System and method for conditional delivery of messages

• US 10,333,886 B2
• Filed: 10/26/2012
• Issued: 06/25/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Excalibur IP, LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Inventors: Davis, Marc Eliot, Boerries, Marco, Higgins, Christopher William, O'Sullivan, Joseph James, Martinez, Ronald, Trout, Robert Carter
• Primary Examiner(s): Khan, Aftab N.
• Application Number:
  US13/661,837
• Publication Number:
  US 20130110948A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,433 Days
• Field of Search: 709203, 709206, 709207, 709219, 4554561, 455466, 455 261, 715744
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

The disclosure describes systems and methods delivering communications associated with delivery conditions in which the occurrence of the delivery condition is determined by monitoring information received from a plurality of sources via multiple communication channels. The message delivery systems allow messages to be delivered to any “Who, What, When, Where” from any “Who, What, When, Where” upon the detection of an occurrence of one or more “Who, What, When, Where” delivery conditions. A message (which may be any data object including text-based messages, audio-based message such as voicemail or other audio such as music or video-based prerecorded messages) is delivered in accordance with delivery conditions based on any available data, including topical, spatial, temporal, and/or social data. Furthermore, because the systems coordinate delivery of messages via multiple communication channels and through multiple devices, the communication channel for delivery of a message may be dynamically determined based on the delivery conditions.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving from a sender, at a computing device, a request to deliver a first message to a recipient, the request identifying at least one delivery condition set by the sender controlling when said first message is to be sent to said recipient, said first message comprising content related to a real-world entity (RWE);

identifying, by the computing device, resources on a network providing data associated with the RWE;

identifying, by the computing device, data on the network associated with an information object (IO), the IO providing said RWE data;

associating, via the computing device, said RWE with said IO;

monitoring, by the computing device, over the network, said IO data, and based on the monitoring of the IO data and the association between the IO and the RWE, identifying information comprising a metric indicating activity associated with the RWE;

determining, via the computing device, a status of the RWE based on said information corresponding to the activity of the RWE;

upon determining said status of the RWE, determining, via the computing device, a condition status for the at least one delivery condition, said determination of the condition status for the at least one delivery condition comprising quantifying said at least one delivery condition based on the association of the RWE and IO;

comparing, via the computing device, the status of the RWE with the quantified condition status of the at least one delivery condition; and

delivering, over the network, the first message only when the status of the RWE corresponds with the quantified condition status of the at least one delivery condition.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the RWE'"'"'s metric with the threshold; and

delivering, over a network, the first message when the metric of the RWE at least satisfies the threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the RWE is one of a person, device, or location.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the IO is a passive object associated with the RWE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the quantified state-related condition of the delivery condition is associated with a location.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the quantified state-related condition of the delivery condition is a temporal condition.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the quantified state-related condition identifies a threshold, said threshold indicating a minimum state-related metric.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

monitoring the data associated with the IO to identify information indicating the status of the RWE, said information comprising a metric indicating activity associated with the IO.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

comparing the IO'"'"'s metric with the threshold; and

delivering, over a network, the first message when the metric of the IO at least satisfies the threshold.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a delivery condition template comprising the at least one delivery condition, wherein the quantified state-related condition is predetermined.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the delivery condition template further comprises predetermined message content.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium associated with a computing device and storing computer-executable instructions, that when executed by a processor of the computing device, perform a method comprising:

receiving from a sender, at the computing device, a request to deliver a first message to a recipient, the request identifying at least one delivery condition set by the sender controlling when said first message is to be sent to said recipient, said first message comprising content related to a real-world entity (RWE);

identifying, by the computing device, resources on a network providing data associated with the RWE;

identifying, by the computing device, data on the network associated with an information object (IO), the IO providing said RWE data;

associating, via the computing device, said RWE with said IO;

monitoring, by the computing device, over the network, said IO data, and based on the monitoring of the IO data and the association between the IO and the RWE, identifying information comprising a metric indicating activity associated with the RWE;

determining, via the computing device, a status of the RWE based on said information corresponding to the activity of the RWE;

upon determining said status of the RWE, determining, via the computing device, a condition status for the at least one delivery condition, said determination of the condition status for the at least one delivery condition comprising quantifying said at least one delivery condition based on the association of the RWE and IO;

comparing, via the computing device, the status of the RWE with the quantified condition status of the at least one delivery condition; and

delivering, over the network, the first message only when the status of the RWE corresponds with the quantified condition status of the at least one delivery condition.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising:

comparing the RWE'"'"'s metric with the threshold; and

delivering, over a network, the first message when the metric of the RWE at least satisfies the threshold.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the request comprises a delivery condition template comprising the at least one delivery condition, wherein the quantified state-related condition is predetermined.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the quantified state-related condition identifies a threshold, said threshold indicating a minimum state-related metric.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising:

monitoring the data associated with the IO to identify information indicating the status of the RWE, said information comprising a metric indicating activity associated with the IO;

comparing the IO'"'"'s metric with the threshold; and

delivering, over a network, the first message when the metric of the IO at least satisfies the threshold.

17. A computing device comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

logic executed by the processor for receiving from a sender, at the computing device, a request to deliver a first message to a recipient, the request identifying at least one delivery condition set by the sender controlling when said first message is to be sent to said recipient, said first message comprising content related to a real-world entity (RWE);

logic executed by the processor for identifying, by the computing device, resources on a network providing data associated with the RWE;

logic executed by the processor for identifying, by the computing device, data on the network associated with an information object (IO), the IO providing said RWE data;

logic executed by the processor for associating, via the computing device, said RWE with said IO;

logic executed by the processor for monitoring, by the computing device, over the network, said IO data, and based on the monitoring of the IO data and the association between the IO and the RWE, identifying information comprising a metric indicating activity associated with the RWE;

logic executed by the processor for determining, via the computing device, a status of the RWE based on said information corresponding to the activity of the RWE;

logic executed by the processor for upon determining said status of the RWE, determining, via the computing device, a condition status for the at least one delivery condition, said determination of the condition status for the at least one delivery condition comprising quantifying said at least one delivery condition based on the association of the RWE and IO;

logic executed by the processor for comparing, via the computing device, the status of the RWE with the quantified condition status of the at least one delivery condition; and

logic executed by the processor for delivering, over the network, the first message only when the status of the RWE corresponds with the quantified condition status of the at least one delivery condition.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the quantified state-related condition identifies a threshold, said threshold indicating a minimum state-related metric.

19. The computing device of claim 17, further comprising:

comparison logic executed by the processor for comparing the metric of the RWE and IO with the threshold; and

logic executed by the processor for delivering, over a network, the first message when the metric of the RWE and IO at least satisfies the threshold.