system. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304546 | NOVEL SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPTIMIZING PROFIT OR GROSS MARGIN BASED ON ONE OF MORE VALUES OF PROCESS PARAMETERS FOR PRODUCING BIOFUEL - A process for optimizing values of profit or gross margin based on process parameters used to process fuel having a desired fuel property is described. The process includes: (i) receiving a predetermined value of a first property of a fuel derived from biomass; (ii) retrieving a first different sets of values of one or more process parameters associated with a process that converts biomass to fuel, and the first different sets of values of the one or more process parameters are based on the predetermined value of the first fuel property; (iii) generating estimated values for cost or revenue associated with the first different sets of values of the one or more process parameters; and (iv) identifying, from the first different sets of values, a first set of values of one or more process parameters that approaches an optimum profit or gross margin for the process. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304547 | INVESTMENT VALUATION PROJECTIONS IN AN ON-DEMAND SYSTEM - Methods and systems are provided for providing projected investment returns for a product to a user of a client device coupled to a server via a network. One exemplary method involves obtaining metadata from a database object associated with the product from a database coupled to the server, generating a graphical user interface element within an application provided to the client device based on the metadata, and receiving an input value responsive to the graphical user interface element from the client device via the application. The method continues by obtaining a formula for a valuation metric from the database, calculating a projected value for the valuation metric based at least in part on the input value using the formula, and generating a graphical representation of the projected value within the application. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304548 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROTECTING AND MARKETING COPYRIGHT MATERIALS - A unique method of service through a visual and/or audio interruption mechanism has the intent of dramatically reducing piracy. The framework includes audio with interruption mechanism and/or visual interruption mechanism with or without audio, which is combined with the copyrighted material of owners with permission. This mechanism makes consumer enjoyment less delightful by interruption. The invention is primarily a service provided to copyright owner(s) in which their material is flooded by disguised; cloned, interruption files on digital outlets which prevents consumer(s) from downloading their copyrighted material illegally and directed to purchase material legally with advertisement. The inventions business model also includes advertisement space on designated copyrighted materials' file(s). The stock option and rewards program is also within the business model. Clone marketing and AphidByte prints are also key factors. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304549 | Virtual Community For Incentivized Viewing Of Multimedia Content - A computer implemented method and system for creating a virtual community network for incentivized multimedia content viewing is provided. A first viewer receives the multimedia content for viewing on a client device from a server provided in a networked environment. The first viewer refers the multimedia content to one or more second viewers in the networked environment for viewing and further referrals. The server controls access to the multimedia content and confirms viewing of the multimedia content by the first viewer, the second viewers, and nth viewers from further referrals using a random challenge. The server generates response reports based on viewing of the multimedia content. The server credits the first viewer, the second viewers, the nth viewers, etc. with one or more items of value based on referring of the multimedia content, multimedia content view confirmation, and/or registration of the second viewers, the nth viewers, etc, with the server. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304550 | ELECTRICITY CONTROL SYSTEM - According to one embodiment, an electricity control system includes a power plant, a customer and a central device connected to each other via a power line. The customer includes an electricity generator that generates electricity. The central device provides the customer with feedback of an incentive indicated by a value obtained by multiplying an electricity amount injected into a grid within an electricity amount generated in the electricity generator by a first incentive coefficient L used when the power plant has surplus electricity to supply. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304551 | BOUNTY TRACKING FOR REFERRAL - A method includes accessing at least one referral information entry. Each referral information entry associated with a referred user device is based on a referral from a referring partner application to a product. Each referral information entry includes an identifier for the referring partner application, a product identifier for the product, a time stamp of the referral, and a unique identifier associated with the referred user device. Sign-up information is received from a user device. The sign-up information includes a unique identifier of the user device, and a time of sign-up. The method includes mapping the sign-up information to the at least one referral information entry to determine whether the user device is one of the referred user devices. A determination whether the bounty requirements are met is made based on the mapped information and at least one predetermined business rule for referral bounties. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304552 | Systems and methods to determine a value relating to a post - Products and processes are provided in which an award for a commitment from an entity to post information, via a posting site, at or before a subsequent time is offered to an entity. In response to receiving the commitment, the award is provided to the entity. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304553 | POINT OF SALE OFFER REDEMPTIONS - Processing of point of sale (“POS”) redemptions via a “tap” of a contactless device comprises a POS data collector that facilitates a connection with a contactless device. A merchant scans items for purchase using a POS scanner, which captures product identification information. The POS scanner forwards the product identification information to a POS terminal. The POS data collector intercepts the product identification information between the POS scanner and the POS terminal. A user taps the contactless device in the POS data collector's radio frequency field, and a communication channel is established between the contactless device and the POS data collector. The POS data collector identifies the user via the contactless device and identifies coupons, merchant offers, and other value-added services to redeem with the transaction. The POS data collector forwards this information to the POS terminal, the redemptions are applied to the transaction, and the communication is terminated. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304554 | TRANSACTION DATA RETRIEVAL AND TARGETING - Offer entries are received from merchant computer systems and stored in association with respective merchant account. Transaction data of consumers is received from a network computer system and profile are built utilizing the transaction data. A consumer is then targeted by transmitting a selected one of the offer entries to a consumer device based at on the profile. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304555 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLYING COUPON RULES TO A FINANCIAL TRANSACTION - A method for applying coupon rules to a financial transaction includes storing a plurality of coupon rules, each coupon rule associated with a consumer and a merchant and including an amount modifier and funding account number; receiving an authorization request for a financial transaction, the authorization request including a consumer identifier, a merchant identifier, and a transaction amount; identifying, at least one coupon rule of the plurality of coupon rules where the associated consumer corresponds to the consumer identifier and the associated merchant corresponds to the merchant identifier; modifying the financial transaction based on the at least one coupon rule by modifying the transaction amount based on the amount modifier; and transmitting a reply to the authorization request, the reply to the authorization request including at least the modified transaction amount. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304556 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR DISCOUNT RETAILING - A system and methods to mutually satisfy a consumer with a discount and a vendor with a minimum number of sales by establishing a tipping point associated with an offer for a good or service. If the tipping point is met, the sale of the good or service is executed and the consumer is charged and receives an indication of the discounted sale, such as a certificate. If the tipping point is not met, the discount offer is abandoned and the consumer is not charged. Once the tipping point is established, the vendor receives a payment, even before the consumer uses the certificate. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304557 | ONLINE REWARD POINT EXCHANGE METHOD AND SYSTEM WITH REWARD TRANSACTIONS BASED ON USER PROFILES - An online reward exchange system and method of operation, which includes an exchange computer that interoperates via a computer network with user computers, reward point issuer computers, and merchant computers. The merchants' products may be purchased by a user by requesting an issuer(s) to redeem reward points in exchange for payment to the merchant for the product. The exchange computer is the gateway to the system and manages various transactions such as providing online product catalogs to users that list the merchants products, as well as displaying to the user the reward points he has available in his reward programs with the issuers. Once a user selects a desired product the exchange computer can mediate or manage the purchase transaction in which reward points are redeemed by the selected issuer and consideration is conveyed to the merchant in exchange for the merchant providing the product to the user. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304558 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ADMINISTRATION OF FINANCIAL PRODUCTS - The principles and embodiments of the invention relate to systems and computer-implemented methods for administering financial product accounts that provide reward benefits. An attribution rate on an investment in a financial account can be generated as benefit rewards received from the use of credit cards in a credit card account. The method can comprise issuing credit cards to customers, and receiving invested funds into corresponding financial accounts for each customer, wherein the financial accounts are configured by the computer-implemented method as a saving vehicle selected by the customers for investment. The computer-implemented administration system can comprise a credit or debit card provided to a person having an account, a first computer system having communication hardware for receiving credit or debit card data over a network, and a non-transitory computer readable media having an account database configured to record monetary values in the account. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304559 | SYSTEMS, METHODS AND DEVICES FOR CONDUCTING TRANSACTIONS WITH PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES USING VIRTUAL POINTS - Systems, methods, devices and computer program products are disclosed for conducting transactions using a portable electronic device. A method of executing a software application on a portable electronic device includes: determining, via the portable electronic device, a location of the device; displaying, via the portable electronic device's display, a plurality of merchants within a predetermined proximity of the device's location; receiving, via a user input device, a selection corresponding to at least one of the merchants; displaying, via the display device, a balance of virtual rewards points available for redemption by the user of the device; displaying, via the display device, an exchange value of the virtual rewards points for making a purchase associated with the selected merchant; and, responsive to a purchase request received via the user input device, authorizing deduction of the exchange value from the balance of the virtual rewards points and providing confirmation of the purchase. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304560 | ONLINE REWARD POINT EXCHANGE METHOD AND SYSTEM WITH USER BIDS OF REWARDS FOR PURCHASE OF A PRODUCT - An online reward exchange system and method of operation, which includes an exchange computer that interoperates via a computer network with user computers, reward point issuer computers, and merchant computers. The merchants' products may be purchased by a user by requesting an issuer(s) to redeem reward points in exchange for payment to the merchant for the product. The exchange computer is the gateway to the system and manages various transactions such as providing online product catalogs to users that list the merchants products, as well as displaying to the user the reward points he has available in his reward programs with the issuers. Once a user selects a desired product the exchange computer can mediate or manage the purchase transaction in which reward points are redeemed by the selected issuer and consideration is conveyed to the merchant in exchange for the merchant providing the product to the user. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304561 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING A USER INCENTIVE PROGRAM USING SMART CARD TECHNOLOGY - Systems and methods for providing a loyalty and rewards system that implements a user incentive program using smart card technology are provided. A loyalty system allows a user to systematically search, identify, store, and redeem electronic coupons and rebates associated with products from a large number of providers and manufactures. The loyalty system also integrates the activities associated with the user incentive program (e.g., coupon collection, storage, and redemption, etc.), with existing payment methods (e.g., charging a credit card, etc.) using smart card technology. Thus, the loyalty system allows the user to obtain savings and otherwise participate in the user incentive program without adding time consuming and tedious processing that is normally associated with coupon and rebate programs. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304562 | METHOD TO NEGOTIATE FOR WIRELESS SERVICE - A system and method are disclosed to negotiate for wireless services. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a method that operates in a communication device for commercially negotiating with a service provider for wireless services offered by way of a wireless access point (WAP) managed by the service provider. Alternatively, the system may include a method that operates in a wireless services management system (WSMS) for commercially negotiating with the communication device operated by the end user for wireless services offered by way of a WAP managed by the WSMS. Additional embodiments are disclosed. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304563 | METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR FINDING, ORGANIZING, RANKING AND VISUALIZING COMBINABLE OFFERS - The present invention contemplates a variety of techniques including a computer implemented method. The method comprises receiving a plurality of offers from a plurality of entities, combining offers from the plurality of offers into an offer stack, wherein all offers of the offer stack can be applied jointly to a transaction and presenting the offer stack to a customer. Some of the entities can have one or more membership programs, and offers can be presented in one or more membership programs. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304564 | METHOD OF PROVIDING ACCESS MANAGEMENT IN AN ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for providing reward management for an apparatus is provided. The method includes linking a reward manager to an application residing on the apparatus; providing the reward manager with a reward account which accumulates reward opportunities and reward credits; and crediting the reward account only after a reward opportunity is satisfied, wherein the user is uses reward opportunities or reward credits to gain access to the application. The credits in the reward account may be used for commercial transaction. The credits in the reward account may be used to obtain the rights to a predetermined number of one or more of the following: text messages, telephone talking time, music time, video time, camera access, or video game time. The set of reward opportunities may comprise one or more questions, and wherein the reward opportunities are satisfied when the questions are answered correctly. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304565 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADVERTISING ON MOBILE PLATFORMS - An advertising system comprising a mobile platform associated with an exhibitor and used to exhibit a selected ad of an advertiser and to obtain tracking data related to the selected ad, a server for processing the tracking data into desired metrics and for providing the desired metrics to the advertiser and/or the exhibitor, and an administrator for administering actions by the exhibitor and by the advertiser and for approving and paying the exhibitor. The mobile platform may be a car or a tablet computer. In a method of use, the administrator receives and approves a request from a person to be an exhibitor of a selected ad on a respective exhibitor mobile platform, provides the exhibitor with means to exhibit the selected ad and to provide real time tracking data related to the selected ad, and receives and optionally processes the tracking data into metrics data provided to the advertiser and optionally to the exhibitor. The exhibitor is then paid by the administrator according to a predetermined arrangement. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304566 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ADVERTISING RANKING INFORMATION - An apparatus and method provide advertising (Ad) ranking information. An Ad information collector collects Ad property information included in a plurality of advertisements. A feedback information collector collects feedback information that is determined as a function of Ad impressions. A table generator generates an Ad information collection table as a function of the Ad property information and the feedback information. A ranking calculator generates Ad ranking information for the plurality of advertisements using the generated Ad information collection table. Upon receiving an Ad request from an Ad exposure device, a processor requests the plurality of advertisements from a plurality of Ad networks, receives the requested plurality of advertisements from the plurality of Ad networks, receives the feedback information from the Ad exposure device, and transmits the generated Ad ranking information to the Ad exposure device along with the received plurality of advertisements. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304567 | METHODS AND APPARTUS TO ASSESS MARKETING CONCEPTS PRIOR TO MARKET PARTICIPATION - Methods and apparatus are disclosed to assess marketing concepts prior to market participation. An example method includes determining a value for an explanatory variable (EV) associated with a new commercial offering, identifying a plurality of existing commercial offerings based on a similarity metric associated with the new commercial offering, identifying a rank of the new commercial offering based on a comparison between the EV value associated with the new commercial offering and EV values associated with the plurality of existing commercial offerings, and generating the probability of success for the new commercial offering based on the rank of the new commercial offering and in-market performance metrics associated with the plurality of existing commercial offerings. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304568 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONNECTING USERS TO SOCIAL MEDIA THROUGH RICH MEDIA INTERACTIONS - A method and system for online advertisements that encourages users to express purchase preference or brand interest on their social media networks through rich media interactions. The system includes a processor, a network interface configured to connect to a network and a machine readable storage medium configured to store program instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to perform a method for encouraging users to express purchase preference or brand interest on their social media networks through rich media interactions. An interactive display is arranged on a screen comprising a prompt and a plurality of selectable multimedia elements. A user responds to the prompt by designating a multimedia to enable transmission of preference data responsive to the prompt. The preference data associated with the designated multimedia element to a server connected to the network. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304569 | Rebroadcasting of Advertisements in a Social Network - The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that receives at a server a first request to rebroadcast a first sponsored content item that was displayed on the social network to the first user to a second user. A second request to display at least one sponsored content item to the second user when the second user accesses an electronic document associated with the social network is received at the server. The first sponsored content item is retrieved for rebroadcast from one or more sponsored content items indicated for rebroadcast to the second user. The first sponsored content item is output to the second user of the social network in response to the second request to display and without requiring the second user to select the first sponsored content item for display. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304570 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ONLINE PROMOTION ENGAGEMENT NETWORK - Methods and systems for an online promotion driven engagement network are disclosed. In one aspect, information that is received from entrants and consumers upon entry in a promotion is stored in a database. The entrants and consumers are provided access information for generating a profile that includes the stored information. Based on the stored information and additional information provided by the entrants and consumers, online relationship recommendations are generated and communicated to the entrants and consumers. The relationship recommendations can include relationships with other entrants and consumers and/or with advertisers, sponsors, or online communities. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304571 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR VARYING AFFILIATE POSITION DISPLAYED BY INTERMEDIARY - Endogenous and exogenous variables associated with an item for sale by an affiliate may be displayed to a user of an affiliate decision-making tool. In response to the user selecting one of the endogenous variables, the affiliate decision-making tool may compute a number of introductions, a number of leads, and a number of sales for each of a plurality of possible values of the endogenous variable. The computation may be done utilizing a display position algorithm. A visualization of effects of setting the endogenous variable at different levels may be presented. The user may interact with the display position algorithm to vary one or more of the plurality of possible values of the endogenous variable such that the affiliate is eligible or disqualified to be displayed by an intermediary in response to a search for the item by a visitor of a network site owned and operated by the intermediary. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304572 | PROVIDING LINKS TO RELATED ADVERTISEMENTS - A document, such as a Web page, includes content and a set of related ad links. When a user selects one of the related ad links, they are brought to a linked document including a set of one or more ads. Unless there is an agreement to the contrary (such as a pay per impression agreement), the advertisers do not compensate the document owner for the selection of a related ad link. However, when a user selects one of the ads on the linked document, they are brought to a corresponding ad landing page linked from the ad. The advertisers may compensate the Web page owner for such selections. The related ad links may be automatically generated using document content information, the number, performances, and/or compensation offers of ads corresponding to the related ad link, etc. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304573 | SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING SERVICE REVIEWS - A method and system for a review company providing prompt verified customer-generated reviews for service businesses. A review company provides review-production assistance to the service business' customers and a publicly accessible web site for posting verified customer-generated reviews. The customer produces a customer-generated review, optionally including supplying the customer's email address. If the customer does not supply a valid email address, that customer's review is forwarded to the reviewed service business and is not verified. If the customer does supply a valid email address, the review company sends a verification email to that email address requesting a verification response. If no response is received by the review company within a predetermined time, customer's review not posted. If a verification response is received by the review company within a predetermined time, that customer's review is forwarded to the reviewed service business and is posted. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304574 | INTELLIGENT ELECTRONIC INFORMATION DEPLOYMENT - An intelligent content deployment system (ICDS) is described that enables content filtering and delivery based on a variety of factors, known or assumed, about one or more targeted subscribers (“Members”) of a content delivery network (“Network”) and delivers targeted information and content to distribution points in the vicinity of the members. The ICDS comprises an infrastructure for the collection and communication of member information or data, the processing of the information, and the intelligent delivery of content targeted to particular members and/or groups of members based on the collected member information. The ICDS infrastructure of an embodiment includes one or more of satellite-based, web-based, cellular-based electric/satellite linked and driven communication or network infrastructure for the collection of member information and the distribution of the targeted information to the members. The members receive the targeted information in their current setting, regardless of whether they are mobile or stationary. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304575 | SYSTEMS, METHODS AND MACHINE-READABLE MEDIA FOR PROVIDING AND MANAGING AN INTERFACE BETWEEN FANS AND CELEBRITIES WITHIN A SOCIAL NETWORK ENVIRONMENT - Systems, methods and machine-readable media for providing an interface between fans and celebrities are disclosed. The methods include prompting, via a processor, a plurality of users to participate in a programming session with a celebrity; storing a plurality of media submissions in a memory, each media submission being associated with a user for consideration and presentation to the celebrity during the programming session; selecting, via the processor and based on at least one predetermined criteria, at least one of the plurality of the media submissions for presentation during the programming session; and identifying, via the processor, the selection of a user's media submission for presentation during the programming session on at least one social network account associated with the user. The systems and machine-readable media performing operations according to the methods disclosed. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304576 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING OFFERS THROUGH A SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL - The systems and methods of the disclosure allow user to receive offers through social media channels. The systems and methods are capable of creating offers, ranking the offers based on both transaction data and social media profile activity information, distributing the offers through social media channels, associating the offers with a synced transaction account and providing rewards based on transactions that comply with offers. The rewards may be applied at the time of purchase, in response to authorization information or at settlement as a transaction account credit. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304577 | ADVERTISING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A method of managing advertisements includes obtaining, by a server, a set of keywords for an advertisement campaign of an advertisement network; performing a search using at least one of the set of keywords as a search query on one or more search engines; receiving search results based on the search query from the one or more search engines, the search results comprising a plurality of pages; identifying a set of pages that participate in the advertisement network from the plurality of pages; and associating the advertisement campaign with each page of the identified set of pages. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304578 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENHANCED IN-STORE RETAIL EXPERIENCE USING LOCATION AWARENESS - Embodiments of the invention provide a nexus between a user's presence within or proximate to a brick and mortar store outside of an explicit user transaction within the store, that is based solely upon the user's presence within the store, and not on any affirmative actions taken by the user by maintaining location awareness of the user and by communicating this awareness in real time, as the user moves from location to location, to brick and mortar stores at or near to the user's location. In this way, embodiments of the invention link the user's virtual presence, for example via the Internet, and all of the user-related information that is available for data mining, for example using big data techniques, to the user's physical presence at a physical location to create an enhanced user experience within the physical location in real time. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304579 | COMMUNICATION METHOD - A method of facilitating contact between a first user and a second user. The method includes receiving an indication of interest from said first user, providing the indication of interest and a contact price to a second user, facilitating contact between the first user and the second user and facilitating payment of at least some of the contact price by the second user to the first user. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304580 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING TIMELY ADVERTISING TO PORTABLE DEVICES - Systems and methods for displaying advertisements on a portable device that utilizes an Activity-based operating system are described. The method includes receiving an indication that an Activity is being transitioned away from, and determining whether or not the Activity is finishing. Upon determining that the Activity is finishing, the method includes causing an advertisement display routine to be executed immediately, otherwise submitting the advertisement display routine into a processing queue to be executed subsequently. The advertisement display routine displays the advertisement only upon determining that the state of the Activity and the state of the portable device are characterized by one or more predetermined conditions. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304581 | SYNDICATION OF BEHAVIORAL AND THIRD PARTY DATUM FROM A MONETIZATION PLATFORM - A system for delivering behavioral data for purposes of facilitating providing targeted advertising to mobile devices may include integrating third party data in order to provide a more comprehensive set of behavioral data. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304582 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A PLATFORM FOR PRIVATE REFERRALS AMONG SOCIAL CONTACTS - A system and method are provided for enabling a brand owner to generate, via a template, promotions such that an endorser may engage a gateway to those promotions to disseminate referrals to selected contacts within a trusted environment. The system includes the ability to select a brand owner promotion to enter the trusted environment. The endorser selects at least one contact and parameters at the trusted environment. The trusted environment generates incentive data based on the selected parameters and displays the incentive data, normalized for contacts related to an endorser at a webpage. The trusted environment includes a messaging application to generate a personal message for a contact, including a URL, to enable the contact to enter the trusted environment. In the trusted environment, a contact interacts with incentive data of various endorsers. The endorser select may a promotion from a brand owner and disseminate referrals to selected contacts. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304583 | MOBILE TERMINAL AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - The present disclosure relates to a mobile terminal, and more particularly, to a mobile terminal capable of wireless charging and a control method thereof. A mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a power receiving unit formed to receive power in a wireless manner from a wireless charging pad; a wireless communication unit configured to transmit user information to a server or the wireless charging pad, and receive advertisement content associated with the user information from the server or the wireless charging pad; a display unit formed to display the advertisement content; and a controller configured to manage history information displayed with the advertisement content on the display unit and control the power receiving unit to receive power in a wireless manner from the wireless charging pad based on the history information. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304584 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING DATA TO A USER DEVICE - An apparatus and method for providing data to a user device. The method includes accessing at least one game application for providing game content to the user device. A management application is used to communicate with the game application to control operation of the game application. Execution of the management application provides game content assets to selected user device based on parameters of the management application. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304585 | ADVERTISING AND INCENTIVES OVER A SOCIAL NETWORK - A method whereby advertisers wish to deliver at least one of offerings and advertising messages relative to at least one of a product and a service to a target audience of users selected by a system operator during an advertising campaign. The method includes defining the users within the context of a social network, selecting the users from among the users of the social network, storing the information relevant to the defined users and utilizing the information stored/defined within the social network to deliver the messages to the users in an optimal manner. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304586 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DELIVERING CUSTOMIZED ADVERTISEMENTS WITHIN INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS - The present invention is a system and method for delivering customized electronic advertisements in an interactive communication system. The customized advertisements are selected based on consumer profiles and are then integrated with offerings maintained by different content providers. The preferred interactive communication system interconnects multiple consumer computers, multiple content provider computers and multiple Internet provider computers with an advertisement provider computer. Whenever a consumer directs one of the consumer computers to access an offering existing in one of the content provider computers, an advertising request is sent to the advertisement provider computer. Upon receiving the advertising request, the advertising provider computer generates a custom advertisement based on the consumer's profile. The custom advertisement is then combined with the offering from the content provider computer and displayed to the consumer. The advertisement provider computer also credits a consumer account, a content provider account and an internet provider account each time a consumer views a custom advertisement. Furthermore, the advertisement provider computer tracks consumer responses to the customized advertisements. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304587 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATIONS WITH ANIMATION, GAME DYNAMICS, AND INTEGRATED BRAND ADVERTISING - The system and methods described herein provide for advocating brands in a multimedia device applications. The system and method provides for conversion of digital facial images into animated representations. The system and method captures and analyzes a user's voice information, compares this to a plurality of phonemes, maps the extracted phonemes onto the animated representation allowing for synchronized movement of the animated representation with real time voice conversations therefore providing for a low-bandwidth video chat capability. The system and method also provide a method for advertisers to target users and bid online to deliver users branded display backdrops, logos or multimedia content. The system and method couples advertiser bids and display prominence so that the higher the bid, the more prominent is the presentation of a advertiser's thumbnail, icon or other representation of the advertiser's user engagement content offering in a list displayed on a target user's multimedia device. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304588 | PAY-PER-CHECK IN ADVERTISING - A computerized advertising system may include an input communication system configured to receive information indicative of one or more ads, each for a product or service marketed by a merchant. An ad database storage system may be configured to store information indicative of the ads. A computerized ad circulation system may be configured to controllably cause the ads to be delivered to recipients. A computerized merchant check-in tracking system may be configured to receive check-in information indicative of when each recipient visits each merchant. A computerized merchant billing system may be configured to bill the merchant of each ad based on the number of recipients of the ad that visit the merchant. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304589 | BIDDING ON TRANSACTION DATA - Transaction data of consumers is stored in a data store. Offer entries of merchants are received from a plurality of merchant computer systems and stored in the data store in association with respective merchant accounts. At least a representation of the transaction data is transmitted to the merchant computer system. A bid is received from each of the merchant computer system for the transaction data. The bids are compared and an activation level of one or more of the offer entries is set based on the comparison of the bids. The offer entry is transmitted to a consumer device based. The transmission of the offer entry is dependent on the activation level of the offer entry. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304590 | GRAPHICAL DINING INTERFACE - Systems, methods, and apparatus for a graphical dining interface are disclosed. In one aspect, a device comprises a component image processor configured to generate a representation of at least one component of an item. The device further comprises an input device configured to receive an input from a user, where the input comprises a selection of a first component. The device further comprises an item image processor configured to generate a representation of the item, where the representation of the item comprises the representation of the first component. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304591 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SPONSORSHIP OF SELECTED CAUSES - Systems and methods for sponsoring an area of land are disclosed. Certain systems and methods may cause the display of areas of land that are available for sponsorship, receiving input identifying an area of land to sponsor, processing sponsorship of the identified area, and generating an interface for displaying the sponsored area. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304592 | DIGITAL MEDIA POINT OF SALE APPARATUS AND RELATED METHODS - A system directed to a networked kiosk used to download digital content or media to a user's portable electronic or communication device. The kiosk includes a display, digital storage, means to connect to the internet, and payment acceptance means. The kiosk can presents digital media for selective purchases, recognizes and communicates with proximate portable electronic devices, and provides advertisements to users. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304593 | Method for the Creation of a Dynamic Data Record Within a Payment System Environment Application - A unique and innovative Payment System Environment (PSE) application is described herein. The PSE application, used during the EMV process of Application Selection, is capable of incorporating data from an EMV payment application into a constituent Data Record. The Data Record is said to be dynamic in that the data incorporated may be changed over the life of the EMV payment application. The dynamic Data Record may include a mnemonic that is presented to the cardholder at the time of application selection. The changing of this mnemonic may then prove useful in aiding the cardholder in deciding which application is to be selected for the initiation and processing of an EMV transaction. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304594 | PASSWORD-PROTECTED PHYSICAL TRANSFER OF PASSWORD-PROTECTED DEVICES - A method for password-protected physical transfer of password-protected devices including at a receiving location, generating at least one security file including an encrypted element generated using a one-way encryption function utilizing at least one secure code, transmitting the at least one security file to a shipping location at which the password-protected devices are located, at the shipping location, using at least one shipping location password, loading the at least one security file into at least one password-protected device, shipping the at least one password-protected device to the receiving location and at the receiving location, employing the at least one secure code to supply an input to the at least one password-protected device and employing the at least one security file to enable establishment of at least one receiving location password for the at least one password-protected device which replaces the at least one shipping location password. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304595 | AUTOMATIC LEARNING IN A MERCHANDISE CHECKOUT SYSTEM WITH VISUAL RECOGNITION - A merchandise checkout system for ringing up merchandise in a grocery or other retail facility is disclosed. The merchandise checkout system includes visual sensors for acquiring images of an object to be rung up at checkout; a database configured to retain a visual model and UPC code of known items; and a processor configured to maintain and update the database with information about new merchandise presented for checkout. The visual model preferably includes at least one image of each item of merchandise in the retail store as well as geometric point features extracted from images of the merchandise. The processor in the exemplary embodiment is configured to: (a) compare the image of the object acquired at checkout to the visual model of the items in the database; (b) recognize the object based on the overall appearance of the packaging; (c) automatically ring up the price of the object at the POS; and (d) automatically add the acquired image to the database if the image of the object is new, i.e., it does not match the visual model of any of the items recorded in the database, thereby enabling the checkout system to dynamically and automatically build up its database of visual models. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304596 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AN ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM WITH CREDIT NOTES - A system and method to control an online payment system are disclosed. A user account of the online payment system may be subjected to a demurrage charge and a cash-out charge. In some embodiments, the demurrage charge is based on a percentage of the amount of funds currently deposited in the user account. The demurrage charge may be applied to the user account at a particular time interval or unit of time. The cash out charge may be applied to funds that are transferred out of the user account to an external account that is not controlled by the online payment system. In some embodiments, the demurrage charge may encourage frequency of transactions between users as well as increasing networks of users. Moreover, transactions between users involving transfer of funds between user accounts controlled by the online payment system may not be subject to fees. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304597 | METHOD OF PROVIDING APPLICATION AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING THE SAME - A method of providing an application and an apparatus for performing the same are provided. The method of providing an application includes receiving a begging request message for requesting a specific begging target to purchase a specific application or a specific in-app function from a terminal of a begging requester, transmitting a begging request notification message to a terminal of the specific begging target when the specific begging target approves the begging request, and when the specific begging target purchases the specific application or the specific in-app function, approving download of the purchased specific application or registering a use right of the purchased specific in-app function. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304598 | ELECTRONIC PRODUCT REGISTRATION SYSTEM WITH CUSTOMIZABLE RETURN/WARRANTY PROGRAMS - An electronic product registration (ER) system which enables a retailer, preferable in cooperation with its vendors, to provide a customized return/warranty program for customers on a product-by product basis. The original policy(ies) in the ER system can be modified for a particular product and the modified policy is stored in the ER system so that the modified policy can be accessed if the product is again presented for a return/warranty transaction. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304599 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF CONDUCTING INTERACTIVE ONLINE AUCTIONS - A method and system of conducting interactive online auctions are disclosed. The method includes presenting via a network-connected auction system for viewing by users information on items for sale; presenting a first auction interface for a first item; receiving from a first group of users a plurality of pre-cap purchases, wherein each pre-cap purchase entitles user to place at least one bid for the first item; presenting an interactive chat room that enables users in the first group to communicate with each other, wherein access to the interactive chat room is limited to the first auction interface; when the received pre-cap purchases reach a threshold level, implementing a bidding interface having a bid submission interface and a timer; starting the timer; receiving from the first group of users a plurality of bids, wherein the bids correspond to the pre-cap purchases; and awarding first item to user who places the final bid before the timer ends. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304600 | Providing a Marketplace for Sensor Data - In one embodiment, a method includes accessing first information identifying a sensor-data set that includes sensor-data from multiple sensor-data streams from multiple sensors over a period of time, with the sensor data from the sensor-data streams having been combined with each other based on a relationship of the sensor data to a sensor subject; accessing second information identifying one or more offers to purchase the sensor-data set; and matching one of the offers with the sensor-data set to facilitate a purchase of the sensor-data set based at least on the one of the offers matched to the sensor-data set. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304601 | DYNAMIC BANDWIDTH ALLOCATION - According to the invention, a content delivery network (CDN) for delivering content objects from a content provider to a recipient is disclosed. The CDN includes a dynamic pricing engine and a second web location. The dynamic pricing engine is coupled to a first web location. The first web location, which is associated with a content provider, allows the recipient to order a content object. The delivery quote is solicited by the first web location for delivering a content object one or more times. The second web location delivers the content object to a recipient system of the recipient. The second web location is associated with the dynamic pricing engine. The dynamic pricing engine automatically produces the delivery quote, which is affected by at least one of the content object or a web location of the recipient system. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304602 | Marketing Methods - A method of marketing automobiles (other high priced products) to a plurality of parties (individuals) includes using a micro-chip-based computing device (computer), for example, at least one computer and at least one internet website associated with the at least one computer, to obtain information from a plurality of parties regarding the identity of one or more automobiles each party wants and is willing to purchase; and processing the information to identify a particular automobile which is willing to be purchased by at least a minimum number of the parties from whom the information is obtained. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304603 | GENERATION OF A DEMANUFACTURING PRICE QUOTE - A system for generating a price quote to demanufacture a lot of electronic equipment is disclosed. Representative equipment groups are defined which include default values, based upon knowledge and experience, and study values, based upon dismantle studies. When a quote is requested to demanufacture a given lot of equipment, the equipment in the lot is categorized into representative equipment groups. As profit or loss is calculated for each equipment group, if study values are available, the study values are used; otherwise default values are used. Pricing contingency and profit may further be calculated to generate the price quote. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304604 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMIC DIGITAL PRODUCT SYNTHESIS, COMMERCE, AND DISTRIBUTION - A system and method are provided for creating, managing, rendering and delivering digitally synthesized products that can be automatically generated as a function of variable attributes provided by a variety of sources. The system can include design tools for creating workflows that describe the rules for dynamically creating digital products; licensing system to manage product licensing; distributed synthesis systems for generating products; location based services to manage location/time specific products; sharing services for transferring products; web services for composing and sharing products; mobile applications for composing and sharing products; notification services for notifying participants of system state changes; databases for managing the components of the system; extension services for externally developed system extensions; API services for external management and utilization of the system; and e-commerce services for paying or collecting fees for usage of the system by contributors or users. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304605 | GIFT CARD ORDERING SYSTEM AND METHOD - A personalized gift card creation system and method includes providing an application to be executed on a computing device in which the application includes a peripheral application program interface (API) for interfacing with one or more peripheral devices of the computing device. A server in communication with the application generates a graphical user interface (GUI) on the computing device using the application, receives at least one of user-supplied textual, audio, or video content from the one or more peripheral devices using the application, and generates a gift card holder from the received user-supplied content. The server also receives information associated with a merchant of a gift card and a monetary amount to be associated with the gift card, and transmits the gift card holder and the gift card to a recipient. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304606 | ONLINE ORDERING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR KEYED DEVICE - An online lockable device ordering system and method for lockable devices such as padlocks including a key matching module configured for user entry of at least one key identifier configured to unlock certain lockable devices. The key matching module matches the key identifier with a range of stored key identifiers stored in a storage device. Images of lockable devices corresponding to the matched range are displayed on a user display screen, and the user can select a lockable device from the displayed images. The selected lockable device is customized to open with the user's existing key. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304607 | E-Commerce Personalization and Merchandising - Systems and methods for e-commerce personalization and merchandising are provided herein. In some instances, methods may include determining triggers for a consumer, where the triggers being associated with objective consumer preferences and subjective consumer preferences for the consumer. Also, the method includes selecting a ranking cocktail for the consumer that includes a plurality of attributes that each includes a weight. The method also includes utilizing the ranking cocktail to select recommended products from an inventory of products in a database of a merchant, and providing the recommended products for display to the consumer. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304608 | CONTEXT-INFLUENCED APPLICATION RECOMMENDATIONS - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for recommending content based on context such as location. In one aspect, a method includes receiving data that references a location of a mobile device, selecting, from among multiple, different applications that are available in an online application marketplace, one or more of the applications that are relevant to the location, and providing, by a recommendation server, a recommendation to the mobile device, where the recommendation identifies the one or more applications as applications that the user is likely to be interested in purchasing or downloading. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304609 | Interactive Shopping List System - Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to generating a shopping list via a retail entity's website and outputting the shopping list to a portable electronic device that can be carried by a user in a physical retail location as a user shops for products. Exemplary embodiments can include a shopping list generation system that can generate a shopping list data structure and/or a shopping list reception system that can receive and process contents portion of the shopping list data structure to display a shopping list on a portable electronic device. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304610 | METHOD AND SERVICE FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO PREMIUM CONTENT AND DISPERSING PAYMENT THEREFORE - A method and system for providing premium content and dispersing payment therefore. The method includes entering into an agreement with at least one partner that provides premium content and entering into an agreement with at least one customer that grants the customer access to premium content provided by at least one partner. The method further includes collecting defined parameter data of at least one customer accessing the premium content and dispersing payment to at least one partner where the payment is determined from the defined parameter data. The defined parameter data can be approximate time spent. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304611 | Price Notification and/or Adjustment System in a Web-Based Electronic Commerce Environment - Exemplary embodiments are directed to monitoring items of interest (e.g., goods or services) associated with a web page based on specified parameters. A monitoring request associated with a good or service offered for sale on a web page can be monitored. The monitoring request can include one or more notification parameters associated with the good or service and can be received via a graphical user interface associated with the web page. Update information corresponding to the good or service can be monitored for changes in response to receipt of the monitoring request and a determination can be made as to whether at least one of the notification parameters has been satisfied based on the update information. An electronic notification can be transmitted to a customer in response to the determination that the at least one of the one or more notification parameters has been satisfied. | 2013-11-14 |
20130304612 | REAL PROPERTY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, RETENTION AND TRANSFERAL SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR USING SAME - The present invention is in the field of computer systems and processes for managing real and personal property. One aspect of the invention is directed to capturing history of a (real) property, which may include a description of the property, the personal property located on the real property, the projects and maintenance performed or to be performed on the property and their impact on the owner's tax basis in the property. Another aspect of invention allows for sharing of this history with an online community and for transferring the history (or portions thereof) on sale to a buyer. | 2013-11-14 |