System and method for portable profiles

• US 8,478,247 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2011
• Issued: 07/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pinterest, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mgrdechian, Richard, Lee, Man-ho Lawrence
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, NHAN T
• Application Number:
  US13/186,844
• Publication Number:
  US 20110276412A1
• Time in Patent Office: 713 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/418, 455/419, 455/420, 455/550.1, 705/14
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention include improved communication system and methods. In one embodiment, the present invention includes a wireless communication method comprising, on a first wireless device, receiving one or more wireless device identifications associated with one or more other wireless devices, and transmitting at least one of the one or more wireless device identifications from the first wireless device to a remote computer system, and on the remote computer system, receiving the at least one wireless device identification, and accessing information associated with the at least one wireless device identification. Embodiments of the present invention may be used for electronic dating, social networking and other communication applications.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a server, a request from a first device to identify a plurality of devices on a network;

identifying, via the server, device identifiers associated with each of the plurality of devices;

receiving, at the server, initial profile information from each of the plurality of devices, each of the initial profile information associated with a user of each device;

communicating, via the server, the device identifiers and the initial profile information for each device of the plurality to the first device;

receiving, at the server, a selection from the first device that identifies a second user from the plurality of users whose initial profile information satisfies filtering parameters associated with a user of the first device;

transmitting, based on the selection, a request for a user profile of the second user; and

communicating said second user profile to said first device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

facilitating visible display of the initial profile information on a display of the first device, wherein said selection is based at least in part on an input by the first user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the initial profile information is a profile summary associated with each said user from the plurality of users associated with the plurality of devices.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the initial profile information comprises a short textual message related to interests of the user associated with each device.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the initial profile information comprises at least one digital image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the filtering parameters are preset preferences associated the user of the first device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

serving an advertisement to a second device associated with the second user based on the second user profile.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein content of the advertisement is based upon information contained within the user profile information of the second user.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting an invitation to join a gaming application.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the filtering parameters correspond to interests of the user of the first device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting an invitation to join a network associated with a user of the first device.

12. A system comprising:

a database comprising stored data;

a server comprising a plurality of processors in communication with the data in the database, the server programmed to perform a plurality of operations, comprising;

receiving a request from a first device to identify a plurality of devices on a network;

identifying device identifiers associated with each of the plurality of devices;

receiving initial profile information from each of the plurality of devices, each of the initial profile information associated with a user of each device;

communicating the device identifiers and the initial profile information for each device of the plurality to the first device;

receiving a selection from the first device that identifies a second user from the plurality of users whose initial profile information satisfies filtering parameters associated with a user of the first device;

transmitting a request for a user profile of the second user; and

communicating said second user profile to said first device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the server is programmed to perform further operations comprising:

facilitating visible display of the initial profile information on a display of the first device, wherein said selection is based at least in part on an input by the first user.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the initial profile information is a profile summary associated with each said user from the plurality of users associated with the plurality of devices.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the initial profile information comprises a short textual message related to interests of the user associated with each device.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the initial profile information comprises at least one digital image.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the filtering parameters are preset preferences associated the user of the first device.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the server is programmed to perform further operations comprising:

serving an advertisement to a second device associated with the second user based on the second user profile.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein content of the advertisement is based upon information contained within the user profile information of the second user.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the server is programmed to perform further operations comprising:

transmitting an invitation to join a network associated with a user of the first device.