Advertising Technique

• US 20070287437A1
• Filed: 06/08/2006
• Published: 12/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brian R. Cartmell
• Original Assignee: Brian R. Cartmell
• Inventors: Cartmell, Brian R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,684,790 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.300
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

An advertising technique includes communicating messages to a mobile device that are rendered on the mobile device for the purpose of advertisement. The advertisement is rendered based on the occurrence of an advertisement event, such as an inbound telephone call, the elapse of time, entering a pre-defined geographic area, or the like.

Claims

1. A method for advertising, comprising, in no particular order, the steps of:

receiving a message at a mobile device, the message including an advertisement;

storing the advertisement on the mobile device; and

rendering the advertisement based on the occurrence of an advertisement event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein rendering the advertisement event comprises an incoming call.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein rendering the advertisement event comprises entering a predefined geographic area.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

scheduling an identified time when the advertisement will be rendered; and

rendering the advertisement at the identified time.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising relaying the advertisement to other devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement comprises an sound.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling the user of the mobile device to opt-in to receiving the advertisement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement is rendered at an identified volume level.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an inquiry concerning whether a headset is present;

receiving a response to the inquiry; and

rendering the advertisement only if a headset is present.

10. A computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions which, when executed, perform the method recited in claim 1.

11. A computer-readable medium encoded with a data structure, comprising:

a message having a header, the header having an advertisement identifier to identify the advertisement associated with the message.

12. The computer-readable medium recited in claim 11, wherein the header further includes a ringtone identifier to identify the ringtone associated with the message.

13. The computer-readable medium recited in claim 11, wherein the header further includes scheduler data to enable the rendering of an advertisement at an identified time.

14. The computer-readable medium recited in claim 11, wherein the header further includes scheduler data to enable the rendering of an advertisement at an identified location.

15. The computer-readable medium recited in claim 11, wherein the message further includes one or more display characteristics indicating the manner in which the advertisement associated with the message is to be rendered.

16. The computer-readable medium recited in claim 11, wherein the message further includes advertisement data, the advertisement data including an advertisement.

17. The computer-readable medium recited in claim 11, wherein the message further includes advertisement data, the advertisement data including a ringtone.

18. A method for advertising, comprising, in no particular order, the steps of:

creating a message, the message including an advertisement and instructions for rendering the advertisement on a mobile device in response to an advertisement event; and

transmitting the message to a mobile device.

19. The method recited in claim 18, wherein the advertisement event comprises a selected one or more from a group comprising at least a specified time, being located in a specified geographic area, and an inbound phone call.

20. The method recited in claim 18, wherein the advertisement comprises a sound.

21. The method recited in claim 20, wherein the sound comprises a ringtone.

22. A mobile device, comprising:

means for receiving a message at a mobile device, the message having an associated advertisement;

means for storing the advertisement; and

means for rendering the advertisement based on the occurrence of an advertisement event.

23. The mobile device recited in claim 22, wherein the rendering means enables rendering the advertisement in response to an incoming call.

24. The mobile device recited in claim 22, wherein the rendering means enables rendering the advertisement in response to the mobile device entering a geographic area with which the advertisement is associated.

25. The mobile device recited in claim 22, further comprising:

means for scheduling an identified time when the advertisement will be rendered; and

means for rendering the advertisement at the identified time.

26. The mobile device recited in claim 22, further comprising means for relaying the advertisement to other devices.

27. The mobile device recited in claim 22, further comprising means for rendering an identified ringtone in connection with the advertisement.

28. The mobile device recited in claim 22, further comprising means for enabling the user of the mobile device to opt-in and/or opt-out from rendering advertisements.

29. The mobile device recited in claim 22, wherein the rendering means enables rendering the advertisement at an identified volume level.

30. The mobile device recited in claim 22, further comprising:

means for generating an inquiry concerning whether a headset is present;

means for receiving a response to the inquiry; and

means for rendering the advertisement only if a headset is present.