Automated screening of content based on intellectual property rights

• US 8,370,949 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2010
• Issued: 02/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Hagan, Rose Anne, Rana, Kulpreet Singh
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, ELLEN C
• Application Number:
  US12/958,145
• Publication Number:
  US 20110072518A1
• Time in Patent Office: 797 Days
• Field of Search: 726/26, 726/1, 705/51, 705/14.7, 705/14.49, 705/14.73, 705/310
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Systems and methods automatically scan content, such as advertisements, for a list of terms and/or phrases that may not be allowed in the content. In one implementation, the terms and/or phrases include trademarks. In this implementation, incoming advertisements may be automatically scanned for the presence of trademarks.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by one or more processors of one or more server devices, an advertisement;

determining, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices, that one or more terms, associated with the advertisement, include a potential violation of intellectual property rights; and

providing, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices and to an advertiser associated with the advertisement, an option for the advertiser to request further review of the advertisement when the one or more terms, associated with the advertisement, include the potential violation of intellectual property rights.

2. The method of claim 1, where the intellectual property rights include trademark rights.

3. The method of claim 1, where determining that the one or more terms, associated with the advertisement, include the potential violation of intellectual property rights comprises:

compiling a list based on complaints submitted by intellectual property rights owners, and

determining that the one or more terms include the potential violation of intellectual property rights by comparing the one or more terms to the list.

4. The method of claim 1, where the determining is based on a number of advertisements, that include potential intellectual property violations, submitted by a particular entity over a period of time.

5. The method of claim 1, where determining that the one or more terms, associated with the advertisement, include the potential violation of intellectual property rights comprises:

determining that the one or more terms include the potential violation of intellectual property rights when the advertiser is identified in a list of suspect advertisers.

6. The method of claim 1,

where the determining is based on an Internet Protocol address associated with the advertiser.

7. The method of claim 1, where determining that the one or more terms, associated with the advertisement, include the potential violation of intellectual property rights comprises:

determining that the one or more terms, associated with the advertisement, are in a watchlist that includes a plurality of terms associated with intellectual property rights.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, before providing the option for the advertiser to request further review and to the advertiser, an opportunity to change the advertisement;

receiving, after providing the option for the advertiser to request further review of the advertisement and from the advertiser, an indication that use of the one or more terms is authorized; and

allowing the advertisement to be displayed after receiving the indication.

9. The method of claim 8,

where the one or more terms are one or more terms of a trademark, and

where the advertiser is an owner of the trademark.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

notifying an owner of the intellectual property rights that the indication has been received;

receiving a counter-indication from the owner; and

storing, after receiving the counter-indication, the advertisement for further review.

11. The method of claim 1, where identifying the advertisement includes:

identifying the advertisement based on a received search query.

12. The method of claim 11, where identifying the advertisement based on the received search query includes at least one of:

identifying that text, that is displayed in association with the advertisement, includes one or more terms of the search query;

identifying that a link, associated with the advertisement, includes the one or more terms of the search query;

identifying that anchor text, associated with the link, includes the one or more terms of the search query;

or

identifying that one or more trigger terms, that define when the advertisement is displayed, includes the one or more terms of the search query.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, before providing the option for the advertiser to request further review and to the advertiser, an opportunity to change the advertisement;

receiving, after providing the option for the advertiser to request further review of the advertisement and from the advertiser, a request to further review the advertisement; and

storing, after receiving the request, the advertisement for the further review.

14. A system comprising:

one or more processors to;

identify an advertisement;

determine that one or more terms, associated with the advertisement, include a potential violation of intellectual property rights; and

provide, to an advertiser associated with the advertisement, an option for the advertiser to request further review of the advertisement when the one or more terms, associated with the advertisement, include the potential violation of intellectual property rights.

15. The system of claim 14, where the one or more terms, associated with the advertisement, include at least one of:

one or more terms in text that is displayed in association with the advertisement,

one or more terms in a link associated with the advertisement,

one or more terms in anchor text associated with the link, or

one or more trigger terms that define when the advertisement is displayed.

16. The system of claim 14, where the one or more processors are further to:

provide, before providing the option for the advertiser to request further review and to the advertiser, an opportunity to change the advertisement;

receive, after providing the option for the advertiser to request further review of the advertisement and from the advertiser, an indication that the advertiser is authorized to use the one or more terms;

correlate a level of verification of the indication to a degree to which the advertisement is allowed to be displayed; and

allow the advertisement to be displayed based on the degree to which the advertisement is allowed to be displayed.

17. A method performed by one or more server devices, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices, an advertisement;

determining, by the one or more processors of the one or more server devices, whether text, which is to be displayed as part of the advertisement, violates policies set by the advertisement provider,

at least some of the policies including policies relating to trademark violations; and

providing, by the one or more processors of the one or more server devices and to an advertiser associated with the advertisement, an option for the advertiser to request further review of the advertisement when the text violates the policies set by the advertisement provider.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the advertiser is authorized to use the one or more terms, and

allowing, based on the indication, the advertisement to be displayed.

19. The method of claim 17, where determining whether the text violates the policies comprises:

comparing the text to a watchlist that includes one or more terms that are associated with trademark rights, and

determining that the text violates the policies when one or more terms in the text match the one or more terms in the watchlist.

20. The method of claim 17, where determining whether the text violates the policies comprises:

determining a classification of the advertisement based on a product or a service being advertised; and

determining that the text violates the policies when the classification is within a scope of one or more trademark terms included in the text.