System And Method For Accessing Electronic Data Via An Image Search Engine
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for accessing electronic data relating to a person of interest whose image is viewed on an electronic social networking service, comprising:
- storing information regarding a plurality of images and information regarding a plurality of people in a social networking service database, wherein at least one image is associated with each person of the plurality of people;
receiving from the user of the system, a request to provide information regarding an image of the person of interest, wherein the image is obtained with an image capture method by the user and further wherein the image capture method transmits the information regarding the image to the database;
comparing the information regarding the image to the information regarding the plurality of images;
determining whether the image matches an image of a person in the plurality of people and, if the image matches an image of a person of the plurality of people, generating a message;
transmitting the message via the social networking service to the social networking service page of the person of interest, or to a communication device of or associated with the person of interest, wherein the message contains a first request for permission to provide access to information regarding the person of interest to the user;
receiving a response to the message from the person of interest containing (i) permission for the user of the system to access information regarding the person of interest, (ii) denial for the user of the system to access information regarding the person of interest, or (iii) a request from the person of interest for permission to access information regarding the user, such as the user'"'"'s profile;
wherein upon receiving the response to the message transmitted from the erson of interest, the user grants or denies permission for the person of interest to access information regarding the user;
wherein if the user grants permission for the person of interest to access information regarding the user, the person of interest accesses the information regarding the user and decides whether or not to grant the user access to the information regarding the person of interest, and upon deciding to grant access to the information regarding the person of interest, information regarding the person of interest is transmitted or made available to the user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a system and method for accessing electronic data through entry of images as queries in search engine. The system uses various image capturing devices and communication devices to capture images and enter them into image database. Image recognition techniques encode images in a computer readable format. The processed image is then entered for comparison into at least one database populated with images and associated information. Once the newly captured image is matched with an image in the database, the information linked with that image is returned to the user.
9 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for accessing electronic data relating to a person of interest whose image is viewed on an electronic social networking service, comprising:
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storing information regarding a plurality of images and information regarding a plurality of people in a social networking service database, wherein at least one image is associated with each person of the plurality of people; receiving from the user of the system, a request to provide information regarding an image of the person of interest, wherein the image is obtained with an image capture method by the user and further wherein the image capture method transmits the information regarding the image to the database; comparing the information regarding the image to the information regarding the plurality of images; determining whether the image matches an image of a person in the plurality of people and, if the image matches an image of a person of the plurality of people, generating a message; transmitting the message via the social networking service to the social networking service page of the person of interest, or to a communication device of or associated with the person of interest, wherein the message contains a first request for permission to provide access to information regarding the person of interest to the user; receiving a response to the message from the person of interest containing (i) permission for the user of the system to access information regarding the person of interest, (ii) denial for the user of the system to access information regarding the person of interest, or (iii) a request from the person of interest for permission to access information regarding the user, such as the user'"'"'s profile; wherein upon receiving the response to the message transmitted from the erson of interest, the user grants or denies permission for the person of interest to access information regarding the user; wherein if the user grants permission for the person of interest to access information regarding the user, the person of interest accesses the information regarding the user and decides whether or not to grant the user access to the information regarding the person of interest, and upon deciding to grant access to the information regarding the person of interest, information regarding the person of interest is transmitted or made available to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22)
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20. A computer-implemented method for initiating communication with an unidentified person of interest whose image is viewed on an electronic social networking service, comprising:
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storing information regarding a plurality of images and information regarding a plurality of people in the social networking service database, wherein at least one image is associated with each person of the plurality of people; receiving from the user of the system, a request to send an invitation to communicate to the person of interest, wherein the person'"'"'s image is obtained with an image capture method by the user and further wherein the image capture method transmits the information regarding the image to the database; comparing the information regarding the image to the information regarding the plurality of images; determining whether the image matches an image of a person in the plurality of people and, if the image matches an image of a person of the plurality of people, generating an invitation to communicate; transmitting the invitation to the social networking service page of the person of interest, or to a communication device of or associated with the person of interest, wherein further the invitation contains a link to the user'"'"'s profile. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification