Method and system for searching and monitoring internet trademark usage

• US 7,346,605 B1
• Filed: 07/10/2000
• Issued: 03/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Camelot UK Bidco Limited (Clarivate Plc)
• Original Assignee: MarkMonitor Inc.
• Inventors: Hepworth, James L., Shah, Faisal
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong; Cam Y
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ly; Anh
• Application Number:
  US09/612,766
• Time in Patent Office: 2,808 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 10, 707/500, 715/501.1, 715/513, 709217-219
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

A system for searching and reporting an incidence of at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, and/or famous name on the Internet, which includes a computer system having a connection to the Internet, and a software program executing on the computer system. The software program is adapted to receive an input of at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, and famous name to be searched. The software program then creates a search string including at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, and famous name. The software program also receives a URL address of a Web page on the Internet to be searched. The software program accesses and searches the Web page for hits corresponding to the search string, and then provides the search results of identified hits within the Web page.

Claims

1. A method of searching and reporting an incidence of at least one of a trademark, a tradename, a celebrity name, or famous name in a Web page on the Internet, comprising:

receiving, from a user, at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name to be searched in the Web page on the Internet;

automatically creating a search string based on the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name entered by the user;

receiving a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address of the Web page on the Internet to be searched;

accessing and searching contents of the Web page of the URL address received for matches in the contents of the Web page corresponding to the search string, wherein the searched contents includes elements other than only a domain name;

providing search results of identified matches in the contents of the Web page corresponding to the search string, wherein the search results are extracted from the Web page, categorized, and formatted in a report, each category including at least one character string corresponding to a number of occurrences of the identified matches within a category, the category selected from the group consisting of a meta-tag, a hidden text, a text, a title, a hyperlink, and an image text, and wherein the report displays at least one character string in a column format for at least one of the meta-tag, the hidden text, the text, the title, the hyperlink, and the image text, and wherein the search results highlight the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name found in the Web page; and

determining an unauthorized use of the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name;

wherein the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name to be searched is provided in an encrypted connection authenticated by a certificate server.

2. The method of searching and reporting according to claim 1, wherein the at least one character string is a number of the identifying matches within the category.

3. The method of searching and reporting according to claim 1, wherein the searched contents includes at least two of the following portions of the Web page:

a domain name, a meta tag, hidden text, visible text, titles, and images.

4. A method of searching and reporting an incidence of at least one of a trademark, a tradename, a celebrity name, or a famous name in a Web page on the Internet, comprising:

receiving, from a user, at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name to be searched in the Web page on the Internet;

automatically creating homonyms and phonetic equivalents of the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name entered by the user;

automatically creating a search string including the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name and the automatically created homonyms and phonetic equivalents based on the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name entered by the user;

receiving a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address of the Web page on the Internet to be searched;

accessing and searching contents of the Web page of the URL address received for matches in the contents of the Web page corresponding to the search string, wherein the searched contents includes elements other than only a domain name;

providing search results of identified matches in the contents of the Web page corresponding to the search string, wherein the search results are extracted from the Web page, categorized, and formatted in a report, each category including at least one character string corresponding to a number of occurrences of the identified matches within a category, the category selected from the group consisting of a meta-tag, a hidden text, a text, a title, a hyperlink, and an image text, and wherein the report displays at least one character string in a column format for at least one of the meta-tag, the hidden text, the text, the title, the hyperlink, and the image text, and wherein the search results highlight the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name found in the Web page;

determining an unauthorized use of the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name;

obtaining information relating to an owner of the URL address conducting the unauthorized use; and

informing the owner of the unauthorized use;

wherein the at least one trademark, tradename, celebrity name, or famous name to be searched is provided in an encrypted connection authenticated by a certificate server.

5. The method of searching and reporting according to claim 4, wherein the searched contents includes at least two of the following portions of the Web page:

a domain name, a meta tag, hidden text, visible text, titles, and images.

6. The method of searching and reporting according to claim 4, wherein the at least one character string is a number of the identifying matches within the category.

7. The method for searching and reporting according to claim 4, wherein the information relating to the owner of the URL address conducting the unauthorized use includes a name and an address of the owner.

8. The system method for searching and reporting according to claim 4, wherein informing the owner of the unauthorized use includes delivering a cease and desist letter.