System and Method for Managing Sponsorships

• US 20080195401A1
• Filed: 12/19/2006
• Published: 08/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sherwood, Amy L., Delgado, Marcus, Evans, Sandra J., Lantz, Harrison P., Furth, David L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,285,586 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A system and method for managing sponsorships by a sponsor, in which the party requesting the sponsorship requests to use content owned and protected by the sponsor, such as trademarks, logos, and copyrighted material. An embodiment of the method involves receiving, at a computer network site, a request for sponsorship from a requester and responding to the request by sending either an approval or a rejection. If an approval is sent, the method further involves providing the requestor with access to content of the sponsor through the site. As part of providing this access, the method can involve requiring the requestor to accept an agreement posted on the site. The method can also include monitoring the requestor'"'"'s actual use of the content.

Claims

1. A system for managing a sponsorship between a sponsor and a requester comprising:

(a) a content database containing protected content of the sponsor;

(b) a terms and conditions database containing an agreement that the requester must accept before gaining access to the protected content; and

(c) a sponsor application adapted to communicate with a computer of the requester through a computer network, to receive a request for sponsorship from the requester, to respond to the request with one of an approval and a refusal, to retrieve the agreement from the terms and conditions database, to present the agreement to the requester, to receive one of an acceptance and a denial of the terms and conditions from the requester, to retrieve the protected content from the content database, to download the protected content to the requester after the requester has accepted the terms and conditions, to request and receive a sample use of the protected content from the requester, and to analyze whether the sample use complies with the agreement.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sponsor application is further adapted to exchange e-mail messages with the requestor'"'"'s computer,

wherein the request and receipt of the sample use are e-mail messages.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

(d) a requester information database containing data associated with the requestor.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the request includes data including one or more of a name of the requester, an address of the requester, a telephone number of the requester, a description of an event for which the sponsorship is sought, a date and duration of the event, an e-mail address of the requestor, a requested donation amount, a name of a contact person who directed the requestor to the site, and a password for accessing secured pages posted by the network application, and

wherein the network application stores the data in the requestor information database.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the sponsor application is further adapted to archive the sample use in the requestor information database.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the sponsor application is further adapted to archive in the requester information database the requestor'"'"'s response to the terms and conditions.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein the sponsor application is further adapted to archive in the requester information database whether the sample use complies with the agreement.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein the sponsor application is further adapted to archive in the requester information database whether the sample use has been received from the requestor.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the protected content is one of a trademark, a logo, and a copyrighted material.

10. A method for controlling use of protected content comprising the steps of:

storing the protected content on a server;

receiving, from a requester, a request to use the protected content;

receiving information about the requestor;

electronically generating and sending to the requestor an agreement defining conditions for using the protected content;

receiving an electronic acceptance of the agreement from the requestor;

providing the requestor with electronic access to the protected content; and

electronically generating and sending an audit request to the requester asking for a sample use of the protected content.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of electronically receiving from the requester the sample use of the protected content.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of manually evaluating the sample use.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of electronically determining whether the sample use complies with the agreement.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of electronically determining comprises analyzing the sample use with image recognition software.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein if the sample use does not comply with the agreement, the method further comprises the steps of:

sending the requester an electronic message stating that the sample use does not comply with the agreement; and

terminating the requestor'"'"'s electronic access to the protected content.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the protected content is one of a trademark, a logo, and a copyrighted material.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of providing the electronic access occurs only if the electronic acceptance has been received.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of storing the sample use on the server.